Because breaking the Operator count record by just one is for wimps. This is a combo full rebirth of PaperMan/claiming of my third pair earned by Anyis's level. Rebirth justification:
Turner is an alumnus of Electown West High, and was back there recently during a round of checking the electrical systems for the local schools. He accidentally left some zenny and personal chips behind, but when the school called him back about it, he opted to just let the school take it. Having recently finally gotten a company folder, and not being that poor in the first place, Turner donated his forgotten items (out of laziness), and those chips and extra funds ended up finding themselves in the hands of the Programming Club. Yay!
Also yes, that does count up to 5 Operators for 1 Navi. I respect all the written and unwritten rules that come with multiple Operators, I will not violate those rules, and I will not troll anyone IC with my Legion-like mass of characters.
... Okay, maybe not so sure on the last one.
Operator
Name: Cliff Hayes
Age: 16
Gender: Male
==Appearance==
Like most Electopian high schools, Electown West High mandates uniforms for all students. Boys wear white collared short-sleeve shirts and gray slacks, and girls wear white sailor uniforms with gray skirts and socks. Past that, however, enforcement of the dress code is... lax, at best. Cliff would get a pass regardless, as he's medically cleared to wear a specialized pair of gray-lens sunglasses within school grounds due to a severe case of light sensitivity. That aside, he tends to favor the color red by wearing T-shirts of the type under his uniform and having red stripes on his old white sneakers.
In terms of growth, Cliff is about average as one could get out of a 2nd year high school student. He stands in at a rather unremarkable 5' 11", with a slim build that's neither particularly athletic nor bulky. The bangs of his rusty brown hair are left extremely short, such that they don't even have a chance to bother his forehead, let alone his problematic gray eyes. The sides and back of Cliff's hair are fairly normal length for a boy in comparison, so it's really just a matter of making very, very sure that his eyes and sunglasses aren't disturbed.
==Personality==
For being the nerdy captain of the nerdy club, Cliff's quite sociable as a person to his fellow club members and the student body as a whole. Maybe it's because basic programming knowledge is so integral to Net-age society that EWHS's Programming Club isn't ostracized from the school's social structure, but chances are regardless of that Cliff would get by on the natural air of competence and charisma he carries around. It may seem weird that a high school kid who's legally blind without his sunglasses presents himself as such a capable leader, but the fact of the matter is that Cliff is all too aware of his biological photophobia, having had it since birth. It might even be appropriate to say that Cliff wouldn't be as outgoing a person without the disability, as he feels almost compelled every day to prove he isn't weighed down by it.
That internal desire to overcome challenges is most likely what led Cliff to computers. Given that a bright monitor is pretty much the exact type of thing he can't look at with a naked eye, Cliff put on his sunglasses and went straight to them as a child with a strong want to conquer what everyone around him said he couldn't. The "yeah, I can do this!" mentality eventually gave Cliff a love for high-paced, fast-twitch action games as those are just about the ultimate test for his shoddy eyes. Such a head-on, brute force attack pattern reflects on the weapon Cliff programmed for Hilt, the earth-rending greatsword Ground Breaker.
==PET Modifications==
Cliff's red Link PET houses a mass-production, rudimentary AI Navi (aptly named Red) not suited for Netbattles, instead only really suited to handle necessary day-to-day functions. In regards to the Programming Club, Ground Breaker's combat data is also in this PET as remote storage for Hilt.
Operator
Name: Suzie Whitfield
Age: 16
Gender: Female
==Appearance==
Like most Electopian high schools, Electown West High mandates uniforms for all students. Boys wear white collared short-sleeve shirts and gray slacks, and girls wear white sailor uniforms with gray skirts and socks. Past that, however, enforcement of the dress code is... lax, at best. Suzie keeps her uniform itself as it ought to be, instead expressing her obligatory defiance in form of a pink wool cap atop her head. It's not super thick or insulating, so Suzie pretty much wears it year-round, every day, every hour... every minute... Not a whole lot of people can say they've actually seen her without that cap on, actually. The casual ballet pumps Suzie wears match her cap in the pinkness, contrasting strangely with her otherwise white and gray uniform.
Frankly, Suzie is a gem by programming club standards. A healthy 5' 8" 2nd year girl of decent figure doesn't walk into the consummate nerd club very often, so what would be overwhelmingly normal anywhere else is put on a pedestal here. Her chestnut hair is long enough to escape from the pink cap on all sides, particularly in the back where Suzie has it tied into a pair of neck-length pigtails, staring from just below her ears. On the flip side, Suzie's bangs aren't excessively long and don't obstruct her green eyes very much.
==Personality==
Energetic, playful, and perhaps just a bit mischievous, Suzie is much more of a lively girl than one might normally expect from a Programming Club member. Shy is a foreign concept to her, and she has an impressive ability to involve herself in just about any conversation regardless of the subject. If one had to pick out a flaw with Suzie, it'd probably be that she can come off as a pest to those that can't handle high-energy people like her. Still, she's far from the socially awkward girl most would expect of a Programming Club member (see: Maya), so quite a few students wonder why she's not involved in a more... mainstream activity.
Suzie's interest in computers is an influence of her older brother of several years, who she looks up to a lot as a role model. He had a knack for programming as a kid, particularly with graphic modeling, and Suzie was the little sister that always had to do what big brother did. As a result, little Suzie was playing with 3D polygons when she was only just learning to write her name. She's been keeping up with digital art and design as a hobby since, and after picking up an online MMO or two along the way, Suzie found the inspiration to give Hilt the magic-tracing shortsword Mana Dance.
==PET Modifications==
Suzie's pink Link PET houses a mass-production, rudimentary AI Navi (aptly named Pink) not suited for Netbattles, instead only really suited to handle necessary day-to-day functions. In regards to the Programming Club, Mana Dance's combat data is also in this PET as remote storage for Hilt.
Operator
Name: Jack Rutledge
Age: 16
Gender: Male
==Appearance==
Like most Electopian high schools, Electown West High mandates uniforms for all students. Boys wear white collared short-sleeve shirts and gray slacks, and girls wear white sailor uniforms with gray skirts and socks. Past that, however, enforcement of the dress code is... lax, at best. Jack has not bothered to button up his shirt since the third week of last school year, and to this point he has not been called out on it. This exposes his assortment of loose-fitting blue T-shirts worn underneath, which tend to match the blue and black sandals Jack favors over traditional shoes.
While a respectable but unremarkable 6' 0", Jack probably seems a little taller than his fellow 2nd year students due to a bit of a lanky build. He's not a stick figure by any claim, but a long face and limbs give the illusion that he just stretches higher than normal. Jack's platinum blonde hair is effectively colorless, and reaches a little longer than most boys' cuts to just below his jaw line. The bangs don't really differ from the rest of his hair in length, so they'd be more than enough to cover Jack's blue eyes if he didn't part them straight down the middle and far to the sides.
==Personality==
Some of his classmates might say that Jack is not an easy person to approach, but that's... well, alright, that's pretty much true. The look on his face is usually stern at best, small talk bounces off him like a tennis ball against a wall, and whenever you finally can evoke a response it's typically either curt or a bit biting. It's not that he's truly a jerk, but just... Jack is very to-the-point and doesn't care much for frivolous things. The other members of the Programming Club know this well enough, but at the same time they understand why he gets a reputation for being intimidating.
The one thing everyone can agree on about Jack, though, is that he's a huge FPS gamer. All of his attachment to computers routes back to that fact and Jack wouldn't deny that one bit. He takes a good deal of pride in his skills, being able to climb into the top 50 of the leaderboards in just about whatever shooter he picks up. By no means is he one to brag about it, but Jack is somewhat driven by a desire to, and he'd never ever admit this, impress his kid brother. Ultimately though, Jack's love of FPS games is his own, and that's pretty much what compelled him to give Hilt, the master swordsman, the curse-casting rifle Wraith 556B.
==PET Modifications==
Jack's blue Link PET houses a mass-production, rudimentary AI Navi (aptly named Blue) not suited for Netbattles, instead only really suited to handle necessary day-to-day functions. In regards to the Programming Club, Wraith 556B's combat data is also in this PET as remote storage for Hilt.
Operator
Name: Howie Brennen
Age: 15
Gender: Male
==Appearance==
Like most Electopian high schools, Electown West High mandates uniforms for all students. Boys wear white collared short-sleeve shirts and gray slacks, and girls wear white sailor uniforms with gray skirts and socks. Past that, however, enforcement of the dress code is... lax, at best. Howie has the 3 bottom buttons of his shirt undone as well as the first top one, which exposes a variety of anime-referencing T-shirt shirts that are somehow all still green. The frame of his glasses are a dark green like the wristwatch he wears with pride, claiming it's one of only a hundred of its kind in the world. Despite the otherwise clear penchant for green, Howie's sneakers are solid black from the soles to the tips of the shoelaces.
Howie is somewhat tall for a 1st year student, standing in at 6' 2", but such an observation is often lost to how fully the length of his body is filled in. He's not obese by any stretch, but Howie's chubbiness is no secret to anyone and why he doesn't (i.e. can't) button his shirt up completely. The dirty blonde hair on his head is quite short on all sides, lacking much in way of stray locks to bother his ears, glasses, or green eyes.
==Personality==
Otaku by trade and by choice, Howie is the nerd everyone knows is a nerd since he does such a good job advertising it. Anime is Howie's passion (with food in a respectable second place), and he will in fact tell you about it. He's not so drowned in Electopia's style of animation that he can't hold a normal conversation when needed, but if you give Howie the opportunity to talk about anime, you're in for the long haul. There aren't many genres he won't watch, but in a weird way he's still pretty picky as Howie's prone to critique everything he watches.
Computers are a tool of necessity for Howie, as both he and society are at a point where a single TV cannot transmit all the anime that is available to watch. Whatever games he plays are assuredly anime-inspired, be they official licenses, original productions, or the result of fandoms with too much free time. For how obsessive it all can appear, Howie's love for anime is genuine and pure, though he must fight for it at times. Howie's older sister has belittled his hobby for much of his childhood, and he's never been the least bit afraid to clash with her or anyone else who would defame the glory that is anime. This willingness to be the voice of the animated gospel (plus a particular anime he was watching at the time) is probably what inspired Howie to give Hilt the sonic katana Otonoha.
==PET Modifications==
Howie's green Link PET houses a mass-production, rudimentary AI Navi (aptly named Green) not suited for Netbattles, instead only really suited to handle necessary day-to-day functions. In regards to the Programming Club, Otonoha's combat data is also in this PET as remote storage for Hilt.
Operator
Name: Maya Ramos
Age: 15
Gender: Female
==Appearance==
Like most Electopian high schools, Electown West High mandates uniforms for all students. Boys wear white collared short-sleeve shirts and gray slacks, and girls wear white sailor uniforms with gray skirts and socks. Past that, however, enforcement of the dress code is... lax, at best. Maya doesn't rock the boat much at all in that regard, sporting only a yellow charm bracelet around her left wrist and a single hair clip of the same color. Her single-strapped brown shoes are almost what a more clean-cut school would demand, sans the tiny sunflower pins on the ends of both straps.
Being just 5' 2", Maya is short by any comparison in Electown West High, let alone her fellow 1st years. Her entire frame is very petite, which has caused a few unknowing seniors to question if she skipped a few grades. Additionally, Maya stands out from most of the local students because of her tan complexion rooted in her Yumland heritage. The jet-black hair on Maya's head is neck-length and curls a bit due to a slight natural perm, with her bangs dancing just above her chocolate brown eyes.
==Personality==
Given a childhood overrun by 3 rambunctious older brothers, it's no surprise that Maya's such a meek little thing. She's pretty nervous around other people, and speaks very softly when you can yank an answer out of her. Don't mistake that for her not wanting to talk, though, since Maya's a very kind and well-wishing girl. It really just boils down to her being very submissive and not prone to speak up, mostly influenced by those siblings being as loud as they are. Not many question why she joined the Programming Club, since Maya's so shy and reclusive that it just seems to... fit.
As is the case for quite a few people, Maya's attachment to computers comes from the anonymity that the Net offers. The lack of faces attached to voices really eases her social anxieties and lets Maya offer her opinions without the hesitation she'd have face-to-face. That's not to say she has some sort of alter ego online, and in fact Maya's still very guarded even when all anyone's ever going to know about her is her current username. Maya has tried a few MMOs with a big community focus over the years to try and build her social abilities, but that is a very, very slow process. She's not particularly proud of the issue, so it's a bit funny that she chose to encapsulate her guarded mindset in the sword she gave Hilt, the holy saber Salvaguardia.
==PET Modifications==
Maya's yellow Link PET houses a mass-production, rudimentary AI Navi (aptly named Yellow) not suited for Netbattles, instead only really suited to handle necessary day-to-day functions. In regards to the Programming Club, Salvaguardia's combat data is also in this PET as remote storage for Hilt.
NetNavi
Name: Hilt.exe
Gender: Male
Element: Wood
Subtype: Sword
==Appearance==
Hilt was intended from the outset of his making to be a swordsman, so he is a swordsman, just somehow at a glance a swordsman without a sword. His defenses seem to be equally lacking at current, sporting no better than leather gear in most places. Cuffed brown boots and dark green pants are all Hilt has equipped to his legs, and his shirt... well, he doesn't have one actually. As if it's a reminder that he's still a Navi, Hilt wears a black sleeveless bodysuit, and that serves to cover his chest well enough on its own. Black hand-length gloves stretch across his fingers for better grip, and the only things Hilt can even call proper armor are a steel left shoulder guard, secured with a leather strap across his chest, and a steel bracer equipped to his left forearm. The only other thing Hilt wears is a brown leather belt, set with multiple loops in it to hold the various amount of weapon handles that Hilt is named for.
Physically speaking, Hilt has a very well-balanced build with just enough strength to handle a greatsword effectively, yet enough athleticism and dexterity to be able to move quickly. Seemingly he's modeled after a male in his early 20s, standing 6' 1" tall with an appropriate yet not excessive amount of muscle. His green hair, slightly brighter than his pants, has medium length bangs that don't quite disturb Hilt's eyes. Additionally, the back of Hilt's hair is actually a big long for a guy, but he keeps it bound in a very short, unbraided ponytail. Those gray eyes of Hilt's are several shades lighter than his bodysuit and gloves, but also look fairly clouded over and make Hilt seem less attentive than he really is.
==Personality==
Imagine if you, a Navi, woke up for the first time to find that you had not one, not two, but five Operators, then watched two of those Operators leave, and then have two new Operators join the remaining ones. That's how Hilt's life began, and to say he handled the situation well would be criminally underselling the facts. Despite being programming by a bunch of high schoolers, Hilt is a very patient and responsible Navi, to the point that Electown West High School's administrators have actually recognized him as the vice-advisor to the Programming Club. He keeps the kids in line and focused on club activities, but he's not so stern as to not bend a little and let his Operators play games on a slow day (that's a secret outside the clubroom). In general, people trust Hilt because he gives reason to be trusted.
That said, there is one caveat to everyone's favorite role model: he's not even a year old, and is completely flying by the seat of his pants on everything. "Experienced" is one thing Hilt is not, be that in battle, in conversation, or in anything in between. It's really a common issue for any Navi made in this club system, but Hilt was placed in a particularly tight spot by being made by one of the most dysfunctional Navi-making clubs in the school region. It didn't take him long to hone his insightful guesswork into an art, but in the end that's really all it is, guessing. Hilt doesn't lack confidence, exactly, but he does feel a slight sense of uncertainty whenever he says or does anything new... which is almost everything at this point. He's committed to becoming a better swordsman and Navi, though, so his efforts to help turn around the Programming Club will never be faulted for a lack of effort.
==Custom Weapon: Sync Scabbard==
Hilt's actual weapons are kept separately in his Operators' PETs, so all he has on-hand without one of them helping are the hilts on his belt. Going through the full list of what he can have, Hilt has 5 bladed weapons, 4 swords and one bayonet-mounted rifle, each of which is made by a different Operator and has its own special element and abilities. When one of the club members assumes Operation, Hilt can materialize the sword that member made off the proper hilt he has.
Ground Breaker — Made by Cliff, this earth-element claymore is the first sword Hilt was programmed with and what dictates his assignment as a Wood Navi. It's not particularly decorated currently, but it can cut through stone and ground like butter and has many earth-aligned special attacks. Hilt can technically wield it one-handed, but in almost any situation he will hold the grip with both hands.
Mana Dance — Made by Suzie, this magic-element katzbalger isn't really made for direct slashing and thrusting, but instead using the magical pink and blue trails that spill from the blade's edge. The relative lack of decoration is pretty easy to miss amidst the magical light show Mana Dance produces, but do not assume it's all just for appearance. The magical trails effectively enable Hilt to wield the sword at range, transferring his slashes and cuts into the trails and casting them out at enemies as magic spells.
Wraith 556B — Made by Jack, this curse-element assault rifle is obviously the odd duck out, but Hilt does wield the bayoneted gun surprisingly well as a melee weapon. It's a very modern, military-grade weapon with the added twist of firing ammunition that inflicts hexes and various other misfortunes. The knife-length bayonet can manage the same trick, and can be detached from the rifle if Hilt needs for close-combat. If it even needs to be said, then yes, Hilt handles the Wraith 556B with two hands whenever given the choice.
Otonoha — Made by Howie, this sound-element katana is the best pure cutting sword Hilt has. The layering of the blade has a very wavy pattern, and Hilt can make the weapon rapidly oscillate to improve its ability to move through just about any material. In addition to that, Otonoha's ability to manipulate sound lets Hilt create sonic waves of widely varying strength, from a slight and quiet ringing to a full-force sonic boom. It isn't the longest blade in Hilt's collection (that distinction belongs to Ground Breaker), but Otonoha is hardly short and Hilt typically wields it two-handed.
Salvaguardia — Made by Maya, this holy-element saber is Hilt's best defensive weapon. The tightly-woven basket hilt protects his hand as good as a shield would, and the purifying powers of the blade itself allow Hilt to restore damage to himself and his gear. Salvaguardia's blade is curved back a little as is common with most sabers, and Hilt has found a preference for parrying with the slight hook when his bracer won't do. Along with Mana Dance, Salvguardia is one of only two true one-handed swords in Hilt's collection.
==History==
The Electopian high school system has long since recognized Netbattle as a sport, and the Electown West High School Programming Club is pretty much how the competition is regulated. It was decided that just fighting Navis wasn't educational enough, so the concept of club competition was introduced with the rule that any Navi used in a Netbattle had to be custom-made by the respective club. Several other rules set standards for fairness, but most important is the competition schedule: the early part of the school year is peppered with exhibition matches to help the clubs trial-run their Navis, before district tournaments begin, followed by regionals and then nationals.
EWHS has been pretty down in the pits for several years now, both in competition and in membership. Most fuctional clubs can turn out several Navis in the span of a student's 3-year role in his or her club, but the EWHS Programming Club has only been managing 1 Navi a year, if even that, with the bare minimum number of members to stay in place as a funded club. When Cliff, Suzie, and Jack joined the club as 1st-year freshmen, the two 3rd-year seniors laid out a plan to bring the Programming Club back up to respect that would extend past their own graduation. Effectively tanking the entire league competition that year, the Programming Club invested all its resources into making one Navi: Hilt. Made to be the best Navi of the Programming Club ever (and the only one at current), with Cliff as the new club captain, and Maya and Howie recruited to replace the graduated seniors, everyone's hopes ride on Hilt to take the Netbattle league by storm and win the national title.
==PET Modifications==
Hilt has his own, Programming Club-owned PET that's... not quite the standard Link model. It's more of a tablet, honestly, and it lacks most of the norms of a PET, including even a Battlechip port. Why is this Hilt's PET? Part of the goal in making Hilt was giving him an abnormally varied amount of combat data, i.e. his many swords, and standard PETs just didn't have the memory to contain all of that at once. The Programming Club members have taken to calling it the Sync PET, as the solution to the memory problem was to store Hilt's swords remotely on each member's Link PET and synchronize that to Hilt's PET when he needed a sword and Battlechips. It's a bit unwieldy compared to the norm, but it does have a distinct advantage in allowing the club members to swap Operation on the fly without having to jack Hilt out and transfer him between one PET and another.
==Signature Attacks==
Will be coming in a future thread, as I have shopping I want to do first.
