The "Ubermission" (RW TOPIC)

Finding the spot, Duke walked over and set the collapsed "box" on the ground. There were benches near his chosen set up place, which was good since he doubted he could comfortably fit eleven other people in his shelter when it was designed for one, maybe two people. Fiddling with the controls, Duke managed to set it up, thanking Sharo's technology as usual. Unlike some places, the businesses in Sharo were pretty good at making stuff like this.

Once the shelter was set up, Duke walked inside. The sheets on the bed were still messed up slightly from when Area had sat there, but he didn't worry about it. There was a more pressing issue. He went over to the laptop and turned it on, and as soon as it had fully come on he checked the connection. Everything had worked just fine, meaning the problems in Yumland were either a bad connection or it really was the heat. He doubted the latter, though, since he had never had that problem in Netfrica.

Satisfied that all was well, he propped the door open so he could wait for other people to show up, wondering if anyone actually would. Area might, but would anyone else?

Bones slowly strode towards the large box that was conviently set up in the open area of Sci-Labs. He didn't understand the box, but he knew he needed a place to jack in anyway. He didn't want to interrupt the person in there from doing whatever he maybe doing while their in there. So he looked around and found a small port in some type of terminal he didn't have a name for. He jacked American in and then found a spot to sit near the terminal.

"Now to just go to the meeting spot and wait there until everyones finally arrived. Hopefully it won't take longer then some other times."

Shin arrived at SciLabs, AGAIN. How many times had he been here today? Three times? Anyway, Shin spotted the blue box and knocked on the door.
"Hello? Is Duke there?" Shin asked, connecting his PET back to the Netsquare.

((The door's open, silly.))

"Yeah, I'm here," came a voice from inside. Duke walked over to poke his head out and saw Shin standing there. "Ah, I see at least someone's showed up."

"Hey Duke, haven't seen you in forever," Shin replied, scratching his head and heading in, a fold-up chair magically in his hands, which he propped down and sat on.
"So, how've you been? All I notice of you are the posts at the boards," Shin asked, starting up some casual conversation. "And Shuilong's in dad's research lab in Yumland if you were wondering about him," the Asian added.

"Yumland?" Duke asked, letting Shin inside. "You should've said something, I was just there recently. I could've dropped by for a visit."

Duke sat down at the desk once again. "Yeah, I still move around just as much as I always have, so I rarely see people in person unless I plan on it ahead of time."

"Heh, a traveling mercenary of sorts I guess," Shin commented nonchalantly, leaning back in his fold-up chair.
"You probably wouldn't know where dad's lab was anyway, unless you really looked," Shin stated, shrugging. "And I still live in ACDC as my permanent residence, so come down and have a chat sometimes, I'll give you the address if you want," Shin said.

"DUKE!" shouted Area as she kicked against the side of the blue contraption, "YOU TRAVELING NUT!" She had just come at the meeting spot from Suitachi's shop and the first thing that caught her eye was the same blue box. But as soon as she walked around the corner, she noticed Duke wasn't the only one present currently. "Oh, sorry about that," she said softly and shot a glare at Duke, "You drag around this thing everywhere, huh?" She then pointed with a finger towards a tree close by and continued to speak, "I'm going to sit there."

Divinity's hologram appeared as usual again, not feeling the need to appear after stepping out of the airplane, and floated close to Area's shoulder. "Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Divinity asked, looking at Area with her pupils in the corner of her eyes, "How about an introduction to those that don't know you?"

Area sighed softly as she kept her face forwards. "I'll introduce myself once more people are here... I don't feel like repeating myself constantly," she said and walked over to the tree she had pointed at before. Taking her PET, she sat down against the tree in the shadow and started to check on Divinity's status and other things on her PET. "Besides," she continued softly as she spoke to Divinity, "I don't want to annoy someone with smoke when I give in to my urges again."

"You know," Duke sighed as he recognized Area's voice from outside. "Most people don't feel the need to yell and bang on somebody's stuff when they see them." When she pointed and said she was going to sit over by a nearby tree, he simply said "Suit yourself."

"Sorry about that," he said to Shin. "I've only known her for a few days, but I don't think she's usually this hotheaded. But I wouldn't say mercenary...nor would I say nut..."

Pianissimo's form appeared, hovering over the PET, but he was still talking to Red in the netsquare. "Roach navis, huh?" he said, catching the last bit of Red's rant.

"She seems a bit on the rough side, eh Duke? Sure she isn't a ..." Bo turned his head towards Area before he did what he was about to do. He wanted to make sure she didn't see what he was about to do. Even though she probably mostly because he practically said it out loud just to get Duke's attention. He took his thumb and his index finger of both hands and put them together at the tips. He then began to bump them against each other, as quickly as he did it he finished and went back to laying on the ledge near his terminal.

"You never know with women as mean or bitchy as they seem."

Timmy got out of the metro and walked upto the portable, looking around to see any other netops and asked. "Is Duke here? I'm here for the mission." Timmy then waited for an answer from one of the netops.

Polonius stumbles through the area, looking quite worried and a little sad. Questions popped up in his head as he tried to look for the leader: "W-w-what kinda person is this Duke person? .... Wh-who will I meet? W-will I even m-m-make friend out of this?" Finding a man in a blue sleeveless shirt, he asks timidly and looking down "A-a-a-are you D-d-d-d-Duke fr-fr-from the board?

Zan disconnected his PET from his laptop, switching the small device over to wireless as he packed his things quickly. Supposedly, the NetOps for this massive mission were going to gather somewhere in SciLabs, and since he was already in the labs he figured he would make an appearance. He turned to look at Runeknight's image on the small PET screen.

"Head over to the NetSquare and meet your companions for this thing." Zan stated.

"As you say, Sire." Runeknight responded with a salute. "Any other orders?"

"No, not really. Just a meet and greet before the fun starts. Go ahead and defer leadership to this Pianissimo fellow. He brought this thing together so there is no reason for him to not finish it. I'll head down and find the other NetOps and then I'll resume connection. Just stay out of trouble until I can bring you some BattleChips if they are needed."

"Yes Sire," Runeknight nodded as he moved off toward the NetSquare.

Zan gathered his belongings and left his father's lab, heading quickly for the elevator and dropping to the bottom floor of the labs. He greeted the secretary with a bright smile and headed out the door. Zan wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he figured that he would know it when he saw it.

As Zan wandered around outside SciLabs, we was almost immediately greeted with a familiar looking girl resting against a tree and fiddling with her PET. It had been a long time since he had last seen the girl, but he knew her brother and he was almost certain that this was Area. He raised his fedora slightly so the brim didn't obscure his vision as he approached the girl.

"Area? Is that you?" He asked. "I'm Zan, a friend of your brother Soryu." A sudden thought sparked in his memory. "Don't tell me you're here for this mass Navi mission?"

"Call me when everyone is here," shouted Area at Duke as she held her PET in her hands, keeping it slightly in front of her face. "Divinity," she spoke to her Navi, "Start the game Super Robot Wars: Original Generation 2. We'll just enjoy ourselves with that until the rest gets on. Feel free to go to the Net Square in the meanwhile." The logo of the game came on the PET's screen with the options 'Start' and 'Continue'.

"OK, done. I'll let you know about what's happening on the other side," said Divinity as she initiated the jack in process herself, "See you." And with those words, she disengaged the hologram form and disappeared to the Net world.

At the same time, Area heard a voice call her name and she looked up at the man. "Yes, I'm Area..." she muttered softly, "And yes, I am here for the mission." Thinking about why he asked that, she sighed and shook her head. "If you're trying to talk me out of it because I'm a girl, you're dearly mistaken," she said as she lowered her head to her PET's screen, "I'll survive, Zan. Now if you could excuse me..." Returning to her game she clicked 'Continue' on the screen and started to play it.

"Not at all, not at all." Zan chuckled a bit to himself. "I was merely commenting on how odd the world is sometimes. Anyway, I suppose the rest of the group is in that box?"

Zan gazed across the grass toward a strange blue contraption nestled between a few benches. He thought he recognized the design, but wasn't sure and, as such, wasn't going to comment on it. It was large, though hardly large enough to fit twelve people; at all, let alone comfortably. Zan took a few steps toward the box before remembering his manners and turning back to Area, who was already immersed in a video game.

"Well, nice seeing you. I'm going to greet the rest of the team. I look forward to working with you."

Zan smiled briefly before turning back and heading into the blue box. He looked around, seeing no familiar faces though some sparked a few memories and he wasn't sure if he knew any of these people or not. He raised his hand in greeting, removing his fedora as he did so, and turned to the man who looked to be the leader.

"Hello there." Zan said. "I am Zan Espial. I guess we'll be working together for this mission?"

Duke sighed as even more people showed up, wondering for a second why he told everybody to meet here. Social situations were never his forte, even after seven years with Swing as a navi. He settled for a couple of statements to each person talking to him.

"I would NOT pursue that line of discussion," he said to Bo, glaring slightly. "She could probably seriously injure most of the people here."
"Yes, that's me," he said to Timmy and Polonius, but didn't say anything else to those two.
"Okay, whatever," he called back to Area, wondering if he should start a game on his computer, or at least try working on one of his spare projects. After all, Area and Shin were the only people who had showed up so far that he really cared to chat with.
"Duke Rigel," he said to Zan. "Yeah, I suppose. Tell me something, though. You work with the netpolice, do you not? Why are you participating in this?" He hadn't intended it, but his distrust of organizations such as the NetPolice was starting to shine through once again. It had been seven years since they gave him a reason to not trust them (other than the occasional bout of general incompetence), but even after that was settled he remained wary.

"Heh, I am a member of the NetPolice, but I am also a NetBattler just like everyone else here. It has been a while since I've had the opportunity to really team up with anyone outside of the force, so I figured that this would be a good time to brush up on my skills and work on Runeknight's team dynamics. There is only so much that one can accomplish through solo busting and routine patrols, right?"

Zan's gaze wandered over the other faces within the blue box. Some were a bit young, though most were in their late teens or early twenties. The allure of NetBattling still claimed many children, but it was not just for kids anymore. Many, many adults still practiced with the Navi they had bought or built when they were children. Zan nodded to each person in the box in turn, offering a bright smile.

"I'm please to meet you all as well." He turned back to the leader. "Oh, and Duke, as I am sure my Navi has told yours, I am more than willing to have you call the shots on this one, alright boss?"

The shy med student nodded as the man introduced himself. He felt very cold and mysterious, like the requisite badass in TV sitcoms. He really didn't know what to do so he just replied with his name "P-p-p-p-polonius C-c-carbonum" as he looked both sides and spotted a girl with a PET. "Uh-um... Miss? Is that game formidable to hone o-o-o-o-one's dexterity?" He said, not realizing who she was since her face was so into the game.

More people, well, it WAS a 12 person mission, so there were bound to be that many. He then spotted Polonius.
"Hey Polonius! How've you been? Haven't seen you for a while!" Shin greeted, waving to his friend.
"Ah, so you've just met her, eh?" Shin commented as Duke talked about Area. "Ah, it's Soryu's sister, Area, I'm guessing. I remember her from the fortress raid couple years back, makes me feel like an old coot right now," Shin chuckled.

"Noooo," she answered Polonius in a dull tone and turned her head up to look at him. Immediately noticing his problems with talking as the stutter came in his voice, she sighed softly at this. "Do you always talk like that...?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to a side. Her elbows indicated she shrugged afterwards and she continued to talk to him, "Nevermind. This game...? No, not anything of the kind you think. It's more of a strategic game." She scooted over a bit and held her hand on the grass next to her. "Come sit here, I'll show you," she said softly with her eyes staring up at his face, "I don't bite." But realizing what she just said, she decided to add something to it, "At least, not without a good reason."