ROT Mission: Reduce it to Rubble!

((Messed up this post, this is just a quick reconstruction of basically what was said))

A gated jailhouse with a fence surrounding it, composed of concrete and barbed wire, met Nitro as he, his SP, and ROT officer Rack arrived through the gate from Netopia Net. Two guards, dressed in NP uniforms with face-obscuring helmets, were stationed in front at both sides of the gate.

"We're here... I know a shortcut... If you'd like... You're free to do it your own way though... of course..." the ROT operative explained to Nitro. Nitro may have a chance to get away if he went his own way, or at least to stop being manipulated, but on the other hand it could ultimately be safer and quicker to follow Rack.

Nitro was unsure with how to proceed. He had felt really nervous in the ROT building moments ago, and he was still certain that he hadn't been given the full picture. Chris had saved the recorded data from the initial meeting, and was now recording their current actions. He wanted to be sure that he wasn't missing anything. He had let Rack lead their way this far, and Tina had been keeping her eye out for any threats, though between Nitro, Chris, and Tina, they hadn't found anything quite unsettling or offputting enough to pull out now. They hadn't exactly been given any positive motivation to follow through with it either, so Nitro decided to do something about that.
"Yeah, a shortcut would be helpful," Nitro said. "But before we continue, I want to know exactly what I'm up against and why this place needs to come down." Nitro stood firmly, and Tina took her spot just beside him, both of them letting Rack know that they weren't messing around. Admittedley, they were only able to do this because they weren't being intimidated by a roomfull of guards, not to mention the other navi with the thick accent. "I'm sorry if I seem hostile right now, but I've been put in situations knowing only half of what I feel I should before, and frankly, they've never been fun experiences. So, if it's not too much trouble, we'd like to know more about why we're here."

The navi stopped walking forward, then turned slowly. It seemed like she knew the question was coming but had been hoping she wouldn't have to answer it. "I thought it was apparent... I'm sorry... I really apologize for leading you all this way without telling you... It's just an NP jail, you see? Some of our men... they're being held inside... We want to bring select areas down so that they can escape in the confusion," she answered simply, staring at her feet as she did so.

The navi looked slowly up into Nitro's eyes, then back down. "We'll head for the shortcut... If you're ready... I'm sorry I didn't tell you... You can hit me if you like..." she continued, throwing out an alarming proposal for compensation.

"What? Oh, no no no no no, that's perfectly fine," Nitro stammered, caught off guard by Rack's proposal. "It's just... I'm sure you can imagine what it's like not knowing what you should."
As Nitro stammered through his pseudo apology, Tina thought for a moment, reflecting on what Rack had said. She had a nagging feeling that there were still things she had left out, but given Rack's reaction, she felt it would be unhelpful to pursue the issue.
"If it's all the same to you, Miss Rack," Tina said. "I think it would be a good idea to get started."
"Uh, yeah," Nitro said. "Why don't you show us this shortcut you were talking about." He then decided to ask a question that had been nagging at him since he saw her. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you wear that thing on your back? It has to be inconvenient for things like fighting and whatnot."

"You don't want to...? Okay then... Let's go," she replied, turning her back and hoisting back up her tremendous torture device. With a slow and awkward walk, she started around towards the outskirts to the east of the prison.

"You're wondering why... I wear this? Well... Master Robespierre designed me... with endurance in mind... By enduring the pain afflicted by this machine... I become more worthy of populating the net... That's what he says," she explained in a series of short murmurs, failing to turn to look at Nitro as she talked.

Reaching a large rock, she shoved the side of her wide hips against it three times with shuddering movements, knocking it until it displaced enough to reveal a tunnel. "We'll reach the lower level... by traveling through here... We have to act quickly... once we're inside... I'll just slow us down if I go first... So you and your friend... may want to go through first," she explained.

Nitro wasn't too keen on leading the way down. For one thing, he had a slight problem with enclosed spaces; given his specialty weaponry, cave ins and the like were a constant threat. Secondly, this was beginning to look more and more like a setup, and he was walking right into it. Chris sensed Nitro's uneasyness, so he decided to say something.
"Listen, you and Tina go on in," Chris said. "I'll have my chips ready if the situation calls for them."
Nitro nodded, then looked over to Tina. He gave a small head-jerking action to call her over, and motioned into the entrance of the shortcut. "Ladies first," he said.
Tina simply rolled her eyes, and climbed into the hole. Nitro followed, and looked back to make sure Rack had climbed in as well.

"Don't worry... I'll be right behind you..." the woman muttered, crawling in after Nitro. Part way in, she realized that the gigantic thing she was wearing strapped to her back was going to impede her movement. "...Darn," she grumbled, then released her restraints, causing the thing to fall off her back. As the restraints fell away, Nitro noticed something like a black collar at her neck... only, it seemed inset, like it was part of her body.

Slowly, she came through the hole, dragging her torture device behind her. Once she got inside, she immediately reattached it. "... Be a little careful... there are still a few guards inside... just be careful not to alarm them..." the woman whispered to Nitro. Indeed, it looked like a few more guards were positioned in front of checkpoints ahead, but they had their backs turned. Nitro, TNT, and Rack had entered through a hole into an especially dark area of the basement, alongside some of the jailhouse storage, although apparently the only thing preventing their detection was the fact that the guards were turned the wrong way...

He had to wonder how easy it'd be for them to continue avoiding capture, when Rack was not only moving slowly but making a lot of noise as she continued. He observed that there were two doors continuing to the left or right... those were the only options for movement that didn't involve going past the guards at the checkpoint. "Lead the way..." Rack insisted.

Nitro took stock of their current situation. There were the guards standing at the checkpoint, and two exits. He considered that the three of them split off in both directions, but he didn't like the idea of leaving TNT alone, and though he was sure Rack was capable of defending herself, he wasn't sure she even would, with the thing on her back and the way she'd offered him to hit her earlier. So, staying together was the best bet for now. So it was just a matter of picking a door. "Hey, Chris," Nitro said. "Any thoughts?"
"I dunno..." Chris said. "Maybe... right?"
"Alright, left it is," Nitro said. He looked back to his two female companions, and motioned for them to follow him. As quietly as he could, Nitro slowly creeped over to the door on the left, with Tina not to far behind. They both turned and waited for Rack to follow suit, before they continued through the door.

(Go Left)

The navi slowly and awkwardly turned, then followed the two through the door. Although she wasn't talking, it was impossible for her to move quietly with the huge posture impediment she insisted on wearing. Luckily, however, the NP guys didn't seem to notice. Nitro and the two girls managed to get through the door without a hitch.

"The coast should be clear... I'd like you to demolish the first area... Remember... The guards might come to this location when you upset the structure... so the best solution is for us to... not be here when they come," Rack explained. Despite her words, she didn't seem as worried as she ought to be.

Nitro observed that there were many support pillars in this room, along with a large number of prison cleaning supplies messily thrown around the floor. The room was lit only be the small rays let through by the high, narrow windows. The only doors out were the one they came through and one to the right upon entering. "I guess I should mention... When this area is no longer stable, a small collapse will occur... However, the whole place won't come down... even once we break them all... We're only weakening key areas... Still, let's make sure we're protected... when the small collapse occurs..." As she finished speaking, she prepared herself by pulling her giant device over her head like a shield. "If you huddle in close... you can use it too..."

That was one option for Nitro, but he could also consider standing outside the room, taking down the pillars with particular care, or using his own defense. He could even use some kind of timed explosives if he had them.

PillarA: 60 HP
PillarB: 60 HP
PillarC: 60 HP
PillarD: 60 HP

Rack: 300 HP

Nitro: 160 HP
TNT: 55 HP

Terrain: 100% Concrete (like normal, but can't be broken)

"I'll... keep that in mind," Nitro said, in response to Rack's offer. "We should be able to manage on our own though." To prove this point, Chris uploaded both of the Guards, and Nitro handed one to TNT, both of them holding the shields above their respective heads. Tina began walking around the room, tapping at the supports and examining them closely, trying to find any small faults. Nitro preferred to put himself in the middle of the room, and gain perspective on the pillars' relative locations to one another. "Hey, TNT," Nitro said. "You mind standing by the door, and keep an eye and ear out for the guards?"

"Of course," Tina dutifuly replied, taking position at the door. Nitro returned his attention to the support pillars.

"We don't have any remote activated explosives, do we Chris?" Nitro asked.

"Afraid not," Chris replied. "Looks like we're taking the direct approach."

"Fine by me," Nitro said. "There's no better way of getting things done. Now, what do we have at our disposal?"

"Well, aside from the usual," Chris said. "We've got the Double Bomb, which we got a while ago but haven't used, from what I can tell it should be helpful, the BlackBomb, which seems powerful enough from what I've read, but might not be a good idea to use with Tina and Rack here, a Dash Attack, though I still need to look it up, and I recently created a new signature ability that you can use with Tina, but it doesn't seem useful here. I'll tell you both about it later."

"Okay," Nitro said. He considered his options, then continued. "Send me the Cross Bomb and that Double Bomb. I should be able to take a bunch of these things out at once."

"Alright, sending them now." Nitro recieved the Cross Bomb first, and he unscrewed the explosive into two halves, one an empty shell and the other revealling the inner components. Nitro produced a small beaker, uncorked it with his teeth, and poured it all over the inside of the bomb. He then replaced the two halves to thier whole form, and began deciding on his target. Once decided, he took a couple steps back, and informed Rack and Tina that it'd be a good idea to stand back. Nitro tossed the explosive toward the pillar, hoping to catch at least two others in the blast radius. He then recieved the other two explosives consisting the Double Bomb, and he threw each at the two pillars closest to the one he had just attacked. He then stole a glance towards the door, expecting the guards to be attracted by the noise. He readied his buster just in case.


Summary:
N1: Guard held above head defending Nitro
N2: Give second Guard to TNT
T1: Guard held above head defending TNT
N*: Nitro's Secret Recipe (Strengthen CrossBomb 10)
N3: CrossBomb at PillarA (B, C, and D)(60*DMG (50 to other targets) + Blast4)(Mass Destruction activated)
N4: Double Bomb at Pillar B and C (30DMG + Blast3 x 2 bombs)(Mass Destruction activated

((bonk))

The pillars were completely immobile, so Nitro had no problems destroying them. The guards and rack protected the heads of all involved as the rubble came down, though not without some discomfort. Nitro two odd impressions: one, that Rack was perfectly okay with discomfort; two, more importantly, that the setup still felt way too easy. Even after collapsing the hallway, which had produced no small amount of noise, no guards had come running.

Rack gave another sad-looking smile. "A competent job... for sure... let's head on to the next cluster..." she whispered, then waited for him to lead the way.

Moving to the next cluster would require going through one of the doors mentioned earlier and then proceeding, presumably, past more guards.

((Chips reloaded))

Nitro felt the rubble bounce off of the Guard over his head, and watched the same happen to Tina and Rack. It wasn't pleasant, keeping the Guard over his head with the debris smacking against it made his arm sore, and from the look on her face, Tina shared his discomfort. Rack, however, didn't seem to mind the debris hitting her device, but Nitro had come to expect behaviour like that from her. What did seem unusual was that with all the noise he made, the guards that couldn't be more than fifty feet away hadn't been alerted to their presence. "Any sign of those guards?" Nitro called to his partner.

"Nothing," Tina replied. "It seems unusual, doesn't it? I'm sure they would've heard something and come to investigate."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Nitro said. "Just as long as we can get this done without any major complications." At Rack's words, Nitro began moving for the next room. Tina, however, hung behind, and Chris relayed some instructions to her.

"Look," Chris said. "Nitro might be content with just powering through this, but things just don't seem quite kosher to me."

"Yes, I've noticed that too," Tina replied. "I've done some thinking, and Rack's reasoning as to why we're doing this doesn't quite add up with the ROT's supposed views and ideals that the navi at the meetup gave us earlier."

"Confront Rack about it once you're all in the other room," Chris said. "I'll record it from your perspective and we might be able to use it as evidence later."

As Tina nodded and motioned for Rack to proceed ahead of her, Nitro, was in the area the had entered from. He took a quick look for any guards, and quickly scooted across to the door on the other side. He entered the room, and waited for Rack and Tina to follow him in.

[Proceed to door opposite this room through original room]

Another uneventful hallway sneak occurred... The guards were even still standing in the exact same place! They hadn't even budged to check out the room that had blown up. As they reached the next room, which was arranged exactly like the former, Rack frowned guiltily and turned her head. Her eyes were still locked onto Nitro and sparkling, the eyebrows ever-so-slightly raised. It was as if she was wondering what he would do next.

"Those guards... they're not very good at their jobs... are they?... They're awful..." the ROT representative muttered as if making small talk, but her words had to be a lie. Ignoring that explosion would make them deaf, not slack.

The pillars sat in front of Nitro, practically begging to be blown up, however.

PillarA: 60 HP
PillarB: 60 HP
PillarC: 60 HP
PillarD: 60 HP

Rack: 300 HP

Nitro: 160 HP
TNT: 55 HP

Terrain: 100% Concrete (like normal, but can't be broken)

Nitro examined the new room. The fact that the room was pretty much identical to the previous one wasn't much of a concern to him. If anything, it made his job easier, he already knew what would work. "Same as last time, Chris," Nitro said. "Man, this is turning out to be a lot easier than I thought." Obviously, Nitro didn't quite suspect that there could be a reason for this.

Tina, however, was a little more skeptical, especially after noticing the expression on Rack's face as they walked into the room. "Hold on for a second, Nitro," she said. "I'd like to ask Miss Rack some questions before we continue." She turned to their supposed "companion", while Nitro stood scratching his head, not sure what was going on. Chris turned on the recorder, and Tina began her questioning.
"Miss Rack, I've been doing some thinking, and our mission as you explained it doesn't quite make sense to me. At the meeting in Netopia, we were told that ROT was about deciding who was worthy of operation. Similar organizations with similar views hold strength as a definite value, and being captured by the enemy is usually viewed as a sign of weakness. My question to you is, why would you want to free these Navis if they've shown that they lack strength? Wouldn't it be more within your interests to simply leave them as they are, or even delete them?" Tina paused for a moment, giving Rack a chance to explain herself, then continued.

"Also, I'd like to question your comment on the guards. You only just seem to just be aware of their lack of activity. Wouldn't you have been more perplexed while we were still in the other room, when they didn't come in after all the noise Nitro made? I may be out of line here, but this greatly suggests to me that you know something, and you're hiding it from us." It was here that Nitro stepped into the conversation.

"Hey, yeah, that's right!" Nitro said. "Me and TNT both noticed when the guards didn't come in, but the only thing you said was a compliment on my work!" Nitro crossed his arms and began tapping his foot. "I told you before that I don't like it when people hide things from me and try to pull the wool over my eyes, so I suggest you start explaining yourself now, lest things start getting ugly in here."


Summary:
[NO ACTIONS TAKEN, TURN SPLICE]

"What? Something's... amiss?... I would say... you're overthinking it... It's just a job, right?... For the Teksqp... I've told you everything I can... I'm sorry if you don't believe me... If you want, you can hit me... I don't mind..." the navi rambled on, looking between her feet and Nitro as she quietly spoke.

"There's really no reason... to doubt my motives... even if we want to... purify the net... there's no reason to abandon... our own men, right?... What about you...? What's your opinion on that?... Do you think we should abandon them?... Perhaps it's better... for our organizational goals," she offered. Her expression hadn't changed much, however.

Nitro was being driven into a corner by which the mission's goals were directly in front of him and his partner was obviously concealing something from him, but he had no idea as to the motive.

PillarA: 60 HP
PillarB: 60 HP
PillarC: 60 HP
PillarD: 60 HP

Rack: 300 HP

Nitro: 160 HP
TNT: 55 HP

Terrain: 100% Concrete (like normal, but can't be broken)

"Look. I'm not going to hit you," Nitro said. "Not unless you give me good reason to. I still don't feel like you're telling me the whole truth here, so if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to figure things out myself. TNT, you stay here and keep an eye on Rack."

"Right," Tina said. She watched Rack intently, watching for any movements that suggested that she might try something. As Nitro walked out of the room back into the main area, Tina answered Rack's question regarding the prisoners. "Now, I hold very different views from you, and, if it were my decision, I'd help my comrades. I just felt that, from your organization's perspective, coming back for them didn't seem very practical. Why trust those that have shown the capacity to fail? I could be totally off-base with my assumptions, but that's how I gathered things. You may call it overthinking, but it's better to think too much than to not think enough."

While Tina stayed with Rack, Nitro moved back into the main hallway, and took a look around for the guards that were standing there before. Nitro made sure he was hidden, then pointed his buster at a far corner and fired a small bomb. It exploded with a deafening bang when it hit the wall, and Nitro quickly looked to see if it had roused their attention.


Summary:
N1: Exit room, enter hallway
N2: Fire Buster at Wall (2x2x2=8Fire + Knockback)
[TURN SPLICE]

Nitro saw no particular reaction from the guards. They didn't even flinch... in fact, they were standing ramrod straight with no hint of movement. He did, however, hear the quick footsteps of someone coming down the central staircase in the room that the men were supposedly guarding. It could be an actual guard, but it seemed unlikely at this point.

Rack shook her head, then moved in closer towards the SP. "You're very astute... You're right... We actually don't value people like that... People with no place on the net... I'm sorry... It's a shame, really... But did you know that we... we also consider the Teksqp... that same way...?" she muttered, moving in towards the SP with surprising quickness.

Rack shook her head, then moved in closer towards the SP. "I'd feel silly... pretending any longer... I'm sorry... I don't hate you... or the other guy... but Domm set all of this up... it was supposed to be an ironic tragedy... If you want... we can keep going along with it... just pretend you two didn't notice anything... and let him keep blowing things up..." the navi whispered, giving a small smile as she kept moving towards TNT. Before the SP could stop her, the navi's large breasts were nearly pressing onto her own and the giant torture device cast an ominous shadow above her. Rack shook her head dully as she moved so close that TNT could feel her labored breath. "That would be nice... wouldn't it...? Let's just do that..."

--Side Room--
PillarA: 60 HP
PillarB: 60 HP
PillarC: 60 HP
PillarD: 60 HP

Rack: 300 HP

TNT: 55 HP

Terrain: 100% Concrete (like normal, but can't be broken)

--Hallway--

Guard A: 100 HP (inactive?)
Guard B: 100 HP (inactive?)
???: ??? HP (coming down staircase)

Nitro: 160 HP

Terrain: 100% Concrete

"Ironic tragedy? Set it all up? What exactly..." Tina was being put in a very uncomfortable situation. Rack was getting way too close for comfort, and even though Rack was the one wearing the restraints, the proximity she had put herself in, coupled with the size of (among other things) the device, as well as the fact that Tina only had her standard buster to defend herself with should the need arise, was making Tina feel very trapped. She took a step back, and raised her arm ever so slightly, keeping her own buster at the ready.
"Listen," Tina said. "Now that I know you're up to something, I can't just put myself, my partner, or even our organization at risk by just ignoring it. Our mission here was to evaluate you people, and determine whether or not working with you would be in our best interests. We have no obligation to the task you've given us, and once I inform Nitro that you've been deceiving us from the start, I'm sure we'll be leaving and reporting all of this to our superiors." Tina stopped for a moment, and then continued. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go inform Nitro." Tina made for the door leading out of the side room, but had her buster ready, should Rack attempt to obstruct her.


Nitro, meanwhile, watched the two guards, not entirely suprised at their unresponsiveness. "Hey, Chris, you getting this?" He said.

"Nitro, you might want to go back to the other room," Chris said. "There's a bit of a situation going on with Tina and Rack."

"Alright, I'll head right back o-" Nitro stopped as he heard the sound of footsteps. He crouched back into his hiding place, and watched intently.
"Nitro, what're you-"
"Shh."
"But-"
"Shhhh!" Nitro repeated. "There's someone coming!" He whispered. He continued watching, waiting for the source of the noise to reveal itself.


Summary:
[END TURN SPLICE]
T1: Move to door, attempt to exit room
[TURN SPLICE]

((bonk))