Netfrica was no stranger to the name "The Meat Hacker". Highly acclaimed to be the best restaurant in the region, one Norton Ramsay performed miracles on his native land's Netopian cuisine, working magic with Netfrican ingredients and creating a stir in the culinary world. However, what most people didn't know was that the restaurant also had an Internet-facing side, which was much less talked about -- mostly by the fact that it had been closed to the public for the past few weeks. Regardless of that, those in the know still came through its doors to be served privately by its sole chef and proprietor, SliceMan, Norton's Navi.
In the kitchen area of the Meat Hacker's Internet-side restaurant, that Navi was busy hacking away at what appeared to be an oversized red apple, with an enormous butcher's knife. The Navi looked like a gigantic seven-foot-tall cleaver, blade side down, stuck through a tapering cylindrical white body, which was patterned after a chef's jacket. The cleaver's upturned handle resembled a white chef's hat, while two arms and legs made of giant salt and pepper shakers completed the very odd design. Bits of apple flesh landed neatly on a plate on a nearby kitchen counter as the Navi's arms moved in a blur. His eyes, located at the base of the cleaver-handle, were intensely focused on the task in front of him.
Suddenly, a small message window popped up in SliceMan's peripheral vision, causing his movements to suddenly halt. His previously laser-locked vision turned wide. "O-Oh, someone accepted it! That was a lot quicker than I expected..." he blurted out. He started to rush about the kitchen area, cleaning up little bits and various utensils that were scattered around, all the while keeping an eye on the double doors that led into the private area.
All Hands on Deck
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Veda's data reformed near the entrance to the digital restaurant, entwined her fingers with eachother and stretched out. "It's good to be about again," she said to herself while eyeing up the front of the restaurant, "Let's go see what this SliceMan has to do for me." She crossed her arms as she walked over to the entrance while two of her Matrika hands flew from her body to open the entrance for her.
She continued to look around when she stood inside while her levitating hands returned to her. One of the hands, however, paused for a moment at the large pin of her bun to pull out a piece of data. It was the authentication file they had been given to access the correct area of the restaurant. "Just put it a tad lower," Veda mentioned, making the hand place the authentication data as another pin below her emblem pin, "OK, where is this area..." A brief peek at the coordinates she was given didn't provide any helpful information, but a quick glance through the interior of the restaurant made it clear where to go.
Letting her floating hands guide her again, her arms still crossed, she entered the private area while flashing the authentication data to proceed. "SliceMan!" she bellowed once she set foot in the private area, "We need to talk!" The hands locked onto Veda's body again as she paced around the room. It was quite possible that there were people eating or waiting, even back in the public area, but she was not one to care about such things. Her eyes were completely set on finishing the task before her and access a new path. "SliceMan!" she yelled again before eyeing a set of doors she hadn't walked through yet. While she was informed to go to the private area of the restaurant, she still had to speak with SliceMan. Turning on her heels, she started walking over to the double doors leading into the kitchen area.
She continued to look around when she stood inside while her levitating hands returned to her. One of the hands, however, paused for a moment at the large pin of her bun to pull out a piece of data. It was the authentication file they had been given to access the correct area of the restaurant. "Just put it a tad lower," Veda mentioned, making the hand place the authentication data as another pin below her emblem pin, "OK, where is this area..." A brief peek at the coordinates she was given didn't provide any helpful information, but a quick glance through the interior of the restaurant made it clear where to go.
Letting her floating hands guide her again, her arms still crossed, she entered the private area while flashing the authentication data to proceed. "SliceMan!" she bellowed once she set foot in the private area, "We need to talk!" The hands locked onto Veda's body again as she paced around the room. It was quite possible that there were people eating or waiting, even back in the public area, but she was not one to care about such things. Her eyes were completely set on finishing the task before her and access a new path. "SliceMan!" she yelled again before eyeing a set of doors she hadn't walked through yet. While she was informed to go to the private area of the restaurant, she still had to speak with SliceMan. Turning on her heels, she started walking over to the double doors leading into the kitchen area.
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As SliceMan was still busy cleaning up, the sound of someone's voice came in through the kitchen entrance. "O-Oh, they're here!" he said, dropping the kitchen utensils he had right then on the floor. The clattering implements took a few more seconds to clean up, before he stopped himself before the entrance. "A-Alright, calm down... It's just someone to help with finding the ingredients... What do I say... Ummm... Okay. Phew."
Then, with an uncharacteristic burst through the entrance, the budding restaurant owner blurted out all at once, "Hello I'm SliceMan nice to meet you are you the one who accepted my reque-- Eeek!" Realizing he had almost run into Veda, SliceMan leapt backwards on instinct. His shoulder pads, shaped like knife blocks, emitted a loud pneumatic hiss as they ejected a salvo of sharp knives in Veda's immediate direction.
Thankfully, the knives seemed to spray out a lot, and a good many of them ended up embedded in the ceiling and walls instead. As a plus, since the restaurant was also closed, there was nobody else to be on the business end of those sharp tools. "S-Sorry, I-I didn't see you there! P-Please overlook my disgrace!" said SliceMan, who had ended up landing on his rear.
Picking himself up from the floor (and leaving a rather gaping cut in it from the nature of his body) he patted himself down hurriedly and bowed. "Er, m-my apologies. I'm a bit jittery around new people... I still have that to overcome. A-Anyway! Thank you for taking my request, er, Miss... Veda? Though from your grand-sounding name, somehow I expected you to be a bit taller..."
Then, with an uncharacteristic burst through the entrance, the budding restaurant owner blurted out all at once, "Hello I'm SliceMan nice to meet you are you the one who accepted my reque-- Eeek!" Realizing he had almost run into Veda, SliceMan leapt backwards on instinct. His shoulder pads, shaped like knife blocks, emitted a loud pneumatic hiss as they ejected a salvo of sharp knives in Veda's immediate direction.
Thankfully, the knives seemed to spray out a lot, and a good many of them ended up embedded in the ceiling and walls instead. As a plus, since the restaurant was also closed, there was nobody else to be on the business end of those sharp tools. "S-Sorry, I-I didn't see you there! P-Please overlook my disgrace!" said SliceMan, who had ended up landing on his rear.
Picking himself up from the floor (and leaving a rather gaping cut in it from the nature of his body) he patted himself down hurriedly and bowed. "Er, m-my apologies. I'm a bit jittery around new people... I still have that to overcome. A-Anyway! Thank you for taking my request, er, Miss... Veda? Though from your grand-sounding name, somehow I expected you to be a bit taller..."
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While Veda was glad she had swiftly met the Navi she was supposed to meet up with, as judged from his introduction, she had not expected to be thrust into combat this swiftly. The two hands already floating by her side were swiftly accompanied by the other six hands, catching the knives between their fingers if any were about to hit Veda. She had, however, not moved from her position or moved her arms and was staring down SliceMan as he was on the floor. "I can see he needs help," chimed in Veda's mind. Her piercing stare did not stop even after SliceMan was on his feet again. "Is he like this around viruses too? Pathetic. What a sorry excuse for a Navi," the thoughts continued to chime.
Quietly she listened to SliceMan continue blathering, until he dropped a comment about her height. She tilted her head slightly, her face turning into a grimace while slowly turning the knives she had caught from SliceMan's 'attack' into SliceMan's direction. With a few steps she got closer to him. Her hands followed her steps, the blades of the knives still aimed at SliceMan. "And I thought I was meeting a professional chef," she commented before turning the knives back again with their handles aimed at SliceMan so he could retrieve them. "If you're truly sorry about your stumbling, you should improve yourself," Veda said with a low grumble as she looked up at SliceMan's eyes, "But... If you're this prone to lash out, maybe others should be more jittery around you."
"Just Veda is enough," she continued, "And you need someone to fly, not someone to be tall." She shot a sharp glare at SliceMan with her remark, before cooling down again. The tension from her face never faded away, but it was at least relaxed. Her crossed arms stance was also maintained throughout their meeting. After confirming SliceMan had retrieved the knives, or taken the knives away at least, she made the many hands return to her body until they were all in place again. "So what do you need, chef?" she asked before raising her voice again, "I'm ready for any task you've got for me!"
Quietly she listened to SliceMan continue blathering, until he dropped a comment about her height. She tilted her head slightly, her face turning into a grimace while slowly turning the knives she had caught from SliceMan's 'attack' into SliceMan's direction. With a few steps she got closer to him. Her hands followed her steps, the blades of the knives still aimed at SliceMan. "And I thought I was meeting a professional chef," she commented before turning the knives back again with their handles aimed at SliceMan so he could retrieve them. "If you're truly sorry about your stumbling, you should improve yourself," Veda said with a low grumble as she looked up at SliceMan's eyes, "But... If you're this prone to lash out, maybe others should be more jittery around you."
"Just Veda is enough," she continued, "And you need someone to fly, not someone to be tall." She shot a sharp glare at SliceMan with her remark, before cooling down again. The tension from her face never faded away, but it was at least relaxed. Her crossed arms stance was also maintained throughout their meeting. After confirming SliceMan had retrieved the knives, or taken the knives away at least, she made the many hands return to her body until they were all in place again. "So what do you need, chef?" she asked before raising her voice again, "I'm ready for any task you've got for me!"
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"V-Veda! Right, um, sorry. I'm a lot better with viruses, honestly, but my operator doesn't trust me in the field anymore. I need to be in the kitchen to cook, n-not out in the field gathering ingredients, he says," said SliceMan, hurriedly picking up the knives that he had shot out, though some of them had simply vanished.
"Alright! I've got all of them now. And, um, I think the second one I called over should be here soon, hopefully..." said SliceMan, fumbling about with the knives in his arms. While he appeared to be struggling to keep the knives from scattering away from the pile in his hands, he didn't seem to cut himself on any of them. It might have been Veda's imagination, but she could also feel a chill up her back, as if she was being watched. That was impossible, of course, since SliceMan's attention was currently fumbling with his knives, but there was nobody else in the kitchen area.
That is, until the doors were suddenly kicked open, accompanied shortly by the sound of SliceMan's knives clattering all over the floor. One of them slid across the floor right towards the open doors, threatening to stab right into the newcomer's toes. The expected outcome didn't come to pass, however, as the knife was pinned underneath a loudly stamped leather boot. Looking further up, an thickset woman's figure filled out a bright red leather jacket and black pantaloons, with a crazily grinning face peering from under a ridiculously large pirate's hat. Short cut white hair flowed from under the brim of the hat, its edges looking almost singed by fire. Adorning the front of the hat was a skull ornament with a fuse atop it, and a comical-looking mustache under the skull's nose. Her arms seemed to be entirely detached from her torso, and her shoulders and wrists were covered by detached black bombs, their unlit fuses wrapping around her white-sleeved arms. Large white-gloved hands twirled about red sticks of dynamite between her fingers as she sauntered into the kitchen, crushing the knife behind her as she did so.
"O-Oh! Thank goodness, you're here," stammered SliceMan, undecided between picking up his scattered knives and standing up to meet the newcomer. Eventually he picked the latter, leaving the knives for later.
"Are you ever not going to greet me with one of your knives? You've got to get that latent bloodlust calmed down someday. I know I'm meaty, but that doesn't mean you get to turn me into your daily special," she laughed, her mirthful expression not quite fitting someone who almost had their toes forcefully trimmed.
"I-I can't help it! I get startled really easily..." said SliceMan, putting his hands together and clasping them tightly as if to restrain herself.
The woman waved him off with her unchanging grin, and opened one of her eyes to train it on Veda instead. The chill from before came once again, as Veda could see the eye trace her figure quickly before making eye contact with her. "Right, so this one is? Those GrandWorms don't hunt themselves, let's keep those introductions short. Don't want you turning this one into one of your recipes."
"Y-Yes, of course. This is Veda, t-the one I requested to help you on your hunt."
The eye in front of Veda seemed to almost burn into her retina with its gaze. "Hmmm... Kind of a squirt. At least you'll make for a smaller target! Wahaha!" the Navi laughed merrily. Sticking out her gloved hand for a handshake, she continued. "Nice to meet you, Veda, the name's Skyfarer. You'll be riding with me and my crew to hunt a GrandWorm for mister butterfingers over here. It's gonna be a blast, so let's get along, alright?"
"Alright! I've got all of them now. And, um, I think the second one I called over should be here soon, hopefully..." said SliceMan, fumbling about with the knives in his arms. While he appeared to be struggling to keep the knives from scattering away from the pile in his hands, he didn't seem to cut himself on any of them. It might have been Veda's imagination, but she could also feel a chill up her back, as if she was being watched. That was impossible, of course, since SliceMan's attention was currently fumbling with his knives, but there was nobody else in the kitchen area.
That is, until the doors were suddenly kicked open, accompanied shortly by the sound of SliceMan's knives clattering all over the floor. One of them slid across the floor right towards the open doors, threatening to stab right into the newcomer's toes. The expected outcome didn't come to pass, however, as the knife was pinned underneath a loudly stamped leather boot. Looking further up, an thickset woman's figure filled out a bright red leather jacket and black pantaloons, with a crazily grinning face peering from under a ridiculously large pirate's hat. Short cut white hair flowed from under the brim of the hat, its edges looking almost singed by fire. Adorning the front of the hat was a skull ornament with a fuse atop it, and a comical-looking mustache under the skull's nose. Her arms seemed to be entirely detached from her torso, and her shoulders and wrists were covered by detached black bombs, their unlit fuses wrapping around her white-sleeved arms. Large white-gloved hands twirled about red sticks of dynamite between her fingers as she sauntered into the kitchen, crushing the knife behind her as she did so.
"O-Oh! Thank goodness, you're here," stammered SliceMan, undecided between picking up his scattered knives and standing up to meet the newcomer. Eventually he picked the latter, leaving the knives for later.
"Are you ever not going to greet me with one of your knives? You've got to get that latent bloodlust calmed down someday. I know I'm meaty, but that doesn't mean you get to turn me into your daily special," she laughed, her mirthful expression not quite fitting someone who almost had their toes forcefully trimmed.
"I-I can't help it! I get startled really easily..." said SliceMan, putting his hands together and clasping them tightly as if to restrain herself.
The woman waved him off with her unchanging grin, and opened one of her eyes to train it on Veda instead. The chill from before came once again, as Veda could see the eye trace her figure quickly before making eye contact with her. "Right, so this one is? Those GrandWorms don't hunt themselves, let's keep those introductions short. Don't want you turning this one into one of your recipes."
"Y-Yes, of course. This is Veda, t-the one I requested to help you on your hunt."
The eye in front of Veda seemed to almost burn into her retina with its gaze. "Hmmm... Kind of a squirt. At least you'll make for a smaller target! Wahaha!" the Navi laughed merrily. Sticking out her gloved hand for a handshake, she continued. "Nice to meet you, Veda, the name's Skyfarer. You'll be riding with me and my crew to hunt a GrandWorm for mister butterfingers over here. It's gonna be a blast, so let's get along, alright?"
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Veda just kept looking down at SliceMan as he was picking up his many knives with a pinch of frustration in her eyes. She didn't react visibly when SliceMan mentioned a 'second one', but that shifted quickly. While she did not feel fear from the change in atmosphere, it was clear something was off. "Something's different, Veda thought, looking around without turning her head to not act suspicious to any on-looker. It was then when Veda finally lowered her arms, not keeping them crossed anymore so she could punch whatever could lunge out at her. After all, she was still not told what she was asked to hunt. Maybe it was something deeper in the kitchen and he needed a flying someone to pull it into the air in order to not make the kitchen a battlefield.
Her thoughts were, however, negated once a boisterous Navi entered the same place. Veda was certain this Navi's presence was causing this pressure, but in the back of her head she maintained the possibility that this Navi's arrival was just a disguise for whatever was truly behind the pressure. Based on the conversation Veda could ascertain that these two had a history together and that even in this situation SliceMan was just a bumbling idiot. "I hope for his customers he's got people working for him," Veda thought for a moment, also wondering where the rest of the restaurant's staff was. If there were any, maybe SliceMan had already accidentally murdered them all.
Once Skyfarer's attention turned to Veda, she could feel the pressure she had felt before from her gaze. "It's definitely her," Veda thought but instead of flinching from the intense gaze, she met Skyfarer's gaze with her own. If either Navi was programmed for eye-based combat, surely there would've been sparks flying from the battle of eyes. The pressure Veda was experiencing slowly faded, but not due to Skyfarer going easy on her. Veda was growing accustomed to it and enforced her spirit to combat hers. In her mind there was no way she would lose to this pirating harlot. The fact they were talking of a 'GrandWorm' as their prey had gone completely over Veda's head, when all she could think of was not losing to Skyfarer.
Eventually a hand was extended to Veda, as Skyfarer introduced herself formally to her. But that wasn't important. She was mocking Veda. This was the second time Veda had been called 'short' again in this whole situation. It's not like she was completely unaware of her low stature, but it still bothered her. So she did the only thing she could do to combat this comments. Make her spirit look bigger than everyone else's. Without breaking the staring contest between herself and Skyfarer, Veda simply crossed her arms again and shook Skyfarer's hand with one of her Matrika hands. "Pleased to meet you, Skyfarer," she said. But before acknowledging they would cooperate on this, she had to make one message clear. "I will not lose you," Veda said, edging closer to Skyfarer, "But I look forward to our cooperation." She then turned her attention towards SliceMan to get some additional information for the mission. She, however, kept her eyes on Skyfarer's because she didn't want to lose this 'battle'. "How do you want us to deliver the prey to you, SliceMan?" she asked the chef, "And if you want it sliced before delivery, got any big knives we can use for that? And why did you request someone with a flying capability if the target is a 'GrandWorm'?"
Her thoughts were, however, negated once a boisterous Navi entered the same place. Veda was certain this Navi's presence was causing this pressure, but in the back of her head she maintained the possibility that this Navi's arrival was just a disguise for whatever was truly behind the pressure. Based on the conversation Veda could ascertain that these two had a history together and that even in this situation SliceMan was just a bumbling idiot. "I hope for his customers he's got people working for him," Veda thought for a moment, also wondering where the rest of the restaurant's staff was. If there were any, maybe SliceMan had already accidentally murdered them all.
Once Skyfarer's attention turned to Veda, she could feel the pressure she had felt before from her gaze. "It's definitely her," Veda thought but instead of flinching from the intense gaze, she met Skyfarer's gaze with her own. If either Navi was programmed for eye-based combat, surely there would've been sparks flying from the battle of eyes. The pressure Veda was experiencing slowly faded, but not due to Skyfarer going easy on her. Veda was growing accustomed to it and enforced her spirit to combat hers. In her mind there was no way she would lose to this pirating harlot. The fact they were talking of a 'GrandWorm' as their prey had gone completely over Veda's head, when all she could think of was not losing to Skyfarer.
Eventually a hand was extended to Veda, as Skyfarer introduced herself formally to her. But that wasn't important. She was mocking Veda. This was the second time Veda had been called 'short' again in this whole situation. It's not like she was completely unaware of her low stature, but it still bothered her. So she did the only thing she could do to combat this comments. Make her spirit look bigger than everyone else's. Without breaking the staring contest between herself and Skyfarer, Veda simply crossed her arms again and shook Skyfarer's hand with one of her Matrika hands. "Pleased to meet you, Skyfarer," she said. But before acknowledging they would cooperate on this, she had to make one message clear. "I will not lose you," Veda said, edging closer to Skyfarer, "But I look forward to our cooperation." She then turned her attention towards SliceMan to get some additional information for the mission. She, however, kept her eyes on Skyfarer's because she didn't want to lose this 'battle'. "How do you want us to deliver the prey to you, SliceMan?" she asked the chef, "And if you want it sliced before delivery, got any big knives we can use for that? And why did you request someone with a flying capability if the target is a 'GrandWorm'?"
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"Oh, you've got some fight in you. Haha, that's good, that'll be just fine! I won't lose, either!" bellowed Skyfarer, as she vigorously grasped the hand offered to her, with her grin flashing a pair of canines and showing even more ferocity than before. Somehow, even as Veda's determination kept her from backing down, the overwhelming presence rooted her briefly on the spot, not through intimidation, but from some other influence. Perhaps it was a special trait of Skyfarer's. Still, she did let go of Veda's hand as quickly as it was taken, as the brush-wielder Navi turned to their employer for more information.
"A-Ah, I-I'll be coming along to help with cutting it up myself, since you need to know where to cut through its tough meat, where its sinews are the weakest. B-But my operator told me to stay out of harm's way and avoid direct combat as much as possible... I-I'm sorry," said SliceMan. "A-Anyway, the GrandWorm is an evolved species of virus that roams around the Swirl of Death..." he began explaining.
However, he was quickly cut off by Skyfarer. "That's just a fancy name for a huge oasis in a valley out in the middle of the Netfrica Net wastelands. But you can't approach the valley on foot, since it's surrounded by huge overhanging cliffs all around. Apparently it was used for some base of operations in the past or whatever, but now it's abandoned and covered up with sand. They screwed up, though, and now it's just a massive basin of quicksand. The Sandworm viruses love it there, though, and eventually some get cheeky enough to grow into titans the size of buildings," she rattled off.
Then, balling up a fist into her palm, making a surprisingly loud sound, she excitedly announced-- "And we're gonna hunt one!" As she did so, a look off to the side would see SliceMan dejectedly glancing towards the ground--perhaps he wanted to do some of the explanation himself. Skyfarer herself didn't seem to notice, as she continued.
"Anyway, my ship's all set up outside, so let's move out!" said Skyfarer, striding confidently back through where she and Veda came from. As the doors opened, Veda could hear a loud boom reverberate through the kitchen, as if some huge jet engine had started up somewhere nearby.
--
Once Veda would follow her new partner outside, she would find that the source of the deafening sound to be an enormous wooden galley, its three black sails displaying the comical skull that had been on Skyfarer's hat. Contrary to an ordinary galley, however, the long vessel floated in the air, and the long rows that would normally be propelling it were replaced by rows upon rows of miniature jet thrusters, all lined up and pointing downwards as they allowed it to hover. Far above, along its port side, one could see a row of Navis, all in the typical NormalNavi design. However, their generic green and yellow color scheme had been replaced with a drab brown and black set instead.
Beside the huge ship, a pair of small single-person board boats hovered above the ground, with Skyfarer riding one of them. As she clutched onto its mast with one hand, she waved over to Veda. "See you on deck!" she yelled out, before kicking onto the boat's floor. The rear end of the boat made a hissing sound, before its wooden exterior shifted about to form a barreled end. Its transformation complete, the barrel whined dimly before it erupted with blue fire, propelling the boat into the skies, before being steered onto the main deck of the ship.
SliceMan exited the doors himself soon after, and his body shivered at the sight. "Oh... I always hate getting on this ship," he muttered to himself, eyeing the board boat that had clearly been left for him.
"A-Ah, I-I'll be coming along to help with cutting it up myself, since you need to know where to cut through its tough meat, where its sinews are the weakest. B-But my operator told me to stay out of harm's way and avoid direct combat as much as possible... I-I'm sorry," said SliceMan. "A-Anyway, the GrandWorm is an evolved species of virus that roams around the Swirl of Death..." he began explaining.
However, he was quickly cut off by Skyfarer. "That's just a fancy name for a huge oasis in a valley out in the middle of the Netfrica Net wastelands. But you can't approach the valley on foot, since it's surrounded by huge overhanging cliffs all around. Apparently it was used for some base of operations in the past or whatever, but now it's abandoned and covered up with sand. They screwed up, though, and now it's just a massive basin of quicksand. The Sandworm viruses love it there, though, and eventually some get cheeky enough to grow into titans the size of buildings," she rattled off.
Then, balling up a fist into her palm, making a surprisingly loud sound, she excitedly announced-- "And we're gonna hunt one!" As she did so, a look off to the side would see SliceMan dejectedly glancing towards the ground--perhaps he wanted to do some of the explanation himself. Skyfarer herself didn't seem to notice, as she continued.
"Anyway, my ship's all set up outside, so let's move out!" said Skyfarer, striding confidently back through where she and Veda came from. As the doors opened, Veda could hear a loud boom reverberate through the kitchen, as if some huge jet engine had started up somewhere nearby.
--
Once Veda would follow her new partner outside, she would find that the source of the deafening sound to be an enormous wooden galley, its three black sails displaying the comical skull that had been on Skyfarer's hat. Contrary to an ordinary galley, however, the long vessel floated in the air, and the long rows that would normally be propelling it were replaced by rows upon rows of miniature jet thrusters, all lined up and pointing downwards as they allowed it to hover. Far above, along its port side, one could see a row of Navis, all in the typical NormalNavi design. However, their generic green and yellow color scheme had been replaced with a drab brown and black set instead.
Beside the huge ship, a pair of small single-person board boats hovered above the ground, with Skyfarer riding one of them. As she clutched onto its mast with one hand, she waved over to Veda. "See you on deck!" she yelled out, before kicking onto the boat's floor. The rear end of the boat made a hissing sound, before its wooden exterior shifted about to form a barreled end. Its transformation complete, the barrel whined dimly before it erupted with blue fire, propelling the boat into the skies, before being steered onto the main deck of the ship.
SliceMan exited the doors himself soon after, and his body shivered at the sight. "Oh... I always hate getting on this ship," he muttered to himself, eyeing the board boat that had clearly been left for him.
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Once Skyfarer had released Veda's floating hand it swiftly latched onto her body again. She listened quietly to the explanation from SliceMan, followed by Skyfarer's continuation. "I guess they need a flying ally because they can't set foot there..." Veda thought to herself, analyzing the conversation, "But it does seem we've got some sort of vehicle to get there." The staring contest, maybe only one-sided, finally ended once Skyfarer left for the ship she mentioned. And as Veda turned to follow her companions, she finally got a message from Regina again.
"So we're hunting a slimy worm?" Regina commented. The sound of battlechips being scattered across a wooden table was heard from Regina's side. "I guess we've got enough tools to deal with that. How's your flying script?" she continued, hinting at Veda's earlier mistake with misunderstanding her flight's speed.
"I'll be fine, Regina!" Veda replied to her Operator. She didn't want to be reminded of it, but being her Operator Regina simply had to know the details. But just to be sure of her claim, Veda initiated a background task in her system to check the script for the OmniShoes she had been gifted.
"We'll know more when we get to area," Regina said, audibly eating whatever food she had gotten from her kitchen, "For now you can just follow... Sky, was it?"
Veda nodded, but she wasn't going to be following anyone. She was simply guided to the ship by Skyfarer which involved Veda walking closely after her and Skyfarer getting to the ship on a tiny boat before her. Veda didn't follow anyone. But before Veda took aim at the sky to get on the ship herself, she spotted SliceMan at his own boat. "He's going to fall off, isn't he..." she whispered to herself and walked over to him. She cleared her throat once she reached SliceMan, so he'd notice her presence. Raising her head to look at his face, she started to speak to him. "Good luck. See you on the boat!" she said before smiling, because with him on the team there was no way she could lose and end up last. After those words, Veda arced her legs before launching herself into the air and flew towards the ship Skyfarer had left for.
"Looks like you're doing well," Regina commented as she looked at Veda flying through the air. Having calibrated the script for her flight programs, Veda could more freely determine her speed, her trajectory and in turn it made her aerial trip a lot more comfortable. Thumbing through their chips, Regina wondered if she had any chips to make Veda's flying skills more interesting. "Let's get ourselves a worm," she told her Navi.
On Veda's side, her newfound skills in flying may have looked natural for an outsider but she still had to focus to do it properly. It didn't take long for her to reach the ship, but while taking off and actually flying were adjusted well in her systems, the same could not be said of her skill in landing. While confident that she could land with her feet on the deck, she was not confident that she could do so without decreasing her speed enough to comfortably land. She smashed onto the deck with her feet without letting her legs buckle under the pressure, a landing that could've been likened to the impact of a small meteor. "I'm here!" Veda exclaimed to Skyfarer, wherever the Navi could be.
"So we're hunting a slimy worm?" Regina commented. The sound of battlechips being scattered across a wooden table was heard from Regina's side. "I guess we've got enough tools to deal with that. How's your flying script?" she continued, hinting at Veda's earlier mistake with misunderstanding her flight's speed.
"I'll be fine, Regina!" Veda replied to her Operator. She didn't want to be reminded of it, but being her Operator Regina simply had to know the details. But just to be sure of her claim, Veda initiated a background task in her system to check the script for the OmniShoes she had been gifted.
"We'll know more when we get to area," Regina said, audibly eating whatever food she had gotten from her kitchen, "For now you can just follow... Sky, was it?"
Veda nodded, but she wasn't going to be following anyone. She was simply guided to the ship by Skyfarer which involved Veda walking closely after her and Skyfarer getting to the ship on a tiny boat before her. Veda didn't follow anyone. But before Veda took aim at the sky to get on the ship herself, she spotted SliceMan at his own boat. "He's going to fall off, isn't he..." she whispered to herself and walked over to him. She cleared her throat once she reached SliceMan, so he'd notice her presence. Raising her head to look at his face, she started to speak to him. "Good luck. See you on the boat!" she said before smiling, because with him on the team there was no way she could lose and end up last. After those words, Veda arced her legs before launching herself into the air and flew towards the ship Skyfarer had left for.
"Looks like you're doing well," Regina commented as she looked at Veda flying through the air. Having calibrated the script for her flight programs, Veda could more freely determine her speed, her trajectory and in turn it made her aerial trip a lot more comfortable. Thumbing through their chips, Regina wondered if she had any chips to make Veda's flying skills more interesting. "Let's get ourselves a worm," she told her Navi.
On Veda's side, her newfound skills in flying may have looked natural for an outsider but she still had to focus to do it properly. It didn't take long for her to reach the ship, but while taking off and actually flying were adjusted well in her systems, the same could not be said of her skill in landing. While confident that she could land with her feet on the deck, she was not confident that she could do so without decreasing her speed enough to comfortably land. She smashed onto the deck with her feet without letting her legs buckle under the pressure, a landing that could've been likened to the impact of a small meteor. "I'm here!" Veda exclaimed to Skyfarer, wherever the Navi could be.
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SliceMan's answer to Veda's encouragement was a meek nod as he clutched onto the mast of the flier boat. "O-Oh. Y-You too," he stuttered. If he had anything like a mouth, it would probably be an appropriate time for an awkward smile. She then proceeded to leave the cook Navi behind, blasting her way up to the enormous flying ship in the air. She would see the black-and-brown colored Navis lined up along the side of the ship saluting her as she flew over their heads, before landing thunderously on the deck. Of course, the impact of her landing did little to faze the ship's stability, which was much larger in comparison.
"Haha! That's a good landing. Energetic, I like it!" Skyfarer said, laughing as she stood akimbo in front of Veda. "Well, let's get you acquainted with my girl Hildegard, eh? Come on, I'll show you around before we kick off."
Strolling at a leisurely pace towards the prow of the shop, she began to explain. "I'll spare you the boring details and get right down to what we'll be using for the hunt. Over to the side, we've got an array of six cannons, three on either side. You'll be hearing 'em a lot from here on out, since they'll be our main force. We've also got the main cannon mounted to the front. It's sleeping in the hull right now, but once we can get a good clear shot, we'll get it out for a clean finish. Heheh!" laughed Skyfarer. She then cleared her throat slightly before continuing. "Though, they do get jammed up sometimes when we're doing some particularly nasty turns around the sand. Those rowdy worms kick up a fair bit of sand and they just clog up everything. If that happens, we'd appreciate it if you just flew up to one of 'em and gave it a good whack," she said, punctuating the last bit of her explanation with an audible punch into her own palm. "That usually dislodges a fair bit enough for us to get it unstuffed. Usually we'd do it on our little fliers, but of course that's a bit dangerous, so you being here would really help us out."
She then turned away from the side of the ship, walking back towards the center of the deck. "Course, we're not here just to have you clean out some tubes. Actually fighting the worm is important too--that's what we're here for, after all," she said, making her way back to where Veda had landed earlier to find SliceMan, who was standing next to one of the masts, shaking as he held on to the hard wooden post. "I-I made it..." whimpered SliceMan, before receiving a solid thump on his back from Skyfarer.
"Hey, man up a little, why don'tcha! The way you're standing, that knife body of yours might as well be made of cardboard!" she yelled, only receiving a quiet cowering from the chef Navi. Even so, Skyfarer didn't seem all too troubled, grinning as she roughly grabbed one of the thick ropes holding up one of the enormous sails, and presented it to Veda. "Anyway, on to the actual thing. You can imagine the worm looking a bit like this rope. Each of them is made up of a ton of connected armored segments, joined together by little fleshy bits. Those fleshy bits are the good stuff--if we can wedge a little something sharp in between them--" she said, flashing a knowing grin towards SliceMan (who responded with a shiver), before turning back to Veda, "--it should expose a nice weak point for us to fire on. Each good shot from our side cannons on an exposed bit will slow it down by just a mite."
She then twirled the rope around, presenting the frayed end of it up to her own face briefly. She flicked the end with her thumb, and continued talking. "Though, the best place to hit a Grand Worm is right in its mouth. One shot of the main cannon down its gullet and it's lights out, bye-bye for our little slinker. 'Course, it's usually much too fast for us to aim in there without having the ship be devoured too. However! If we get enough of those shots on its joints earlier down, it'll be too slow to move, which is when we'll move in for the last shot. Easier said than done, of course, but that's the fun of it!"
Skyfarer then let go of the rope, and crossed her arms with a beaming smile on her face. "That should be all of it. If you don't have any more questions, we'll be casting off right now, as soon as I give my boys the signal," she said.
"Haha! That's a good landing. Energetic, I like it!" Skyfarer said, laughing as she stood akimbo in front of Veda. "Well, let's get you acquainted with my girl Hildegard, eh? Come on, I'll show you around before we kick off."
Strolling at a leisurely pace towards the prow of the shop, she began to explain. "I'll spare you the boring details and get right down to what we'll be using for the hunt. Over to the side, we've got an array of six cannons, three on either side. You'll be hearing 'em a lot from here on out, since they'll be our main force. We've also got the main cannon mounted to the front. It's sleeping in the hull right now, but once we can get a good clear shot, we'll get it out for a clean finish. Heheh!" laughed Skyfarer. She then cleared her throat slightly before continuing. "Though, they do get jammed up sometimes when we're doing some particularly nasty turns around the sand. Those rowdy worms kick up a fair bit of sand and they just clog up everything. If that happens, we'd appreciate it if you just flew up to one of 'em and gave it a good whack," she said, punctuating the last bit of her explanation with an audible punch into her own palm. "That usually dislodges a fair bit enough for us to get it unstuffed. Usually we'd do it on our little fliers, but of course that's a bit dangerous, so you being here would really help us out."
She then turned away from the side of the ship, walking back towards the center of the deck. "Course, we're not here just to have you clean out some tubes. Actually fighting the worm is important too--that's what we're here for, after all," she said, making her way back to where Veda had landed earlier to find SliceMan, who was standing next to one of the masts, shaking as he held on to the hard wooden post. "I-I made it..." whimpered SliceMan, before receiving a solid thump on his back from Skyfarer.
"Hey, man up a little, why don'tcha! The way you're standing, that knife body of yours might as well be made of cardboard!" she yelled, only receiving a quiet cowering from the chef Navi. Even so, Skyfarer didn't seem all too troubled, grinning as she roughly grabbed one of the thick ropes holding up one of the enormous sails, and presented it to Veda. "Anyway, on to the actual thing. You can imagine the worm looking a bit like this rope. Each of them is made up of a ton of connected armored segments, joined together by little fleshy bits. Those fleshy bits are the good stuff--if we can wedge a little something sharp in between them--" she said, flashing a knowing grin towards SliceMan (who responded with a shiver), before turning back to Veda, "--it should expose a nice weak point for us to fire on. Each good shot from our side cannons on an exposed bit will slow it down by just a mite."
She then twirled the rope around, presenting the frayed end of it up to her own face briefly. She flicked the end with her thumb, and continued talking. "Though, the best place to hit a Grand Worm is right in its mouth. One shot of the main cannon down its gullet and it's lights out, bye-bye for our little slinker. 'Course, it's usually much too fast for us to aim in there without having the ship be devoured too. However! If we get enough of those shots on its joints earlier down, it'll be too slow to move, which is when we'll move in for the last shot. Easier said than done, of course, but that's the fun of it!"
Skyfarer then let go of the rope, and crossed her arms with a beaming smile on her face. "That should be all of it. If you don't have any more questions, we'll be casting off right now, as soon as I give my boys the signal," she said.
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Veda brushed off her shoulders and chest as if debris had risen and fallen there from her impact on the ship. The reality was just that she was acting tough, the ship really was sturdier than she expected. She looked up once Skyfarer appeared before her and quickly followed by her side, not behind her, to check out the ship. No thought crossed Veda's mind to thank the tall Navi for praising Veda's landing. Of course it was a good (?) landing. Silently she walked by Skyfarer's side while making mental notes on the ship's layout. Especially on the one task she'd would have to help along with, the engines. "Can't I just keep my hands by the engines to keep the dust from getting there in the first place," Veda wondered. She hadn't really practiced or tried to be active on combat while keeping her Matrika hands in a stationary or active location away from her body. Not wanting to ridicule herself or embarrass herself, however, she decided this was not the time or place to test her program's limits.
"Considering your explosive speed in the air," Regina started as she spoke to her little Navi, "You'd make for a good cannonball at the worm." More sounds indicating Regina had not finished her food at all were heard from the audio channel, followed by another tip for the little Navi, "But sounds like we're going to go for blunt first, then sharp."
Veda, on the other hand, was just looking at Skyfarer's rope and listened to the explanation while putting the information together with whatever Regina was talking about.
"We do have these nice BusterSword chips", Regina continued. She arranged the battlechips in two piles, one for the initial phase of the fight and one for the 'wedging something sharp into the worm' part. "I do think SliceMan has us covered for that role, but it's not bad to be prepared," Regina said, smacking loudly on her food, "If you have any questions for her, you'd better ask now. I'm getting something to drink!"
"No alcohol!" Veda bellowed at her Operator, after turning away from her allies. After clearing her throat and turning back, she started to speak to her allies. "I know enough!" Veda exclaimed at her allies, raising her hand in a thumbs up, "But as we move to the worm's battlefield, tell me more about this big weapon of yours!" Veda simply nudged her head in the direction of the ship's front. "How long does it take to prepare and fire your leading star?" she asked, "What if it's in front of the ship, distracted by me? Could you take the shot!?"
Turning on her heels, Veda now stood face-to-face to SliceMan and stared at him. Face-to-face if you ignored their height. "And you! Are you alright with this? We're not going to win this if you can't attack the worm when it's weak!" she said as she took a few steps to him, expecting him to cower before her as she was used to seeing from him, "You had better do your part of this mission too, SliceMan! If you're not, even if you're my boss for this excursion... I will load you into a cannon and fire you at the worm myself."
"What Veda means to say," Regina's voice chimed up, the audio coming from Veda's emblem on her topknot, "If you need help getting your sharp weaponry to the worm, Veda will assist you." A loud gulp of whatever drink Regina had taken was heard before the audio cut.
"Hmph!" Veda complained to herself while crossing her arms. She switched from looking at SliceMan back at Skyfarer, "Also say hi to your Operators for me and Regina. I know it's us doing the work, but they're also a part of the team!" A sage nod later, she pointed at the open air in whichever direction. "Worm hunting time!" she exclaimed, without any idea which direction they were actually going to head out in.
"Considering your explosive speed in the air," Regina started as she spoke to her little Navi, "You'd make for a good cannonball at the worm." More sounds indicating Regina had not finished her food at all were heard from the audio channel, followed by another tip for the little Navi, "But sounds like we're going to go for blunt first, then sharp."
Veda, on the other hand, was just looking at Skyfarer's rope and listened to the explanation while putting the information together with whatever Regina was talking about.
"We do have these nice BusterSword chips", Regina continued. She arranged the battlechips in two piles, one for the initial phase of the fight and one for the 'wedging something sharp into the worm' part. "I do think SliceMan has us covered for that role, but it's not bad to be prepared," Regina said, smacking loudly on her food, "If you have any questions for her, you'd better ask now. I'm getting something to drink!"
"No alcohol!" Veda bellowed at her Operator, after turning away from her allies. After clearing her throat and turning back, she started to speak to her allies. "I know enough!" Veda exclaimed at her allies, raising her hand in a thumbs up, "But as we move to the worm's battlefield, tell me more about this big weapon of yours!" Veda simply nudged her head in the direction of the ship's front. "How long does it take to prepare and fire your leading star?" she asked, "What if it's in front of the ship, distracted by me? Could you take the shot!?"
Turning on her heels, Veda now stood face-to-face to SliceMan and stared at him. Face-to-face if you ignored their height. "And you! Are you alright with this? We're not going to win this if you can't attack the worm when it's weak!" she said as she took a few steps to him, expecting him to cower before her as she was used to seeing from him, "You had better do your part of this mission too, SliceMan! If you're not, even if you're my boss for this excursion... I will load you into a cannon and fire you at the worm myself."
"What Veda means to say," Regina's voice chimed up, the audio coming from Veda's emblem on her topknot, "If you need help getting your sharp weaponry to the worm, Veda will assist you." A loud gulp of whatever drink Regina had taken was heard before the audio cut.
"Hmph!" Veda complained to herself while crossing her arms. She switched from looking at SliceMan back at Skyfarer, "Also say hi to your Operators for me and Regina. I know it's us doing the work, but they're also a part of the team!" A sage nod later, she pointed at the open air in whichever direction. "Worm hunting time!" she exclaimed, without any idea which direction they were actually going to head out in.
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As Veda hurled out some threats towards her (supposed) employer, SliceMan could be seen cowering at her words, looking as if he was almost about to cry. He was cut short by Skyfarer's boisterous laughter. "Hahahah! Keelhauling the paycheck doesn't seem like the greatest idea if you ask me, kid! We should just hang him over the edge to use as bait or something," she said, grinning mischievously at SliceMan's reaction. Shortly after, however, she turned back to Veda to answer her question. "Yeah, it takes about five seconds or so from my signal to actually firing the cannon at the fastest. As quickly as we start firing, the cannon has a short delay to start charging up before it fires. If you manage to hold your piss long enough in front of it, we can get a good shot in," she said, flashing a wide grin and a thumbs up.
"Captain! All clear on the checks!" someone yelled from across the deck.
Skyfarer jerked her head upwards towards the source of the voice, and yelled back equally as loudly, "Alright! Cast off!"
She then turned back towards Veda, and crossed her arms with a strangely smug-looking smile. When the flying Navi mentioned the operators, Skyfarer raised an eyebrow, before a loud rumbling sound reverberated around the entire ship. The ship's deck began to shake slightly with the noise as it rose into the sky, drowning out any other sounds. A brief whine could be heard from the sides of the ship as the arrays of thrusters came to life, slowly increasing the acceleration until they were cruising through the skies, and clouds were racing past them. Oddly enough, even though they could see that they were moving at very high speeds, the deck itself seemed relatively stable. As the ship soared through the skies, Skyfarer looked out wistfully towards the empty skies with a wry smile. "Operator, huh... I remember him," she said to herself.
Suddenly, a loud, gruff voice yelled out from behind her. "Oi, don't just kill me off!" the voice said, right as a video feed opened next to Skyfarer, depicting a grizzled-looking man, who looked to be about in his thirties. Baring his teeth at the pirate-themed Navi, who started whistling innocently, the man exhaled briefly, as Skyfarer let out a small chuckle. She stuck her tongue out playfully at the video feed screen, as the man seemed to ignore her and continued on his own. "Skyfarer's operator. Just call me Bob. Thanks for helping out," he said with a small smile.
"Can't you put at least a bit more flair into it or something? You're bringing down my image here, seriously," said Skyfarer, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, as long as the pay's good, I don't even have to put on pants. I'll leave it to you guys," grinned Bob, as the video feed cut out, right before Skyfarer could think to retort.
It was then her turn to exhale, before she turned towards SliceMan. "Hey, what about yours, Slice? Too busy to respond?" she yelled out.
"H-He's working now, yes... I'm sorry," said SliceMan, who seemed to be cowering at the mere volume of Skyfarer's voice. His small voice cracked slightly as he looked out towards the bow of the ship, where its pointed tip cut through the sparse few clouds in the sky, which were getting less frequent as they headed deeper into the arid deserts of the Netfrica network. A few seconds passed before there were no longer any clouds to be seen, and SliceMan turned towards Skyfarer once again. "A-Are we preparing the bait now? W-We should be getting close to the Swirl soon..."
Skyfarer raised an eyebrow, and clapped. "Oh, you're right," she said. However, she paused for a moment, before looking towards Veda, and a little knowing smile crossed her face, before turning back towards the back of the ship, where some of the crew were on standby. "Hey! Bring out the bait! Both of the stock!" she yelled. Some groans could be heard, and Veda could hear something of a complaint about why they had to bring both. "I don't hear any footsteps!" barked out Skyfarer, before a few of the Navis disappeared in a veritable stampede down into the hull through a set of stairs.
Soon after, a pair of heavy-looking steel cages were hefted onto the deck by a large team of crew NormalNavis, balanced atop their shoulders before being lowered down. If she cared to look in SliceMan's direction, whom the crew were bringing the bait to, Veda would have noticed during the time between Skyfarer having given the order and the cages arriving, that the white-clad Navi had gone unusually quiet. Unlike his previous appearance, SliceMan was now standing ramrod straight, seriously looking in the direction of the cages.
Within the cages themselves were two different kinds of viruses. One had a mess of slithering, slimy SnakeArms, the smaller, commonplace version of the supposed Grand Worm that they were about to hunt. The other one had only a single virus: a large green snake head, with two little spiked segments behind it--an Anaconda-W, which looked much more docile as it quietly stared out from between the cage's bars. Skyfarer stomped up to the cages, and bent down slightly to inspect the two cages with a wide grin. "Record time! Good work," said Skyfarer, thumping on one of the crew Navi's shoulders. She then spun towards Veda, leaning against the Anaconda's cage and resting her face up on her arm against the bars. "So, these are usually the two types of bait we use to hunt. One's good and energetic, the other's fat and plump," she said, banging against the Anaconda's cage on the last sentence.
"Usually I decide which one we're going to use. If we use the big guy here, we'll get the worm nice and slow, since it takes a little while to choke down something this big. But it'll also be more cautious, since it's more vulnerable that way," said Skyfarer, before walking over to the SnakeArms' cage. "But! If we use these little critters, it'll be moving much faster, since they're quite... protective of their little brothers, you could say. It'll come at us hard and fast, and we'll have more chances to strike at its weak points since it's less careful. They're also a bit more icky to handle, but thanks to our boss here, that's not going to be a problem." Skyfarer's eyes lingered over to SliceMan, whose icy glare on the cages barely fazed her, before they looked over to Veda.
"But! Since we're going to be having a new face around to help out, I thought I'd let you decide how the hunt's going to go today. Take your pick, and we'll let SliceMan start the butchering in no time," she said, pushing off against the cage to stand straight up.
"Captain! All clear on the checks!" someone yelled from across the deck.
Skyfarer jerked her head upwards towards the source of the voice, and yelled back equally as loudly, "Alright! Cast off!"
She then turned back towards Veda, and crossed her arms with a strangely smug-looking smile. When the flying Navi mentioned the operators, Skyfarer raised an eyebrow, before a loud rumbling sound reverberated around the entire ship. The ship's deck began to shake slightly with the noise as it rose into the sky, drowning out any other sounds. A brief whine could be heard from the sides of the ship as the arrays of thrusters came to life, slowly increasing the acceleration until they were cruising through the skies, and clouds were racing past them. Oddly enough, even though they could see that they were moving at very high speeds, the deck itself seemed relatively stable. As the ship soared through the skies, Skyfarer looked out wistfully towards the empty skies with a wry smile. "Operator, huh... I remember him," she said to herself.
Suddenly, a loud, gruff voice yelled out from behind her. "Oi, don't just kill me off!" the voice said, right as a video feed opened next to Skyfarer, depicting a grizzled-looking man, who looked to be about in his thirties. Baring his teeth at the pirate-themed Navi, who started whistling innocently, the man exhaled briefly, as Skyfarer let out a small chuckle. She stuck her tongue out playfully at the video feed screen, as the man seemed to ignore her and continued on his own. "Skyfarer's operator. Just call me Bob. Thanks for helping out," he said with a small smile.
"Can't you put at least a bit more flair into it or something? You're bringing down my image here, seriously," said Skyfarer, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, as long as the pay's good, I don't even have to put on pants. I'll leave it to you guys," grinned Bob, as the video feed cut out, right before Skyfarer could think to retort.
It was then her turn to exhale, before she turned towards SliceMan. "Hey, what about yours, Slice? Too busy to respond?" she yelled out.
"H-He's working now, yes... I'm sorry," said SliceMan, who seemed to be cowering at the mere volume of Skyfarer's voice. His small voice cracked slightly as he looked out towards the bow of the ship, where its pointed tip cut through the sparse few clouds in the sky, which were getting less frequent as they headed deeper into the arid deserts of the Netfrica network. A few seconds passed before there were no longer any clouds to be seen, and SliceMan turned towards Skyfarer once again. "A-Are we preparing the bait now? W-We should be getting close to the Swirl soon..."
Skyfarer raised an eyebrow, and clapped. "Oh, you're right," she said. However, she paused for a moment, before looking towards Veda, and a little knowing smile crossed her face, before turning back towards the back of the ship, where some of the crew were on standby. "Hey! Bring out the bait! Both of the stock!" she yelled. Some groans could be heard, and Veda could hear something of a complaint about why they had to bring both. "I don't hear any footsteps!" barked out Skyfarer, before a few of the Navis disappeared in a veritable stampede down into the hull through a set of stairs.
Soon after, a pair of heavy-looking steel cages were hefted onto the deck by a large team of crew NormalNavis, balanced atop their shoulders before being lowered down. If she cared to look in SliceMan's direction, whom the crew were bringing the bait to, Veda would have noticed during the time between Skyfarer having given the order and the cages arriving, that the white-clad Navi had gone unusually quiet. Unlike his previous appearance, SliceMan was now standing ramrod straight, seriously looking in the direction of the cages.
Within the cages themselves were two different kinds of viruses. One had a mess of slithering, slimy SnakeArms, the smaller, commonplace version of the supposed Grand Worm that they were about to hunt. The other one had only a single virus: a large green snake head, with two little spiked segments behind it--an Anaconda-W, which looked much more docile as it quietly stared out from between the cage's bars. Skyfarer stomped up to the cages, and bent down slightly to inspect the two cages with a wide grin. "Record time! Good work," said Skyfarer, thumping on one of the crew Navi's shoulders. She then spun towards Veda, leaning against the Anaconda's cage and resting her face up on her arm against the bars. "So, these are usually the two types of bait we use to hunt. One's good and energetic, the other's fat and plump," she said, banging against the Anaconda's cage on the last sentence.
"Usually I decide which one we're going to use. If we use the big guy here, we'll get the worm nice and slow, since it takes a little while to choke down something this big. But it'll also be more cautious, since it's more vulnerable that way," said Skyfarer, before walking over to the SnakeArms' cage. "But! If we use these little critters, it'll be moving much faster, since they're quite... protective of their little brothers, you could say. It'll come at us hard and fast, and we'll have more chances to strike at its weak points since it's less careful. They're also a bit more icky to handle, but thanks to our boss here, that's not going to be a problem." Skyfarer's eyes lingered over to SliceMan, whose icy glare on the cages barely fazed her, before they looked over to Veda.
"But! Since we're going to be having a new face around to help out, I thought I'd let you decide how the hunt's going to go today. Take your pick, and we'll let SliceMan start the butchering in no time," she said, pushing off against the cage to stand straight up.
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Veda made a quick polite bow towards the image of Bob when it showed up, her arms straight against her sides. "And thank you for providing me with this opportunity to prove myself," she replied to him. On the other side, she was slightly disappointed to not meet SliceMan's Operator. While she would never hide her feeling of superiority towards other Navis, she did have respect for most Operators. Because in the end, no matter how advanced a Navi would look or act, the Operator was the one who created and nurtured the Navi. She, however, did not really feel this respect towards her own Operator, knowing fully that Regina simply used a Navi generator to just create a thematic design. Veda quietly sighed to herself with this in mind and turned to Skyfarer once the bait came out. She listened carefully to the explanation, also making a note of SliceMan's surprising switch in stance. It all became clear to her once Skyfarer mentioned the word 'butchering' though, thinking that SliceMan was getting into the mood for his professionalism.
"Should be an easy choice, right?" Regina chimed in, after bringing up a visual of the options Veda had been given. "The big one."
Veda considered both options in her mind, but eventually nodded to Regina's suggestion. "Correct!" she exclaimed. While Veda wouldn't have any trouble, in her own opinion, keeping up with the worm if it were fast, the same could probably not be said about any projectiles coming from the ship. If the worm was slowed down, no matter how cautious it'd be, they should have better odds at hitting it. If push would come to shove, Veda could take the role of distracting it so her allies could do their magic. "Skyfarer!" she continued to talk in a loud voice, "The big one!"
"So you want to go over strategy before we get there?" Regina asked.
Veda glanced upwards for a short moment, listening to Regina, before looking back at her allies. "If you could excuse me..." She turned away from Skyfarer and SliceMan so they could prepare the ship and bait and took a few paces away. "We'll discuss that during the fight. I want to try something," Veda said to Regina, glancing upwards again as if speaking up to a deity in the sky, "Now I know what I really am, I want to prepare properly for the battle." She eventually found herself up on the deck at a spot that was the least noisy. Finally there she reached behind her to take hold of the largest bead on the string coming from her topknot. She pulled it to her front and held both of her hands against each side in a form of prayer, while closing her eyes. "Om Bhur Bhuva Svah. Tat Savitur Varenyam," Veda started to whisper to herself in a chant, "Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi. Dhiyo Yo Naha Prachodayat." Veda released the bead between her hands, which quickly swiveled towards Veda's back again, and opened her eyes as she finished her chant. "Okay," she said as she glanced upwards at Regina, "Now I'm ready!"
"Should be an easy choice, right?" Regina chimed in, after bringing up a visual of the options Veda had been given. "The big one."
Veda considered both options in her mind, but eventually nodded to Regina's suggestion. "Correct!" she exclaimed. While Veda wouldn't have any trouble, in her own opinion, keeping up with the worm if it were fast, the same could probably not be said about any projectiles coming from the ship. If the worm was slowed down, no matter how cautious it'd be, they should have better odds at hitting it. If push would come to shove, Veda could take the role of distracting it so her allies could do their magic. "Skyfarer!" she continued to talk in a loud voice, "The big one!"
"So you want to go over strategy before we get there?" Regina asked.
Veda glanced upwards for a short moment, listening to Regina, before looking back at her allies. "If you could excuse me..." She turned away from Skyfarer and SliceMan so they could prepare the ship and bait and took a few paces away. "We'll discuss that during the fight. I want to try something," Veda said to Regina, glancing upwards again as if speaking up to a deity in the sky, "Now I know what I really am, I want to prepare properly for the battle." She eventually found herself up on the deck at a spot that was the least noisy. Finally there she reached behind her to take hold of the largest bead on the string coming from her topknot. She pulled it to her front and held both of her hands against each side in a form of prayer, while closing her eyes. "Om Bhur Bhuva Svah. Tat Savitur Varenyam," Veda started to whisper to herself in a chant, "Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi. Dhiyo Yo Naha Prachodayat." Veda released the bead between her hands, which quickly swiveled towards Veda's back again, and opened her eyes as she finished her chant. "Okay," she said as she glanced upwards at Regina, "Now I'm ready!"
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"All right! The big one it is! I usually like the smaller ones since I like the thrill, but the crewmen always really groan about it after we're done. Something about their nerves or something. Hahaha!" said Skyfarer, laughing boisterously as she crossed her arms. Behind her, one could see the crewmen that had brought the cages over heaving their shoulders in relief, before most of them left for the hull once more, leaving only two of them on the deck. Veda excusing herself earned a small raised eyebrow from Skyfarer, though she smiled afterwards. "Sure, prepare yourself as much as you can, though we are almost there, so don't wander too far off or anything," she said.
After she had successfully prepared herself with a few chants, she would be able to see three of the boats that Skyfarer and SliceMan had used earlier to get onto the ship being hauled onto the deck by the crew, this time with some additional modules fitted onto them. Each of them had a small blaster mounted onto it, and an array of little thrusters fitted to the sides as well. One of them also had an ominous-looking black orb mounted onto its rear end, with glowing red lines snaking all over it. Alongside the one-man boats, some boxes filled with ammunition were also on deck, each different sizes, with the most prominent one being two enormous missiles. A few more boxes of supplies made their way to the deck shortly after, this time as transparent boxes housing different-colored data orbs.
The ammo was being carried over towards the cannons towards the sides, while in the middle, where she had left Skyfarer with SliceMan, she could see some of the crewmen hauling the dissected remains of the Anaconda onto a lifter, where it was carried off to the opposite end of the ship. Walking towards her were Skyfarer and SliceMan, with the latter trailing slowly behind, rubbing the back of his tall head for some reason, as if in pain. Skyfarer raised a hand in greeting. "Yo, Veda! Done with everything? We're just about to drop off the bait and start things up," she said.
Behind Skyfarer, a distant bellow could be heard. "We're at the drop point!" Around her, Veda could feel the Hildegard slowly grind to a halt, some distance above the sands. Far below, turbulent sands formed a massive sinkhole that appeared to form a desert whirlpool that went down quite a far distance. On the opposite end of the ship, several crewmen hefted up remnants of the Anaconda, bundled up neatly with a thick chain hooked into it. The bait was quickly thrown overboard along with the chain. The ship shook a tiny bit just afterwards, while Skyfarer observed from afar with a satisfied smile on her face.
"That'll be it for now. Usually it comes out pretty quickly, so we'll have a small amount of time to saddle up," said Skyfarer. As she said so, five crewmen Navis approached the three, with the three boats in tow. "And there's my ride. You're welcome to take one too, if you want. Each of these is fitted with a few modifications to let them do more than just fly around. Oh, if you're feeling adventurous, that one fitted with a black orb can be set to self-destruct. That one's my favorite, but nobody usually lets me ride it, for obvious reasons." Skyfarer's mischievous grin grew wider, as she hopped onto one of the boats, which was already hovering above the deck.
"Oh, you can even fit the mods onto yourself, if you want, since you can fly on your own!" she said. Next to the boat, SliceMan's cowardly demeanor showed through once more, as he hesitantly looked between Skyfarer and the remaining two boats, his eyes lingering especially on the one fitted with the "self-destruct" modification.
-- Navi Stats --
Veda.EXE: 100 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
Skyfarer.EXE: 400 HP (Above right/middle side of Hildegard, riding Sky Surfer B)
SliceMan.EXE: 250 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
-- Surrounding Equipment --
Hildegard: 5000 HP (Forcefield Charge: 1/1) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (High Altitude, 1 movement directly above Corpse)
Side Cannon A: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon B: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon C: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/rear side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon D: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon E: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon F: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/rear side of Hildegard)
Main Cannon: 250 HP (Ammo 0/1) (Front of boat)
Sky Surfer A: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Overload Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer B: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer C: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Anaconda-W Corpse: 200 HP (Hanging from a chain)
-- Terrain --
100% Quicksand
After she had successfully prepared herself with a few chants, she would be able to see three of the boats that Skyfarer and SliceMan had used earlier to get onto the ship being hauled onto the deck by the crew, this time with some additional modules fitted onto them. Each of them had a small blaster mounted onto it, and an array of little thrusters fitted to the sides as well. One of them also had an ominous-looking black orb mounted onto its rear end, with glowing red lines snaking all over it. Alongside the one-man boats, some boxes filled with ammunition were also on deck, each different sizes, with the most prominent one being two enormous missiles. A few more boxes of supplies made their way to the deck shortly after, this time as transparent boxes housing different-colored data orbs.
The ammo was being carried over towards the cannons towards the sides, while in the middle, where she had left Skyfarer with SliceMan, she could see some of the crewmen hauling the dissected remains of the Anaconda onto a lifter, where it was carried off to the opposite end of the ship. Walking towards her were Skyfarer and SliceMan, with the latter trailing slowly behind, rubbing the back of his tall head for some reason, as if in pain. Skyfarer raised a hand in greeting. "Yo, Veda! Done with everything? We're just about to drop off the bait and start things up," she said.
Behind Skyfarer, a distant bellow could be heard. "We're at the drop point!" Around her, Veda could feel the Hildegard slowly grind to a halt, some distance above the sands. Far below, turbulent sands formed a massive sinkhole that appeared to form a desert whirlpool that went down quite a far distance. On the opposite end of the ship, several crewmen hefted up remnants of the Anaconda, bundled up neatly with a thick chain hooked into it. The bait was quickly thrown overboard along with the chain. The ship shook a tiny bit just afterwards, while Skyfarer observed from afar with a satisfied smile on her face.
"That'll be it for now. Usually it comes out pretty quickly, so we'll have a small amount of time to saddle up," said Skyfarer. As she said so, five crewmen Navis approached the three, with the three boats in tow. "And there's my ride. You're welcome to take one too, if you want. Each of these is fitted with a few modifications to let them do more than just fly around. Oh, if you're feeling adventurous, that one fitted with a black orb can be set to self-destruct. That one's my favorite, but nobody usually lets me ride it, for obvious reasons." Skyfarer's mischievous grin grew wider, as she hopped onto one of the boats, which was already hovering above the deck.
"Oh, you can even fit the mods onto yourself, if you want, since you can fly on your own!" she said. Next to the boat, SliceMan's cowardly demeanor showed through once more, as he hesitantly looked between Skyfarer and the remaining two boats, his eyes lingering especially on the one fitted with the "self-destruct" modification.
-- Navi Stats --
Veda.EXE: 100 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
Skyfarer.EXE: 400 HP (Above right/middle side of Hildegard, riding Sky Surfer B)
SliceMan.EXE: 250 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
-- Surrounding Equipment --
Hildegard: 5000 HP (Forcefield Charge: 1/1) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (High Altitude, 1 movement directly above Corpse)
Side Cannon A: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon B: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon C: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/rear side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon D: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon E: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon F: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/rear side of Hildegard)
Main Cannon: 250 HP (Ammo 0/1) (Front of boat)
Sky Surfer A: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Overload Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer B: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer C: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Anaconda-W Corpse: 200 HP (Hanging from a chain)
-- Terrain --
100% Quicksand
Ammo Types
Mini Cannon Ammo: 200 [Elec 50, Stun1, Accuracy A.]
-- Requires an action to load/fit however many you want at once. Can be fitted onto a Navi or a Sky Surfer.
-- Functions as the Surfer's "Buster". Similarly, if equipped to a Navi, it will override their Buster until unequipped or expended.
-- Requires an action or one "Cannon Autofire" to fire.
Side Cannon Ammo: 5 [Fire 200, Break, Accuracy C.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into one of Hildegard's Side Cannons.
-- Requires an action to fire from any named Navi.
Main Cannon Ammo: 2 [Null 2000, Accuracy E.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into Hildegard's Main Cannon.
-- Requires two actions to fire from any named Navi. The second action must be from Skyfarer, as she needs to authorize it.
-- Requires an action to load/fit however many you want at once. Can be fitted onto a Navi or a Sky Surfer.
-- Functions as the Surfer's "Buster". Similarly, if equipped to a Navi, it will override their Buster until unequipped or expended.
-- Requires an action or one "Cannon Autofire" to fire.
Side Cannon Ammo: 5 [Fire 200, Break, Accuracy C.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into one of Hildegard's Side Cannons.
-- Requires an action to fire from any named Navi.
Main Cannon Ammo: 2 [Null 2000, Accuracy E.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into Hildegard's Main Cannon.
-- Requires two actions to fire from any named Navi. The second action must be from Skyfarer, as she needs to authorize it.
"Charge" Modifiers
Mini-Boost Charge: 10 [Grants 1-turn Haste x2 + Overclocked Movement x1.]
-- Requires an action to load/fit one or two at once, and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi or a Sky Surfer as a Wielded Gear, thus having a limit of two per target.
Engine Charge: 4 [Grants two Passive Movements per turn.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and activates immediately upon equipping.
Stealth Charge: 5 [Grants 1-turn Invisibility.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
Overload Charge: 4 [1-Hit I-Field that, upon receiving a hit, destroys the entity it is equipped on, dealing Blast4 S-accuracy damage, equal to twice the entity's maximum HP.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field. Once activated, generates an I-field that triggers the self-destruct immediately upon its destruction.
Forcefield Charge: 4 [4-Hit I-Field.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field and activates immediately upon equipping. Exhausted after usage.
-- Requires an action to load/fit one or two at once, and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi or a Sky Surfer as a Wielded Gear, thus having a limit of two per target.
Engine Charge: 4 [Grants two Passive Movements per turn.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and activates immediately upon equipping.
Stealth Charge: 5 [Grants 1-turn Invisibility.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
Overload Charge: 4 [1-Hit I-Field that, upon receiving a hit, destroys the entity it is equipped on, dealing Blast4 S-accuracy damage, equal to twice the entity's maximum HP.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field. Once activated, generates an I-field that triggers the self-destruct immediately upon its destruction.
Forcefield Charge: 4 [4-Hit I-Field.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field and activates immediately upon equipping. Exhausted after usage.
Miscellaneous
Sky Surfer: [50 HP Light Equipable Flying Object. 1 Passive "Cannon Autofire".]
Unnamed Hildegard Crew Navi: 5 [100 HP NormalNavis, 1 action/turn.]
-- Can be commanded to perform an action for the turn as a free action, but must then rest until the end of the next turn.
Note: Hildegard is about one movement across, and two movements long, and can maneuver at 3 movements' worth of distance per turn. Restocking on ammo/modification items must be done when near Hildegard's rear end.
Unnamed Hildegard Crew Navi: 5 [100 HP NormalNavis, 1 action/turn.]
-- Can be commanded to perform an action for the turn as a free action, but must then rest until the end of the next turn.
Note: Hildegard is about one movement across, and two movements long, and can maneuver at 3 movements' worth of distance per turn. Restocking on ammo/modification items must be done when near Hildegard's rear end.
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Veda listened to Skyfarer's explanation about the smaller boats and its equipment, sometimes nodding in approval or verification. But being proud of her own capabilities, she figured she would take Skyfarer's suggestion and just be the boat herself. However, a new suggestion put a stop to that idea.
"So if we have that boat," Regina started, thumbing the screen in her world, "We can have it explode so you can fly away safely. I think you're the only one who can make use of it like that. SliceMan's not going to do that."
"So we might as well do it ourselves!" Veda said in a continuation of Regina's train of thought. With that decision made, Veda hopped onto the boat with the self-destruct mechanism and crouched down near the bomb. No matter its exterior or creation process, it was still data. Veda rubbed one of her hands across the surface of the bomb, trying to figure out if she could tap into its data structure and alter some values to amplify the eventual explosion. "Can't find an access key," Veda muttered to Regina before standing up again, "But knowing Skyfarer, it's bound to be big."
"So what's stopping you from just taking that bomb off so you can throw it?"
Veda turned her gaze upwards. "The bomb requires a source for the explosion. So it'd be the boat or me. From what I can tell, at least!"
"But Skyfarer did say you could equip yourself with the mods. Can you take 'em off?" Regina mentioned.
The Navi nodded and turned to the cannon on the boat, rubbing it all over to look for anything that'd allow her to remove it from the boat. "Ah," Veda muttered as she discovered an access key. A few clicks further and the cannon was in her hands. "Looks like it!" Another few clicks after that, reversing the same steps, allowed her to reinstall the mod to the boat. After having answered Regina and fiddling with the boat, she turned to look at SliceMan with one of her hands raised in a thumbs up. "I've got this one! You take the other one!" she exclaimed at him, "Shout if you fall off! I'll come get you!" And with those words Veda turned to view the front of the boat and launched with it into the air. "Skyfarer!" Veda started as she made her boat float near Skyfarer's, "You've got this many men at your disposal, why do you need my help? Even if flying is useful for this battlefield, you've got these boats! So why an additional hand?"
V = Veda.EXE [Null/Guts] [Resilient/Gatling Attack] [AirShoes/FloatShoes] [3 Actions]
V1. Ride Sky Surfer A
"So if we have that boat," Regina started, thumbing the screen in her world, "We can have it explode so you can fly away safely. I think you're the only one who can make use of it like that. SliceMan's not going to do that."
"So we might as well do it ourselves!" Veda said in a continuation of Regina's train of thought. With that decision made, Veda hopped onto the boat with the self-destruct mechanism and crouched down near the bomb. No matter its exterior or creation process, it was still data. Veda rubbed one of her hands across the surface of the bomb, trying to figure out if she could tap into its data structure and alter some values to amplify the eventual explosion. "Can't find an access key," Veda muttered to Regina before standing up again, "But knowing Skyfarer, it's bound to be big."
"So what's stopping you from just taking that bomb off so you can throw it?"
Veda turned her gaze upwards. "The bomb requires a source for the explosion. So it'd be the boat or me. From what I can tell, at least!"
"But Skyfarer did say you could equip yourself with the mods. Can you take 'em off?" Regina mentioned.
The Navi nodded and turned to the cannon on the boat, rubbing it all over to look for anything that'd allow her to remove it from the boat. "Ah," Veda muttered as she discovered an access key. A few clicks further and the cannon was in her hands. "Looks like it!" Another few clicks after that, reversing the same steps, allowed her to reinstall the mod to the boat. After having answered Regina and fiddling with the boat, she turned to look at SliceMan with one of her hands raised in a thumbs up. "I've got this one! You take the other one!" she exclaimed at him, "Shout if you fall off! I'll come get you!" And with those words Veda turned to view the front of the boat and launched with it into the air. "Skyfarer!" Veda started as she made her boat float near Skyfarer's, "You've got this many men at your disposal, why do you need my help? Even if flying is useful for this battlefield, you've got these boats! So why an additional hand?"
V = Veda.EXE [Null/Guts] [Resilient/Gatling Attack] [AirShoes/FloatShoes] [3 Actions]
V1. Ride Sky Surfer A
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SliceMan responded by furiously shaking his head and his arms at the same time in vehement denial of Veda's invitation to board the last hoverboat. "I-I-I-I'm good! I'll just stay on the boat a-and help with the artillery!" he said, scrambling off towards the piles of supplies near the back of the ship to help with the other crewmembers, leaving Veda alone with Skyfarer. The latter could do little but chuckle to herself in somewhat resigned amusement as she watched her employer scurry away in fright.
"Keh, what a little baby. I swear if he wasn't useful enough to help with the butchering I'd have thrown him off ages ago," she scoffed, before orienting her ship towards Veda's. Suddenly, Veda launched her ship skyward, causing Skyfarer to lose her balance slightly from the sudden movement. The hoverboat she was on slowly stabilized itself as Veda came back down next to her, though by the time she did, it was still wobbling about from Skyfarer's mirthful laughter. "Hahaha! Just about fell off my boat! Great! I love it!" she said, wiping a tear from her eye. It took a while for her to calm down from her laughter, while the only other things that could be heard was the slow hum of the hoverboats' engines, as well as the distant noise of the moving sandy sinkhole far below them.
When Skyfarer finally managed to wind down from her amusement, she took a deep breath, and grinned. "Hahaha... Ha... Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help myself. To tell you the truth, it's because everyone else is too piss-fuckin'-scared of riding these boats down. They're easy to control, but also easy to fall off from. The crewmen used to take turns riding with me down, but one of them fell in last time, and, well--" she said, looking off to the side towards her crewmen that were dealing with SliceMan-- "it's not easy to convince anyone else to do it again after that, you know? And as much as I like going solo, it's a lot more fun to go in pairs! So I asked for someone who could fly! Makes sense, right?" said Skyfarer.
"Oh, yeah! Speaking of pairs." The ship's captain tapped on the mast of the hoverboat in an odd motion, before it made a couple of beeps, which Veda's boat somehow echoed as well. She then blew into the part where she tapped, which came out on Veda's side as if someone had blown into a microphone, and it was being amplified on her end. "Don't have to yell all the time when you can just speak into this. Everyone on the boat can hear us when we're off of it, too, so we can also use it to speak to the crewmen or SliceMan if we need 'em to do anything."
Then, as if right on cue, the air suddenly shook with some intense vibrations. A rhythmic rumbling could be heard from the side of the boat, and Skyfarer's face lit up at the same time. "Oop, no time to lose. Time to hunt. I think it's probably going to start chowing down soon. When it starts eating, we'll bum rush it and start firing at whichever part of it isn't covered in masses of steel to incapacitate it for a bit, then we let the boys loose. Sounds good, right?" she said, orienting her hoverboat towards the edge of the ship.
Far below, the enormous sight of a multi-segmented worm-like creature greeted them, circling around the sliced-up corpse of the earlier Anaconda rapidly. Compared to the size of the Anaconda's three segments, this beast had twelve, each of them quite easily twice the size of the entire Anaconda, and all of them were riddled with metal spikes and plating. The segments seemed to not be connected physically, but rather through some form of magnetic linkage, but the main thing was a kind of segmented armored "skin" that ran up and down its length, protecting most of its segments as it did so. Its main head seemed to be buried in the sands, but every now and then, one would be able to see the beast's head emerge from the sands, which could be seen as an eyeless blob that was really mostly mouth, and teeth--many, many rows of gnashing metallic razor-teeth.
"Just a little more..." said Skyfarer, licking her teeth as she waited patiently. A few seconds passed, before the Worm suddenly leapt towards the Anaconda corpse, and bit down on it hard, steel gnashing against steel. That was the cue for Skyfarer to bellow out in excitement. "Now! Go! Go! Go!"
-- Navi Stats --
Veda.EXE: 100 HP (Above right/middle side of Hildegard, riding Sky Surfer A)
Skyfarer.EXE: 400 HP (Above right/middle side of Hildegard, riding Sky Surfer B)
SliceMan.EXE: 250 HP (Right/rear side of Hildegard)
-- Surrounding Equipment --
Hildegard: 5000 HP (Forcefield Charge: 1/1) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (High Altitude, 1 movement directly above Corpse)
Side Cannon A: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon B: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon C: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/rear side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon D: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon E: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon F: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/rear side of Hildegard)
Main Cannon: 250 HP (Ammo 0/1) (Front of boat)
Sky Surfer A: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Overload Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer B: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer C: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Anaconda-W Corpse: 1 HP (Being torn into)
-- Catch of the Day --
Grand Worm: 4000 HP [MetalCase: 11 Segments] [Vulnerable: 1 Segment, tail end]
- Segments: 12
- MetalCase: Reduces damage to 0. Break damage bypasses and renders it ineffective until the end of the turn.
- ???
-- Terrain --
100% Quicksand
"Keh, what a little baby. I swear if he wasn't useful enough to help with the butchering I'd have thrown him off ages ago," she scoffed, before orienting her ship towards Veda's. Suddenly, Veda launched her ship skyward, causing Skyfarer to lose her balance slightly from the sudden movement. The hoverboat she was on slowly stabilized itself as Veda came back down next to her, though by the time she did, it was still wobbling about from Skyfarer's mirthful laughter. "Hahaha! Just about fell off my boat! Great! I love it!" she said, wiping a tear from her eye. It took a while for her to calm down from her laughter, while the only other things that could be heard was the slow hum of the hoverboats' engines, as well as the distant noise of the moving sandy sinkhole far below them.
When Skyfarer finally managed to wind down from her amusement, she took a deep breath, and grinned. "Hahaha... Ha... Sorry, sorry. Couldn't help myself. To tell you the truth, it's because everyone else is too piss-fuckin'-scared of riding these boats down. They're easy to control, but also easy to fall off from. The crewmen used to take turns riding with me down, but one of them fell in last time, and, well--" she said, looking off to the side towards her crewmen that were dealing with SliceMan-- "it's not easy to convince anyone else to do it again after that, you know? And as much as I like going solo, it's a lot more fun to go in pairs! So I asked for someone who could fly! Makes sense, right?" said Skyfarer.
"Oh, yeah! Speaking of pairs." The ship's captain tapped on the mast of the hoverboat in an odd motion, before it made a couple of beeps, which Veda's boat somehow echoed as well. She then blew into the part where she tapped, which came out on Veda's side as if someone had blown into a microphone, and it was being amplified on her end. "Don't have to yell all the time when you can just speak into this. Everyone on the boat can hear us when we're off of it, too, so we can also use it to speak to the crewmen or SliceMan if we need 'em to do anything."
Then, as if right on cue, the air suddenly shook with some intense vibrations. A rhythmic rumbling could be heard from the side of the boat, and Skyfarer's face lit up at the same time. "Oop, no time to lose. Time to hunt. I think it's probably going to start chowing down soon. When it starts eating, we'll bum rush it and start firing at whichever part of it isn't covered in masses of steel to incapacitate it for a bit, then we let the boys loose. Sounds good, right?" she said, orienting her hoverboat towards the edge of the ship.
Far below, the enormous sight of a multi-segmented worm-like creature greeted them, circling around the sliced-up corpse of the earlier Anaconda rapidly. Compared to the size of the Anaconda's three segments, this beast had twelve, each of them quite easily twice the size of the entire Anaconda, and all of them were riddled with metal spikes and plating. The segments seemed to not be connected physically, but rather through some form of magnetic linkage, but the main thing was a kind of segmented armored "skin" that ran up and down its length, protecting most of its segments as it did so. Its main head seemed to be buried in the sands, but every now and then, one would be able to see the beast's head emerge from the sands, which could be seen as an eyeless blob that was really mostly mouth, and teeth--many, many rows of gnashing metallic razor-teeth.
"Just a little more..." said Skyfarer, licking her teeth as she waited patiently. A few seconds passed, before the Worm suddenly leapt towards the Anaconda corpse, and bit down on it hard, steel gnashing against steel. That was the cue for Skyfarer to bellow out in excitement. "Now! Go! Go! Go!"
-- Navi Stats --
Veda.EXE: 100 HP (Above right/middle side of Hildegard, riding Sky Surfer A)
Skyfarer.EXE: 400 HP (Above right/middle side of Hildegard, riding Sky Surfer B)
SliceMan.EXE: 250 HP (Right/rear side of Hildegard)
-- Surrounding Equipment --
Hildegard: 5000 HP (Forcefield Charge: 1/1) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (High Altitude, 1 movement directly above Corpse)
Side Cannon A: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon B: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon C: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Left/rear side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon D: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/front side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon E: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/middle side of Hildegard)
Side Cannon F: 100 HP (Ammo 1/1) (Right/rear side of Hildegard)
Main Cannon: 250 HP (Ammo 0/1) (Front of boat)
Sky Surfer A: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Overload Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer B: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Sky Surfer C: 50 HP (Right/middle side of Hildegard) (Engine Charge: 1/1) (Mini-Boost Charges: 2/2) (Mini-Cannon Ammo: 10/Infinity)
Anaconda-W Corpse: 1 HP (Being torn into)
-- Catch of the Day --
Grand Worm: 4000 HP [MetalCase: 11 Segments] [Vulnerable: 1 Segment, tail end]
- Segments: 12
- MetalCase: Reduces damage to 0. Break damage bypasses and renders it ineffective until the end of the turn.
- ???
-- Terrain --
100% Quicksand
Ammo Types
Mini Cannon Ammo: 200 [Elec 50, Stun1, Accuracy A.]
-- Requires an action to load/fit however many you want at once. Can be fitted onto a Navi or a Sky Surfer.
-- Functions as the Surfer's "Buster". Similarly, if equipped to a Navi, it will override their Buster until unequipped or expended.
-- Requires an action or one "Cannon Autofire" to fire.
Side Cannon Ammo: 5 [Fire 200, Break, Accuracy C.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into one of Hildegard's Side Cannons.
-- Requires an action to fire from any named Navi.
Main Cannon Ammo: 2 [Null 2000, Accuracy E.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into Hildegard's Main Cannon.
-- Requires two actions to fire from any named Navi. The second action must be from Skyfarer, as she needs to authorize it.
-- Requires an action to load/fit however many you want at once. Can be fitted onto a Navi or a Sky Surfer.
-- Functions as the Surfer's "Buster". Similarly, if equipped to a Navi, it will override their Buster until unequipped or expended.
-- Requires an action or one "Cannon Autofire" to fire.
Side Cannon Ammo: 5 [Fire 200, Break, Accuracy C.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into one of Hildegard's Side Cannons.
-- Requires an action to fire from any named Navi.
Main Cannon Ammo: 2 [Null 2000, Accuracy E.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time. Can only be loaded into Hildegard's Main Cannon.
-- Requires two actions to fire from any named Navi. The second action must be from Skyfarer, as she needs to authorize it.
"Charge" Modifiers
Mini-Boost Charge: 10 [Grants 1-turn Haste x2 + Overclocked Movement x1.]
-- Requires an action to load/fit one or two at once, and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi or a Sky Surfer as a Wielded Gear, thus having a limit of two per target.
Engine Charge: 4 [Grants two Passive Movements per turn.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and activates immediately upon equipping.
Stealth Charge: 5 [Grants 1-turn Invisibility.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
Overload Charge: 4 [1-Hit I-Field that, upon receiving a hit, destroys the entity it is equipped on, dealing Blast4 S-accuracy damage, equal to twice the entity's maximum HP.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field. Once activated, generates an I-field that triggers the self-destruct immediately upon its destruction.
Forcefield Charge: 4 [4-Hit I-Field.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field and activates immediately upon equipping. Exhausted after usage.
-- Requires an action to load/fit one or two at once, and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi or a Sky Surfer as a Wielded Gear, thus having a limit of two per target.
Engine Charge: 4 [Grants two Passive Movements per turn.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and activates immediately upon equipping.
Stealth Charge: 5 [Grants 1-turn Invisibility.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as a Status Effect and can be activated as a free action. Exhausted after usage.
Overload Charge: 4 [1-Hit I-Field that, upon receiving a hit, destroys the entity it is equipped on, dealing Blast4 S-accuracy damage, equal to twice the entity's maximum HP.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field. Once activated, generates an I-field that triggers the self-destruct immediately upon its destruction.
Forcefield Charge: 4 [4-Hit I-Field.]
-- Requires an action to load one at a time.
-- Can be fitted on a Navi, a Sky Surfer, or Hildegard as an Ethereal Field and activates immediately upon equipping. Exhausted after usage.
Miscellaneous
Sky Surfer: [50 HP Light Equipable Flying Object. 1 Passive "Cannon Autofire".]
Unnamed Hildegard Crew Navi: 5 [100 HP NormalNavis, 1 action/turn.]
-- Can be commanded to perform an action for the turn as a free action, but must then rest until the end of the next turn.
Note: Hildegard is about one movement across, and two movements long, and can maneuver at 3 movements' worth of distance per turn. Restocking on ammo/modification items must be done when near Hildegard's rear end.
Unnamed Hildegard Crew Navi: 5 [100 HP NormalNavis, 1 action/turn.]
-- Can be commanded to perform an action for the turn as a free action, but must then rest until the end of the next turn.
Note: Hildegard is about one movement across, and two movements long, and can maneuver at 3 movements' worth of distance per turn. Restocking on ammo/modification items must be done when near Hildegard's rear end.