Because it could never be that easy...

[ww_arcadia]

A little over a month had passed. Occasionally, there'd be word from inside Arcadia. Occasionally, there'd be more deliveries of food. But the uneasy peace was doomed from the start, and at least some people knew that.

Eventually the message comes. Something has been found. Something that Copy X wants to speak to them in person about, but he can't leave the city at the time. He thinks Weil is suspicious and would take advantage of any absence. But he can give them access codes to an area of Arcadia away from the human residential sections, where they can meet...

Comments

[vengeancechild]

"I don't know. I don't even know how big of a blast it will be. The best guess I can get from the game is that Ragnarok is smaller than Final Weapon was, but bigger than a single room. From that, I've been looking at the output of some of the dirty nukes used in the second and third world wars, and I'm surprised there was that much of game-me's helmet left."

"From what Gate said, the space shields work by absorbing energy instead of deflecting it like normal shields. Some of it was based off Enker's Mirror Buster. You can't just layer them on top of each other, because it still doesn't fix the problem of what to do with all the energy..." He then frowns for a moment, thinking of something... what if that energy could be redirected to a more conventional shield and the two cycled back and forth somehow to make sure one was up at all times...

But the last comment distracts him and he snerks. "You trust him not to fake it somehow?"

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"Game logic..." After all, the only other option to show the audience the protagonist is dead is to show them dying. It also made it had to guess how bad certain things were going to be and if they'd actually be survivable.

Forte seemingly gets the same idea. "What if it's layered with different types of shields, one powering the other? Gate's could be on the lower level, so when the first shield runs out of power, it's there to absorb and replenish. Then the first reactivates."

"Fake blowing up?"

[darwinsparadise]

"That could work," Zero says about the shields. "And I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to fake being about to blow up, to get us to leave. Why do he and Omega explode like that anyway? The only other 'bot I can think of that blew up with enough force to take out most of their surroundings was Sunstar."

"I think you're overestimating the force of the explosion somewhat," says Lumine, who'd managed to overhear some of this on the way over to them. "We can estimate, at least, that it destroys the station but does not vaporize it, since there are fragments that fall into orbit."

"I figured better overestimate than under."

"Perhaps, but not if it causes you to overlook options. If you must compare it to nuclear weaponry, then consider the weaker ones. Let us assume the battle area is the size of a soccer field, which I expect will be an overestimate of some amount. If the initial blast covers that entire area, then it would be a bomb no more powerful than the ones dropped at the end of the second world war."

"Which destroyed whole cities, and set peoples' clothes on fire over a mile away," says Zero, dryly.

"But the estimated temperature caused by the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, at or near the detonation point, was roughly a third of the extreme that your older brother Heat can generate," says Lumine. "The blast force itself is another matter. Your alternate was likely rendered unconscious by it, if not crushed due to being caught between it and a section of Ragnarok."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"Well I'm not leaving until I'm sure he's dead for good. Faking won't help him any."

"So we also need to worry about being crushed. Wonderful." He knows there's no simple way around this, but between the heat and threat of being torn apart by explosions, the list of ways they can die does not need to grow. "You mentioned options being overlooked?"

[darwinsparadise]

"Heat, for one," says Lumine. "He is easily able to withstand his own temperatures, which not only are three times that of a small atomic explosion, but also well in excess of what is likely to be encountered on atmospheric reentry. Armor based on the same substances should offer the same effects, providing you are completely covered, but I expect it will be heavy so you may want to be adapted for a secondary armor storage for its use."

"Secondly, while Gate's shield is generally considered the best out there, the force of the initial blast is an instance when a repellent rather than absorbent shield would be preferred. As long as it is one that allows for motion, and the area is kept clear of things you might be crushed against, this would allow the blast force to essentially eject you from the immediate area... providing the shield can withstand somewhere around five tons of pressure per square foot. Since the final battle seems to take place on the outer hull of Ragnarok, 'going down with the ship', as it were, would likely increase ionization exposure during reentry unless we could take sufficient cover inside. The ionization will be a far greater danger to us than the heat."

Zero thinks about that. "I still like the idea of layering the shields. That means the other one could kick in for reentry. I think the space shield is supposed to handle ionization well."

"As long as the ionization is blocked," says Lumine, "then once we reach atmosphere and are free of that effect, one could use a flight mode, deploy a parachute, or simply PINPoint to the Nexus and see if the anti-violence field will negate the inertia."

And here Lumine smiles, very very slightly, "Thirdly, you almost overlooked Elpizo. He won't be causing us any problems."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

"So secondary armor, clear area before everything goes boom, and make sure we have a shield that can block ionization." Another problem to deal with, but at least they know about it to deal with it. "We'll need to test the hell out of all this." Now that he thinks about it, simply PINpointing to the Nexus sounds great. Better than trying to fly, but... "What if PINpointing is blocked?"

At the mention of Elpizo and the sight of Lumine's smile, Forte has to ask, "What did you do?"

[darwinsparadise]

"Agreed," says Lumine. "I've already tested my battle form's defensive mode against Heat's weapon's system, as well as the pressure likely to be encountered. The ionization is the last remaining factor for me." Lumine considers that. "Another reason to be clear of the Ragnarok station. PINPointing could be blocked on it, or affected by the ionization, but past that should be accessible. In case it is not, I recommend a backup method for landing."

The smile gets ever so slightly wider. "Arranged certain things so that he displayed his tendency to crack under pressure, resulting in his being assigned to a position involving minimal stress and absolutely no authority over others."

[builtforbattle.livejournal.com]

Forte nods. "If it works, it might be better to leave Gospel behind for this." The wolf immediately whines at this, getting a pat from Forte. "You'll get another mission."

"Well done," he chuckles.

[vengeancechild]

"The fewer people up there the better," Zero says. Which he knows sounds like the excuse it is, until he adds, "With the way the simulation is, and the game version, there's barely enough room to dodge. Friendly fire would just make things worse."

Lumine, meanwhile, suddenly becomes shorter and primarily yellow, shifting to Heat. The reason why seems to be to avoid being recognized by Copy X, now exiting the repair building with X and Phantom.