Order and Anarchy

From here....

...they broke though the Fire Wall, and crashed into something solid.

When Pianissimo and Persephone's senses returned to normal, they found themselves sitting upon a grassy plain. A gentle breeze blew through the area stirring the grass, and the artificial sunlight felt warm. It was an oddly pleasant setting, especially for the net.

Or, would have been, if both Navis didn't feel like throwing up all over the place the moment they tried to move. The dizziness was almost overwhelming, but began to lessen in intensity with only a little delay.... but lessened very slowly. They weren't going anywhere for a bit.

Across the way, the lawyer, apparently called Executor, and his crew seemed to be in roughly the same shape as Pianissimo and Persephone. Executor was sitting on the ground, his head held up by his arm, which was resting on his raised kneecap. He appeared to be trying to blink away the dizziness, with questionable results.

Meanwhile the dark-clad Navi to his left displayed a great deal more fortitude than anyone would give him credit for at a glance. He simply shook his head briskly, rubbed the left side of his face with his hand for a moment, and just stood up. He pumped his arms while exclaiming "Woohoo, what a rush!"

The secretary Navi, propped up by her arms and sitting off to Executor's right, looked very pale. She shot the purple Navi her best 'drop dead, please' glare while muttering something uncharitable under her breath when he cheered at how much 'fun' the ride had been. She only managed the look for a moment before going back to concentrating on not feeling horribly sick. She'd managed to lose her glasses during the landing as well, which wasn't helping matters any.

The bodyguard, like his purple compatriot, also seemed relatively unfazed. However, he did not rise from his one-knee kneeling position, though he looked as if he wished to do so. His wishes aside, his suit of powered armor had suffered a power failure of some kind, leaving him unable to do much more than direct his gaze in a rather unsettling stare directly at Pianissimo. The Navi's eyes remained dull and unfocused, just as they had been both when he'd seemed spaced out, and later, when he'd neatly put a solid slug within inches of Pianissimo's ear. It was no consolation that the Navi still grippd his rifle, even if he could not move his arm to lift it from the ground.

Arcaster, faring the best of the crowd, stood between and a little to the right of the two groups a moderate distance away from Pianissimo and Persephone. She was facing the small group of Navis that had been pursuing her until this point, with her staff clutched tightly in her left hand. As she stood there on the grass, her clothing began to take on shades of green while her hair similarly took on a greenish hue. The faded, low saturation colors of her face also changed to something more natural, instead of the almost ghost-like complexion she'd sported only moments earlier. The newer, warmer, and more life-like coloration did absolutely nothing for the cold, flat, deadly tone with which she addressed the lawyer "You took my operator from me. You took my emblem from me. Then you edited my code, and took my very identity from me. Now you want my cooperation?"

"I never said I needed your cooperation, miss. Besides, I did you a favor. You should be grateful."

"A favor? I was happy as a normal Navi--"

He interrupted, speaking as if everything he were saying was a fact... "You were wasted as you were, and you know it. Just how many specially made Net Administrator's aides do you think are left?"

"We served our purpose long ago. We're not needed in that capacity any longer. I wish to return to being a normal Navi, with a Network Operator. I wish to enjoy the network I worked to build."

He tried to salvage the situation... "Oh, but your skills are still required. I have--"

"No right." she cut him off, frostily. Then, raising her arm to point towards Executor, she continued "If you want me to resume my administrator's duties so badly, how about we begin with the 'Administrative Clause of Malicious Process Termination'? Namely, yours." Energy began to collect in the palm of her hand as she suddenly started to chant....

Seeing this, the dark-clad Navi raised his fingers to his lips and whistled one long-drawn out note.

.....Arcaster's chanting ended abruptly. It appeared she planned to make good on her promise to terminate Executor, as several small energy blasts flew from her hand directly towards the lawyer... Only to ricochet harmlessly off of a panel that seemed to have ripped itself from the ground and levitated of it's own volition. That is, until one looked to see the purple Navi's outstretched hand glowing with effort.

"Hey! None of that, none of thaaaat." The dark purple Navi spoke for the first time in a serious tone "Sir, for your own safety, I think you should leave. She's out of your weight class." Two Navis in the same white powered armor as the bodyguard jacked in between Executor and everyone else, both obviously custom Navis beneath the armor. As the trio began gearing up, the purple Navi continued "We can handle this from here. Easy."

"Alright." Executor responded before turning to the secretary "Did you record the data?" Executor asked the secretary, to which she nodded in response. "Then, we're done here." Turning back to the purple Navi, Executor spoke once more "Horizon, we need you to buy time. You know what to do next."

"Yes sir." the purple Navi, Horizon, replied before both the secretary and Executor jacked out. He smiled as he spoke again "You three play nice now. I'mma go meet up with my buds, and kick off the block party in Electown. You three aughta join us when you're done here. It's gonna be a real blast." he crossed his arms and gave an irreverent "Later..." then jacked out as well.

The lead armored Navi, helmeted in red, spoke in a low, grating voice that started off sounding friendly... "Yo. Name's Havoc. We are the Executioners, and we're very pleased... to delete you." ...and ended on a very sadistic note. With that, the three donned their powered armor's helmets, and lowered the smooth, featureless face plates...

Executioner's Battle Theme

....Then, suddenly, Pianissimo and Persephone felt their data recovering, and the dizziness clearing away. "I don't want to trust either of you, but you're all I've got." Arcaster stated as she cast her staff aside, almost carelessly. She then drew her saber from it's sheath, and tensed...

The armored Navis hefted their heavy rifles with their right arms, resting them upside-down over their shoulders, each with a suddenly igniting Sword attached. They each assumed a wide stance, with their left arms, equipped with a Rage Claw and an Iron Shield lashed on, braced before them....

Suddenly, all at once, they ignited their boosters and shot away, each in different directions. One skidded across the ground to the right at absurd speed, taking aim with his rifle and preparing to volley at the three Navis. The second leaped forward, high into the air, spinning and uncoiling for an explosively powerful throw.... The last took the direct approach, and rode the maximum power of his boosters straight into melee range like a fiery missile, Rage Claw already swinging in for the first passing rake...

...Arcaster rushed to meet them, spell charged in one hand, sword raised to fend off the incredibly fast Executioner with the other. It's the only move she had.... she couldn't run from them if she wanted to.

None of them could....

-----------
Summary
-----------
Note: Chips and Signatures refreshed. High speed combat begins now.

---Allies---
Persephone.EXE: 180 HP
Pianissimo.EXE: 160 HP

---Friendly(?)---
Arcaster.NSE: 1000 HP (Wood Elemental) {Equip: Sword}

---Executioners--- (Each: Equipped: Sword, RageClaw, and IronShield1)
Unknown A: ???? HP [Circling to the right, preparing to shoot.]
-- Powered Armor SP: 200 HP

Unknown B: ???? HP [Ahead, Mid-air, preparing to throw.]
-- Powered Armor SP: 200 HP

Unknown C: ???? HP [Melee range VS Arcaster]
-- Powered Armor SP: 200 HP


Terrain: 100% Grass
What the hell? Pianissimo thought as he struggled to reorient himself. What just happened? I feel like I was flung into space and then turned into a meteor... He found himself on a grassy plane, in stark contrast to where he had been before. This...almost confirmed his feeling. If nothing else, he knew this wasn't the same area of the net that he had been in.

From the bits and pieces of the conversation that he managed to make out despite the dizziness, he began to piece together parts of what was happening. The lawyer navi he was planning to backstab before his bodyguard attacked him...his name was apparently Executor. He had done something to Arcaster in the past, separating her from her netop and warping her identity. And then...something about net administrators...it got hazy around there. What the hell had Arcaster done to make him THIS dizzy?

He managed to catch a clearer glimpse of them again as Arcaster attacked...only to be deflected by the unnecessarily rude purple navi's overturning of panels. The one called Executor and his secretary left, as did the purple one, dubbed Horizon, leaving only the one who had shot at him and...though his vision had cleared a little more, he immediately got the impression that he had had a concussion. There were now three white armored bodyguards.

Quote ()

The lead armored Navi, helmeted in red, spoke in a low, grating voice that started off sounding friendly... "Yo. Name's Havoc. We are the Executioners, and we're very pleased... to delete you." ...and ended on a very sadistic note. With that, the three donned their powered armor's helmets, and lowered the smooth, featureless face plates...


...Or there could really be three of them, Pianissimo thought dully.

Even more unexpected, his data fully recovered immediately after. Arcaster's words did only so much to help him, but they made sense nonetheless. "Don't worry, I have my own reasons to fight these guys as well," he answered, tracking each of the "Executioners" in turn as they split off. One thing he registered immediately, they were fast. The booster packs on their armor gave them acceleration beyond what was normal for most navis. There would be no escaping, not that he ever would. He watched one take to the sky, looking like he was preparing to throw something. A second charged Arcaster, who had drawn a saber and moved to meet him. And the third...

Range? Heh, idiot, Pianissimo thought. "Stepsword, thunder, and hurry up," he said to Duke, bracing himself. Thankfully, he sent them almost immediately. Pianissimo's katana flashed through the air as he drew it, and then the assassin himself vanished completely.

A split second again, he reappeared behind the executioner preparing ranged attacks. Pianissimo's now crimson blade sparked as he focused the thunder chip data into it and swung it at the booster pack on the navi's armor.
_______________

1-2. Stepsword-Thunder combo: Teleport behind ExecutionerA, deliver thunder to booster pack via sword
Total damage: 120 + 40 elec

-High speed combat splice-
"Egh..." groaned Persephone as she pushed herself upwards from the ground and tried to balance her FloatShoes program so she could levitate herself again. "What caused this... That Navi... Or Arcaster..." she muttered to herself as she tried to look around, but as she could see two of each thing she quickly realized it wasn't wise to look at the moment. "Area, you still there? Where are we?" she said with her eyes shut and head held towards the ground.

"Naturally. Re-routing doesn't break communication," Area replied and crossed her arms, "But it was a forceful one. They could've simply asked..."

"I don't think we were in a situation to calmly talk with them, you know..." Persephone said as she managed to lift her body off the ground and was trying to stand up. Once again she tried to look at the surroundings but without much success yet. "Hey, what's going on around me?" she asked Area eventually.

"A grassy field. I think you already managed to figure that out... And that Arcaster Navi is talking with someone else and she doesn't look all too happy," Area said and rummaged through the chips, almost sensing that something big was going to happen. "Figured out something yet on what to do?" she asked quietly as she looked at the screen.

"I can hear plenty..." Persephone after she stood up and executed the FloatShoes program to float above the grass, "But I'm not sure what to do. Guess I'll have to follow my instinct and do what my guts tell me." After saying this, she glanced at Arcaster who had just executed her healing abilities and Persephone nodded quietly. "We help Arcaster, mostly because I'd like to know more about her. It'd be a shame to let her get taken away by them," she said as she held her thumb out at the opposition. But things had been set in motion before Persephone could say more and the opposing Navis had spread out. "Area, she went ahead. No sense for strategy... Then again, we don't really have the time to talk this through..." Persephone muttered as she held a finger against her lower lip.

"I guess it's about time for your guts to speak, Persephone," Area said with a small smirk on her face and inserted a chip into her PET.

"That was a figure of speech," the Navi said with half-closed eyes and checked out the chip data. A sigh rolled over her lips as she noticed it was data of a Heatshot chip and glared at Area. "What are you plotting? My guts, huh? Fine, but don't stop me." She spread her arms out to the sides and noticed Pianssimo had started to take action too. "Time's not on my side," Persephone groaned and immediately flung her hands towards the ground and flames erupted from them as a spiral of flames came from the jewel on the back of her hand. Hoping the grass below her would help the flames to increase in size, she used the flames to shoot herself towards the enemy that had taken the sky. "I'm your target!" she shouted out loud as she was on her way, the top of her head pointed at the Navi.

1. Heatshot1 [40Fire, Spread]; Use flames to propel self towards Unknown B.
----Persephone's Perspective----

As Persephone blasted off into the sky, the Executioner she was after threw his rifle towards something on the ground, the weapon spinning like a lawn mower's blade as it whizzed by. The Executioner then vanished from Persephone's view, having area-grabbed to some other location on the field.

Below her, she could hear the sounds of weapons striking one another, and something breaking. A short exchange of gunfire against a return of something beam-like, and an Executioner dodging said beams skates into view before Perseophone.

---Allies---
Persephone.EXE: 180 HP

---Executioners---
Unknown B: ???? HP [Area-grabbed away]

Unknown C: ???? HP [Dodging for his life ahead and below.] (Equipped: Sword, RageClaw, and IronShield1)
-- Powered Armor SP: 200 HP



----Pianissimo's Perspective----

Pianissimo's blade strikes the Executioner's armor just as said Executioner fires a shotgun blast in the direction of the other Navis. The booster pack on the Executioner's back seems to shut down, hampering the target's mobility just a little.... But not enough, as the Executioner wheels on Pianissimo, looking to return the favor with an outstretched rage claw laced with arcing electricity.

---Allies---
Pianissimo.EXE: 160 HP

---Executioners---
Unknown A: ???? HP [Preparing to strike Pianissimo] (Equipped: Sword, RageClaw+Magbolt1, and IronShield1)
-- Powered Armor SP: 40 HP (Stun attack was effective.)
"We can't do anything about it!" shouted Persephone after she had shot herself into the air, noticing the enemy had taken a path away from direction. Quickly after that she noticed something in the corner of her eye and nodded to herself. Hoping that the path she had taken into the air would continue and provide an evasive advantage, she quickly flung her arms out to the sides.

"What are you doing?" Area immediately reacted as she saw her Navi's actions, "I know that guy disappeared from your vision, but I don't think we should intervere with Arcaster's fight." Having said this, she searched through her chips for a suitable action but stopped after hearing Persephone.

"Didn't I tell you not to stop me!? What's the point of combining forces if you're not going to use each other's abilities!?" she shouted and chains flew out of the jewels on her hands and boots, entangling them so she could keep a hold of them. Still in the air, she swung her arms and legs out to the target that Arcaster had been going for with the intention of capturing him. "Arcaster! Don't rush into this! You are not alone!" Persephone shouted as the chains rattled through the air, a surge of electricity quickly following through it.

2. Raikeito - Prison's Chains. [60 ELEC; Stun; Hold; Self Slow; 4 TCD] @ Unknown C
Crap, why the hell do I not have a guard chip? Duke thought, watching the battle. Pianissimo had slowed down the enemy a little bit, but was still in danger as he retaliated with an electricity-charged rageclaw. He frantically searched through his folder, momentarily rejuvenated by the intensity of the battle, until he found a couple of chips that he hoped would work. They would simply have to do for the moment.

Pianissimo, in the meantime, knew what to do with them immediately. The boomerang appeared in his left hand, thrust forward to stop or at least slow the charged claw while he continued his attack.

With the opposite hand, he sheathed his katana and activated the other chip. Instead of the normal tails, nine barbed whips attached to a single handle appeared in his right hand. He slung them forward at the navi, aiming to break the shield and possibly slow him down even further, if the whip ends managed to wrap around any part of the navi's body.
___

3. Block rageclaw with boomerang
4. Varitails1 - 10x9, attempt to bind ExecutionerA with them if possible.

High Speed Splice 2
----Persephone's Perspective----

Persephone's attack makes contact with her target, the electricity coursing over the Executioner's armor. Much to her surprise, while the lights of the armor died for a moment as it shut down, the Navi displayed the ability to continue fighting in the face of her stunning attack. While it could not move, as the chains bound it to the ground, it apparently could still raise its weapon, and fire it.

And it did so....

The first shot blasted from the barrel with a deafening boom, and immediately struck Arcaster with explosive force. The mage-like Navi was knocked clean off of her feet as the Magnum blasted away her elemental defenses as well as burned away the grass below her.

With his primary target out of action for a split second, the Executioner turned that same god-awful weapon towards Persephone for an encore performance. The barrel began to glow red as the Magnum heated up... Then orange.... Then yellow... It was just changing to white when the armored Navi was suddenly struck by the same sort of energy beam that had reduced the Bladia to a memory. The armor disintegrated, revealing a black-colored guard Navi beneath. The Navi turned his head to look in Arcaster's direction quickly, then jacked out without hesitation. Two seconds, and some unintelligible chanting later, the space he had occupied was torn asunder by a passing shockwave attack.

Persephone made the landing, but felt sluggish otherwise.

---Allies---
Persephone.EXE: 180 HP (Slow) <FXP Bonus Awarded>
Arcaster.NSE: 520 (Null Elemental) [Laying on the ground]

---Executioners---
Unknown B: ???? HP [Unknown]

Black Guard Navi (?): ["Better Part of Valor."]
-- Powered Armor SP: Defeated


----Pianissimo's Perspective----

Pianissimo's act of desperation pays off as the charged claw strikes the boomerang, momentarily stopping it from inflicting what would have been very heavy damage to the assassin Navi. His counter, the barbed whip, connects, tearing the Iron Shield asunder and binding the claw arm. It was a good thing too, as the Boomerang had splintered, cracked, and broken with a force of the impact, but had also caused the electricity to discharge, rendering the claw about as dangerous as any other. And...

Pianissimo's view of the world flipped as the assassin found his feet leaving the ground, his body rising, then the odd sensation and perspective of someone flying upside-down and backwards through the air. He noted that he was no longer holding the Varitail1 chip, which had broken along with the enemy Navi's suddenly missing rageclaw...

...and sparks were starting to shoot from the enemy's powered armor as it leveled its rifle at Pianissimo with its right arm, and moved its left behind itself and out of the assassin's sight.

---Allies---
Pianissimo.EXE: 140 HP (up-side-down, mid-air, about to land on head)

---Executioners---
Unknown A: ???? HP [Preparing to shoot Pianissimo] (Equipped: Sword)
-- Powered Armor SP: 10 HP [Critically Damaged]
"Get these chains back in!" shouted Persephone as she looked at her arms, one by one, "They're obstructing my movement! Their purpose is unnecessary!" Her arms and legs had been entangled by the chains that she used to get the Navi with, only to have them swung back to her after the Navi had retreated. "This is such a bother..." Persephone muttered as she looked down at her feet as well.

"No can do, 'your highness'," Raikeito's voice sounded within her mind, "See them as a gift. Besides... Don't you have more important things to worry about?"

"Shut up," Persephone replied instantly and looked at Arcaster. Slowly she started to move towards the fallen Navi and shouted at her to see if there was any reaction. "HEY! ARCASTER!" she shouted out loud, dragging her feet along, "GET UP! THIS IS NO TIME FOR A NAP!"

Area snickered quietly as she looked down at Persephone and started to speak to her Navi, "Having a heavy time?" The only reply she got was a sneer from Persephone, but Area quickly continued, "Just use this. It'll help you get where you want to." And with that said, she had slotted in an AreaGrab chip.

"Oh, so you are useful for some things..." Persephone commented and disappeared from view, only to reappear close to Arcaster. "Are you going to sit there for long?" she said as she stood with her back towards Arcaster and commenced with the second step. The jewels the chains came from started to light up with a gray color and dissolved the chains to form a liquid. The liquid crawled over the surface of Persephone's skin and armor to form a strong defense while drops fell on the ground to form metallic panels. "Egh..." she said after she had entirely been covered with the metal liquid and tried lifting her foot, "It's still heavy... Maybe it'll better in a few seconds." Looking around, she held her arms out and took a few steps back to stand even closer to Arcaster. "Get up, you! There is still one of them! And where in the seven hells is Pianissimo!?" she shouted as she looked around while keeping her defenses up for Arcaster as much as she could.

3. AreaGrab. [Teleport] @ Close to Arcaster
4. Inazuma - Skin of Steel. [4 1-Hit Barriers; Medium Metal Area; 3 TCD] @ Self
Crap, bad idea, Pianissimo thought, watching the world invert itself and the navi he was fighting soar past above...no, underneath him. Beyond, the ground was approaching his head. Fast. He barely had a second to think before making his move and diving straight through the growing shadow his body cast on the floor of the net. The shadow itself rippled and disappeared into nothing as the assassin's boots vanished through it.

Again, Pianissimo himself only had a split second to choose a destination, knowing only that attacking from directly behind again wasn't the smartest idea. Instead, he rose out of the ground in the shadow cast by the executioner...looking up to see his rifle directly above. He whipped his katana up and forward, tracing it across the front of his opponent's armor as he fully materialized and landed a couple feet away.

"Duke, Powerbolt, now," he whispered through a private channel, kicking off from the ground and backflipping through the air.

He landed again several feet away, just as he felt the chip data send. As his left foot slid behind him and dropped him closer to the ground, his free hand slammed into the ground itself, while he flung the arm holding his katana out to the side. A pillar of energy rose from the ground from just beyond where he himself had done so earlier. From where, if the sparks flying from his armor as he was flung overhead were any indication, the enemy would still be.
___

5. Cloak and Dagger - Teleport directly in front of ExecutionerA, 90 slashing damage while reappearing
*Tactical Movement: Backflip, put distance between Pianissimo and ExecutionerA
6. Powerbolt ExecutionerA - 70
----Pianissimo's Perspective----

As Pianissimo rose out of the Executioner's own shadow and attacked with his sword, a strange glassine shimmer between the two caught the assassin's eye. The nature of that trick-of-the-light became apparent as Pianissimo's sword struck and cut its way into something semi-solid without coming into contact with his adversary. Sparks flew as the sword sundered the hastily erected Barrier, but did no apparent damage to the Executioner, who had taken a right-half-step back in order to clear his Rifle wielding arm for a counter.

Pianissimo then leaped into the air, putting distance between himself and his target, only to find that he was also a target. He found himself staring down the barrel of the rifle-like weapon each of his enemies was armed with while mid-back-flip. The Executioner grabbed the bottom of the weapon with his other hand, and pulled back on a slider... The weapon flared as it fired a scatter-shot from close range, striking Pianissimo mid-torso. As a shell ejected from the rear of the weapon, the barrel flared a second time, then a third... The 'target' had pumped 5 auto-shotgun shells into the airborne assassin....

Pianissimo managed to make his landing, in spite of the shelling he'd just endured, and attempted to return the favor. The ground beneath the Executioner began to glow as Pianissimo channeled the Power Bolt into the ground, while the Executioner brought his weapon to bear once again. Pianissimo won the race, the Power Bolt erupting from the ground and engulfing the armored Navi in a beam of energy. As the beam dissipated, the formerly Power Armor equipped Navi was tossed into the air and away from Pianissimo. It landed heavily on its upper back, the jarring impact causing it to drop the smaller gun-like weapon it had somehow produced after losing its SP. The target bounced once, then landed again and finally slid to a stop about a meter from where it has first hit the ground. Pianissimo finally got a reading on the Navi...

It was the emblem-less white armored space-cadet from earlier....

---Allies--- [On Grass Terrain]
Pianissimo.EXE: 90 HP

---Executioners--- [On Grass Terrain]
White Guard Navi (?): 200 HP [Laying on the ground] {Disarmed}
-- Powered Armor SP: Defeated

---Objects---
Guard Rifle [Laying a short distance from the White Guard Navi, outside of its reach]



----Persephone's Perspective----

As Persephone started towards Arcaster while shouting, the downed Navi propped herself up, and managed to get into a kneeling position where she sat on her legs. Persephone noted that Arcaster, who was sitting on Normal Terrain now, was again washed-out looking with her clothes all gray-scaled as they were when they'd first met.

Persephone teleported next to the other 'spellcaster' Navi, and spoke to her...

"Perhaps." came Arcaster's usual short-and-to-the-point response. Followed by an absent-minded "So many...." remark that seemed to have no contextual basis. Strangely, neither comment was accompanied by the sound of the other Navi's voice.

Persephone channeled Inazuma. This raised her defenses and triggered a Metal Terrain change beneath both herself and Arcaster. A moment later, Arcaster began to once again sing a chant of... what still amounted to gibberish as far as Persephone was concerned.

As Persephone scanned the area, she caught sight of the Executioner that had ducked out of her sight earlier. He seemed to be in depressingly good condition, and was moving around the edge of the battlefield at high speed, in no particular rush to engage anyone in combat. Persephone spread her arms, and took a few careful steps backward while addressing Arcaster once again.

Arcaster, somehow, managed a clear, intelligible response while still singing out her chant... "You're noisy.... Your friend is to your left." ...The words, Persephone realized, were coming to her in the same manner as those spoken by her Immortals.

Persephone glanced in that direction, and sure enough, there was Pianissimo. She caught the final moments of the Power Bolt attack that floored the third Executioner (who hit the ground satisfyingly hard). It looked like the bodyguard from earlier. That meant the one who'd identified himself as 'Havoc' remained.

As if on cue, the last Executioner jetted into Persephone's view, headed for his downed comrade and Pianissimo.

---Allies--- [On Metal Terrain]
Persephone.EXE: 180 HP (Slow(1)[4-A], 4-Hit Barrier) <FXP Bonus Awarded(2nd)>
Arcaster.NSE: 530 HP (Elec Elemental, Regen) [Behind Persephone, Chanting...gibberish?]
Pianissimo.EXE: 90 HP [A good distance away.]

---Executioners--- [On Grass]
Havoc.EXE: ???? HP [Headed towards Pianissimo's location.]
-- Powered Armor SP: 200HP (200HP Barrier, Haste)

Black Guard Navi (?): ["Better Part of Valor."]
-- Powered Armor SP: Defeated

White Guard Navi (?): 200 HP [Laying on the ground a good distance away.]
-- Powered Armor SP: Defeated

---Objects---
A gun? [Laying on the ground a good distance away.]
"...Noisy...?" Persephone muttered as she glared at Arcaster. Turning her head away again, she kept an annoyed look on her face but this changed as she saw Pianissimo and and two of their enemies. "He's too far," she spoke to herself quietly, mostly to strategize with herself and to avoid being called noisy again. "Area, do we have any chip to get there quickly?"

"We used our last means of teleportation just now," said Area as she went through the chips, "I don't think we-" Her voice stopped abruptly as she picked a chip and checked its image. "Actually, we do," she suddenly stated and slotted the chip into the PET, "It's a new one. We got it a little bit ago. It's an offensive and fast chip, so you can use it nicely in this situation."

The hilt of a sword appeared coming out of a jewel on her hip armor and blinked a few times as she noticed that more jewels were glowing. "This is just one sword, isn't...?" she asked herself and held a hand on the hilt, slowly moving her other hand towards it too. She kept her eyes on Pianissimo and the approaching enemy, slowly shifting her sight between them so she'd know where the enemy after going there. "Hey Arcaster," she said as she bend over slightly for a quick stance, "You'd better keep your guard up. We're fighting here for you." And with that said, the jewels' shine disappeared and so did Persephone. Appearing next to the fallen enemy, she immediately performed a cleaving motion with the sword as she pulled it out of the jewel and aimed for the neck of the Navi. "Pianissimo!" she shouted, even though she knew he was close by and removed one hand from the hilt, closely after having swung it, to point at Havoc, "We've got incoming!"

1. StepSword [120 DMG; Slashing; Teleport; 1-3 Targets; Melee] @ White Guard Navi.
Pianissimo nearly fell as five shotgun blasts hit him as he moved. As he retaliated with the powerbolt, however, he caught a good glimpse at the navi that he had been attacking. It looked rather familiar... So it's you, he thought, making a couple more chip selections. His opponent was on the ground, armor shattered, and unarmed. He would also soon be dead. Pianissimo grasped his katana and raised it to thrust into the ground when a familiar, noisy voice shouted to him.

"Pianissimo! We've got incoming!"

He turned, and immediately caught sight of the navi that had introduced himself as Havoc. He was completely unharmed, unfortunately, and was headed straight for him and the down navi now behind him. I don't think so, he thought, eyeing the grass plains stretching between them. The guy who was approaching was too fast for his original plan to finish off the white guard, unless...

I'd have to cut this pretty close, but if I can raise it right in front of him...

He gave a quick, two second countdown, then thrust his sword into the ground, raising a wall of wooden spires directly in front of Havoc. Yet even then, he knew with the speed and reflexes of these navis, that that wouldn't be enough to make Havoc slam into it and hurt himself. The most he would do is stop right against it.

Click.

Pianissimo twisted the katana in the ground, and the blade flashed red for a split second. A second wall rose, a wall of fire engulfing the wooden stockade and the grass just on either side.

It would have to do. At the very least, he hoped it would give Arcaster a clear shot, if only for a split second.
___

1. WoodTower - Erect a stockade/wall directly in front of Havoc.
2. FlameLine - Ignite the wall (70 fire (x2) to anyone who touches it)
Arcaster was still chanting away as Persephone teleported beside the fallen Executioner. She brought the sword down, aiming for his neck, and he responded by raising his arms to guard against a fatal blow. The sword connected with his crossed arms, and dug into them, causing electricity to course from the wounds. The damage was severe, yet the Navi didn't respond in any way other than staring at her blankly.

Her attack completed, she pointed at the enemy and warned Pianissimo of Havoc's presence. The Navi laying at her feet took the opportunity to roll sideways into her legs, bowling her over him as he rolled beneath, then away from her falling form. He pushed away from the ground, and dashed for his weapon...

Pianissimo, reacting to Persephone's shout, turned to see Havoc. He immediately raised a wall of Wood Towers, and lit them on fire with a Flame Line, a mere meter or so in front of the oncoming enemy. The Executioner used his powered armor's thrusters to brake his movement, and managed to hit the wall at a less than insane speed, allowing the shield to take the brunt of the impact. The wall receded into the ground, leaving Pianissimo and Havoc to stare at one another for a split second, the latter slowly backpedaling with the effort of not slamming into the wall.

If the enemy's last move in avoiding an unhealthy crash was luck, it ran out a moment later when Arcaster opened up on the now stationary target with her pre-chanted spells. A dozen golden energy shots struck the barrier around the armored Navi until it failed from a dozen different angles, the last few making contact with the Navi itself just before a ball of lightning came flying into view. The ball of energy hit, and exploded in a fashion eerily reminiscent of an Energy Bomb. When the blast cleared, the enemy no longer wore his powered armor, and was reaching for his own custom weapon to fight back with... an energy sword of some kind, and something else... It didn;t matter in the end, as the Navi took a series of 3 horizontally traveling lightning bolts before EJO-ing.

In Havoc's wake, a small silver-rimmed coin fell to the ground with a ting-ing sound. The curious object rolled along the ground for a moment, in an arc as coins were like to do, before bumping against Pianissimo's foot, and falling flat.

The Navi that had dashed off to pick up his weapon had managed it, but froze up when the coin came to rest at Pianissimo's feet. The Navi ejected the clip from his weapon, and lowered it. It spoke for the first time, in a familiar sounding voice... "I surrender." With that, the Navi dropped his gun, and raised his still sparking arms, hands up.



---Allies---
Persephone.EXE: 180 HP [Laying on the ground]
-- 2,000 Zenny, Boomerang2
-- +12 FXP w/ Pianissimo
-- +8 FXP w/ Arcaster

Pianissimo.EXE: 90 HP
-- 2,000 Zenny, Magnum1
-- +12 FXP w/ Persephone
-- +5 FXP w/ Arcaster

Arcaster.NSE: 540 HP (Elec Elemental, Regen) [A good distance away]


---Executioners---
Havoc.EXE: EJO
-- Powered Armor SP: 200HP (200HP Barrier, Haste)

Black Guard Navi (?): Fled
-- Powered Armor SP: Defeated

White Guard Navi (Familiar-looking?): 80 HP {Disarmed} (Surrendered)
-- Powered Armor SP: Defeated

---Objects---
Guard Rifle [Laying at the White Guard Navi's feet.]
Large Coin (Giving off Navi ID signals) [Laying at Pianissimo's feet.]
"...You rotten...!" she shouted as she found herself falling towards the ground, face first. In her fall she looked at her feet and noticed the Navi had knocked over the effect of her FloatShoes program as well. "This won't end well..." she muttered and fell with her body on the ground, trying to arch her head away from hitting the ground first. Slamming her hands against the ground, she arched her upper body upwards and looked around to spot the one who bowled her over. "Ah, surrendered. I like those words," she said and moved around until she could stand up. Immediately as she could stand on her feet again, she started to float with the use of the FloatShoes.

"Keep your calm, Persephone. They haven't answered why they're here yet," said Area quietly as downloaded the new chip data onto a blank chip.

"Fine, fine," she said and moved over towards Pianissimo and looked at the Navi that had surrendered. "Looks like my sword hurt you, huh..." said Persephone with a mean grin, "Good for you." Looking him up and down she laughed softly, sent a kick towards his chest and started to speak to him, "On the ground, where you can't perform an attack. What is your name and what do you know of the group that attacked us and Arcaster?" That said, she turned her head and looked at Arcaster. Not wanting to shout in case she would get called 'noisy' again, she beckoned Arcaster towards herself and Pianissimo with her hand.
As the wall receded, Pianissimo stared back at Havoc. In the short, two second break before Arcaster's attacks hit him from all sides, he raised a hand and gave the slightest wave. Too slow. Goodbye.

He inclined his head, just slightly, to nod to Arcaster, before spotting something at his feet. A coin?

Pianissimo fell into a crouch to pick up the coin, then stood up, tossing it to himself and catching it effortlessly.

"While you're at it," he put in, looking between the coin and the fallen nuisance, "Mind telling us what this is?"
Persehpone's kick is met with the Navi's crossed arms, brought before his chest out of reflex more than anything. Had he not blocked it, she would have kicked at the empty socket in his torso... He obviously didn't want that, surrendered or not. He opted to take the hit to his sliced open and sparking arms instead, and fell backwards with the blow, landing on his back once again.

As Persephone began to question him, Arcaster collected her staff and made her way over to the group, floating slowly as she did. By the time she arrived, the Navi being interrogated started answering in a detached, disinterested fashion. "I am Broadside.EXE. My knowledge of the group is limited. They are organized, and well equipped. Their numbers include many Custom Navis. I do not know who their leader is. I do not know how I came to be among their number. That is the extent of my remaining undamaged memory concerning their group."

As Pianissimo tossed the coin, he noted Broadside's gaze following it. When he, himself, looked at the coin, he noticed it was a Navi Emblem: A cannon shell laying on it's side on a solid blue background. A few more flips, and he noted something strange about it... it wasn't until he paused in tossing the coin to look back and forth between it and Broadside that he noticed the reverse side was a completely different Emblem: A sword standing straight up, blade down, with a halo ringing the hilt, and feathered wings crossing before it on a black background. "That is my Emblem. That is also all that remains of my Core unit. My primary concern is the preservation of the Core unit. It was held against my cooperation."

Arcaster stood by silently, but nodded indicating understanding of Broadside's last statement. Then she spoke up for the first time since the battle ended "They took my Emblem too. They need them to access and alter the code of Navis they capture.... She paused for a moment, then... "Having your Emblem taken from you is not a pleasant experience."

---Players---
Persephone.EXE: 180 HP
Pianissimo.EXE: 90 HP

---Allied NPC---
Arcaster.NSE: 550 HP (Elec Elemental, Regen)

---Neutral NPC---
Broadside.EXE: 78HP (Unarmed) [Laying on the ground.]

---Objects---
Guard Rifle [Laying at Persephone's feet. It's unloaded. It doesn't work.]
Broadside's... Emblem??? (Giving off 2 Navi ID signals) [In Pianissimo's possession.]
Pianissimo stared at the navi that identified himself as Broadside. For a moment he remained as stoic and expressionless as ever, not even fully taking in the emblem design of the coin. However, as he finished speaking, he remembered something.

"Heya people. Some of you know me, and some of you don't..." He inhaled "I'm J.T. Broadside.EXE's Net-Op."

A tower of steel, a massive mech towered over the battlefield, then crouched to the ground and deployed several weapon systems. The others, fighting the rather irritating opponent, including himself, all contributed to a cache of ammo great enough to unleash hell itself on a target.

"Correction: Current war potential is now at 700% and holding. Permission to re-calibrate my weaponry before firing?"
"Uhh... sure. Do whatever you need to. But remember to set-up the controls for Pianissimo."
"Affirmative"

Pianissimo himself had used a now broken targeting system to aim and fire the unholy death machine.


And now that he remembered, the cannon shell emblem near the controls was in fact the same design as the one on the coin. The next time that they had met, though Broadside certainly wouldn't have known it was him, he had been muted, with several systems locked. Had they already hit him then? "You remember me, don't you? We met due to rather odd circumstances near the NetSquare...I am Pianissimo."

Pianissimo flipped the coin over in his hand again. The other emblem, meanwhile, was unfamiliar. "What is this?" he asked, only half trying to project his voice. The result was the same wavering quality that had happened when he spoke to Arcaster before Broadside and those other three navis showed up.

Duke's voice crackled through a window that had just opened nearby. "What would you have us do with this?" he asked, indicating the emblem. "We have no way of contacting JT, if that's what you want."

Meanwhile, Arcaster had spoken again, and Pianissimo did a half turn to look back at her. I see... he though, not entirely sure just what he was feeling as he noticed the complete lack of navi emblem. Pity? His own emblem wasn't just a core and source code, it was a valuable tool for him as well. He couldn't imagine what would happen if that were stripped from him.
At first she was snickering at the foolish Navi before them, trying to defend himself. "Serves you right for attacking us. Under influence, being blackmailed or not, you're now in our hands," she said and the grin grew on her face. Wanting him to enjoy the situation too, she turned to Pianissimo and noticed he was still the usual Pianissimo. "What the..." she muttered to herself and glanced at the Navi again, having decided to listen in instead of acting for a bit.

Sometimes nodding in approval, sometimes caught in thoughts, but most of the time bored. "Fine fine..." Persephone said eventually, "You handle him. I'll talk with Arcaster." Her knowledge about the one calling himself Broadside was minimal to nothing. All she knew was that he was attacking them because of his Core unit being stolen. "So they took your Core too, Arcaster... Then why are they still chasing you? Something in this doesn't make sense... They pretty much have your fate in their hands, but you maintain the strength to run. A Navi's Core is its life, so they could delete you at any time. What is it you have that they want and why do you keep on running? Let's just say... What would they do if they got you where they want you...?" Persephone thought a few seconds about what she just said and realized she got confused by her own words. She shook her head from side to side, getting things in order or even more jumbled up and then asked a last thing to Arcaster as she lifted her hands showing that she had lost track of it all, "Do you still know what's going on...?"
When Pianisisimo asked if the Navi recognized him, the response was: "Affirmative." At Pianissimo's quietly spoken question, the Emblemless Navis responded "That is what is left of my Core unit. I will do whatever is required to ensure it's safe return." He gave no indication that he could see or hear Pianissimo's Net-Op.

She began answering Persephone's questions in her usual pleasant sounding voice "They stole my Emblem, yes, but I've never heard of a Core unit before. As for why they're chasing me, I suppose that would have something to do with them having broken my Emblem.... She paused to let Persephone ask the rest of her questions, then responded once more "My guess is, they're after my Admin abilities... for whatever reason. I don't know anything more than that, and I don't even want to think about what would happen if they caught me, again." She turned her head to look at Persephone, then asked a few questions of her own... without speaking. "You're a rather strange Navi. It's very crowded upstairs, is it not? I'm not sure how you manage with this many processing threads running at once."
Pianissimo continued to half-glance at Arcaster as she spoke. It was...broken? he thought, silently wondering how she was even still here if that was the case. No...that didn't make sense. For smaller files and programs, once the link to them was deleted, the file itself wouldn't vanish. It would be harder, or even impossible to access, and for some things it would mark it to be deleted or overwritten, but it wouldn't be instantly destroyed.

After all, remnants of the last two homepage designs Duke has used still remain...that's proof enough. And navis are infinitely larger and more complex... he thought.

"I believe that by Core Unit, he means something to do with the massive mech body I last saw him in. I doubt he means the body itself, but the way I saw it work I doubt the whole thing would operate perfectly without something connecting all the pieces," he said, knowing he probably messed up his on the spot explanation completely. Turning back to Broadside, he repeated Duke's question. "So the question remains, what would you have us do with this?"