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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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 Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2025 2:00 pm
Urania had worked on a prototype for capturing the strange lightning that she had found on earth and her homeworld. Now she just needed a place to test it. But she had been unlucky. Here and on her world, the clouds had been in the distance — too far away to analyze much less to catch a strike. She would have to once again reach out to a member of the technology team to help. She had talked only briefly to the knight and had been in such haste that she hadn’t explained her plan yet. The senshi hastened to the meeting spot holding a long bag that was both unwieldily and heavy. ❂
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Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:18 am
Ekstrom didn’t need too many details to agree to bringing someone to her Wonder. She was always happy to share, particularly so when strange things were happening that she had no idea what to do about. Granted she’d only been doing this for just under three or so years, it was still the first time she’d witnessed any kind of lightning storm on Mercury.
Snowy, blizzarding conditions were more possible than a lightning storm in her opinion, though it wasn’t like she’d ever spent any extensive amount of time outside of her Wonder whenever she was there.
When the lightning had taken the lights for a few minutes during a visit, though, she’d gone outside and saw how thick the clouds were huddled overhead. Lightning strikes were both visible and painfully audible, and she hurried inside after witnessing a few. She was at a loss on what to do, so she left it alone. It seemed safer that way, but if someone else could figure out something about the lightning? She was more than happy to help with that.
Ekstrom had gotten to the meeting spot a bit earlier than planned, and was fiddling with a curious medallion she happened upon inside the Circuit a few visits ago when she looked up and saw Urania approaching. Her expression brightened some and she waved briefly before squinting at the long bag she was carrying.
“Evening. Need some help?”
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2025 10:28 am
Urania smiled at Ekstrom when she saw the knight waiting for her. She rested the bag on the ground. You can hear the clack of metal from the bag as she tried to place it gently. “Yes. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me. This bag is hard to handle. I wish subspace where a bit bigger so I wouldn’t have to carry it.”Luckily, she had been able to break the rod down into parts to fit in a bag. “Let me catch you up on the plan, but first, let me ask you about the lightening storms. How many have you seen on Mercury? I’ve see a few on Urania, but they were far off in the distance and I couldn’t get as close as I would like.”❂
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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2025 8:07 pm
Ekstrom couldn’t help but nod along in total agreement about the subspace comment.
“Agreed. Completely agreed. I mean, I’m grateful we have one at all, but do wish it was bigger.” It would have made lugging all of the gear she currently had set up a lot easier, she knew at least that much. “It’s okay, though. I have a wagon we can use once we get there, so you won’t have to lug the bag around.”
She gave another nod at the mention of catching her up. It only occurred to her then that she quite literally had no idea what the goal of their meeting was, just that it involved the storms.
“Enough,” came her vague answer at first, though with the way she sounded even just the one word might have been enough to express her growing worries. “The lightning strikes feel like they’re gathering around and targeting my Wonder, actually. It’s metallic, and I think there are bits and pieces that are exposed so that might be why. I haven’t looked into it too much. It feels safer to not go outside, so I decided not to unless I absolutely have to.”
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 10:34 am
“Around your wonder, huh?”Urania stopped to pondered. On her world, it seemed to cluster around the Wilds — an area she had yet to explore. On Earth, they seemed to be all over the place and unpredictable. She supposed it was different everywhere. “It might be targeting your wonder because it’s a place of power. Or it could be that it is metallic. Metal is such a good conductor of electricity. Do you know what kind of metal it’s made of? It might help with my idea. You see, I’ve been trying to capture a lightening strike and have thus far been unsuccessful. But if we know where there is likely to be a hit, I might get lucky.”Then she got very excited. “Could we go to your wonder and set up my lighting rod? I have it in my bag. I’ve tried setting it up on Earth, but I haven’t gotten a thing.”❂
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 12:23 pm
Ekstrom bobbled her head in continued agreement with everything Urania was saying, though with the question about the type of metal she shook her head. “No, I haven’t really looked into it. There’s plenty of scrap I could probably try and analyze in my lab, but all the machines are still in serious need of repairs.” It was on her list of things to do–fix everything on her Wonder that needed fixing. She would have to prioritize somehow, but she’d yet to take full stock of what exactly needed repairing.
Her lab was an obvious one, though, as soon as she came across it and saw its potential.
And there was also the small thing about learning how to use everything, and, probably more importantly, how to read everything. So far no text she’d found came in English save for the symbols for the Circuit.
Sensing the other’s excitement, Ekstrom beamed at the request to visit her Wonder. “Definitely! I’m always happy to help, and especially happy to have visitors. I’d offer visits more often to people, but I only managed to get the power back.” Her sheepish smile at the admission very briefly into a frown as she added, “And now this storm’s kind of messing with that again. The more we learn about it, hopefully we can figure out how to stop it, so.”
She extended a hand. “Whenever you’re ready!”
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2025 3:26 pm
“Machines? Have you learned what they do? I had to repair thing on my world. I basically took a thousand year nap.”She laughed, trying to make light of a hard to explain situation. She’d technically been in stasis. But by all effects and purposes, she might as well had been asleep. “Let’s say things were not in the best shape when I woke up.”Senshi born on Earth had to deal with not knowing what the items on their world were. She couldn’t imagine going home and not know what anything was. This is why she should take good notes. Someone in a thousand year might need them! “Let’s go!”❂
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2025 9:42 pm
Ekstrom gave a little shake of her head. “No, not yet. I can’t understand the language that anything is written in, but I figured if I spend enough time maybe I’ll eventually learn it?” It was a quiet hope, but she had other things she knew had to take priority over that. Not unless someone could confirm that there was information on some kind of weapon that would be helpful against these storms was buried inside this ancient text, anyway.
“A thousand-year nap…”
She bit back her question, but she looked excited about the idea. To her it was a fascinating prospect, but the last thing she wanted to do was make light of what could possibly be a very sore spot for Urania.
So rather than linger on it, as soon as they were ready, Ekstrom closed her eyes and focused.
– [ ] –
The cold that gripped her came only moments later, and when she opened her eyes she found that they were at the main entrance. The lights were dimmed, which told her that they were on backup power while the main power was out–possibly recovering from effects from the storm. Still, even in that lightning it was plenty obvious that the space was both dusty and currently in a state of needing extensive repairs. There were cleaning supplies off to the one side, but it was clear that nothing had been done yet to clean up the space. Just prep work for now. She was taking it one step at a time; if the maps were any indication, her Wonder was…sizeable, and she didn’t want to burn out.
“The storm is above us,” she started to explain as she headed toward what looked like a normal wall. Once she pressed her palm to the center and channeled her magic, though, the door came into view and it slowly opened wide for her. “Unfortunately, the only way up is by stairs outside, so whenever you’re ready we can head out.”
Her eyes flickered to the bag she’d been carrying. “Can I help you carry any of that, by the way?”
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 11:26 am
“Yes. Thanks. Can you carry half?” Urania dug through the bag. There were about a half dozen copper rods of varies lengths that looked like they might lock into each other. She handed some to Ekstrom, but her eyes were elsewhere. Ekstrom was interesting. They were in some sort of building. She watched with wonder as a door appeared only for the knight and her magic. She began to wonder if there were other secret doors. “Wow. Does the door only appear for you? That’s amazing!”❂
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2025 1:54 am
She took the offered rods and, when Urania was ready, she led the way out, stopping at a specific spot where a panel came up from out of the ground. “Kinda, yeah,” she said with a little laugh. “I’m not sure if it was locked up like that back in the day, but now it only opens for me.” Though she wondered if there was maybe some kind of blueprint somewhere that would allow a key card of some kind for guests…
Carefully balancing the rods in one arm, Ekstrom quickly repeated the gesture at the panel, soon summoning an icey stairway that led up to the surface. “Sorry, I really wish I had an elevator for this,” she said as she started leading the way up. It was a fifteen minute climb up, but if Urania wanted to study the storms there was little choice on the matter.
Eventually, when they surfaced, they were faced with an expanse of tundra all around them, with what was apparently a frozen lake behind them. Another panel appeared shortly after Ekstrom emerged from the stairway, and after again channeling magic into it, the frozen lake disappeared to reveal the wide open expanse that was the trench leading down to the entrance of her Wonder.
A bolt of lightning struck a good distance away, drawing Ekstrom’s attention to it, her expression one of mild concern. “I’m not sure how bad it can get, but we should try to be careful.” Thunder rolled in the background, which didn’t help with her worries, but they had a job to do.
“So,” she went on, determination soon replacing whatever concerns had been swimming in her eyes. Dangerous as it was…if it meant giving them some kind of advantage against whatever was coming for them, she was willing to weather through it. “What are we doing with these?”
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2025 11:27 am
“Woah!”Urania climbed the stairs and looked out upon the tundra. It was beautiful and white and, well, very cold. She shivered. She should have brought a coat. No wonder Mercury knights had so many layers to their uniforms! The senshi watched as the frozen lake turned into a vast expanse under Ekstrom’s magic. It was awe-inspiring and massive in way she hadn’t see yet in a knight wonder. She tried to keep up. “These, once we put them together, will serve as a lightening rod. Hopefully, I can capture some of the storm’s energy. That way I can analyze it and try to figure out its source.”❂
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 2:05 am
Seemed simple enough, she thought as Urania explained. A crackling in the air again drew her attention away, and she looked up just in time to watch another bolt of lightning violently strike the ground much closer this time. At least they weren’t going to be short on lightning if the last few minutes were any indication.
“Alright, lead the way. I’ll try to keep up,” she said, setting her rods down and crouching, eyes on Urania so she could see how this was meant to be done. Last thing she wanted was to mess up on putting one together and ruin her research somehow.
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2025 10:41 am
Urania found a flat surface on the ground to begin the construction. It would need to stay stable for at least one hit. A tripod was placed on the ground with one large hole in the center. She grabbed a four foot pole and placed it in the hold. Than she screwed it in. You will noticed each rod is slightly slimmer than the next so that each nest into another. “I think you have the smaller sections.”She laid it on the ground. It was growing longer and longer… ❂
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Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2025 4:55 pm
She stood back and watched Urania work, expression halfway between curious and concentrated on trying to retain what she was watching. “Smaller sections?” she asked, starting to sort through the pieces she had. While she wasn’t fully confident she wouldn’t screw anything up, it seemed simple enough. Picking out two pieces, she held them out to Urania with a questioning look.
“So I just…screw these together?”
Meanwhile, the one she was constructing looked like it was coming together nicely. Though…was this all one rod? Or more than one?
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