"No trace? I wouldn't be too sure of that," Mach responded, indirectly referring to the recording he'd started a significant time before the battle began. He all but ignored the Navi's correct theory he was in the NeoShogunate; it appeared the NS was rather well known even outside of the NetPolice and NetMafia circles. "But you can be sure we don't want to bring down this satellite either."
The spire purged, which shed its glitches only to spread them to everyone else. The wave of energy washed over the area, which somehow left both Mach and Aera in their beachwear .GMOs. Mach came back into view, now wearing only a set of navy blue swim trunks with an orange stripe down each side. Though the rest of his armor and bodysuit were gone, his dark blue mask was still over his nose and mouth, with his vulcan still secured under his right forearm. He was a bit appreciative of the attire change, he felt oddly warm, as if the area's thermostat went up a couple degrees. It also effectively removed the trio of spider arms that swatted annoyingly at his face. Hitting the surf seemed like a good idea at the moment.
Aera's armor was gone, including her skin-tight under armor. In its place was a blue two-piece swimsuit over her blemish-less skin. Her top has an orange stripe that faces diagonally up and towards the center of her body, while the bottom's strings were orange, while the material itself was blue. Wrapped and tied around her waist was a semi transparent orange miniskirt made of a light, silk-like material that extended just above mid-thigh. The small orange straps of her top went over her shoulders and crossed behind her back to re-attach to the back of her top in an X-shaped pattern. She seemed to feel slightly the opposite of Mach, she felt the area was too cold, and would prefer to be on a beach under the warm sun. Vector, who did not have a beach .GMO, was physically unchanged, but he too had an odd desire to hit the coast.
Though the trio similarly felt the desire to hit the beach, they still had work to do. The satellite was back in a stable orbit, but its security system was still active, and its turret/gravity well combo was still a significant threat. "Aera, try to disable that gravity well system," he ordered calmly, which caused Aera to nod in response. "Will do!" she replied and looked over the console again. As she did so, she activated her primary recovery signature on Mach, which caused his body to glow green for a couple seconds. The glow quickly faded and restored a good bit of his energy. He continued to keep an eye on CrypticMan, but as he assumed the spire would try to draw them in again, he tried to prepare himself to counter or at least keep himself somewhat oriented.
Aera couldn't readily understand the symbols, but she tried to distinguish a pattern or correlation. The readout had four system statuses, and four buttons. She tried to see if any of the buttons looked similar to the system's gravity pulse, or select a button that corresponded with the GravPulse's #1 spot on the readout list. If there were no other options, she made her selection and pressed the button, hoping for the best.
ACTIONS: -[Passive Haste, [s]Accuracy Enhancement[/s], Dodge x2, Decoy x2]-
-[BeachComber and BikiniBeauty.GMOs active]-
Aera: Electro-therapy to MachMan (Heal 72 + 2TCD) -[Recharge (Heal 18]-
1. Maintain orientation and aim on CrypticMan
Aera: Attempt to deactivate GravPulse, or at least not make it any worse
Vacation in Orbit
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It may have been possible that Cryptic could see the systems that Aera was accessing opposite him, or possibly he was monitoring things some other way, but as he worked his eyes darted up to her, across the space, then back down again.
"I'm through most of the panic locks. I've just got to... Ah, brace!" his call was in time with the gravity pulse beginning again, though this time nothing really happened at all: Aera and Cryptic were equally pulled, but had sufficient cover to resist it. Mach still wasn't able to touch much of anything, but did retain his orientation and aim sight on the excessively appendaged navi even as he was dragged in. Vector... stayed right where he was, having not moved from the centre of the pulse last time.
Aera pressed a button and the display shifted. It seemed she had... probably... made a good assumption, since the new screen showed a split of two things, and this time, mercifully, they had diagrams as well as indecipherable gibberish.
The screen itself darkened out, with what was clearly a large warning, or possibly error message splashed across its centre, and she couldn't proceed any further, until, without warning, the message disappeared.
"There! Panic locks are off. It'll let you in now. Do what you can while I reset its definitions properly." CrypticMan's serious and tired-sounding voice was in stark contrast to his chilled out beach wear, but he seemed to be more or less ignoring Mach's gun-point vigilance as he worked. Either way, with the warning lock gone, Aera could examine the control settings she had accessed.
On the left, there was a diagram showing the entire spherical space, with a highlight on the focal point for the gravity pulse. There were also several other highlighted points on the picture, and if she looked at it with a keen eye, it might be recognisable as other locations that the pulse could be fixed on to draw targets. As well as the dead centre of the space, other options included the very peak of the spire, the lowest base floor, and the four cardinal points around the outside edge, at mid level. There is also a small box with a faded out 'x' in it, in the top right corner of the image, and this also looks to be a acceptable 'focus'. It appears to simply be point and touch, with a single button at the bottom of the picture, currently highlighted in orange.
On the other side of the screen, there are a series of three boxes. The first, highlighted in green, shows a small icon that looks like the turret battery, with tracer lines draw from each all towards a single focal point, which is also intersected by a beam of light. The second box show the same turrets, only they are pointed in a variety of different directions, with small motion lines on them, while in the top right corner, a smaller icon of four arrows pointing outward in each direction. The third box has the same main picture as the second, but the icon in its top right corner is four arrows all pointing inwards to the same point.
Below the three boxes, is a button identical to the one below the other half of the screen, with the exact same symbols, and also lit up orange. A clever observer might be able to deduce them both to be confirm buttons, for changing settings. Below them, at the very bottom centre of the screen, a third button bears the same symbols as the last one on the previous screen.
There was only going to be another moment or two at most before the turrets began to fire their panels again, so if she wanted to make any changes, she would need to do it quickly. While she decided, everyone's regen bugs kicked in early, giving them all a small dose of restoration, though the electrotherapy Mach received from Aera directly was quite a bit stronger. More worrisome, though it could only be the subtlest of internal sensations for Mach at the moment, and hard to notice amongst the plague of other bugs and glitches... but deprived of any sort of outlet, the bug that had affected his mechanical arms began to shift and mutate. At this stage it was impossible to tell what would happen to the corrupt infestation of code.
-=F.O.R.F.E.I.T. Foe=-
CrypticMan: 226Hp [Vacation.GMO Activated][4-Hit Shield][Upper Level, Outside][Solar][Diverted Energy][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
-=The Space Vacationers=-
MachMan: 238/270Hp [SylkCrossII: Elec/Shadow][Central Layer, Inside][Magnet][6-hit Shield][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: QuickSig: (1 Turn)][NoClip][Mind Of Their Own(3)(Carrier) - MUTATING!][SAS Glitch: Lockout: Passive Inhibitor(1): (Accuracy Enhance Blocked)][Chip Limiter][Buster Booster][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
Aera.SP: 110Hp [Lower Layer, Outside][1-hit shield][Solar][It's all SLIMY!!][Astraphobic(2)][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Active]
Vector.SP: 30Hp [Central Layer, Inside][Magnet][Poison(20)][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: QuickSig: CRASHED (2 Turns)][NoClip (Mutated)][Mind Of Their Own(3)][SAS Glitch: Lockout: Passive Inhibitor(1): (Carrier)][Chip Limiter (Carrier)][Action Booster][Tastes Minty!][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Broken]
-=The Setting=-
35% Metal [Inner Rings and walkways]
50% Solar [Outer Rings]
10% Magnet [Circle in the open space in front of the main console bank]
1 Panel each: Solar, Holy, Onsen, Broken, Broken, Broken, before the six Panel-Shooters
-=Objects=-
NAXA LRBIS24 Satellite Core: 290/500Hp [Lit up just Green][Conductive]
Panel-Shooter Turrets: 100Hp Each [Conductive][Spaced evenly on the three central most layers, all aimed at the magnet patch]
A Great Many Consoles and Terminals: 50Hp Each [Conductive]
[NoClip] The host's body has taken on phasing properties. They cannot touch the ground or objects, and can pass right through them without causing damage. They can still cause damage with attacks, and still receive damage from attacks. (Mutated: On transferring from a navi to an SP, this glitch mutates, allowing the new host to retain contact with flooring, and not fall through it, though elsewise unchanged)
[Mind Of Their Own] Some of your arms have gone haywire, and are no longer listening to their owner's commands. They seem intent upon groping and pawing at their host, for some reason, and apparently, at higher levels of glitch, tearing off anything they don't like. This glitch can be strengthened, taking over control of more arms, as many times as a host has arms to lose control over.
[SAS Glitch: Lockout] The Signature Attack System has been partially corrupted, rendering some of the host's signatures inoperable. This glitch can be strengthened, shutting down more signatures.
[SAS Glitch: QuickSig] Safeties controlling signature Cooldown have been bypassed. All signatures can be used once per turn, every turn, regardless of Cooldown. Two turns after this glitch was applied, the SAS crashes completely for an additional two turns.
[Chip Limiter] Part of the processing space for handling and processing BattleChips has become corrupted and no longer functional. As a result, No more than 2 BattleChips can be used per turn.
[It's all SLIMY!!] Everything feels like it's all gooey and slimy. Everything. This includes other navis, anything you touch, even your own armour and clothing. Even your own skin will feel slimy. In particular, the floor also feels like it's coated in slippery goo, and responding to this, all dodges are decreased by one rank.
[Transparent Armour] You're armour has gone completely transparent.
[Lightning Rod] You will now absorb electrical element attacks directed at you as healing, rather than damage.
[Astraphobic] You've gained an irrational fear of lightning bolts. This glitch can be strengthened, to expand and include other forms of electricity. Stage one is simply fear related to fully formed lighting bolts and beams. Stage two includes all visible forms of electricity and lighting. Stage three is complete Electrophobia, where anything and everything related to lightning or electricity at all induces feelings of fear and paranoia.
[All-Brace] Target is stuck in a permanent state of Bracing, even if they cannot normally do so. This automatically halves all damage.
[Beach Time..?] You feel like you are at the beach, or must surely get to one. You want nothing more than to go to the beach. If you have swim-wear, you want to wear it, so as to go to the beach. You will not forget your towel; if you have one, you'll sling it over your shoulders (if you have them...) What really matters, right now... is that you all find a beach somewhere, and go enjoy it!
[Diverted Energy] Some of your processing action has been diverted and precluded. You receive two free actions of a single basic buster shot per turn, that cannot be modified or augmented in any way, but have one less action as a result.
[Buster Booster] Glitch boosting the general strength of the host's standard buster, or default attack, in SPs. All buster stats are increased by one, and SP attacks increased by a flat 10.
[Action Booster] Host is imbued with greater than normal alacrity, granting an additional action each turn (up to a maximum of 6)
[Tastes Minty!] The host begins to smell faintly of fresh mint, and will also taste like minty as well, if they are licked or tasted in any way. Curiously, this glitch can interact with the [It's All SLIMY!!] glitch, in that a carrier of the Slimy glitch licking a carrier of the Minty glitch will have the sensation of tasting mint jelly.
[Regen(10)] Carrier will spontaneously regenerate 10Hp per turn that they have this glitch.
[Scizothermia] The carrier's internal temperature regulation has shorted slightly, and begun to fluctuate, resulting in the host beginning to feel alternately just a little bit too warm, or a little bit too cold. The strength, extent, and speed of the fluctuations are highly variable, and differ from victim to victim.
"I'm through most of the panic locks. I've just got to... Ah, brace!" his call was in time with the gravity pulse beginning again, though this time nothing really happened at all: Aera and Cryptic were equally pulled, but had sufficient cover to resist it. Mach still wasn't able to touch much of anything, but did retain his orientation and aim sight on the excessively appendaged navi even as he was dragged in. Vector... stayed right where he was, having not moved from the centre of the pulse last time.
Aera pressed a button and the display shifted. It seemed she had... probably... made a good assumption, since the new screen showed a split of two things, and this time, mercifully, they had diagrams as well as indecipherable gibberish.
The screen itself darkened out, with what was clearly a large warning, or possibly error message splashed across its centre, and she couldn't proceed any further, until, without warning, the message disappeared.
"There! Panic locks are off. It'll let you in now. Do what you can while I reset its definitions properly." CrypticMan's serious and tired-sounding voice was in stark contrast to his chilled out beach wear, but he seemed to be more or less ignoring Mach's gun-point vigilance as he worked. Either way, with the warning lock gone, Aera could examine the control settings she had accessed.
On the left, there was a diagram showing the entire spherical space, with a highlight on the focal point for the gravity pulse. There were also several other highlighted points on the picture, and if she looked at it with a keen eye, it might be recognisable as other locations that the pulse could be fixed on to draw targets. As well as the dead centre of the space, other options included the very peak of the spire, the lowest base floor, and the four cardinal points around the outside edge, at mid level. There is also a small box with a faded out 'x' in it, in the top right corner of the image, and this also looks to be a acceptable 'focus'. It appears to simply be point and touch, with a single button at the bottom of the picture, currently highlighted in orange.
On the other side of the screen, there are a series of three boxes. The first, highlighted in green, shows a small icon that looks like the turret battery, with tracer lines draw from each all towards a single focal point, which is also intersected by a beam of light. The second box show the same turrets, only they are pointed in a variety of different directions, with small motion lines on them, while in the top right corner, a smaller icon of four arrows pointing outward in each direction. The third box has the same main picture as the second, but the icon in its top right corner is four arrows all pointing inwards to the same point.
Below the three boxes, is a button identical to the one below the other half of the screen, with the exact same symbols, and also lit up orange. A clever observer might be able to deduce them both to be confirm buttons, for changing settings. Below them, at the very bottom centre of the screen, a third button bears the same symbols as the last one on the previous screen.
There was only going to be another moment or two at most before the turrets began to fire their panels again, so if she wanted to make any changes, she would need to do it quickly. While she decided, everyone's regen bugs kicked in early, giving them all a small dose of restoration, though the electrotherapy Mach received from Aera directly was quite a bit stronger. More worrisome, though it could only be the subtlest of internal sensations for Mach at the moment, and hard to notice amongst the plague of other bugs and glitches... but deprived of any sort of outlet, the bug that had affected his mechanical arms began to shift and mutate. At this stage it was impossible to tell what would happen to the corrupt infestation of code.
-=F.O.R.F.E.I.T. Foe=-
CrypticMan: 226Hp [Vacation.GMO Activated][4-Hit Shield][Upper Level, Outside][Solar][Diverted Energy][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
-=The Space Vacationers=-
MachMan: 238/270Hp [SylkCrossII: Elec/Shadow][Central Layer, Inside][Magnet][6-hit Shield][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: QuickSig: (1 Turn)][NoClip][Mind Of Their Own(3)(Carrier) - MUTATING!][SAS Glitch: Lockout: Passive Inhibitor(1): (Accuracy Enhance Blocked)][Chip Limiter][Buster Booster][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
Aera.SP: 110Hp [Lower Layer, Outside][1-hit shield][Solar][It's all SLIMY!!][Astraphobic(2)][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Active]
Vector.SP: 30Hp [Central Layer, Inside][Magnet][Poison(20)][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: QuickSig: CRASHED (2 Turns)][NoClip (Mutated)][Mind Of Their Own(3)][SAS Glitch: Lockout: Passive Inhibitor(1): (Carrier)][Chip Limiter (Carrier)][Action Booster][Tastes Minty!][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Broken]
-=The Setting=-
35% Metal [Inner Rings and walkways]
50% Solar [Outer Rings]
10% Magnet [Circle in the open space in front of the main console bank]
1 Panel each: Solar, Holy, Onsen, Broken, Broken, Broken, before the six Panel-Shooters
-=Objects=-
NAXA LRBIS24 Satellite Core: 290/500Hp [Lit up just Green][Conductive]
Panel-Shooter Turrets: 100Hp Each [Conductive][Spaced evenly on the three central most layers, all aimed at the magnet patch]
A Great Many Consoles and Terminals: 50Hp Each [Conductive]
-=The Bugs=-
[NoClip] The host's body has taken on phasing properties. They cannot touch the ground or objects, and can pass right through them without causing damage. They can still cause damage with attacks, and still receive damage from attacks. (Mutated: On transferring from a navi to an SP, this glitch mutates, allowing the new host to retain contact with flooring, and not fall through it, though elsewise unchanged)
[Mind Of Their Own] Some of your arms have gone haywire, and are no longer listening to their owner's commands. They seem intent upon groping and pawing at their host, for some reason, and apparently, at higher levels of glitch, tearing off anything they don't like. This glitch can be strengthened, taking over control of more arms, as many times as a host has arms to lose control over.
[SAS Glitch: Lockout] The Signature Attack System has been partially corrupted, rendering some of the host's signatures inoperable. This glitch can be strengthened, shutting down more signatures.
[SAS Glitch: QuickSig] Safeties controlling signature Cooldown have been bypassed. All signatures can be used once per turn, every turn, regardless of Cooldown. Two turns after this glitch was applied, the SAS crashes completely for an additional two turns.
[Chip Limiter] Part of the processing space for handling and processing BattleChips has become corrupted and no longer functional. As a result, No more than 2 BattleChips can be used per turn.
[It's all SLIMY!!] Everything feels like it's all gooey and slimy. Everything. This includes other navis, anything you touch, even your own armour and clothing. Even your own skin will feel slimy. In particular, the floor also feels like it's coated in slippery goo, and responding to this, all dodges are decreased by one rank.
[Transparent Armour] You're armour has gone completely transparent.
[Lightning Rod] You will now absorb electrical element attacks directed at you as healing, rather than damage.
[Astraphobic] You've gained an irrational fear of lightning bolts. This glitch can be strengthened, to expand and include other forms of electricity. Stage one is simply fear related to fully formed lighting bolts and beams. Stage two includes all visible forms of electricity and lighting. Stage three is complete Electrophobia, where anything and everything related to lightning or electricity at all induces feelings of fear and paranoia.
[All-Brace] Target is stuck in a permanent state of Bracing, even if they cannot normally do so. This automatically halves all damage.
[Beach Time..?] You feel like you are at the beach, or must surely get to one. You want nothing more than to go to the beach. If you have swim-wear, you want to wear it, so as to go to the beach. You will not forget your towel; if you have one, you'll sling it over your shoulders (if you have them...) What really matters, right now... is that you all find a beach somewhere, and go enjoy it!
[Diverted Energy] Some of your processing action has been diverted and precluded. You receive two free actions of a single basic buster shot per turn, that cannot be modified or augmented in any way, but have one less action as a result.
[Buster Booster] Glitch boosting the general strength of the host's standard buster, or default attack, in SPs. All buster stats are increased by one, and SP attacks increased by a flat 10.
[Action Booster] Host is imbued with greater than normal alacrity, granting an additional action each turn (up to a maximum of 6)
[Tastes Minty!] The host begins to smell faintly of fresh mint, and will also taste like minty as well, if they are licked or tasted in any way. Curiously, this glitch can interact with the [It's All SLIMY!!] glitch, in that a carrier of the Slimy glitch licking a carrier of the Minty glitch will have the sensation of tasting mint jelly.
[Regen(10)] Carrier will spontaneously regenerate 10Hp per turn that they have this glitch.
[Scizothermia] The carrier's internal temperature regulation has shorted slightly, and begun to fluctuate, resulting in the host beginning to feel alternately just a little bit too warm, or a little bit too cold. The strength, extent, and speed of the fluctuations are highly variable, and differ from victim to victim.
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Thanks to CrypticMan, Aera had access to the console, and got a fairly helpful visual display of her options. Vector tried to claw his way out of the gravity well while Mach simply teleported away in a flash of cyan light, which seemed odd because he no longer had any wings due to his .GMO... Regardless, Aera quickly selected the button with the turrets pointing inwards to a central point. She wasn't entirely sure how it would work out, but she pressed what she assumed to be a confirm button and watched cautiously from behind her console. After his attempt to escape the gravity well, Vector ran/leaped to Aera's position to put himself in a better spot on the battlefield.
Mach reappeared quickly off to the side, slightly above CrypticMan with his vulcan still at the ready. He was no longer pointing it directly at the multi-armed Navi, but he was prepared to bring the rain if needed. He sent a message to Mazer, requesting an additional two chips if things went south again. [[i]Requesting CannonBall and BigHammer2[/i]] The NetOp saw the message scroll across the top of his screen, and began to retrieve the chips. Aera continued to watch from her console to see what would happen next. If CrypticMan decided to utilize the relative lull in the battle, Aera would open the GravPulse controls and slide her finger just below the Navi's position to reposition the center of the gravity right under his feet. Upon activation, she hoped the GravPulse would pin the Navi to the ground, or at least slow him down a bit to allow her allies to hit their marks.
That would likely signal start the assault, which would consist of a torrent of armor-piercing vulcan rounds, a super dense cannon ball, and a thrown dagger-like spine. While the vulcan roared away and spewed rounds towards the target, Mach would've tried to keep with the Navi's movements to hopefully circumvent any object cover he attempted to utilize. This would've hopefully set him up well to hurl the CannonBall chip's spherical chunk of iron directly at his target. After hopefully inundating CrypticMan with a barrage metal, another teleport later would reposition Mach directly above the Navi. His goal at that point would've been to leave CrypticMan thoroughly pulverized with a swing of his BigHammer. Considering the sheer mass of its anvil-like head, executing pulverization appeared to be its designed purpose. After attempting to drive the Navi down into the floor like a nail, Mach landed the platform behind him, and dashed away in attempt to avoid a likely counterattack.
ACTIONS: -[Passive Haste, [s]Accuracy Enhancement[/s], Dodge x2, Decoy x2]-
Vector: Dodge x2
2. SCRAM Boost: Teleport out of gravity well with a good line of sight on CrypticMan (Teleport + 2TCD)
Aera: Change BatteryShot targeting (3rd option)
Vector: Move to Aera's position
((If he becomes hostile))
Aera: Reposition GravPulse immediately below CrypticMan's position
3. Rising Barrage: CrypticMan (50dmg x4 + Multi-hit + Breaking + Seeking + Impact + Knockback + Movement + BusterLock + 8TCD)
-[Movement: Keep with CrypticMan's movements]-
4. CannonBall: CrypticMan (150dmg + Break) (C)
Vector: Attack CrypticMan (40dmg Aqua + Disarm)
-[Dodge]-
5. SCRAM Boost: Teleport above CrypticMan (Teleport + 2TCD)
6. BigHammer2: CrypticMan (220dmg + Break + Impact) (B)
-[Dodge]-
Mach reappeared quickly off to the side, slightly above CrypticMan with his vulcan still at the ready. He was no longer pointing it directly at the multi-armed Navi, but he was prepared to bring the rain if needed. He sent a message to Mazer, requesting an additional two chips if things went south again. [[i]Requesting CannonBall and BigHammer2[/i]] The NetOp saw the message scroll across the top of his screen, and began to retrieve the chips. Aera continued to watch from her console to see what would happen next. If CrypticMan decided to utilize the relative lull in the battle, Aera would open the GravPulse controls and slide her finger just below the Navi's position to reposition the center of the gravity right under his feet. Upon activation, she hoped the GravPulse would pin the Navi to the ground, or at least slow him down a bit to allow her allies to hit their marks.
That would likely signal start the assault, which would consist of a torrent of armor-piercing vulcan rounds, a super dense cannon ball, and a thrown dagger-like spine. While the vulcan roared away and spewed rounds towards the target, Mach would've tried to keep with the Navi's movements to hopefully circumvent any object cover he attempted to utilize. This would've hopefully set him up well to hurl the CannonBall chip's spherical chunk of iron directly at his target. After hopefully inundating CrypticMan with a barrage metal, another teleport later would reposition Mach directly above the Navi. His goal at that point would've been to leave CrypticMan thoroughly pulverized with a swing of his BigHammer. Considering the sheer mass of its anvil-like head, executing pulverization appeared to be its designed purpose. After attempting to drive the Navi down into the floor like a nail, Mach landed the platform behind him, and dashed away in attempt to avoid a likely counterattack.
ACTIONS: -[Passive Haste, [s]Accuracy Enhancement[/s], Dodge x2, Decoy x2]-
Vector: Dodge x2
2. SCRAM Boost: Teleport out of gravity well with a good line of sight on CrypticMan (Teleport + 2TCD)
Aera: Change BatteryShot targeting (3rd option)
Vector: Move to Aera's position
((If he becomes hostile))
Aera: Reposition GravPulse immediately below CrypticMan's position
3. Rising Barrage: CrypticMan (50dmg x4 + Multi-hit + Breaking + Seeking + Impact + Knockback + Movement + BusterLock + 8TCD)
-[Movement: Keep with CrypticMan's movements]-
4. CannonBall: CrypticMan (150dmg + Break) (C)
Vector: Attack CrypticMan (40dmg Aqua + Disarm)
-[Dodge]-
5. SCRAM Boost: Teleport above CrypticMan (Teleport + 2TCD)
6. BigHammer2: CrypticMan (220dmg + Break + Impact) (B)
-[Dodge]-
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Once Aera selected and confirmed the new option for the turret battery, the box she had picked lit up green, showing that it was the currently selected pattern, though the screen remained otherwise unchanged. Though she was ready to refocus the gravity pulse, it didn't prove necessary in the end; it seemed as though receiving one beat-down was enough for the glitch navi, and he wasn't showing any signs of trying to turn the tables on Mach and co any more.
There was a heavy clank that sounded from all of the turrets as their aim locks undocked and they switched to free tracking mode. They tilted and scanned independently for a few moments, sending harmless tracer lights over everyone in the room whole the system determined... something... then as one they all focused up towards Mach. For whatever reason, it seemed as though the system had decided that, of every 'threat' present, Mach was the most important one. In a way it was kind of understandable; he'd already proven himself the toughest navi on the scene, and was, in point of order, the one that had first damaged the spire.
Even so, the sound of the turrets beginning their firing sequence on him, with slightly staggered timing, couldn't have been a wanted sound. On the bright side, several of the turrets had only broken and shattered panels to work with, which they couldn't fling particularly effectively, and with coincidentally good timing, Mach's telportation carried him away from the three that were intact.
Cryptic looked up for a moment, then back to his keys.
"Thinks you're the biggest bad here. Just keep them away from me and your girl a little longer. I'm almost done." In retrospect it was odd that CrypticMan didn't seem to immediately capitalise on the system's self-guided targeting of Mach. Perhaps he'd simply gotten too engrossed in the hacking task at hand to think of it? Meanwhile, the panels regenerated under the turrets again, this time offering ice, solar, grass, normal, poison and another normal. As they began tracking towards Mach, another beam of light, and another forceful gravitation pulled the non-clipping Mach back in, again. That had to be getting old.
The firing came next, though it was somewhat delayed as the turrets tracked back to the central area, to find Mach again. It was enough time for him to be ready for them, at least, and between artful dodging and some slight inaccuracies only two of the shots managed to contact his shields. Thankfully, they were two of the more harmless panels. Less positive was the manner in which the sickly poison from the previous shot was working its way into Vector's code, eating away at his already dangerously low Hp. It would have been worse, if not for some of his glitches working together to counterbalance it, though.
"There!" A triumphant shout from CrypticMan and the last line of lights on the spire winked out one by one. The omni-present voice spoke up, while the little polyhedron, far above, spun gently in its cradle without moving.
[New hostile definitions accepted. Recalibrating... Recalibrating... Calibrations complete. Scanning for threats... Low level viral presence in outer security net. Dispensing antiviral counter measures. Not major internal threats detected. Internal security resetting to default. Non-critical damage to core systems analysed. Danger noted as minimal. Suspected cause of orbital anomaly and other malfunctions. Dispatching request for repair and maintenance team.]
And like that, the chamber fell silent. The small polyhedron stopped spinning, the panels around the area all regenerated back to simple metal, and the turret battery folded down and flipped away out of sight once more. For the most part, everything seemed to take a deep breath; for the moment, things were... surprisingly calm. Except for Mach's left arm. Some aspect of one of his mutating glitches was making it tingle and twitch. If the bug lasted much longer, he might lose function in it. Speaking of loss of function, the override in Mach's own SAS had reached a critical stage, and the whole system crashed out. At least things seemed to be mostly over now... weren't they?
There was a crackle of electrical static, and CrypticMan blinked into sight in front of Mach, a safe and cautious distance away. He had dispelled his 'vacation' .GMO and was dressed in his original, more serious look again, and two of his many arms were folded in a displeased manner over his chest. He was still holding his plated arms to the ready, but his laser point hands had reverted to, well, hands. Overall it was the look of a navi more concerned about being attacked again, than one meaning to try anything.
"So. Where does this leave us then, big guy? Wouldn't make a lot of sense to start throwing down again, after saving each other's bacon like that, and I really have no interest in getting hurt any more. You look like you're almost a bug navi yourself. Tends to happen whenever I scrap with anyone. I can fix it for you, if you'll allow. Call it a peace offering while I work out what to do about this whole mess now." His words were blunt and less talkative than when they'd first met; more than anything, he sounded tired. Apparently he'd been telling the truth about not liking actual fighting. One of his arms drifted out towards Mach, palm up and a faint blue light glowed at the tips of his fingers. "It's a full status clear program. Just touch it if you accept, the repair code will do the rest."
It certainly seemed like the fight was over, if Mach wanted it to be, but the question of how exactly they were going to resolve their differences hadn't been answered yet.
-=F.O.R.F.E.I.T. Foe=-
CrypticMan: 226Hp [Vacation.GMO Activated][4-Hit Shield][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][Diverted Energy][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
-=The Space Vacationers=-
MachMan: 238/270Hp [SylkCrossII: Elec/Shadow][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][4-hit Shield][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: CRASHED (2 turns)][NoClip][Mind Of Their Own(3)(Carrier) - MUTATING!][Chip Limiter][Buster Booster][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
Aera.SP: 110Hp [Lower Layer, Outside][1-hit shield][Metal][It's all SLIMY!!][Astraphobic(2)][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Active]
Vector.SP: 20Hp [Central Layer, Inside][Metal][Poison(20)][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: CRASHED (Rebooting)][NoClip (Mutated)][Mind Of Their Own(3)][Chip Limiter (Carrier)][Action Booster][Tastes Minty!][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Broken]
-=The Setting=-
100% Metal
-=Objects=-
NAXA LRBIS24 Satellite Core: 290/500Hp [Passive][Conductive]
A Great Many Consoles and Terminals: 50Hp Each [Conductive]
-=Battle 10... Winding Up?=-
There was a heavy clank that sounded from all of the turrets as their aim locks undocked and they switched to free tracking mode. They tilted and scanned independently for a few moments, sending harmless tracer lights over everyone in the room whole the system determined... something... then as one they all focused up towards Mach. For whatever reason, it seemed as though the system had decided that, of every 'threat' present, Mach was the most important one. In a way it was kind of understandable; he'd already proven himself the toughest navi on the scene, and was, in point of order, the one that had first damaged the spire.
Even so, the sound of the turrets beginning their firing sequence on him, with slightly staggered timing, couldn't have been a wanted sound. On the bright side, several of the turrets had only broken and shattered panels to work with, which they couldn't fling particularly effectively, and with coincidentally good timing, Mach's telportation carried him away from the three that were intact.
Cryptic looked up for a moment, then back to his keys.
"Thinks you're the biggest bad here. Just keep them away from me and your girl a little longer. I'm almost done." In retrospect it was odd that CrypticMan didn't seem to immediately capitalise on the system's self-guided targeting of Mach. Perhaps he'd simply gotten too engrossed in the hacking task at hand to think of it? Meanwhile, the panels regenerated under the turrets again, this time offering ice, solar, grass, normal, poison and another normal. As they began tracking towards Mach, another beam of light, and another forceful gravitation pulled the non-clipping Mach back in, again. That had to be getting old.
The firing came next, though it was somewhat delayed as the turrets tracked back to the central area, to find Mach again. It was enough time for him to be ready for them, at least, and between artful dodging and some slight inaccuracies only two of the shots managed to contact his shields. Thankfully, they were two of the more harmless panels. Less positive was the manner in which the sickly poison from the previous shot was working its way into Vector's code, eating away at his already dangerously low Hp. It would have been worse, if not for some of his glitches working together to counterbalance it, though.
"There!" A triumphant shout from CrypticMan and the last line of lights on the spire winked out one by one. The omni-present voice spoke up, while the little polyhedron, far above, spun gently in its cradle without moving.
[New hostile definitions accepted. Recalibrating... Recalibrating... Calibrations complete. Scanning for threats... Low level viral presence in outer security net. Dispensing antiviral counter measures. Not major internal threats detected. Internal security resetting to default. Non-critical damage to core systems analysed. Danger noted as minimal. Suspected cause of orbital anomaly and other malfunctions. Dispatching request for repair and maintenance team.]
And like that, the chamber fell silent. The small polyhedron stopped spinning, the panels around the area all regenerated back to simple metal, and the turret battery folded down and flipped away out of sight once more. For the most part, everything seemed to take a deep breath; for the moment, things were... surprisingly calm. Except for Mach's left arm. Some aspect of one of his mutating glitches was making it tingle and twitch. If the bug lasted much longer, he might lose function in it. Speaking of loss of function, the override in Mach's own SAS had reached a critical stage, and the whole system crashed out. At least things seemed to be mostly over now... weren't they?
There was a crackle of electrical static, and CrypticMan blinked into sight in front of Mach, a safe and cautious distance away. He had dispelled his 'vacation' .GMO and was dressed in his original, more serious look again, and two of his many arms were folded in a displeased manner over his chest. He was still holding his plated arms to the ready, but his laser point hands had reverted to, well, hands. Overall it was the look of a navi more concerned about being attacked again, than one meaning to try anything.
"So. Where does this leave us then, big guy? Wouldn't make a lot of sense to start throwing down again, after saving each other's bacon like that, and I really have no interest in getting hurt any more. You look like you're almost a bug navi yourself. Tends to happen whenever I scrap with anyone. I can fix it for you, if you'll allow. Call it a peace offering while I work out what to do about this whole mess now." His words were blunt and less talkative than when they'd first met; more than anything, he sounded tired. Apparently he'd been telling the truth about not liking actual fighting. One of his arms drifted out towards Mach, palm up and a faint blue light glowed at the tips of his fingers. "It's a full status clear program. Just touch it if you accept, the repair code will do the rest."
It certainly seemed like the fight was over, if Mach wanted it to be, but the question of how exactly they were going to resolve their differences hadn't been answered yet.
-=F.O.R.F.E.I.T. Foe=-
CrypticMan: 226Hp [Vacation.GMO Activated][4-Hit Shield][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][Diverted Energy][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
-=The Space Vacationers=-
MachMan: 238/270Hp [SylkCrossII: Elec/Shadow][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][4-hit Shield][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: CRASHED (2 turns)][NoClip][Mind Of Their Own(3)(Carrier) - MUTATING!][Chip Limiter][Buster Booster][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
Aera.SP: 110Hp [Lower Layer, Outside][1-hit shield][Metal][It's all SLIMY!!][Astraphobic(2)][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Active]
Vector.SP: 20Hp [Central Layer, Inside][Metal][Poison(20)][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: CRASHED (Rebooting)][NoClip (Mutated)][Mind Of Their Own(3)][Chip Limiter (Carrier)][Action Booster][Tastes Minty!][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia][IV Broken]
-=The Setting=-
100% Metal
-=Objects=-
NAXA LRBIS24 Satellite Core: 290/500Hp [Passive][Conductive]
A Great Many Consoles and Terminals: 50Hp Each [Conductive]
-=Battle 10... Winding Up?=-
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While Aera's turret commands didn't exactly work as she would've liked, but luckily it bought them time for CrypticMan to reset the station's security network. The PA-style voice sounded much more calm as it announced its configuration change and status. It also sounded the system noted the damage was only minimal, the station wasn't in any apparent danger of malfunctioning due to damage. With that, the station reverted back to essentially how they found it, quiet and generally non-threatening. The only thing left to deal with was CrypticMan.
Mach felt his left arm twitch slightly, and felt an increasing numbness throughout the limb. Another glitch, or possibly a mutated one from the .GMO change. He glanced over to CrypticMan just before the Navi blinked in front of him. His vulcan was still active, but his arm likely wouldn't respond effectively in its current state. However, the weapon appeared unnecessary as CrypticMan adopted a purely defensive stance as he spoke. The Navi also offered to remove the glitches in Mach's programming, as a 'peace offering' partially to illustrate his unwillingness to continue fighting, and to indirectly thank Mach for his assistance. Mach stopped the recording program and downloaded a backup copy to the PET before starting another recording. He hoped the glowing light was in fact a status cure program, but he made that quick preparation in case it was a ploy to somehow inflict the memory wipe he spoke of earlier. If the glitches weren't so severe he would've politely declined the offer, but as the tingling and numbness continued to build in his left arm, he felt inclined to accept.
To show good faith, he deactivated the vulcan, which caused the weapon to fragment and disappear. "Much appreciated. Nice work with the security system," he said calmly, his eyes were caged on CrypticMan's face as he reached out with his right hand to activate the "Status Clear" program. Aera and Vector watched on, and were prepared to jump in to attack if CrypticMan's "olive branch" was actually a trap.
Mach felt his left arm twitch slightly, and felt an increasing numbness throughout the limb. Another glitch, or possibly a mutated one from the .GMO change. He glanced over to CrypticMan just before the Navi blinked in front of him. His vulcan was still active, but his arm likely wouldn't respond effectively in its current state. However, the weapon appeared unnecessary as CrypticMan adopted a purely defensive stance as he spoke. The Navi also offered to remove the glitches in Mach's programming, as a 'peace offering' partially to illustrate his unwillingness to continue fighting, and to indirectly thank Mach for his assistance. Mach stopped the recording program and downloaded a backup copy to the PET before starting another recording. He hoped the glowing light was in fact a status cure program, but he made that quick preparation in case it was a ploy to somehow inflict the memory wipe he spoke of earlier. If the glitches weren't so severe he would've politely declined the offer, but as the tingling and numbness continued to build in his left arm, he felt inclined to accept.
To show good faith, he deactivated the vulcan, which caused the weapon to fragment and disappear. "Much appreciated. Nice work with the security system," he said calmly, his eyes were caged on CrypticMan's face as he reached out with his right hand to activate the "Status Clear" program. Aera and Vector watched on, and were prepared to jump in to attack if CrypticMan's "olive branch" was actually a trap.
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As Mach tentatively accepted the small ball of light, the effect was mercifully immediate, sending a dense all-systems restore through his body and ferreting out every last byte of corrupt code with ruthless efficiency. Indeed, the speed and effectiveness with which it cleaned up his buggy system was borderline remarkable. Perhaps it wasn't so surprising coming from a hacker navi who specialised in bugs though. Unfortunately, it hadn't seemed to occur to Cryptic to offer the same to Mach's support programs, and the cleanse itself was localised and specialised to a single entity.
A faint sensation of calm well-being remained after the program had run its course, and a certain amount of lingering sensation from having his coding so meticulously scoured remained, but any checks he might make would show that Mach was firing on all cylinders and healthy as he'd ever been. In fact, the purge seemed to have come with a buffer of HP restoration as well. Bonus. Meanwhile, CrypticMan had been thinking, and his expression was not pleased.
"So, it's like this. Knowledge is power, and right now, you know things you shouldn't. That gives you the power in this situation. My interests have been protected, and for that, thanks, even if the danger came from you in the first place. I can't take what you know away, so that only leaves one real option, if you aren't interested in aligning your own interests with ours." He put one hand to his face, pinching his nose, but even so, he chuckled at the same time, amused at something. "Zenny is going to laugh so hard at me if she learns about this..." Still laughing softly at himself, two of his hands made a diamond shape with each other, and a small glowing light formed between them, resolving into what looked a like a miniaturised blue mystery data. Likely it was just the visual skin he used for his own data packets, though. He held it easily on the palm of one hand, beside him while he looked to Mach.
"9000 in here, and a chip to remember me by. And you leave here conveniently forgetting that you saw me. You can say no, beat me around a bit more, and jack me out, but then you get nothing, and you gain nothing from doing so anyway." He looked over to Aera, then shrugged his shoulders. "I can offer something else that might be of interest to your girl, as well." A second hand extended to hover over his right shoulder, this one holding a similar miniature crystal. "You're already more powerful than some full navis I've met, but, the more you know, as they say." she'd have to come down and collect the little crystal if she wanted it, but as he tilted it bakc and forth between his fingers, the bug navi seemed to notice for the first time that she and Vector were still riddled with corruption.
"I suppose you and metal boy will be wanting a clean up too, no? No skin off my nose." Yet another hand joined the one by the crystal intended for Aera, this one containing another of the bright light balls, like the one that had been offered to Mach. A second status cure was proffered in Vector's direction as well. His gaze didn't move from watching Aera though, and he winked one colour-swirling eye. "Though it's a shame, in a way. Thought you were very pretty underneath, for a moment there. And the swimsuit's not bad either." Creepy to the last, it seemed.
If Mach and the others accepted, The main data packet would indeed channel a direct 9000z to Mach, as well as fairly hard to come by chip, listing itself as BugChain. If accepted and opened, Aera's crystal would offer up 85 BugFrags, though at first if she reached for it, he would tilt it away for a moment with a grin, murmuring "Careful... Potent and volatile, these ones. Enjoy." before relinquishing it to her. Likewise, the status purges, if accepted, would do as the first had for Mach.
Of course, they didn't need to accept his offer.
-=F.O.R.F.E.I.T. Foe=-
CrypticMan: 236Hp [4-Hit Shield][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][Diverted Energy][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
-=The Space Vacationers=-
MachMan: 270/270Hp [SylkCrossII: Elec/Shadow][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][4-hit Shield]
Aera.SP: 110Hp/110Hp [Lower Layer, Outside][1-hit shield][Metal][It's all SLIMY!!][Astraphobic(2)][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia](-Cured if accepted) [IV Active]
Vector.SP: 20Hp (110 if accepted)/110Hp [Central Layer, Inside][Metal][Poison(20)][Lightning Rod][Transparent Armour][Astraphobic(1)][It's all SLIMY!!][SAS Glitch: CRASHED (Rebooting)][NoClip (Mutated)][Mind Of Their Own(3)][Chip Limiter (Carrier)][Action Booster][Tastes Minty!][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia](-Cured if Accepted)[IV Broken]
-=The Setting=-
100% Metal
-=Objects=-
NAXA LRBIS24 Satellite Core: 290/500Hp [Passive][Conductive]
A Great Many Consoles and Terminals: 50Hp Each [Conductive]
-=Battle 10... Winding Up?=-
A faint sensation of calm well-being remained after the program had run its course, and a certain amount of lingering sensation from having his coding so meticulously scoured remained, but any checks he might make would show that Mach was firing on all cylinders and healthy as he'd ever been. In fact, the purge seemed to have come with a buffer of HP restoration as well. Bonus. Meanwhile, CrypticMan had been thinking, and his expression was not pleased.
"So, it's like this. Knowledge is power, and right now, you know things you shouldn't. That gives you the power in this situation. My interests have been protected, and for that, thanks, even if the danger came from you in the first place. I can't take what you know away, so that only leaves one real option, if you aren't interested in aligning your own interests with ours." He put one hand to his face, pinching his nose, but even so, he chuckled at the same time, amused at something. "Zenny is going to laugh so hard at me if she learns about this..." Still laughing softly at himself, two of his hands made a diamond shape with each other, and a small glowing light formed between them, resolving into what looked a like a miniaturised blue mystery data. Likely it was just the visual skin he used for his own data packets, though. He held it easily on the palm of one hand, beside him while he looked to Mach.
"9000 in here, and a chip to remember me by. And you leave here conveniently forgetting that you saw me. You can say no, beat me around a bit more, and jack me out, but then you get nothing, and you gain nothing from doing so anyway." He looked over to Aera, then shrugged his shoulders. "I can offer something else that might be of interest to your girl, as well." A second hand extended to hover over his right shoulder, this one holding a similar miniature crystal. "You're already more powerful than some full navis I've met, but, the more you know, as they say." she'd have to come down and collect the little crystal if she wanted it, but as he tilted it bakc and forth between his fingers, the bug navi seemed to notice for the first time that she and Vector were still riddled with corruption.
"I suppose you and metal boy will be wanting a clean up too, no? No skin off my nose." Yet another hand joined the one by the crystal intended for Aera, this one containing another of the bright light balls, like the one that had been offered to Mach. A second status cure was proffered in Vector's direction as well. His gaze didn't move from watching Aera though, and he winked one colour-swirling eye. "Though it's a shame, in a way. Thought you were very pretty underneath, for a moment there. And the swimsuit's not bad either." Creepy to the last, it seemed.
If Mach and the others accepted, The main data packet would indeed channel a direct 9000z to Mach, as well as fairly hard to come by chip, listing itself as BugChain. If accepted and opened, Aera's crystal would offer up 85 BugFrags, though at first if she reached for it, he would tilt it away for a moment with a grin, murmuring "Careful... Potent and volatile, these ones. Enjoy." before relinquishing it to her. Likewise, the status purges, if accepted, would do as the first had for Mach.
Of course, they didn't need to accept his offer.
-=F.O.R.F.E.I.T. Foe=-
CrypticMan: 236Hp [4-Hit Shield][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][Diverted Energy][All-Brace][Regen(10)][Beach time..?][Scizothermia]
-=The Space Vacationers=-
MachMan: 270/270Hp [SylkCrossII: Elec/Shadow][Central Layer, Inside][Metal][4-hit Shield]
Aera.SP: 110Hp/110Hp [Lower Layer, Outside][1-hit shield][Metal]
Vector.SP: 20Hp (110 if accepted)/110Hp [Central Layer, Inside][Metal]
-=The Setting=-
100% Metal
-=Objects=-
NAXA LRBIS24 Satellite Core: 290/500Hp [Passive][Conductive]
A Great Many Consoles and Terminals: 50Hp Each [Conductive]
-=Battle 10... Winding Up?=-
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Mach watched the light flow over his hand and spread throughout his body, and grinned at the fact his temporary trust wasn't entirely misplaced. The light disappeared quickly and left Mach's default form behind. Since the battle was effectively over, the SylkCross was no longer needed. His blue and orange armor was back at its normal sheen, and without that annoying slimy texture. His wings floated behind him, each of their three parts slid and clicked slightly as they recalibrated and performed a quick bit check. Mazer was pleased to see the myriad of system error messages and warnings close out, only to be replaced with "green" diagnostic readouts and statuses.
While Aera and Vector didn't benefit from the program, their appearances changed due to Mach deactivating the SylkCross. Aera's two-piece was replaced by her default Mach-like armor, while Vector's body fragmented into his more angular, silver-trimmed navy blue body plates. His arachnid-like eyes merged into one, before the rest of his head plates slid into position similar to that of a knight's helmet. The two made their way back to Mach, taking up flanking positions just behind the Navi.
Mach listened calmly and looked CrypticMan in the eye as the Navi spoke. With his systems restored fully, he was just a second or two away from warping back into action, but CrypticMan's monologue turned to a bargain. He materialized a data packet and continued, explaining its contents. [So... hush money,] Mazer thought upon hearing the Navi's offer. [not like we have much choice; but let's see what Mach has to say.] CrypticMan also offered up a little extra for Aera, as well as a full system clear for both herself and Vector. Aera's frustration with CrypticMan did a good job covering up her lingering embarrassment, which was again brought up by the multi-limbed Navi. She responded with his creepy compliment with an unamused frown, while Mach wasn't entirely sure what CrypticMan was referring to with his "pretty underneath comment," as his own view was blocked at that brief moment.
Back to the business at hand... "Interesting offer," Mach responded as he slowly crossed his arms. "I'll overlook the fact this is a bribe, and accept with one caveat. It's unlikely our next encounter will end so diplomatically. I assume that's no surprise to you." Mach carefully accepted the mini BMD, and let it open just long enough for him to identify the contents, then kept the items on his person, not electing to upload them to the PET, at least not just yet. [[i]Mazer, see if you can set up a file drop point to quarantine & thoroughly scan/scrub. Wouldn't be surprised CrypticMan bugged them, especially can't expose them to our chipfolder and balance programs.[/i]] Mazer read the text message and raised his eyebrows. [...didn't think of that, good call,] he mused before he started to see what he could do. He started to go through the PET's functions to see if he could create a private folder or something similar, something that doesn't have ready access to the rest of the PET's programs. The PET's firewall was up to date, but it likely would have the sturdiness of tissue paper when subjected to CrypticMan's bugs.
Aera and Vector begrudgingly accepted their own offerings as well. CrypticMan continued to mess with Aera, drawing the packet back before murmuring ominously. "I'll keep that in mind." she said coldly and finally obtained the data packet from CrypticMan. Like Mach, she too was hesitant to access the bribe. However, Vector and Aera didn't have a choice to access the status restore, as it would've likely activated on contact as well.
((Accept))
While Aera and Vector didn't benefit from the program, their appearances changed due to Mach deactivating the SylkCross. Aera's two-piece was replaced by her default Mach-like armor, while Vector's body fragmented into his more angular, silver-trimmed navy blue body plates. His arachnid-like eyes merged into one, before the rest of his head plates slid into position similar to that of a knight's helmet. The two made their way back to Mach, taking up flanking positions just behind the Navi.
Mach listened calmly and looked CrypticMan in the eye as the Navi spoke. With his systems restored fully, he was just a second or two away from warping back into action, but CrypticMan's monologue turned to a bargain. He materialized a data packet and continued, explaining its contents. [So... hush money,] Mazer thought upon hearing the Navi's offer. [not like we have much choice; but let's see what Mach has to say.] CrypticMan also offered up a little extra for Aera, as well as a full system clear for both herself and Vector. Aera's frustration with CrypticMan did a good job covering up her lingering embarrassment, which was again brought up by the multi-limbed Navi. She responded with his creepy compliment with an unamused frown, while Mach wasn't entirely sure what CrypticMan was referring to with his "pretty underneath comment," as his own view was blocked at that brief moment.
Back to the business at hand... "Interesting offer," Mach responded as he slowly crossed his arms. "I'll overlook the fact this is a bribe, and accept with one caveat. It's unlikely our next encounter will end so diplomatically. I assume that's no surprise to you." Mach carefully accepted the mini BMD, and let it open just long enough for him to identify the contents, then kept the items on his person, not electing to upload them to the PET, at least not just yet. [[i]Mazer, see if you can set up a file drop point to quarantine & thoroughly scan/scrub. Wouldn't be surprised CrypticMan bugged them, especially can't expose them to our chipfolder and balance programs.[/i]] Mazer read the text message and raised his eyebrows. [...didn't think of that, good call,] he mused before he started to see what he could do. He started to go through the PET's functions to see if he could create a private folder or something similar, something that doesn't have ready access to the rest of the PET's programs. The PET's firewall was up to date, but it likely would have the sturdiness of tissue paper when subjected to CrypticMan's bugs.
Aera and Vector begrudgingly accepted their own offerings as well. CrypticMan continued to mess with Aera, drawing the packet back before murmuring ominously. "I'll keep that in mind." she said coldly and finally obtained the data packet from CrypticMan. Like Mach, she too was hesitant to access the bribe. However, Vector and Aera didn't have a choice to access the status restore, as it would've likely activated on contact as well.
((Accept))
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True to his apparently bargaining intent, both SPs received thoroughly scouring status cures from the bug-navi's cleanse programs, which would leave the pair feeling like they'd been through a wringer, on one hand, but also as fully functional, healthy and strong as they'd ever been, as well, every byte of their coding picked over by such a ruthlessly thorough deep-clean.
They each received their 'rewards', and perhaps surprisingly, they contained exactly what Cryptic has said they would. Even so, quarantining the gifts initially was probably a good call. A later full quarantine scan would be able to locate, and remove, what was most likely a small tracking and relay recorder patch from Aera's frags.... If missed the worst it would have done would have been to integrate the track seamlessly into the SPs systems and trace movements through, recording whatever she did, but it certainly wouldn't cause any harm. Still, probably not something she wanted to go undetected. Looking this gift horse in the mouth was certainly the pragmatic call.
Mach's data pack also would contain a similar tracker, also easily found and scrubbed by whatever quarantine Mazer's PET could manage. All in all it seemed kinds of strange; a token gesture, almost, that such things should be found and removed so easily, considering the calibre of hacking they were dealing with. Was there more to it?
Either way, the rewards themselves were genuine and safe, and cryptic nodded at Mach's cautionary ultimatum.
"Don't worry. I don't plan on running into a navi that's quite so... combat capable, as you again any time soon. It's not really my style. A warning to you, though, big guy. Knowledge is power, and F.O.R.F.E.I.T. knows much. Weigh your alliances carefully. "
All of his arms reverted to normal hands at last, swarming about his body in a rough halo while he wasn't using them for anything. It was about that moment when the automated voice cut in again.
[Confirmation Acknowledge. NAXA Inspection Team inbound. Expected arrival in T — 1Min.]
Cryptic looked up then shook his head.
"That's my cue." He grinned and his eyes flicked from Mach to Aera. A moment later, his head slipped over to be right in front of her, stretching ahead of the rest of his body, which was dragged over to follow a moment or two later.
"And Aera... if you ever get tired of following the big guy around..." There was a brief static crackle and the navi was suddenly standing behind her, all of his many hands slipping over her shoulders and around her chest, waist and thighs in a way that would have been far worse if she were still wearing her swimsuit, but still couldn't have been pleasant as it was. "Give me a call, cutie." It only lasted an instant, fortunately, because before Aera, Vector of Mach himself could violence the navi for his invasive creepiness any further, he was gone. It was a flash that looked like his normal teleports, but this time he simply vanished from the chamber entirely. Whether he'd jacked out or simply linked elsewhere was hard to guess, but he certainly wasn't with them any more.
The trio was alone in the satellite chamber, but they weren't going to stay that way for much longer. They had maybe thirty seconds at best to decide whether to stick around until the inspection crew arrived, or to get the heck out of dodge before difficult questions could be asked. The out-bound exit was active again, if they wanted to take their chances; having been uplinked to the satellite core directly, the path would drop them out somewhere completely different from where they'd stepped into it, now.
-=Battle 10 Victory!=-
Mach Receives: 9000z, BugChain, 85 bugFrags
They each received their 'rewards', and perhaps surprisingly, they contained exactly what Cryptic has said they would. Even so, quarantining the gifts initially was probably a good call. A later full quarantine scan would be able to locate, and remove, what was most likely a small tracking and relay recorder patch from Aera's frags.... If missed the worst it would have done would have been to integrate the track seamlessly into the SPs systems and trace movements through, recording whatever she did, but it certainly wouldn't cause any harm. Still, probably not something she wanted to go undetected. Looking this gift horse in the mouth was certainly the pragmatic call.
Mach's data pack also would contain a similar tracker, also easily found and scrubbed by whatever quarantine Mazer's PET could manage. All in all it seemed kinds of strange; a token gesture, almost, that such things should be found and removed so easily, considering the calibre of hacking they were dealing with. Was there more to it?
Either way, the rewards themselves were genuine and safe, and cryptic nodded at Mach's cautionary ultimatum.
"Don't worry. I don't plan on running into a navi that's quite so... combat capable, as you again any time soon. It's not really my style. A warning to you, though, big guy. Knowledge is power, and F.O.R.F.E.I.T. knows much. Weigh your alliances carefully. "
All of his arms reverted to normal hands at last, swarming about his body in a rough halo while he wasn't using them for anything. It was about that moment when the automated voice cut in again.
[Confirmation Acknowledge. NAXA Inspection Team inbound. Expected arrival in T — 1Min.]
Cryptic looked up then shook his head.
"That's my cue." He grinned and his eyes flicked from Mach to Aera. A moment later, his head slipped over to be right in front of her, stretching ahead of the rest of his body, which was dragged over to follow a moment or two later.
"And Aera... if you ever get tired of following the big guy around..." There was a brief static crackle and the navi was suddenly standing behind her, all of his many hands slipping over her shoulders and around her chest, waist and thighs in a way that would have been far worse if she were still wearing her swimsuit, but still couldn't have been pleasant as it was. "Give me a call, cutie." It only lasted an instant, fortunately, because before Aera, Vector of Mach himself could violence the navi for his invasive creepiness any further, he was gone. It was a flash that looked like his normal teleports, but this time he simply vanished from the chamber entirely. Whether he'd jacked out or simply linked elsewhere was hard to guess, but he certainly wasn't with them any more.
The trio was alone in the satellite chamber, but they weren't going to stay that way for much longer. They had maybe thirty seconds at best to decide whether to stick around until the inspection crew arrived, or to get the heck out of dodge before difficult questions could be asked. The out-bound exit was active again, if they wanted to take their chances; having been uplinked to the satellite core directly, the path would drop them out somewhere completely different from where they'd stepped into it, now.
-=Battle 10 Victory!=-
Mach Receives: 9000
Quote (BugChain)
Effect: Bug Share
Accuracy: S
Description: Inflicts one enemy with all bugs and glitches the user is currently inflicted with. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Null
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MachMan tilted his head slightly with a quasi nod at CrypticMan's warning. If F.O.R.F.E.I.T. had the loyalty of a legitimately talented hacker Navi, it wasn't a stretch to assume they had other 'talented' members as well. Mach made a mental note to formulate a report to pass along to the Shogunate; if they weren't already aware of this group, an organization with the capability to hack satellites would be significant. He could probably drop an anonymous tip to the NP as well, if anything the report could alert NAXA to clean their systems.
Speaking of which, the station announced the imminent arrival of an inspection team. CrypticMan would likely make himself scarce, and Mach would look red-handed regardless if he were discovered by the team. True to his nature, CrypticMan signaled his time to disappear, but not after giving one last "farewell" to Aera. The Navi slithered his arms over her body, maneuvering over all of the wrong places. Aera grit her teeth and was prepared to give the Navi the shock of his life, but in a cruel twist of fate he logged out before she managed to repay his lecherous come-on. She gave a very visible shudder, which shook some of the built up static electricity from her armored body. "I never want to see that creep again. Seriously," she complained as she rubbed her arms.
Mach turned back to his SP, nodding in solidarity. "Likewise, he was scary in more ways than one. You two alright?" Aera and Vector both nodded almost simultaneously, both showing their eagerness to leave. Aera was still thoroughly creeped out, and Vector was severely low on energy. "Alright, let's bounce. Keep hold of the bugfrags, we'll deposit them in a quarantine folder for a good scrubbing. Mazer, we're ready to go." Mazer nodded and activated his team's log out function. The three quickly began to glow bright cyan before they disappeared one after the other, warping out of the area and back to the safe confines of the PET.
((Logged Out))
Speaking of which, the station announced the imminent arrival of an inspection team. CrypticMan would likely make himself scarce, and Mach would look red-handed regardless if he were discovered by the team. True to his nature, CrypticMan signaled his time to disappear, but not after giving one last "farewell" to Aera. The Navi slithered his arms over her body, maneuvering over all of the wrong places. Aera grit her teeth and was prepared to give the Navi the shock of his life, but in a cruel twist of fate he logged out before she managed to repay his lecherous come-on. She gave a very visible shudder, which shook some of the built up static electricity from her armored body. "I never want to see that creep again. Seriously," she complained as she rubbed her arms.
Mach turned back to his SP, nodding in solidarity. "Likewise, he was scary in more ways than one. You two alright?" Aera and Vector both nodded almost simultaneously, both showing their eagerness to leave. Aera was still thoroughly creeped out, and Vector was severely low on energy. "Alright, let's bounce. Keep hold of the bugfrags, we'll deposit them in a quarantine folder for a good scrubbing. Mazer, we're ready to go." Mazer nodded and activated his team's log out function. The three quickly began to glow bright cyan before they disappeared one after the other, warping out of the area and back to the safe confines of the PET.
((Logged Out))
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Mach and co logged out just a few moments after Cryptic himself, leaving the Satellite chamber quiet and empty. By a fortunate turn of fate, whatever the hacker had done to ensure that his own jack-out couldn't be residually traced, also seemed to have covered Mach and his SPs; when the team arrived from NAXA a few moments later, they couldn't find any legacy that anyone had been there. The leader of the maintenance team shook his head as he looked over the damage to the tower.
"Someone was here alright. Get us a diagnostic and check the internal security." Other navis moved quickly to comply.
"The interceptor's been accessed, sir, but it doesn't look as though anything was done, or changed, or even copied, as far as I can tell."
"Think it's our guy again?"
"I'd say so. That would make this the fifth one, right?" Even as they spoke, each of them was working on repairing the damage that had been done.
"Now if only we knew what he—"
"Or she," chipped in a small voice from the side, partially obscured by an open access panel.
"... or she, was actually up to."
"First time there's been damage though, sir. What do you make of it?"
"I think... I think this time, our mysterious hacker wasn't the only one here, and I think they weren't friends." Just then another navi approached with the security footage.
When they reviewed it, none of the assembled NAXA team were surprised to see what looked like the smiling face of a standard Mr. Prog zipping and teleporting about the chamber, rather than a navi. Clearly they'd seen it before. Any time the 'Mr. Prog' stopped at a terminal, it began to spin in place, and it was impossible to tell what was actually being done. When Mach and his allies arrived on the scene, though, they were not so neatly obscured. unfortunately for the NAXA team, the audio of the footage had been seamlessly replaced with a musical rendition of 'how much is that doggy in the window', which completely blocked all sound and conversation.
"Do you want us to see what we can find out about the other navi, sir?" He sighed and shook his head.
"No. Just because he come to blows with our hacker doesn't make him our friend. Let's not tip what little hand we have. Wait and see if he comes to us, or goes to the police, first. Give him a week to come forward on his own. If not, then do some digging."
They continued the rest of the repair job quietly, chatting about other things, though it turned out to be rather minimal work, in the end. Once the spire was at 100% again, they left, and the satellite continued its lonely trek through the planet's orbit in silence.
Unfortunately for Mach, their own recordings of the encounter wouldn't turn out to be that much more useful. On review they wouldn't appear to have been tampered with or corrupted in any way. By all accounts they would seem to be authentic and undamaged, except that, like NAXA's own security tapes, CrypticMan had been replaced by the vacantly smiling face of a generic Mr Prog. It was hard to tell how or when it had been done, especially since the recordings behaved as though they hadn't been compromised at all. Perhaps the status cures had given him the window he needed? Except the first recording had already been backed up on the PET by that point, and it had been affected too. Very perplexing. At the very least though, he'd been unable to tamper with nay of their actual memories of events, so Mach and Co. would still, at lest, be able to describe him and give their own accounts, if they wished... they just had no hard evidence to go with it.
((Mach and Co really didn't make friends with Cryptic at all... no FXP unless you actually want it and convince me that it should be calculated))
"Someone was here alright. Get us a diagnostic and check the internal security." Other navis moved quickly to comply.
"The interceptor's been accessed, sir, but it doesn't look as though anything was done, or changed, or even copied, as far as I can tell."
"Think it's our guy again?"
"I'd say so. That would make this the fifth one, right?" Even as they spoke, each of them was working on repairing the damage that had been done.
"Now if only we knew what he—"
"Or she," chipped in a small voice from the side, partially obscured by an open access panel.
"... or she, was actually up to."
"First time there's been damage though, sir. What do you make of it?"
"I think... I think this time, our mysterious hacker wasn't the only one here, and I think they weren't friends." Just then another navi approached with the security footage.
When they reviewed it, none of the assembled NAXA team were surprised to see what looked like the smiling face of a standard Mr. Prog zipping and teleporting about the chamber, rather than a navi. Clearly they'd seen it before. Any time the 'Mr. Prog' stopped at a terminal, it began to spin in place, and it was impossible to tell what was actually being done. When Mach and his allies arrived on the scene, though, they were not so neatly obscured. unfortunately for the NAXA team, the audio of the footage had been seamlessly replaced with a musical rendition of 'how much is that doggy in the window', which completely blocked all sound and conversation.
"Do you want us to see what we can find out about the other navi, sir?" He sighed and shook his head.
"No. Just because he come to blows with our hacker doesn't make him our friend. Let's not tip what little hand we have. Wait and see if he comes to us, or goes to the police, first. Give him a week to come forward on his own. If not, then do some digging."
They continued the rest of the repair job quietly, chatting about other things, though it turned out to be rather minimal work, in the end. Once the spire was at 100% again, they left, and the satellite continued its lonely trek through the planet's orbit in silence.
Unfortunately for Mach, their own recordings of the encounter wouldn't turn out to be that much more useful. On review they wouldn't appear to have been tampered with or corrupted in any way. By all accounts they would seem to be authentic and undamaged, except that, like NAXA's own security tapes, CrypticMan had been replaced by the vacantly smiling face of a generic Mr Prog. It was hard to tell how or when it had been done, especially since the recordings behaved as though they hadn't been compromised at all. Perhaps the status cures had given him the window he needed? Except the first recording had already been backed up on the PET by that point, and it had been affected too. Very perplexing. At the very least though, he'd been unable to tamper with nay of their actual memories of events, so Mach and Co. would still, at lest, be able to describe him and give their own accounts, if they wished... they just had no hard evidence to go with it.
((Mach and Co really didn't make friends with Cryptic at all... no FXP unless you actually want it and convince me that it should be calculated))