DragonierMan's 30k Run

[Operator is going shopping after downloading chip data. Next post will not have access to chips beyond what is already loaded this Turn.]

"Drago, I have an errand to run. Here are some weapons to hold the viruses off until I get back."

Glowing swords materialized for Suzume and Aya while DragonierMan's taloned gauntlet illuminated. The fingers elongated and becoming sharp, gleaming claws. Moments later they felt the connection between them and Destin's PET terminate. The three felt a deep emptiness. As if an integral piece of themselves just disappeared.

Momentarily lost without their access to the AutoChip(tm), they just stood there in silence. Drago was the first to recover and immediately sized up the situation. "Leave the strongest one alive for now, finish off the weakened ones. We'll have to delay this battle until our arsenal is restored to us. Only then will we be able to continue onwards from this place."

With his commands given, the twins snapped out of their funk and grasped their swords. They rushed the two wounded Nightmares with all speed. They sped and weaved around the holes and over piles of scrap to engage the two viruses directly in melee combat. They swung their blades in small, controlled arcs, probing for weakness. Their keen eyes and knowledge of their weapons' reach kept their swings precise and sure. They took every effort to never bring their blades close enough to wound the healthy Nightmare. No... It will suffer after its friends were all deleted. Suffer the emptiness that they felt and that the Nightmares came from.

Summary
Actions:
1: Dodge.
S1: Dodge.
*Streak of Light [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep up with NightMareA.
A1: Dodge.
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep up with NightMareC.
2: Load Rageclaw1 [Acc: B / B; 40 Null Damage + Slashing / 20 Null Damage + Impacting; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] for future use.
S2: WideSword [Acc: A (B+Take Aim); 80 Null Damage + Slashing + Wide Attack; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 3 swings.] to NightmareA and NightmareC (avoid NightmareB, it must stay alive).
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on WideSword to NightmareA and NightmareC.
A2: WideSword [Acc: A (B+Take Aim); 80 Null Damage + Slashing + Wide Attack; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 3 swings.] to NightmareC and NightmareA (avoid NightmareB, it must stay alive).
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on WideSword to NightmareC and NightmareA.
3: Dodge.
4: Dodge.
5: Dodge.

Effects:
1: Rageclaw1 [6/6 Uses Remaining]
S1: WideSword [2/3 Uses Remaining]
A1: WideSword [2/3 Uses Remaining]

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
((OOC: Sorry about the last post... I did a very stupid thing and slipped down one entry on the virus list while I was cross-checking... and ended up accidentally treating the nightmares as shadows without realising it. This was slightly beneficial to you, but since it was my mistake, that's your gain. Moving forward, I promise the -Nightmares- will stop being silly and transforming into things.))

Ever eager, the twins moved swiftly to the panel edges closest to the voids where their target Nightmares waited, striking fast and hard with their slashing blades. Suzume connected first, carving a rend through her target that it couldn't hold itself together through, and causing the virus to fade away once and for all. Aya was a hair slower with her strike, an by ill fortune it was enough that her target winked out of sight just as her stroke fell. The nightmare had telported across towards Suzume, becoming swiping at her with a fierce slash, but the little SP was more than ready for it, dodging nimbly out of the way. It blinked back to its original position a moment later, after Aya's sword stroke had already passed, and stared at her balefully, almost like it was mocking her.

The third, unharmed virus kept its gaze fixed on Drago, but when it teleported in front of him this time it raised its sword high before striking at him. If it was trying to be dramatic, all it succeeded in doing was giving Drago enough time to dodge out of its way.



-=Industrial Ruin Inhabitants=-

NightmareA: DELETED
NightmareB: 100Hp [Missing][Perma-Shadow]
NightmareC: 70Hp [Missing][Perma-Shadow]
CirKillA: DELETED
CirKillB: DELETED
MagmaDragonA: DELETED
MagmaDragonB: DELETED

-=Industrial Archaeologists=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 200/200 [Metal]
Suzume.SP: 60/80 [Metal]
Aya.SP: 65/80 [Metal]

-=Industrial Terrain=-

20% Missing: Scattered Holes
25% Metal: Large chunks and stretches taking up most of the field.
15% Normal: In between the various metal bits and pieces.
10% Furnace: Small amount between where the Magam Dragons had been.
15% Magma: Trail leading from where the pots had been, towards drago, meeting ice in the middle.
15% Ice: Trail leading from Drago towards where the pots had been, meeting magma in the middle.

-=Industrial Objects=-

Rusted Storage Tank: 50Hp [Back left side of the area]
Stack of metal bars: 100Hp [Lengthways, climbable, near to Drago, on the right.]
Junk pile of scrap metal: 150Hp [Back right]
Unused roll of Chain-link Fencing: 65Hp [Upright, near left]
Magnet-Crane: 485Hp [Halfway between Drago and the MagmaDragons, on the right edge of the area]
[Note: I think the Shadow variable weapon thing would be better served by the Nightmares due to their normally limited range. Plus the whole "nightmare" thing could be better served by having them be more amorphous.]

The two girls kept on the pressure, running around the battlefield after the remaining wounded Nightmare. Which they did by jumping over more scrap and skirting around the Missing panels. They continued to swing their blades at NightmareC, making sure that it had little time to think. The glowing swords carving a glittering path through the air. While they continued to avoid hitting NightmareB.

Meanwhile, Drago taunted NightmareB with his movements. He swiveled around the Nightmare's hole, ducking his head from side to side and twisting like a serpent. He brought up his glowing gauntlet to fend off his assailants' dark blade. Swiping it at the weapon. Parrying with it like his own sword... or buckler.

Summary
Actions:
1: Dodge.
S1: Dodge.
*Streak of Light [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep up with NightmareC.
A1: Dodge.
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep up with NightMareC.
2: Use Rageclaw1 [Acc: B; 40 Null Damage + Slashing / 20 Null Damage + Impacting; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to Parry attacks.
S2: WideSword [Acc: A (B+Take Aim); 80 Null Damage + Slashing + Wide Attack; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 3 swings.] to NightmareC (avoid NightmareB, it must stay alive).
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on WideSword to NightmareC.
A2: WideSword [Acc: A (B+Take Aim); 80 Null Damage + Slashing + Wide Attack; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 3 swings.] to NightmareC (avoid NightmareB, it must stay alive).
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on WideSword to NightmareC.
3: Dodge.
4: Use Rageclaw1 [Acc: B; 40 Null Damage + Slashing / 20 Null Damage + Impacting; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to Parry attacks.
5: Dodge.

Effects:
1: Rageclaw1 [6/6 Uses Remaining] [-1 for every Parry]
S1: WideSword [1/3 Uses Remaining]
A1: WideSword [1/3 Uses Remaining]

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
From where she is already standing waiting for it, it only takes Aya a flick of the wrist to bring her blade to bear again, this time connecting cleanly with the slippery Nightmare before it can teleport. As an added bonus, though she races quickly over to join her twin by the virus, the swift removal of their second-to-last threat saves Suzume the need to swing her weapon at all.

The last one remains focused on the greatest of its foes, teleporting again in an attempt to strike him down, and though the dragonier's initial attempt at simple avoidance doesn't quite cut it, he manages to successfully fend off the blade with his claws before it can cut him. Disgruntled, the Nightmare returns to it's missing hole in the net and readies itself to try again.


-=Industrial Ruin Inhabitants=-

NightmareA: DELETED
NightmareB: 100Hp [Missing][Perma-Shadow]
NightmareC: DELETED
CirKillA: DELETED
CirKillB: DELETED
MagmaDragonA: DELETED
MagmaDragonB: DELETED

-=Industrial Archaeologists=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 200/200 [Metal][Rageclaw: 5/6]
Suzume.SP: 60/80 [Metal][WideSword: 2/3]
Aya.SP: 65/80 [Metal][WideSword:1/3]

-=Industrial Terrain=-

20% Missing: Scattered Holes
25% Metal: Large chunks and stretches taking up most of the field.
15% Normal: In between the various metal bits and pieces.
10% Furnace: Small amount between where the Magma Dragons had been.
15% Magma: Trail leading from where the pots had been, towards Drago, meeting ice in the middle.
15% Ice: Trail leading from Drago towards where the pots had been, meeting magma in the middle.

-=Industrial Objects=-

Rusted Storage Tank: 50Hp [Back left side of the area]
Stack of metal bars: 100Hp [Lengthways, Climbable, Near right.]
Junk pile of scrap metal: 150Hp [Back right]
Unused roll of Chain-link Fencing: 65Hp [Upright, near left]
Magnet-Crane: 485Hp [Halfway up the field, on the right edge of the area]
[Note: I will assume that the previous Turn is all I need to have done one Shop post. So the Operator should be back.]

"Drago, I have returned."

DragonierMan and the girls felt their link to Destin's PET return to them. They all turned to the Nightmare and grinned maliciously.

"Right. Let's finish this!" Drago called out before the trio sprung forward with gleaming blades to slash up a storm. Suzume sung a sweet and haunting melody as she bound across the piles of metal scraps, her wounds vanishing from her body. The shadows around Aya weaved into her flesh and closed her wounds as well.

They sped around the dark holes and over piles of refuse as they lashed at the virus with their blades. The air glimmered with the flash and spark of steel on steel as they swung their sharp weapons at the amorphous Nightmare. Slashing through scrap and darkness.

Summary
Actions:
1: Dodge.
*Dragon's Wings [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep up with NightmareB.
S1: Aria of Renewal [Signature]: Dodge + 30 Healing. [2 TCD]
*Streak of Light [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep up with NightmareB.
A1: Dark Mending [Signature]: Dodge + 30 Healing. [2 TCD]
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep up with NightMareB.
2: Rageclaw1 [Acc: B; 40 Null Damage + Slashing; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to NightmareB.
S2: WideSword [Acc: A (B+Take Aim); 80 Null Damage + Slashing + Wide Attack; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 3 swings.] to NightmareB.
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on WideSword to NightmareB.
A2: WideSword [Acc: A (B+Take Aim); 80 Null Damage + Slashing + Wide Attack; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 3 swings.] to NightmareB.
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on WideSword to NightmareB.
3: Rageclaw1 [Acc: B; 40 Null Damage + Slashing; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to NightmareB.
4: Rageclaw1 [Acc: B; 40 Null Damage + Slashing; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to NightmareB.
5: Rageclaw1 [Acc: B; 40 Null Damage + Slashing; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to NightmareB.

Effects:
1: Rageclaw1 [1/6 Uses Remaining]
S1: WideSword [1/3 Uses Remaining]
A1: WideSword [0/3 Uses Remaining; Broken!]

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
With their operator returned, Drago and his girls had no more need to draw matters out, and the dragonier led the assault on their last target while the twins mended what small hurts they had taken. The Nightmare was penned in on three sides, and took longer than it should have, twisting about to find a target; Drago's claws jolted it into acting as they tore at it, and the virus teleported swoftly in an effort to get behind him. It was too little too late, as Drago dodged out of the way, making room for Aya and Suzume to bring their swords to bear, and while Suzume couldn't manage to connect after it's short-range blink, Aya was more on target, breaking its blade with hers and slicing the virus apart cleanly.

This left the three of them free to gather their spoils, scattered as they were around the dilapidated construction sight in an unfortunate mess that, amidst the junk and debris, would end up taking them a minute or two to actually gather up thoroughly. For the effort, it seemed like the scrap yard viruses had been a little stingy with the zenny, but the remnants of one of the drenched magma dragons yielded an intact core, which it wouldn't be too hard to convert back into a usable chip.


-=Industrial Ruin Inhabitants=-

NightmareA: DELETED
NightmareB: DELETED
NightmareC: DELETED
CirKillA: DELETED
CirKillB: DELETED
MagmaDragonA: DELETED
MagmaDragonB: DELETED

-=Industrial Archaeologists=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 200/200 [Metal]
Suzume.SP: 80/80 [Metal]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal]

-=Battle 7 victory!=-

Spoils: 1540z, HeatDragon1, 47BugFrags
Having completed the trial of shadow, metal, and fire. The trio moved on after collecting their spoils. Though DragonierMan planted a flag in the area as they left. Making a note of the area and tagging it for later. For when His Lord started building the unoperated Navi haven, he would need building materials.

[Requesting Battle 8]
This area of the net continued to deteriorate the further Drago and his girls progressed, with the small singular holes gradually becoming larger missing patches as the pressed on. Though much of the inhospitable, blasted landscape of Hades could still be seen around them, and in the distance, the most notable features close by were still the various abandoned structures.

The construction site and scrap yards gave way to something that began to look suspiciously more like a military installation, or munitions depot, possibly, but like the rest it was run down, dilapidated and abandoned, with chunks of broken network crating large empty holes in the terrain, often cutting off walls and objects.

One of the main differences in this area, though, as they progressed, was that some parts of it looked like they had been shored up against the deterioration. Some of the missing patches had make-shift retaining barriers around them to stop the damage spreading further, and there were signs that the weapons facility was at the very least being squatted in by something, or someone. Most of the visible security systems from the original installation were visible broken and non-functional, but a couple of select ones seemed to have been repaired, or at least kludged into a semblance of working with other bits of broken material and spare parts.

Of note, unfortunately, was a sensor connected to a loud-hailer, on a small tower in one corner of the area, which immediately began to blare an annoying siren when the navi and his SPs entered. It also showed no signs of stopping, as the hack-job fix that caused one to trip the other would need resetting before it could be used again. The only way to turn the siren itself off now looked to be their by hand, or to wait for it to break on its own (which probably wouldn't be too long, given the state of everything else), or maybe to help it break a little faster.

The alarm was of secondary concern, though, when other things began to shake and shamble to life, or something like it. The area itself was mostly open, though a large stack of something that looked like missile shells was piled up on the right hand side, and on the left a short flight of stairs led to a raised platform that made up the back left corner of the area, in an 'L' shape. At the back, three rusty-looking cubes shuddered and began to make a whirring sound, shading rust off themselves as they did. The middle one hadn't begun going yet, but the two on the outer edges of the area began to draw near gale-force winds towards them, pulling harshly at Drago and the girls.

There came the sound of heavy clanking, as several door-frame sized plates of the walls popped out and, like the boxes, shook rust off themselves. These thick panels bore wicked-looking iron jaws, and angry eyes, then, all at once, the three blinked out of sight. Well, one of them flickered a little, like it was having trouble getting its invisibility going, but unfortunately it seemed to sort it out in short order and was nowhere to be seen.

A hatch opened on the raised platform, and two large, round-bodied viruses trundled out, square-toothed jaws closed shut for now as fire guttered unevenly about them. They both began to move towards the stairs that would lead them down towards the intruders

-=Viruses=-

RustinerdA: 100Hp [Invisible][StoneBody][Metal]
RustinerdB: 100Hp [Invisible][StoneBody][Metal]
RustinerdC: 100Hp [Invisible][StoneBody][Metal]

RustFanA: 100Hp [Vacuum On][Back Reft][Metal]
RustFanB: 100Hp [Vacuum On][Back Right][Metal]

RustBox: 100Hp [Back Centre][Metal]

RustGear: 80Hp [On Left Stairs][Metal]
RustGear: 80Hp [On Left Stairs][Metal]

-=Allies=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 200/200 [Metal]
Suzume.SP: 80/80 [Metal]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal]

-=Terrain=-

20% Missing [Scattered Patches]
60% Metal [Majority]
10% Normal [Scattered Panels]
10% Furnace [two small patches on the raised platform]

Area is mostly flat, but with a raised platform in an 'L' shape, taking up the far end and a portion of the left hand side.

-=Objects=-

Stack of empty missile shells: 100Hp [On the right][Climbable]

-=Special effects=-

Dilapidated Parts: this are is run down, old, and patched together in a few places. This includes the viruses; they are rusty and have a chance to occasionally fail their actions.

-=Battle 8, Start!=-
[x3] [x2] [x1] [x2]

The sucking winds caused each to grimace and fall to their knees with their hands on the metal pavement. They tried to retain their footing for a few moments while they devised a plan of attack. DragonierMan figured one out first. "Aya, Suzume," Drago stated loudly so he could be heard over the roaring wind, the twins turning their attention to their leader. He reached out to Suzume and produced a large ball and chain, handing the heavy weapon to his subordinate. He then touched Aya's fist, and it became covered in stone, growing three sizes that day. He then produced three throwing daggers from a satchel on his hip. "Those guys that turned invisible will protect the others. They will be vulnerable during the brief window they appear to take a hit. When that happens, smash them."

The twins readied their weapons and gave their affirmatives before Drago took aim at the two immobile rusted fans and the rusted box. His cloak and assorted strips of leather and cloth flapped madly in the vacuum as he sighted along the point of his daggers. He brought his hands up and, with three successive flicks of his wrist, sent the blades sailing into the sucking wind. Propelled by the virus' own suction power, the knives speared through the air like arrows (or some sort of really deadly fish or whale, like a swordfish or narwhal) toward their targets. Sharp and gleaming steel in the forgelight.

"I'll go first," Aya said as she quickly leapt into the slipstream and was sucked in, right behind the three kunai. She held her huge stone fist out in front of her and was dragged along by the momentum. "Right behind ya sis. Yahoo!" Suzume called out as she jumped into the suction funnel right behind Aya, trailing the ball and chain behind her like an anchor and slowing her down just enough to not overtake Aya.

Aya's keen eyes were calculating the best way to reach the center of the formation of rusted viruses to deliver the blow to all three machines. So, by the time Aya reached the three rusted machines, she had managed to get into position to slam her fist down upon all three of them. The giant fist of stone smashed into the area, causing the air to crack, and most likely damaging the metal flooring underneath. The hope of the attack rested in the notion that the three Rustinerds would come and protect the three rusted machines and be caught in the blast instead. Because otherwise the rusted fans and box weren't that much of a threat themselves. Aya quickly dashed away after the stone covering her fist turned to dust, as there was a second heavily armed woman right behind her.

Suzume rode the wind tunnel all the way to the trio of rust. She skidded to a halt right near them as the iron ball thudded into the ground. She gripped the chain tightly in her fingers and her arms and legs bulged under the sudden stress as she swung her weapon. Her body began to quickly spin, lifting the heavy ball of metal off the ground, and twirling it in the wake of its chain. She could sense the position of her enemies, divining their location and the correct placement of her swinging sphere of metal death. She twirled around once, twice, thrice. Becoming a blender of bashy death. When she finally released her weapon, it sailed out of her hands and arced down upon one of the RustGears.

With the situation well in hand, Drago turned his attention to the two large, round-bodied viruses with fire gushing around them. He bent his legs and sprung high into the air. Flying high on ethereal wings, he sped towards the two flaming viruses, his cloak billowing behind him. He spun and weaved and juked through the air as he made his approach, attempting to dodge against any fiery attacks spewed forth at him from the two deadly viruses. The air must have been pretty cold on his way, because the air around him became icy and frost began to cake on his gauntlets.

Or that was just him tapping into the power of his water dragon ancestry, because moments later he launched a wave of icy water at the two hot-tempered viruses. The crescent wave flashed out with a swipe of his hand and expanded outward. The icy tendrils reaching out to smother under a torrential downpour. As it sailed forth to greet the viruses with a one-way trip to a watery grave, Drago swiped his other hand at the viruses, sending another wave crashing down upon the blazing duo.

Summary
Actions:
1: Take Aim.
2: Kunai1 [Acc: A (B + Take Aim); 30 Null Damage + Slashing x 3 Kunai + Variable Targeting.] to RustFanA, RustFanB, and RustBox.
A1: Jump into vacuum and let it take her to the RustFans/Box.
S1: Jump into vacuum and let it take her to the RustFans/Box.

~~Note: Both of the following attacks do double damage against those with Stonebody.~~

A2: GolemHit1 [Acc: B (C + Take Aim); 140 Null Damage + Break + Panel Crack + Wide Attack.] on RustFanA, RustFanB, and RustBox (though really hoping to hit the three Rustinerds instead).
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on GolemHit1.
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement away from RustFans/Box, and the RustGears.
S2: HammerToss1 [Acc: 1-3 targets @ A (B + Take Aim) Accuracy, 4-6 targets @ B (C + Take Aim) Accuracy, 7-8 targets @ C (D + Take Aim) Accuracy; 40 Null Damage + Break + Spin Attack / 80 Null Damage + Break.] to RustFanA, RustFanB, and RustBox (though really hoping to hit the three Rustinerds instead). The target of the second part of the attack is RustGearA.
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on HammerToss1.

~~Note: Both of the proceeding attacks do double damage against those with Stonebody.~~

3: Dodge.
*Dragon's Wings [Signature]: Passive Movement into High Altitude towards RustGearA and RustGearB.
4: WideShot1 [Acc: A; 140 (70 x2 Fire Subtype) Aqua Damage + Wide Attack.] to RustGearA and RustGearB.
5: WideShot1 [Acc: A; 140 (70 x2 Fire Subtype) Aqua Damage + Wide Attack.] to RustGearA and RustGearB.

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
((Sorry for the wait... failed utterly to get anything done yesterday))

Despite the unnatural winds, Drago opens the conflict with a few carefully flicked blades. It's a long throw, but with the wind the three darts manage to stay on course long enough to bounce near harmlessly off the invisible barrier of each rusty Dominerd teleporting in front of a fan in turn. They each flicker into sight as the knives bounce away, though ironically, their position does something to abate the wind, at least temporarily. With a creak and screech of neglected metal, they open their jaws wide and blink up to Drago in an effort to repay his efforts.

The first pair of jaws clamps down just in front of him, missing by a hair. To the left, the second attempt would have done better, if not for Drago pulling himself quickly out of the way. The dodge leaves him exposed to the third virus, ready to clamp a vicious bite on his shoulder, but, in almost comic timing, it simply shudders, its jaws locked open, and fails to actually bite down. After another moment it lets out what sounds for all the world like a frustrated sigh and manages to blow some rust flecks harmlessly in Drago's face, before all three blink back to their new positions in front of the fans.

Meanwhile, Aya and Suzume run with the wind towards their own targets, but just as Aya reaches her goal, the fans change gear. The rusty old WindBox in the middle shudders to life, blowing a gale back in the other direction, while the two vacuums click off. Or at least, one of them does. The right hand vacuum certainly clicks a few times, but something seems to have gone wrong, and it doesn't shut down. This leads to a very uncomfortable push and pull of winds, dragging everyone unevenly in both directions and generally making aiming anything a nightmare.

Even so, Aya has a fist made of rock, and doesn't hesitate to use it. As it is, the targets before her are separated enough that nailing all three wasn't too feasible, but she makes a good bead on two of them at least, with the Dominerds back in their defensive positions, there's little choice but to go through them to get to the fans, but since that was her plan all along, she makes a good go of it. The discordant winds play havoc with her positioning as the fist comes down, twisting her body just a bit, so while she manages to thoroughly crush one of the exposed Dominerds, it's the fan behind her second target that actually catches the rest of the blow. In consolation, it is well and truly scrapped by this.

The Dominerds begin trying to restore their invisibility as Aya darts out of the way, but Suzume is right behind her. Where the wind pulled her sister a little to the left, the conflicting flows push Suzume a bit more to the right, leaving three victims in range of her spinning ball; the two remaining fans, and the right hand Dominerd. They each take a thorough beating from the ball and chain, though the Dominerd clearly suffers the worst of it as its dilapidated defences fail to stand up to her strike. Her final release is quite spectacular.. but alas, not particularly accurate, and the warring winds really don't help. A discerning eye might guess she had initially been aiming for one of the RustGears, but as the hammer weight embedded itself high up in the far wall, one would be forgiven for not realising this.

Off to the side a little ways, Aya's initial dart out of the way carries her dangerously close to one of the empty, missing patches, the altered winds messing with her balance, and it takes all her remaining effort not to pitch in as the gale blows against her side and back. Fortunately, she manages to pull herself back from the edge before anything more disastrous can occur.

The old VolGears themselves have fully made their way down the stairs now, and are focused on the one still in front of them. They both attempt to call forth a pillar of fire, trying to scorch the dragonier, and one of them even manages to make the attack; the other one sputters and its flames flicker for a few moments, before it gives up for now. Even if it had succeeded, however, Drago launches himself airborne, up and away from the grounded attack, so there wasn't much hope that it would have connected anyway.

Aloft, the wind buffet is truly ferocious, and the opposed winds fighting against each other make flying a difficult task, even for those skilled at it. What would normally have been a sure and easy shot to make becomes a treacherously difficult job, and it is fortunate that Drago has two goes at it. The first veers left, only clipping one of the VolGears, while the second arcs right, clipping the other. Together the two shots get the job done, but it isn't pretty. In particular, the rush of freezing water sends a lacework of cracks running through the metal terrain around the base of the stairs, rending the already unstable area just that little bit more unsafe.

As they get ready to intercept once more, one of the Rustinerds fades from sight. The other one... just stands there. After a few moments its eyes slide slowly back and forth, then down at itself. No invisibility today, it would seem.


-=Viruses=-

RustinerdA: 99Hp [Invisibility Failure][Left Back, in front of where RustFanA was][StoneBody][Metal]
RustinerdB: 19Hp [Invisible][StoneBody][Metal]
RustinerdC: DELETED
RustFanA: DELETED
RustFanB: 60Hp [Vacuum On][Back Right][Metal]
RustBox: 60Hp [Back Centre][Fan On][Metal]
RustGear: DELETED
RustGear: DELETED

-=Allies=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 200/200 [High Altitude]
Suzume.SP: 80/80 [Metal][Far Centre]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal][Near Empty Missile Shells]

-=Terrain=-

20% Missing [Scattered Patches]
50% Metal [Majority]
10% Normal [Scattered Panels]
10% Furnace [two small patches on the raised platform]
10% Cracked [Bottom of the Stairs, where the two VolGears were]

Area is mostly flat, but with a raised platform in an 'L' shape, taking up the far end and a portion of the left hand side.

-=Objects=-

Stack of empty missile shells: 100Hp [On the right][Climbable]

-=Special effects=-

Dilapidated Parts: this are is run down, old, and patched together in a few places. This includes the viruses; they are rusty and have a chance to occasionally fail their actions.
"Aya, get behind that vacuum and use the DrillArm. I'll strike it from the front. Suzume, take care of the fan." DragonierMan called out as he fought against the swirling winds to get close to the viruses without getting blown away. Aya stood up from almost falling over the side of one of the many holes that dominated the battlefield. She was near the pile of spent shells, and that pile could be climbed to get to the raised metal platform that the viruses were on, so she decided to take that path. She ran up the pile like a ramp, gliding on cushions of wind. She scrabbled up onto the platform from the vacuum's side.

Drago twisted through the blowing and sucking air to stay on target. His immediate concern was not to actually dodge anything, but to get to his target. Although his erratic flight path and constant jerking motions from the crossing wind funnels probably helped him in raising his evasion. He attempted to get onto the platform between the RustFan and the RustBox. Aya, hopefully seeing Drago land on the platform, reeled her right arm back and made a fist. A great drill formed around her wrist as she stepped forward to drill a gaping hole through the vacuum virus. Drago reeled his own arm back and produced a great big glowing fist. The two roared forward yelling "Yaaaaaaa!" and giving a great thrust of their arms to drill and punch the virus apart from both sides.

Although the hope, again, was that one of the Rustinerds would intervene and be caught in their tag team drillpunch.

Afterwards, Drago took flight and went after the remaining Rustinerd(s). Punching at them with a large glowing fist to the gut. Meanwhile, Suzume was running forward, trying to keep within a short range of the RustBox. The virus had a heck of a time trying to blow her away as she ran forward like a streak of multicolored light. Although the constant blowing motion of the virus probably ended up keeping her running in place.

Anyways, she flung her hands up in front of her, as if trying to keep the wind from messing with her long, flowing hair. Bolts of electricity quickly began sloughing off her in great bursts of sparks as she charged her attack. Though that didn't really do much to fix her hair problems, as electricity and hair don't mix.

She managed to charge up enough electricity into her body just as Drago left the area. She also yelled out her own battle cry as she released a cone of electrical energy towards the RustBox. Hundreds of little lightning bolts stormed out of her fingertips and shocked through the air and across the metal ground, causing all manner of destructive electromagnetism to blanket the area. Afterwards her hair poofed into a great ball of curls. She would have a hell of a time combing it out later.

Summary
Actions:
1: Movement to get between RustFanB and the RustBox.
*Dragon's Wings [Signature]: Passive Movement to get between RustFanB and the RustBox.
S1: Dodge.
*Streak of Light [Signature]: Passive Movement to keep within cone range of RustBox.
A1: Dodge.
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement to avoid Missing Terrain, climb up the Stack of Empty Missile Shells, and get around to the side of RustFanB.

~~Note: The following attack does double damage against those with Stonebody.~~

A2: DrillArm1 [Acc: A (B + Take Aim); 60 Null Damage Break+ Knockback + Long Attack.] to RustFanB (though really hoping to hit one of the remaining Rustinerds as well).
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on DrillArm1.

~~Note: The proceeding attack does double damage against those with Stonebody.~~

2: GutPunch [Acc: A; 70 Null Damage + Impact + Knockback; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to RustFanB (though really hoping to hit one of the remaining Rustinerds instead). Try to Knockback the virus hit with the Knockback of the DrillArm1 so it gets its second attack. 5/6 uses remaining.
3: Movement: Fly over to remaining Rustinerds.
S2: ElecShock2 [Acc: B (C + Take Aim); 200 (100 x2 Metal Terrain) Elec Damage + Solar Panel Change + Stun + Cone Attack.]
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on ElecShock2.
4: Dodge.
5: GutPunch [Acc: A; 70 Null Damage + Impact + Knockback; Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks after 6 uses.] to Rustinerd? 4/6 uses remaining.

Other Effects:
1: GutPunch: 4/6 uses remaining.

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Drago and the girls fight the wayward winds as they struggle to get into position, so it almost seems like spite, when, after they each manage to make their moves, the fans change setting again. The RusFan clicks off, as ominous smoke begins to pour from the vents on the sides of the RustBox. It shudders, sheds some more rust, then shuts off as well. Under the circumstances one might suppose it had actually broken down. The result, however, is that after battling through the inclement winds to attain their ideal positions, the air is suddenly calm again, without a lick of wind to be felt.

Still unable to get its invisibility working, the more intact of the two Dominerds glares at the navi and his Sp while they prepare to beat up the wind machines. On cue, it teleports into the slim space between Aya and her target as she strikes. On the other side, Drago's fist meets the steel wall of the second Rustinerd, and several things happen at once.

On Aya's side, an unfortunately Freudian scene unfolds as her massive, thrusting drill buries itself right in the centre of the defending Dominerd, forcing it back hard against the Fan, and then, when it cannot be pushed any further, piercing through it with the sound of rending metal. Its angry eyes go wide as the drill bit penetrates it, a cascade of bright red rust beginning to spill down from the puncture, before it begins to disintegrate.

On the other side of the Dominerd-Fan sandwich, the impact of Drago's fist pushes them both back down onto the drill with some borderline uncomfortable symbolism, and thought the penetration the second defender suffers is somewhat less brutal, it is no less final for it. There's a moment, briefly, when the very tip of Aya's Drill brushes Drago's armoured fist; just the tip, just for a moment, then there is stillness again, with no viruses left between them.

Of to the side a little bit, Suzume applies her own brand of extreme overkill to the remaining virus, severely frying the poor thing beyond all reason. As if on cue, one of the patchwork parts holding the loud-hailer alarm together gave out, at last, and merciful silence returned to the area.



-=Viruses=-

RustinerdA: DELETED
RustinerdB: DELETED
RustinerdC: DELETED
RustFanA: DELETED
RustFanB: DELETED
RustBox: DELETED
RustGear: DELETED
RustGear: DELETED

-=Allies=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 200/200 [Metal]
Suzume.SP: 80/80 [Metal]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal]


-=Battle 8 Victory!=-

Spoils: 2280z, 38 BugFrags
Finally the alarms stopped blaring, plunging the area back into silence. The three Navis breathed a sigh of relief that this tough battle was finally over. They began collecting the spoils in silence, each of them somewhat out of breath after running around in the heat all day, while wearing heavy metal armor. DragonierMan broke the silence after they had transferred the reward data. "Let's rest here for a few minutes. The day has been taxing and we have a semi-defensible position upon this platform."

The girls shook their heads in agreement and then collapsed upon the platform. Suzume sprawled out on her back while Aya curled up on her side, looking out over the area they were heading in before stopping here. Drago just plopped down near them on his butt. Sitting with crossed legs.

[Requesting Battle 9]
If Drago and the girls were hoping for a decent rest break, they were, sadly, disappointed. Having gathered their spoils from the previous scrap, they only had a precious few moments to actually rest before a shout broke the air.

"What's all the noise!? I swear, if that's you trying to scavenge parts again, Tell, I'll string you up for a week! Had enough of you stealing parts for your damn junk fort!"

The sound came from a higher walkway, between the various pseudo industrial-military grade structures to the right, where a single navi had apparently come out to inspect the siren. He had a long rifle over one shoulder and was dressed in red and grey Hades-camo appropriate fatigues, with heavy boots, a round soldier's helm and a crumpled cigar in one corner of his mouth. On looking down to see Drago and the girls, though, and more notably, the fact that the area's defences had all been destroyed, his brow furrow.

Moving a little further down the walkway, he jumped and slid down a ladder with one hand and ran to the rail of the lower platform to get a better look.

"Huh. You ain't Tell. This is new." With a growl he began thumping on the platform with one boot. "Oi! Wake up you louts. Battle stations, now!!" Sounds of activity began around Dargo's platform as previously dormant viruses began to show themselves. The soldier looked over the field, then changed his cigar to the other side. "Don't you die too quick, I'll be right down!" He called out, presumably to the intruders (though given the state of the viruses they'd seen so far, he could have been talking to anyone), then retreated from the rail and disappeared into the nearest door. He was, no doubt, coming to crash the party as well, but for now the trio had more present concerns.

There was the rough, stuttering sound of heavy machinery coming to life, and the trundle of thick treads beginning to move. A crash and a crunch heralds some of the dilapidated military tanks that had previously been blocked behind debris, old barrels, and piled up with other junk, pushing themselves forward from the right, and scattering junk everywhere as they did.

The largest one rolled out from between the structures on the right, behind where the trio had come from and turned its main turret towards their platform. It was painted all over in Hades red, but the pain was flaked off in many places, revealing a green base metal. The front of the tank bore a large, intimidating roller, spiked and low to the ground that likely served equally well for mine sweeping, and crushing intruders alike. Strangely, the textured patterning on the roller itself looked unarguably like wood grain. The sides of the tank were well armoured, and the main gun bore a protective shutter as well, but top was still exposed to allow for a variety of sensitive-looking monitoring equipment, and the glowing radiator at the back looked particularly vulnerable.

On either side of it, two much smaller tanks also trundled into view. These ones looked more or less like regular Catacks, however, they bore block white letter print where their military designates would normally be, marking them as "CATACK-EX". Even so, they seemed to be suffering the same neglect as many of the other viruses in this installation; the one closest to the platform in particular looked to have partially compromised armour and severely degraded bearings on its main gun; if it had been an Ex variant once, at this point it couldn't possibly be any more effective than a base model.

Sounds also emanated from the stack of missile shells below the platform, and after a moment or two, the whole pile shuddered, then burst outward in a hap-hazard cascade of metal. The cause of the sudden explosion was a virus that floated and spun in the air a short way off the ground, turning over on itself and spinning as it scanned the area. At first glance, it looked a little bit like a Yort, even though such viruses weren't normally native to these nets, but a closer look showed that it was much larger, and had three body partitions instead of two. Jet black fins stood out from the body pods, on the tops and bottoms of each, as well as two smaller ones on the outsides, all of which twitched and moved as it manoeuvred easily in the air, propelled by miniature jet thrusters that angled and compensated with surprising efficiency. The projectile components of the virus looked at fist like simply black discs, rather than yo-yos, but as it did a quick loop of the area, the discs extended, split up the middle, and began to spin quickly, revealing a wicked set of curved blades each.

The scattered pile of missile shells also revealed two other things; a rather dazed and perturbed old Drixol that looked more rust than virus, and probably couldn't even turn its drill any more, and a glowing green prism that spun slowly, unconcerned by the impending violence.

Unfortunately for Drago and the girls, if most of the viruses seemed to be suffering from poor maintenance and neglect, it looked as though the commander had paid special attention to his more unique specimens. In striking contrast to the others, the two unusual viruses looked to be well cared for and fully functional; no rust on them.


-=Second Wave Defenders=-

Shredder MkII: 370Hp [Metal][Free-Flying][Near the centre of the area]

Flintlock: 230Hp [Normal][South-East end of zone]

Catack: 120Hp [Metal][South-East end of Zone][Dilapidated Parts]
Catack: Ex 160Hp [Normal][South-East end of Zone][Dilapidated Parts]
Drixol: 90Hp [Metal][Near the base of the platform][Dilapidated Parts]

-=Second Winded Allies=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 200/200 [Metal][On the Raised Platform]
Suzume.SP: 80/80 [Metal][On the Raised Platform]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal][On the Raised Platform]

-=Second Battle on this Terrain=-

20% Missing [Scattered Patches]
50% Metal [Majority]
10% Normal [Scattered Panels]
10% Furnace [two small patches on the raised platform]
10% Cracked [Bottom of the Stairs]

Roughly rectangular area, mostly metal to the north end as it ventures into more industrial/military landscape, with some normal ground to the south. A raised platform takes up a portion of the space, occupying some of the left (west) hand side, and the northern end. Narrow stairs lead up to it running up south to north, in the crook of the 'L' shape.

To the right (east), the terrain grows increasingly occupied by debris and partial structures.

-=Second Shiny Found!=-

GMD: 25Hp [Ground level, by the southern end of the platform, where the missile shells were.]

-=Battle 9, Start!=-
[x1] [x1] [x1] -EX [x1] [x1]

DragonierMan took to the air immediately after the giant, multi-segmented drill, not even giving orders to the twins. They didn't need much incentive though to go immediately after the giant tank and its buddies, leaving the aerial battle to the one who could actually fly. Drago formed a glowing field around himself as he got right up into the virus' face, daring the creature to attack him. He drew his arm back and waited to counterattack with a strong punch to the gut and/or middle section of the virus. He would aim his teleport to what looked like an exposed section of the virus, smashing into it with the strength of a bear.

He then maneuvered around the virus while in the air, trying to stay within striking distance of the Shredder MkII. He danced with the virus, spinning and rolling around with it as it flew. The creature would find it hard to get away with Drago flying tight in its airspace. Once another opening revealed itself, Drago's right arm became a great drill. He thrust the spinning death-top at the exposed joints of the virus, trying to wedge the drill deep within and break through to the other side, damaging the internal connections of the segments. The screech of spinning and splitting metal filled the air, hurting the ears, assuming of course that he connected with his attack.

Naturally such an attack would cause considerable damage to the virus. Any sane individual, virus or no, would try their best to get away from such pain. The Shredder MkII would probably try to boost away, keeping a good distance from Drago. However, Drago did his best to keep up with the twisting virus. He spread his astral wings and continued to dog the virus as it spun through the air. Bringing out a wrecking ball on a heavy chain, Drago kept close to the virus as he swung the heavy thing around, bashing at the virus. After the swing, he launched it at the virus at almost point-blank range, hoping to keep beating it until it submitted to deletion. Never giving it a moments reprieve.

Suzume and Aya waited on the raised platform as the majority of the viruses approached from the south-east. They waited for the largish tank, the Flintlock, to fire its main cannon. In order for the virus to fire its main cannon, it probably had to drop the forward armor that was covering the cannon. Until it did that, the two SPs moved around a little on top of the metal platform, trying to dodge any attacks made by the other viruses. The two girls kicked off the railings to gain air, or rolled along the floor, or jumped and somersaulted all over the place. Though they never left the platform, unless the Flintlock tank came too close to the platform that it would start rolling right over it or demolish it with its giant roller.

All the while, they kept their eyes on the Flintlock tank. Gauging its distance and speed. Weighing every little niggling detail to make sure that when it did drop its defenses, the twins wouldn't need much time to line up a shot.

When the Flintlock finally dropped its forward protection to fire, the twins retaliated with twin blasts of white-hot tank fire of their own. The high-energy shells spit from their hands as if they were cannons and screamed across the broken and blasted terrain to explode into the ranks of the three oncoming tanks. The two supporting Catacks were probably in close formation to the Flintlock, so they would most likely get caught up in the explosions. The overlapping explosions were focused on the great lumbering beast of a tank. And the two lighted plumes of explosive rounds brightened up the dreary and dark landscape of Hades Net.

Summary
Actions:
1: Counter1 [Acc: S Block, A Return; (1-Hit I-Field) + (Counter(70 Null Damage + Impact + Break): On-Hit).] on DragonierMan.
*Dragon's Wings [Signature]: Passive Movement to get right up in the Shredder MkII's face.
S1: Dodge.
*Streak of Light [Signature]: Passive Movement away from Flintlock if it gets within roller range. Otherwise stay on the Raised Platform.
A1: Dodge.
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement away from Flintlock if it gets within roller range. Otherwise stay on the Raised Platform.
2: Dodge or Feint or Passive Movement. Whatever it takes to keep up with the Shredder MkII while maintaining the highest evasive mode.
3: DrillArm1 [Acc: B; 60 Null Damage Break+ Knockback + Long Attack.] to Shredder MkII.
4: Dodge or Feint or Passive Movement. Whatever it takes to keep up with the Shredder MkII. Whatever it takes to keep up with the Shredder MkII while maintaining the highest evasive mode.
5: HammerToss1 [Acc: 1-3 targets @ B Accuracy; 40 Null Damage + Break + Spin Attack / 80 Null Damage + Break.] to Shredder MkII.
S2: Wait until the Flintlock fires its main cannon, then TankCannon2 [Acc: B (C + Take Aim); 120 Null Damage + Blast2.] to Flintlock, Catack, and Catack-EX.
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim to TankCannon2.
A2: Wait until the Flintlock fires its main cannon, then TankCannon2 [Acc: B (C + Take Aim); 120 Null Damage + Blast2.] to Flintlock, Catack, and Catack-EX.
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim to TankCannon2.

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
With the battle joined, Drago immediately takes wing to harass the Shredder as it surveys the field, raisin It ducks and weaves away, trying to clear itself of the dragonier, but he stays with it. During the aerial interplay, it pulls back slightly and the pucks between its pods split and spin, launching a fast volley of sharp blades at him instead. The whole virus spins as it launches them, each puck flying out as the pod bearing it rotates to face Drago.

They come fast and accurate, and though they don't connect on the out-swing, each puck hangs in the air, then flies back the way it came, recalling just as quickly to the Shredder. Two of the bladed disks manage to clip him in the back, despite his best efforts of staying clear (-15), but for its efforts, the virus gets four things returned to it: three bladed pucks, and a very forceful fist as Drago's counterblow hammers against it, making the virus spin over on its axis quickly before it regains control.

Down below, the tanks begin to move slowly towards the platform that Aya and Suzume hold. They are quite slow though, and it'll be at least a turn or two before hey even reach the stairs. As they advance, the two Catacks raise their turrets first, and one of them lobs a shell towards the platform. The more run down of the two, though, holds its turret high, but nothing emerges. Aya manages to dodge clear of where the first shell falls, but Suzume isn't quite so lucky, buffeted roughly by the explosive blast (-40).

Having made his counter, Drago stays close to his quarry, matching it twist for twist as he readies his next attack. When he finds what looked like an opening he makes a drive directly at the centre of the virus, trying to sunder the pods apart, but even as he strikes, the aggravatingly manoeuvrable Shredder makes an eye-bending helix twist, fins flicking and thrusters bright, curling breathtakingly close around the drill without being touched by it, before dropping down lower, closer to the platform where the twins were. There comes a hum as a large RockCube, coloured in the same black as the Shredder, materialises at the head of the stairs, blocking them off. It isn't really much of an impediment, since they girls could just jump a rail anywhere, though it might make getting back up a touch harder.

The twins themselves were already occupied lining up carefully for their counter shots against the Flintock, and sure enough it pulls the metal shuttering over its main gun to the side as it makes ready to fire. Anticipating the action, the girls are on hair triggers to fire, and Suzume jumps the gun by just a hair; her main shot fails to deal damage to the Flintlock itself, though the blast from her shell rips into the two tanks either side of the large one, blowing the more run down of the two apart altogether, and rending the armour on the other to the point that it barely holds together. A moment later Aya's shot connects, striking the main tank more clearly and dealing substantial damage, though the resulting blast misses out on finishing off the remaining little tank.

The flintlock shudders under the force of the shell, but returns fire a moment later, sending a cannon shell... wait, scratch that... a rather large, spinning coconut, at the platform. The shell lands with impressive impact and force, creating a tangible blast wave, but fortunately, it does so more towards the middle of the platform, and both girls manage to get clear of its destructive force without any further harm.

Up above, Drago continues to pursue the evasive Shredder, spiked weight spinning. Though he can't quite connect with the initial spins of the chain, his release seems to catch the virus off guard, smashing the ball hard into one of is pods and sending the menace spinning again, but just as he releases the weapon, the Flintlock, below, snaps its turret up towards him, small targeting lasers either side of the main gun cross-hairing him in a flash. The dragonier performs emergency evasive actions, but the turret twitches with his dodge as it fires a painfully accurate shot. The round only strikes his leg mid-evade, and the damage is relatively minor (-20), however something more worrisome begins to occur within moments. A rush of lock-out data runs through his systems, invading Drago's customiser and causing the FloatShoes program to temporarily shut off. Without its extra power, the dragonier quickly begins to lose altitude, dropping swiftly to the panels as he becomes unable to maintain full flight.

He lands quite close to the old Drixol, which was only now really getting a handle on the idea that there was a battle going on. It looks at Drago and begins trying to spin its drill, but the poor virus is so rusted up that it won't even turn. Exasperated, it begins to bang its drill-bit on the metal panelling beneath it in an attempt to break the rusty seal.

-=Second Wave Defenders=-

Shredder MkII: 220Hp [Metal][Free-Flying][Above the Platform]

Flintlock: 110Hp [Metal][South-East end of zone, moving towards the Platform]

Catack: DELETED
Catack-Ex: 40Hp [Normal][South-East end of Zone][Dilapidated Parts]
Drixol: 90Hp [Metal][Near the base of the platform][Dilapidated Parts]

-=Second Winded Allies=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 165/200 [Metal][Grounded near the base of the platform][FloatShoes uninstalled until end of battle]
Suzume.SP: 40/80 [Metal][On the Raised Platform]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal][On the Raised Platform]

-=Second Battle on this Terrain=-

20% Missing [Scattered Patches]
50% Metal [Majority]
10% Normal [Scattered Panels]
10% Furnace [two small patches on the raised platform]
10% Cracked [Bottom of the Stairs]

Roughly rectangular area, mostly metal to the north end as it ventures into more industrial/military landscape, with some normal ground to the south. A raised platform takes up a portion of the space, occupying some of the left (west) hand side, and the northern end. Narrow stairs lead up to it running up south to north, in the crook of the 'L' shape.

To the right (east), the terrain grows increasingly occupied by debris and partial structures.

-=Second Shiny Found!=-

GMD: 25Hp [Ground level, by the southern end of the platform, where the missile shells were.]
Suzume clutched her burned side, having been caught in the blast. It hurt, but she had to continue. As she willed herself to her feet, she sung softly to herself, as a mother would to a child with a scraped knee to keep their mind off the pain. She focused on her voice to the exclusion of the pain, which was quickly changing from sharp and acute, to dull and throbbing. The words knitting her injury as she moved on the platform, trying desperately not to get hit again.

Aya frowned at the sudden stone block that barred one of their escape routes, but continued to weave around the platform as she kept her eyes on the two remaining tanks. Waiting until the big one opened up its protective shell to attack had been the right move. So both girls waited for a repeat performance. Electrical energy began building in their arms, readying to attack with a slightly higher level of force. As the big tank was still rolling along on metal flooring.

DragonierMan took the opportunity to charge the currently distracted Drixol. His form blurred as he quickly covered the space between them. Energy formed around his shoulder as he went to body-check the virus into the low-hanging railings of the platform, crushing it against the cold metal that it was banging its rusted head against. Drago then disappeared, and reappeared moments later, back where he started. He took a moment to look up and see where the flying virus was before he roared up at the sky. "You're lucky that your buddy took out my wings, or you would have been in the scrap heap! What, you can't fight for yourself? You weak, cowardly, piece of junk!" And with that taunt, his wounds began to steam and close over. He then launched forward, weaving around the supports of the platform. He used the platform itself as a shield against the rain of bladed pucks from an angry virus

As he weaved around the platform, he took fiery potshots at the virus above. Flinging flaming birds from his arms like a falconer hunting birds. The flaming falcons took flight from the ground, spreading their long crimson wings, set alight and burning bright. They flew with all speed towards their target, setting the air on fire with their passing. Streaking through the Shredder MkII's airspace. Searing the metal where it would hit.

Suzume and Aya launched their salvos against the tanks as they were about to barrage the twins with explosive rounds. Suzume's singing reaches a crescendo as a giant, roaring, storm dragon leaps from her body and charges across the field towards the two tanks. Aya shoots a much less impressive looking exploding bolt of electrical energy at the large tank, which explodes out towards the back and sides of the target location, hoping to catch the smaller tank in the "T". Assuming that the tanks were still on metal, they would take amplified damage from the electricity.

Summary
Actions:
1: DashAttack1 [Acc: C; 90 Null Damage + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement.] to Drixol.
2: Dragon's Bravura [Signature]: [Dodge + 30 Healing [2 TCD].] to DragonierMan.
*Dragon's Wings [Signature]: Passive Movement around the platform, in an effort to evade the flying Shredder MkII, and to get into a position to attack it.
S1: Aria of Renewal [Signature]: [Dodge + 30 Healing [2 TCD].] to Suzume.
*Streak of Light [Signature]: Passive Movement around the top of the platform.
A1: Dodge.
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement around the top of the platform.
3: PhoenixShot2 [Acc: A; 90 Fire Damage + Wide Attack.] to Shredder MkII.
4: Dodge.
5: PhoenixShot2 [Acc: A; 90 Fire Damage + Wide Attack.] to Shredder MkII.

~~Note: The following attacks do double damage against those on Metal Terrain.~~

S2: Wait until the Flintlock tries to fire its main cannon (or drops the protective plating), then ElecDragon1 [Acc: B (C + Take Aim); 100 Elec Damage + Ground Attack + Medium Area Magnet Terrain Change + Terrain Changer.] to Flintlock and Catack-Ex.
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on ElecDragon1.
A2: Wait until the Flintlock tries to fire its main cannon (or drops the protective plating), then ElecReel1 [Acc: A (B + Take Aim); 80 Elec Damage + Spread3 (Side + Behind).] to Flintlock and Catack-Ex.
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on ElecReel1.

~~Note: The proceeding attacks do double damage against those on Metal Terrain.~~

Other Effects:
1: Dragon's Bravura [Signature]: 2 Turns.
2: Aria of Renewal [Signature]: 2 Turns.

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Though he may have been grounded temporarily, Drago was far from out, and he redirected his ire at falling squarely onto the dilapidated Drixol, still tyring futilely to free its drill enough to turn properly. As Drago rushed it, the virus responded on instinct, jumping up to charge at him in kind, but its drill was still stuck, and all that actually happened was that it met its heavily impacted fate that little bit sooner.

At first, it seemed as though Drago's taunts at the Shredder went unheeded. It tipped a fin mockingly at him and turned to aim itself directly at the platform the girls were on. They were both keeping mobile on their vantage point, darting about eratically even as Aya patched herself up, and the Shredder countered by turning side on and making another quick spin, this time launching its three bladed pucks flatter to the ground, more like actual hockey pucks. Each one struck the platform and began to carom about madly, bouncing off the walls, and even the RockCube blocking the stairs a few times, growing increasingly hard to predict in the small space.

Even so, the style of its assault meant that it wasn't aiming specifically at either girl, simply trying to shred them in the melee of bouncing pucks, and the girls themselves proved both fast and nimble. There were only two occasions where either of them came close to being hit, but in each case, firs Aya then Suzume managed to dodge out of the way at the last moment. When the three pucks reached their limit, they all shattered on their final impact, and regenerated right away between the Shredder's pods.

Preoccupied with its attack on the platform, the shredder had made the mistake of staying still for far too long, and Drago capitalised with a burning phoenix shot that scorched one of the virus' pods and make smoke pour from one vent. It immediately peeled off evasively, lining up to address DragonierMan again, but even as it did he ducked out from his partial cover between the supports of the platform and scorched the flying menace a second time. It turned over on itself, spinning on both axis as it fought to maintain stability.

Meanwhile, the relentless march of the Flintlock and its one remaining vanguard continued, albeit, very slowly. The smaller tank opened fire on the platform first, sending another shell towards the girls, the shot was targeted more at Suzume than Aya, this time, and missed the latter girl altogether. Unlike last time, however, Suzume managed to dart clear of the impact zone as well, this time. Almost as though they had planned for it, this left both girls up at the railing and ready to launch the second round of their counter-offensive against the tanks. When the flintlock opened its shutter again, they both cut loose.

Suzume's dragon took the lead first, roaring out across the ground and transforming all in its wake. The two tanks had almost reached the platform, but by some misfortune of angles the electrical dragon managed to roar past both of them without striking, though it did magnetise the panelling beneath the smaller tank, and the panels under one side of the larger one, promptly locking both in place and preventing them from moving any further.

Aya's strike followed right behind, and though the flintlock managed to fire a shell at the platform, the crackling electricity still struck home before it could close its shutter again. The smaller tank was thoroughly smoked, and though half of the panels beneath the Flintlock had been magnetised, the remainder were still pure metal, and they arced the energy back, sending enough volts through it to cause a few sparks, a bang and then a heavy, shuddering sigh as the behemoth finally gave up the ghost.

The Shreder had managed to right itself and regain control, though it was badly damaged now, with two fins broken, one thruster failing, and two of its three pods badly scorched. Smoke poured from several of its exhaust vents, but it wasn't prepared to be a graceful loser just yet. It rolled over and lined itself up with Drago, sighting at him between the supports of the platform, then all of its pucks extended and opened, blades spinning. Its thrusters roared and the virus rocketed down towards him with unexpected speed, ramming directly at the navi responsible.

Drago managed to dodge out of the way of his critically damaged foe; the main supporting pillar of the platform didn't have that luxury. There was a brutal crash and the shriek of tearing metal as the platform shook, then as the virus itself braked and began to pull away and bank, the whole platform shuddered and tipped, beginning to collapse at the southernmost end, until it more resembled an unstable and too-steep ramp, than anything else. The shaking and collapse of the platform made holding their balance hard; Aya ended up safe, but at the bottom of the newly formed slope, back at ground level, while Suzume managed to remain more securely on the upper end of the ledge, on the section that hadn't collapsed.

The Shredder limped back into clear air space, unwilling to admit defeat despite its bad damage. By some good fortune, all the fighting around it hadn't managed to destroy the glowing crystal, though several attacks from both sides had come shockingly close.



-=Second Wave Defenders=-

Shredder MkII: 40Hp [Metal][Free-Flying][Above the Remains of Platform]

Flintlock: DELETED

Catack: DELETED
Catack-Ex: DELETED
Drixol: DELETED

-=Second Winded Allies=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 195/200 [Metal][Grounded near collapsed end of the platform][FloatShoes uninstalled until end of battle]
Suzume.SP: 70/80 [Metal][On the North end of the Raised Platform]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal][Base of the collapsed ramp, quite close to Drago]

-=Second Battle on this Terrain=-

15% Missing [Scattered Patches]
40% Metal [Majority]
5% Normal [Scattered Panels]
10% Furnace [two small patches on the raised platform]
5% Cracked [Bottom of the Stairs]
25% Magnet [Between the bottom of the collapsed platform, and the remains of the Flintlock]

Roughly rectangular area, mostly metal to the north end as it ventures into more industrial/military landscape, with some normal ground to the south. A raised platform takes up a portion of the space, occupying some of the left (west) hand side, and the northern end. Narrow stairs lead up to it running up south to north, in the crook of the 'L' shape. The souther section of the platform has been collapsed, creating a steep ramp, running in the same direction as the original stairs.

To the right (east), the terrain grows increasingly occupied by debris and partial structures.

-=Second Shiny Found!=-

GMD: 25Hp [Ground level, by the southern end of the platform, where the missile shells were.]
DragonierMan rushed over and around the collapsing platform to the GMD, grabbing it, but not opening it. Meanwhile, the twins vacated the collapsing platform and made their way to a safe spot free from unstable terrain. They then turned their attention to the sky, and the virus that still inhabited it. Taking aim at the virus with their keen senses, they launched a SAM attack. Suzume twirled out of her holsters a trio of kunai and threw them at the virus above. Aya charged electricity again and lobbed a ball of exploding electricity into the air from her hands. The three daggers raced through the air alongside the burning ball of plasma, glaring like a flare into the darkened Hades sky. Dodging four projectiles would probably be too much of a strain for the wounded, flying giant.

Dodging and weaving away from platform with the GMD in hand, Drago took a moment to launch another falcon at the Shredder MkII. This time the raptor moved on wings of water. The tail end of the water bird rained down upon the dusty and dry Hades ground, causing little pillars of steam to rise up where the drops fell. The river given form stretched its wide wingspan outwards to its full length before it burst around the large virus, dousing the air with freezing water. It was quite a sudden temperature change from the searing heat of the previous two fiery falcons. The resulting expanding and contracting of metal would not be good for the metal virus.

Summary
Actions:
1: Dodge.
*Dragon's Wings [Signature]: Passive Movement to GMD.
S1: Dodge.
*Streak of Light [Signature]: Passive Movement away from the platform to a stable location.
A1: Dodge.
*Shadow Step [Signature]: Passive Movement away from the platform to a stable location.
2: Grab the GMD and then Movement away from the platform to a stable location.
S2: Kunai1 [Acc: A (B + Take Aim); 30 Null Damage + Slashing x 3 Kunai + Variable Targeting.] to Shredder MkII.
*Divine the Strike [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on Kunai1.
A2: ElecReel1 [Acc: A (B + Take Aim); 80 Elec Damage + Spread3 (Side + Behind).] to Shredder MkII.
*Hunter's Eyes [Signature]: Passive Take Aim on ElecReel1.
3: Dodge.
4: WideShot1 [Acc: A; 70 Aqua Damage + Wide Attack.] to Shredder MkII.
5: Dodge.

Other Effects:
1: Dragon's Bravura [Signature]: 1 Turn.
2: Aria of Renewal [Signature]: 1 Turn.

DragonierMan
OmniShoes [NaviCust]: Navi has the combined benefits of AirShoes and FloatShoes and can also fly freely.
UnderShirt [NaviCust]: Navi is protected from fatal hits, causing him to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Suzume
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Aya
Flight - Planeswalking [SP]: As FloatShoes: Ignores effects from panels except broken/missing.
Second Chance [SP]: As Undershirt: SP is protected from fatal hits, causing her to drop to 1 HP instead of EJO. Does not work when at 1 HP.
Drago and the twins didn't let up the assault, and though the crippled Shredder managed to weave out of the way of one volley, and avoided another as it attempted to ram them again, it failed to connect, and was finally crushed under the force of their attacks. It hit the ground which a mechanical whine, then slowly began to break apart, leaving only Drago and the girls still standing.

There was no sign of the figure from before just yet, though; they had enough of a breather to collect their spoils and maybe check the contents of the mystery data before he showed up, if they were quick.


-=Second Wave Defenders=-

Shredder MkII: DELETED
Flintlock: DELETED
Catack: DELETED
Catack-Ex: DELETED
Drixol: DELETED

-=Second Winded Allies=-

DragonierMan.EXE: 195/200 [Metal]
Suzume.SP: 70/80 [Metal]
Aya.SP: 80/80 [Metal]

-=Second Battle on this Terrain=-

15% Missing [Scattered Patches]
40% Metal [Majority]
5% Normal [Scattered Panels]
10% Furnace [two small patches on the raised platform]
5% Cracked [Bottom of the Stairs]
25% Magnet [Between the bottom of the collapsed platform, and the remains of the Flintlock]

Roughly rectangular area, mostly metal to the north end as it ventures into more industrial/military landscape, with some normal ground to the south. A raised platform takes up a portion of the space, occupying some of the left (west) hand side, and the northern end. Narrow stairs lead up to it running up south to north, in the crook of the 'L' shape. The souther section of the platform has been collapsed, creating a steep ramp, running in the same direction as the original stairs.

To the right (east), the terrain grows increasingly occupied by debris and partial structures.

-=Battle 9, Victory!=-

2520z, TankCannon1, 50 Bugfrags.

Open GMD (Y/N)?