Mission: Area Exploration

"That would be great, thank you," Rainfall said, allowing the pod that had floated over to her to light the way as she began her descent.

Aegir followed next, though not without comment. "Bet I could dig out these stairs and slide the rest of the way down," he said, tapping the top step with his axe.

"Don't," answered Rainfall from the front.

Arachne, meanwhile, poked at the third sensor pod. "Looks kinda like a firefly this way," she commented.
Machman and Aera were pleased that the drones seemed to be helpful, and started heading down the stairs as well. Machman replied to Arachne's comment on the lit drone.

Yep, but you won't have to worry about this one flying away. I have them set to stay next to you, and always pointing forward. I still have a few more more drones scanning the surroundings, but it's just too dark to get any accurate readings. If any of you need more light, I can call down a few more.

Aera walked at Machman's side as they both followed the rest of the group down the gloomy, dark stairway.
((Bump))
Time passed as they descended the staircase. Followed by...more time passing.

"Hey guys, remember when we used to do stuff other than walking down stairs?" Aegir eventually asked.

"It hasn't been THAT long yet," Rainfall answered...almost snapped. "It can't have been...more than an hour...actually I don't know how long it's been. Amya, how long has it been?"

No response. Static emanated as though through speakers near Rainfall, but the person who could only be Rainfall's netop didn't respond.

"I guess we're too deep for-" she started before hearing a familiar voice from near Arachne say "You've been down there for about twenty minutes."

"Oh, never mind, I guess Amya's just...wait, only twenty?"

Before anyone could respond to this, they heard something rumbling from beneath them. It started barely noticeable, while the group was talking, even, but quickly became very audible before reaching a peak and dying out completely.

Followed by the sharp lurch of something massive moving suddenly from below. As...whatever it was...moved, the downward pull of whatever force Machman had felt earlier became much stronger and the staircase shuddered in response to both the lurching force and the pull. The section underneath the navis crumbled away and dropped them into the darkness.

The pull subsided after several more turns of the staircase passed by, but it was too late for Machman to pull out of the fall as the darkness swallowed him and the other navis up.



The next thing Machman knew, he was lying on a path again. Unlike the one they had walked into the darkness, this one had more feature to it, to an extent. It was a corner, with two more paths leading away to the west and south, but still disappearing into the black soon after. Where there weren't paths connecting, the corner looked as though part of it had crumbled away over time. To the north, Mach could just barely see another corner, indicating that the path continued somewhere in that direction. The color of the path was different than the solid gray of before as well, but only slightly. Towards the center, it approached something resembling but not quite reaching a white hue, while the edges faded to a darker gray.

The other navis, however, were nowhere to be seen, and the sensor drones he had sent with them were not responding.
___

---Enemies---
None in range

---Allies---
Machman: 100 HP
-Aera: 60 HP

---Map---
Map data is automatically recorded and provided with each turn. You can see two grid squares out in all directions (read: a 5x5 diamond area) and can move up to three grid squares outside of battle (but going the full distance risks you running into dead ends). White squares within your vision range are impassable.

Light gray=visible path. Dark gray=you are here. White=darkness.
Machman came to after falling to the ground below, and looked around frantically before he saw Aera laying next to him. Aera opened her eyes as Mach moved towards her. She winced a little as she sat up and touched her backside gingerly.

Well, I probably know what I landed on first... ow.

She smiled as she rubbed the now sore area, and Mach seemed to smile as well, seeing as Aera was alright, and seemingly still had her infectiously positive outlook. Machman helped her up, and he too felt spikes of pain as he stood up with her. She looked back to Machman and was about to thank him, but her face started to turn red as she covered her mouth with her hands. She closed her eyes and started to shudder as muffled noises came from her mouth. Mach, now worried, grabbed her shoulder.

What's wrong, Aera?

*snrt* ... *choke*... Haaahahahaha!

She started to laugh uncontrollably right in front of him, which made Mach quite confused. Only after she started to point at the top of his head, did he start to put two and two together. He felt the top of his head with his hands, and felt like something was out of place. One of his sensor drones was still active and he maneuvered it's camera towards his head. From the video feed, he now knew what he landed on first: his head. His metal spine-like hair had a massive, flat "dent" formed by the spines being bent out of shape and crunched down like aluminum cans. His hairstyle looked surprisingly similar to Guy, the Netopian Soldier from the popular "Alley Fighter" series of video games. Mach blushed and hurridly rebooted part of his appearance programming to return his "hairstyle" to normal, but then he too started to chuckle.

Well, now I know I'm headstrong.

Aera's laughter started to fade as she tried to regain her composure, and Machman looked around the dark-shaded area.

Looks like we've been separated from the group. Mazer? Mazer, are you there?

Mazer's responded, but his voice was marred by static.

[*chht* I'-----here, Mach! --think I can st-----end battle chips to ----- but the voice conne--- is unstable. Try ------ regroup with --------est of the Navis!]

Understood.

Mach and Aera looked around, and though they had fairly limited vision of the area as a whole, they could travel a short distance without much trouble. Plus they had limited options: go back, or go right. Mach turned back to Aera, and gave his suggestion.

Well, might as well start looking for the others. We'll move only short distances, just in case the others are looking for us, and we don't want to miss each other completely.

I agree, let's go.

Mach and Aera then started to walk down the darkened path.

ACTIONS:
Move 2 units West

As Mach and Aera started down the path, static began to come in over the radio, punctuated by the sound of an obviously feminine voice. Beyond that, however, nothing could be made out.

"H...o th-s .............s an-o.. rea--ng this?"

Then again, much more recognizable.

"Is anyone picking this up? This i---Rainfall."

In front of them, the path formed a crossroads. At the corners between the intersection, the edges looked like something else had crumbled away over time, just as the elbow section they left behind had. The source of the signal, meanwhile, appeared to be just beyond this intersection.
___

---Enemies---
None in range

---Allies---
Machman: 100 HP
-Aera: 60 HP
Rainfall?: ??? HP

---Map---
Map data is automatically recorded and provided with each turn. You can see two grid squares out in all directions (read: a 5x5 diamond area) and can move up to three grid squares outside of battle (but going the full distance risks you running into dead ends). White squares within your vision range are impassable.

Light gray=visible path. Dark gray=you are here. White=darkness. Blue=Rainfall is here?
That's Rainfall's voice! Where's the signal coming from?

Machman looked down at the radio in his hand, and looked ahead.

The signal seems to be getting stronger, so we'll keep this heading and continue forward.

Machman then spoke into the radio to Rainfall.
[[i]Copy that, Rainfall. Machman and Aera here. We believe we are directly due East of your position. Are you alright?[/i]]

Mach and Aera started to move on their previous course to get closer to Rainfall's signal location, hopefully at least strengthening their connection signal with her.

[[i]Sit tight, Rainfall, we are on our way.[/i]]

ACTIONS:
Move 2 units West
Sure enough, as Mach and Aera ran in the direction the signal had come from, they encountered Rainfall. "Oh, there you two are," she panted, obviously having been running as well. "That's a dead end back there from the looks of it. Any sign of the others?"

As she spoke, a lone Sparkler virus floated over the path. Rainfall turned to watch as it tried to drift off the path and into the black. As it did, however, a strange force pushed it back on, leaving the side that had drifted off sparking madly and glowing red. The virus reacted by shaking violently and letting off sparks from the rest of its satellite body, which in turn drew the attention of more viruses from both sides of the path.

Which then noticed Mach and Rainfall.

"Well, someone knows we're here now," the latter commented.
_____

---Enemies---
--To West--
MilkoA: 140 HP (45 HP Fleece)
MilkoB: 140 HP (45 HP Fleece)
GaiaEX: 150 HP (StoneBody)
Cloudier: 140 HP

--To East--
SuperKettle: 0/140 Degrees
Yurt: 150 HP
DharmaEX: 130 HP
Breaker: 150 HP

--Above--
Sparkler: 140 HP (Freeze) (Move systems damaged, movement erratic)

---Allies---
Machman: 100 HP
-Aera: 60 HP
Rainfall: 270 HP

---Terrain---
70% Normal (Path)
30% ??? (Darkness on either side. Unprotected area of netspace, attempting to forcibly pass through will result in damage and possibly widespread glitches. Treated as Missing for grounded navis.)

---Map---
Map data is automatically recorded and provided with each turn. You can see two grid squares out in all directions (read: a 5x5 diamond area) and can move up to three grid squares outside of battle (but going the full distance risks you running into dead ends). White squares within your vision range are impassable.
<MAP UPDATED WITH DATA FROM RAINFALL>

Light gray=visible path. Dark gray=you are here. White=darkness.
Viruses Identified! Count 9! Permission to engage?

[I--- 'nt see them! What are ----ey? Desc----em to me!]

Machman and Aera's energy shields intensified, and Aera placed a small recovery pack on his back.

One disabled Sparky variant, a Gaia,... a whole bunch of viruses here! One of them looks like a large kettle.

[---tle? I heard ------ weak to flam-----, hit it with -----nixshot!]

Machman managed to understand Mazer's static-marred message, and placed his hands next to each other in front of his body.

Understood! Engaging!

As a bright spark ignited between his hands and intensified into a swirling ball of flame, Machman saw the pair of Milko viruses to the west, and devised a plan. As the flame reached its peak energy, he calmly called out to Aera and Rainfall.

Aera, try to use your pulse attack on one of those fleece-covered viruses to the West, and then take evasive action. Rainfall, engage the viruses to the West, but watch your back. I'll take care of the Eastern viruses, the Gaia, and the Sparkler virus! Move out!

Machman faced the viruses to the East, and centered his focus on the SuperKettle virus. With any luck, his attack would catch the kettle and and hopefully 2 others in it's flames, and cause a steam-fueled explosion that would cut down the viruses in one blast. He then released the orb of fire and pushed it towards his enemies, which unfurled into a large swath of flame that looked like a soaring bird from above. The flames charged towards the viruses and left a glowing trail of burning data behind it.

Meanwhile, Aera put her capacitor programs on overdrive and accumulated a massive amount of electrical power. As the capacitors reached critical capacity, she aimed her body towards the closest Milko virus. The capacitors overloaded with a flash of electricity, and sent out an invisible pulse of electro-magnetic energy that surged towards the virus at the speed of light. Her body was still crackling with electricity as she quickly moved backwards and attempted to get out of range of the viruses.

Machman then shifted his focus towards the malfunctioning Sparkler virus overhead, but due to it's erratic movement, he pulled up his Overwatch sensor feeds and calculated the virus's location and movement patterns. Though he didn't know exactly where the virus was going to go, it didn't seem to be able to move very far. With the position calculated, he crouched down and dropped his right arm to the ground, which now clutched a sharpened green boomerang. He confirmed his aim and then shot his body and arm upwards and released the boomerang in a vertical trajectory. Since the boomerang was somewhat large, it hopefully wouldn't have too much of a problem taking down the immobilized virus. The boomerang zipped through the air like a green disk before it fell straight down and back into Machman's waiting hands.

The boomerang fragmented in his hands, and was replaced with a heavy iron ball. Mach knew instantly who this attack was for, and set his sights on the heavily-armored Gaia virus. He took aim at the center of the large virus's chest, and raised his left leg up as he drew his arm back, like a baseball pitcher on a mound.

Eat this!

Machman threw the Cannonball with the force of a catapault and launched the iron orb-shaped ball of pain towards the currently immobile virus, with hopes of crushing the virus like a walnut in a vice. Machman was then surprised to see a large cube of stone rise up in front of him, but then looked down at his right hand to see his fingers had elongated and curved into sharp claws. Mazer sure knows the tools needed to crash a party! Machman sank his clawed hand into the stone surface of the cube, and first looked towards the Eastern group of viruses, to see if any of them survived. If there were still a few left, he would have targeted them, but otherwise would have sent his cube crashing towards the viruses to the West. After confirming his targets, he started to rotate and drag the cube in a clockwise circle, he quickly gained speed as he rotated a total of 2 times before he released the cube and sent it sliding/tumbling towards the group of viruses ahead.

ACTIONS:
Machman
-[Plasma & [color=ff6600]Repulsion[/color] Shields: Facing forward]-
Aera: IV to Machman.EXE (Recover 5HP per action)
PhoenixShot: SuperKettle, Yurt, Breaker (70dmg Fire + Wide Attack)
Aera: Tesla Pulse to MilkoA (Confusion + 2TCD)
Aera: Dodge
Boomerang1: Sparkler (140dmg Wood) [+ Take Aim]
Cannonball: GaiaEX (150dmg + Break)
RockCube (Summon 200HP RockCube)
RageClaw: Throw RockCube at viruses [East group if any remain, West group if East has been destroyed]

Cooling Sigs:
Tesla Pulse: 2 Turns Remaining
((Bump))
((Bump))
As it happened, Machman was right about fire's effect on the kettle. As soon as the flames from his opening attack disappeared, the kettle shook violently, issuing steam from its spout and several places around the lid, before exploding outward, releasing steam and boiling water on all the viruses nearby. Combined with the fire also hitting the Yurt nearby, the steam explosion destroyed all but the Breaker virus. It sprung into the air, swinging its wrecking ball upward.

On the other side, Aera's attack successfully confused the first Milko virus, which stood around wondering what it was supposed to do while it's partner charged Rainfall. Rainfall, meanwhile, looked skyward as rain began to fall. Weak, sparse rain that was insignificant compared to the storm she had produced above ground. "That's...odd..." she mused. "Guess I'll have to do without for the moment." Aiming at the charging Milko, she fired off a shotgun blast, strangely enough, from the tip of her umbrella. Though it hit both sheep viruses, it only succeeded in removing their fleece and did nothing to stop the charging one from hitting her, nearly knocking her off balance as the virus circled back around.

Meanwhile, Machman hurled a boomerang at the damaged Sparkler, which was nearly cut in half by the strike. It shook violently, trying to attack despite the damage from...whatever it hit, but failed. The Gaia virus was even less lucky, falling to Mach's cannonball in a single hit. Mach then summoned a RockCube and threw it at the jumping Breaker, but only succeeded in having it smash against the virus's wrecking ball and fall back onto the path.

Though she had still failed to cause rain more than a trickle as though dripping from tree branches, Rainfall did at least manage to summon a tornado around the Cloudier virus, which was ripped to wisps by the winds.

Somewhere along the way, a malfunction in the damaged side of the Sparkler caused it to fly right back into the blackness surrounding the path. It was repelled almost instantly and fell back to the path, completely inert.

_____

---Enemies---
--To West--
MilkoA: 140 HP (Confused)
MilkoB: 140 HP
GaiaEX: Deleted
Cloudier: Deleted

--To East--
SuperKettle: Deleted
Yurt: Deleted
DharmaEX: Deleted
Breaker: 10 HP (Attacking)

--Above--
Sparkler: Deactivated

---Allies---
Machman: 120 HP
-Aera: 60 HP
Rainfall: 200 HP

---Terrain---
70% Normal (Path)
30% ??? (Darkness on either side. Unprotected area of netspace, attempting to forcibly pass through will result in damage and possibly widespread glitches. Treated as Missing for grounded navis.)

---Map---
Map data is automatically recorded and provided with each turn. You can see two grid squares out in all directions (read: a 5x5 diamond area) and can move up to three grid squares outside of battle (but going the full distance risks you running into dead ends). White squares within your vision range are impassable.
<MAP UPDATED WITH DATA FROM RAINFALL>

Light gray=visible path. Dark gray=you are here. White=darkness.
Alright, 3 remaining.

Machman kept up his attack by quickly targeting the attacking Breaker virus and threw a fiery left jab. The flames leaped from his fist and flew towards the breaker in the shape of an even larger fist, entirely sculpted of fire. Meanwhile, Aera materialized a medical regen patch in her hands, and handed it to Rainfall.

Here, put this on. It should replenish your energy as you fight, as long as it's in contact with your programming.

[Mach, ---arp in and ---- an Aqua/Elec combi-----------Milkos!]

Roger. Aera, Rainfall, hold your fire until I clear the area.

As the thrusters on Mach's wings started to glow, his right hand changed into a porous blue BubbleStar launcher and quickly prepared it's deceptively sinister ammunition. His thrusters jumped to ~300% output and he blurred out of sight in a flash of cyan. He nearly instantly reappeared behind the Milko viruses, with his bubblestar launcher already aimed directly between the two viruses. He fired the "cluster bubble" projectile which flew to the ground and exploded in a shower of bubbles that were designed to ensnare anything in range and make them very susceptible to electricity. Mach drew left arm back as the launcher disappeared from his right hand; large electrical discharges started to leap from his closed left fist. He aimed towards the two Milkos and thrust his left arm forward and opened his hand. This released a large electrical blast that drowned out the area in a bright flash of light and rumbled the path with a loud thunder crack. Nearly a dozen lightning bolts had jumped from his hand and covered a cone-shaped area in electrical destruction.

Machman then quickly boosted high above the viruses and flew back to his comrades. As he did so, he called out to them.

Alright! Let 'em have it!

On cue, Aera pointed her hands towards the Milko viruses, and two bright white bolt of electricity streamed from her hands and streaked towards her targets.



ACTIONS:
Machman
-[Plasma & [color=ff6600]Repulsion[/color] Shields: Facing forward]-
Firehit1: Breaker (60dmg Fire {Ranged})
Aera: IV to Rainfall.EXE (Recover 5HP per action)
SCRAM Boost: Teleport within melee range behind the Milkos (Teleport + 2TCD)
BubbleStar1: MilkoA,B (20dmg Aqua + Bubble Trap x3)
ElecShock: (80dmg Elec x2 + Panel Breaking + Cone Attack {max 4 opponents, melee range only})
Strategic Action: Fly up and over the viruses, back to Aera and Rainfall
Aera: Attack MilkoA (35dmg Elec x2)
Aera: Attack MilkoB (35dmg Elec x2)

Cooling Sigs:
Tesla Pulse: 1 Turn Remaining
SCRAM Boost: 2 Turns Remaining
((Bump))
"Thanks. I'll do that," Rainfall said, applying the patch and stepping to the side for Machman to clear the way.

The breaker fell to the burning fist before even falling all the way to the ground. Meanwhile, Machman teleported behind the Milkos and attempted to trap them in bubbles. This failed, though, as the sheep viruses charged at...where Machman was a few seconds ago and outran the bubbles. On the other hand, they failed to outrun the lightning, and in fact ran right into the electrically charged cone as they circled back around.

As they approached, Rainfall thrust her free hand forward, releasing the glowing form of a flaming skull from it. The skull shot at the virus nearest her, smashing through it and deleting it effortlessly. The second virus, meanwhile, targeted Aera, who deleted it with a couple bolts of electricity.
___

---Enemies---
--To West--
MilkoA: Deleted
MilkoB: Deleted
GaiaEX: Deleted
Cloudier: Deleted

--To East--
SuperKettle: Deleted
Yurt: Deleted
DharmaEX: Deleted
Breaker: Deleted

--Above--
Sparkler: Deactivated

---Allies---
Machman: 120 HP
-Aera: 60 HP
Rainfall: 230 HP

---Terrain---
70% Normal (Path)
30% ??? (Darkness on either side. Unprotected area of netspace, attempting to forcibly pass through will result in damage and possibly widespread glitches. Treated as Missing for grounded navis.)

---Map---
Map data is automatically recorded and provided with each turn. You can see two grid squares out in all directions (read: a 5x5 diamond area) and can move up to three grid squares outside of battle (but going the full distance risks you running into dead ends). White squares within your vision range are impassable.

Light gray=visible path. Dark gray=you are here. White=darkness.

VICTORY
GET:
Machman: AirHockey1, 2000z, +5FXP with Rainfall
-Aera: 44 BugFrags
Rainfall: 1000z, +5 FXP with Machman
The viruses fell under their heavy barrage of fire, so Mach and Aera gathered up the spoils as Rainfall did the same. As Aera absorbed the BugFrags through her palms, Machman uploaded the zenny and battlechip data and attempted to send it through to his PET.

[----sfer completed, Mach. Kee--------the search.]

Understood. Aera, Rainfall, shall we go?
I think we shouldn't go too quickly, because the others might have heard our battle, and could be coming in to investigate.

Mach thought it over for a brief moment, then affirmed with a nod.
Agreed, we'll continue forward, but not so much as to lose sight of our previous position. I would say to just stay put, but our battle may attract more than just the others.

Mach pointed towards a forked path near their position, and gestured towards the North West path, so off they went.

ACTIONS:
Move 1 unit North East
Move 1 unit North West
((Bump))
Rainfall nodded and followed, meanwhile talking with her netop.

"Hey Amya..." she said. "Any idea why my rain isn't working?"

"Already wo-----g o--it," was the garbled response. "Wo--- ha-- a---ady got i---y now if I could f------out where you were."

As the two navis reached the fork in the path, one side led away toward what Machman had seen from where he landed earlier. Instead of taking that, however, they followed the other side, where a similar bend in the path faded into view as they approached.

"Inci----ally," Amya's voice spoke again, "Have -ou tried ra--oing the other two again?"

___

---Enemies---
None in range

---Allies---
Machman: 120 HP
-Aera: 60 HP
Rainfall: 230 HP

---Terrain---
70% Normal (Path)
30% ??? (Darkness on either side. Unprotected area of netspace, attempting to forcibly pass through will result in damage and possibly widespread glitches. Treated as Missing for grounded navis.)

---Map---
Map data is automatically recorded and provided with each turn. You can see two grid squares out in all directions (read: a 5x5 diamond area) and can move up to three grid squares outside of battle (but going the full distance risks you running into dead ends). White squares within your vision range are impassable.

Light gray=visible path. Dark gray=you are here. White=darkness.
I don't see any more viruses in the area, lets keep moving. We'll try to continue calling the others as we move ahead.

Aera walked up to Mach, and gestured towards the radio.

I'll try to establish contact so you can concentrate on guiding us through here.

Machman nodded in approval and handed the radio to Aera, and she tried to contact Aegir and Arachne.

This is Aera, is anyone else picking up this message? Please respond. If you can hear us, please respond or make your presence known so we can find you.

Aera continued to relay her message over the radio as they all continued walking ahead.

ACTIONS:
Move 1 unit west
Move 2 units north
((PMUB))