Matou Shinji and the Price of Victory (HP/FSN CYOA)

[Dracueri]

[x]​SL's Plan 2.0

[Skull Leader]

Ok New plan based on people reactions and some discord discussions as well as talking with Alf.

[x] SL's plan 2.0

The baseline seven points
Shinji - Shackle of Nullification
Andresa - "Little Bird" Recon drones (x3)
Nines - Stone of Stillness
Emilia - "Stormcrow"Attack Drone
Luvia - "Beehive"barrier drones (x3)
Draco - Ring-style Mana capacitor
Goblin - "Vigilance" Surveillance drone

The line requests in order
First request - Robe of Caged Lightning to Zelkova (3RP) - Nines performed an important role at WADA, reward him. Plus it gives the team a disable option
Second request - 10 Stimpacks (2RP) - Heal the party and the people
Third request - Wyvern Cloak for Draco - Protect the healer
Fourth request - Goblin Armor for Luvia - primary spell artillery battery lacks physical protection. Plus she is a important heiress of a magus family

[Malorius]

[x] SL's plan 2.0

This one is more in line with my vision, although still far too generous to our local Super Sayan under disguise.

Andreas' lack of Ring makes more sense in retrospect, he is not supposed to hit hard, nor his role should require last ditch effort spells, like Drako's healing.

Robe of caged Lightning seems less important in the light of Shinji's ofuda, Zelkova's barriers, and general affinity of Earth element (which several members of our team specialize in) towards containing the enemy. If anything this should be the last request, hope the order doesnt mean priority.

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 190: [x] ​SL's Plan 2.0

---

Choice 191: After careful consideration, the individual that called himself Matou Shinji settled upon a set of items he wished to requisition, with the requisition officer looking at the list Shinji had compiled and raising an eyebrow.

"With that many items, I'm going to need the Wizard-Marshal or his secretary to sign off on this before I hand anything over to you," the man said apologetically. "You understand, I trust?"

"...yes, I understand," Shinji replied after a beat, somewhat annoyed that he would have to go jump through another hoop to get his squad outfitted properly. He imagined that Pansy, when she eventually came to Albion, would not have to deal with all this bureaucratic nonsense, but if he had to play along, he would. "I don't suppose you could get things ready for when I get back...?"

"As much as I would like to, sir, I have no idea when you are coming back. With the Artificer and some of our Brethren having some of his requests evaluated, it's been a busy day at Requisitions today."

"Huh," Shinji noted. "Anything special they ordered? Something not on the usual list?"

"Aside from a Cloak of Living Flame, no," the other replied. "And before you ask, I don't think you can afford to requisition that item, what with everything else you already asked for."

"I was mostly going to ask what a Cloak of Living Flame even was," the boy noted dryly. "I'm guessing it is a cloak which protects the wearer from fire?"

"Something like that. It negates fire spells used against the wearer, gives the wearer a heat haze aura that makes them harder to hit, and of course, can allow the wearer to conjure up a cloak of fire to protect themselves at close range."

Shinji whistled. "What's the catch?"

"Oh, the person wearing it will take more damage from ice spells, but those aren't exactly common," the vendor noted, with Shinji frowning as this weakness to ice was brought up. There was one item he would certainly not be getting for himself, since he didn't exactly need an even greater weakness to ice. "Not that something like the Cloak is common, you know. When the process of creation involves the smokeless flame of a Jinn, willingly given, well..."

"...I can see how that could be an issue, yes," the boy agreed, given that in his admittedly limited experience, he didn't think most Jinn were the type to donate their essence willingly. "I'll be back soon. I hope."

Of course, whether or not that proved to be true was much dependent on what the Wizard Marshal had to say, so the boy made his way through HQ to Tomas' well-appointed office in the atrium, only to find the door closed.

Raising an eyebrow, he made to knock on it, only to nearly stumble when the door swung open, revealing the grim face of Mudbutton.

"Matou."

"Mudbutton," the boy greeted. "How are things?"

"About as one would expect," the former Goblin King noted, glancing at the sheet of paper held in Shinji's hands. "Requisitions?"

The Wizard Marshal, sitting behind his desk, held out his hand, with Shinji handing over the list.

"Another extravagant shopping list, Matou?" Tomas inquired, looking over the list.

Shinji opened his mouth to protest, only for the automaton to cut him off.


"I know, I know, you probably originally thought of a list that would take every single requisition point, reduced it down to something slightly more reasonable, and then decided why not try to get as much as you could for your squad, yes?"

Shinji twitched.

"As you can see, I'm in the middle of a meeting right now, but Viersechs will see to your request. She's right next door," the automaton noted.

"Appreciated," the boy said stiffly, exiting the office as the door closed behind him, and the door to the adjacent office opened, revealing a spartan office, whose most notable feature was the desk covered with paperwork, and the silver-haired girl sitting behind it working on the many forms.

"Come in," she said.

"Viersechs."

"Matou. You have a requisition form for me?"

"...Tomas is making you handle this business, huh?" Shinji realized.

"The Wizard Marshal has seen fit to entrust me with this duty, while he conducts debriefings for the Liberation Force's latest series of operations," the Marshal's secretary informed him. "Now, the form?"

Shinji handed the piece of paper wordlessly, with Viersechs looking it over and making a quick marks on it.

"The first seven points of equipment I can certainly approve," the silver-haired girl remarked, looking back up at him, her golden gaze meeting his eyes. "As for the rest, justify them to me. I can see the use of the goblin armor for Miss Edelfelt, but why a Cloak for Mister Malfoy and not a set of barrier drones? Why does 'Nines' need the Robe of Caged Lightning, given his abilities with Earth and mastery of ofuda and barriers? Why two sets of Stimpacks, and not simply one?"

[ ] (write-in)

(Rin's mental health roll: 19)

[Malorius]

[x] -Nines is intended to fully specialize in his area of expertise: area control, disabling of opponents and general combat support of the team. Lightning Robe provides him an angle in the opposite Element besides his own to circumvent possible unfortunate match ups. Its also important to note that the team's fighting will usually happen in areas with Muggle infrastructure, which will help to leverage the conversion ability of the Robe.
-Stimpacks are a must, since... The team contains one Matou Shinji, a person particularly notorious for dieing. A lot. So yeah, but there is also the number of the members of the squad (which isn't covered by a single 5-pack) to be outfitted with one per person, and the rest stocked by the healer. And, if logical approach fails, remember that the mission record of our protagonist points towards sudden, but inevitable escalation, so its very, very necessary to have more healing.
-Sure, smart girl, you are right. The thought was on preventing an ambush on a separated healer, but on the second thought the Barrier Drones may be a better choice.

Noticed that I've straight up stalled my hand from voting for this in expectation of SL's vote - even after we've discussed this thing for days - which shows how much I've been taking his effort for granted. My bad. Let's get the vote crafting rolling.

[Skull Leader]

Right Mal kicked me to spit out what has been milling for days now. My bad for taking so long. But I do like taking what you have come up with as a baseline and tossing ideas around never hurts in my opinion. Its open nature was never going to make this a fast vote. But anyways let us get to what I have come up with.

[x] Nine’s cloak

• Nines is intended to fully specialize in his area of expertise: area control, disabling of opponents and general combat support of the team. The robe supports this specialization as well as gives more options in neutralizing hostiles without killing them, which is essential given the police role of Homeguard.
• The Lightning Robe will diversify the available elements accessible to Nine as well as the squad as a whole. Providing Nine with Lightning, circumvents possible unfortunate match ups that would exploit his Earth nature. A weakness that is especially important to overcome due to the already strongly squad leaning towards Earth.
• It is also important to note that the team's fighting will usually happen in areas with Muggle infrastructure, which will help to leverage the conversion ability of the Robe.
• Finally, due to the cover of Nines, some exotic gear is expected to be in the hands of Nines, especially given his role at WADA. Nines currently has a disproportionate amount of gear compared to his squadmates. The cloak helps sell his cover better having an useful item that the average wizard has likely not seen before on a well traveled merc.

[X] Draco’s cloak

• Because trained Healers are rare. He might not be one fully yet but he has a gift with Yang magic that makes him costly in time and money to replace. The cloak is to ensure that he is protected from the most likely type of attacks from the enemy. In an ideal world, every troop would have this level of protection but at bare minimum the person responsible to heal the injured be protected.
• The cloak is always on. Unlike drones. It protects from attacks the person might not be aware of. Given that defensive role of Homeguard and this war in general, the initiative is far more likely to be in the hands of the enemy. We can not guarantee that barriers can and will be up in case of an attack.
• It is important to remember the cloak can not be canceled unlike barriers which might be disabled due to dispel grenades for example.
• Also to be completely fair, it has to do with Draco’s VIP status due to him being the only son of the Minster. Draco’s presence in Albion is a bit of an embarrassment to the Minister that places a target on Draco’s back; both from the ministry side as well as from misguided Citizens of Albion. Draco requires additional protection because of this.

[X] Stimpacks

• Comes from personal experience such as the lesson he learned from his battle at the Ministry and the Island. Sometimes you do not have the option to retreat either from lack of being able to or because the consequences of doing so are too horrible. So you forced to fight on, thru pain and injury because winning does not come always to the strongest or the most skill, but to the one that is last standing. Despite the personal cost to the user, the Stimpacks help ensure you can do so if the stakes is high enough. It is an important last ditch tool.
• Given the amount of powerhouses in the squad, and its 1^st squad status, his squad is likely to be needed where fighting is the worst. Places or conditions that other squads might not be suited or able to fight in. Or they might need to help relieve/extract another squad that is in danger. Stimpack importance applies to the entire team to make sure that the entire team can remain in the fight until it safe to crash.
• Two packs is required because the team is currently seven people and can’t be handled by one pack. It allows each person to carry one stimpack as a last tool. Each person controls if and when they apply it. And it ensures the tool is always available, no matter the circumstances or how split up they are.

[Malorius]

The Nines part is more presentable now, and Draco's argument isn't just handwaved, that's a solid improvement. But I just love how the first point of Stimpack discussion ia basically Shinji's PTSD talking, this is great. I'm sold, for now.

[x] SL's plan

Gonna ask some questions on the Cloak for now, but this looks good enough to be a final answer. The girl doesn't expect a debate anyway, just wants to learn our thought patterns, basically.

[Dracueri]

[x]​SL's plan

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 191: [x] SL's Plan

---

Choice 192: Shinji explained, as best he could, why he had chosen the items he had, and how he intended for them to be used, despite his limited experience being in charge of a squad. He spoke of how he intended Nines to specialize in his area of expertise, how Draco needed to be protected, given that he was the squad's only proper healer - and how he was also the son of the British Minister (and would probably be seen as a priority target for capture or summary execution), and how having a way to stand up and fight when one's back against the wall and retreat wasn't possible was sometimes necessary, given his own experiences.

"Your reasoning is acceptable," the Wizard Marshal's secretary ruled after a moment, after letting him stew for a moment under her golden gaze. "And so, I will sign off on your requested items."

"Great," the boy said with relief. "If that's all then--"

"We're not finished."

"Ah. Yes," Shinji replied, blinking. "How...how may I be of service?"

"There are several items that you requisitioned for your squad before the WADA mission," Viersechs reminded him. "Given that said mission has come to an end, Command was interested in what you will be doing with those items."

"...what are my options?" Shinji asked, trying to figure out what was expected, and what was realistic, since he hadn't thought he'd be questioned about this.

"Well, given your excellent performance, you may return them for extra requisition points, or your squad may continue to use them. Your outstanding items are a special Mystic Code, a Neverending Thermos, and a Mind Blank Amulet, each of which are worth 1 requisition point."

What will you do with the following items?

A. An ornately carved wand wrought from the tusk of some great beast, amplifying the solid and the heavy (reinforcement, gravity manipulation, repair, earth stuff)

[ ] Turn it in for requisition points
[ ] Give it to Luvia, since she is attuned to the Earth element
[ ] Give it to "Nines"
[ ] Give it to someone else
[ ] Keep it for himself

B. A Neverending Thermos of Coffee - not the best quality, but for late nights, sometimes quantity is a quality of its own

[ ] Turn it in for requisition points
[ ] Keep it for the squad


C. An amulet providing protection from mental assault and detection, effectively making him invisible to a scan via legilimency.

[ ] Turn it in for requisition points
[ ] Keep it for himself
[ ] Assign it to a squad member (write-in)

Choice 193: If you have gained requisition points from turning in items, you may add something to your requisition list, so long as you justify it.

[ ] (write-in, if applicable)

(Rin's mental health roll: 2; Aspect roll: 4 - Rin's Aspect of Pride suffers 1 point of damage)

[Skull Leader]

Choice 192:
A. [X] Give wand to "Nines"
B. [X] Keep it for the squad
C. [X] Assign it to a squad member - "Nines"

Choice 193: NA

So you might have noticed I did not give the wand to Luvia. Well frankly Luvia has not earned the use of a Mystic Code that level. She has her own stuff. Don't go giving big mystic codes to her, that is what got us in the Rin mess to begin with.

Frankly Zelkova makes as much sense to me as Luvia. He needs a wand for his cover and he is just as much Earth as Luvia. It will increase his earth ability. And maybe he can do some of the other stuff with the wand. But Zelkova unlike Luvia has earned his right to a MC. He has done so much for us.

As for the thermos, just keep it. It will help still with our squad, even if not everyone will like the stuff as much as say Tea. I see no reason why we should ditch this item.

Amulet I can see it going to Shinji but thinking on this, Shinji already has mind protection if he just restores his defenses where as Zelkova does not have the same protection. IF we want to keep Nines ID a secret we should protect Zelkova's mind.

[Malorius]

[x] Wand to 9S

Because not to Luvia. But, seriously, Zel is Earth specialist, he can make good use of it.

[x] Turn in coffee

My heart weeps, but it's for the best.

[x] Mind Blank Amulet to Andreas

Necessary to complete his stealthy intelligence officer build.

[x] Barrier drones to Zelkova

Barrier specialist gets Barrier drones, to learn a bit from their operation and to free himself for some heavy duty magic. An easy choice to please everyone.

[Skull Leader]

Ok fairly a good point about the thermos. No one left on the team really loves coffee. Might as well exchange it.

[x] Turn in coffee

for

[x] Barrier drones to Draco

Layer Draco's defense options. Sure the cloak is always on, and the barrier drones is more flexible but you know what is even better? Having both.

Given the number of items we have handed Zelkova if we give him the wand, I think we are still better to just give a barrier drone to someone other than Nines. Like draco.

EDIT: Also decided by random roll to see what to vote on since we can't agree on in person for mind blank (since none of them scream I need it)...

[X] Turn in amulet for requisition points

for

[X] a dose of Phoenix Tears to assign to Draco

[Dracueri]

[x]Give wand to "Nines"

[x]Turn in coffee for requisition points

[x]Turn in Amulet for dose of Phoenix Tears assigned to Draco

[x]Barrier drones to Draco

[Malorius]

Looks like nobody really needs the amulet, everyone has some resistance option.

[x]Give wand to "Nines"

[x]Turn in coffee for requisition points

[x]Turn in Amulet for dose of Phoenix Tears assigned to Draco

[x]Barrier drones to Draco

The dice have spoken. Tears it is.

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 192: [x] Give wand to "Nines"; [x] Turn in coffee for requisition points, [x] Turn in Amulet for Points

Choice 193: [X] dose of Phoenix Tears assigned to Draco; [x] Barrier drones to Draco

---

Choice 194: "Very well. I'll sign off on that," Viersechs noted, doing so as she spoke. "The last thing I wanted to pass along was a request from the First Citizen."

"Oh?" Shinji inquired. This had his attention.

"Since you and your squad will be staying in barracks at the Headquarters, would you be interested in leasing your Manor to the Albion for the purpose of housing diplomats and other honored guests of Albion?" Viersechs asked him. "There are few enough luxurious, well-protected facilities that provides some degree of privacy for such individuals in Britain, outside of those managed by the Association, and for obvious reasons, using theirs is out of the question."

"You know about--right, of course you do," Shinji grunted. "I take it you've been in touch with my...handler?"

"Yes. We are well acquainted with Miss Kyrielight."

"The suite on the top floor would be off limits, due to..." Shinji trailed off as he tried to think about how to word things. "It's basically a combination of my workshop and private quarters."

"Not a problem. The rest of it should be more than adequate. Besides, since you are already housing the Japanese Ambassador, we thought it would make sense for the house to become an international center of sorts - at least until we build up Embassy Row."

"Heh. So Albion is giving more thought to international relations, eh?" he mused. "Though I suppose that's not exactly a high bar to clear. Anyway, if I agreed, what's in it for me?"

"Aside from the gratitude of the British people?"

"You and I both know that doesn't exactly last very long."

"In addition to financial compensation - which can come in specie or GobCorp stock, the First Citizen would be willing to either set aside some time to see to your training, or to grant you access to a house in one of Magical Britain's hamlets. Godric's Hollow, if you're familiar with it. Or, if you'd rather, you could try to negotiate something else, though you will have to make an appointment with the man."

[ ] Decline the offer
[ ] Accept - though lower floors only
[ ] He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his

Compensation

[ ] In specie (cold, hard cash - gold, please)
[ ] In stock

And...

[ ] Personal training from Lockhart
[ ] A house in the country village of Godric's Hollow
[ ] ...maybe release Tohsaka from her oath?
[ ] Attempt to negotiate something else

(Rin Mental Health Roll: 11)

[Dracueri]

[x]Accept-though lower floors only

[x]In Specie

[x]Personal training from Lockhart

[x]Time to increase the amount of wealth Shinji has and get extra training from Lockhart.

[x]He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his

[Addam]

Meh

[Skull Leader]

[X] He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his

We need to consult Luna first. She wanted us to make decsions with her and not FOR her so in the interest of trying to place her higher than we have before, WE NEED TO DO THIS. End Stop.

[Daiki]

[x] He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his.

Probably for the best before she comes home to find out a bunch of strangers having dinner. I doubt she would refuse but since she will be around soon to discuss, might as well use the opportunity. Avoiding to repeat past mistakes might be a sign that the new Shinji is more promising than the previous - more draconic - version.

Not sure for the last choice but I would rather get more stocks in Gobcorp.

[Malorius]

[x] He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his

Such a hard vote, so much controversy. Our abandonment issues, I mean, love for Luna shines through.