Chapter 1260 1260 That it just might work
--- Nixilei ---
"I really don't know what would be better for us. The balloon would let whoever took the suit go on a major offensive and then recover most, if not all, of their mana afterwards where as the plane wouldn't really allow for it. At the same time… if we take the plane and try to run, if we're forced into a fight because people realise we've teamed up, we could be in trouble. It's a risk either way as far as I can see and I'm not sure what the best call is. Who do you think should use the suit though?" said Nixilei.
Asteodia didn't waste any time in replying, seemingly anticipating the question, "Well I'm hoping that you can take the suit. My mana control is good, but not good enough for that damned thing. At least I wouldn't trust myself with it. I assume you would be though? You are the teams healer right?"
*Not sure I like the fact she seems to know more about me then I do her… but…* "Yes I am the team healer," answered Nixilei. "My combat skills should be up to par as well so I can accept this. Seeing as you will be the main, or at least, first driver for the other vehicle what are you leaning towards,"
"I'm afraid I don't know," answered Asteodia with something that might have been a sigh. It was hard to tell through the metal handset. "Both are good, and without knowing what Thyme has in store for us, we just can't know what would be better. Part of me wants to go with the balloon but the I've got no idea what the wind is like around the area we're going to be dropped off at.
"It could send us in a mostly straight direction… or it could be one of the stranger winds that does what it wants. I know of at least one place near where I grew up where the winds were circular essentially. Granted, I think Thyme wouldn't offer the choice of the balloon if it wasn't at least possible to win with, and if we're working together I'd still give us great odds… but how confident are you in taking out our competition?"
"Depends on what you're asking with that question," said Nixilei slowly. *And it depends on what I mean as well. I think I can certainly take out one of them. Whoever is closest I can burn mana and use my skills to force them out of the sky… but after that it would be hard.* Before it looked like she was stalling for time Nixilei continued with her answer. "I can certainly take care of one, the closest competitor to me. It might burn a lot of mana but I can guarantee you they won't survive my assault if I've got the suit on…
"But the issue arises with the other two after that. If either of them take off and just try to make time, I'm not sure I could catch them without exhausting myself. On top of that, if I get caught in a net thrown from a competitor's balloon I'll be in big trouble myself. Then there's the consideration for what to do if one of the other's picks a wingsuit as well. I'll need to meet up with you quickly to ensure we stay in the air. I doubt I can win without your help if I go all out at the start, and you would struggle to fend off an attack from a wingsuit so early,"
"Exactly the problem," answered Asteodia with a sigh. "The balloon has enough defensive options that I think I could weather the assault, or at least, not get thrown out of the air until you arrive to help. On the other hand, if we just try to run away with the plane… hmm… that's sounding more and more like a good idea as I work through it in my mind. Less that can go wrong.
"If we take the plane, I'll just need to wait for you to hop on before we really put the pedal down. It might be worth using most of my mana to take us as far away as possible then swapping drivers for a while so I can recover. It'll be cramped… and I'll probably have to sit on your lap or vice versa, but it sounds quite doable,"
"Agreed but a question, does the chair still drain you if you're not the one directly sitting in it?" pondered Nixilei.
Asteodia clicked her tongue and said, "That could be really bad if it does. I want to say surely not… but I suppose depending on how it's enchanted that's a real possibility. A dangerous one as well… if it tries to pull the mana through the other person… yeah that could get ugly…"
"I doubt it would," said Nixilei. "Thyme assured us all of the options were enchanted to the best of Thyme and their friend's abilities. Leaving a design flaw like that in it would be a major issue. We'd probably be able to call a time out and asked that it be addressed if it was going to cause issues,"
"That's a risk, relying on Thyme's goodwill to sort it out… but that is something the dryad seems to have in abundance so I can't say it's that big of a risk. So are we decided then? We're going with the plane?" said Asteodia.
"I think we're talking ourselves into it. As nice as the balloon would be, the plane seems better. The balloon has more things that we want, but the plane is better for what we need to do. If that makes sense," said Nixilei.
"Yes, it is starting to seem like that. I just hope it's right choice… though… now that I'm thinking about it. Would the wingsuit still drain you while you're driving the plane?" asked Asteodia
*I… hmm…* "Give me a moment to think here," said Nixilei. *On the one hand, the whole point of the suit is to fight other people and take their shit so that you can transition into a better vehicle for long-term flight and hope that knocking someone out didn't take too much mana. With that in mind, it would seem, on the surface at least, that the suit wouldn't drain extra mana…
But on the other hand, everyone is only supposed to have one vehicle. If you steal someone else's that's yours now, and Thyme might encourage you to if not discard, then at least, put the suit to the side. That does seem like a very Thyme thing to do… but Thyme wasn't the main mind behind the enchantments.*
"So I've thought about it… and I'd give it a fifty-fifty chance to go either way honestly. It would be a very Thyme move to force you to either abandon, or at least take off, the wingsuit. The problem is, Thyme wasn't the main mind behind the enchantments, and whoever actually did them might have intended for the suit to be kept on after you steal another vehicle, thinking of it more as a 'bonus' for taking the risk of the suit at all," explained Nixilei.
"Shit, now we're back to 'Balloon or Plane' again because I don't know if we could store the suit anywhere if we chose the plane. It might still be worth it… just chucking it over the side… but that does lose us part of the major advantage of keeping the suit around so I'd really rather we didn't have to throw it away. Which would imply the balloon is worth going for. There's definitely room in the basket for two of us and the suit… dammit," grumbled Asteodia.
"Yup, and I'm not sure if we can just ask Thyme for the answers. I'm sure Thyme can still hear us despite the silence field, but asking would probably cause Thyme to answer those questions for everyone, if they were willing to answer at all. It's not really a rule clarification, but maybe?" said Nixilei, mumbling a bit at the end before both women fell silent.
*So once again it comes down to the question of what mitigates the risks the best. The plane might still be the best option. Even if we have to leave the suit behind, that doesn't actually invalidate many of our reasons for choosing it. We can take the plane and try to run as far as possible and hopefully only have to worry about monsters…
But if we take the balloon we'd have more combat capability, a chance to rest when it becomes necessary and a nice defensible position that would take a bit to be knocked from the sky. The problem though… is that we can't outrun our competition with it, and I think that will be the final nail in the coffin that decides the matter. The balloon, nice as it is, and the potential options it could bring about… it just doesn't address the second core issue. With two people time will hopefully be a non-issue, so it will be distance that matters.*
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