Further Doggy Training

The gate to internet city opened up, letting Sasha and Trent walk freely unto the network. Sasha was biting and sniffing at the ground, perplexed by the snow beneath his feet. Trent watched with an amusing gaze for a moment, before gathering the dogs attention and pressing onwards. Sasha was walking with very high steps, his feet being consumed by the snow. He wasn't sure how to react other than pulling his feet high into the air. Mark was laughing at the odd spectacle. A high stepping snow dog.

Trent wasn't so amused. It was time to get Sasha some true training. With the new process sent to him he should be able to survive long enough to get those precious bugfrags. Trent cast a gaze that put Sasha back into a more concentrated mode. The dog resisted the urge to step high int he snow, and moved through the cold terrain that went to his knees.

"Alright then," Mark said. "Lets try these upgrades, gather some more zenny and bugfrags, then head over to the recruitment. Its about time we headed back into the ring."

Trent didn't respond to Mark's statement. He blocked him out, not wanting to hear anything of that blasted ring. Trent withdrew a knife, held it in reverse grip, and walked from the Sharo gate into the wilds of the net. A place that felt too comfortable.

{Battle 1}
Moving on into the Sharo network, Trent and Sasha walked through some formerly-inhabited area, and found themselves some anomalies for their first fight; a trio of Elmperors sat on boiling Lava panels, of all things, in the middle of a frozen T-junction. The molten rock looked way too out of place, and the Elmperors even more so. Nonetheless, the viruses saw Trent's approach, and readied themselves for a fight!

-- ENEMIES --
Elmperor A: 100 HP (Lava)
Elmperor B: 100 HP (Lava)
Elmperor C: 100 HP (Lava)

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 190 HP (Snow)
Sasha.SP: 40 HP (Snow)

-- TERRAIN --
15% Lava (Elmperor area)
85% Snow (Everywhere else)

-- BATTLE 01, READY? START!! --
Trent was slightly put off by the strange presence of the lava panels and the firey viruses. The sight was, at least in his experiences, strange to say the least. Trent was unconcerned with the fire panels, or the slowly snow around him. His NCP would keep him easily protected from the ground below his feet. With the low number of enemies, Trent could finish this one off fully his way, by the blade. "Mark, just give me one sword to work with." Mark took a quick glance at the field too, and knew that Trent would easily handle this fight. With the new upgrade, the speed of his fighter would be even better. The sheer speed and number of attacks and dodges that he would get from this would be almost terrifying. He slotted in a single sword chip, like Trent requested, but sent in the best on that they had, the multi-target hitting wide sword.

Trent was pleased with the selection, and the lack of comment from Mark. He knew it was just like that too. Mark did add in a few words, as he so commonly does. "Just keep yourself moving. We should deal enough damage across the group and move ourselves fast enough to keep from being hit, but just be sure. Better safe in this case."

Trent withdrew his own knives first. The widesword data was being held in reserves as the familiar blades bit the bitter winter cold of Sharo once more. He ducked into a low stance, and looked to Sasha. Sasha was keeping his head low, he weight shifted to the back, and he haunches raised. His teeth were bared. Trent whistled to him, and gave a hand signal that they had recently been training on. Sasha backed up in the snow a few steps and slung his right foot up behind his right ear. The paw nicked a button, which dropped a small blue cube from the center piece of his collar. In a fast action Sasha smashed the cube and gained the protection of a barrier. This made Trent, very happy to say the least. Losing Sasha again would not be good.

Trent looked back to the three targets. A cool silence held the air as Trent finalized the attack plan on the lamps in his head. Perfect. The large warrior began to move forwards. His knives raised before his face in a defensive manner. Trent Took a few bounding steps before descending upon the first lamp. With a overhead ice pick attack, he launched the opening strike, before they could do the same. The attack wasn't meant to kill the virus however, but merely to get him into combat, and to get him across the lines and weaken them. The attack wasn't aimed at a vital spot, and Trent ducked and moved around the object, to get to the one in the back. He skipped over the middle, having plans for him in the end. He rolled on the ground and got his self moving fast, got the blood and adrenaline pumping as he did so. Early parts of close combat often did this to him The second knife strike was a horizontal slash from the reverse grip knife.

He stood back up, gathering his feet below him. The attack wasn't nearly finished. Trent moved to the center of the lamps and tried to land his first damage against it this fight. The strange viruses had no real obvious weak spot, but the back was a generally good place to stab for some high damage. A heavy hand slammed downwards aimed at the back of the viruses form, ice picking the attack with the reverse blade. Trent carried his weight through from the attack, and moved to the other side of the initial target, taking a light evasive stance as he did so. He moved around to the opposite side of the first virus, the side he began the assault on. A large hand snapped outwards, trying to sweep the target into the next attack. Which was an awaiting forwards grip blade to deliver a strong upwards stab. Trent raised a foot up to kick the target back into the other, lining them all up better for the next attacks. Trent dodged to the side, having a feeling a return attack would be in order from his fast and furious assault pattern.

"Sasha is still doing fine," Mark said, trying to make sure that Trent didn't turn his focus from the fight. Sasha's ears perked at the sound of his name from Mark, and growled at it. Mark let out a loud chuckle from the thought. A virtual dog growling at him. Sasha shifted focus back the fight at hand as he watched Trent on the offense. Mark watched as well, studying the stances and movements of his fighter for future reference. Setting up his fights is going to be fun.

Trent finally uploaded the widesword data. The blade overtook the knife in his right hand, shifting and extending the metal saber by a good foot, and coating the weapon in a blue glow. He threw his weight forwards, his arm draw across his chest, the blade back. As he closed in, he threw it out in a fast slash, trying to encompass the group in the swipe. Still going off the force of the attack, he dished out one more attack, hoping to finish off the group of viruses as quickly as they appeared.

Summary
Sasha
1) Protection Collar: 30 HP Barrier to Self

Trent
*Trent Has floatshoes
1) Combat Tactic: Quick Slashes. 30 slashing to Elmperor A, Then Haste + Dodge + Movement towards Elmperor C, then 30 slashing To Empleror C
2) Combat Tactic: Spinal Cut to Elmperor B (80 + Stun + Slashing)
*Free Action: Swordplay: Dodge
*Fast Warrior: Tactical Movement: Other Side of Elmperor A, to be able to push back towards the others
*Get Back here: Pull to Elmperor A towards attack
3) Combat Tactic: Disengage (70 + Slashing + Knockback + Dodge) Trying to Knockback towards others
4) Widesword to Elmperor A, B, C (80 + Slashing + Wide Attack)
5) Widesword to Elmperor A, B, C (80 + Slashing + Wideattack)
With Sasha sufficiently protected from the elements with her new protective collar, Trent went into battle, executing precise slashes with his combat knife. He was a bit off with his dodging, however, as one of the Elmperor's attacks nicked his side. (15) After that, however, it was smooth sailing, with the lamps falling one by one to his blade.

-- ENEMIES --
Elmperor A: DELETED
Elmperor B: DELETED
Elmperor C: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 175 HP (Snow)
Sasha.SP: 40 HP (Snow)

-- TERRAIN --
15% Lava (Elmperor area)
85% Snow (Everywhere else)

-- BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

600z, 15 BugFrags
Trent frowned as the battle ended, the execution of his attacks and movements clearly weren't perfect enough. Even with his fast footwork that the light stance of one of his attacking patterns gives, he was still hit. He replaced the knife in its sheath and walked over to the remaining Data on the ground. Some zenny and a bit of bugfrags for Sasha. Speaking of whom, was now jumping and bounding his way over towards the data. A pile of bugfrags sat at the feet of the dog, which it sniffed briefly before scooping the data up into his jaws, and crunching it into his own system. This sight made Mark cringe. It was something he still wasn't used to. On the last outting with him, he was removed from the picture rather fast.

While sending over the zenny data to Mark he asked, "How much more until we go and get the other upgrades I need?"

"That all depends on what else you want to get before we head out for Recruitment. You are a process upgrade behind currently, and by the time we get the zenny for that, we should be behind by one more. Maybe we could save up a bit and buy those, along with another powerup? All depends."

Trent didn't want to wait that long. He turned his thoughts from the topic at hand and looked back to Sasha, who was finishing up his meal. With a final chomp of the jaws and a lick of the lips, he ran over to Trent's side and jumped up on his, front feet on the fighters chest. He barked loudly. Trent couldn't help but smile, a strange act of character. This dog brought out a different Trent, and Trent couldn't want to see this dog stronger. Trent pushed him down, rubbed behind his ears, checked the collar, and gave a hand signal. The two were off back down the nets, Sasha holding close and alert, next to Trent's leg.

"Oh no, that's fine, just ignore which upgrades we should talk about that's OK."

{Battle 2}
Walking further across the snowy landscape, Trent found himself walking above an iced road, which sloped down a moderately-sized hill. At the bottom of the hill stood a few viruses, ready to take on anyone who happened to accidentally slide down the road and into their path. Fortunately, with Trent's special FloatShoes, he wasn't going to do that any time soon, giving him the tactical advantage of surprise!

-- ENEMIES --
Pengi A: 80 HP (Ice) (IceBody)
Pengi B: 80 HP (Ice) (IceBody)
Pengi C: 80 HP (Ice) (IceBody)
Slimer A: 90 HP (Snow)
Slimer B: 90 HP (Snow)

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 175 HP (Float/Ice)
Sasha.SP: 40 HP (Snow)

-- TERRAIN --
40% Ice (Sloped ice road)
60% Snow (Everywhere else)

-- BATTLE 02, READY? START!! --
Trent was on the alert, his eyes scanning the ground as best he could. When he saw the hill, it didn't look like much else at first, since all the white landscape just blended together. Once at the top of the hill, he quickly stepped back down, taking cover behind the crest, his body landing softly in the snow. Sasha hit the ground as Trent did, the two deciding to watch and play the waiting game for once. Trent started to think about how to get into combat, various ways to keep the targeting from Sasha and to take out the viruses as much as possible. Sasha kept his eyes focused on the group below, watching for movement.

"Trent, We have a strange case here. It seems that slope was going to be used to lure in unsuspecting targets to be attacked. Your float shoes kept you from being prey to the natural elements, but we have an issue now. You have no easy way to get into close combat with them, and your chip selection for range is rather...limited to say the least. It doesn't seem like the viruses have spotted you, we should take some time to plan this."

Trent agreed with him, then remembered a chip that he had in his folder. "We have one way to get there," Trent started, "the star arrow chip we got from the mission."

Mark's eyes lit up, "That would be a wonderful use of the chip. We haven't exactly gotten a chance to try it out either, this could be a great test run," Mark said happily. Just as he went to slot in the chip and some sword, his hands stopped. Trent had already withdrawn his knives and was ready, Sasha was about to click the collar for the opening barrier as well. Mark stopped them both by saying, "Wait. We need a distraction of some kind. You will be super easy to spot just flying through the air at them. Granted they won't expect it, but also shouldn't have an issue rallying a defense. We will lose the advantage. We should get...crafty."

Trent's face tightened at the thought. He could take the hits from them. He knew he could, but what did Mark mean with...crafty? "What?" he asked the operator.

"Lets take some time to plot this out. Maybe we can even train Sasha some more in this. God knows he needs more training other than just watching you fight and scooping the remains. You two won't learn to work together or as a team that way, and when he can fight he will be directly incorrectly and knocked back to the PET all over again. Lets take a minute to think. What can we use as a distraction?"

"Bullets always work well."

"True..." Mark's voice trailed off as he hand glided over the chip pile. What could they use? What chips did the have that could either be activated as Trent was in the air, or used by Sasha? Which of them could be the most effective by the four legged fighter? None of the chips seemed to be effective enough, seeing as the chip had to be granted to Sasha prior to its use. Sasha's process speed wasn't great enough to get a chip, use it, and still use his barrier in stride with Trent's attacks. He finally stopped over the machine gun chip. This...could be interesting.

Trent waited and thought as well, but things like this weren't his strong point. He was a fast, on the fly fighter, not a carefully calculated attacker. Just as Trent was about to say 'Screw it' he was interrupted by Mark. "The machine gun chip."

Sasha understood what Mark was saying well enough to give a 'What the hell?' look to Mark at the same time that Trent did. Both were confused by the prospect of this. "How? What...?" was all that Trent could spit out.

"Just hear me out on this one," Mark started. "We can take a few minutes to set up a machine gun emplacement for Sasha. He can operate the gun, and you can fly over with the arrow. At your signal Sasha will pull the cord, and fire the weapon as you are about to land. Then you'll safely be in the middle of the pack of viruses, having had a firing cover shield to both block where you are really coming from, and to distract them from their focus."

A long pause held over the field. Trent had to take a minute to process exactly what Mark was suggesting. The very thought of it was silly to say the least, and so wonderfully challenging and the same time. A dog firing a machinegun. He knew that the chance to test Sasha's intelligence would be very welcome, and even if this plan failed, Sasha would have a barrier, and Trent would be able to drop the enemies fast enough to not have to worry. This group of viruses was the perfect size for trying something fool-hearted like this. They wouldn't be a breeze, but wouldn't be a challenge either. "Let's do it."

A large smile crossed the face of Mark as he slotted in the machine gun chip. "We should get all of this rigged up first, get the barrier on Sasha, and prepare the assault for next turn. Stay hidden, stay out of sight, and set this up. Let's try something silly."

Trent wasn't sure if this would work, but was eager to see how Smart his SP actually was. Even things went south, he would clean up shop fast. Trent summoned the machine gun chip, which came to the warrior in the form of a classic Machine gun, an MG-42, with a white paint scheme. "Thought that would add some extra flair to this attack," Mark commented.

Trent looked to Sasha and gave him a hand signal to sit, wait, and watch for further instructions. Sasha seemed to understand, and laid deeper in the snow and watched with dark eyes. Trent hugged to the ground, crawling on his stomach to the crest of the hill, the machine gun dragging in the snow behind him. He peeked his eyes over. He didn't think the viruses had any idea that he was there yet. Perfect for him. Trent carefully dragged the machine gun to the crest, covering all but the tip of the barrel in snow, and piling up snow under the shoulder rest of the gun to keep it aimed down the hill, and not straight outwards. The shoulder rest would be useless for Sasha, might as well give the gun some extra support with it. Trent packed as much snow as he could before compacting it and adding a bit more. This had to be as solid of a snow support as was possible.

Trent slid back down the hill and started to think of what he could do to set up the rest of this plan. He would need a rigging system to ensure that Sasha could fire the weapon. Without thumbs or an understanding of guns, it would do him no good without this set up. But what could he do on an impromptu basis? He started to scan his own belongings and think of the chips that were at his disposal. His eyes stopped on his shoe laces. An idea hatched in his head. Trent withdrew a full shoe string, and slid back up to the gun. Sasha was still watching intensely.

Trent carefully, ever ever so carefully, wrapped the first end of the string around the trigger of the gun. He fashioned the string into a slip knot, something that would get tighter as it was pulled by the other end. Which would provide the perfect level of constriction to be fired. He hoped. This whole plan was starting to feel and seem more and more silly as time went on. It would be a wonder if this worked properly.

Trent carefully placed the string back down the hill, and tied a large knot on the other side for Sasha to grip in his teeth. One last step to be done. Trent passed the hand signal to Sasha to move over towards him, carefully and quietly. Trent and Sasha had been working on a few basic commands, and the dog was picking them up quickly. He should be able to get this one down well enough. Trent pointed to the string and pulled on it slightly. He moved Sasha's head down to the string, and whispered basic command words into his ear, ones that Sasha was familiar with already. Such as back up, grab, and whistle. Trent practiced the move command list with Sasha, placing the string in the dogs mouth. Every time before hand Trent Made sure the string had more than enough slack to NOT pull the trigger on the gun yet.

Sasha gave the lesson his full attention, having long seen the difference in this fight than the others. Normally Trent would have ran out into the fight while Sasha stayed protected. Things were undoubtedly different this time. As Trent showed the motion over and over of backing up with the string, Sasha got it. Trent would add in words and signals for Whistle and back up together. It didn't take long for the dog to pick it up. Trent rubbed behind the dogs ears, and slowly got his feet under him, holding his form as close to the ground as possible. "Ready Mark?"

"Ready. Once you're in the air, you won't be able to land until the arrow gets there. This bullet screen should provide the cover you're after. I think Sasha is smart enough to get this one. Loading up the wide sword and moon blade chips for ground assault once you are in there. Good luck sir."

Trent took a deep breath and prepared mentally. Sasha was focused and dead set on the objective, watching Trent as he prepared mentally. "I just hope they haven't seen us." Trent muttered. He waited a moment longer to listen to see if the viruses had any idea he was there.

Summary
Trent
1) Summon machine Gun Chip
2) Crawl on ground to crest of hill, place Machine gun on the crest
3) Reinforce the shoulder rest of the gun with snow to keep it aiming downwards.
4) Carefully tie a shoe string around the trigger into a slip knot, and tie the other end into a large knot.
5) Train Sasha on the command pattern and to wait for the whistle signal.

Sasha
1) Carefully listen and absorb the lesson from Trent.
Fortunately for the team, the viruses hadn't a clue that they were being targeted, and went on their merry business, with the Pengi sliding on their bellies about the ice, and the Slimes throwing snowballs at each other.

-- ENEMIES --
Pengi A: 80 HP (Ice) (IceBody)
Pengi B: 80 HP (Ice) (IceBody)
Pengi C: 80 HP (Ice) (IceBody)
Slimer A: 90 HP (Snow)
Slimer B: 90 HP (Snow)

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 175 HP (Float/Ice)
Sasha.SP: 40 HP (Snow) [MachineGun1 Prepped]

-- TERRAIN --
40% Ice (Sloped ice road)
60% Snow (Everywhere else)
Nothing could be heard, by Trent or Sasha. The pair sat in silence for a moment longer, holding their breath and ensuring the plan. Sasha was intensely focused on the objective before him. The string sat in his mouth, the dog ready to run backwards back down the hill to fire the weapon at the viruses. All it took was Trent. Mark was sitting on the edge of his seat. He couldn't believe that this was about to happen. Closer and closer he leaned into the holographic screen. "Trent. I am also going to slot in this chip we got in a trade for you. It'll be useful."

The fast gauge data chip entered his system. His eye brows perked at the data before him. This chip would be amazing for his fighting style. He started by uploading that data, and a subtle white light over took him. With the effects of the chip underway, even his basic movements were snappy and fast, leaving small motion trails in the space behind him. "It's now or never Trent."

Trent uploaded the star arrow data. This plan might actually work. Who knows. He aimed the shot high into the sky, trying to arc the arrow down into the center of the slimer group. If the arrow hit one of the targets, that would be all the better, but it was mostly a delivery system for the fighter at this point. He pulled the bow back, aimed it high into the sky, with the shot arc going to the group and fired the arrow. Until the arrow was fired, everything about it seemed like a normal arrow, but when it was shot it followed its path a mere few feet before dead stopping in the air. Trent reached up and grabbed the main body of the arrow and gripped it tight with both hands. No sooner had he gotten his grip was he pulled along at great speed behind the attack.

Sasha watched Trent go, his head following the path of the arrow. He kept his ears perked and at the ready and tried to listen hard for the signal. Trent on the other hand, was having quiet the ride. He was using a lot of strength to keep his grip on this arrow at it approached the top of the arc. Trent honestly didn't like this at all. Having his feet off the ground like this was not his way of fighting. But this was an interesting way to train Sasha. He had to remember that.

The arrow got to the top of its tall tall path. As it approached the vertex, it slowed down, reaching the tallest height it could. Trent was rather high above the hill he started out on, and high above the viruses. With a deep breath, he let out a strong piercing whistle. Sasha had been on the alert, waiting for that sound. Once he heard it he slid backwards pulling the string tight. Once he was far enough back up the hill not to be hit, he stood up and pulled the string all the way back, the knot tightening on the trigger.

Bullets were being raining down the hill on the unsuspecting group below. Sasha, of course, had no idea where they were going or aimed at, but was happily shaking his tail in excitement of working the gun rig. Trent let a smile cross his face as the arrow fell back to the netways, pulling him strongly back down as well. Soon the machine gun was letting out clicking sounds to replace the blast of the fire. Empty.

Once closer enough to the ground, Trent let the arrow go. He fell at the same pace it did, but this allowed him time to pull out his weapons. Both hand armed with a knife, each in a familiar pose. Reverse grip and forwards grip. Trent landed with a solid thud, the arrow landing at the same time with a soft slice of the air and a stick into the ground. Quickly Trent uploaded the moonblade, moving to the slimer group and activating it. His body was spun around on the balls of his feet as he extended his saber hand knife to slash at the probably confused viruses. Trent could take no time to examine the status of the group.

After the moonblade was finished, Trent turned to his wide sword. The right blade was coated in a blue glow as the chip overtook the blade default. Trent flipped the knife to a forwards grip, and dashed after the Pengi nearby. The group was large, and somewhat dispersed, but he should be able to get a solid hit on them. He drew back the blade across his chest and dashed out with a strike aimed for all three of the viruses. Trent did a fast dodge to the side, expecting some follow up strikes, before going back into the group, even harder, with a second swing of his wide sword. Trent backed down from the viruses, sliding off to his left to see what exactly had been done in his aerial assault.

Summary
Trent
1) FastGauge to Self (+10% Dodging for three Turns)
2) Fire Star arrow into high arc, Aimed at Slimer B + Grab unto Arrow! (40 + Carry)

Sasha
1) Fire Machine gun on Signal down the hill Aimed more towards Slimer Group (30 x 9 + Spray Fire)

Trent
*Free Action: Fast Warrior: Tactical Recovery from landing!
3) Moonblade to Slimer A, B after landing (90 + Slashing + Spin Attack)
4) Wide Sword to Pengi A, B, C (80 + Slashing + Wide Attack)
*Free Action: Sword Play: Dodge
5) Wide Sword to Pengi A, B, C (80 + Slashing + Wide Attack)
Executing an elaborate entrance into the foray, Trent made the viruses thoroughly confused as he sliced apart two of the Slimers with a Moonblade. The machine gun fire made the Pengi panic, and scatter about on the ice. As they slid about on the ice, they stumbled on the banks of the icy road, causing them to be a victim to Trent's blade easily.

-- ENEMIES --
Pengi A: DELETED
Pengi B: DELETED
Pengi C: DELETED
Slimer A: DELETED
Slimer B: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 175 HP (Float/Ice)
Sasha.SP: 40 HP (Snow) [MachineGun1 Prepped]

-- TERRAIN --
40% Ice (Sloped ice road)
60% Snow (Everywhere else)

-- BATTLE 02, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[MetaGel1] Battlechip, 840z, 22 BugFrags
{The bugfrags were forgotten, I added 22 to my count, if this the wrong amount tell me so.}

Trent stood among the remains of the viruses, his knives covered in excess data and looked around with wild eyes. Mark was the first to chime in. "I can't believe that worked!" he turned his holo display over towards Sasha, "What a smart dog!" Mark praised. Sasha was already running out of Mark's view, sliding and slipping down the hill to come crashing into Trent's feet, knocking them both off balance. "I guess the trap by the viruses would have been effective after all," Mark commented.

Trent grabbed at Sasha and offered plenty of head rubs and ear pats before sending the bog on his way to clean up the bugfrags left behind. Which doing so, Trent shifted though out the other data lying around. The quick assault and high use of blades left the scene rather...messy. Trent found a nice chunk of change for zenny and a new battle chip. The chip was sent over towards Mark, who reported back its effectiveness.

"It will help a good deal. The damage is high and anything we can do to slow down targets is a nice bonus." Mark added it to the pile of chips at his side, and waited for Sasha and Trent to be ready to progress. Both of which were busy playing after Sasha had gathered the meal of bugfrags. Trent was happily playing with the dog, feeling very proud of his intelligence at this point.

With a quick change of pace, Trent moved forwards, gave a hand signal to calm down and change the mood of Sasha, and advanced forwards, looking for more information to feed to Sasha. Maybe the next fight could provide a tactical use of Sasha's intelligence.

{Ready for Battle 3}
Moving further into the frigid Sharo network, the warrior and canine team slowly found the snow-covered ground to diminish in favor of a more unforgiving slide-prone ice sheet. Making matters worse was that the ice also happened to be cracked in some places. It wasn't long before they met some viruses. The main attraction were some 8-foot tall metallic statue that rolled around on a ball beneath their hardened bodies. These were rolling around some Shadow viruses, which were looming around the giant statues, possibly for protection. On top of that, a few clouds around the gigantic viruses didn't seem to be normal clouds, but hostile Cloudy as well!

-- ENEMIES --
Gigas A: 100 HP [HardCase] [Ice]
Gigas B: 100 HP [HardCase] [Ice]
Shadow A: 80 HP [Ice]
Shadow B: 80 HP [Ice]
Cloudy A: 80 HP [Ice]
Cloudy B: 80 HP [Ice]

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 175 HP [Float/Ice]
Sasha.SP: 40 HP [Ice]

-- TERRAIN --
80% Ice
20% Cracked

-- BATTLE 03, READY? START!! --
Trent was stopped in his tracks and gave Sasha the hand sign to do the same s the towering viruses rolled up before them. He hadn't need a virus so large in a while. Nor one with such an interesting structure. Trent withdrew his knives and slid his foot backwards, gaining an aggressive stance. He would have to be very light on his feet to deal with these things. He looked to Sasha, who had his haunches raised and his teeth exposed. The dog was gaining in bugfrags, but it would sadly be a long while before he could actually fight effective next to Trent. Trent took another glance at the New virus. "Mark what can you tell me on that thing?"

Mark quickly tapped away at the keyboard while Trent and Sasha kept backing up and keeping their distance for the time being. Mark couldn't find much information. It seems the virus was farily new to the networks, someone had just created the beast recently. All he could find was the attacks hurt defenses, and that it really really really hated navi's. A lot. "Sasha will be more at a risk with those things alive and his shields up. The attacks will hurt defenses. Keep Sasha moving on the ice while you deal with those things. As far as their defense, I can't find anything on that. I would however assume it is similar to the hardbody defense, one which we are sadly not prepared for." Mark thought for a moment. "The new chip could be something we can try. It will slow them down and with the environment the way it is, Sasha will be able to slid away easier. We are going to have to just drop them fast."

Trent didn't like the idea of not using the defense that he set up for Sasha to keep him safe. It made sense, but either way Sasha was exposed. Trent looked around for the cracked terrain and gave Sasha the hand signal to run opposite of them, to ensure he staid on the precious ice that would aid in his dodging. Sasha was having a difficult time getting his feet under him, as one would imagine with those doggy feet, but after some work ended up moving a good deal, slipping and sliding in a dodging effort to get away from the large viruses. Sasha was sliding backwards from the fight, keeping eve more distance from him and the enemies. Without his shield, the dog too felt rather naked.

Trent uploaded the only chip he has thus far received. The metagel chip was ready to be used. Trent targeted the two towering Viruses and one of the cloudys above them. He knew enough about the shadow defense to say that those would have to be stopped in his favorite way, by the blade. He would save those for last. The three gels formed and dropped down, hopefully covering the large viruses in a sticky gel to slow their progress. This whole setup was about protecting Sasha. Trent moved forwards, knives at the ready, and started in on close combat.

His feet were unaffected by the ground as he progressed forwards, the grips on the his shoes boosted by the effects of the floatshoes, making the terrain not even register with his systems. Trent dipped in low on the large targets, taking a quick slash at one before ducking around its large base and rolling over towards the other. As he did so, his body adjusted for the light stances of this delicate fight, giving him a boosted dodging perception. Trent ice picked the other target with the reverse grip knife and backed out of combat.

Mark saw Trent's advance into the fry and sent in two chips for his support. One of them was the exact chip Trent had hoped would be sent in. The widesword chip was becoming a stable of the attack pattern of Trent. Mark would need to find a way to get a hold of another one of them. He wasn't even sure which viral data it was based off of, the two had gotten it from the virus training Navi. Back to the trading boards.

Trent withdrew the data from his knife sheath, the new blade already empowered with the chip. The long blue blade lashed out with a powerful whip, trying to slice at the two large and hopefully gel covered targets. The blade returned to Trent's side, the glow from which lit up his hand and face. Trent knew that with this series of attacks, if his guess was right on the ability of the viruses, they would have been dealt the exact amount of their health...if they were correct. Trent decided to turn his attention to the other viruses, who were just as much of a treat to Sasha as were the big guys. Trent moved around the bodies of the gigas with ease, his feet skating over the ground to the shadows nearby.

Holding the widesword up for its second slash Trent tried to encompass both of the shadows and the targeted cloudy in the sweep. If just the shadows dropped he would be happy, but the other cloudy was still an issue. Trent moved up upon the shadows and lashed outwards with the blade again. The wide sweep of the attack left a arc of blue light trailing the slice. Trent dismissed the widesword from his use. The other chip Mark has sent would be used to try and wrap up the deletion of the big viruses. He didn't want to see one of them slash out at Sasha. The sooner they were gone the better for his dog.

Trent uploaded the chip and gained from it the stable weapon of the virus that the chip was gained from. The moonblade rested in his right hand and he moved back to the gigas once more. With a bounding step he spun on his left foot, letting the hooked blade try to gash at the large spheres the gigas rested upon. Trent spun several times, keeping his aim restricted to just these two viruses. Using more than a few targets with this was dangerous when these two took such a high priority. Trent dodged backwards after his fast pattern of bladed attacks and looked to Sasha after getting his footing under him.

Sasha was still slipping on the ice, trying to get a solid grip under himself, which was proving to be very hard indeed. The dog was sliding in random directions and keeping a worried expression over his face. He did not like this at all! Mark chuckled slightly at the expression of the dog, but kept it muted so that Trent wouldn't hear. He wouldn't like the insults towards his dog.

Summary
Sasha
1) Dodge backwards! +1 Rank due to Ice!

Trent
1) Metagel1 to Giga A, B and Cloudy B (90 + Aqua + Slow + x3 Targets) B Accuracy
2) Combat Tactic Quick Slashes: 30 Damage to Giga A, then Dodge + Movement towards other Giga + Haste, Then 30 Damage to Giga B
3) Widesword to Giga A and B (80 + Slashing + WideAttack) A Accuracy
*Free Action: Fast Warrior: Tactical movement to the shadows and Cloudy to line them up for..
4) Widesword to Shadow A, B, and Cloudy A (80 + Slashing + Wide Attack) A Accuracy
5) Moonblade to Giga A and B (90 + Slashing + Spin Attack) A Accuracy
*Free Action: Swordplay: Dodge
The blobby gel monsters dropped down from the sky like kamikaze divebombers, encasing a Gigas and a Cloudy in sticky blue ooze. The other managed to roll away on the ice before it was hit. They quickly rushed towards Trent, who was not afraid to engage them in close combat. A few punches thrown around wasn't going to stop the knife-wielding warrior, though, as he whizzed through the slow slugs easily. The Shadows attempted to rush Trent with their blades, but were quickly denied as Trent sliced one of them apart with the WideSword. The other he missed by just an inch, causing the extra length of the blue blade to slice apart a nearby Cloudy. It wasn't long before the Gigas' slow pace of turning around would cause them deletion by way of a MoonBlade. This left a solitary Shadow on the battlefield, probably scared to dickens.

-- ENEMIES --
Gigas A: DELETED
Gigas B: DELETED
Shadow A: 80 HP [Ice]
Shadow B: DELETED
Cloudy A: DELETED
Cloudy B: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 175 HP [Float/Ice]
Sasha.SP: 40 HP [Ice]

-- TERRAIN --
80% Ice
20% Cracked
Trent wasted no time in turning his form to face the lone virus. He flicked out his knives, each one gleaming in the virtual sunlight, the blades of each eager to finish this fight and get Sasha more bugfrags. Trent choose not to wait for Mark to slot in any chips, instead descending upon the target immediately. He lead with his right hand, which was in reverse grip, and reached around behind the target with the spine of the blade. He pulled the target in close with a fierce jerk, and raised his left hand for a strong stab to the gut. Trent pulled his reverse grip back from the target, and raised the blade high above his head to perform a vicious over head strike down into the center mass of the shadow form. Trent raised a foot to kick the shadow back, only to follow up on the advance with a movement of his own, never letting the enemy truly get his footing.

Sasha was still sliding around the ice, having the worst time getting his feet under him. The dog cried out in worry as he couldn't control his random movements. The more the dog pushed and flailed the more he slid around randomly. Mark was chuckling under her breath at the dog after having slotted in a chip for Trent to use. It was the sword chip, seeing as none of the knives would deal the required damage in one swing.

Trent uploaded it fast unto his right hand, swinging at the target with diagonal and horizontal slashes. He threw his weight into each one, causing the heaviness of his swing to stall him for a moment to regain balance. Trent used the sword aggressively three times before he broke combat and dodged away from the target, if there was a target left.

Summary
*Free Action: Get back here: Passive Pull Shadow closer for next attack
1) Combat Tactic: Spinal Cut to Shadow (80 + Stun + Slashing)
2) Combat Tactic: Disengage to Shadow (70 + Knockback + Dodge)
*Free Action: Fast Warrior: Passive Movement towards Shadow
3) Sword to Shadow (80 + Slashing)
4) Sword to Shadow (80 + Slashing)
5) Sword to Shadow (80 + Slashing)
*Free Action: Swordplay: Dodge
It's dead, bro. Geez, cut the little some slack.

-- ENEMIES --
Gigas A: DELETED
Gigas B: DELETED
Shadow A: DELETED
Shadow B: DELETED
Cloudy A: DELETED
Cloudy B: DELETED

-- ALLIES --
Trent.EXE: 175 HP [Float/Ice]
Sasha.SP: 40 HP [Ice]

-- TERRAIN --
80% Ice
20% Cracked

-- BATTLE 03, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[GigasArm1] Battlechip, 1000z, 26 BugFrags
He slid his feet back to a neutral stance after slashing apart the final virus in a flurry of attacks. Taking both he blades he slid them back into their holsters on his legs, keeping the blades protected from the cold element. Trent turned to Sasha, who has still not gotten his footing under him yet and was no whining and whimpering for the bugfrags that Trent had left on the field for him. Trent walked calmly over to his dog, and hoisted him up to his feet, carefully placing his feet below him. Trent gave Sasha the signal to go slowly, and the dog carefully moved over the slick surface until the various bits and pieces of the viruses were at his muzzles reach.

"Hey Trent, I did a few more trading, and with the chip we just got we now have a few decent defense breaking chips. We could have used those last time eh?" Trent was just wrapping up sending over the data to Mark. "I also have a surprise for you, Trent. It was a long while ago but do you remember that Navi, SINN, that we teamed with? I guess he isn't SINN anymore but still, I got in touch with the operator of him again. You have a duel set up." Mark started to install a program into his PET. It was a training barrier. "I knew I would get to use this soon enough."

Trent was rather excited about the news actually. Something that wasn't a virus that he could fight, it would be a good challenge to fight something else with a bit of intelligence about it. "Sounds awesome, when is this happening?"

"Soon. We are to wait for him, he is upgrading his PET last I heard. You probably shouldn't use Sasha in the fight, we wouldn't want him badly hurt again. Plus Dragonierman has two SP's, if we brought in SP's it just wouldn't bode well for us. This will just be a one of one fight. Think of it like a practice round to the rings."

A grim expression crossed the fighters face at the mention of the rings. He moved over to Sasha and started to PET and play with the dog while Mark kept on about something or another. Trent hated those rings, but he was more or less numb to the thought and duties of them by now. He had to do, what he had to do. "Send Dragonierman our location."

Mark stopped talking after Trent's interruption, "You got it."

Mark tapped out the data and finished installing the training barrier.

{Waiting on Azureink for a duel}
{Training Barrier will be a permanent undershirt for all in the barrier. Even once the navi hits 1 hp from being saved by the undershirt, more hits will not drop the hp of the navi below 1}
It was not more than an hour later when a single large beam of light ripped down from the sky to slam into the Net floor. Out of it stepped a navi clad head to toe in heavy armor. He emerged from the light as if passing through a thin membrane, light particles sloughing off him like a second skin. When the column of light finally dissipated the sounds of crunching ice and snow under heavy footfalls rang out in the clear, cool air. DragonierMan was in identification range when he stopped to adjust his gauntlets.

"Back in the cold. I never go anywhere temperate do I. Always burning hot or freezing cold." His hands came up to secure his heavy cloak that was about his shoulders, and drape it around his front, obscuring his body below his neck. A whistle of steamy breath flowed over his mouth-guard into the Sharoan air. His visor was up, so his gray eyes and the bridge of his nose could be seen.

"Aww poor baby. Want me to kiss it and make it hotter?" a sultry voice flowed over the navi's shoulder like silk. Suddenly, thin arms appeared out of nowhere, clad fully in gray leather, and wrapped themselves around DragonierMan's neck from behind, lacing the fingers together under his chin. A feminine face appeared over his shoulder, with piercing gray eyes and long, golden hair flowing behind her on the wind. Her ruddy-face snuggled into the plush cloak.

"Now is not the time," another voice piped up. From that another girl appeared, stepping out from behind DragonierMan as he stood there. She looked almost identical to the one that was holding on the knight, but her hair was tied in a braid. Twins. As the two girls became more visible, it was clear that they were not wearing proper attire for the weather. Short skirts and tank tops, thigh-high boots and long gloves. The skin-tight leather must have made them want warmer duds, and the second girl shivered a little with her arms folded around her.

Then she saw Trent and Sasha. "There is your opponent. Suzume, let go." She pointed the two out while the one identified as Suzume slid off DragonierMan's shoulder and found her footing on the icy ground with a pout. "You are no fun, Aya."

DragonierMan didn't comment as he walked over to Trent, Aya and Suzume following in his steps. Suzume even made a game of trying to place her feet in the dragon's tracks as she moved. Her hair swaying about her as she leapt from track to track. Her cheeks flushed with cold and excitement. Aya just trudged after DragonierMan, scanning the treeline around them.

When DragonierMan reached Trent he bowed slightly. "I see we have both obtained our own subordinates. Useful though they may be, they will not be able to truly fight a skilled opponent. At least, not yet." His right hand came out of his cloak and was offered to Trent with a grin. Though it was hard to see his face under the helmet. "It is good to see you again."
Trent and Sasha passed the hour without much issue, happily playing in the snow and the ice. Trent was trying to teach Sasha how to run and balance on the ice. The dog wasn't faring very well at this, which always made the fighter chuckle some with a slight amusement. The two worked on hand signals, and started in on simple vocal commands. It was Mark who was dying for the arrival of Dragonierman and Destin. He had no much to do to, park in his chair near the old computer in the train station. He tried to waste time on the internet, tried to waste time by starting up various songs, but his eagerness to see Trent fight was too much for him to contain. He was visibly bouncing and shaking as he waited. These actions of course drew unwanted attention from the surrounding neighbors.

When the light from Dragonierman jacking into the network appeared, Sasha was quick on the defense. He jumped up from his current position and hugged close to Trent's left leg. His large white form pressed up against the fighter, and he seemed to blend in with everything around him save for his black eyes. Trent gave Sasha a hand signal to stay, but not be calm. The dog held closer as the two ladies rolled out from behind the Dragon.

"Those must be Dragonierman's support programs," Mark commented, saying the obvious. "Its nearly fighting time here in the cold cold wasteland!!" Mark said trying to copy the voice of a ring announcer. This action, gave even more strange looks. He hunched over and grumbled as he didn't want to gain any more attention to himself and which navi might be jacked into this computer.

Trent let a small smile cross his face once his old ally was closer. It was good to see a familiar face, even if it was one he only spent a short time fighting beside. The two hadn't exactly gotten to the strongest of friends either during that time, nearly exchanging a fight in their early stages of working together. Sasha kept his teeth in full bare as all three forms stopped before him. It wasn't until Trent extended his hand to meet Dragonierman's did he calm visibly. When Trent went for the hand shake, he over extended and gripped the fighters forearm. "Good to see you again as well. And you're right, Sasha here would not be much of a challenge yet, sadly."

Sasha was visibly saddened as Trent spoke about him, but was quickly reassured by a fast pat behind the ears. "He's still a good dog." Trent stood up and viewed the two female forms following Dragonierman. "I see you have your own...companions." Trent eyed the two females.
DragonierMan adjusted his grip on Trent's forearm when they shaked. Even though they had come to blows in the past, and left each other last time on an interesting note, they did not think ill of each other. "Yes. This is-"

"Suzume!" the long-haired girl chimed in with a smile. "Aya," claimed the copy, pointing to herself with her thumb. Though they both had non-Netopian names, the twins looked Netopian, fair of skin like DragonierMan.

DragonierMan snorted, "Anyways, we have a battle to start." Suzume almost leapt out of her boots, "Yay, a fight!" Aya grabbed her shoulder and pulled her down to earth. "Not for you," she pointed between Trent and DragonierMan, "between them." Suzume pouted again, "You are no fun, Aya."

"You already said that."