Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 5, Part 2

[Oldmansour]

>Then let's go around the wall and take down his cover. And try to make it quick.

>"Hiyori." Subala orders her sister as you employ your Sapphire light, sending the beam of energy along the ground. Cynthia produces a second pistol and starts to shoot at your beam, but her shots cannot accurately track the rapid movement of your blue light.
>The rest of your group are not idle. White Rose sends a burst of flame at the left side of the door, breaking out the glass on that side. Moving up beside her, Chrysanthemum, her hands glowing with power, employs her own magic, sending her Metal Nails attack at the tengu. At the same time, Hiyori takes a step back and starts to cast a new spell.
>Before she can finish, another blaster bolt, this one far larger and far more powerful than even those of Wataru's rifle, screams down the length of the building, penetrating Subala's barrier and striking the owl youkai on her right hip. The force of the impact spins her around and into Hiyori, but the smaller shrine maiden manages to complete her spell. Another protective barrier appears in front of your group, this one a brilliant rainbow pattern, and far more powerful than the one cast by Subala. This wall doesn't even ripple under the impact of Cynthia and Wataru's shots.

>"What the hell was that?!" White Rose exclaims as she sees what happened to Subala.
>"Laser rifle." Hiyori explains. "They're high powered sniper rifles." As she turns and crouches to tend to Sen, she adds, "You can shoot through that wall. It only stops hostile fire."
>With you under cover, your efforts strip away Wataru's. A burst of Sapphire light strikes at the bottom of the seating row, tearing it out of its moorings and flinging it into the air. Rather than be stunned, Wataru immediately drops down to the ground, his body concealed by the rows of seats around him, and a small cylindrical object comes flying out into the open.

[DracoOmega]

>Use our Sapphire light to bat the cylindrical object aside - somewhere not between either of our groups

[Oldmansour]

>Use our Sapphire light to bat the cylindrical object aside - somewhere not between either of our groups

>The three Protectors have some good spread between them, so you judge the best direction to send that canister is back over Wataru's head, assuming he's where you think he is, and to his left. The canister opens when your light strikes it, sending out another plume of gas. But this cloud is more white than the yellow-ish of the choking gas that affected Sen. It's also thicker. If you had to guess, you would say that this gas was meant to act like a smokescreen. But with you sending the canister flying away, Wataru won't be getting any benefits from this one.
>But the officer has more that just technology on his side. Despite you dealing with his smoke canister, another cloud of obfuscating gas emerges from his approximate location, this one a thick, deep purple. A glance up at Cynthia's location reveals a similar smokescreen, this one more mundane.
>"Now what are they doing?" White Rose asks.
>"Running." Hiyori replies. "We survived their ambush, so they'll be repositioning themselves."
>"That smoke wont stop us from tracking them." Chrysanthemum says.
>"The smoke is more a distraction. Blood have invisibility magic. They call it sight-shielding, but it's the same thing."

[DracoOmega]

>"Then let's get some cover ourselves and try to dispel their jamming field."
>Identify someplace nearby that's not out in the open and gather together

[Oldmansour]

>"Then let's get some cover ourselves and try to dispel their jamming field."
>Identify someplace nearby that's not out in the open and gather together

>Your current position is defensible, but not entirely secure. Hiyori's shield is strong, but you're not sure it could survive for long if the Blood decided to turn and use their Jewels against it. So you decide to fall back to outside the building, where the Blood won't be able to see you. With Hiyori and White Rose keeping watch, you and Chrysanthemum help Sen and Subala outside. Your partner is still feeling the effects of that first cloud of gas, while Subala's uniform has taken some severe damage. She's still in it, hasn't been eliminated yet, but you don't think she can take much more damage.
>Outside, Pink Carnation and Haruka are still on standby, and the big eagle gives you a hand getting Sen outside. "I gather things didn't go entirely well?"

[DracoOmega]

>"We drove back an ambush attempt by Wataru and Cynthia and forced them to retreat, but there's no defensible positions near our side of the entrance and I want better cover to try disrupting their jamming field. If we're chasing people intent on hit and run tactics, I'd rather have all our senses available."

[Oldmansour]

>"We drove back an ambush attempt by Wataru and Cynthia and forced them to retreat, but there's no defensible positions near our side of the entrance and I want better cover to try disrupting their jamming field. If we're chasing people intent on hit and run tactics, I'd rather have all our senses available."

>Looking between the coughing Sen and the battle damaged Subala, Haruka asks, "No offense, Lotus, but are you sure they didn't drive you back?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Point taken. Still, I want to at least attempt this before reentering."

[Oldmansour]

>"Point taken. Still, I want to at least attempt this before reentering."

>"Of course. I'll watch the door."

[DracoOmega]

>Let's get our people together and give this a try

[Oldmansour]

>Let's get our people together and give this a try

>Leaving the wounded mikos to Hiyori, you form your own little circle with White Rose, Chrysanthemum and Pink Carnation. You all join hands to start the operation. This promises to be a tricky one. Setting aside the power level of the people involved, you've never tried to do anything like this before. The closest thing you've ever experienced like the Blood's jamming field was Satori's psychic power, and you came out second best on that exchange. Of course that time you'd been ambushed, poisoned and only had half as many friends with you.
>Being outside the airport doesn't make the sensation of the jamming field any more pleasant, but it is necessary to pull this off. It lies over the building, and slightly beyond it, like a blanket made of thorns and sawgrass, smothering psychic energies not belonging to the Blood. There's only so much you can glean about the power itself; without proximity to a Jewel, you don't have the same insight into their power that you gained against the Stuntrons.
>Still, that doesn't mean you have no ideas. Every blanket has corners, and no blanket, no matter how heavy, can't be lifted off. This trick with this blanket will be finding an edge you can use. Unfortunately, you cannot detect any discernible weak points, edges, within the range of your scanning. The presence of your friends augments your scanning range, but not enough to locate the sort of weak point you'd need to exploit. You think it's possible that you could make one, giving you the opportunity to break the jamming field, but that comes with complications. You're not sure how much energy it would take, and you can't guarantee the Protectors wouldn't just put the jamming back into place. You don't have enough knowledge about the Blood to know how easy or difficult it is for them to erect such a field.

[DracoOmega]

>If Kenyu is the one projecting this, do we think knowing his location specifically could help with unraveling it? If we knew the 'center' of it, so to speak?
>Rather than removing the field entirely, do we think we could maybe create a bubble around ourselves that could push it back some distance from us and effectively extend the sensory range of us and our allies?
>"Are any of you familiar with approximately how difficult or time-consuming it might be for them to reconstruct the jamming field once we removed it?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Are any of you familiar with approximately how difficult or time-consuming it might be for them to reconstruct the jamming field once we removed it?"

>"It depends on the people involved." Haruka replies. "Some Blood have an easier time than others. The Protectors are skilled at it, so normally I would assume that it wouldn't take them very long after they recover from the shock. But this case might be different. Your power may interact with theirs in unexpected ways."
>"Just a moment." Chrysanthemum interrupts. "What 'shock'?"
>"The Blood's jamming field is a psychic field. It's tied to the minds of the people creating and maintaining it. In this case, the Protectors. Shattering the field creates a psychic backlash among them. If your power was the one to disrupt the field, the backlash might be less severe than normal. Then again it might be twice as severe. I don't know. But whatever the case, it would take them time to recover from the shock and reestablish the field, especially now that they've separated."
>"How long?" the tiger asks.
>"Hard to say. But considering it's the Protectors, no more than five minutes. Unless we track down and eliminate some of them before they get the chance."

>If Kenyu is the one projecting this, do we think knowing his location specifically could help with unraveling it? If we knew the 'center' of it, so to speak?
>Rather than removing the field entirely, do we think we could maybe create a bubble around ourselves that could push it back some distance from us and effectively extend the sensory range of us and our allies?

>It's not just Kenyu, you can sense that much. They're all involved, all five of them. He's almost certainly the strongest involved, depending on which Jewel he's using for this, but you can sense enough to know that all five Protectors are involved in maintaining this field.
>Potentially. The act of pushing the field away would be unpleasant and not entirely easy, but you feel you could do it.

[DracoOmega]

>"If this might incapacitate them, even for a little while, then I think we need to be ready to exploit this. I think we can disrupt their jamming field, but I won't know for certain how much energy it will take until we try. I think everyone not involved should be positioned to sweep in the very instant the field drops - find and eliminate at least some of them before they can recover."

[Oldmansour]

>"If this might incapacitate them, even for a little while, then I think we need to be ready to exploit this. I think we can disrupt their jamming field, but I won't know for certain how much energy it will take until we try. I think everyone not involved should be positioned to sweep in the very instant the field drops - find and eliminate at least some of them before they can recover."

>"Wait, you said you drove them back. Were they sight shielded?"
>"Yes, Onee-sama." Hitori replies. "Two of them were. And we never even saw the third one."
>"Then we have no way of knowing where to look for them. And this is a big building. There's a lot of ground to cover, and hundreds of places to hide."

[DracoOmega]

>"Would the backlash from disrupting their field not leave them exposed in that regard as well?"
>"And if not, would you not be able to detect them magically, once the jamming field was gone?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Would the backlash from disrupting their field not leave them exposed in that regard as well?"
>"And if not, would you not be able to detect them magically, once the jamming field was gone?"

>"We lack the ability to track a Blood Jewel when it's not active."
>"No, but we could at least find Konpaku-sama that way." says Hiyori. "She's special."
>"True. And yes, Lotus, you're right, the backlash would most likely disrupt their sight shields. But that doesn't mean they'll be completely disabled. They could still be able to hide themselves."
>"Then I can track them." Chrysanthemum says confidantly. "I am a tiger. I can follow the scent of a human and a tengu. Especially the tengu, their scents are unique."
>Haruka nods. "Can you do the same, White Rose?"
>"Maybe." your girlfriend says after some thought. "I'm not used to tracking scents. My nose is better than a humans', but that doesn't mean I'm good at it."
>"Still, it is an advantage the rest of us don't have." She then looks down at Sen, who seems to be breathing a bit easier but is still plainly disabled. "We do have another problem, though. We can't wait for Sen to recover, we'd be leaving the other four members of our group alone against the enemy. Are you comfortable working without a partner, Lotus?"

[DracoOmega]

>Do we think we might actually be able to help her recover? The impurities in her lungs are not exactly corruptive in origin, but do we think our power might still be able to 'purify' it enough for her to get back on her feet?

[Oldmansour]

>Do we think we might actually be able to help her recover? The impurities in her lungs are not exactly corruptive in origin, but do we think our power might still be able to 'purify' it enough for her to get back on her feet?

>If the gas was in any way supernatural in either origin or content, then you probably could. But as far as you sensed, what Sen got a lungful of was run of the mill tear gas, or whatever the local law enforcement use for their tear gas. Your power wasn't designed to cure that sort of ailment.

[DracoOmega]

>Do we think Lily's power could? She did clean up some air, the other day.

[Oldmansour]

>Do we think Lily's power could? She did clean up some air, the other day.

>There's a chance at least. You wouldn't hold your breath, but it's worth asking.

[DracoOmega]

>Lily, do you think your power could help clear tear gas out of someone's lungs?

[Oldmansour]

>Lily, do you think your power could help clear tear gas out of someone's lungs?

>Uhhhh..... Hmm.....
>Excuse me. Carnation interrupts Lily's pondering, But I'm pretty sure I can help here.

[DracoOmega]

>Oh?

[Oldmansour]

>Oh?

>If you think we have the time before trying to break their jamming.
>How long would you need? Chrysanthemum asks her.
>Not very long. Just long enough to make the fruit.

[DracoOmega]

>Make the fruit?

[Oldmansour]

>Make the fruit?

>I can do more with my staff than just fight. I can use it to create fruits- or rather edible things in general- that have beneficial properties, including healing.
>Beneficial means 'good', right? Rin asks on a private channel.

[DracoOmega]

>To Rin: Yes.
>Go ahead, Minoriko. We can afford to wait a moment.
>To Haruka: "I think we may be able speed that up a little, actually."

[Oldmansour]

>To Rin: Yes.
>Go ahead, Minoriko. We can afford to wait a moment.
>To Haruka: "I think we may be able speed that up a little, actually."

>"Howso?"
>Carnation replies to Haruka, "I should be able to make something to help her breathe easier.  Harvest Staff." she intones, striking her staff on the ground. The quarterstaff glows with a golden-brown light and changes shape, transforming into something resembling a crook. "That gas was just regular tear gas, right?" she asks.
>Hiyori replies, "Mostly. The Mayoiga police use a slightly different formula than the standard."
>"Still, I can handle that. Carnation Refreshing Strawberry." A large, ripe strawberry grows from the end of her crook. The sensation of Carnation's magic itself is actually refreshing. It feels like a warm autumn breeze, thick with the scent of crops in the field ready for harvesting. Carnation pulls the fruit from her staff and kneels, offering it to Sen. "Take this, Sen. Trust me, you'll feel better."
>The teary-eyed miko fumbles a moment with the fruit, then manages to pop it in her mouth. After only a few seconds her eyes pop wide open, now clear and bright, and she inhales deeply and audibly. "Whoo!" she explains, fanning her wings suddenly, almost knocking you and White Rose over in the act. "What was in that thing?"
>"Just a little helpful magic." Carnation replies humbly.
>"Damn effective stuff." Sen says appreciately, popping back to her feet. "Hey wait, we're outside, why are we outside?"

[DracoOmega]

>"The Protectors fell back after our initial entrance and sight-shielded themselves. I wanted to try taking down their jamming field rather than pursue them while they were concealed, and there was no suitable cover near the entrance to attempt this."
>"The current plan is to disrupt it, and then have everyone else on standby to rush in the very moment we succeed - attempt to capitalize on them being stunned by the backlash."