Unspooked by the dark cave, Astraea made quick plans, then acted on them. The glowing eyes of the pale bunnies actually made it a bit easier for her to find her line, and though one of them flung an electrical ring her way, the alien-navi's own movements carried her out of its path, and into line to deliver a destructive blast of shrapnel to the other two before they could make any attacks of their own.
One of the spookies appeared in close to Astraea for a moment, giggling quietly and making as though to take a long slurp of the girl, but its tongue waggled through the air just by her left, and failed to contact the navi herself, completely. The spooky, in turn, seemed confused by this, and its gaze turned to look over at where she really was.
While Astreae was setting up her collapsible shield again, the heavy rumble behind her became a short, harsh boom as the Kabuktank took a crack shot at very close range, and at her woefully exposed back. Somehow, the shell whistled past the right side of her head with barely an inch clearance in the low light, rather than connecting. Perhaps the rusty old tank wasn't at its peak, or maybe the poor lighting was just as bad for the viruses as it was for Astraea herself. The remaining spooky drifted around, watching the scene unfold, though it didn't seem to do anything just yet.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: 30Hp [Near Astraea]
SpookyB: 30Hp [right-ish back area]
BunnyA: 50Hp [Central]
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: 90Hp [Just behind Astraea]
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 85Hp [1-hit Shield: front]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [behind the cage-like spikes ]
Testing Run
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The ordinance whistling past the Navi's ear did much to change her opinion on not worry about the thing behind her, and she was quick to turn to face the decrepit looking tank. She had nothing to take it out in one shot, it would take several of her chips. She would have to wear it down through a battle of attrition. The alien regarded her newly designated 'worst threat' carefully for a moment and then decided her normal tactic of standing still probably wasn't such a great idea when faced with bombardment and other attacks.
So she moved.
Her steps were neither light nor graceful for she wasn't built that way. She moved because she had to, not because she wanted to. There were no fancy handsprings or nimble rollings from her. No, she plotted her course in her head and tried to calculate more arcs of potential fire and silently cursed the limitations of the processing power of her PET when she came up short. She knew how to find the equations she would need for such calculations but there wasn't enough room in the memory, not without all her other systems freezing up. She would have to rely on luck for this.
"Hmph. Sometime we'll need to work on your footwork." Alex sounded thoroughly unimpressed. It seemed silly to send another chip when there was still one waiting to be used. She had plenty of tricks available, it was time she made use of it.
"I concur." The Navi summoned her turret with the typical typing, although this time she she pulled her wrench free after the typing to point at a spot on the floor a small distance from her. CTA was beamed down from from some indistinct location near the cave floor. "Turret: behavior designation Point Defense." Astraea ordered once the floating bits of pixels and data had solidified. She frowned and then reached out with her wrench to give the turret a couple quick tightening of some loose bolts and a quick welding with the variable end. after that it was pretty simply to give the turret a helpful push so it could wobble slightly away from her and enact its sacred job of keeping nasty viral interlopers away from its mistress.
--Summary--
1) Dodge
2) DROPDATTURRET - Summon Cinder Turrent, 10hp item with 5x2 Fire per turn as a passive
3) Masterwork - Reinforce CTA, +21HP
*Mobilize - Turret slide away from Astraea
CTA - 2 hits of 5 Fire @ First Spooky to make another go at licking Astraea
So she moved.
Her steps were neither light nor graceful for she wasn't built that way. She moved because she had to, not because she wanted to. There were no fancy handsprings or nimble rollings from her. No, she plotted her course in her head and tried to calculate more arcs of potential fire and silently cursed the limitations of the processing power of her PET when she came up short. She knew how to find the equations she would need for such calculations but there wasn't enough room in the memory, not without all her other systems freezing up. She would have to rely on luck for this.
"Hmph. Sometime we'll need to work on your footwork." Alex sounded thoroughly unimpressed. It seemed silly to send another chip when there was still one waiting to be used. She had plenty of tricks available, it was time she made use of it.
"I concur." The Navi summoned her turret with the typical typing, although this time she she pulled her wrench free after the typing to point at a spot on the floor a small distance from her. CTA was beamed down from from some indistinct location near the cave floor. "Turret: behavior designation Point Defense." Astraea ordered once the floating bits of pixels and data had solidified. She frowned and then reached out with her wrench to give the turret a couple quick tightening of some loose bolts and a quick welding with the variable end. after that it was pretty simply to give the turret a helpful push so it could wobble slightly away from her and enact its sacred job of keeping nasty viral interlopers away from its mistress.
--Summary--
1) Dodge
2) DROPDATTURRET - Summon Cinder Turrent, 10hp item with 5x2 Fire per turn as a passive
3) Masterwork - Reinforce CTA, +21HP
*Mobilize - Turret slide away from Astraea
CTA - 2 hits of 5 Fire @ First Spooky to make another go at licking Astraea
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The remaining bunny darted about, a pale shape in the gloom, but it didn't attack just yet. Instead, the ghost that hadn't made an attack yet appeared just in from of Astraea and had a go at her. Despite not being the most nimble of navis, she still managed to duck out of the way of the slimy tongue, and a moment later a pair of incendiary rounds from her trusty turret smacked the spooky virus for its efforts. The other spooky retreated back into the gloom of the cave, giggling maniacally.
The old tank launched another dangerous round, and this time, despite her best efforts, the shell connected with the alien navi. Fortunately for her, turning her focus on the tank also put her shield between herself and it, and though the defence collapsed, it did shield her from the blast. Less fortunate was the fact that this attack was actually a pair of smaller bombs, and the second one crashed into her without the benefit of her shield (-10). Moving her turret away proved wise; the blast radius of the tank attack almost reached it as well, but not quite.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: 30Hp [Far side of the cave from Astraea]
SpookyB: 20Hp [Near Astraea]
BunnyA: 50Hp [Central]
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: 90Hp [Just behind Astraea]
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 75Hp [Shield Broken!]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [behind the cage-like spikes ]
CTA: 31Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
The old tank launched another dangerous round, and this time, despite her best efforts, the shell connected with the alien navi. Fortunately for her, turning her focus on the tank also put her shield between herself and it, and though the defence collapsed, it did shield her from the blast. Less fortunate was the fact that this attack was actually a pair of smaller bombs, and the second one crashed into her without the benefit of her shield (-10). Moving her turret away proved wise; the blast radius of the tank attack almost reached it as well, but not quite.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: 30Hp [Far side of the cave from Astraea]
SpookyB: 20Hp [Near Astraea]
BunnyA: 50Hp [Central]
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: 90Hp [Just behind Astraea]
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 75Hp [Shield Broken!]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [behind the cage-like spikes ]
CTA: 31Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
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Astraea got hit hard by the second shell. The force of impact and her own shock at the second projectile helped bowl her over completely. Results unsatisfactory, she thought. Change of strategy needed. With a grunt she propped herself back up to look at the Kabutank and frown more deeply than before. She had only one shot that had a chance of destroying the machine in one hit, and even then she'd have to supply extra power to it. At least her previous experience had shown her that best results were received when hitting a stationary target which meant she didn't have to worry about aiming as much.
"Oooouch, you going to be okay there? You just took a bomb to the face." Alex winced slightly in sympathy, focusing on the current struggles of his Navi was pushing their earlier squabble to the back of his mind. "I have a recovery chip if you need it." Astraea paused as she considered her options and then shook her head.
"I appreciate the sentiment but I currently suffer from short comings in processing power necessary to handle-"
"Ack, yeah I get it I get it!" Alex cut off her abruptly and waved a hand in the air by his face. "Man, when you start talking like that I can feel my headache coming back! Your wording is beyond me. I'll wait until you're ready."
Astraea smiled at her NetOp's words. For someone who didn't get a thing she said, he was still able to parse her meaning pretty well. The alien Navi pushed herself up with a groan and a creaking of her stiff knees. She gave them a couple thumps which did nothing to improve performance but made her feel a little better. Astraea wobbled when she stood and then returned her wrench to its designated loop on the opposite side from her gun. Her ranged weapon was pulled free from its holster without so much as a flourish, its owner as stuffy and efficient as ever. Data began streaming into the gun, coating the white hard plastic with bits of blue light as the weapon changed shape.
First priority is initiating connection with reserve of resources, secondary priority is designating as pulling the trigger. The Navi took a deep breath, planted her feet, and closed her eyes. Then she reached. Tapping into the well of power she had found when she calmed herself earlier was getting quicker and easier for the Navi, but she could still feel something more just past the edges of the pool she pulled from. It was honestly disconcerting to her, she was made for hard figures and cold facts, having something that passed itself off as mystical and unknown in her programming wasn't what she should be encountering.
Priorities. She reminded herself, drawing her mind out of the worry trap she felt lurking down that line of thought. She raised her raygu-no wait it was a megaphone now, she raised her megaphone and pushed the strength she had found down her arm and into the gun in the form of silvery light. The alien seemed to smirk as she sighted on a rocky spire that jutted into the space near the Kabutank, and with a quick check at the GMD was safely out of range she inhaled.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAaH!" Her yell, amplified by the power of the chip, surged through the cavern towards the spear of earth. Silver light flooded cavern for a brief moment as it rode ahead of the invisible sound waves as they traveled. The alien lowered her reforming ray-gun and began to move around the other stalactites and stalagmites in the hopes of throwing off any retaliatory attacks.
Cinder Turret Alpha watch its creator get back on her feet. It had beeped angrily when she had fallen, and had almost shot the offending virus but it remembered the job it had been tasked with. With an angry ticking noise from the gut of the machine it waited and watched, its gun trained not on the Spookies or Bunny but the space around Astraea. Just let one of the vile fiends attempt to lay another tongue on its precious Creator! It would happily blast them out of the Net itself! If one of them wanted to take a swing at it, well that was better then going after her.
It was still going to shoot the offender in the face.
-Summary-
1) Starmight - +20 Strengthen
2) Pulsar 1 - 70 (+20) + Object Triggered Blast 2 (Primary Acc A, Blast Acc B ) @ Stalagmite near Kabutank
3) Dodge
CTA - Readied shot of 2 hits of 5 Fire @ First virus to enter melee range with itself or Astraea, ACC A
"Oooouch, you going to be okay there? You just took a bomb to the face." Alex winced slightly in sympathy, focusing on the current struggles of his Navi was pushing their earlier squabble to the back of his mind. "I have a recovery chip if you need it." Astraea paused as she considered her options and then shook her head.
"I appreciate the sentiment but I currently suffer from short comings in processing power necessary to handle-"
"Ack, yeah I get it I get it!" Alex cut off her abruptly and waved a hand in the air by his face. "Man, when you start talking like that I can feel my headache coming back! Your wording is beyond me. I'll wait until you're ready."
Astraea smiled at her NetOp's words. For someone who didn't get a thing she said, he was still able to parse her meaning pretty well. The alien Navi pushed herself up with a groan and a creaking of her stiff knees. She gave them a couple thumps which did nothing to improve performance but made her feel a little better. Astraea wobbled when she stood and then returned her wrench to its designated loop on the opposite side from her gun. Her ranged weapon was pulled free from its holster without so much as a flourish, its owner as stuffy and efficient as ever. Data began streaming into the gun, coating the white hard plastic with bits of blue light as the weapon changed shape.
First priority is initiating connection with reserve of resources, secondary priority is designating as pulling the trigger. The Navi took a deep breath, planted her feet, and closed her eyes. Then she reached. Tapping into the well of power she had found when she calmed herself earlier was getting quicker and easier for the Navi, but she could still feel something more just past the edges of the pool she pulled from. It was honestly disconcerting to her, she was made for hard figures and cold facts, having something that passed itself off as mystical and unknown in her programming wasn't what she should be encountering.
Priorities. She reminded herself, drawing her mind out of the worry trap she felt lurking down that line of thought. She raised her raygu-no wait it was a megaphone now, she raised her megaphone and pushed the strength she had found down her arm and into the gun in the form of silvery light. The alien seemed to smirk as she sighted on a rocky spire that jutted into the space near the Kabutank, and with a quick check at the GMD was safely out of range she inhaled.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAaH!" Her yell, amplified by the power of the chip, surged through the cavern towards the spear of earth. Silver light flooded cavern for a brief moment as it rode ahead of the invisible sound waves as they traveled. The alien lowered her reforming ray-gun and began to move around the other stalactites and stalagmites in the hopes of throwing off any retaliatory attacks.
Cinder Turret Alpha watch its creator get back on her feet. It had beeped angrily when she had fallen, and had almost shot the offending virus but it remembered the job it had been tasked with. With an angry ticking noise from the gut of the machine it waited and watched, its gun trained not on the Spookies or Bunny but the space around Astraea. Just let one of the vile fiends attempt to lay another tongue on its precious Creator! It would happily blast them out of the Net itself! If one of them wanted to take a swing at it, well that was better then going after her.
It was still going to shoot the offender in the face.
-Summary-
1) Starmight - +20 Strengthen
2) Pulsar 1 - 70 (+20) + Object Triggered Blast 2 (Primary Acc A, Blast Acc B ) @ Stalagmite near Kabutank
3) Dodge
CTA - Readied shot of 2 hits of 5 Fire @ First virus to enter melee range with itself or Astraea, ACC A
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As Astraea drew on her infuriatingly unscientific reserves of strength, and began to glow, the spooky nearest her thought that this change was worth tasting. It lapped at the alien with its long, slimy tongue, dragging the squishy, fleshy length up the front of her body in a greatly over-exaggerated motion (-10).
The cinder turret, however, was having none of this nonsense, and swiftly retaliated in defence of its master's honour, pelting the spook with a duo of scorching fire balls. If only it had been a little sooner, it might have saved her the grossness, but at least retribution was had. The spooky shrieked and reeled to the side, smouldering, until, from the back of the cave, the other ghostly figure giggled and sent a crackle of dark energy to its fellow virus. The scorch marks faded and the previously injured spooky began to giggle again, waving its un-hurt tongue at the cinder turret.
While this was going on, Astraea was all set to scream her opponents into next week. Which she did, with aplomb. The sonic shockwave echoed out, struck the spire she was pointing at, and reverberated alarmingly around the chamber, shattering rock spikes, and, as she had hoped, shaking the old kabutank completely apart. It seemed to hold up under the force for a little while, but then the shaking caused first one piece, then another, then more to separate, until the entire virus simply fell apart.
Behind her, the pale bunny took a shot at the turret in turn, and the electrical ring jolted through the constructs circuitry for several seconds, before dissipating at last. On a navi, the jolt might have stunned them for a while, but CTA was better than that; its processes weren't about to be curtailed by a shock like that.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: 30Hp [Far side of the cave from Astraea]
SpookyB: 30Hp [Near Astraea]
BunnyA: 50Hp [Central]
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 65Hp [Shield Broken!]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [behind the cage-like spikes ]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
The cinder turret, however, was having none of this nonsense, and swiftly retaliated in defence of its master's honour, pelting the spook with a duo of scorching fire balls. If only it had been a little sooner, it might have saved her the grossness, but at least retribution was had. The spooky shrieked and reeled to the side, smouldering, until, from the back of the cave, the other ghostly figure giggled and sent a crackle of dark energy to its fellow virus. The scorch marks faded and the previously injured spooky began to giggle again, waving its un-hurt tongue at the cinder turret.
While this was going on, Astraea was all set to scream her opponents into next week. Which she did, with aplomb. The sonic shockwave echoed out, struck the spire she was pointing at, and reverberated alarmingly around the chamber, shattering rock spikes, and, as she had hoped, shaking the old kabutank completely apart. It seemed to hold up under the force for a little while, but then the shaking caused first one piece, then another, then more to separate, until the entire virus simply fell apart.
Behind her, the pale bunny took a shot at the turret in turn, and the electrical ring jolted through the constructs circuitry for several seconds, before dissipating at last. On a navi, the jolt might have stunned them for a while, but CTA was better than that; its processes weren't about to be curtailed by a shock like that.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: 30Hp [Far side of the cave from Astraea]
SpookyB: 30Hp [Near Astraea]
BunnyA: 50Hp [Central]
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 65Hp [Shield Broken!]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [behind the cage-like spikes ]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
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"I know I said I was going to wait but that looked grosss." Alex remarked, swiping their sole recovery chip over the outline of his Navi-partner. He could see where the front of her overalls had been darkened with absorbed moisture, and what had to be spit was dripping off the curve of her face. He couldn't help but shudder in sympathy. "Girl, all your turret's hard work just got put to waste. I think you might want to hit these things hard." He suggested and dragged one of their chips over. "You'll have to get close but at least they won't be able to drag the fight on.
Muscles strung wire-tight after the unwanted physical contact, Astraea didn't relax even as healing energy surged through her body. The wet spots on her clothing began to dry up as most of the various bruises and burns she had taken from her fighting cleared up. She felt refreshed but not relaxed, she still had a ways to go if she wanted to get through this quickly. "Confirmed, will proceed with new strategy at next available instance." She couldn't just start running and slashing away right now, but she could manipulate the field to her advantage. The Navi grit her teeth that was more annoyance than concentration and let her fingers do their dance on her miniature keypad. With a swirl of light another one of her turrets appeared, but instead of the folding lawn chair-like legs of its predecessor this one was mounted on five segmented legs that looked a lot like what could be found on a spider. The new turret chirped and drunkenly moved side-to-side before it finally balanced itself more securely.
Astraea was pleased with what she got, at least she was pleased if the slight unscrunching of the area about her nostrils was anything to judge by. With a now-practiced flick of her wrist she had her shield out and ready. Her wrench was drawn with the same hand her shield was on and she gestured it at the electrical rabbit. "New command order! Eliminate hostile electrical viral signature designated BunnyA." Her emotional range was as flat as ever, and her voice as gravelly as it had been every other time she'd spoken so far. The little turrets seemed to spring into action readily at her command though: with a beep and a chirp apiece they twisted and fired their incendiary charges at the rabbit.
--Summary--
1) Recov30
2) Cinder Turret - Summon another 10hp object with 5x2 Fire Shot (acc A) passive
3) Shield - 1-hit Shield
CTA: 5 x2 Multihit Fire @ BunnyA (Acc A)
CTB: 5 x2 Multihit Fire @ BunnyA (Acc A)
*Movement to re-position self.
Muscles strung wire-tight after the unwanted physical contact, Astraea didn't relax even as healing energy surged through her body. The wet spots on her clothing began to dry up as most of the various bruises and burns she had taken from her fighting cleared up. She felt refreshed but not relaxed, she still had a ways to go if she wanted to get through this quickly. "Confirmed, will proceed with new strategy at next available instance." She couldn't just start running and slashing away right now, but she could manipulate the field to her advantage. The Navi grit her teeth that was more annoyance than concentration and let her fingers do their dance on her miniature keypad. With a swirl of light another one of her turrets appeared, but instead of the folding lawn chair-like legs of its predecessor this one was mounted on five segmented legs that looked a lot like what could be found on a spider. The new turret chirped and drunkenly moved side-to-side before it finally balanced itself more securely.
Astraea was pleased with what she got, at least she was pleased if the slight unscrunching of the area about her nostrils was anything to judge by. With a now-practiced flick of her wrist she had her shield out and ready. Her wrench was drawn with the same hand her shield was on and she gestured it at the electrical rabbit. "New command order! Eliminate hostile electrical viral signature designated BunnyA." Her emotional range was as flat as ever, and her voice as gravelly as it had been every other time she'd spoken so far. The little turrets seemed to spring into action readily at her command though: with a beep and a chirp apiece they twisted and fired their incendiary charges at the rabbit.
--Summary--
1) Recov30
2) Cinder Turret - Summon another 10hp object with 5x2 Fire Shot (acc A) passive
3) Shield - 1-hit Shield
CTA: 5 x2 Multihit Fire @ BunnyA (Acc A)
CTB: 5 x2 Multihit Fire @ BunnyA (Acc A)
*Movement to re-position self.
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Fortunately for Astraea, her operator was quick with the restoration, after she received such a very unpleasant face-full of slime. Having launched one ring, the ghoulish bunny darted off to the side evasively, but the combined might of both cinder-turrets proved far better at tracking the little thing, than it was at getting away; all four shot struck clean, one after the other, making the little virus spin about and flinch under the impacts, until it fell over with an undignified squeak. It began to pick itself up slowly, scorch marks smouldering.
The far ghost teleported in to try and have a taste of the new turret on the field, but as the fresh construct wobbled into position, the ghost ended up flailing its tongue around in empty air. Meanwhile, the one closer to Astraea chuckled to itself and retreated back into the shadows of the cave.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: 30Hp [Near CTB]
SpookyB: 30Hp [Back of Cave]
BunnyA: 30Hp [Central]
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 95Hp [1-hit Shield]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [Behind the cage-like spikes]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
CTB: 10 Hp [Allied]
The far ghost teleported in to try and have a taste of the new turret on the field, but as the fresh construct wobbled into position, the ghost ended up flailing its tongue around in empty air. Meanwhile, the one closer to Astraea chuckled to itself and retreated back into the shadows of the cave.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: 30Hp [Near CTB]
SpookyB: 30Hp [Back of Cave]
BunnyA: 30Hp [Central]
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 95Hp [1-hit Shield]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [Behind the cage-like spikes]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
CTB: 10 Hp [Allied]
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Set up had gone unexpectedly well for the mechanically inclined Navi and she meant to capitalize on it. Her finger scrambled across the keypad as she replaced her wrench on her belt and then reached across to pull her raygun out. She held it awkwardlybut aimed anyways, her fingers on the keypad stopping their frantic scrambling for a moment. Both turrets had suddenly gone silent and had swiveled on their bases to face the unfortunate Spooky who was right up next to one of them. Astraea's frown turned into an almost-grin and she pulled the trigger. The usually corny noise of her laser pistol was covered by the not-so-rapid fire of the turrets as they unloaded at the same time she fired, both targeting and firing sequences lashed to those of her gun thanks to the little keypad. At best it'd be fast and unexpected enough to rip the ghost to shreds, at worst it might end up ripping one (or more) of her turrets apart due to (un)friendly fire.
Either way the ray gun was awkwardly put back into its holster and the wrench draw again as Astraea called on the chip data she had been sent. The ends of the wrench shifted and grew sharper as previously a non-existent hinge appeared at the junction of jaws and body. A worm screw appeared as well, far down the handle near Astraea's thumb. She gave it an experimental whirl with her thumb and was pleased by the smooth action of the newly-mobile jaw side opening wider. This would make things so much easier to grip, and with the sharpened ends it'd be more of a bite than a grip.
The alien searched for the bunny and then ran towards it. She wasn't fast by any means, and with her feet slapping and sticking to the tiles under her it wasn't like she was being exactly stealthy. Her short, rotund figure prevented her from being any kind of intimidating and she was banking on that. She wasn't a great actor but she tried to mask her features in worry, trying to make the electrical rabbit think this was a last, desperate bluff since it was between her and the exit. When that had happened she could be sure, but she was sure that once she reached the rabbit she was going to whip the wrench across its silly viral face. It could have not-so-delicious Ragin' Wrench for breakfast.
--Summary--
1) Buster Shot - 10 (Acc A) @ Spooky A
CTA: 5 x2 Fire @ Spooky A (Acc A)
CTB: 5 x2 Fire @ Spooky A (Acc A)
2) Movement to Bunny A
3) Rageclaw 40 + Slashing @ Bunny A, Acc B
Either way the ray gun was awkwardly put back into its holster and the wrench draw again as Astraea called on the chip data she had been sent. The ends of the wrench shifted and grew sharper as previously a non-existent hinge appeared at the junction of jaws and body. A worm screw appeared as well, far down the handle near Astraea's thumb. She gave it an experimental whirl with her thumb and was pleased by the smooth action of the newly-mobile jaw side opening wider. This would make things so much easier to grip, and with the sharpened ends it'd be more of a bite than a grip.
The alien searched for the bunny and then ran towards it. She wasn't fast by any means, and with her feet slapping and sticking to the tiles under her it wasn't like she was being exactly stealthy. Her short, rotund figure prevented her from being any kind of intimidating and she was banking on that. She wasn't a great actor but she tried to mask her features in worry, trying to make the electrical rabbit think this was a last, desperate bluff since it was between her and the exit. When that had happened she could be sure, but she was sure that once she reached the rabbit she was going to whip the wrench across its silly viral face. It could have not-so-delicious Ragin' Wrench for breakfast.
--Summary--
1) Buster Shot - 10 (Acc A) @ Spooky A
CTA: 5 x2 Fire @ Spooky A (Acc A)
CTB: 5 x2 Fire @ Spooky A (Acc A)
2) Movement to Bunny A
3) Rageclaw 40 + Slashing @ Bunny A, Acc B
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Not about to let up, Astraea and her duo of construct companions continued to keep up the barrage of small shots on their next target. None of them were particularly powerful, but all together, as they impacted one after the next, they were just enough to break the little spook apart and set it disintegrating into the darkness.
While the alien and her machines were having a good day for aiming, it seemed as though the other spooky was not. It teleported up to Astraea herself and took a slurp at her with its oversized tongue, but it tried so hard that the gross appendage flapped through the air, and plastered itself over the ghost's own face with a wet slap, making it weave and spin about in confusion.
While this was going on, Astraea made a beeline for the bunny, who paused and turned to fire off another electric ring at the girl. It crashed against her shield with a crackle, collapsing the interlocking plates and sending an uncomfortable, although not damaging, jolt through her whole body besides, but it wasn't enough to stop her from raking the critter into oblivion a moment later. The lingering static from the ring continued to wreak a small amount of havoc on the alien, robbing her of some time to act.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: 30Hp [Near Centre][Can't See! Tongue in Face!]
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 95Hp [Shield Broken!][Stunned!]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [Behind the cage-like spikes]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
CTB: 10 Hp [Allied]
While the alien and her machines were having a good day for aiming, it seemed as though the other spooky was not. It teleported up to Astraea herself and took a slurp at her with its oversized tongue, but it tried so hard that the gross appendage flapped through the air, and plastered itself over the ghost's own face with a wet slap, making it weave and spin about in confusion.
While this was going on, Astraea made a beeline for the bunny, who paused and turned to fire off another electric ring at the girl. It crashed against her shield with a crackle, collapsing the interlocking plates and sending an uncomfortable, although not damaging, jolt through her whole body besides, but it wasn't enough to stop her from raking the critter into oblivion a moment later. The lingering static from the ring continued to wreak a small amount of havoc on the alien, robbing her of some time to act.
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: 30Hp [Near Centre][Can't See! Tongue in Face!]
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 95Hp [Shield Broken!][Stunned!]
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [Behind the cage-like spikes]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
CTB: 10 Hp [Allied]
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"Hah! Wow, are you sure you didn't hit it with a glitch?" Alex asked as he watched the last virus completely fail to do anything. He sounded much more relaxed now, apparently he had finally moved past their earlier tiff. He had readjusted the towel he had wrapped around his waist after Astraea's much earlier comment had made him move it from his shoulder. It was probably better that way anyways.
"N-negative." Astraea's eyes twitched oddly, the stalks themselves moving. Her entire body seemed to be having problems from the electrical residue that had collapsed her shield: random muscle spasms, joints refusing to unlock, she had dropped her wrench, and she just couldn't make her body move the way she wanted to. Her grin from earlier had faded and now she grit her teeth in annoyance and anger.
"Whoa, hey, uh, are you going to be alright?" There was a creaking from the couch as Alex resettled his weight to lean forwards, bringing his face into floating pop-up view of the Pet's sensors. Luckily such nonsense was disabled during a fight so Astraea didn't have that as a further distraction.
"Willlll be optimal in moment." Her speech was clipped more than usual but as straight to the point as ever. She could feel the electricity from the Bunny's last attack starting to finally leaving her system. A quick refresh and the last of the static disappeared and she was free to move again. The alien bent down to scoop up her oddly-sharp wrench and then straightened up and began moving towards the Spooky. "Observe: the debilitating effect have purged itself with time. Most harmful effects will follow this pattern although the time necessary for my systems to recover themselves is variable."
A hand was flapped in lazy response, its owner temporarily forgetting the Navi couldn't see the gesture. "Yeah, yeah. Whats-his-face, one of the geeks in my accounting class, was talking about how you have to put more processing power towards a persisting effect or something. I don't really see the point but I'll probably let you deal with that crap anyways."
Astraea stopped cold in her march at Alex's flippant comment, something like wonder softening her face. "What? You plan to allow me administrator access to that level of detail?" She was shocked! She had known Alex was pretty laid back about Network matters but that seemed pretty ridiculous. For his part the young man just scoffed at her disbelieving tone.
"Well why wouldn't I? You're probably better at it than I and you've got a good head on your shoulders from what I've seen." He settled back on the couch with a little shrug, once more forgetting she couldn't see it at this moment. "Besides, whats the worst you could do?"
Oh, that was it. It wasn't that Alex just found her trustworthy, it was that he didn't fully understand what he was potentially handing her with unregulated access. She shook her head and resumed her approach towards the Spooky, raising her wrench and swiping it diagonally at the ghostly apparition. "There is the wide potential for misuse, already with the access to your apartment's local Network I disabled the door alarm this morning and then rearmed it after she left."
"Oh, I wasn't even sure I had set it last night." His voice brightened considerably after a moment of quiet contemplation. If Astraea could do that it meant he no longer had to worry about setting it every night, she could probably just write a program or a reminder or something to do it for him! "But hey, that let me sleep in! I mean, as long as she didn't take anything its fine."
"I am afraid I failed to thoroughly investigate that possibility. I was roused by the sound of her retrieving her Pet from the coffee table." She confessed. Truly it hadn't even crossed her mind to worry about something physical being taken, all she had dealt with before had been digital in nature.
"Ehhh, I don't think it's likely she took anything. It depends on if the number on my mirror is real or not but I think there's a good chance she just left."
"Number on your mirror..?" Astraea was pretty sure the bathroom mirror wasn't one of the fancier models that could act as a digital whiteboard as well as serve its typical purpose. Plus she hadn't heard the woman go to the bathroom, had she? She frowned, trying to recall the footsteps from this morning.
"Yeah, big lipstick-numbers on my bedroom mirror. She even signed it too, it was kind of impressive." Astraea's frown eased off because she knew /that/ mirror wasn't digital in any way. The whole thing made a lot more sense now.
--summary--
1) Stunned
2) Movement to Spooky B
3) Rageclaw 40 + Slashing @ Spooky B, Acc B
"N-negative." Astraea's eyes twitched oddly, the stalks themselves moving. Her entire body seemed to be having problems from the electrical residue that had collapsed her shield: random muscle spasms, joints refusing to unlock, she had dropped her wrench, and she just couldn't make her body move the way she wanted to. Her grin from earlier had faded and now she grit her teeth in annoyance and anger.
"Whoa, hey, uh, are you going to be alright?" There was a creaking from the couch as Alex resettled his weight to lean forwards, bringing his face into floating pop-up view of the Pet's sensors. Luckily such nonsense was disabled during a fight so Astraea didn't have that as a further distraction.
"Willlll be optimal in moment." Her speech was clipped more than usual but as straight to the point as ever. She could feel the electricity from the Bunny's last attack starting to finally leaving her system. A quick refresh and the last of the static disappeared and she was free to move again. The alien bent down to scoop up her oddly-sharp wrench and then straightened up and began moving towards the Spooky. "Observe: the debilitating effect have purged itself with time. Most harmful effects will follow this pattern although the time necessary for my systems to recover themselves is variable."
A hand was flapped in lazy response, its owner temporarily forgetting the Navi couldn't see the gesture. "Yeah, yeah. Whats-his-face, one of the geeks in my accounting class, was talking about how you have to put more processing power towards a persisting effect or something. I don't really see the point but I'll probably let you deal with that crap anyways."
Astraea stopped cold in her march at Alex's flippant comment, something like wonder softening her face. "What? You plan to allow me administrator access to that level of detail?" She was shocked! She had known Alex was pretty laid back about Network matters but that seemed pretty ridiculous. For his part the young man just scoffed at her disbelieving tone.
"Well why wouldn't I? You're probably better at it than I and you've got a good head on your shoulders from what I've seen." He settled back on the couch with a little shrug, once more forgetting she couldn't see it at this moment. "Besides, whats the worst you could do?"
Oh, that was it. It wasn't that Alex just found her trustworthy, it was that he didn't fully understand what he was potentially handing her with unregulated access. She shook her head and resumed her approach towards the Spooky, raising her wrench and swiping it diagonally at the ghostly apparition. "There is the wide potential for misuse, already with the access to your apartment's local Network I disabled the door alarm this morning and then rearmed it after she left."
"Oh, I wasn't even sure I had set it last night." His voice brightened considerably after a moment of quiet contemplation. If Astraea could do that it meant he no longer had to worry about setting it every night, she could probably just write a program or a reminder or something to do it for him! "But hey, that let me sleep in! I mean, as long as she didn't take anything its fine."
"I am afraid I failed to thoroughly investigate that possibility. I was roused by the sound of her retrieving her Pet from the coffee table." She confessed. Truly it hadn't even crossed her mind to worry about something physical being taken, all she had dealt with before had been digital in nature.
"Ehhh, I don't think it's likely she took anything. It depends on if the number on my mirror is real or not but I think there's a good chance she just left."
"Number on your mirror..?" Astraea was pretty sure the bathroom mirror wasn't one of the fancier models that could act as a digital whiteboard as well as serve its typical purpose. Plus she hadn't heard the woman go to the bathroom, had she? She frowned, trying to recall the footsteps from this morning.
"Yeah, big lipstick-numbers on my bedroom mirror. She even signed it too, it was kind of impressive." Astraea's frown eased off because she knew /that/ mirror wasn't digital in any way. The whole thing made a lot more sense now.
--summary--
1) Stunned
2) Movement to Spooky B
3) Rageclaw 40 + Slashing @ Spooky B, Acc B
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With the situation largely contained, Astraea exercised her fledging experiences with casual social interaction, in between waving her clawed wrench at the spooky, more or less as an after thought. The result was, well, a little more that expected, to say the least. Yes, the weapon hit the little ghost virus, but the Spooky was busy trying to get its tongue right again, and it accidentally heaved itself with great force right into the oncoming blow. The result skewered its over-sized tongue onto one prong of the claw, and as the alien navi finished her casual flick, the ghost was dragged along with the weapon, attached by the tongue and cackling in a mad voice that sounded closer to crying. It flailed comically for several seconds, spinning about the weapon, before eventually dropping limp and fading away with a last giggle.
This left the cave silent again, for now, with only the dull glow of the fungus, and the brighter, more enticing glimmer of the GMD, tucked away behind the toothy-looking rock spikes. It wasn't so far removed that Astrea couldn't still reach through and access it, though, if she wanted to. Did she want to?
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: DELETED
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 95Hp
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [Behind the cage-like spikes]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
CTB: 10 Hp [Allied]
-=Battle 4, Victory!=-
Spoils: 720z
Open GMD?
This left the cave silent again, for now, with only the dull glow of the fungus, and the brighter, more enticing glimmer of the GMD, tucked away behind the toothy-looking rock spikes. It wasn't so far removed that Astrea couldn't still reach through and access it, though, if she wanted to. Did she want to?
-=Too Long in the Dark=-
SpookyA: DELETED
SpookyB: DELETED
BunnyA: DELETED
BunnyB: DELETED
BunnyC: DELETED
Kabutank: SONICLY UNSCREWED
-=Far From The Light=-
Astraea.Exe 95Hp
-=Terrain=-
100% Normal
-=Objects=-
Variety of stalactites and stalagmites: 20Hp Each, spaced erratically around the chamber.
Toothy Maw: 80Hp [Forming a partial cage of stone spikes around the GMD, at the back.]
GMD: 30Hp [Behind the cage-like spikes]
CTA: 21Hp [Allied][Reinforced]
CTB: 10 Hp [Allied]
-=Battle 4, Victory!=-
Spoils: 720
Open GMD?
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"Well that was...unusual." Alex didn't really have a better word to describe the now-dead Spooky. It could be considered vaguely disturbing but Alex was a veteren of many high-school horror movie nights so he remained untroubled. A certain green gleam caught his eye and he leaned back into face-vid range again. "Hey, I think that's a Mystery Data! You should go see what's in it! You've got a 50-50 shot of it not-blowing up in your face!" He sounded positively gleeful.
"Understood, suggestion under consideration." Astraea eyed the little GMD in its rocky-cage and typed out the command to send both her turrets home to her workshop and then stowed away her (now normal) wrench. Her Operator's words were intriguing though. Having lived much of her life until this point in sterile networks there had never been a chance for her to run into the Net Anomaly. She was curious enough to march over to the edge of the Toothy Maw and attempt to reach right in and activate it.
Only to find out her arm was too short and even standing on her toes (as much as she could) was leaving the prize just out of reach.
"Hmm..." Astraea pointedly ignored the snorting that sounded suspiciously like laughter coming from the vid window that trailed after her. Her mind was turned solely to the problem in front of her. The distance between her fingertips and the smooth looking surface of the GMD was short enough that if her arms were just an inch longer she could probably reach it while standing on her toes (although that was something she found uncomfortable and didn't wish to repeat). Abruptly the answer occurred to her, and with a slight grin she pulled her wrench back out and reached it through the bars to give the GMD a light tap.
[Open: Y]
"Understood, suggestion under consideration." Astraea eyed the little GMD in its rocky-cage and typed out the command to send both her turrets home to her workshop and then stowed away her (now normal) wrench. Her Operator's words were intriguing though. Having lived much of her life until this point in sterile networks there had never been a chance for her to run into the Net Anomaly. She was curious enough to march over to the edge of the Toothy Maw and attempt to reach right in and activate it.
Only to find out her arm was too short and even standing on her toes (as much as she could) was leaving the prize just out of reach.
"Hmm..." Astraea pointedly ignored the snorting that sounded suspiciously like laughter coming from the vid window that trailed after her. Her mind was turned solely to the problem in front of her. The distance between her fingertips and the smooth looking surface of the GMD was short enough that if her arms were just an inch longer she could probably reach it while standing on her toes (although that was something she found uncomfortable and didn't wish to repeat). Abruptly the answer occurred to her, and with a slight grin she pulled her wrench back out and reached it through the bars to give the GMD a light tap.
[Open: Y]
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The mystery data crystal shuddered for a moment as Astraea tapped it, then sped up its slow rotation several times over. A few sparks of brilliant light flashed from inside the crystal, before at last it came to an abrupt halt. Starting form the bottom, the crystal seemed to break down and disintegrate, except instead of junk or remnant data, what dropped to the ground was a not insubstantial collection of raw zenny.
GMD: 1200z
GMD: 1200
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It seemed that whatever bit of binary that determined if the mystery data had a good or bad surprise in it had been set to '1'. There was a bit of surprise on Astraea's face as her half-hunched shoulders eased back to normal. She hadn't been aware of the fact she was hunching her shoulders. The Navi forcefully moved 'what-if' thoughts involving the GMD being a bomb or some other sort of trap (although here her imagination failed her) to a non-currently running process and focused on the task at hand.
Namely collecting all that free money.
"Hey there we go! We've made baaaank~" The Op''s voice was a pleased drawl as he watched a few numbers tick upwards as Astraea began sending the rewards of her work to the PET. She hadn't made an effort to collect the loot from the fight before accessing the green crystal, but Alex lacked the experience required to see why that could have been a bad thing. Namely the fact that Astraea could have been forced right off the Net before ever gathering her loot. That was a concern for more experienced teams and Alex's continued chattering would show as much to anyone who happened to be listening in at the moment. "You know, I honestly was kind of hoping it was a trap or something. Not that, like, I want anything bad to happen to you mind! I just want to see what could happen if it didn't give you anything. Now I'm curious to know what can be gotten out of them."
"Should I initiate a search for more such anomalies? I can continue to collect testing data as I progress." Astraea was intrigued as well by the seemingly randomly spawned clumps of data. It was an interesting phenomena, and while she did not yet have much information on it she could soon rectify that. She promptly dedicated several threads of processing power to begin digging through the web in search of other references to the mystery data. Suddenly Alex's video screen nudged into her line of sight and her operator was ahead of her with one eyebrow raised. She blinked a few times, realized he was waiting for an answer to something and after another milisecond she realized she had been concentrating too much on setting up her searches and not enough to catch whatever had been asked.
"Apologies, Operator. I was absorbed in the set-up of several background searches to collect more information on this." She gestured briefly to where the GMD had been. "Would you be agreeable to repeating what was conveyed?"
Alex sighed and shook his head with a little smile. "Man, has being moved from your old PET really done such a number on your attention span? Well, I guess there's no use trying to change what can't be." But he vaguely wondered if it bothered her more than she was showing. He had asked about the specs of her previous 'home' PET, unsurprisingly she had been unable to tell him anything more specific than 'not a civilian model' and 'heavily customized'. In his mind that meant something military, or pseudo-military. Or maybe it was just super secret new corporation technology that wasn't available yet! Oh well, they had been in the middle of something right now. "I was asking if you'd be interested in digging up information on these buggers but it looks like you're ahead of me there. I don't think we'll find another one this trip but we can still wipe out some virii. Go ahead and continue downt he cave if you want! Might as well map it thoroughly."
Once more Astraea gave a nod of acquiescence, but for once it was accompanied by a verbal reply as well. "Very well. I will proceed with my original mission and accept this charge as a sub-mission." She made a check of her equipment and then continued deeper into the cave-system.
[Searching for Battle 5]
Namely collecting all that free money.
"Hey there we go! We've made baaaank~" The Op''s voice was a pleased drawl as he watched a few numbers tick upwards as Astraea began sending the rewards of her work to the PET. She hadn't made an effort to collect the loot from the fight before accessing the green crystal, but Alex lacked the experience required to see why that could have been a bad thing. Namely the fact that Astraea could have been forced right off the Net before ever gathering her loot. That was a concern for more experienced teams and Alex's continued chattering would show as much to anyone who happened to be listening in at the moment. "You know, I honestly was kind of hoping it was a trap or something. Not that, like, I want anything bad to happen to you mind! I just want to see what could happen if it didn't give you anything. Now I'm curious to know what can be gotten out of them."
"Should I initiate a search for more such anomalies? I can continue to collect testing data as I progress." Astraea was intrigued as well by the seemingly randomly spawned clumps of data. It was an interesting phenomena, and while she did not yet have much information on it she could soon rectify that. She promptly dedicated several threads of processing power to begin digging through the web in search of other references to the mystery data. Suddenly Alex's video screen nudged into her line of sight and her operator was ahead of her with one eyebrow raised. She blinked a few times, realized he was waiting for an answer to something and after another milisecond she realized she had been concentrating too much on setting up her searches and not enough to catch whatever had been asked.
"Apologies, Operator. I was absorbed in the set-up of several background searches to collect more information on this." She gestured briefly to where the GMD had been. "Would you be agreeable to repeating what was conveyed?"
Alex sighed and shook his head with a little smile. "Man, has being moved from your old PET really done such a number on your attention span? Well, I guess there's no use trying to change what can't be." But he vaguely wondered if it bothered her more than she was showing. He had asked about the specs of her previous 'home' PET, unsurprisingly she had been unable to tell him anything more specific than 'not a civilian model' and 'heavily customized'. In his mind that meant something military, or pseudo-military. Or maybe it was just super secret new corporation technology that wasn't available yet! Oh well, they had been in the middle of something right now. "I was asking if you'd be interested in digging up information on these buggers but it looks like you're ahead of me there. I don't think we'll find another one this trip but we can still wipe out some virii. Go ahead and continue downt he cave if you want! Might as well map it thoroughly."
Once more Astraea gave a nod of acquiescence, but for once it was accompanied by a verbal reply as well. "Very well. I will proceed with my original mission and accept this charge as a sub-mission." She made a check of her equipment and then continued deeper into the cave-system.
[Searching for Battle 5]
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As the brave little alien passed through the increasingly dark and draughty tunnels of the strange cave system, the dull, intermittent light from the fungal plants grew sparser. For a short while it grew difficult to even make her way forward between the up-cropping spikes and stones, and picking between them without stumbling became a challenge in itself.
It felt as though the ceiling was rising away the deeper she went, until a sudden slope in the way forward led to a grand opening out of the walls around her. It was hard to see anything at first, but gradually the sense of openness gave way to vague shapes. that she had found a great cavern of some sort was clear, but more than that, as her sight adjusted to the deeper gloom, there were ancient-looking buildings ruined and crumbling, dotted around the large space. Many were part overgrown with creeping rock formations, but a few still stood proud in the darkness, making unusually strong lines and columns of worked masonry amongst the spires.
A sudden flurry of shrieking pulsebats, high amongst the stalactites of the cave rushed down in a swarm and out past Astraea, flocking all around the navi but more or less ignoring her as they made for the exit she had just entered by. they cleared after a few moments, but rather than silence retuning, there came a soft, mesmeric crooning from somewhere in the darkness. It wasn't unpleasant as far as sounds went. In fact it was quite nice. Nice enough to want to find the source, even. In what must probably be an irritating anathema to science for the alien navi, the sound had an almost hypnotic effect, and if she listened to it any longer, she would find herself moving towards the sound, feeling almost bodily pulled by it.
The source would reveal itself before long; a strange, gaunt-looking creature, long-limbed and vaguely humanoid. It's skin, as near as it was possible to see in the cave, was a dark swarthy colour, though it did seem to be wearing clothes as well; a dark coloured suit that was torn and ragged in many places. The head of the creature was only passingly human-looking. It had large, pointed, sensitive-looking ears, and a tall, deep-slitted nose that occupied much of the middle of its face. to either side, its eyes were excessively large, and black in their entirety. Its mouth was a gape that revealed two uncomfortably long, white fangs, but no other teeth at all besides, and for not it was clearly making the strange crooning music in the depths of its throat.
The creature held his arms crossed high in front of itself, and two long, thick wing membranes ran almost to the ground, making it look mostly like a gaunt man wrapped up in an all-concealing cloak. The crooning stopped and the creature flared his arms-cum-wings wide. Another feature probably worth noting: long, sharp fingernails, blackened with age into vicious-looking talons.
"You shall not bring light into my halls!" His voice came out as a throaty hiss, as though normal speech was something of an acquired art for him. "I will drink until all is still again!" With another harsh hiss, the creature sprang forward, darting towards Astraea with surprising speed.
-=Lord of the Crumbling Manor=-
VampireBat.Bat: 250Hp
-=Staying for Dinner?=-
Astraea.Exe: 95Hp
-=Crumbling Manor=-
All Normal Terrain.
This is a large area, with much cover to be found, if desired. There are tall stalagmites on the cave floor, though much of the central area is open. There are several dilapidated stone structures, a few of which have viable doorways to enter through or take cover in.
-=Battle 5, Start!=-
It felt as though the ceiling was rising away the deeper she went, until a sudden slope in the way forward led to a grand opening out of the walls around her. It was hard to see anything at first, but gradually the sense of openness gave way to vague shapes. that she had found a great cavern of some sort was clear, but more than that, as her sight adjusted to the deeper gloom, there were ancient-looking buildings ruined and crumbling, dotted around the large space. Many were part overgrown with creeping rock formations, but a few still stood proud in the darkness, making unusually strong lines and columns of worked masonry amongst the spires.
A sudden flurry of shrieking pulsebats, high amongst the stalactites of the cave rushed down in a swarm and out past Astraea, flocking all around the navi but more or less ignoring her as they made for the exit she had just entered by. they cleared after a few moments, but rather than silence retuning, there came a soft, mesmeric crooning from somewhere in the darkness. It wasn't unpleasant as far as sounds went. In fact it was quite nice. Nice enough to want to find the source, even. In what must probably be an irritating anathema to science for the alien navi, the sound had an almost hypnotic effect, and if she listened to it any longer, she would find herself moving towards the sound, feeling almost bodily pulled by it.
The source would reveal itself before long; a strange, gaunt-looking creature, long-limbed and vaguely humanoid. It's skin, as near as it was possible to see in the cave, was a dark swarthy colour, though it did seem to be wearing clothes as well; a dark coloured suit that was torn and ragged in many places. The head of the creature was only passingly human-looking. It had large, pointed, sensitive-looking ears, and a tall, deep-slitted nose that occupied much of the middle of its face. to either side, its eyes were excessively large, and black in their entirety. Its mouth was a gape that revealed two uncomfortably long, white fangs, but no other teeth at all besides, and for not it was clearly making the strange crooning music in the depths of its throat.
The creature held his arms crossed high in front of itself, and two long, thick wing membranes ran almost to the ground, making it look mostly like a gaunt man wrapped up in an all-concealing cloak. The crooning stopped and the creature flared his arms-cum-wings wide. Another feature probably worth noting: long, sharp fingernails, blackened with age into vicious-looking talons.
"You shall not bring light into my halls!" His voice came out as a throaty hiss, as though normal speech was something of an acquired art for him. "I will drink until all is still again!" With another harsh hiss, the creature sprang forward, darting towards Astraea with surprising speed.
-=Lord of the Crumbling Manor=-
VampireBat.Bat: 250Hp
-=Staying for Dinner?=-
Astraea.Exe: 95Hp
-=Crumbling Manor=-
All Normal Terrain.
This is a large area, with much cover to be found, if desired. There are tall stalagmites on the cave floor, though much of the central area is open. There are several dilapidated stone structures, a few of which have viable doorways to enter through or take cover in.
-=Battle 5, Start!=-
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The trek deeper into the cave got darker the further Astraea went. Problems arose from this, mostly in the form of visual impairment. At first Astraea was fine trudging along with only the light of the luminescent fungus but eventually even that faint light wasn't enough. So another plan was devised and Alex turned up the brightness and contrast on the hologram and navigated Astraea in a more verbal sense.
"Alright, there is a fallen stalagmite about two blocks ahead of you blocking the path. If you step to the lef-no right. Step to your right and you'll be lined up with the thinnest portion of it." The alien complied, slowing down as she approached shape. Her pupils were wide open but it didn't seem to be helping a significant amount. "Alriiiight...Step now!" The duo was getting better at this so unlike the first three times where Astraea had tripped and fallen, this time she made it safely over. They seemed to have their timing down now, and Astraea's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Navigation successful." The status report was a bit unnecessary as her Operator was watching but Astraea was a stickler for clear communication (even if she wasn't always good at it herself). She felt something strange as she passed over the rocky spike, like suddenly there was more room over head and to the sides. She stopped completely at the edge of the room and frowned a bit. She couldn't make out much in the gloom and she couldn't physically feel a difference in the air but something told her she was no longer in just a regular tunnel. It was puzzling so she asked for confirmation. "Physical senses detect no change in surrounds, confirm?"
"Wha-, oh, uh give me a moment... I'm not seeing anything different from my end. Let me try this." Abruptly the video screen flicked back into existence in front of Astraea, momentarily blinding her. It wasn't throwing off a large amount of light but it would be enough to disrupt her night vision which was precisely why the amateur spelunker team hadn't been using it. In a fight the window would automatically disappear and Astraea would be forced to spend several precious seconds stuck in blindness as her eyes readjusted. Unfortunately with the deteriating light sources there hadn't been much choice. "Well, take a look at this. Pretty sizable cav-GAH!"
Whatever the NetOp had been saying was quickly forgotten as a sudden screeching crowd of pulsebats made all haste for the entrance Astraea had come from. With a cry the Navi flung herself to the floor and shielded her eyestalks with her hands and waited for the swarm to pass. She marked the passing of the bats as wind pushed by flapping wings, and once or twice she thought she felt something brush against her body. While she had been able to fight down her irrational fear earlier it returned now in a crushing realization. There were too many to fight successfully. She would be blasted apart, destroyed by sonic blasts she herself had used. There was no way for her to defend or dodge them all and it would only be a matter of time until she succumbed.
Lost as she was in the invasive fear, Astraea didn't notice that the flight of bats had passed. Nor did she notice the crooning. What did get her out of her stupor was Alex's video window suddenly disappearing with a sharp crackle of static. The tinkerer picked herself back up slowly, waiting to see if the bats returned. Distantly she could hear the crooning, but at the moment it was a low level priority in her notice. What she did notice was how dark everything had gotten, and the faint, steady buzzing of static seemingly in her head. "Operator Alex? Are you receiving?" She pressed a hand to the side of her head as if pushing a headphone closer to her head but the static didn't change.
With a frown Astraea began to take a few steps forward and then stopped, unsure of why she was moving. She had lost her night vision in the brief moment that the vid window had been up and she had lost audio contact with her Operator. It would be wise to turn back or wait for either to be reestablished. She took a few more steps forward, the sound now pulling on her attention more insistently. The Navi's shoulders tensed again and she fumbled in the dark for her wrench as she began to walk forward. It made no sense to be walking towards the noise, especially considering what had just passed her. What if it was more of the same? what if it was something similar? Despite her very reasonable logic to stay put, the alien found herself moving forward regardless. It was frustrating! She could not control her emotions and now she could not even control her will! Being outside of the closed administrative network was proving to bring nothing but headaches!
Despite her forward march and silent berating of herself and her situation, Astraea's fingers had been clumsily working at her keypad and the wrench. While she could normally type up complicated commands on demand without looking, the knowledge that she could not look was making things difficult. It was as if her fingers had lost all muscle memory. Thus it was that when she finally got the end of her wrench to swap into its blow-torch form she was already a third of the way into the cavern. The light that had flared to life from the end of wrench was unusually cold looking and feeling, but it was bright. Bright enough to illuminate the horrifying foe that awaited her.
Alex was busy adjusting the audio settings for all he was worth. While the static from their severed connection was only a dull background noise for Astraea, on the male's end it had begun as an ear hurting roar. He had finally gotten it down to a low hiss but his attempts to fix the voice communications was failing. When he closed the setting menus to free up the main screen he found that Astraea had made her own light, and it was blocking out any sight he might have had of what was going on. With a quiet curse he flipped open the settings menu again and restored brightness and contrast to their previous settings and flipped back just in time to see something out of an old horror vid springing at his Navi.
"Look out!" The fact that she couldn't hear him was forgotten as he slid a chip across the screen to hopefully give the Navi a means of repelling the attack. A mock Cannondumb appeared in front of Astraea and fired at the beastly creature, but Alex's eyes were on Astraea. Her eyes had been wide with terror but the sight of help from the NetOp seemed to rally her fledgling tactical sense. She unfroze with a shake of her arm to snap the flimsy plastic shield into existence on her arm and then sprinted for a stalagmite for cover. Alex couldn't lean back on the couch with a relieved sigh just yet, but he could bare a fierce unseen grin at the scene.
"Alien vs Vampire: Round One Begins!"
--Summary--
1) Cannon 60 + Knockback @ VampireBat.Bat, Acc A
2) Shield - 1-hit Shield
3) Movement: Using stalagmite for cover.
"Alright, there is a fallen stalagmite about two blocks ahead of you blocking the path. If you step to the lef-no right. Step to your right and you'll be lined up with the thinnest portion of it." The alien complied, slowing down as she approached shape. Her pupils were wide open but it didn't seem to be helping a significant amount. "Alriiiight...Step now!" The duo was getting better at this so unlike the first three times where Astraea had tripped and fallen, this time she made it safely over. They seemed to have their timing down now, and Astraea's shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Navigation successful." The status report was a bit unnecessary as her Operator was watching but Astraea was a stickler for clear communication (even if she wasn't always good at it herself). She felt something strange as she passed over the rocky spike, like suddenly there was more room over head and to the sides. She stopped completely at the edge of the room and frowned a bit. She couldn't make out much in the gloom and she couldn't physically feel a difference in the air but something told her she was no longer in just a regular tunnel. It was puzzling so she asked for confirmation. "Physical senses detect no change in surrounds, confirm?"
"Wha-, oh, uh give me a moment... I'm not seeing anything different from my end. Let me try this." Abruptly the video screen flicked back into existence in front of Astraea, momentarily blinding her. It wasn't throwing off a large amount of light but it would be enough to disrupt her night vision which was precisely why the amateur spelunker team hadn't been using it. In a fight the window would automatically disappear and Astraea would be forced to spend several precious seconds stuck in blindness as her eyes readjusted. Unfortunately with the deteriating light sources there hadn't been much choice. "Well, take a look at this. Pretty sizable cav-GAH!"
Whatever the NetOp had been saying was quickly forgotten as a sudden screeching crowd of pulsebats made all haste for the entrance Astraea had come from. With a cry the Navi flung herself to the floor and shielded her eyestalks with her hands and waited for the swarm to pass. She marked the passing of the bats as wind pushed by flapping wings, and once or twice she thought she felt something brush against her body. While she had been able to fight down her irrational fear earlier it returned now in a crushing realization. There were too many to fight successfully. She would be blasted apart, destroyed by sonic blasts she herself had used. There was no way for her to defend or dodge them all and it would only be a matter of time until she succumbed.
Lost as she was in the invasive fear, Astraea didn't notice that the flight of bats had passed. Nor did she notice the crooning. What did get her out of her stupor was Alex's video window suddenly disappearing with a sharp crackle of static. The tinkerer picked herself back up slowly, waiting to see if the bats returned. Distantly she could hear the crooning, but at the moment it was a low level priority in her notice. What she did notice was how dark everything had gotten, and the faint, steady buzzing of static seemingly in her head. "Operator Alex? Are you receiving?" She pressed a hand to the side of her head as if pushing a headphone closer to her head but the static didn't change.
With a frown Astraea began to take a few steps forward and then stopped, unsure of why she was moving. She had lost her night vision in the brief moment that the vid window had been up and she had lost audio contact with her Operator. It would be wise to turn back or wait for either to be reestablished. She took a few more steps forward, the sound now pulling on her attention more insistently. The Navi's shoulders tensed again and she fumbled in the dark for her wrench as she began to walk forward. It made no sense to be walking towards the noise, especially considering what had just passed her. What if it was more of the same? what if it was something similar? Despite her very reasonable logic to stay put, the alien found herself moving forward regardless. It was frustrating! She could not control her emotions and now she could not even control her will! Being outside of the closed administrative network was proving to bring nothing but headaches!
Despite her forward march and silent berating of herself and her situation, Astraea's fingers had been clumsily working at her keypad and the wrench. While she could normally type up complicated commands on demand without looking, the knowledge that she could not look was making things difficult. It was as if her fingers had lost all muscle memory. Thus it was that when she finally got the end of her wrench to swap into its blow-torch form she was already a third of the way into the cavern. The light that had flared to life from the end of wrench was unusually cold looking and feeling, but it was bright. Bright enough to illuminate the horrifying foe that awaited her.
Alex was busy adjusting the audio settings for all he was worth. While the static from their severed connection was only a dull background noise for Astraea, on the male's end it had begun as an ear hurting roar. He had finally gotten it down to a low hiss but his attempts to fix the voice communications was failing. When he closed the setting menus to free up the main screen he found that Astraea had made her own light, and it was blocking out any sight he might have had of what was going on. With a quiet curse he flipped open the settings menu again and restored brightness and contrast to their previous settings and flipped back just in time to see something out of an old horror vid springing at his Navi.
"Look out!" The fact that she couldn't hear him was forgotten as he slid a chip across the screen to hopefully give the Navi a means of repelling the attack. A mock Cannondumb appeared in front of Astraea and fired at the beastly creature, but Alex's eyes were on Astraea. Her eyes had been wide with terror but the sight of help from the NetOp seemed to rally her fledgling tactical sense. She unfroze with a shake of her arm to snap the flimsy plastic shield into existence on her arm and then sprinted for a stalagmite for cover. Alex couldn't lean back on the couch with a relieved sigh just yet, but he could bare a fierce unseen grin at the scene.
"Alien vs Vampire: Round One Begins!"
--Summary--
1) Cannon 60 + Knockback @ VampireBat.Bat, Acc A
2) Shield - 1-hit Shield
3) Movement: Using stalagmite for cover.
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The next few seconds happened in an instant, but seemed to pass like thick treacle. Astraea got her blowtorch on, and the hideous creature clearly didn't like the light. It leapt at her, blackened talons raking viciously, even as the tinkerer called up a cannon in its way. The swipe of the beast's claws fell just as Astraea got her shield up to them, crumpling the defence again instantly but saving her the pain... and maybe a tetanus shot. Even as the vampire struck, though, the cannon turret fired with point blank accuracy, punching the monster clear in the chest and throwing him back with something that sounded uncomfortably blended between a scream and a hiss.
He rolled away, wrapping his wings about him even as the alien fled into the darkness herself. From behind her cover point, she heard the creature cry out unevenly, though its wordless call was followed by a more intelligible shout as well.
"Protect me, my kindred!!" It came from somewhere towards the middle of the cave still, so he couldn't have moved far. What followed was the sound of shrieking bats, and the flutter of many hundreds of tiny, leathery wings. A small force of much smaller bat creatures had dropped from the ceiling of the cavern to fly in a tightly protective shell around the vampire, quite indeed protecting him.
As much as the light source helped Astraea find her own bearings, it also made things quite easy for the light-loathing monster she was fighting. With another hiss he draw back a clawed finger and pointed it towards the alien's hiding spot. A smoky globe of concentrated darkness formed at his fingertip then loosed, making a waving path towards her. By good fortune, it missed, drifting wide and sailing past the cover near enough for the tinker to feel an unearthly chill as it passed. Less fortunate was the strange way in which the glob curved and slowed until it hung in the air for a moment, then began to gain speed again as it came back towards her for another try.
-=Lord of the Crumbling Manor=-
VampireBat.Bat: 190Hp [20Hp Batty-Barrier]
-=Staying for Dinner?=-
Astraea.Exe: 95Hp [Cover]
-=Crumbling Manor=-
All Normal Terrain.
This is a large area, with much cover to be found, if desired. There are tall stalagmites on the cave floor, though much of the central area is open. There are several dilapidated stone structures, a few of which have viable doorways to enter through or take cover in.
-=Objects=-
Dark Fragment [Homing on Astraea][Behind Astraea]
He rolled away, wrapping his wings about him even as the alien fled into the darkness herself. From behind her cover point, she heard the creature cry out unevenly, though its wordless call was followed by a more intelligible shout as well.
"Protect me, my kindred!!" It came from somewhere towards the middle of the cave still, so he couldn't have moved far. What followed was the sound of shrieking bats, and the flutter of many hundreds of tiny, leathery wings. A small force of much smaller bat creatures had dropped from the ceiling of the cavern to fly in a tightly protective shell around the vampire, quite indeed protecting him.
As much as the light source helped Astraea find her own bearings, it also made things quite easy for the light-loathing monster she was fighting. With another hiss he draw back a clawed finger and pointed it towards the alien's hiding spot. A smoky globe of concentrated darkness formed at his fingertip then loosed, making a waving path towards her. By good fortune, it missed, drifting wide and sailing past the cover near enough for the tinker to feel an unearthly chill as it passed. Less fortunate was the strange way in which the glob curved and slowed until it hung in the air for a moment, then began to gain speed again as it came back towards her for another try.
-=Lord of the Crumbling Manor=-
VampireBat.Bat: 190Hp [20Hp Batty-Barrier]
-=Staying for Dinner?=-
Astraea.Exe: 95Hp [Cover]
-=Crumbling Manor=-
All Normal Terrain.
This is a large area, with much cover to be found, if desired. There are tall stalagmites on the cave floor, though much of the central area is open. There are several dilapidated stone structures, a few of which have viable doorways to enter through or take cover in.
-=Objects=-
Dark Fragment [Homing on Astraea][Behind Astraea]
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Having a torch suddenly felt like a bad idea when it proved an excellent target for her opponent to lob shots of condensed shadow at her. Astraea privately thought the alternative would not be any better and was just glad the attack had missed. For a brief moment she considered seeking shelter in one of the buildings she had spotted earlier then the memory of the vampire's claws returned and she discarded the thought. No, she would stick to the open areas and keep her little torch even if it served as a beacon for her foe.
Astrea shook out her shield and turned so her unshielded side was against the stalagmite she'd chosen for cover. She swept her eyes over the area and then made her decision. The numerous circling bats would be difficult to deal with, especially as she could only fire her various weapons once. Of course there was the option of summoning her tools that could fire more than once so that was what she worked on. The alien began typing noisily away at the mini-keypad on her belt, hoping to draw her opponent's attention to her instead of another stalagmite nearby. There was no bright beam of light when her turret appeared this time, no overly dramatic light show to reveal its presence in the room. She'd been careful to adjust the summoning coordinates so that it did not appear directly behind her pillar of rock but instead the Cinder Turret rose smoothly from the ground a few feet away.
This iteration of the turret had four spidery legs attached to a base from which a cylindrical shaft rose with actual turret placed on top. Desperate on-the-fly modification of design work was not Astraea's strong point and it showed in the cobbled together look of the machine. The legs were fragile and mismatched in length, they probably would not survive moving the contraption. For now Astraea had the turret hold its fire in hopes that the pillar behind which it had been summoned would mask its presence for now. She had set it to standby mode and it would stay as such unless the being designated as 'foe' attempted to engage it.
The ever present static in her head suddenly flared up with a vengeance. Astraea grit her teeth with a hiss and was glad it faded back to tolerable levels as soon as it had flared up. She could do nothing to work on the issue at the moment, all of her current processing power must be kept on the task at hand. Fighting was turning out to be an impressive resource hog in the way it occupied all the circuitry and power of her systems. The cave invader turned away from her turret and sought out another piece of cover. She needed to draw her opponent into the line of fire so that her little turret could lay down cross fire to hopefully blast through the shield of bats. Taking a deep breath (and a tighter grip on her torch) Astraea began a short run to another piece of rock, this one further away from the turret but still within line of sight. The alien kept her eyes on the terrain ahead of her in an attempt to avoid falling down, she even managed to make a couple zig-zag motions with her running although that was probably more coincidence than anything.
--Summary--
1)Shield
2)Summon Cinder Turret - 10 hp Object, 5x2 fire Acc A passive, yadda yadda - summoned behind a nearby stalagmite with lights off in hopes of being sneaky.
3) Feint/movement away from current hiding place to another in line of sight of turret. Attempting to use light of torch to draw BatFace.Bat's attention.
Cinder Turret Beta (because Alpha can only ever be Alpha even if its more of a Beta) - Passive unless attacked then 5x2 Fire, Acc A @ Attacker
I am super up for Astraea getting pegged with the returning ball of shadow, I would actually love it to happen since it would provide valuable battle feedback to show her that sometimes once an attack misses it doesn't stay gone. I would have written it in but I don't know what effects it has or if it has any other nasty surprises besides homing.
Astrea shook out her shield and turned so her unshielded side was against the stalagmite she'd chosen for cover. She swept her eyes over the area and then made her decision. The numerous circling bats would be difficult to deal with, especially as she could only fire her various weapons once. Of course there was the option of summoning her tools that could fire more than once so that was what she worked on. The alien began typing noisily away at the mini-keypad on her belt, hoping to draw her opponent's attention to her instead of another stalagmite nearby. There was no bright beam of light when her turret appeared this time, no overly dramatic light show to reveal its presence in the room. She'd been careful to adjust the summoning coordinates so that it did not appear directly behind her pillar of rock but instead the Cinder Turret rose smoothly from the ground a few feet away.
This iteration of the turret had four spidery legs attached to a base from which a cylindrical shaft rose with actual turret placed on top. Desperate on-the-fly modification of design work was not Astraea's strong point and it showed in the cobbled together look of the machine. The legs were fragile and mismatched in length, they probably would not survive moving the contraption. For now Astraea had the turret hold its fire in hopes that the pillar behind which it had been summoned would mask its presence for now. She had set it to standby mode and it would stay as such unless the being designated as 'foe' attempted to engage it.
The ever present static in her head suddenly flared up with a vengeance. Astraea grit her teeth with a hiss and was glad it faded back to tolerable levels as soon as it had flared up. She could do nothing to work on the issue at the moment, all of her current processing power must be kept on the task at hand. Fighting was turning out to be an impressive resource hog in the way it occupied all the circuitry and power of her systems. The cave invader turned away from her turret and sought out another piece of cover. She needed to draw her opponent into the line of fire so that her little turret could lay down cross fire to hopefully blast through the shield of bats. Taking a deep breath (and a tighter grip on her torch) Astraea began a short run to another piece of rock, this one further away from the turret but still within line of sight. The alien kept her eyes on the terrain ahead of her in an attempt to avoid falling down, she even managed to make a couple zig-zag motions with her running although that was probably more coincidence than anything.
--Summary--
1)Shield
2)Summon Cinder Turret - 10 hp Object, 5x2 fire Acc A passive, yadda yadda - summoned behind a nearby stalagmite with lights off in hopes of being sneaky.
3) Feint/movement away from current hiding place to another in line of sight of turret. Attempting to use light of torch to draw BatFace.Bat's attention.
Cinder Turret Beta (because Alpha can only ever be Alpha even if its more of a Beta) - Passive unless attacked then 5x2 Fire, Acc A @ Attacker
I am super up for Astraea getting pegged with the returning ball of shadow, I would actually love it to happen since it would provide valuable battle feedback to show her that sometimes once an attack misses it doesn't stay gone. I would have written it in but I don't know what effects it has or if it has any other nasty surprises besides homing.
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Astraea placed her hidden turret and got moving while her dark opponent pointed again with a hiss, sending a second ball of darkness her way. This one splattered against the often-collapsing shield before it could do any damage, but at the same time, the first ball of energy made up for it, crashing with an uncomfortably cold, empty sensation against the alien-girl's back. Fortunately for Astraea, while the sensation was infinitely unpleasant, and enough to send shudders through any sane person, it didn't actually hurt all that much. (-10)
As predicted, her torch-light kept the vampire's attention on her and his gaze followed, calculating as he seemed to draw in the darkness around him like a cover. A moment later, by the small amount of light she had, Astraea saw the creature's form shimmer, then evaporate into mist. Sadly, he wasn't melting in the light; the mist curled and twisted, then darted towards the tinkerer with a frightful speed. It curled all round her once, then drew up into the form of her opponent, maw open and long fangs exposed as it struck. At the last moment, he seemed to flinch; being so close to the bright light made him shy away unexpectedly, and the cloak of bats circling him also shrieked in dismay.
The result was that his fangs lanced down to miss Astraea's neck and snap shut just in front of her without catching anything. It might also have been possible that the unusual proportions of the alien's head and neck made that particular manoeuvre exceptionally difficult for the vampire creature. One thing was certain, though... those fangs were very long, and the bite very forceful... She hadn't been caught by it, and there was no arguing that she wouldn't want to be either.
Hissing and snarling, the creature fell back, scuttling away from her and her light again, holding one wing-arm close to his eyes. For the time being, he hadn't seemed to be paying attention to the turret that Astrea had called forth, and her distinctly more alpha Beta Turret lurked with a highly professional silence as it awaited the right moment. It was unlikely that the vampire couldn't see it; his sight in the cave was probably perfectly good, even with no light, but so far he'd ignored it as steadfastly as any rock or other object that wasn't alive and breathing. Past the edge of her light, the Vampire seemed to move vaguely left and partially uphill to Astraea, jumping and darting nimbly through and around the lower stalagmites to find perch on the edge of one of the ruined buildings.
-=Lord of the Crumbling Manor=-
VampireBat.Bat: 190Hp [20Hp Batty-Barrier]
-=Staying for Dinner?=-
Astraea.Exe: 95Hp [Cover][Shield Broken!]
-=Crumbling Manor=-
All Normal Terrain.
This is a large area, with much cover to be found, if desired. There are tall stalagmites on the cave floor, though much of the central area is open. There are several dilapidated stone structures, a few of which have viable doorways to enter through or take cover in.
-=Objects=-
CTB: 10Hp [Allied][Ready]
As predicted, her torch-light kept the vampire's attention on her and his gaze followed, calculating as he seemed to draw in the darkness around him like a cover. A moment later, by the small amount of light she had, Astraea saw the creature's form shimmer, then evaporate into mist. Sadly, he wasn't melting in the light; the mist curled and twisted, then darted towards the tinkerer with a frightful speed. It curled all round her once, then drew up into the form of her opponent, maw open and long fangs exposed as it struck. At the last moment, he seemed to flinch; being so close to the bright light made him shy away unexpectedly, and the cloak of bats circling him also shrieked in dismay.
The result was that his fangs lanced down to miss Astraea's neck and snap shut just in front of her without catching anything. It might also have been possible that the unusual proportions of the alien's head and neck made that particular manoeuvre exceptionally difficult for the vampire creature. One thing was certain, though... those fangs were very long, and the bite very forceful... She hadn't been caught by it, and there was no arguing that she wouldn't want to be either.
Hissing and snarling, the creature fell back, scuttling away from her and her light again, holding one wing-arm close to his eyes. For the time being, he hadn't seemed to be paying attention to the turret that Astrea had called forth, and her distinctly more alpha Beta Turret lurked with a highly professional silence as it awaited the right moment. It was unlikely that the vampire couldn't see it; his sight in the cave was probably perfectly good, even with no light, but so far he'd ignored it as steadfastly as any rock or other object that wasn't alive and breathing. Past the edge of her light, the Vampire seemed to move vaguely left and partially uphill to Astraea, jumping and darting nimbly through and around the lower stalagmites to find perch on the edge of one of the ruined buildings.
-=Lord of the Crumbling Manor=-
VampireBat.Bat: 190Hp [20Hp Batty-Barrier]
-=Staying for Dinner?=-
Astraea.Exe: 95Hp [Cover][Shield Broken!]
-=Crumbling Manor=-
All Normal Terrain.
This is a large area, with much cover to be found, if desired. There are tall stalagmites on the cave floor, though much of the central area is open. There are several dilapidated stone structures, a few of which have viable doorways to enter through or take cover in.
-=Objects=-
CTB: 10Hp [Allied][Ready]
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Believing that once she had dodged she was done worrying about an attack was a potentially fatal effect for Astraea. At least she had caught the second one on her (useful/useless) shield, but the relative slap on the wrist from the first shadow ball still stung and set her skin to shivering. She sucked in a cry of pain and then went ahead with her plan. It was working so far. She seemed to have the night-fiend's full attention, her little turret went unmolested. Astraea's neck almost wasn't as lucky.
The sudden disappearance and subsequent reappearance told Astraea a lot about her opponent, or it would once he was retreating again. For the few terrifying moments where he was looming ahead of her and his fangs snapping by her neck and then she had breathing room again. She let out her breath in a quiet hiss as he retreated, her eyes narrowing at the darker shadow among dark shapes. The alien couldn't quite see him clearly, but she could hear the squeaking of the bats as they circled their master. She narrowed her eyes and drew her raygun and prepared to fire. The cannon earlier had appeared to be last help Alex could send her and she had to do more than run.
With quick steps the mechanic moved after the vampire, loathe to let him out of her sight but disliking the idea of being in arms' reach even more. From what Astraea had seen of the curl of smoke earlier keeping distance was probably a moot point. So she gathered her courage as she ran and with it a silver glow that began to cover her skin. A tendril of confidence reached from the wellspring of her earlier fears. She was fine, she could do this. Her bright orange eyes kept chasing her host's form and she plotted. With the confidence had come a bit of personality that wasn't quite her own but it would suit her plan's needs. The alien had positioned herself under a stalactite and now her fingers danced over her keypad.
"Haven't got the courage to step into the light? With a face like that I can understand!" Astraea grinned, the fierce expression foreign to her face. "Its obvious you could use a good orthodontist! And probably a toothbrush because 'ew'!" The waved a hand in front of her nostrils and shifted her weight to her toes, felling them creak and complain with the unusual weight. She wasn't meant to be a sprinter but she didn't have to move far. She just needed to get clear of a bunch of crushing rock when her turret tried to bring it down on the vampire's head. The female wasn't certain she could out race the rock in this body but she was excited to try.
She also couldn't be certain the foe would close in again so she resolved to simply nullify his attacks by way of making them miss if he decided he wanted a shoot-out.
The turret swiveled on its base and then adjusted its aim upwards with a series of small clicks. It had only a limited range of turn up and down but it could at least aim about midway up the stalactite. It had received its orders and quietly it tracked both its target to fire at (not hard since it wasn't moving) and the target it needed under its firing target (harder since it was moving and rather unpredictable at the moment). It did not have time for questioning its master's plan or reassuring itself. It simply was and would do its job.
--Summary--
1)Movement -- under a stalactite
2)Starmight +20 strengthen/Taunt
3) Dodge - trying to bring VampireBat.Bat under stalactite.
CTB: Firing at midpoint on Stalactite when VampireBat.Bat is underneath if he goes after Astraea physically. If he does not than no action taken.
(I think I should be at 85Hp perhaps?)
The sudden disappearance and subsequent reappearance told Astraea a lot about her opponent, or it would once he was retreating again. For the few terrifying moments where he was looming ahead of her and his fangs snapping by her neck and then she had breathing room again. She let out her breath in a quiet hiss as he retreated, her eyes narrowing at the darker shadow among dark shapes. The alien couldn't quite see him clearly, but she could hear the squeaking of the bats as they circled their master. She narrowed her eyes and drew her raygun and prepared to fire. The cannon earlier had appeared to be last help Alex could send her and she had to do more than run.
With quick steps the mechanic moved after the vampire, loathe to let him out of her sight but disliking the idea of being in arms' reach even more. From what Astraea had seen of the curl of smoke earlier keeping distance was probably a moot point. So she gathered her courage as she ran and with it a silver glow that began to cover her skin. A tendril of confidence reached from the wellspring of her earlier fears. She was fine, she could do this. Her bright orange eyes kept chasing her host's form and she plotted. With the confidence had come a bit of personality that wasn't quite her own but it would suit her plan's needs. The alien had positioned herself under a stalactite and now her fingers danced over her keypad.
"Haven't got the courage to step into the light? With a face like that I can understand!" Astraea grinned, the fierce expression foreign to her face. "Its obvious you could use a good orthodontist! And probably a toothbrush because 'ew'!" The waved a hand in front of her nostrils and shifted her weight to her toes, felling them creak and complain with the unusual weight. She wasn't meant to be a sprinter but she didn't have to move far. She just needed to get clear of a bunch of crushing rock when her turret tried to bring it down on the vampire's head. The female wasn't certain she could out race the rock in this body but she was excited to try.
She also couldn't be certain the foe would close in again so she resolved to simply nullify his attacks by way of making them miss if he decided he wanted a shoot-out.
The turret swiveled on its base and then adjusted its aim upwards with a series of small clicks. It had only a limited range of turn up and down but it could at least aim about midway up the stalactite. It had received its orders and quietly it tracked both its target to fire at (not hard since it wasn't moving) and the target it needed under its firing target (harder since it was moving and rather unpredictable at the moment). It did not have time for questioning its master's plan or reassuring itself. It simply was and would do its job.
--Summary--
1)Movement -- under a stalactite
2)Starmight +20 strengthen/Taunt
3) Dodge - trying to bring VampireBat.Bat under stalactite.
CTB: Firing at midpoint on Stalactite when VampireBat.Bat is underneath if he goes after Astraea physically. If he does not than no action taken.
(I think I should be at 85Hp perhaps?)