SciLab Deux! - The Battle of Fifteen NETs

While Aya and Suzume tagged out, Drago set up some cover, bathing the field in blinding light. One had to wonder how exactly you blinded mechanical viruses like the hurricanes, but presumably they had some kind of in-built photo receptors: they certainly reacted like they were seeing spots. Healing up and clearing curing their own ills aside, Aya took the offensive while her sister backed off.

She deftly dodged the bundle of wind homing on on her as she made for the hurricane that was still on its rails; the virus launched a second whirlwind at her as she approached, but by good fortune and nimble movement, she managed to duck around that as well, closing in to land a crushing blow on her target. It rattled and rocked shuttling back along its rails with a screech or brakes, but managed to keep its perch. On the bright side it was well in the open now, after that shove.

The twister that was homing for Drago failed to connect a second time as the dragonier moved to finish off his work on the downed virus. At the last moment, it launched another blast of fiercely directed air towards him, but the navi was able to twist out of the way and silence the windy annoyance once and for all. With only one target left he took wing towards Aya's position, coming to help finish off the last virus.

For her part, Aya had just finished delivering her attack when the rattled hurricane responded, sending a forceful burst of air back down the tracks at her. Its aim was good and it seemed like she had nothing left for getting clear; the burst of wind crashed into her, sending her flying away of the second time that fight, once more to crash roughly against the unforgiving surface of another tower. Just as the girl was sent flying, however, Drago swept in, capitalising on the opening to follow up his SP's strike with one of his own. It was enough to put an end to the barrage of anti-air fire in this area for now, and the rushed sounds of combat stilled.

One of the towers was very near to collapse, but the one housing the mystery data, safe in its tunnel, was quite secure, and now Drago and his team were free to inspect it at their leisure.

-=Aiming High=-

MagTect+: DELETED
PulseBulb2: DELETED

HurricaneA: DELETED
HurricaneB: DELETED
HurricaneC: DELETED

-=Still in the Sky=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 170/200 HP [High Altitude]
Suzume.SP: 70/100 HP [High Altitude]
Aya.SP: 70/100 HP [High altitude]

-=Not Able to Fly=-

TowerA: 20Hp [Back Left side, About to go][Counts as Magnet]
TowerB: 110Hp [Back Right side, Three tunnels][Mid Level tunnel has a blue glow][Counts as Magnet]
TowerC: 200Hp [Near Left side, One tunnel][Counts as Magnet]
TowerD: 200Hp [Near Right side, Two tunnels][Counts as Magnet]

-=Honestly, Why?=-

15% Solar [Main open thoroughfare up the centre]
45% Metal [All the rails for the hurricanes, and any other ground]
20% Magnet [Each tower acts like magnet if purchased upon]
20% Grass [Cone area between the back two towers.]

-=Battle 2, Victory!=-

Spoils: 2060z, 44 BugFrags.

Open BMD?

DragonierMan was left alone with the BMD after a good fight. He took a moment to breath deep the sweet smell of victory. Then he produced a cypher key in his hand and plugged it into the BMD to disable any unwanted visitors from appearing from the diamond. [Activate Untrap on BMD, then open BMD.] Meanwhile, the girls were devouring the BugFrags of their slain enemies and scooping handfuls of zenny into bags.

While the girls gathered up their own spoils, Drago took the precautions of safety before opening his prize. The crystal stuttered and trembled for a moment before expelling a thin plume of blue smoke, which snaked away into the net, leaving the crystal itself unharmed. It began to spin briefly in a more stable way, then unsealed to reward Drago with a tidy sum of zenny.

Untrap Used,

BMD rewards: 4000z!

Excellent. Zenny was always welcomed, more so than chips. In fact it would be great if there was some way to make money rain from the sky after every battle.

Or so DragonierMan was thinking as he spread his wings and took back to the air. The girls followed, and the group decided to follow the rail tracks off into the sunset.

[Requesting Battle 3.]

[SciLab Battle 3 of 5.]
[Battles Fought 07/75.]

As they flew onwards, the tall structures increased in density, as did the small rail network ringing and supporting them. The glow of the solar trail below branched out into a divergent tree of different, narrower pathways that laced between the towers while the pulsing of its light fell into rhythm with the dull background hum that ebbed and rose with a steady pattern. Past the initial layer of defenders on the rails, they now seemed to be occupied by more benign messenger programs, shuttling back and forth between the towers busily.

Less benign was the platform that the trio were now approaching, in the form of a series of strong-looking gantries laid over the tops of the towers and forming an upper floor, albeit with many gaps. Perched on the tops of the two furthers towers were a pair of gunner sentries facing their way. these wouldn't really have posed much concern for Drago and the girls on their own, but as the trio drew closer both sentries extended a set of strong bracing claws from their bases, to anchor onto the gantry below them and a deep, ponderously curious sound came from somewhere overhead.

Descending towards them, above the gunners, was something the size of a small planet, all grey on is swirling surface, and ringed by a single belt of colourful dust. It was orbited by several chunks of asteroid rocks, as well as a pair of more sophisticated-looking satellites, painted green with several flashing lights adorning them. The Satellites in particular angled their panels to face Drago and the girls as they continued to orbit the BigBang, preparing to lock on; the planet virus itself looked more curious than anything else, watching the trio with a pair of large, sleepy-looking eyes that barely revealed themselves to be there at all by virtue of only opening a crack.

A more erratic hum could be heard in and around the gentle pulse of the network and swift movement might draw their eyes to the source of this final layer of sound. A small UFO, in resplendent blue, zipped around the large planet in completely the opposite direction of the other orbiting objects, leaving a faint energy trail wherever it went.

-=Pressing On=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 170/200 HP [High Altitude]
Suzume.SP: 70/100 HP [High Altitude]
Aya.SP: 70/100 HP [High altitude]

-=Watching On=-

ShooterA: 120Hp [Back Left][Metal]
ShooterB: 120Hp [Back Right][Metal]
BiggerBang: 240Hp [Immobile]
Satellite2-A: 200Hp [In Orbit]
Satellite2-B: 200Hp [In Orbit]
BlueUFO: 160Hp [In Orbit]

-=Trod Upon=-

60% Metal
40% Missing

The gantry work over the top of the towers serves as the stage for this battle, and counts as metal, however, attacks of over 100 striking the 'ground' will damage it. Falling through one of the many gaps in the gantry work will simply change the battlefield, to the lower area, and will not result in an EJO, or in the loss of viruses.


-=Battle 3, Start!=-

The trio flew deeper into the 'city' of SciLab. As they went, the land below them became more densely packed, and the rail system more intricate. It wasn't long before the next threat came over the horizon. A pair of manned turrets came into view. As they detected the Navis approaching, they braced their gun platforms and prepared to defend their airspace. The sunlight flickered for a moment above the Navis and brought the three to a stop. Something was descending through the cloud bank. As the clouds parted, an artificial moon came into view. A pair of satellites orbited around it, intermingled with rings of colorful rocks and dust bands. The moon looked quite sleepy. Oh, and there was a BlueUFO.

The triad watched as the viruses drew their battle lines. As they watched, they prepared for battle, drawing on all their inner strength. Stretching their arms out toward their opponents, the three took aim at the largest available target, the planetoid and its satellites. Energy welled up around their hands as they waited for the viruses to finish presenting themselves and become big targets. "Light them up," DragonierMan commanded as the time came to start the battle, releasing a cloudy cone of emerald pollen and grass clippings at the giant moon. Aya and Suzume launched their own payloads at about the same time. The high-explosive rounds flew from their hands and screamed across the battlespace before detonating among the satellites and floating debris. Meanwhile, the cone swept across the planetoid, trying to catch as many enemy targets as it could in its earthy grasp. The bright display of flashing lights and various colored energies made quite the scene, right before Drago yelled "Scatter."

The trine split up, disbanding in different directions. Drago sped forward and began weaving through the dust and asteroids as he made his way toward the top of the BiggerBang. Dodging around each tumbling rock, using the slower ones as stepping stones to leap off of, and shielding his face with his arm as he plowed through yet another dust ring. Suzume and Aya, meanwhile, began flying away from the viruses. They spread their wings and took to the sky, twirling upwards toward the cloud bank that the moon descended from, far away from the ground's gun batteries. They winged their way higher and higher while attempting to dodge bullets and beams, and the occasional flying rock. Feeling the wind beneath their wings and ruffling through their long hair as they soared.

With odds of three thousand seven hundred twenty to one, Drago tried to navigate the asteroid field. As he emerged at the top, he winged over the head and dropped a package. The package ended up to be a PotDragon of the Wood variety. Caught in the gravity well of the celestial body, the earth dragon raged in a circular motion, around and around and around again. A beast of tooth and claw, shredding its way downward until it would most likely also fall upon the Shooters below. A storm of grass seed followed behind the drake as it tore through the enemy lines, breeding a nice lawn in its wake to cover up the furrows.

Beating his wings to gain altitude, Drago climbed towards the heavens. Now that he had dropped the package, he wanted to get far away from the chaos that would ensue. He climbed further and further into the air, weaving from side to side as he rose higher and higher. The enemy was probably trying to shoot him down at this point and he was going to use his superior maneuverability to get away. He did however, drop behind him a metal cylinder as he flew. One last present for his enemies. "Blinder!" Drago yelled out a second before the steel cylinder burst into a dazzling fireball. The flare blanketed the sky with a blaze of harsh illumination. The Navis all covered their eyes as best they could, but even they would succumb to the blinding flash.


~

Drago and his girls met the new foes with a very direct amount of force up front, sending their respective cannon rounds and garden-fresh breath towards the largest of their targets. Even as they each fired, however, the gun turrets down below answered with a wildly spraying storms of machine shot, and the two man-made satellites orbiting the planetoid swept the field for any targets that moved. One managed to find a lock on Drago, while the other successfully drew its laser sight onto Suzume. Much of the bullet hail went wide, and a few rounds came close to winging the girls, even though most of it seemed to be directed at Drago himself. to his credit, the dragonier managed to avoid most of the gunfire this time, but even despite his most artful dodges five tracers, from the nigh uncountable barrage, managed to find mark on him.

Evasive manoeuvres aside, Drago's breath and the twin's tank rounds managed to do their job; the breath washed over the planet, nice big target that it was, though it failed to catch the satellite's as they orbited, preparing their launch procedures. Suzume's shot dealt a crippling amount of damage to each of them, but before Aya's could detonate right afterwards, the two satellite's attempted to lift away and break orbit for their attack runs. One didn't make it and was caught in the blast anyway, leaving little but scrap and debris, however the second managed to get clear of the blast zone and arced around through the empty space as it moved into position to attack. The cross-hair lock on Drago faded away, but the one on Suzume remained. The same couldn't be said for the giant planet virus as this repeated punishment hammered in, and caused its gravity well to falter. Slowly, the planetoid began to break up and fall apart, sinking towards the ground below with increasing speed. the remains would probably crash down soon, though how much of it would be left by then was hard to guess.

While this was going on, the little UFO had whipped free of the BiggerBang's orbit and buzzed around Drago excitedly while he tried to reposition. It had been clipped by one of the tank blasts, but now it didn't seem to want to be shaken off. It disappeared on its own after a few moments of this harassment, though where it had disappeared to wouldn't become clear until Drago tried to release his dragon surprise onto the Shooters below; the pot dropped, but rather than an angry dragon rushing out to devour all in its path, the same blue UFO peeked out sheepishly, looked around, then zipped upwards again back towards him for another attempt. For a little space-ship, it certainly seemed unduly excitable.

While Drago climbed ever upward, eager UFO trailing behind him, the Shooters turned to aim their spread of wild fire towards the SPs instead. another deluge of wildly scattered bullets follows, and while Suzume had the benefit of only having to dodge a single shot, Aya was not so fortunate. Ill chance was with her, and despite the seemingly random and undirected firing pattern, an unfortunate number of the tracers still managed to clip her.

The poor fortune wasn't over, either, it seemed - Suzume's own luck ran out moments later as the remaining satellite attained what it calculated to be perfect firing line on her and unleashed its dangerously accurate volley of lasers directly towards the girl's back. though she had done her best to avoid everything else so far, the Sp was caught out with this last attack and the results were... not pretty. Eight of the ten targeted shots riddled her body, leaving Suzume barely clinging on; it was only by virtue of her second chance protection that she managed to hold out against the full barrage, but even the smallest tap would send the wounded SP from the net if she didn't get healed up first. With its job done, and without the BiggerBang to maintain a nice orbit for it, the satellite settled back down to the ground floor, in between the two gun turrets.

Drago had one last present to give his opponents and allies alike. Still chasing him, the UFO was distracted by the shiny cylinder that he released behind him and moved to intercept it, but this proved a mistake. The blinder detonated in a brilliant flare before the space-ship could catch it, setting spots before everyone's respective eyes and other visual apparatus.


-=Pressing On=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 125/200 HP [High Altitude][Blind!]
Suzume.SP: 1/100 HP [High Altitude][Blind!]
Aya.SP: 10/100 HP [High altitude][Blind!]

=Watching On=-

ShooterA: 120Hp [Back Left][Metal][Blind!]
ShooterB: 120Hp [Back Right][Metal][Blind!]
BiggerBang: DELETED [Breaking Up and Crashing Down]
Satellite2-A: DELETED
Satellite2-B: 80Hp [Back Centre][Metal][Blind!]
BlueUFO: 40Hp [High Altitude][Near Drago][Really Blind!]

-=Trod Upon=-

60% Metal
40% Missing

The gantry work over the top of the towers serves as the stage for this battle, and counts as metal, however, attacks of over 100 striking the 'ground' will damage it. Falling through one of the many gaps in the gantry work will simply change the battlefield, to the lower area, and will not result in an EJO, or in the loss of viruses.

DragonierMan hastily took the moment of distraction given to him by the blinding flare to wing over to a spot near the dazed BlueUFO, and as close as he could to the remaining Satellite2-B. The most calculated spot he could figure, for a most accurate attack. His primary concern was to delete the UFO before any more of his arsenal was stolen. He wouldn't be able to effectively fight if he kept losing his weapons as he used them. As he moved, his draconic resilience kicked into overdrive, sealing his lighter wounds and curing his blindness. The twins continued to climb higher into the sky, trying to keep far away from the terrors of the ground. Their own wounds and blindness also healing through a combination of light and shadow magic. Dodging and weaving through the air as they tried to escape from the ground's notice into the clouds above.

Properly positioned, Drago's sword arm swung out and around him. A glowing blade appeared in his hands. Gleaming like the sun as it carved a path through the air, whistling with the wind; the blade shot forth around and around, turning the dragon warrior into a twister of steel. After innumerable revolutions he let the blade go and it shattered into a barrage of metal shards. They also whistled through the air as they fell upon their foes like a rain of daggers. Small scattered sanguine serrated sharp sailing swords slicing sickeningly.

He then unhooked the blade's sheath from his belt and used it to parry and deflect enemy fire coming from the ground as he better positioned himself for his own counterattack. His wings carried him in several quick semi-circles as he swerved, shuffled, and attempted to elude his enemy. Eventually he bent the sheath into a 'U' shape and whipped it at his enemies. The impromptu boomerang swept down upon them as he hoped that they would be struck while they tried to pepper him with all manner of nasty things.

[b][b][b][b][b]
~

The team made some swift evasive moves under the cover of the flash from before. While the viruses were left dazed and seeing spots, Drago and his girls quickly cleared their vision and patched some injures — they were a long way from fully healed, but were out of the danger zone at least.

As thoroughly blinded as it was, the exuberant UFO took an angry particle beam shot at Drago, missing by a broad mile, then settled down to the gantry below until its vision recovered. It wasn't too far from where the satellite had landed, between the two gun mounts, making a convenient cluster for Drago to pursue. He would need to be quick, though, as the breaking remains of the crumbling planet were only a generous few seconds from crashing into the platform now. It was mostly broken up, but it was still going to cause a lot of damage when it struck.

The satellite tried to scan for a new target, but blind as it was it couldn't find anything yet. Alongside it, the two shooters began to spray their machine guns wildly, trying to make up for their lack of sight with their already drastically inaccurate mode of attack. Being as wild as it was, the machine guns were less affected by the poor visibility, but it was enough; between the two of them every single bullet went wide. Two of the tracers looked like they came close to clipping Aya, but she was clear-sighted enough to avoid them.

While this was going on, Drago had brought his moonblade to bear, giving chase to the UFO and lashing out with a sweep that, by coincidence of positioning, had the reach to catch up all four of the remaining viruses. His spin connected with the alien and the beeping satellite, reducing both to scrap metal and removing their threats. He also cut heavily into one of the shooters, though the blade missed the second one. Not one to leave things unbalanced, the dragonier followed up with a trio of precision-aimed shards, which found their mark on the unharmed shooter, bringing the two viruses back into line. The two turrets began to spray their machine guns again, aiming now for the target that was harassing them at close range, but they fared no better than before, not managing to connect a single trace round. A couple came close, but Drago was able to avoid them. He then finished up the business with a much blunter attack, hammering the two turrets with his make-shift boomerang. Despite its unusual nature, it still found its mark for both, destroying the remaining two viruses before any further harm could be done.

Drago only had an extra moment spare after that to get clear, before the remains of the decaying BiggerBang made its impact into the grid-work with a loud crash. The gantry rumbled and buckled, then gave under the weight as the whole platform gave way, collapsing onto the towers below in a cacophony of twisting metal and broken machine parts. One could safely say that Drago's work in this area was done.

On the other hand, a quick search of the gradually settling debris would reveal loot for the taking. In total, he'd be able to collect a useful stash of zenny, though no recognisable chip data seemed to have survived the wreckage. There were also ample amount of bugfrags scattered around the field, as one might expect.

-=Pressing On=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 155/200 HP [High Altitude]
Suzume.SP: 31/100 HP [High Altitude]
Aya.SP: 40/100 HP [High altitude]

=Watching On=-

ShooterA: DELETED
ShooterB: DELETED
BiggerBang: DELETED
Satellite2-A: DELETED
Satellite2-B: DELETED
BlueUFO: DELETED

-=Battle 3, victory!=-

Rewards: 2900z, 52 BugFrags

With a good deal of SciLab leveled. And the rewards collected. The three logged off in beams of light.

DRAGONIERMAN LOGGED OUT!!!