SP Mission: Bullet Train

"Hold your fire."

A navi walked to the back of the car to peer over the edge in response to Majinman's request. It was another navi in standard Netpolice armor, painted a dark green instead of the orange-brown of his companions. One of his eyes appeared to be made of glass or something similar, and his other kept drifting toward the front of the car to keep track of his adversaries. One one hand, a wrist blade retracted into its sheath, but the other still held a riot shield, facing toward the front of the car.

"Any situations?" the navi asked. "SciLab's either putting a lot of trust in you or has no grasp of what's going on here. I certainly wouldn't have expected a single navi to try to handle every group represented here."

He sighed, then dropped down at the edge of the roof and slid off to land in front of Majinman. "Don't get me wrong, kid, I'd like to solve this without blowing anyone up, too. It's been a bit difficult so far, though, especially with Tarkel's preferred method of dealing with problems being to throw firepower at it until it goes away.

"That said, if you can get them to back down and find out what they're here for, I think we can work something out. We've certainly got enough problems here without Mafia involvement, so I'd be happy to have one less thing to worry about."

"Well, to be fair, I don't think my employer could have ever expected something on this scale. The guy who normally takes this job went missing so I was hired to set in for him. They weren't even sure if they really needed a replacement, I was brought on just in case," Majinman sighed, "Regardless, I was under the impression that I was mainly to protect some sort of data, which, according to your underling, could very well be what these Net Mafia members are here for. When I met with them earlier, I was under the impression that they were merely using the train for transportation with the muscle being there to protect the fair lady. If what he said is true, though, that makes them very much my concern, so I'm hoping to get to the bottom of this," Majinman put a hand under his chin as he thought about it. Before, they hadn't shown any signs of being up to something, they only sprang into action as a countermeasure. Either things had gone to hell before they had had a chance to put their plan into motion or somewhere along the line the information the Net Police had be thrown off track. It certainly was possible, given that ENA had mentioned the two groups getting into battle but treating it more like a children's squabble disrupting business than an actual concern. Either way, he'd better try uniting these two groups now and then worry about the particulars after the threat of terrorists ripping the train apart had been taken care of.

Majinman nodded to 48, "I do appreciate you giving me a crack at this. The fact that you're more concerned with securing the situation than some stupid turf war shows that you have a good sense of priorities. From what you've told me, I better try to wrap this up before your commanding officer shows up and says otherwise," Majinman leapt to the roof, using his Omnishoes to assure that he wouldn't fall short of the mark. As he touched down, he took a quick look around, making a note of everyone on top. He stood up and slowly began to move forward, waving both hands at Photon and then keeping them in the air to remain non-threatening.

"These two don't normally get along. If things go to hell, I'm ready to send you support," Wes said. He leafed through his folder, picking out a defense, support and finally an attack chip, keeping them on hand and ready to slot in.

"Fine, but you wait for me to say go. No force unless we have to. I'm no slouch when it comes to dodging," Majinman whispered back. He really had to contemplate the irony of a Shadow type being a negotiator and drawing all this attention to himself.

"Okay, everybody, let's just cool down. Miss Photon, as you can see, I'm walking over towards you very slowly. My netop has been instructed not to send chips unless I say so, so until you hear me say otherwise, you can expect no hostile actions from me. Now then, there's a lot of crazy stuff happening right now and no one seems to know what's going out. I just want to talk to you, find where you stand, and see if we can't work out some sort of truce for all of us here, at least until we take care of the real bad guys. Are you willing to discuss this with me?" Majinman asked. He really had to hope that they wouldn't just unload upon him. Given that he was representing Scilabs' interest, he shouldn't have to worry about the NP shooting him in the back, at least. And if Photon and her men were to fire on him, well, he'd just have to use the agility of the Omnishoes to avoid their shots. In this situation, his ability of flight gave him the advantage. While everyone else had to watch their footing, he only had to worry about not going to high to scrape the roof of a tunnel. No, what he was worried about was others showing up before they figured this out and complicating things furthur.

"Just to protect her?" 48 said as Majinman made for the roof. "That's laughable. That woman's a lot more than she appears to be."

The roof, Majinman noted, was now marked with several burns from weapons fire, as well as a large indentation right in front of him where someone had apparently been slammed into it. The damaged weapons and armor of the two police navis on the roof suggested that, while they were at full health now, that had not been the case until right before Majinman had spoken with 48. Farther down, three of the original six hunter navis, including their leader, remained on the roof making themselves as close to non-targets between the two rival factions as they could manage. Beyond that, near the back of the car, the black and red-armored navis that had climbed to the roof to back Photon up stood flanking her. Meanwhile, Photon appeared to be dismissing a much larger exoskeleton, as at the moment Majinman jumped up to the roof large metal plates fell to the roof and disappeared, and Photon's body began glowing with a white light, though nowhere near as brightly as he had seen from inside the train. Two translucent rings that had been barely visible but easily missed before now clearly circled the middle of her body, sporting a shifting wave pattern and constantly shifting between all colors of the spectrum.

Above him, Majinman could see beyond the edges of the tunnel to the space beyond, lit up by many other tunnels running in all directions, illuminated by gold lights running along the edges. They all appeared to have data, navis, or other, smaller transports running through them. At the center of the network of tunnels rose a massive mechanical tower with a segmented plate exterior. From between these plates shone a brilliant emerald light that appeared to pulsate just slightly.

As Majinman reached the indentation in the roof, Photon stopped him. "Don't come any closer. We can talk from here," she said, clearly audible despite the roar of the train. Her voice was much more forceful than before, though it still held much the same quality. "And you lot," she gestured to the hunter navis. "Get out of the way. You're embarassing yourselves."

The hunters did as they were told, pulling open the door of the train car from the top and dropping back in. Once they were out of the way, Photon listened to Majinman. Once he finished talking, she took a deep breath, then answered, "Yes, I'm willing to discuss it, but make it quick. I expect we'll only have a few minutes before more trouble shows up, and I don't trust your NetPolice friends to wait forever."
___

"Yeah, time is certainly of the essence," Majinman said, stopping in his tracks. Okay, what was the first order is business? Probably to discuss what they wanted here. No use trying to convince everyone to play nice and then find out later that their goal is to blow the place up, "So, first thing's first, what is your purpose here? I'm here just to make sure that the train makes it from point A to point B. The guy who normally takes the job went missing so I was just randomly brought on to take his place. The NP are here because they heard about some of your guys being spotted in the area but they were not officially requested by Scilabs. And how about you folks? Nothing nefarious, I hope?" Best not to mention that one of the main concerns Scilabs had mentioned to him was data transporting which might or might not be the reason that they were here. Best not mention something that could break down negotiations just as they had begun. Plus, by appearing ignorant, it would make it easier to keep an eye on them without them thinking they needed to keep an eye on him.

Photon sighed. "Seems like thanks to your NetPolice friends you're already on to us, so there's not much point in hiding it. You said earlier you were hired in case something happened on here, and I have a pretty good idea of why. This train has little trouble making it from 'point A to point B', as you say, even if a fight does break out. No doubt they want you to protect a data package being transported."

She paused, as though allowing Majinman to confirm or deny this, but soon continued whether he did or not. "Recently, our family's leader, Altair, reached an agreement with the staff by which we could analyze this data in a controlled environment. One where their Guard Navis could vaporize us if we did anything untoward." She added the last sentence somewhat bitterly. "But after an incident in Sharo two days later, they backed out of the deal and are being indecisive about continued negotiations. We're here to force a settlement. I'm sure you already understand what that means."

Another explosion rocked the train, this one visible from the vantage point of the roof as plumes of smoke rose from the last car. A voice came through on the radios of the NetPolice officers, including 48, who had returned to the roof.

"I'm going to have to fall back. Expect company very soon; I'm probably going to be followed." It was the same voice that had been on the radio of the Police Navi inside the train car, the one he had called Tarkel.

Meanwhile, Photon continued her story. "Not that it matters now. With everything else going on on this train, that has become nearly impossible."

"And how do we know you can't simply steal this data package and make off with it in the middle of the confusion?" 48 asked.

"For all I know, it's already gone. One of the groups on this train can summon viruses at will into a protected area outside of normal netspace. Who's to say they can't get inside the engine without anyone noticing?"
___

Majinman placed a hand under his chin, nodding as he took in all the facts, "I see, I see... I think we can swing this. They kicked you out because they thought you might be the ones who took out the regular guard. And as long as no one hears says anything, my employers don't know that you've come here to take the data package for negotiating purposes or otherwise. If you help us protect the train from here on out, you might be able to save the data you're worried about and find out who took the guard in Sharo. If you claim your prescence here was merely to accomplish these ends, you should win back Scilabs' trust," he looked from Photon back to 48, "So, what do the two of you say? The NM helps take out the bad guys and the NP put in a good word with Scilabs for them? We can unite a large chunk of the forces right here and now if you agree." Majinman winced at the explosion. And as soon as this was out of the way, they'd need a hastily constructed plan to deal with the situation, if they could figure out exactly what the situation was.

"That's ridiculous. The 'regular guard' was never taken out. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's-"

The black-armored navi interrupted. "That's enough. Why are we even doing this?"

Photon gave a glance back at him, then back toward the NetPolice officers before answering. "Because you've already started a fight that we don't have the firepower to finish, Dimmu. If you hadn't decided to just start shooting the moment they got accusatory, I could've had them thinking we were just here as passengers."

"That wouldn't work and you know it."

Photon sighed, stepping away from Dimmu and toward Majinman and the NetPolice. "Perhaps not," she said quietly, "But it would have bought us time until their commander got here at least." She addressed Majinman next, speaking in a normal tone again. "In truth, Altair does have some interest in that incident, but we were not involved. I'll accept your terms." She shifted her gaze to 48. "Is that acceptable?"

"On the condition that one of us be allowed to monitor you and your men for the remainder of the trip," 48 answered, earning a dirty look from the red-armored navi still on the roof. "Please understand. I want to trust you for now, but the Techari family as a whole is nothing if not good liars."

"So be it."

Majinman scratched his chin. Even though things were going well, or as well as the given situation could allow, some of the things that 48 had said about Photon and her people didn't leave him feeling as confident as he would have liked. Now what was he had been told in the past? Always trust a pretty face or never trust a pretty face? Or that someone was more than just a pretty face? Why didn't he have more experience with pretty faces to go off of?

Breaking out of his circular thought patterns and doubt, Majinman took a deep breath and addressed his new peers, "Okay, now that that's out of the way, at least for the moment, we better get into position. It seems that police reenforcements should arrive soon, followed closely by the baddies," he raised an eyebrow at 48, giving him a moment to either confirm or denounce his assumptions before continuing, "Either way, they can come at us by the roof-top or through the cars below. Assuming that they can't move all that easily up here because of the wind, the below route seems much more likely. As such, I'd suggest stationing maybe three of us up here. I have abilities that will make combat up here much easier for me than probably any of you or them, so unless someone has a problem with it, I'll remain topside. I'll hang above the doorway for the car and try to launch a sneak attack when the enemies pass. Hopefully not only will that allow us to get some easy damage in, but draw some of them up here as well, to divide their forces. I'd suggest keeping one NP officer with radio with me so that we can tell when it's the rest of their people passing through we don't end up ambushing the wrong people. As for the other, so that we can keep in touch with everyone and because you seem big on keeping an eye on each other, I'd suggest one of your people," Majinman nodded to Photon, "Given that we won't have the cover that the inside of the car can provide, it'd be best if those placed up here with me were those good in a straight up fight as opposed to those who are better with working with terrein."

"Actually, I believe that we'll be provided with terrein support up here," Wes interjected. He'd yet to see it in action, so he wasn't sure what all it'd entail, but he figured it'd be worth mentioning, "I imagine that it'll just be the floor that's affected and not actual objects, but if one of them get terrein bonuses, it's something worth considering."

"Good point. I was looking at it as them not having the seats to duck into for cover, but if someone can use the floor to turn the tides... Well, anyway, they're your people so it's your decision," Majinman said. Besides, he was the only one who didn't have someone directly under their command, so it'd be best if he didn't get too bossy. He needed to keep suggesting things rather than command them, "Which brings me to my next point. Those inside the car, could hide in the seats and unload on the enemies as they pass on their way through the car. I'd place two people in the back, to keep an eye on the engine car, as well as appear to be open to attack. That could give the enemies a false sense of security to make it easier to ambush them, then once they trap has been sprung, they can duck just outside the door and concentrate fully on that first car," Majinman paused. While it wasn't as complicated as a Scooby Doo plan, he thought it would get the job done, or at least provide them with enough room to improvise. The question was, would they go for it? "Well, that's my plan, if I didn't use up too much time talking? Anyone else have something better, cause my back-up is just hitting them as hard as I can until there's no one left to pound."

"One thing," Wes raised his hand, though it wasn't all that visible on the screen, "Photon mentioned that some might have the ability to warp. I could see this causing two problems. First and foremost, they could get what we're defending without us even knowing. Second, any ambushes you set up could be ruined by enemies popping up right in front of you. Photon, you're the expert here. Is there any way to track these things? And is there anyway to tell that the package is still there other than opening it up and seeing something that we're probably not supposed to?"

"Not without getting inside the engine, no," Photon said. "They can't leave until we're back in normal netspace, though. If someone does get in, we have until then to find out. As for tracking them...it's not perfect, but my operator can handle that. I'll have to stay up here, though, or else there's too much interference."

"I'll stay up here as well, then." 48 turned to the remaining NetPolice navis. "The rest of you, move all the civilians toward the front of the car and tell them to take cover. I don't want any of them harmed here."

"Yes sir," they said in unison, jumping off the edge of the roof and setting to work. Photon, meanwhile, addressed her 'bodyguards'.

"Dimmu, I want you to keep guarding the door, in case anyone gets past our 'friends'. You two, I want you to wok with them, and please don't do anything stupid." The mafia navis were silent, but acknowleged their orders and returned to the train car as well. Meanwhile, one car back, a single HeelNavi poked his head out over the roof, setting his sights on the three remaining navis.

As if answering how the HeelNavi had shown up before Tarkel, 48's radio crackled to life again. "48, what's your status?"

"We've made a temporary truce with the NetMafia until the situation is under control, Commander. We're setting up defenses at the front of the train with SciLab's hireling."

A burst of static sounded through the radio, followed by the words "Are you out of your mind, soldier?"

48 sighed. "With all due respect, Commander, we need all the help we can get. Neither one of us can afford to keep fighting and bring the situation back under control." The radio was silent for several seconds before he added "I've taken measures to ensure they can't cause more trouble."

More silence followed, before Tarkel answered. "I'll trust your judgment on this for now. Not that I can do much about it anyway. The way up there's blocked. I seem to have lost my attacker, though, so I'm going to lay low for the moment."

"Just who are we dealing with, Commander?"

"Other than the heelnavi gangs and some terrorist that should have been deleted years ago? It would be best if I give you all the data I collected on the big ones." A download appeared on Wes's PET. Once opened, visual and HP data was shown for five different navis.

First, one of the virus summoning navis that had started off the whole incident. Three smaller figures rotated around the image of the summoner, depicting viruses that it had presumably summoned in encounters Tarkel or other netpolice officers had witnessed. The debris-ringed Big Bang virus was among them, as well as a PulseBulb and a Satellite. The heavily armed fire virus that the summoner Majinman encountered had called forth just before being deleted, however, was conspicuously absent. Labels around the picture stated that the navis themselves had very few combat capabilities of their own, not to mention a measly 150 HP.

Next, a black-armored HeelNavi, presumably the leader of one of the gangs. Data readouts depected the navi as having 600 HP, but otherwise not actually being much more capable than the grunts they had fought so far.

Third was the navi the normalnavi had identified as Sagon. Tarkel had gone so far as to label that the weapon she carried was, in fact, supposed to be a gun of some sort and that she was capable of both fire and electricity attacks, but said nothing of her attitude or implacability.

Fourth, however, was another female navi, and one Majinman had yet to see. The image depicted her with a pale blue body and hair, or perhaps that was just an effect of the shell that surrounded her. She was curled into a fetal position and encased in a transparent blue cocoon, depicted as being lodged into the space between two train cars to prevent passage. No data was given about her capabilities, other than that nothing any combatants had done had managed to move her, or even give the appearance of lasting damage. A note at the bottom read "connection to summoners?", but supplied no further information.

The final image was of terrible quality and obscured by static, but if Majinman looked closely he could make out two details of the navi depicted: maroon armor and a faceless helmet.

Before any mention could be made of this, though, a small group of HeelNavis climbed to the top of the train as well to join the first one, setting their sights on the four navis remaining. Behind them, another of the virus summoners did the same, summoning a pair of Satellite viruses. Gunshots sounded from the car below, indicating that the fighting had begun again down there as well.

"You've got incoming," Tarkel said, though it wasn't clear whether he was stating the obvious or there were, in fact, about to be even more navis approaching. "And 48. Don't hesitate to shoot Boson the moment they do anything suspicious. I don't want to lose you too because you were too trusting."

Seconds later, another figure darted past them, visibly only for a second as a silhouette before taking up a position on top of the engine and disappearing again.

The hologram of ENA flickered for a second on top of the car, then disappeared again as well. The roof under them began to glow with simulated heat.

Wes looked over the list. The virus summoner he was familiar with and would be trouble, but anything able to summon reinforcements would have to be. The second image of the black navi didn't worry him. With only 600 HP and his navi with two people backing him up, this guy would have to bring plenty of flunkies to even be considered a subboss. Sagon seemed... crazy. With the information given on her, it looked like there would be no way to convince her to stand down. It'd be lucky if someone else dealt with her before she made her way back. The fourth... looked harmless, which worried him. With these kinds of stakes, you don't bring along dead weight, so the sleepy looking appearance was probably just a ploy to get them to lower their guard. Of course, she wasn't near their position as far as he could tell, so the task of first engagement would probably fall to someone else. He would wait for more information regarding before worrying about it. As for the last one... maroon armor? Did he know someone like that or had someone mentioned someone similar not too long ago? He had the feeling that he might at least know him by reputation, but the identity wasn't forthcoming. He could just be mixing up colors.

Wes shook the thoughts from his head. While he had been pondering over all this, the enemy had appeared. It was a good thing he wasn't the one directly fighting. Majinman, on the other hand, stood with a large grin on his face, ready to go.

"Alright, someone finally steps forward," Majinman slammed a fist into an open palm, "I am really looking forward to seeing how this team-up plays out," he glanced to the side as ENA's form flashed for a second, followed by the floor getting hot. This was promising. Another thing in their favor was air flow. Since they were firing furthur back the train, their attacks would be accelerated, while their opponents should face a great deal of resistence as they tried to send their attacks forward. As long as they held this position, they should also hold total advantage.

"Hey, Wes, start me off with a Magbomb," Majinman mumbled low enough that the wind would probably prevent his instructions from being heard. With a nod, Wes complied and a sphere formed in Majinman's hand. Since the air current was in their favor, this would only require a light throw, rather than the usual large parabola that was normally required. Trying to line himself up with the center of the enemy group, Majinman gave the ball a small toss and let the train's momentum take it. If he could manage to snare a few of his opponents in the bomb's static field, they would be completely as his mercy. The thought made him smile as he gave out furthur instructions, "Okay, the pokers and the wings."

"Really? That all?" Wes asked as he selected this chips and inserted them in his PET.

"More or less. I'll at least take it slow to start out so that I can get a sense of my allies' abilities before going all out," Majinman replied. Then he focused. Concentrating on the spot beside the group, he summoned up a slew of bamboo lances, aimed at going through the one navi on the end before going on to prick his neighbor. He followed up by sprouting a flaming wing on each shoulder. He flapped them forward once, sending a fiery spectre in the shape of a bird flying forward towards the enemy gang.

Majinman reached up and plucked the earrings forth, expanding them to about the size of hoolahoops. He paused for a brief second to listen to them hum as they began to spin before chucking them at the trailing car. They swung to the side, aiming to slice through the two navis on the end. As they reached the back of the car, they twirled around, now coming at two of the central enemies from behind before finding their way back into Majinman's hands. After reverting in size, he replaced them to his earlobes. He then took a moment to summon his wisps to mingle within the group to provide extra targets before fading back into the steam.

He glanced at his two allies to get a feel for their fighting styles before asking a question of their unseen supporter, "Say, ENA, any chance you could change our opponents' terrain as well, if we asked really, really nicely?" As he awaited his answer, he turned his attention back to the enemies, ready to sidestep anything they might fling his way.

((1.) Magbomb1, 30 Elec+blast2+stun1 (D), HeelnaviEXB, HeelnaviEXC, HeelnaviV2A
2.) SideBamboo1, 80 Wood+piercing, up to two enemies (B ), HeelnaviEXB, HeelnaviEXA
3.) Pheonixshot1, 70+15 Fire+wide attack (A), HeelnaviEXB, HeelnaviEXC, HeelnaviV2A
4.) Ifrit Enchanted Rings, 60 Fire/Slashing, HeelnaviEXA, HeelnaviEXB, HeelnaviEXC, HeelnaviV2A
*Will O'Wisp Entourage, Decoy x2
5.) Dodge
6.) Dodge))