Crash Course

Terra looked at the three new viruses she had found, forming her observations as they came. Burning body, tense face, boxer gloves, the ones named Champu were definitely brawlers of some kind. Close-quarters combat. She could do away with them easily. The other, small white body, flapping hands, a bell-shaped thing named Powie was a mystery to her. It looked very weak, yet it did not have any weapon implements like the Metool's pickaxes.

With her knowledge of the book of Holt's Virus Behavior, Scarlet filled in the blank for her, "The Powie attacks as its name- Pow!" Terra winced at her operator's approximation of the virus's attack- "it turns into a large weight, and smacks into you."

The Navi thought about it for a while, then realized that the described way of attack would not be too hard to evade. Piece of cake, she reassured herself. Terra thought of the resources she had on hand, trying to formulate a course of action. She looked towards the floating fist near her, and grinned; a plan was forming in her mental processes. She switched the holoscreen to private mode, and requested, "I require Shotgun, please."

"On the way," Scarlet replied, tapping the requested chip's icon lightly.

Widening her legs and turning sideways to face the viruses, Terra motioned for the earth-fist to disintegrate into its component parts. The hand unceremoniously fell on the ground in a heap, five fingers, a palm, and a bit of wrist. She reached out slightly for the compartments with her hand, and they flew up to her, encasing her own gloved hand with a much stronger material.

The white gauntlet was tough, and all shines when it was finished, just like the network terrain around her. She flexed it around a bit, and the joints crackled around slightly in response. She examined it thoroughly, and saw that the Shotgun data had fused with the RageClaw, creating holes near the knuckles. Holes, which marked gun barrles. Delighted that her plan was working so far, she turned her attention back to the viruses. At any moment, they would attack her.

In her mind, she went over the plan once more. When the Champus would come to her with their powerful punches of any kind, she would step back lightly to avoid the blows. Afterwards, a leap forward would be the only thing separating her from a powerful jab with her Shotgun-imbued fist, and the Champu would be flung backwards by the force into its companion.

"Come and get some," taunted Terra.

=== Terra.EXE ===
1) Wait for attack, then backpedal, align Champus
-- Equip RageClaw1/Shotgun: Right Arm
2) Shotgun RagePunch @ Champu A + B (Null 50 / Spread1)(Null 20 / Impact)
Terra loaded the shotgun data directly into her fist, biding her time. Therefore, she was more than ready when the first of the champus charged forward to deliver a deadly flaming punch. The Navi dodged the punch, leaning away from the virus' fiery gloves, and countered with a jab of her own. The stone fist connected with the virus and sent it hurling backward into its partner. The second champu was knocked to the floor, but it somehow managed to survive the onslaught.

The powie leaped into the air, its soft body rising easily off the ground, and sailed over Terra. The virus' body shifted, hardening and dramatically increasing in weight. The powie slammed down; POW! Terra was hurled backward and rolled across the battlefield. The force of the powie's landing dislodged some of the cracked terrain, sending it plummeting into a deep darkness. A bit of the normal terrain was effected as well, deep cracks spreading in a ripple from the virus' impact point.

ChampuA: DELETED!
Powie: 60HP
ChampuB: 10hp

Terrain: 20% Normal, 60% Cracked, 20% Broken

Terra.EXE: 100HP
[Powies can float over broken terrain, if I'm not mistaken.]

Being thrown across the battlefield by a giant weight... not fun.

Terra's body had skidded to a stop after rolling a bit, the friction adding to her stop. Fortunately, she had the good sense not to have floored her face as well. She shook her head to clear off the smarting injury she had received on her arm. The skin was red where it was hit, and though it was merely graphical, she did feel like she was supposed to be hurting.

"Terra, you all right?" chimed in Scarlet. Her worry was mostly unfounded, as her battle-analysis screen showed her Navi's data integrity to be well above a critical state. Still, she blurted it out, for that little, inconsequential thing people call 'just in case'.

"I'm fine..." replied Terra, as she braced herself on one leg, before standing up straight. "I can still fight."

"You'll be fine when we get through this," Scarlet said, as she tapped the ZapRing's icon. "You'll need firepower, I think. It's the chip data we got from the last battle. Use it well."

"Will do."

Wiping a bit of dirt off her face, Terra lifted her right hand with a playful look on her face; the arm was still encrusted in white. Then, without warning, she charged the Champu head-on, and threw her fist skyward in a dramatic uppercut. If she had the force and angle right, the fighter virus would sail through the air in a precise arc to land in the hole the Powie was over.

Then, she opened up her fist to point her palm in the Powie's direction. A tiny yellow circle had imprinted itself there in the middle of the palm, glowing and pulsing to some unknown beat. At Terra's command the circle immediately enlarged, and was engulfed in arcs of electrical charges. After the charging completed, a bolt of white lightning fired from her palm, in the direction the Powie was unfortunate enough to be standing in.

Terra lowered her hand, and stood in place. Her legs tensed, anticipating any other blows the viruses might still have for her.

=== Terra.EXE ===
1) Uppercut ChampuB @ Powie (Null 20 / Impact) [4/6]
2) ZapRing1 @ Powie (Elec 40 / Stun1)
3) Sidestep Dodge
((No, no. That post says that the terrain slips and plummets down, not the virus.))

Terra renewed her assault with a powerful uppercut that sent the weakened fire virus sailing through the air. The Navi's geometry was spot on and the Champu smashed directly into the hovering Powie before sliding down into the great unknown. That's one down.

Terra raised her palm, a golden ring imprinted itself within her and began to hum with innate power. Electricity flared along the ring in quick paced pulses. The charged ring erupted with a beam of silvery light that ripped through the unfortunate Powie. The torn and burning paper ghost fluttered to the floor.

ChampuA: DELETED!
Powie: DELETED!
ChampuB: DELETED!

Terrain: 20% Normal, 60% Cracked, 20% Broken

Terra.EXE: 100HP

VICTORY!

Rewards: 300z
"Good work, Terra. You doing all right?" said Scarlet, happy for now that Terra had faced a few viruses, and lived through it. Checking through the battle statistics projected on the holographic screen in front of her, she nodded to herself to reassure her confidence. Everything seems fine... Her write protection is down to two-thirds of its maximum, though that should still be plenty for another battle or two, she analyzed. I'm getting a fair amount of zenny on my own, too. Should be enough for a simple upgrade or two after this.

"Thank you, Scarlet. I am doing well for now," replied Terra after transferring the reward packets. Relaxing for a bit, Terra sat down on the cool network paneling, running a hand through her extra-long ponytail. Waiting for her operator's decisions didn't take long, as she declared, "OK, Terra. You can go in a bit further, this'll be your last battle for the day."

"All right, Scarlet," the Navi replied, getting to her feet. Looking around for any hostility, she started strolling through the network again.

[Battle 4 - Ready]
As Terra continued into the net to seek out her final battle, she wandered into a strange section of ACDC. The light seemed to dim around her until she was left in a dark twilight. The ambient sound of the Net vanished into a deep silence. Trees seemed to surround her suddenly, twisted things with bare, gnarled branches like bony fingers grasping for the lone Navi. The ground beneath her feet was frozen earth, like the icy touch of grave dirt. A howl broke the unnatural quiet an ghostly figures flickered to life in front of Terra, ethereal beings aglow with an inner blue light. The three figures surrounded Terra and were floating steadily closer. A shrill shriek brought the Navi's attention to two sets of glowing crimson eyes perched upside down on a tree branch, large bats that were no doubt of a vampiric nature.

SpookyA: 30
SpookyB: 30
SpookyC: 30
PulsebatA: 80
PulsebatB: 80

Terra.Exe: 100hp

Terrain: 100% Normal

Objects: Trees: 10 [4 or 5 scattered around battlefield in no particular order]

Battle 4! Start!
[Is Terra's current position anywhere near a tree?]

As Terra moved into darker and more foreign areas, Scarlet started to get worried. "Hey, Terra, aren't you afraid of being ambushed?" she said, voicing her concerns. After all, she had just finished on Terra's code; she could be weaker than the operator thought. To that, however, Terra shook her head lightly. "It's all right. The dark doesn't scare me, but thank you for asking," she said calmly with a smile. As she said so, however, her eyes were on alert for anything suspicious.

She didn't have to look around for long, as her senses noticed something wrong in the soil beneath her. It seemed dead, lifeless. Gnarled twists of unnatural trees made her feel slightly uneasy. Something had sucked the life out of the ground here, she deduced. Trying to manipulate the earth proved slightly harder for her current abilities, though she could still do it without much effort. She still felt the unpleasant feeling of sensing the death in the ground when she heard the howl, and saw her adversaries pop up out of nowhere.

Tensing up, she requested, "RageClaw," before shifting into a defensive position. Her operator replied with a simple, "Roger," before a touch on her projected screen sent the data to Terra. "Spooky, and PulseBat. Spooky can come up to you and attack with a short-range move, while the bats are projectile enemies, with sonic howls," said Scarlet, briefing her Navi from memory.

Terra simply nodded and accepted the briefing. Though she was surrounded, and already had the means to retaliate, she did not form the earth-fist as she did before. She had something else to do first; the soil was frozen and practically dead, and she liked working with better quality materials. Closing her eyes, she focused on her real function: terraforming. Lifting her hand, the emerald leaf on her glove glowed a brilliant incandescence as the ground around her started to vibrate with energy.

Pouring life into the earth, Terra brought the soil back to its former state around her feet, with a velvet coat of grass growing on the outer edges. The bats over on the other side, she turned the earth beneath them into grained sand and dense mud, turning the advantage to her side. Drawing her power to a close, she opened her eyes and smiled in satisfaction at the results. The soil underneath her felt even more spry and lively than the usual, and made her feet feel lighter.

The terraformer widened her stance quickly, then drew from some of the soil she had just revived, shaping the material into the tough clawed rock-fists she had used before. Testing their response, she nodded to herself, and readied herself to claw through any attempt to get to her with impunity, as well as to sidestep anything the bat viruses might have in store for her.

[| [color=darkgreen]Terra.EXE[/color] |]
[1] Terraform: Yumland's Forests [Spliced Large Soil/Grass/Sand/Mud]
-- Soil centred on self, Grass around Soil
-- Sand centred on PulseBat area, Mud around Sand
-- Equip RageClaw1 @ Right Arm
[2] Auto-Parry RageClaw1 @ Attacking Spooky [Null 40 + Slashing]
[3] Dodge in place (+Soil Bonus)
After making the terrain nearly indescribable in a single sentence, Terra prepared claws for counterstriking certain ghosts. And that's exactly what she did, as a Spooky tried to give her a licking and keep on ticking, but did neither, as its attack missed, and the terrain oriented Navi pulled her parry with surprising elegance for someone who basically just had lots of dirt on her hand. The other part of her plan also came to fruition, as a PulseBat released itself from its branch to fire a wave of sound her way. Unfortunately, even the energy the soil provided her failed to give Terra the agility to avoid it, and found herself sonared. Now that was a sound pound on the ground...Navi.

SpookyA: 30 HP (Grass)
SpookyB: 30 HP (Normal)
SpookyC: DELETED
PulseBatA: 80 HP (Sand) (on TreeB)
PulseBatB: 80 HP (Sand)

Terra.EXE: 70 HP (Soil)

Terrain: 40% Metal Normal, 15% Soil, 15% Grass, 15% Sand, 15% Mud

TreeA: 10 HP (Behind SpookyB)
TreeB: 10 HP (PulseBatA is on it, PulseBatB is next to it)
TreeC: 10 HP (over in a far corner)
TreeD: 10 HP (a bit to the left of SpookyB)
TreeE: 10 HP (behind and to the left of Terra)
"Kku--!!"

The high-energy sonar blast rattled through Terra's body as it attempted to override her write protection, causing her to convulse momentarily before the wave passed through. Immediately, her stance was lowered, as a hand was brought to her side to stifle the strong impulses of pain. Some labored breathing later, and the Navi regained most of her composure. Looking up, she saw that one Spooky was at least eliminated.

"You're taking heavy damage," said Scarlet, worried sick. "Shouldn't you retreat?"

"It's fine. Send me the Shotgun and Cannon," her Navi replied calmly, though her hand still did not leave her side. Scarlet hesitated slightly, then returned an affirmative, sending the two battlechips into the terminal. As she received the battlechips, Terra regained a bit of vitality, and resumed her battle position. Should be able to regain my strength faster on fertile soil, Terra thought, loading the battlechips into her rock-claws. The hand-shaped clumps of earth glowed momentarily, indicating their primed status.

Now... focus, Terra, she thought to herself, closing her eyes as she mentally prepared for her attack. She felt the Spooky's flickering presence through the ground, the trees nearby, and the bat perched on one of them. The battlefield's viral signatures were perceived through her knowledge of the ground, increasing her general awareness. Her left hand was half-gripped, fingers positioned as if wielding a revolver and twitching at the trigger. All she had left to do was to wait for a sign of attack. After that, a quick sidestep towards the grassy areas and two pulls of the invisible trigger would hopefully send her enemies packing.

[| [b]Terra.EXE[/b] |]
[1] Dodge towards Grass (+Soil Bonus)
[2] Shotgun @ Attacking Spooky + Other Spooky [Null 50 + Spread1]
[3] Cannon @ Attacking PulseBat [Null 40 + Knockback]
-- Attempt to Interrupt Enemy Attack
[*] Innate Grass Healing [Heal 5/Action]
Terra moved with unprecedented speed to the grass as a Spooky tried teleporting toward her and give her a nice big slobber.

Predicting this, the terraformer blasted the virus with a Shotgun, deleting it outright. The grass terrain started to soothe he injuries as well.

Getting her revenge, Terra took a shot at.... an attacking Pulsebat that dropped down from a tree, knocked it into the tree, and interrupted its attack. Good job. The other Pulsebat decided to hang on to another tree in the meanwhile.

SpookyA: 30 HP (Grass)
SpookyB: DELETED
SpookyC: DELETED
PulseBatA: 40 HP (Sand) (against TreeB)
PulseBatB: 80 HP (Sand) (on TreeB)

Terra.EXE: 80 HP (Soil)

Terrain: 40% Normal, 15% Soil, 15% Grass, 15% Sand, 15% Mud

TreeA: 10 HP (Behind SpookyB)
TreeB: 10 HP (PulseBatA is on it, PulseBatB is next to it)
TreeC: 10 HP (over in a far corner)
TreeD: 10 HP (a bit to the left of SpookyB)
TreeE: 10 HP (behind and to the left of Terra)
[I'm on Grass, still says Soil.]

Not wasting any more time, Terra lunged for the last Spooky swiftly. Calling for the earth-fist to come to her, the rock obliged mindlessly, hurling itself towards her hand. The rock assimilated itself accordingly to the shape of her hand, forming intricate articulations within a fraction of a second to form a powerful claw-gauntlet. The terraformer's face was grim as she went for a quick thrust aimed right through the virus' floating skull. Not waiting to see any sort of reaction, she leapt back to her original position.

"Scarlet-"

"Transferring ZapRing," said Scarlet, anticipating the next move right on cue. A simple tap sent the data to her Navi's hand, giving it a pretty yellow glow as it energized itself with the rock claw-gauntlet. Terra smiled at her operator, and nodded. Lifting the heavy rock-fist with her other hand, she pointed at the bat virus perched on the tree, and fired one of the gauntlet's fingers at it. The finger sang through the air like a bullet, leaving a trail of energy behind it as it headed for its target.

Reforming the fired finger quickly with a little earth, Terra watched her enemies closely for any sign of attack, her stance lowered in readiness to evade them. She had only one armament left, and she did not want to let it go to waste.

[| [color=darkgreen]Terra.EXE[/color] |]
[1] RageClaw1 Swipe @ SpookyA [Null 40 + Slashing]
[2] ZapRing1 @ PulseBatA [Elec 40 + Stun1]
[3] Sidestep Attack [Dodge]
[*] Innate Grass Healing [Heal 5/Action]
The grass beneath Terra's feet continued to rejuvenate the Navi as she charged the remaining ghost. Her stone fist smashed against the virus' face, shattering its skull and causing it to dissipate. Terra turned, firing off a blast of lightning that caught the injured bat. The virus fell from the tree, waves of electricity swarming along its body, and vanished into nothingness. The remaining virus, seeing its fellows destroyed so readily, soared up high into the sky to avoid attack.

SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: DELETED
SpookyC: DELETED
PulseBatA: DELETED
PulseBatB: 80 HP (High Altitude)

Terra.EXE: 95 HP (Grass)

Terrain: 40% Normal, 15% Soil, 15% Grass, 15% Sand, 15% Mud

TreeA: 10 HP
TreeB: 10 HP
TreeC: 10 HP (over in a far corner)
TreeD: 10 HP
TreeE: 10 HP (behind and to the left of Terra)
"Last one," Scarlet commented, as Terra nodded in confirmation. It looked like it was going to be a one-on-one for the last bout. Looking around the field, she saw the tree that the bat's comrade had once perched itself on, and noticed the opportunity. Calling the other rock-arm to her side, she put it on the same way she did the other, acquiring a pair of brutal claws made of stone.

Without wasting any time, the terraformer crouched slightly, and launched into the air, using the rock-fists' slight levitation force to propel her towards the tree. A rustle marked her cushioned landing on the gnarled branches, looking upwards at the winged mammal in the sky. It has to come down sooner or later, she thought, as she prepared to welcome it for its landing with open arms. It was obvious by the way she gripped her claws that the bat was probably not going to get a warm hug.

[| [b]Terra.EXE[/b] |]
[1] Move onto TreeB [Movement]
[2] RageClaw1 X-Slash [Null 40 + Slashing] [Null 40 + Slashing]
Terra climbed into the tree and awaited her foe to come within range. When the Pulsebat soared lower, she leaped from the tree and struck out with her stone fists. The virus never saw it coming and was pummeled. Both the Navi and the virus fell to the floor, the Pulsebat vanishing as it struck the ground.

SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: DELETED
SpookyC: DELETED
PulseBatA: DELETED
PulseBatB: DELETED

Terra.EXE: 95 HP (Grass)

Terrain: 40% Normal, 15% Soil, 15% Grass, 15% Sand, 15% Mud

TreeA: 10 HP
TreeB: 10 HP
TreeC: 10 HP (over in a far corner)
TreeD: 10 HP
TreeE: 10 HP (behind and to the left of Terra)

Victory!

Rewards: Pulsar1, 150z
"....."

Caked in mud, Terra felt the dense waterlogged earth seep into her clothes, wetting them and turning them even browner than before. Picking up a handful of mud, she played around with it as the reward packets transferred themselves to the PET automatically. The smile on her face stuck there for a while as she amused herself like a child would in this situation.

"Excellent," said Scarlet, moving the holographic analysis screens around, murmuring quietly as she examined the readouts with a smile on her face. A quiet sound from her PET signaled the imprinting of a new chip into her folder's memory. "Pulsar, eh," the operator said to herself. "This is a good one. Stopping power is significantly higher than what we've got now..."

The operator looked at the display screen that showed Terra, and raised an eyebrow questioningly at her Navi's behavior. Well, at least she looks like she's having fun, she thought as she chuckled. "Hey, Terra. Come on, stop playing around in the mud. I'm going on a trip to buy you something," she said, amused. Terra looked like she was going to pout, but nodded, and disappeared into the sky in a pillar of green light.

[Terra.EXE - Jack Out]