The First Test.

Voyager beamed into the Net. As soon as his humanoid form had fully materialized, he took a moment to look about. He had never been here before, and so he had no idea what to expect.

((In the future, if you are ready for a battle, please indicate as such by saying something like "Requesting Battle #1". This keeps the moderators from jumping the gun and hitting you with a battle if you are waiting for another member, or are RPing in a non-battle capacity))


The mechanical exploration Navi scanned the network around him, and was greeted by the vibrant colors of the area, glowing greens and bright blues lined the floors and decorated the pillars and data stores dotting the area under the green, wireframe sky. Though it would seem one could get lost in the sights of the area, the Navi's arrival did not go unnoticed; from behind one of the larger pillars waddled out a trio of yellow-helmeted Metools, who cautiously sized up the Navi with their comically large eyes.

It appeared Voyager had stumbled onto the viruses' turf, and from the looks of them with their mattocks held high, they were prepared to defend their territory.



Viruses Identified!

--Viruses--
MetoolA: 40HP
MetoolB: 40HP
MetoolC: 40HP

--Objects--
Data Pillar: 150HP (straight ahead)

Terrain: 100% Normal

--Explorer--
Voyager.EXE: 100HP

-(Battle #1: First Contact! Ready, Fight!)-

((Okay.))

So this is the Net. Voyager thought as he took in the sights. This was all new to him, especially how vast and open it seemed. His world until now had consisted of his PET, and the occasional trip to a closed server for performance trials. Compared to the Net, those places were minuscule.

Of course, they were also devoid of random viruses.

"Hi." Voyager said with a wave of his hand once he noticed the presence of the metools. He was familiar with some types of viruses, but metools were not among them. For all he knew, they were small, cute, and harmless generic Navis, or a new type of Mr. Prog. "Hey. Could you guys tell me--" The viruses raised their pickaxes. "--Nevermind?" Voyager finished in an alarmed voice.

"Those are viruses, Voyager; shoot them!" Paul yelled over the private link.

"So much for diplomacy...." Voyager dryly remarked as he pointed his right arm towards the lead metool. The top of his forearm opened as a buster gun popped out of it, and fired rapidly at the virus. Ten shots later, and Voyager decided it was time to be somewhere else.

"Wait, why did you stop shooting?" Paul asked while he watched the Navi turn and run to the left.

"Because." Voyager held up his right arm so Paul could see the red-hot buster with smoke and steam rising from the barrel. "This. Really. Hurts."

"I bet that doesn't hurt half as much as it will when those viruses tag you."

"Do you see me running?" Voyager saw a metool about to attack him, and decided something should be done about that. Two of the drives on his back lit off as the Navi made a sideways gesture with his right arm. A burst of air rushed towards the virus from out of nowhere, and would hopefully knock it sideways into its nearby buddy. "Do you?!"

"Yes, but I'd like to see more deleting. Use this." Paul said as he slotted in a Shotgun battlechip.

"Right." Voyager wasted no time. He brought his left arm around as he ran, and fired the shotgun blast cross-body from his other buster gun.

--Summary--
1: Charged Photon Burst I @ MetoolA [(4 Elec + Slashing + Blast(1)) x 10 shots ; 1 TCD]
2: Dodge
S: Gust MetoolB into MetoolC
3: Shotgun @ remaining Metools [50 Null + Spread]

((Bump.))

((Combo x2.))

Voyager's rapid buster-shot was just barely short of finishing the Metool, mostly thanks to the ungodly luck the virus had with it, but the well placed shotgun shot seemed to do its job as the other two Metools was deleted instantly. The sole, wounded Metool started to get desperate as it swung its pickaxe down against the ground to send a shockwave at Voyager, but it was easily evaded thanks to the navi's precaution.

--Viruses--
MetoolA: 8HP
MetoolB: DELETED
MetoolC: DELETED

--Objects--
Data Pillar: 150HP (straight ahead)

Terrain: 100% Normal

--Explorer--
Voyager.EXE: 100HP

Paul watched Voyager fire the Shotgun data as a single energy blast from his buster. The blast made it about halfway to the Metools before it disintegrated into a small cloud of tiny energy pellets. The cloud met the Metools, and the viruses both shattered into thousands of bits of data. The robotic Navi did a fist pump. "Not bad." Paul said before he noticed there was still a virus left standing. "But not great, either."

"What?" Voyager began; sounding incredulous.

"Look to your right." Paul interrupted as he slotted in the remaining two chips.

Voyager did as instructed, and saw the heavily damaged Metool. "Oh." He'd looked just in time to see it swing its pickax into the ground before it. A shock wave swept across the ground, but went wide of the running Navi. "Hey, that's kinda neat." Voyager said while looking at the pickax like a child looking at a shiny new toy. And like any child: "I want one of those." Voyager said as he materialized the Rageclaw1 over his right arm.

Paul did not understand. "You... what?"

Voyager raised his right arm, and stretched it towards the remaining Metool. He stood there and waited for the virus to raise its mattock again. As soon as the Metoolo did so, Voyager would fire his RageClaw1 equipped wire guided rocket arm at the haft of the mining tool, grab it, and reel the arm in. The Rageclaw1, aside from a set of beam talons that could be turned on and off, provided Voyager with longer fingers and a stronger grip. Just the things he would need if he were to pull this off.

But, who was to say that the Metool would let go of the pickax? Who was to say Voyager would even manage to grab it? Something would need to be done to prevent unforeseen events from biting too hard. Towards that end, Voyager powered on a Delta Drive, and prepared to use it to do one of two things. If the Navi managed to grab the mattock, he would pry it out of the Metool's grasp by pushing the virus in the opposite direction while he pulled. If Voyager failed, however, the drive would instead be used to knock the virus off balance just long enough for the Navi to shoot it with the Cannon data loaded into the left arm's buster unit.

What is this retarded Navi doing now. Paul thought to himself as he watched.

--Summary--
1: Fire Rocket Arm @ MetoolA [Custom Weapon/RP]
2: Steal Mattock from MetoolA w/ Rageclaw1 [Disarm]
S: Gust MetoolA away from Voyager [Knockback]
3: Cannon @ MetoolA [40 Null + Knockback]

((Bump.))

Blizzard grabs onto the remaining Metool's Mattock with his amazing laser razor claws and then punts it into nonexistence with his Cannon.

Rewards fall from the sky. It's kind of normal.

--Viruses--
MetoolA: DELETED
MetoolB: DELETED
MetoolC: DELETED

--Objects--
Data Pillar: 150HP (straight ahead)

Terrain: 100% Normal

--Explorer--
Voyager.EXE: 100HP

-VICTORY-
Voyager GET: ShockWave, 240z

Voyager stood there for a brief moment in the aftermath of the battle; looking at the mattock he'd managed to liberate from the virus. "Amazing." He turned the tool over in his hand, examining it closely. "I actually did i--" His words were cut short as a random collection of Z-marked coins rained down upon his head randomly from the sky.

It was all very random.

Still, the Navigator recognized the currency for what it was. After all, Voyager's SetSand had been given to him during his performance trials after collecting 5,000 units worth of the virtual currency. So, he highlighted the scattered Zenny and the trophy mattock, cut, and pasted. The (literal) drops beamed obligingly back to the PET.

"The Net is a strange place indeed." Voyager thought as he turned and walked towards the data pillar.

----

"My, that was interesting." Paul said as he leaned forward in his chair, and rested his head on the palm of his left hand. He held up the freshly programmed ShockWave chip in his right, and gazed upon it. "And startlingly profitable. This will certainly make future battles much easier."


((Examining the data pillar. Also, ready for battle 2 at any time.))

Examining the data pillar yielded some information...

- Freezing = 32 F = 0 C = 273.15 K
- Boiling = 212 F = 100 C = 373.15 K
- Freezing Density = 999.8395 kg/m^3
- Boiling Density = 958.4 kg/m^3

Hmm...maybe they were running some sort of virtual water experiment in the pillar? Might be best to leave it alone...

And after continuing, Voyager found some more viruses. Huzzah. A trio of cannons were hanging out, while some sort of fan behind them made sure they stayed nice and cool...and alone.

-----FACELESS VIRUSES-----
CanodumbA: 50 HP
CanodumbB: 50 HP
CanodumbC: 50 HP
WindBox: 100 HP (behind CanodumbB)

-----FACELESS TERRAIN-----
100% Normal

-----FACELESS NAVI-----
Voyager.EXE: 100 HP

- BATTLE TWO, READY
- EXPRESSIONS ARE AT A PREMIUM
- GO

"Looks like you've got company." Paul observed with only passing interest evident in his voice.

"Looks that way..." Voyager said in a flat tone. Paul's lack of concern really irritated him.

Voyager recognized these viruses. The boxy looking virus was used in all of his flight trials, and the cannons were present in nearly all of his aerial combat trials. The Windboxes had been used to simulate strong air currents as a means for Voyager to gain lift at low speed. The Cannondumbs had been there to make his life miserable. In Voyager's mind, the presence of them both meant this battle would devolve into a long range shootout. A long, and drawn out one. "I am going to need to use what little firepower I have wisely, here."

"Then I suggest starting off with your trophy." Paul said as he slotted in the ShockWave.

"Works for me." Voyager said as he stomped the ground hard with his right foot; sending a shockwave blasting along the ground towards the middle Cannondumb and the Windbox behind it. He put all of his weight on that one leg, leaned to the left, and activated his Delta Drives. He used them, and the wind currents from the Windbox, to suddenly accelerate sideways as he kicked off of the ground. He spun in mid air, and landed on his roller blades.

"Good." Paul complimented as he slotted in a Shotgun. "Now line up a couple of targets, and use this."

"On it." Voyager said as he roller-bladed quickly to the left. He waited until he had the first Cannondumb lined up between himself and the Windbox before raising his arm and firing a Shotgun blast at the two of them.

----

Paul read the battle status screen while Voyager fought. He smiled at what he read there. "Cute."

--Summary--
1: ShockWave @ CannondumbB & Windbox [40 + Line Attack + Ground Attack]
S: Gust Dodge [Dodge]
2: Line up next shot. [Movement]
3: Shotgun @ CannondumbA & Windbox [50 Null + Spread]

Stomping the ground with his foot, Voyager created a large shockwave that rippled through the ground, hitting a Canodumb and a WindBox along its path. The Canodumbs did not immediately fire on him, but simply tracked his movement with their turrets as they emitted a whirring sound. One Shotgun later, and Voyager had shot down one of the viruses with two barely standing.

-----FACELESS VIRUSES-----
CanodumbA: DELETED
CanodumbB: 10 HP
CanodumbC: 50 HP
WindBox: 10 HP (behind CanodumbB)

-----FACELESS TERRAIN-----
100% Normal

-----FACELESS NAVI-----
Voyager.EXE: 100 HP

Paul slotted in the remaining two chips while he watched one of the Cannondumb virus shattered into thousands of tiny glowing data fragments as a result of Voyager's attack. Usually, viruses just dissolve or explode when deleted. Why is it when this Navi deletes a virus, it shatters into countless glassine pieces? The pieces are so tiny, it almost looks like liquefied data. That's not normal. Paul was so fixated on the disintegrated virus, that he completely missed everything the Navi did next.

Voyager shifted his aim a little to the right, and fired a Cannon shot from his right arm's buster. The energy blast left the barrel, and flew towards the heavily damaged Cannondumb virus while Voyager spun around with the recoil. Voyager deployed the drive wings on his back, and accelerated forward on his roller blade wheels. The Windbox unintentionally helped this effort, as the Navi was now traveling slightly away from it.

While the Windbox was initially helpful, for the rest of Voyager's plan to work... "You gotta go." The Navi raised his left arm, deployed his buster, and fired a barrage of photon energy bolts at the windy virus. It was rather annoying that using this attack all but blinded Voyager, but his target was large, stationary, and so heavily damaged that only a few hits would be needed. Then again, using this attack overheated his buster, which was painful. "I have got to get that fixed."

Voyager poured on a little more drive power, and accelerated once more. I'll need to be going a little faster if this is going to work. He glanced at the completely untouched virus with that thought.

--Summary--
1: Cannon @ CannondumbB
2: Reverse direction with the wind. [Dodge]
3: Charged Photon Burst I @ Windbox [(4 Elec + Slashing + Blast(1)) x 10 shots ; 1 TCD]
S: Gust Accelerate [Dodge]

Really, stationary targets aren't that hard to hit, are they? Anyway, the second Canodumb fell to the energy burst from the Cannon battlechip, and the last one finally made its last adjustment, and began firing on Voyager. Unfortunately, with the wind on his side, the turret had no way of getting a stable lock. Afterwards, some bolts of energy made its way towards the Windbox, the virus having served its purpose.

-----FACELESS VIRUSES-----
CanodumbA: DELETED
CanodumbB: DELETED
CanodumbC: 50 HP
WindBox: DELETED

-----FACELESS TERRAIN-----
100% Normal

-----FACELESS NAVI-----
Voyager.EXE: 100 HP

"Here goes everything!" Voyager shouted as he mustered one final burst of acceleration. His un-tuned Delta Drive was close to the red line, and would go no faster without incurring damage to itself. The Navi hunkered down as much as his omni-jointed frame would allow and spread his 'wings' to keep himself stable on his final approach to the remaining Cannondumb. From this low position, Voyager reached out towards the cannon virus with his left hand, and fired his rageclaw equipped wire guided rocket arm at the connector between the cannon portion of the virus, and the base that anchored it to the ground.

As long as this initial grab connected, the rest of Voyager's plan was almost sure to work. Voyager would catch up with his arm, and apply a great deal of force to the connector as his arm re-socketed itself. This would weaken the structure enough for one of the Delta Drive's 'wing blades' to swing forward, and slice clean through it below the grapple point. After all is said and done, Voyager would be skating away from a cannon-less base with the cannon in-hand.

--Summary--
S: Gust Accelerate [Dodge]
1: Fire Rocket Arm @ CannondumbC [Custom Weapon/RP]
2: Maul CannondumbC's stand w/ RageClaw1 [40 Null + Slashing]
3: Sever CannondumbC's stand w/ Delta Blade [10 Elec + Slashing + Knockback + Nova(1) ; 1 TCD]

It really wasn't very pretty to watch, as Voyager pretty much dismantled the Canodumb, piece by piece. Turret guts went flying everywhere, it was nasty, man. Anyway, the cannon head that he got in the process disintegrated from the force he had used earlier, rendering it useless. Too bad.

-----FACELESS VIRUSES-----
CanodumbA: DELETED
CanodumbB: DELETED
CanodumbC: DELETED
WindBox: DELETED

-----FACELESS TERRAIN-----
100% Normal

-----FACELESS NAVI-----
Voyager.EXE: 100 HP

-- BATTLE 02, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --
600z

"That was nothing, if not impressive." Paul said in a light tone as Voyager came to a stop. "However, that last maneuver seemed a little excessive. What exactly were you hoping to accomplish just then?"

The wings of light on Voyager's back flickered and died, and little wisps of smoke began to rise from the drive arrays as the Navi righted himself. "I was attempting to expand our resources." He held up the damaged cannon. "See?"

"Results may vary?" Paul quipped.

"Results may wha-?" Voyager began as he looked at the cannon disintegrating into a glassine sand-like substance within his grip. "Well... Shi--" And that's when the random deluge of currency decided to rain on Voyager's head while Paul laughed at the absurdity of it all.

----

A minute or two later, and Voyager was on his way again. He had no idea where he was supposed to go, but he knew he was looking for a 'marked file'. Whatever that was. It would have been nice if it has a homing signal, but no such luck. Still, as impossible as the task was, at least he was getting the opportunity to experience the Net.

For better or worse.

((Ready for battle 3.))

((2 Day Bump.))

Speaking of worse, a group of Twisty soon appeared as Voyager continued...voyaging SciLab's part of the Net. The floor had also become extremely hard, but that could be either good or bad...

-----TWISTED VIRUSES-----
TwistyA: 80 HP
TwistyB: 80 HP
TwistyC: 80 HP
TwistyD: 80 HP
TwistyE: 80 HP

-----UNTWISTED TERRAIN---
100% Metal

-----SEMITWISTED NAVI-----
Voyager.EXE: 100 HP

- BATTLE THREE, READY
- GET YOUR TWIST TIES READY
- GO