DragonierMan alighted to the ground with Roc and stood before the tank, fangs bared. "No, no one has jurisdiction here," he growled back. "SafariMan is our prey. Even though you want him intact and in cuffs, that won't fly with us." He spat on the ground. "He calls himself the best hunter around. He thinks he can just tag us like some animal and follow us around. HE challenged US in the most disrespectful manner possible. He dug his grave. But we are going to put him in it."
"Hell, he even paid us to do it too. So you will have to wait your turn. You can have what's left of him after we are done showing him the error of his ways," Drago said as he flexed his clawed, gauntleted hands. He looked up as Oxybelle talked about sharing intel if they didn't jack-out. He laughed. "Hahaha! Jack-out? No, no, no. If anyone thinks we would run like cowards, they have another thing coming."
He snorted, steam shooting from his nostrils. "Bah! Fine. What is your precious intel. We'll 'share' if you have anything of value. Just make it quick, we're burning up daylight." Drago would stay to listen to Oxybelle and offer all the information he had learned thus far about the competition and SafariMan, the stakes, and the resources that he seemed to possess. If anything, having more prepared and informed 'players' on the board would divert resources and attention away from SafariMan, potentially leaving an opening for him to exploit.
Another dragon? Magistrate and Suzume thought. If they couldn't see the scoreboard from where they were, they would try to recall the board after DragonierMan and Nightshade registered. There were two 'Dog's listed before, it was reasonable to assume that two 'Dragon's could be as well. "You can let him go now," Magistrate stated to HoundMan from her position near the mouth of the room, standing by Suzume. Magistrate gave FeilongMan an appraising up-and-down scan with her eyes. "He clearly is not a threat to us," she assessed. Whether that was true or not was anyone's guess. Most likely Magistrate's superiority complex was in the fore when making that decision.
"What are you doing in here?" Suzume asked FeilongMan, stepping past HoundMan towards the drone. She didn't even bother to check to see whether either of the men needed patching up from the scuffle. Clearly she thought nothing of it as she continued. "Trying to see how it works perhaps? Trying to get a trace?"
"Let me have a look at it then," Magistrate said, almost commanded, as she attempted to get by FeilongMan and Suzume to get to the drone. "I have more experience with these kinds of systems." It would be interesting to see how FeilongMan and HoundMan reacted to the fact that they were being pretty much ignored by the two dragoniers.
"That is at least two of them so far," Aya commented as they dusted one of the SafariMen that came from the grass. Her ears twitched as the sound of the rumbling drew closer. "And it sounds like more on the way." Her hand came up and stroked her chin. "Clearly we were right about us being the hunted here. But what is his goal? Wearing us down with swarms of sacrificial pawns?"
She looked back at Bullrun and Nightshade, then shook her head. "If he thinks that would work, he's in for a rude awakening." She then jogged back to Nightshade, lowering her voice so that only he would hear. "Sounds like you lost. Are you going to give up your armor to the Bloodhound?" she asked. "We can get you a replacement afterwards. After all, it's just clothes."
"Anyways," Aya said straightening up and raising her voice so that Bullrun could hear as well. "I don't know about you, but I am not a runner," she said, even though she had run from things in the past. "I'm going to head in the direction that these guys are coming from and bring the fight to them. You coming?" she asked Bullrun, before spreading her wings.
If Nightshade wanted, Aya would pick him up and carry him as she went the direction she assumed the SafariMen were coming from. She would carry him with her arms locked around his chest, and threaded under his armpits. It would allow her to quickly release him and let him drop if they needed.
SafariMan's Zodiac Challenge
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Nighty literally jumped on BullRun's arm with all of his bodyweight trying to push but to no avail. The bloodhound was just too strong. She efforleslly smashed the rock and proceeded to lift the little cat mangled to her arm with ease.
The little cat like navi didn't like losing too much and certainly didn't want to part ways with his awesome clothing. Thankfully,Aya was able to somewhat quench his extremely pouty face as he reluctantly gave up his robes. If anything, he was a navi of his world.
Turning over to his big sister as she talked to him about a replacement he poked at her chest. They were roughly the same size. She was just a fair bit taller yet their energy levels were miles apart. While Nighty would feel like a bubbly bouncy bundle of hyperactive static electricity, Aya was more akin to a raging inferno. He glued himself to his sister's waist as the new clone navi attacked, hissing at it. The little cat didn't like Aya getting into trouble a whole lot if at all.
"Can I try your armor, big sis?" he asked, kind of excited about trying out the jet black and purple dragonieer armor. It was way slimmer than Drago's own, but he was sure he was feel just as good. As much as he loved Drago's calm yet almost unlimited energy, he seemed to enjoy's Aya's presence so much more.
Perhaps something about how she acted. By now anyone knew Nighty was attracted to imposing personas, perhaps even more so to dominant, proud behaviour Aya always had.
Still half pouty about losing to Bullrun, but somewhat excited, he quietly awaited his sister's decision. He would follow her every command to the letter. She did have way more experience than him.
The little cat like navi didn't like losing too much and certainly didn't want to part ways with his awesome clothing. Thankfully,Aya was able to somewhat quench his extremely pouty face as he reluctantly gave up his robes. If anything, he was a navi of his world.
Turning over to his big sister as she talked to him about a replacement he poked at her chest. They were roughly the same size. She was just a fair bit taller yet their energy levels were miles apart. While Nighty would feel like a bubbly bouncy bundle of hyperactive static electricity, Aya was more akin to a raging inferno. He glued himself to his sister's waist as the new clone navi attacked, hissing at it. The little cat didn't like Aya getting into trouble a whole lot if at all.
"Can I try your armor, big sis?" he asked, kind of excited about trying out the jet black and purple dragonieer armor. It was way slimmer than Drago's own, but he was sure he was feel just as good. As much as he loved Drago's calm yet almost unlimited energy, he seemed to enjoy's Aya's presence so much more.
Perhaps something about how she acted. By now anyone knew Nighty was attracted to imposing personas, perhaps even more so to dominant, proud behaviour Aya always had.
Still half pouty about losing to Bullrun, but somewhat excited, he quietly awaited his sister's decision. He would follow her every command to the letter. She did have way more experience than him.
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Aya had trouble looking at Nightshade's pouting form. She wasn't a babysitter after all. She didn't know how to handle sad kids. After looking around a bit to make sure they still were clear for the moment, she reached over and patted Nightshade on the head in an effort to console him a little. What else could she do in the middle of a battlefield? "We... we should... wait." she said hesitantly. "At least until we aren't in immediate danger... before looking at clothing options," she explained.
"Let's go deal with SafariMan first. Okay?" she said. "If you remember, when we're done here we'll be able to get you a new dragon pet as well," she reminded him. "A new suit of armor and a dragon mount. You'll be pretty cool."
"Let's go deal with SafariMan first. Okay?" she said. "If you remember, when we're done here we'll be able to get you a new dragon pet as well," she reminded him. "A new suit of armor and a dragon mount. You'll be pretty cool."
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Oxybelle did her best to ignore the taunt about the NetPolice's jurisdiction; it was no secret that the NetPolice preferred the version of the net that treated them as policing everywhere, not the new one where people picked their own allegiances. For now, DragonierMan had given her a lot of new information that she needed to focus on. "Tagging you like animals? Elaborate more on that, please," she insisted; she knew enough to know SafariMan presented a danger, but not enough to know his specific goals. "Oh, we weren't already sharing intel? Er..."
Once DragonierMan had finished blowing smoke, she responded hesitantly. "It sounds like you know more about his motives than I do. At present, I'm awaiting the return of my compatriot, HoundMan, and two flying civilians who went down with him. We're know there are other 'contestants' hiding in the area and we're trying to discover them before SafariMan finds them. I know that's not very helpful... if you've seen anything else, I may be able to help make sense of it, though. Tell me more about his tagging method... Did you encounter him personally? We know very little of his origins... so much so that, with his resources, we have to imagine that he created the persona just for this one... but the more specific you can be, the closer I can build a profile of potential criminals. If we can identify him completely, there may be no need for the game of hide-and-seek after all,. We could simply go after them in a more traditional manner," the girl inside the tank ensured them.
"Heh, if you can tell us who he is, that oughta help us track'em down. Not that I'm saying we aren't still going to rip him to shreds," Roc snickered.
"... Well?" Oxybelle persisted. The ram's head on the tank raised one wooden brow, giving it an odd level of expressiveness.
"Uh... There's all these fat-asses in stupid khaki explorer suits with big dumb elephant guns... There was some chocolate cake girl rootin' through the leaves... Grr, you tell her," Roc insisted, nudging her partner with one elbow.
--------------------------
Much like Oxybelle on the outside, FeilongMan was forced to take a stern frown and swallow his pride for the sake of returning civility to a meeting that threatened to spark like a powder-keg, if everyone kept rising to each other's taunts. HoundMan, for his part, was completely obedient, releasing the dragon-headed man as soon as he was instructed, then snapping a salute. "Ahem... Straight to it then. Yes, I've been taking apart one of these monitor drones in order to discover all of its functions and hopefully who it belongs to," he continued, crossing both hands behind his back. His neck slithered distractedly as he talked, circling around Suzume to inspect the device. "This cave is the only safe place I could think of to conduct the work, since it is, so far, the only place the machines have proven unable to follow me down into. "
He arced one long, bushy eyebrow as Magistrate interjected herself into the conversation, announcing her intention to learn what he could not. He seemed like he wanted to defend his qualifications (after all, he probably wouldn't have abducted one of the things and started disassembling it if he didn't know what he was doing), but he simply blew a ring of smoke from his nostrils and continued. "Be my guest; my analysis is just about complete. All I've discovered so far is that the technology is of Mafia origin... it belongs to a criminal named Gala. Normally, this machinery would be found inside her mansion, along with all manner of traps and technology used for her twisted, deadly games... I can only imagine what brings them all the way out here. Is it possible she's the one behind this 'safari' charade? It seems unlikely... From what I hear, she prefers to mask everything as a party. This is not the most glamorous locale," he mused.
It seemed unlikely there'd be further analysis to perform on the machine. The robot was scorched, presumably by the dragon's breath, and had been cracked in half like a roughly handled PET. Several pieces had been removed from its frame and lined up on the table next to it, with neatness that was almost amusing next to the rough shape of the machine itself. Wires were spilling out from its inner cavities; they'd been disconnected. "There's only so much you're going to be able to do with this one. I'm afraid that I didn't anticipate getting a second opinion on this," he suggested, shaking his head. If she had the technical know-how, ever, she'd find a few options: first-off, she might be able to reactivate the upper portion by reattaching the severed wires, though one could speculate what might happen if she did... presumably not much, considering the robots were seemingly not active threats. The second option: she could continue to tear the thing apart and see if it had any further imprinting or unique pieces that might give more clues to its construction or its origins.
"The caves are a good hiding place... So good, that I theorize if the other survivors were intelligent enough, they'd have flocked deeper within as well," FeilongMan proposed.
"Then let's head deeper in!" HoundMan immediately proposed. "Rescuing survivors is our objective, aroo!"
--------------------------------
"Now you're speakin' my language!" Bullrun agreed. "I'll stomp my hoof-print into the head of each and every one of these hunters." She turned around with a somewhat confused smile, watching Nightshade undress. "What...? Uh, sorry Buster, but that was a joke. Your stuff ain't really my size and it don't look like it's worth anything neither!" she laughed, though she was grinning mean-spiritedly at the whole affair. Her grin stuck, but her eyes narrowed. "I'm not gonna let you slow us down either, kitty cat. Suck it up and focus if you wanna be useful to me and yer 'big sis,' heh heh..."
She shrugged, then crossed her arms behind her back. "Good pep talk! He can run around in the nude for all I care, but if he's gonna redress, he better do it fast-" she reminded the two of them, before grabbing a gun-barrel from the nearby grass and wrenching it free form the heavy hands holding it, then swinging the weapon into the face of the nearby safari creature, smashing both face and rifle butt into shards and splinters respectively. "They're all here, kids! I'm gettin' a move on," Bullrun bellowed, before hunching forward her shoulders and demonstrating her name-sake, rushing ahead into the grass and mowing down blades as she went, while also knocking over the occasional hunter . It was an impressive sight... except for the fact that she wasn't really following any pattern of foot-traffic at all. At the very least, she'd provide a good distraction while Aya and Nightshade tracked down the source of the creatures.
Aya and Nightshade could tell that the trail led deeper and deeper into the grass, to the point where there was a bit of danger of the ground becoming swampland. That'd make the trail hard to follow, as the footprints vanished first into mud, then into water... but there was still a way to follow the origin. If the two ran head-first into the incoming stone creatures for long enough, they could probably find the source. It wouldn't be comfortable for either of them, especially if Nightshade hadn't redressed... but going by wings above the grass would definitely get them shot at. It might occur to them that hitching a ride with Bullrun could allow them to move very quickly by ground and with the safety of riding a bulldozer, but they'd have to convince her if they wanted to go that avenue. Given her attitude, they might prefer to take their chances on their own.
Once DragonierMan had finished blowing smoke, she responded hesitantly. "It sounds like you know more about his motives than I do. At present, I'm awaiting the return of my compatriot, HoundMan, and two flying civilians who went down with him. We're know there are other 'contestants' hiding in the area and we're trying to discover them before SafariMan finds them. I know that's not very helpful... if you've seen anything else, I may be able to help make sense of it, though. Tell me more about his tagging method... Did you encounter him personally? We know very little of his origins... so much so that, with his resources, we have to imagine that he created the persona just for this one... but the more specific you can be, the closer I can build a profile of potential criminals. If we can identify him completely, there may be no need for the game of hide-and-seek after all,. We could simply go after them in a more traditional manner," the girl inside the tank ensured them.
"Heh, if you can tell us who he is, that oughta help us track'em down. Not that I'm saying we aren't still going to rip him to shreds," Roc snickered.
"... Well?" Oxybelle persisted. The ram's head on the tank raised one wooden brow, giving it an odd level of expressiveness.
"Uh... There's all these fat-asses in stupid khaki explorer suits with big dumb elephant guns... There was some chocolate cake girl rootin' through the leaves... Grr, you tell her," Roc insisted, nudging her partner with one elbow.
--------------------------
Much like Oxybelle on the outside, FeilongMan was forced to take a stern frown and swallow his pride for the sake of returning civility to a meeting that threatened to spark like a powder-keg, if everyone kept rising to each other's taunts. HoundMan, for his part, was completely obedient, releasing the dragon-headed man as soon as he was instructed, then snapping a salute. "Ahem... Straight to it then. Yes, I've been taking apart one of these monitor drones in order to discover all of its functions and hopefully who it belongs to," he continued, crossing both hands behind his back. His neck slithered distractedly as he talked, circling around Suzume to inspect the device. "This cave is the only safe place I could think of to conduct the work, since it is, so far, the only place the machines have proven unable to follow me down into. "
He arced one long, bushy eyebrow as Magistrate interjected herself into the conversation, announcing her intention to learn what he could not. He seemed like he wanted to defend his qualifications (after all, he probably wouldn't have abducted one of the things and started disassembling it if he didn't know what he was doing), but he simply blew a ring of smoke from his nostrils and continued. "Be my guest; my analysis is just about complete. All I've discovered so far is that the technology is of Mafia origin... it belongs to a criminal named Gala. Normally, this machinery would be found inside her mansion, along with all manner of traps and technology used for her twisted, deadly games... I can only imagine what brings them all the way out here. Is it possible she's the one behind this 'safari' charade? It seems unlikely... From what I hear, she prefers to mask everything as a party. This is not the most glamorous locale," he mused.
It seemed unlikely there'd be further analysis to perform on the machine. The robot was scorched, presumably by the dragon's breath, and had been cracked in half like a roughly handled PET. Several pieces had been removed from its frame and lined up on the table next to it, with neatness that was almost amusing next to the rough shape of the machine itself. Wires were spilling out from its inner cavities; they'd been disconnected. "There's only so much you're going to be able to do with this one. I'm afraid that I didn't anticipate getting a second opinion on this," he suggested, shaking his head. If she had the technical know-how, ever, she'd find a few options: first-off, she might be able to reactivate the upper portion by reattaching the severed wires, though one could speculate what might happen if she did... presumably not much, considering the robots were seemingly not active threats. The second option: she could continue to tear the thing apart and see if it had any further imprinting or unique pieces that might give more clues to its construction or its origins.
"The caves are a good hiding place... So good, that I theorize if the other survivors were intelligent enough, they'd have flocked deeper within as well," FeilongMan proposed.
"Then let's head deeper in!" HoundMan immediately proposed. "Rescuing survivors is our objective, aroo!"
--------------------------------
"Now you're speakin' my language!" Bullrun agreed. "I'll stomp my hoof-print into the head of each and every one of these hunters." She turned around with a somewhat confused smile, watching Nightshade undress. "What...? Uh, sorry Buster, but that was a joke. Your stuff ain't really my size and it don't look like it's worth anything neither!" she laughed, though she was grinning mean-spiritedly at the whole affair. Her grin stuck, but her eyes narrowed. "I'm not gonna let you slow us down either, kitty cat. Suck it up and focus if you wanna be useful to me and yer 'big sis,' heh heh..."
She shrugged, then crossed her arms behind her back. "Good pep talk! He can run around in the nude for all I care, but if he's gonna redress, he better do it fast-" she reminded the two of them, before grabbing a gun-barrel from the nearby grass and wrenching it free form the heavy hands holding it, then swinging the weapon into the face of the nearby safari creature, smashing both face and rifle butt into shards and splinters respectively. "They're all here, kids! I'm gettin' a move on," Bullrun bellowed, before hunching forward her shoulders and demonstrating her name-sake, rushing ahead into the grass and mowing down blades as she went, while also knocking over the occasional hunter . It was an impressive sight... except for the fact that she wasn't really following any pattern of foot-traffic at all. At the very least, she'd provide a good distraction while Aya and Nightshade tracked down the source of the creatures.
Aya and Nightshade could tell that the trail led deeper and deeper into the grass, to the point where there was a bit of danger of the ground becoming swampland. That'd make the trail hard to follow, as the footprints vanished first into mud, then into water... but there was still a way to follow the origin. If the two ran head-first into the incoming stone creatures for long enough, they could probably find the source. It wouldn't be comfortable for either of them, especially if Nightshade hadn't redressed... but going by wings above the grass would definitely get them shot at. It might occur to them that hitching a ride with Bullrun could allow them to move very quickly by ground and with the safety of riding a bulldozer, but they'd have to convince her if they wanted to go that avenue. Given her attitude, they might prefer to take their chances on their own.
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DragonierMan blew more smoke as he sighed loudly. "Tagging ammunition. Like tranquilizer darts," he said with vexation. He mimed shooting Oxybelle's tank with a rifle. "Honestly, are you getting enough air in that tank? The smell of wood varnish throwing you for a loop?"
"There is probably a little more to it than that," he conceded. "Otherwise it would be a simple matter to rip the tag out and destroy it. But that is the gist of it. He is attempting to physically tag and track the participants of this game. He probably combed the NET for those that have any rep for being capable enough in combat, and sent the invites to lure us here. It would be easy enough to just up and leave, but he paid good money to the Neo-Shoguns to request me. I am not going to just up and leave when we are getting paid to participate."
He aimed an open palm to a space a few feet away and fired an energy blast from his hand, scorching the ground. "That would be a disservice to the client."
He then reached behind his back and pulled the elephant gun he had "liberated" from one of the SafariMen out, presenting it to the tank. "He seems to have a few of these stone-doll guys with guns helping him out. They are all dressed for safari. I don't know how many of them there are. But with them, and the swarms of flying drones, he has the advantage in personnel."
"Is that enough?" Drago asked with some annoyance, after giving Oxybelle the info-dump. Then he immediately straightened as his distracted lizard brain finally decided to feed him the sound-byte from earlier about 'two flying civilians'. He whirled on Oxybelle's tank. "Did you say two flyers? What were their names? Which way did they go?"
If Oxybelle gave them the directions they needed to go after Magistrate and Suzume, they would part ways. Drago would call on Roc to follow, before flying in the direction indicated.
As Magistrate looked over the drone, Suzume grit her teeth and growled. She was visibly shaking in restrained fury. "Gala?! That witch," she spat. "No wonder we can't communicate. She consistently deals with tech that screws with a navi's coding. Oooh, I hate her so much!"
"Calm yourself Suzume," Magistrate said over her shoulder as she worked. "We already know of her crimes," she added as if HoundMan and FeilongMan were knowledgeable about Gala already. Whether or not that was true was not something that either of the dragonier women knew for certain, but odds were that Magistrate didn't care either way. "Looks like you did a good job on the dissection," Magistrate complimented FeilongMan before pulling a sharp knife from somewhere. She took aim at whatever seam she could get a blade into to pry/cut it open. "But we need to go deeper."
"Suzume, be a dear and go help HoundMan. I am going to stay here for a bit and see if there is anything else left in this thing. We will meet back up after," Magistrate continued to talk to Suzume from over her shoulder. "Um, sure," Suzume said, unsure of the correct course of action. But after looking around and weighing her options, she came to a decision. Squaring her shoulders to the task ahead she waved HoundMan over to her as she took to the entrance deeper into the mountain. "C'mon HoundMan we've got other survivors to find!"
"Looks like you get to keep the clothes on your back after all," Aya said to Nightshade. She then watched as Bullrun tore off into the long grass and begun to bulldoze through the SafariMen. "Okay kid you're up again, what's the call?" Aya asked Nightshade. "Follow or take our own path?"
"There is probably a little more to it than that," he conceded. "Otherwise it would be a simple matter to rip the tag out and destroy it. But that is the gist of it. He is attempting to physically tag and track the participants of this game. He probably combed the NET for those that have any rep for being capable enough in combat, and sent the invites to lure us here. It would be easy enough to just up and leave, but he paid good money to the Neo-Shoguns to request me. I am not going to just up and leave when we are getting paid to participate."
He aimed an open palm to a space a few feet away and fired an energy blast from his hand, scorching the ground. "That would be a disservice to the client."
He then reached behind his back and pulled the elephant gun he had "liberated" from one of the SafariMen out, presenting it to the tank. "He seems to have a few of these stone-doll guys with guns helping him out. They are all dressed for safari. I don't know how many of them there are. But with them, and the swarms of flying drones, he has the advantage in personnel."
"Is that enough?" Drago asked with some annoyance, after giving Oxybelle the info-dump. Then he immediately straightened as his distracted lizard brain finally decided to feed him the sound-byte from earlier about 'two flying civilians'. He whirled on Oxybelle's tank. "Did you say two flyers? What were their names? Which way did they go?"
If Oxybelle gave them the directions they needed to go after Magistrate and Suzume, they would part ways. Drago would call on Roc to follow, before flying in the direction indicated.
As Magistrate looked over the drone, Suzume grit her teeth and growled. She was visibly shaking in restrained fury. "Gala?! That witch," she spat. "No wonder we can't communicate. She consistently deals with tech that screws with a navi's coding. Oooh, I hate her so much!"
"Calm yourself Suzume," Magistrate said over her shoulder as she worked. "We already know of her crimes," she added as if HoundMan and FeilongMan were knowledgeable about Gala already. Whether or not that was true was not something that either of the dragonier women knew for certain, but odds were that Magistrate didn't care either way. "Looks like you did a good job on the dissection," Magistrate complimented FeilongMan before pulling a sharp knife from somewhere. She took aim at whatever seam she could get a blade into to pry/cut it open. "But we need to go deeper."
"Suzume, be a dear and go help HoundMan. I am going to stay here for a bit and see if there is anything else left in this thing. We will meet back up after," Magistrate continued to talk to Suzume from over her shoulder. "Um, sure," Suzume said, unsure of the correct course of action. But after looking around and weighing her options, she came to a decision. Squaring her shoulders to the task ahead she waved HoundMan over to her as she took to the entrance deeper into the mountain. "C'mon HoundMan we've got other survivors to find!"
"Looks like you get to keep the clothes on your back after all," Aya said to Nightshade. She then watched as Bullrun tore off into the long grass and begun to bulldoze through the SafariMen. "Okay kid you're up again, what's the call?" Aya asked Nightshade. "Follow or take our own path?"
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Nightshade was somewhat relieved he did get to keep Drago's armor after all. It was a gift. It would be kinda rude to give it away like that. The little fluffy cat stretched back into the comfy battle wear. Making a mental note to ask Drago about a Aya variation on his armor.
Squatting down on the ground and looking at the weird trail Bullrun had left behind her, Nighty's mind flip flopped around a good couple of ideas.
"Well...here's what we can do." He replied, springing back up and grabbing Aya's and in his own as he tugged her to the start of the trail. He pointed down at the tracks. "I'm a speedy on the ground while you are a flier. This leaves us with three choices: we both go on the ground, I go on ground and you fly up and do like...UAV stuff or you let me ride on your back again and fly."
He dropped his hand down, but still kept holding hands with his big sis. "As per following Bullrun...it's a little hard no? From the sound of it she is all over the place. You can spot me just fine I think, I'm all yellow and orange against this kind of... muddy swamp smuck...god my paws are going to get all dirty." He whined, pouting lightly. He didn't like getting too dirty.
With a sight and a squeeze of Aya's hand, he gave a look around them to see if they were safe. "You're the one with alot of battle experience, big sister. What would you value most from a tactical standpoint? Two eyes scanning from above/below or a mix of the two?"
Squatting down on the ground and looking at the weird trail Bullrun had left behind her, Nighty's mind flip flopped around a good couple of ideas.
"Well...here's what we can do." He replied, springing back up and grabbing Aya's and in his own as he tugged her to the start of the trail. He pointed down at the tracks. "I'm a speedy on the ground while you are a flier. This leaves us with three choices: we both go on the ground, I go on ground and you fly up and do like...UAV stuff or you let me ride on your back again and fly."
He dropped his hand down, but still kept holding hands with his big sis. "As per following Bullrun...it's a little hard no? From the sound of it she is all over the place. You can spot me just fine I think, I'm all yellow and orange against this kind of... muddy swamp smuck...god my paws are going to get all dirty." He whined, pouting lightly. He didn't like getting too dirty.
With a sight and a squeeze of Aya's hand, he gave a look around them to see if they were safe. "You're the one with alot of battle experience, big sister. What would you value most from a tactical standpoint? Two eyes scanning from above/below or a mix of the two?"
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Aya thought for a moment. "Even with the distraction by Bullrun, I might still be shot out of the sky. Sooo..." She reached to her belt and produced a small empty sheath, large enough to hold a dagger-type blade. "Time to show you another trick up my sleeve. Here, hold this," she said to Nightshade as she tried to place it in his hands. "With this you should be able to cross the swamp without problem. Just don't tell anyone that I can do this. It is a secret."
With those words said she melted like water, and flowed into the empty sheath. When the liquid solidified, what was left of Aya was an ornate dagger with a dragon-head hilt. Both her and Suzume used this trick in an earlier mission in order to support DragonierMan. Even though they ended up not being needed. Nightshade could feel Aya's power flowing into him if he accepted it. Giving him access to Aya's abilities.
Equipped with Aya, she would grant him her ability of flight. He would be able to walk on the swampy terrain without sinking, as if it were solid ground. It was inadvisable due to the fact that he might be shot at, but as long as he held the dagger, he could take to the air if he felt the need. He also had access to Aya's signatures if she deemed to grant them. And finally, and most powerfully of all, he also could look at DragonierMan's chip folder. He would even be able to request a single chip at a time, again, assuming Aya acquiesced.
As all of these options started flooding into him, Aya activated her defensive signatures and extended them around Nightshade. If he accepted them, he would feel dragon scales forming over his tiger appearance, and a bubble of energy forming around him. She was also attempting to give him a free burst of movement, allowing him to quickly get running when he was ready. The Aya!Dagger was also sharp, and could be used to cut through the tall grass, or his foes, if he needed it. The hilt's upward-facing wing guard looked like it might be good for disarming people as well.
Aya's life was literally in Nighshade's hands. What would he do with it was up to him.
With those words said she melted like water, and flowed into the empty sheath. When the liquid solidified, what was left of Aya was an ornate dagger with a dragon-head hilt. Both her and Suzume used this trick in an earlier mission in order to support DragonierMan. Even though they ended up not being needed. Nightshade could feel Aya's power flowing into him if he accepted it. Giving him access to Aya's abilities.
Equipped with Aya, she would grant him her ability of flight. He would be able to walk on the swampy terrain without sinking, as if it were solid ground. It was inadvisable due to the fact that he might be shot at, but as long as he held the dagger, he could take to the air if he felt the need. He also had access to Aya's signatures if she deemed to grant them. And finally, and most powerfully of all, he also could look at DragonierMan's chip folder. He would even be able to request a single chip at a time, again, assuming Aya acquiesced.
Example
As all of these options started flooding into him, Aya activated her defensive signatures and extended them around Nightshade. If he accepted them, he would feel dragon scales forming over his tiger appearance, and a bubble of energy forming around him. She was also attempting to give him a free burst of movement, allowing him to quickly get running when he was ready. The Aya!Dagger was also sharp, and could be used to cut through the tall grass, or his foes, if he needed it. The hilt's upward-facing wing guard looked like it might be good for disarming people as well.
Aya's life was literally in Nighshade's hands. What would he do with it was up to him.
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Little Nighty was distracted for a moment. Thankfully, he had the dexterity to catch the sheath off hand even if he had let it slip his grasp just moments ago. He looked at it, not really getting where Aya was going with it.
"Uuuh, sis? What is...this...for..." His words died down when Aya melted. That was weird. The other weird thing was seeing his big sister become a weapon. And man, what weapon. Just holding her in his hand had his whole arm pulse with her power. It almost felt like it was seeping into his own body. Then it hit him. It was actually that way. She was just waiting for an invitation.
Nightshade gripped slightly tigher on the sheath, unable to resist the allure of Aya's dark energy. As soon as he opened up his systems to the sp, he could see the dark aura spread from his hand and engulf his whole body. His tiger appearance disintegrated as scales began covering his hands, then spread further down the arm.
In a matter of minutes, Nightshade's body and powers had profoundly changed. Now clad in a shiny black armor all over, with purple highlights, Nightshade's usually green energy had shifted its hue to a very dark purple. Aya's darnkess had easily drowned out his feeble light, yet he didn't really fell...evil. He did seemingly want to fight a little more than usual though.
"So...this is how it really feels uh?" He mumbled, securing Aya to his side. "To really be one of you." He added, drawing the dagger from its resting place, taking note of his now grey eyes reflecting off of the blade.
Not gonna lie, he was feeling pretty strong now. Incredibly so, even. "I didn't know your energy would be this dark feeling...but alright. I'll keep your secret safe. Now..."
He walked over to the muddy terrain, grinning beneath his mask as his feet claws didn't sink in the mud. Somehow he wasn't surprised. "Alright. We better keep an eye for Bullrun. On foot. We shouldnt risk getting shot down...and if for some reason one of those shotgun guys tries to mess with us well...if I could take em all on before, now they really in for a beatin'"
With that, Ayashade proceeded to trail after Bullrun with his senses on high alert and his new dagger firmly in his grasp.
"Uuuh, sis? What is...this...for..." His words died down when Aya melted. That was weird. The other weird thing was seeing his big sister become a weapon. And man, what weapon. Just holding her in his hand had his whole arm pulse with her power. It almost felt like it was seeping into his own body. Then it hit him. It was actually that way. She was just waiting for an invitation.
Nightshade gripped slightly tigher on the sheath, unable to resist the allure of Aya's dark energy. As soon as he opened up his systems to the sp, he could see the dark aura spread from his hand and engulf his whole body. His tiger appearance disintegrated as scales began covering his hands, then spread further down the arm.
In a matter of minutes, Nightshade's body and powers had profoundly changed. Now clad in a shiny black armor all over, with purple highlights, Nightshade's usually green energy had shifted its hue to a very dark purple. Aya's darnkess had easily drowned out his feeble light, yet he didn't really fell...evil. He did seemingly want to fight a little more than usual though.
"So...this is how it really feels uh?" He mumbled, securing Aya to his side. "To really be one of you." He added, drawing the dagger from its resting place, taking note of his now grey eyes reflecting off of the blade.
Not gonna lie, he was feeling pretty strong now. Incredibly so, even. "I didn't know your energy would be this dark feeling...but alright. I'll keep your secret safe. Now..."
He walked over to the muddy terrain, grinning beneath his mask as his feet claws didn't sink in the mud. Somehow he wasn't surprised. "Alright. We better keep an eye for Bullrun. On foot. We shouldnt risk getting shot down...and if for some reason one of those shotgun guys tries to mess with us well...if I could take em all on before, now they really in for a beatin'"
With that, Ayashade proceeded to trail after Bullrun with his senses on high alert and his new dagger firmly in his grasp.
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"I'm quite fine in here, thank you," Oxybelle responded to DragonierMan with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. "Yes, the gun please-" she began, then gave a surprised gasp. "The Neo-Shogun! I thought you were familiar. Hmm... This is worrisome. If the NetPolice are here and the Neo-Shogun Empire is here, it stands to reason that the NetMafia is here too. This could even be their handiwork... I assume that the Mafia and the Empire are not on speaking terms?" she asked. It might surprise her to know how much the two had already worked together on matters, but now probably wasn't the time to go into it.
She finally popped out of the tank, showing her head of bushy white hair, and reaching out to accept the gun. "I thank you. I'll analyze this as quickly as I can-" she informed him, then raised an eyebrow. "Oh... Comrades of yours, I'm sure. They entered the caves through that hole in the cliff-face, over there. The whole mountain seems to be perforated with such holes... I hope that doesn't point to the existence of some tunneling virus," she muttered to herself hesitantly, as though she wished she could take that observation back. He might put together that she hadn't properly warned the others of that danger.
"Beh, we're going after 'em?" Roc asked, notcing DragonierMan making his way over to the cave. She shrugged and flew alongside him, though ultimately settled on following behind him once they got to the cave entrance, where side-by-side flight would be impossible. "The last cave I tried to squeeze my way through was full of needles that stuck out and pulled your clothes off. If that happens, my suggestion is to fly through really fast so they can't hit you," she recounted. "Hey, finish figurin' out that gun by the time we get back!"
"On it..." Oxybelle answered with a cross look on her face, then ducked back down into the tank. "You're going to need some kind of light to proceed."
Roc grumbled, crossing her talons. "I can make fire for attacks but nothing that'll stick around... What about you?" she asked.
-------------------------------
Inside the cave, Magistrate made the call for Suzume and herself to split up; Suzume would handle searching for survivors while she herself handled further analysis on the machine. "Roger, ma'am!" HoundMan agreed, giving a quick salute before leading the way deeper inside the cavern. "Hmmmmm...." he muttered at length, sniffing loudly as they proceeded further in. The spaces here became even more inhospitable, winding, and difficult to navigate. Soon, they were so far in that Magistrate's voice could no longer be heard behind them.
The sniffing paused for a moment as HoundMan whispered, on all fours now with his butt out towards Suzume. "Pssst... Further in, there's somebody who doesn't smell like any animal at all. They're down the tunnel to the left. I also smell viruses... down the tunnel to the right. I guess it's something that lives in caves! I don't recognize the smell though, aroo..." he murmured, now returning to sniffing the air. "Which way do ya wanna go?"
------------------------------------------------
Magistrate's goal of inspecting the rest of the machinery would take a while to fulfill, as the only way to examine the parts as they existed within the robot was to carefully disassemble it, rather than cutting the face open with a knife or any such method. FeilongMan kept a respectful distance, idly sending smoke rings into the air as he craned his head to watch over her work. "Hm... I hear someone approaching. Please, wait here, and I will check it out..." he muttered, tilting his head slightly at the far-off sound of Roc and DragonierMan maneuvering through the cave. Snake-like head first, the began to make his way through the tunnels, leaving Magistrate alone.
As she finished pulling open the machinery box inside the robot's upper portion, she would find engraving inside indicating the the property did indeed belong to Gala, reading "Gala Presentations." Perhaps most importantly, a discrete bomb was hidden inside deep inside the chassis. It didn't appear to be anything that would detonate at a touch; it probably had some arming mechanism that was activated by remote. It could presumably go off even now... though, for now, it remained dormant.
There was no telling how large the explosion would be, but however large, it'd be bad news if the thing blew up underground. What was even worse to think about: the possibility that the ones hovering around outside could start detonating and create a cave-in that way. It appeared that the caves were significantly less safe than they first appeared... but on the other hand, a cave-in wouldn't accomplish SafariMan's objective of tagging anyone, so he may not resort to that method.
------------------------------------------
Bullrun was moving fast and going through terrain that was hard to track, but the speed of the combined unit that was Aya and NightShade made following her somewhat easier. Also helpful; the noise of crumbling rocks, from Bullrun swinging her fists into the enemies. By the alternating sounds: the whooshing of fire, the smack of heavy attacks against mud, it sounded like she had to use chips to do it... that meant that even for a navi such as herself, there was probably a limit to how long she'd be able to keep plowing through these stone monsters.
Soon enough, the two caught up to Bullrun, where she was in the middle of performing a running clothesline, extending her arms out to either side to deck two of the hunters. One of them lost his head instantly; the other fell over with a thud. A blast of pellets came at her from the brush, from a hitherto unseen assailant; she deflected it with a flourish of her cape, then grinned, jumping inside the cape. The cape wrapped into itself, then re-emerged behind the enemy, who she clubbed over the head with a massive, bull-headed hammer she summoned along with herself out of the cape's space.
She grunted, heaving the hammer over her shoulder. Another shot rang out; this one she had to duck to avoid. At the last second she tilted her head; a bit more to the right, and she'd probably have taken a bit to her horns. She roared, then chucked the hammer forward, smashing the hidden one. Even still, the sounds of thuds were all around her. They were very much into the thick of the enemies, it seemed.
Just ahead, there appeared to be a small clearing in the grass. There could be something worth checking out there, or it could be important to stay and help Bullrun fight off the foes. It seemed like the number of them was only increasing and the grass didn't seem to be hampering their vision at all. Furthermore, the gathering of flying signboard bots was becoming annoyingly thick as well. If anyone could spare the time to read in this situation, the scores were still visible.
She finally popped out of the tank, showing her head of bushy white hair, and reaching out to accept the gun. "I thank you. I'll analyze this as quickly as I can-" she informed him, then raised an eyebrow. "Oh... Comrades of yours, I'm sure. They entered the caves through that hole in the cliff-face, over there. The whole mountain seems to be perforated with such holes... I hope that doesn't point to the existence of some tunneling virus," she muttered to herself hesitantly, as though she wished she could take that observation back. He might put together that she hadn't properly warned the others of that danger.
"Beh, we're going after 'em?" Roc asked, notcing DragonierMan making his way over to the cave. She shrugged and flew alongside him, though ultimately settled on following behind him once they got to the cave entrance, where side-by-side flight would be impossible. "The last cave I tried to squeeze my way through was full of needles that stuck out and pulled your clothes off. If that happens, my suggestion is to fly through really fast so they can't hit you," she recounted. "Hey, finish figurin' out that gun by the time we get back!"
"On it..." Oxybelle answered with a cross look on her face, then ducked back down into the tank. "You're going to need some kind of light to proceed."
Roc grumbled, crossing her talons. "I can make fire for attacks but nothing that'll stick around... What about you?" she asked.
-------------------------------
Inside the cave, Magistrate made the call for Suzume and herself to split up; Suzume would handle searching for survivors while she herself handled further analysis on the machine. "Roger, ma'am!" HoundMan agreed, giving a quick salute before leading the way deeper inside the cavern. "Hmmmmm...." he muttered at length, sniffing loudly as they proceeded further in. The spaces here became even more inhospitable, winding, and difficult to navigate. Soon, they were so far in that Magistrate's voice could no longer be heard behind them.
The sniffing paused for a moment as HoundMan whispered, on all fours now with his butt out towards Suzume. "Pssst... Further in, there's somebody who doesn't smell like any animal at all. They're down the tunnel to the left. I also smell viruses... down the tunnel to the right. I guess it's something that lives in caves! I don't recognize the smell though, aroo..." he murmured, now returning to sniffing the air. "Which way do ya wanna go?"
------------------------------------------------
Magistrate's goal of inspecting the rest of the machinery would take a while to fulfill, as the only way to examine the parts as they existed within the robot was to carefully disassemble it, rather than cutting the face open with a knife or any such method. FeilongMan kept a respectful distance, idly sending smoke rings into the air as he craned his head to watch over her work. "Hm... I hear someone approaching. Please, wait here, and I will check it out..." he muttered, tilting his head slightly at the far-off sound of Roc and DragonierMan maneuvering through the cave. Snake-like head first, the began to make his way through the tunnels, leaving Magistrate alone.
As she finished pulling open the machinery box inside the robot's upper portion, she would find engraving inside indicating the the property did indeed belong to Gala, reading "Gala Presentations." Perhaps most importantly, a discrete bomb was hidden inside deep inside the chassis. It didn't appear to be anything that would detonate at a touch; it probably had some arming mechanism that was activated by remote. It could presumably go off even now... though, for now, it remained dormant.
There was no telling how large the explosion would be, but however large, it'd be bad news if the thing blew up underground. What was even worse to think about: the possibility that the ones hovering around outside could start detonating and create a cave-in that way. It appeared that the caves were significantly less safe than they first appeared... but on the other hand, a cave-in wouldn't accomplish SafariMan's objective of tagging anyone, so he may not resort to that method.
------------------------------------------
Bullrun was moving fast and going through terrain that was hard to track, but the speed of the combined unit that was Aya and NightShade made following her somewhat easier. Also helpful; the noise of crumbling rocks, from Bullrun swinging her fists into the enemies. By the alternating sounds: the whooshing of fire, the smack of heavy attacks against mud, it sounded like she had to use chips to do it... that meant that even for a navi such as herself, there was probably a limit to how long she'd be able to keep plowing through these stone monsters.
Soon enough, the two caught up to Bullrun, where she was in the middle of performing a running clothesline, extending her arms out to either side to deck two of the hunters. One of them lost his head instantly; the other fell over with a thud. A blast of pellets came at her from the brush, from a hitherto unseen assailant; she deflected it with a flourish of her cape, then grinned, jumping inside the cape. The cape wrapped into itself, then re-emerged behind the enemy, who she clubbed over the head with a massive, bull-headed hammer she summoned along with herself out of the cape's space.
She grunted, heaving the hammer over her shoulder. Another shot rang out; this one she had to duck to avoid. At the last second she tilted her head; a bit more to the right, and she'd probably have taken a bit to her horns. She roared, then chucked the hammer forward, smashing the hidden one. Even still, the sounds of thuds were all around her. They were very much into the thick of the enemies, it seemed.
Just ahead, there appeared to be a small clearing in the grass. There could be something worth checking out there, or it could be important to stay and help Bullrun fight off the foes. It seemed like the number of them was only increasing and the grass didn't seem to be hampering their vision at all. Furthermore, the gathering of flying signboard bots was becoming annoyingly thick as well. If anyone could spare the time to read in this situation, the scores were still visible.
Quote
Ox: 1
Snake: 0
Goat No Sheep: 1
Dog: 1
Dog: 0
Pig: 0
Dragon: 1
Fly: 1
Rooster: 1
The Dragon: 1
Tiger: 1
last edited by Azureink
DragonierMan did not comment on the relationships between the NetMafia, NetPolice, and NeoShoguns as he handed the rifle over to Oxybelle. In exchange, he recieved information about where Magistrate and Suzume went. There were points made about potential dangers, but Drago wasn't worried. The two dragonier warrior women could handle themselves just fine. And so he headed toward the nearest cave entrance.
He stopped there as Roc started questioning what they were doing, and giving suggestions about how to avoid traps. Drago turned to Roc with a look of confusion on his face. "Needles that pulled your clothes off? Where would such a place even-? Why were you-? And- What?" he sputtered for a moment. However, he was quick to recover, dropping the whole thing quickly with a full-body shake out. "Questions for later," he said, breathing out to calm his inquisitive nature. They had a mission to finish first.
Such as how to get a light source. Drago took a look around for some dry, decently baton-sized sticks (if he can't find anything within easy flight distance, he would summon his
Boomerang2Damage: 90 + Group Attack (Arc)
Accuracy: B
Description: Throws a boomerang at enemies
Duration: Once
Element: Wood
Special: Group Attack (Arc): This attack may hit between 1 and 4 enemies on average, perhaps more depending on the situation. This version of Group Attack hits in an arc that loops back to the attacker. If attempting to hit too many targets with poor RP, you may also hit yourself, so be careful.
Trader Rank: C to use as a stand-in). He also took out a knife and cut a strip out of the cloth apron worn over his armor, brandishing his stone tower navi symbol. Wrapping the strip of cloth around the stick/boomerang to make a makeshift torch. "Hey!" he called to Oxybelle, "Mind if I borrow some of your tank's fuel. It is tar-like and flammable right?" If he could get some then he would douse the rag-wrapped end of the torch in it and present it to Roc. "Care to do the honors." Assuming it all worked out, they would have a burning torch that they could use to explore the caves with.
And with that, they would enter the caves.
Suzume crouched a few feet behind HoundMan, trying not to stare at the handsome man's prominent behind. "We are here to help navis, not get into unnecessary fights with viruses," she commented in a whisper loud enough that HoundMan would hear. "We go left, but don't let your guard down. There isn't a lot of room to maneuver here and I don't want us caught between an unknown in front of us and viruses behind us." Suzume breathed shallowly and steeled herself for a potential ambush situation. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve.
Magistrate's careful disassembly and examination began to bear fruit as FeilongMan left her alone to go check on some noises he heard. Magistrate barely even paid any attention to him while she worked, beyond a general open-ear policy towards the space she was occupying, in case any potential danger around her might catch her unawares. She did confirm that the drones belonged to Gala. It was just like Gala to help in some sort of violence-themed event for the amusement of the host. Magistrate also confirmed that the drones were equipped with explosive devices, most likely remotely detonated, as Roc destroying a few earlier didn't seem to cause them to explode. The questions then were: What kind of signal would set off the bomb? and Could she duplicate it somehow?
She continued to examine the drone, hoping for something to lead her to those answers.
As they watched Bullrun fight the SafariMen, a gnawing craving began to take hold. A tingling sensation began to crawl up Nightshade's arm from Aya's hilt. The dragon burns, he heard in his heart and mind as she called out to him. The dark feeling was indescribable. Did she always feel this way, inside herself? Was this what happened to navis that blended with viruses?
The fire roars, she vibrated in his hand. The sharp blade began to glow. Within moments it became as bright as a full moon in a starless night. He might even feel a burning sensation in his own chest as she tried to pass a powerful Battlechip directly to him. If the protocols didn't allow it, she would have probably forcefully shoved the chip directly down his throat.
Everything is kindling to their hunger, she cried, soundlessly. She wasn't physically speaking, or making any noise, but he could understand her. The feeling of the tingling up his arm grew worse. It felt as if she was trying to dig her own claws into him. Her feelings were boring into him in a similar fashion. Trying to coerce him into doing what she wanted. She wanted them all destroyed.
Unleash... she commanded.
Unleash, unleash, unleash... she repeated again and again. Each time with increasing urgency. Her primal hatred and her hunger for carnage was overwhelming.
UNLEASH! she screamed through their link.
He stopped there as Roc started questioning what they were doing, and giving suggestions about how to avoid traps. Drago turned to Roc with a look of confusion on his face. "Needles that pulled your clothes off? Where would such a place even-? Why were you-? And- What?" he sputtered for a moment. However, he was quick to recover, dropping the whole thing quickly with a full-body shake out. "Questions for later," he said, breathing out to calm his inquisitive nature. They had a mission to finish first.
Such as how to get a light source. Drago took a look around for some dry, decently baton-sized sticks (if he can't find anything within easy flight distance, he would summon his
Boomerang2Damage: 90 + Group Attack (Arc)Accuracy: B
Description: Throws a boomerang at enemies
Duration: Once
Element: Wood
Special: Group Attack (Arc): This attack may hit between 1 and 4 enemies on average, perhaps more depending on the situation. This version of Group Attack hits in an arc that loops back to the attacker. If attempting to hit too many targets with poor RP, you may also hit yourself, so be careful.
Trader Rank: C to use as a stand-in). He also took out a knife and cut a strip out of the cloth apron worn over his armor, brandishing his stone tower navi symbol. Wrapping the strip of cloth around the stick/boomerang to make a makeshift torch. "Hey!" he called to Oxybelle, "Mind if I borrow some of your tank's fuel. It is tar-like and flammable right?" If he could get some then he would douse the rag-wrapped end of the torch in it and present it to Roc. "Care to do the honors." Assuming it all worked out, they would have a burning torch that they could use to explore the caves with.
And with that, they would enter the caves.
Suzume crouched a few feet behind HoundMan, trying not to stare at the handsome man's prominent behind. "We are here to help navis, not get into unnecessary fights with viruses," she commented in a whisper loud enough that HoundMan would hear. "We go left, but don't let your guard down. There isn't a lot of room to maneuver here and I don't want us caught between an unknown in front of us and viruses behind us." Suzume breathed shallowly and steeled herself for a potential ambush situation. She still had a few tricks up her sleeve.
Magistrate's careful disassembly and examination began to bear fruit as FeilongMan left her alone to go check on some noises he heard. Magistrate barely even paid any attention to him while she worked, beyond a general open-ear policy towards the space she was occupying, in case any potential danger around her might catch her unawares. She did confirm that the drones belonged to Gala. It was just like Gala to help in some sort of violence-themed event for the amusement of the host. Magistrate also confirmed that the drones were equipped with explosive devices, most likely remotely detonated, as Roc destroying a few earlier didn't seem to cause them to explode. The questions then were: What kind of signal would set off the bomb? and Could she duplicate it somehow?
She continued to examine the drone, hoping for something to lead her to those answers.
As they watched Bullrun fight the SafariMen, a gnawing craving began to take hold. A tingling sensation began to crawl up Nightshade's arm from Aya's hilt. The dragon burns, he heard in his heart and mind as she called out to him. The dark feeling was indescribable. Did she always feel this way, inside herself? Was this what happened to navis that blended with viruses?
Quote (Aya.SP)
Active: All for One [Team Subtype]: SPs may transfer a Battlechip from their folder to an allied target as a free action. Note: SPs with this ability may receive one Battlechip directly from the Operator each turn. (Once Per Turn).
Selected Chip:HeatDragon2Damage: 150 + Ground Attack + Medium Area Lava Terrain Change + Terrain Changer
Accuracy: C
Description: Summons an EarthDragon that attacks enemies as it glides across the ground. Changes terrain to Lava as it passes.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Special: Terrain Changer: Ceases attacking when the Terrain Change effect is completed (once 25% of the terrain is changed).
Trader Rank: C.
Transfer: Nightshade.EXE.
The fire roars, she vibrated in his hand. The sharp blade began to glow. Within moments it became as bright as a full moon in a starless night. He might even feel a burning sensation in his own chest as she tried to pass a powerful Battlechip directly to him. If the protocols didn't allow it, she would have probably forcefully shoved the chip directly down his throat.
Everything is kindling to their hunger, she cried, soundlessly. She wasn't physically speaking, or making any noise, but he could understand her. The feeling of the tingling up his arm grew worse. It felt as if she was trying to dig her own claws into him. Her feelings were boring into him in a similar fashion. Trying to coerce him into doing what she wanted. She wanted them all destroyed.
Unleash... she commanded.
Unleash, unleash, unleash... she repeated again and again. Each time with increasing urgency. Her primal hatred and her hunger for carnage was overwhelming.
UNLEASH! she screamed through their link.
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Ayashade grinned, gripping his weapon tighter, allowing Aya's instincts to wash over him, consume him. He grinned widely beneath his mask, lowering down into his battle stance, feeling a surge of power like no other. The ground beneath his claws would have cracked if it wasn't made by a sloppy paste of mud and stagnant water. So, that was how a being of darkness felt like. Amazing. The little navi was loving every second of it. There was no more Aya and no more Nightshade. In their place stood the product of a fusion beteen a navi and a support program, its powers nearly unlimited...and all he wanted was to absolutely ravage everything in his path.
Nightshade's body offered no resistance to Aya's urges, accepting the chip almost instantly. Why would he ever try to suppress his Big Sister's will? Oh no. Safariman would not be so lucky. He was the one that unalshed them on himself. As such he would have to pray he'd live through their wrath.
"I perfectly know how you feel now..." Nightshade reassured his Big Sister, feeling the chip's code resonate within his body, feeling her will becoming his own. "I feel the same way too."
He could feel his body's need for battle. She wanted to fight, he wanted to fight. They were aching for a reason to simply let go of all self control and just destroy all those fakes. He looked up at the drones buzzing up above. "You better prepare yourself, Safariman, for we won't stop until all we see of you has been turned to ashes!"
Aya was getting impatient now, so did he. At the first sign of movement, the dragonier hybrid roared, letting out all his bundled up rage, letting go af all restraint. In a matter of seconds, his weapon was drawn from its resting place, the searing hot blade whizzing through the air, igniting with both power and determination as Ayashade unleashed the brunt force of the fire chip his systems had just recieved in front of him, aiming to maximize the area affected by it and cause as much destruction as possible.
But he wasn't stopping there, oh no. His body crackled with energy (Overclock), as he propelled himself towards the first copy in range full speed. He would aim to smash the guy on the ground with one powerful clawed kick (Swift Strike signature) so that he could grapple on top of the clone and use his weapon to brutalize his prey. Stab them over and over until nothing was left.
Nightshade's body offered no resistance to Aya's urges, accepting the chip almost instantly. Why would he ever try to suppress his Big Sister's will? Oh no. Safariman would not be so lucky. He was the one that unalshed them on himself. As such he would have to pray he'd live through their wrath.
"I perfectly know how you feel now..." Nightshade reassured his Big Sister, feeling the chip's code resonate within his body, feeling her will becoming his own. "I feel the same way too."
He could feel his body's need for battle. She wanted to fight, he wanted to fight. They were aching for a reason to simply let go of all self control and just destroy all those fakes. He looked up at the drones buzzing up above. "You better prepare yourself, Safariman, for we won't stop until all we see of you has been turned to ashes!"
Aya was getting impatient now, so did he. At the first sign of movement, the dragonier hybrid roared, letting out all his bundled up rage, letting go af all restraint. In a matter of seconds, his weapon was drawn from its resting place, the searing hot blade whizzing through the air, igniting with both power and determination as Ayashade unleashed the brunt force of the fire chip his systems had just recieved in front of him, aiming to maximize the area affected by it and cause as much destruction as possible.
But he wasn't stopping there, oh no. His body crackled with energy (Overclock), as he propelled himself towards the first copy in range full speed. He would aim to smash the guy on the ground with one powerful clawed kick (Swift Strike signature) so that he could grapple on top of the clone and use his weapon to brutalize his prey. Stab them over and over until nothing was left.
last edited by Aim
"It's not much of a story! I think MachMan could tell it to ya better, since he didn't get caught in the maze. I mean, I got out eventually, but I was just about buck naked by the time I got through, " Roc sighed, looking uninterested in the mental image she was painting. DragonierMan was already clearing his mind of said image, with his focus being on finding some kind of workable light so he could go into the caves after his SPs. With a little ingenuity, he came up with the idea to use his Boomerang as a makeshift torch.
"Well, my wooden friend here doesn't run on oil, but I do keep some around for maintenance purposes," Oxybelle nodded. The fluffy-haired officer handed over a small, round can of oil, which looked oddly more like some kind of ointment than it did oil. It worked, one way or another; after Roc clicked her claws together to produce a few dangerous showers of sparks, DragonierMan's torch was lit. The two descended down into the caves.
A short way into the expedition, the two would come across the slithering, snake-like head of FeilongMan. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to notice that DragonierMan was not a man in a safari costume; it was probably a good thing they had brought something capable of illuminating the whole area. "Hmmmm... I take it you two were also directed here from the NP on the surface? It's good to see you aren't enemies, at any rate." If he hadn't started talking, his head may have been mistaken for a PotDragon, leading to a huge (and violent) misunderstanding.
"If you're looking for others, there are two women and an officer down here, in addition to myself, who are hiding from SafariMan and his minions. You're free to join us," he offered. "We are in the process of searching the cave for other survivors as well."
Provided they had no objections, the two could follow after him. Roc was going easy on the gas pedal for now, avoiding further confrontation, possibly because, due to the narrow crevices of the caves, she was stuck following behind him. Still, he could hear her growling in the background, itching to tear something apart.
---
Deep inside, Suzume prompted HoundMan to ignore the virus smell and head to the left instead. "Roger, roger, ma'am!" he agreed, picking his course. The tunnel seemed to narrow even further... until it actually became too narrow for him to proceed any further. "I can't keep going! However... there's a light coming from inside. I can see something in there! Hang on... I'll zoom in so I can see closer!"
There was a pause while HoundMan, presumably, did just that. After a little while, his tail armor suddenly began wagging, slapping Suzume in the face a few times before she presumably backed up or protected herself. "That's him! I can see a man in a safari suit, but he smells like a real navi! That's gotta be him, aroo!" he proclaimed. Ironically, it seemed as though SafariMan had chosen the same hiding spot as the NetPolice has assumed survivors would. Even worse, he had apparently picked a place where neither his gun-toting brutes nor his flying eyes in the sky could see the competitors.
"Aroo, there is some kind of computer or something in the room with him, which he is sitting in front of. It looks like it has a lot of monitors. Past that, there is uh... something that looks a little like a tanning bed. It's closed," he pointed out. "The room is well lit and there is a door on one side. It's kinda to the right... I wonder if he is using the viruses outside the door as a last line of defense?" he asked, now looking over his shoulder. "He isn't armed at all. And he's old. I think he wouldn't be a challenge if we could reach him."
He quieted down for a moment, then spoke up again. "If I aim it just right... I could probably shoot something in the room before he has time to react. What do you think would be the best target? Him? The computer? Something else, aroo?" he asked his companion. It was up to Suzume if that was their best shot or if she could afford to circle back to the others and inform them instead.
---
Magistrate had made a useful discovery, regarding the bombs implanted in Gala's robots, but it was hard to go further than that for now. The only thing left to do was disassemble the bomb in order to learn more about its trigger mechanism, which was going to be a slow, tedious process. With nothing else to do (at least until the others arrived), she would set to work.
It soon became clear, after removing the outer place, that any further work was going to be impossible without either professional level knowledge or at the bare minimum, precision tools. The inside wiring of the robot had been complex, as was this, but the scope of the two had been very different.
"I've brought others," FeilongMan would announced from the tunnels. Provided Roc and DragonierMan were still following him, he would slide out of the tunnel, then step aside so they could reunite with Magistrate.
---
Aya and NightShade, or the combined unit of AyaShade, as at least one of them thought of themselves, came to an agreement less to help Bullrun and more to destroy something, anything, because the desire to burn had consumed them both. "Somebody else?" Bullrun grunted, before smirking perhaps realizing the identity of the newcomer. "Let's see whatcha got..."
What he had was quite a lot; he unleashed a curving stream of fire that ripped through the grass, annhialating many enemies and leaving smoking stubs of legs where they had been. It was an effective attack, to be sure, but even still, there were enemies everywhere. "Nice shot! Hope you got a couple more like that comin', kid," Bullrun applauded.
The muddy clearing played host to a combat scene straight out of an action flick as the two (three?) fighters each went after a different rocky combatant, Bullrun tossing aside her hammer for a series of short-range punches, while Ayashade broke into the enemy with claw strikes. They each made short work of their targets, leaving the creatures stumbling and crumbling into heaps of stone, but there were even more statue monsters waiting.
Bullrun began grappling with one, which attempted to block her using the length of its gun. At the same time, one of the creatures approached and pulled Ayashade off if the broken wreckage of their target, then smacked him with a rifle but in the gut. The pain was not as bad as it could have been, given the armor, but Aya would presumably feel it. The creature placed the gun over its shoulder, barrell up, then grabbed Ayashade by the arm. More were still coming out from the woodwork.
It would occur to the two that, in the smoking grass they had cleared where so many monsters had been approaching only to be burnt down, a teleport pad was shining upon the ground of the net. Signaling its purpose, another rock creature slowly lumbered out after beaming onto the pad. If Ayashade could get free of the one holding them, they could perhaps head further in. Or if they craved further combat, there was still plenty to be done here, especially considering several of the henchmen now had Bullrun surrounded with their rifles.
"Well, my wooden friend here doesn't run on oil, but I do keep some around for maintenance purposes," Oxybelle nodded. The fluffy-haired officer handed over a small, round can of oil, which looked oddly more like some kind of ointment than it did oil. It worked, one way or another; after Roc clicked her claws together to produce a few dangerous showers of sparks, DragonierMan's torch was lit. The two descended down into the caves.
A short way into the expedition, the two would come across the slithering, snake-like head of FeilongMan. Thankfully, he had the presence of mind to notice that DragonierMan was not a man in a safari costume; it was probably a good thing they had brought something capable of illuminating the whole area. "Hmmmm... I take it you two were also directed here from the NP on the surface? It's good to see you aren't enemies, at any rate." If he hadn't started talking, his head may have been mistaken for a PotDragon, leading to a huge (and violent) misunderstanding.
"If you're looking for others, there are two women and an officer down here, in addition to myself, who are hiding from SafariMan and his minions. You're free to join us," he offered. "We are in the process of searching the cave for other survivors as well."
Provided they had no objections, the two could follow after him. Roc was going easy on the gas pedal for now, avoiding further confrontation, possibly because, due to the narrow crevices of the caves, she was stuck following behind him. Still, he could hear her growling in the background, itching to tear something apart.
---
Deep inside, Suzume prompted HoundMan to ignore the virus smell and head to the left instead. "Roger, roger, ma'am!" he agreed, picking his course. The tunnel seemed to narrow even further... until it actually became too narrow for him to proceed any further. "I can't keep going! However... there's a light coming from inside. I can see something in there! Hang on... I'll zoom in so I can see closer!"
There was a pause while HoundMan, presumably, did just that. After a little while, his tail armor suddenly began wagging, slapping Suzume in the face a few times before she presumably backed up or protected herself. "That's him! I can see a man in a safari suit, but he smells like a real navi! That's gotta be him, aroo!" he proclaimed. Ironically, it seemed as though SafariMan had chosen the same hiding spot as the NetPolice has assumed survivors would. Even worse, he had apparently picked a place where neither his gun-toting brutes nor his flying eyes in the sky could see the competitors.
"Aroo, there is some kind of computer or something in the room with him, which he is sitting in front of. It looks like it has a lot of monitors. Past that, there is uh... something that looks a little like a tanning bed. It's closed," he pointed out. "The room is well lit and there is a door on one side. It's kinda to the right... I wonder if he is using the viruses outside the door as a last line of defense?" he asked, now looking over his shoulder. "He isn't armed at all. And he's old. I think he wouldn't be a challenge if we could reach him."
He quieted down for a moment, then spoke up again. "If I aim it just right... I could probably shoot something in the room before he has time to react. What do you think would be the best target? Him? The computer? Something else, aroo?" he asked his companion. It was up to Suzume if that was their best shot or if she could afford to circle back to the others and inform them instead.
---
Magistrate had made a useful discovery, regarding the bombs implanted in Gala's robots, but it was hard to go further than that for now. The only thing left to do was disassemble the bomb in order to learn more about its trigger mechanism, which was going to be a slow, tedious process. With nothing else to do (at least until the others arrived), she would set to work.
It soon became clear, after removing the outer place, that any further work was going to be impossible without either professional level knowledge or at the bare minimum, precision tools. The inside wiring of the robot had been complex, as was this, but the scope of the two had been very different.
"I've brought others," FeilongMan would announced from the tunnels. Provided Roc and DragonierMan were still following him, he would slide out of the tunnel, then step aside so they could reunite with Magistrate.
---
Aya and NightShade, or the combined unit of AyaShade, as at least one of them thought of themselves, came to an agreement less to help Bullrun and more to destroy something, anything, because the desire to burn had consumed them both. "Somebody else?" Bullrun grunted, before smirking perhaps realizing the identity of the newcomer. "Let's see whatcha got..."
What he had was quite a lot; he unleashed a curving stream of fire that ripped through the grass, annhialating many enemies and leaving smoking stubs of legs where they had been. It was an effective attack, to be sure, but even still, there were enemies everywhere. "Nice shot! Hope you got a couple more like that comin', kid," Bullrun applauded.
The muddy clearing played host to a combat scene straight out of an action flick as the two (three?) fighters each went after a different rocky combatant, Bullrun tossing aside her hammer for a series of short-range punches, while Ayashade broke into the enemy with claw strikes. They each made short work of their targets, leaving the creatures stumbling and crumbling into heaps of stone, but there were even more statue monsters waiting.
Bullrun began grappling with one, which attempted to block her using the length of its gun. At the same time, one of the creatures approached and pulled Ayashade off if the broken wreckage of their target, then smacked him with a rifle but in the gut. The pain was not as bad as it could have been, given the armor, but Aya would presumably feel it. The creature placed the gun over its shoulder, barrell up, then grabbed Ayashade by the arm. More were still coming out from the woodwork.
It would occur to the two that, in the smoking grass they had cleared where so many monsters had been approaching only to be burnt down, a teleport pad was shining upon the ground of the net. Signaling its purpose, another rock creature slowly lumbered out after beaming onto the pad. If Ayashade could get free of the one holding them, they could perhaps head further in. Or if they craved further combat, there was still plenty to be done here, especially considering several of the henchmen now had Bullrun surrounded with their rifles.
last edited by Azureink
DragonierMan would have to talk to MachMan at some point, if only to figure out what happened to him. It seemed that Mach had been through the grinder on more than one occasion, literally and figuratively. It sounded like he needed someone to talk to, to sort some things out. Also it wouldn't hurt Drago to go take a tour of the camps and make sure everything was running more or less smoothly. There were plenty of things to get into order.
But going back to the present: the torch idea had worked. Drago and Roc had also managed to navigate the cave system and encounter FeilongMan. There was a tense few seconds of startled battle-readiness at the sudden speech and the shadow of what looked like a PotDragon, but the torch light quickly illuminated the navi and the crisis was averted. FeilongMan explained the situation and alleviated Drago's concern, possibly Roc's to, that there wasn't much danger here at the moment. He also told them, indirectly, that Magistrate, Suzume, and HoundMan, were also here. Then lead the way towards the cave that Magistrate still occupied with the disassembled drone.
Magistrate looked up from her 'workbench' when FeilongMan announced that the three arrived. She turned around on her seat and stood up. "DragonierMan, Roc," she greeted them with the same stoicism as an office lady voicing a standard greeting to her coworkers. She tilted her head slightly. "I assume by your presence here that either you have found something of importance, and as such due to the jamming have decided to reunite with the others, or have come up short and have expanded your search into this area," she observed.
"We have found some useful information," Drago replied, looking around. "Where's Suzume?" he asked. "She, and an NP officer named HoundMan, went further into the caves to look for survivors," Magistrate replied. Drago shook his head. "Well anyways you were right. This 'contest' is an excuse for SafariMan to tag us with tracking devices so he can study us." He squeezed his hand into a fist. "In order to win this, we need to find SafariMan and beat him into the ground."
"I see," Magistrate replied. She turned towards the drone on the bench and pointed it out. "I have discovered that the drones being used in this 'game' are branded with Gala's name. That would be the same Gala that attempted to delete you at the blimp party some time ago. They also contain a single bomb each. Remotely detonated. Unfortunately, I cannot find the correct frequency with the knowledge and tools I possess here."
Drago grit his teeth at Gala's name, but calmed down a little at the bomb discovery. He reached up and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So if you could find the frequency, you could perhaps cause all the drones to detonate? That would deal with one of his main advantages." Magistrate hesitated. "That is what I was thinking about, yes. However, I would prefer not to be inside a collapsible cavern when everything explodes." Drago nodded his agreement.
Magistrate looked to FeilongMan. "Since you were working with the drone earlier, perhaps you have some insight, or more specialized tools, into how we could tap into the frequencies used by these drones? It was not exactly an apology to how she had brushed him off before, but it was at least a respectful enough request.
Suzume sputtered as she was struck in the face with a happily wagging tail and scooted back out of its way, wiping the hairs out of her face and clothes. She was about to demand to know what HoundMan was so happy about when he whispered excitedly that he had found someone who sounded like he might be the SafariMan. HoundMan then went on to describe the room he could see, with various important-sounding adornments. He then made the proclamation that he could probably get a shot off at one of the things in the room. Suzume quickly reached forward to grab his foot and stop him from doing that for the moment.
"Hold on there chief," Suzume smiled. "Give me a second to think." She relaxed her grip and leaned back in thought. They could go directly for SafariMan, nip the source of the problem right away, but what if HoundMan missed or it didn't EJO'd SafariMan in one strike? Should they then go for the computer console, possibly disabling SafariMan's ability to run the drones, but giving him a chance to run? And what about that 'tanning bed'? Was that important?
Then it came to her: why not all three? She dug into her pockets and produced a
Magnum2Damage: 150 + Break + Panel Break x 3 Targets
Accuracy: A
Description: A triple barreled gun that blasts through defenses and terrain alike. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: B battlechip. She tried to reach out and tug on HoundMan's shoulder, trying to pass it over to HoundMan in the cramped tunnel. "Here, use this. I want you to try to get SafariMan, his computer, and his 'tanning bed' all with one shot."
She kept her hand on HoundMan, trying to feed him additional help to his optic sensors. "Deep breaths. Steady hands. You can do this. I believe in you. (Activate Suzume's Keen Eye [Signature]: Passive Take Aim. Target: HoundMan.)
Nothing can hold the dragon still! Aya!Dagger roared, refreshing their defenses as she gripped at Nightshade's code and attempted to teleport them both to the glowing teleportation platform. (Activate Aya's Blink [Signature]: Teleport [2 TCD]. Target: Nightshade. Passive: Tag Along [Team Subtype]: When a Teleport effect is activated, the user can take one ally along if the user and target are touching each other. Can also be used if this ability is called by the ally. This ability can not be used without the consent of both the user and ally, and can not be stacked or chained for more than two people. Target: Aya. Destination: the shining teleport pad.) We fly.
Our true prey awaits... to be devoured! Aya!Blade gleefully ringed out as she tried to get them to use the teleport pad, abandoning Bullrun to the stone wolves. Hopefully Aya's intuition about the teleport pad transporting them closer to SafariMan was correct. Otherwise they had let a good distraction go to waste.
But going back to the present: the torch idea had worked. Drago and Roc had also managed to navigate the cave system and encounter FeilongMan. There was a tense few seconds of startled battle-readiness at the sudden speech and the shadow of what looked like a PotDragon, but the torch light quickly illuminated the navi and the crisis was averted. FeilongMan explained the situation and alleviated Drago's concern, possibly Roc's to, that there wasn't much danger here at the moment. He also told them, indirectly, that Magistrate, Suzume, and HoundMan, were also here. Then lead the way towards the cave that Magistrate still occupied with the disassembled drone.
Magistrate looked up from her 'workbench' when FeilongMan announced that the three arrived. She turned around on her seat and stood up. "DragonierMan, Roc," she greeted them with the same stoicism as an office lady voicing a standard greeting to her coworkers. She tilted her head slightly. "I assume by your presence here that either you have found something of importance, and as such due to the jamming have decided to reunite with the others, or have come up short and have expanded your search into this area," she observed.
"We have found some useful information," Drago replied, looking around. "Where's Suzume?" he asked. "She, and an NP officer named HoundMan, went further into the caves to look for survivors," Magistrate replied. Drago shook his head. "Well anyways you were right. This 'contest' is an excuse for SafariMan to tag us with tracking devices so he can study us." He squeezed his hand into a fist. "In order to win this, we need to find SafariMan and beat him into the ground."
"I see," Magistrate replied. She turned towards the drone on the bench and pointed it out. "I have discovered that the drones being used in this 'game' are branded with Gala's name. That would be the same Gala that attempted to delete you at the blimp party some time ago. They also contain a single bomb each. Remotely detonated. Unfortunately, I cannot find the correct frequency with the knowledge and tools I possess here."
Drago grit his teeth at Gala's name, but calmed down a little at the bomb discovery. He reached up and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So if you could find the frequency, you could perhaps cause all the drones to detonate? That would deal with one of his main advantages." Magistrate hesitated. "That is what I was thinking about, yes. However, I would prefer not to be inside a collapsible cavern when everything explodes." Drago nodded his agreement.
Magistrate looked to FeilongMan. "Since you were working with the drone earlier, perhaps you have some insight, or more specialized tools, into how we could tap into the frequencies used by these drones? It was not exactly an apology to how she had brushed him off before, but it was at least a respectful enough request.
Suzume sputtered as she was struck in the face with a happily wagging tail and scooted back out of its way, wiping the hairs out of her face and clothes. She was about to demand to know what HoundMan was so happy about when he whispered excitedly that he had found someone who sounded like he might be the SafariMan. HoundMan then went on to describe the room he could see, with various important-sounding adornments. He then made the proclamation that he could probably get a shot off at one of the things in the room. Suzume quickly reached forward to grab his foot and stop him from doing that for the moment.
"Hold on there chief," Suzume smiled. "Give me a second to think." She relaxed her grip and leaned back in thought. They could go directly for SafariMan, nip the source of the problem right away, but what if HoundMan missed or it didn't EJO'd SafariMan in one strike? Should they then go for the computer console, possibly disabling SafariMan's ability to run the drones, but giving him a chance to run? And what about that 'tanning bed'? Was that important?
Then it came to her: why not all three? She dug into her pockets and produced a
Magnum2Damage: 150 + Break + Panel Break x 3 TargetsAccuracy: A
Description: A triple barreled gun that blasts through defenses and terrain alike. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: B battlechip. She tried to reach out and tug on HoundMan's shoulder, trying to pass it over to HoundMan in the cramped tunnel. "Here, use this. I want you to try to get SafariMan, his computer, and his 'tanning bed' all with one shot."
Quote (Suzume.SP)
Active: All for One [Team Subtype]: SPs may transfer a Battlechip from their folder to an allied target as a free action. Note: SPs with this ability may receive one Battlechip directly from the Operator each turn. (Once Per Turn).
Selected Chip:
Accuracy: A
Description: A triple barreled gun that blasts through defenses and terrain alike. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: B.
Transfer: HoundMan.EXE.
She kept her hand on HoundMan, trying to feed him additional help to his optic sensors. "Deep breaths. Steady hands. You can do this. I believe in you. (Activate Suzume's Keen Eye [Signature]: Passive Take Aim. Target: HoundMan.)
Nothing can hold the dragon still! Aya!Dagger roared, refreshing their defenses as she gripped at Nightshade's code and attempted to teleport them both to the glowing teleportation platform. (Activate Aya's Blink [Signature]: Teleport [2 TCD]. Target: Nightshade. Passive: Tag Along [Team Subtype]: When a Teleport effect is activated, the user can take one ally along if the user and target are touching each other. Can also be used if this ability is called by the ally. This ability can not be used without the consent of both the user and ally, and can not be stacked or chained for more than two people. Target: Aya. Destination: the shining teleport pad.) We fly.
Our true prey awaits... to be devoured! Aya!Blade gleefully ringed out as she tried to get them to use the teleport pad, abandoning Bullrun to the stone wolves. Hopefully Aya's intuition about the teleport pad transporting them closer to SafariMan was correct. Otherwise they had let a good distraction go to waste.
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the more the two stayed together, the less one could tell where Aya's code ended and Nighty's code began. Each passing moment would only further cement the two together, Aya gaining more control and Nightshade happily obliging. He would have never thought such dark energies would be so alluring, so pleasant to revel into.
"We're going to go for the teleport pad there." He barked at Bullrun, feeling more of Aya's code flow inside him. First moment he was one place, the next one he hoped to have his claws stepping onto the teleoprter's plate. "If you're as good as you say, I expect you to still be alive when we get back."
So, that was where all the stuff was spewing out of. Nightshade hoped it would also work in reverse. He gripped on his dagger even tighter, taking a moment to enjoy his new armor. "We should try to send Dad a massage too." He spoke in his mind with the other half of his persona. "He and Roc would probably would want to know about these telepot pads. Perhaps they can find another one on their side. Though with no direct comms..."
Nightshade thought for a moment. As long as he was merged with Aya, he could use Drago's Folder as his own. Perhaps if he could access it still, he could use it as a comm device! He didn't need to draw actual chip code, though He would surely be notified if he pinged a few chips in sequence...he hoped.
TankCannon, Elecreel, Recover80, ElelcShock, boomerang, Rageclaw, TankCannon.
TEREBooRT...Teleport, spelled as best as he could. Hopefully Dad would get it. That was the best he could do.
"We're going to go for the teleport pad there." He barked at Bullrun, feeling more of Aya's code flow inside him. First moment he was one place, the next one he hoped to have his claws stepping onto the teleoprter's plate. "If you're as good as you say, I expect you to still be alive when we get back."
So, that was where all the stuff was spewing out of. Nightshade hoped it would also work in reverse. He gripped on his dagger even tighter, taking a moment to enjoy his new armor. "We should try to send Dad a massage too." He spoke in his mind with the other half of his persona. "He and Roc would probably would want to know about these telepot pads. Perhaps they can find another one on their side. Though with no direct comms..."
Nightshade thought for a moment. As long as he was merged with Aya, he could use Drago's Folder as his own. Perhaps if he could access it still, he could use it as a comm device! He didn't need to draw actual chip code, though He would surely be notified if he pinged a few chips in sequence...he hoped.
TankCannon, Elecreel, Recover80, ElelcShock, boomerang, Rageclaw, TankCannon.
TEREBooRT...Teleport, spelled as best as he could. Hopefully Dad would get it. That was the best he could do.
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DragonierMan and Magistrate exchanged greeting, while Roc gave a quiet "grrrr" in the background and FeilongMan stroked his beard thoughtfully. When the question turned back to him, he lowered his eyebrows and shook his head. "Unfortunately, while I've studied many of the weapons Gala uses, my appreciation of them is only surface level. If anyone knew how to disarm her many devices en masse, I'm sure the whole net, perhaps the Mafia as well, could rest easier. Alas, I imagine only she herself knows... if SafariMan has taken her technology or received it on loan... I wonder how familiar he is with it, even," he mused, crossing his arms across the wide chestplate of his armor. "Familiar enough to operate them and deploy them, obviously. But, given the bomb you discovered and how this one, off the grid, has yet to explode... I wonder if he even can detonate them."
In this case, his theorycrafting was probably more useful than his expertise... though it was just that: a theory. It would be dangerous to assume the bomb wasn't going to explode. At the same time, the ones most qualified to answer the question of how to detonate or disable all of the bombs were probably either Gala, wherever she was, or SafariMan, who was now controlling them. Once SafariMan was found, however, his robots ought to be nothing more than an afterthought.
"Well, should we keep watch here, or head after your friend?" FeilongMan asked the others, evidently feeling they'd learned all they could from the robot wreckage. "There may also be merit in one of us waiting near the entrance... If a cave-in did occur, it would be good to have someone on the other side who could see a way to unblock it," he recommended.
---------------------------
Thankfully for Suzume, the tail was lightweight and seemingly only an appendage of the officer's armor, so there was no danger of getting hair in her mouth. His foot did have some actual HoundMan under the boot, however, and he turned around with a blank expression as she grabbed it. "Yes ma'am! Holding on," he responded obediently, keeping his voice to a whisper. Suzume herself paused to think for a moment, then handed over chip data. "Aroo! That's some serious ordinance, ma'am! I'd better be careful I don't bring this place down on our heads," he reasoned. "But that room looks pretty secure. I doubt the walls will fall in or anything, so I'll give it a shot!"
To some, Suzume's commentary might have come off as a bit hammy (the two of them had just met, after all), but to HoundMan, it seemed reassuring. It also made his tail armor start wagging again, which meant it knocked her in the cheek a few more times, but he got it under control soon enough. With all of the stillness of a dog watching a tennis ball held aloft in its master's hand, he focused the scope of the newly summoned magnum and peered into the room. Once he fired it, the creeping around would be over, one way or another.
The sound of the explosion reverberated through the cave, followed swiftly by several other noises. First, and most notably, was the voice of SafariMan giving a loud shout as he was immolated and smashed against a wall by the force of the explosion. The second was the sound of the metal container similarly flying against one of the walls. The third was the electric crackle of a shower of sparks, likely produced by the system of monitors that had gotten caught in the explosion. Although Suzume couldn't see the details inside the room, she could tell that the pristine white walls had been blackened.
"He's still moving," HoundMan hissed. "But barely, aroo," he clarified. It stood to reason the navi had something like an undershirt that protected him. If Ram were here, she would probably advise him to find a way into the room and use her Virtucuffs to apprehend the navi. Unable to see that far ahead, he instead prepared a cannon on his arm and aimed the gun through the window again. If Suzume didn't agree with that course of action, she'd have to stop him quick.
"Well... played..." the voice inside the room groaned, as the man seemed to become aware enough of the situation to know he'd been attacked. "To whom do I owe... the honor?" he further questioned, but HoundMan didn't answer him.
------------------
Elsewhere, Nightshade had an idea that was not so TEREBile, using the chips in DragonierMan's folder to inform him that someone, or something, was terebrting. What he made of that message would have to be seen later. For now, Aya guided Nightshade onto the teleport pad, which was currently free of stone men, as they were mostly preoccupied with surrounding Bullrun. The one holding them was forced to let go as Aya and DragonierMan teleported free from its grasp. A second later, they were whisked away elsewhere by the teleporting pad.
What awaited them appeared to be on some sort of homepage... a vast, darkened building surrounded them. Despite its size, it was relatively easy to figure out what it was: some kind of warehouse or storage facility. The room might just as well be mistaken for a certain Choinan tomb, however, as there were rows upon rows of stone men waiting. They were all very still... all with the exception of one, very close to the teleportation pad they'd landed down on. The man was trudging towards them at a slow speed, dressed up in safari gear and carrying a rifle. Another two lines of them were dressed similarly, while the others all wore heavy welding aprons and carried picks in their hands.
One of moving was not particularly consequential; AyaShade could avoid or attack them at his/her leisure. What may be more worth investigating was the pad from which they'd entered; nearby, a device was lit up with a keypad and a small viewscreen. Right now, the viewscreen was set up with coordinate numbers very similar to those the GNA had provided them with. Removing those coordinates would probably be as easy as pressing the backspace key on the console a few times. They could even input new coordinates if they wanted to. They'd have to act fast, however, as one enemy was already approaching and there was no telling when the others would begin acting.
Communications were no longer jammed here, however, there would be no way for the others to receive a message even if they sent it, until the others were free of the spot in Netfrica Net, however large its range was. Reorganizing the chips was still an option, of course, if DragonierMan was able to pick up on the intention.
In this case, his theorycrafting was probably more useful than his expertise... though it was just that: a theory. It would be dangerous to assume the bomb wasn't going to explode. At the same time, the ones most qualified to answer the question of how to detonate or disable all of the bombs were probably either Gala, wherever she was, or SafariMan, who was now controlling them. Once SafariMan was found, however, his robots ought to be nothing more than an afterthought.
"Well, should we keep watch here, or head after your friend?" FeilongMan asked the others, evidently feeling they'd learned all they could from the robot wreckage. "There may also be merit in one of us waiting near the entrance... If a cave-in did occur, it would be good to have someone on the other side who could see a way to unblock it," he recommended.
---------------------------
Thankfully for Suzume, the tail was lightweight and seemingly only an appendage of the officer's armor, so there was no danger of getting hair in her mouth. His foot did have some actual HoundMan under the boot, however, and he turned around with a blank expression as she grabbed it. "Yes ma'am! Holding on," he responded obediently, keeping his voice to a whisper. Suzume herself paused to think for a moment, then handed over chip data. "Aroo! That's some serious ordinance, ma'am! I'd better be careful I don't bring this place down on our heads," he reasoned. "But that room looks pretty secure. I doubt the walls will fall in or anything, so I'll give it a shot!"
To some, Suzume's commentary might have come off as a bit hammy (the two of them had just met, after all), but to HoundMan, it seemed reassuring. It also made his tail armor start wagging again, which meant it knocked her in the cheek a few more times, but he got it under control soon enough. With all of the stillness of a dog watching a tennis ball held aloft in its master's hand, he focused the scope of the newly summoned magnum and peered into the room. Once he fired it, the creeping around would be over, one way or another.
The sound of the explosion reverberated through the cave, followed swiftly by several other noises. First, and most notably, was the voice of SafariMan giving a loud shout as he was immolated and smashed against a wall by the force of the explosion. The second was the sound of the metal container similarly flying against one of the walls. The third was the electric crackle of a shower of sparks, likely produced by the system of monitors that had gotten caught in the explosion. Although Suzume couldn't see the details inside the room, she could tell that the pristine white walls had been blackened.
"He's still moving," HoundMan hissed. "But barely, aroo," he clarified. It stood to reason the navi had something like an undershirt that protected him. If Ram were here, she would probably advise him to find a way into the room and use her Virtucuffs to apprehend the navi. Unable to see that far ahead, he instead prepared a cannon on his arm and aimed the gun through the window again. If Suzume didn't agree with that course of action, she'd have to stop him quick.
"Well... played..." the voice inside the room groaned, as the man seemed to become aware enough of the situation to know he'd been attacked. "To whom do I owe... the honor?" he further questioned, but HoundMan didn't answer him.
------------------
Elsewhere, Nightshade had an idea that was not so TEREBile, using the chips in DragonierMan's folder to inform him that someone, or something, was terebrting. What he made of that message would have to be seen later. For now, Aya guided Nightshade onto the teleport pad, which was currently free of stone men, as they were mostly preoccupied with surrounding Bullrun. The one holding them was forced to let go as Aya and DragonierMan teleported free from its grasp. A second later, they were whisked away elsewhere by the teleporting pad.
What awaited them appeared to be on some sort of homepage... a vast, darkened building surrounded them. Despite its size, it was relatively easy to figure out what it was: some kind of warehouse or storage facility. The room might just as well be mistaken for a certain Choinan tomb, however, as there were rows upon rows of stone men waiting. They were all very still... all with the exception of one, very close to the teleportation pad they'd landed down on. The man was trudging towards them at a slow speed, dressed up in safari gear and carrying a rifle. Another two lines of them were dressed similarly, while the others all wore heavy welding aprons and carried picks in their hands.
One of moving was not particularly consequential; AyaShade could avoid or attack them at his/her leisure. What may be more worth investigating was the pad from which they'd entered; nearby, a device was lit up with a keypad and a small viewscreen. Right now, the viewscreen was set up with coordinate numbers very similar to those the GNA had provided them with. Removing those coordinates would probably be as easy as pressing the backspace key on the console a few times. They could even input new coordinates if they wanted to. They'd have to act fast, however, as one enemy was already approaching and there was no telling when the others would begin acting.
Communications were no longer jammed here, however, there would be no way for the others to receive a message even if they sent it, until the others were free of the spot in Netfrica Net, however large its range was. Reorganizing the chips was still an option, of course, if DragonierMan was able to pick up on the intention.
last edited by Azureink
DragonierMan took all the information in as he could, and then turned to Roc. "Well, I think we've learned all we can here. What would you like to do now? You are probably feeling the same restlessness that I am feeling in not being able to bring the fight to the enemy," he said with a shifting of his boot on the rubble. His fingers were also idly working over his armor and other bits of clothing, adjusting and tightening subconsciously.
"I will await the others to return if you wish to 'spread your wings' out there and try to find SafariMan that way," Magistrate interjected. "Who knows? You might be able to find something. Either that or blow off some steam fighting through hordes of robots. If anything it might cause a large enough distraction to hold SafariMan's attention long enough for one of the other groups to find him."
Drago looked between Magistrate and Roc for a few moments, before looking at FeilongMan. "And what are your plans? There is a NP tank outside hoping to 'rescue' you, so you could go outside and hang with them. You can wait here for the others with Magistrate, or head in deeper to find the two that went off. Or whatever else you want to do."
He puffed up his chest a little. "We'll handle the rest. No offense, and thanks for the information by the way, but I don't know how much you can fight and I don't want you to slow us down. So coming with me and Roc is off the table." Magistrate winced at the incorrect use of 'Roc and I' from Drago's speech. Drago didn't notice or didn't care as he started out of the cave towards the outside. "We'll make sure that at the end of this competition, everyone knows not to try to pull this kind of stunt again. Because it's going to end brutally."
"Hold on, we're 'porting in," Suzume raised her voice loud enough to be heard by HoundMan over the explosions. She grabbed onto HoundMan and tried to push up and over him to look over his shoulder, hoping to get any view of the lab in front of him. If she managed to find a teleporting spot, she activated her own teleport signature, pulling HoundMan with her. (Activate Suzume's Blink [Signature]: Teleport [2 TCD]. Target: HoundMan. Passive: Tag Along [Team Subtype]: When a Teleport effect is activated, the user can take one ally along if the user and target are touching each other. Can also be used if this ability is called by the ally. This ability can not be used without the consent of both the user and ally, and can not be stacked or chained for more than two people. Target: Suzume. Destination: somewhere in the lab that Suzume can see. Preferably the center of the room.)
If she managed to get into the room she would draw her sword. Chip Preset [SP]: Allows an SP to use a designated chip directly from the Operator. The preset chip can only be changed when jacked out. Current Chip:
BreakSwordDamage: 100 + Break + Slashing + Wide Attack
Accuracy: C
Description: Creates a sturdy but heavy blade that can cut through armor and shielding.
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 2 swings.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C. And attempted to tackle SafariMan to the ground, sitting astride him, and pressing the blade against his neck. Or perhaps pin him to the wall with one arm while pressing the blade to his neck with the other. Whichever looked more practical.
"Game's over!" she bellowed. "The true dragon wins. Now surrender," she threatened with a slightly increased pressure of her blade.
Memorize and delete, Aya!Dagger sent to Nightshade. As quick as she could, she was trying to log the coordinates in her mind for later use, before they 'press[ed] the backspace key' a few times. Hurry!
Assuming Ayashade followed her instructions, they would then be left in a warehouse full of robots, which were mostly deactivated. They are slow and we are fast, Aya!Blade sent. And we can fly. Aya!Sabre tried to get Nightshade to fly as high as they could in the warehouse, assuming that it was tall enough to get them out of reach of everything but the guns. Perhaps there are more controls elsewhere.
Time to hunt! There was a feeling that Aya!Sword was grinning at the prospect.
"I will await the others to return if you wish to 'spread your wings' out there and try to find SafariMan that way," Magistrate interjected. "Who knows? You might be able to find something. Either that or blow off some steam fighting through hordes of robots. If anything it might cause a large enough distraction to hold SafariMan's attention long enough for one of the other groups to find him."
Drago looked between Magistrate and Roc for a few moments, before looking at FeilongMan. "And what are your plans? There is a NP tank outside hoping to 'rescue' you, so you could go outside and hang with them. You can wait here for the others with Magistrate, or head in deeper to find the two that went off. Or whatever else you want to do."
He puffed up his chest a little. "We'll handle the rest. No offense, and thanks for the information by the way, but I don't know how much you can fight and I don't want you to slow us down. So coming with me and Roc is off the table." Magistrate winced at the incorrect use of 'Roc and I' from Drago's speech. Drago didn't notice or didn't care as he started out of the cave towards the outside. "We'll make sure that at the end of this competition, everyone knows not to try to pull this kind of stunt again. Because it's going to end brutally."
"Hold on, we're 'porting in," Suzume raised her voice loud enough to be heard by HoundMan over the explosions. She grabbed onto HoundMan and tried to push up and over him to look over his shoulder, hoping to get any view of the lab in front of him. If she managed to find a teleporting spot, she activated her own teleport signature, pulling HoundMan with her. (Activate Suzume's Blink [Signature]: Teleport [2 TCD]. Target: HoundMan. Passive: Tag Along [Team Subtype]: When a Teleport effect is activated, the user can take one ally along if the user and target are touching each other. Can also be used if this ability is called by the ally. This ability can not be used without the consent of both the user and ally, and can not be stacked or chained for more than two people. Target: Suzume. Destination: somewhere in the lab that Suzume can see. Preferably the center of the room.)
If she managed to get into the room she would draw her sword. Chip Preset [SP]: Allows an SP to use a designated chip directly from the Operator. The preset chip can only be changed when jacked out. Current Chip:
BreakSwordDamage: 100 + Break + Slashing + Wide AttackAccuracy: C
Description: Creates a sturdy but heavy blade that can cut through armor and shielding.
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 2 swings.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C. And attempted to tackle SafariMan to the ground, sitting astride him, and pressing the blade against his neck. Or perhaps pin him to the wall with one arm while pressing the blade to his neck with the other. Whichever looked more practical.
"Game's over!" she bellowed. "The true dragon wins. Now surrender," she threatened with a slightly increased pressure of her blade.
Memorize and delete, Aya!Dagger sent to Nightshade. As quick as she could, she was trying to log the coordinates in her mind for later use, before they 'press[ed] the backspace key' a few times. Hurry!
Assuming Ayashade followed her instructions, they would then be left in a warehouse full of robots, which were mostly deactivated. They are slow and we are fast, Aya!Blade sent. And we can fly. Aya!Sabre tried to get Nightshade to fly as high as they could in the warehouse, assuming that it was tall enough to get them out of reach of everything but the guns. Perhaps there are more controls elsewhere.
Time to hunt! There was a feeling that Aya!Sword was grinning at the prospect.
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Nightshade let out a happy squeal as he felt even more of Aya powers take hold of his code. The feeling was just so inebriating. His body shifted as a pair of dragonic wings sprouted from his back. He couldn't change into a full on huge dragon, but hey, he still got to have all the neato stuff like claws, tail and scales all over his body and snout. His armor just...melted and merged with him into the scaly hide he had now. At this point there was no telling where Nighty's code ended and Aya's code began. The two programs were so heavily interwined that It'd be impossible to discern the two being comprising the hybrid.
The little black dragon stretched around lightly, not totally used to his digitigrade appereance yet. Thankfully, Aya was still there helping him with the flying department. After taking note of the coordinates, the dragon hopped up in the air, managing to hover above the weird bots with ease.
Grinning, it scanned the area for anything that looked like a big red 'shut down' button. If these things could be powered up, there should also be a way to power em all down and deactivate them. Perhaps even find the real culprit of this mess at the same time.
The little black dragon stretched around lightly, not totally used to his digitigrade appereance yet. Thankfully, Aya was still there helping him with the flying department. After taking note of the coordinates, the dragon hopped up in the air, managing to hover above the weird bots with ease.
Grinning, it scanned the area for anything that looked like a big red 'shut down' button. If these things could be powered up, there should also be a way to power em all down and deactivate them. Perhaps even find the real culprit of this mess at the same time.
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"Yeah, no offense, but I don't need a dusty dragon wearing armor that's a couple centuries outta date backing me up," Roc agreed with DragonierMan. FeilongMan knit his brow and stroked his beard slowly, perhaps wondering if she realized DragonierMan was also wearing armor with almost as aged a motif. "What? I said no offense," she grumbled clicking her teeth irritably. She might have rolled her eyes, if her bratty nature was more juvenile and less just impatient.
"Very well. One of us ought to report these bomb findings to the police, at any rate. I will find the officer and let them know. I won't stray far from the cave, for I would hate to lose track of it," the elderly dragon elaborated.
"Pfft! Just mark the cave! Leave, whaddya call it... a landmark. Yeah, one of those," Roc laughed in response, perhaps pleased she had come up with a plan for once.
"And broadcast the location of this cave to our assailants? I think not-" he murmured. Just then, a loud bang, followed by a mechanical explosion, came from inside the cave, as HoundMan and Suzume released a magnum shot into the room with SafariMan. "Oh dear... You two ought to rendezvous with your ally and the other officer. I recommend you mark your path deeper inside carefully..
You wouldn't want to get lost. Of course, if you finish your business, feel free to leave. Good luck to you, in case our paths do not cross again."
"Yeah, yeah. If they do cross again, I'll try not to trip over that jump rope you call a neck," Roc guffawed, which made the other navi lower his brows again, perhaps wondering when he became so unpopular with the ladies. At any rate, he took off. "Alright, DragonierMan and uh.... DragonierMan's SP. Let's go see what happened to HoundMan and that other SP," she nodded, before squeezing her way deeper into the cave.
---
Deeper inside, Suzume leaned over HoundMan's shoulder. She pressed onto his back to do so, which seemed to make his tail armor wag more furiously. Still, he remained quiet while she went about her business. She wouldn't be able to see inside the room well, but she could at least make out enough of the interior to activate a teleport.
Once the two were inside, HoundMan fell to the floor with a momentary, startled yelp, not understanding what had happened. On the other hand Suzume was fine, being capable of flight and also aware of her own teleport.
The inside of the room was a mess, blackened from its pristine white by their attack. The monitor system's console was on fire, though thankfully, there wasn't much of a spread or creep. Sparks shot out occasionally. The charred figure of SafariMan was huddled next to it on one knee; it looked like something was wrong with one of his legs, judging by how he had it bent under him. Finally, the mysterious tanning bed / pod / whatever it was had stayed closed and was blackened, but otherwise no worse for the wear.
SafariMan looked much like his goons, only not so big and burly. Rather than stone skin, he had a (charred) Netopian complexion with a thick white moustache. A device similar to a monocle sat upon one of his eyes, though it was made of metal. If he had been impressive before the explosion, that had been lost during the surprise attack, and he now looked more like the victim of some freak explosion, awaiting rescue. All the same, Suzume took caution, pushing him to the floor and threatening him with the blade.
"Well... yes, I believe I already stated you won. Let me have a better look," the old man murmured, adjusting his monocle (the other eye was practically squinted shut). "There's a surprise! Not the dragon, but one of his allies. I didn't even think to register SPs. A mistake to fix for next time, I suppose."
"Next time?" HoundMan asked, genuinely confused.
"It was such a smashing watch, I am thoroughly certain I'll do it again. Well, in that sense, I'm lucky the bull didn't reach me. If she had, I would probably be under a jackout barrier and in a right sticky wicket," he chuckled. "Ah, but no matter. It's the policeman that found me, so handcuffs it is. I'll be the NetPolice's captive while my daughter is the Mafia's! There's some humor for you, eh?"
"I don't get it," HoundMan commented. It sounded like he just didn't catch the humor in the statement, rather than expecting an elaboration on the daughter/Mafia comment. "Anyway," he sighed, then produced a pair of NetPolice Virtucuffs, the kind that prevented jackout. He motioned for Suzume to scooch back a bit on their prisoner, then cuffed his hands together.
At this point, the communications barrier lifted. Anyone watching the various robots would realize that they had stopped moving. It was likely that the NP cuffs doubled as a stop switch, freezing technology that was commonly used by their enemies such as these.
HoundMan nodded, then turned to the tanning bed. "I'll open this up..." he reported, then grunted as he began to work on forcing open the lid. Suzume would have a moment to reflect that the handcuffs were preventing SafariMan's jackout... she could take this time to question him if she wanted. She could let the NP take back their captive, but securing him for the Empire or destroying him here were also potential options. HoundMan, for his part, didn't seem to be considering this at all, as he went about his work.
---
The Aya half of AyaShade made a quick decision to memorize coordinates and then back them out or the transport machine. Whether that would bear fruit or not remained to be seen, but it was presumably a wise precaution, as now the additional statue men would be unable to transport into the other area. They may have helped Bullrun by doing so... at least she had a finite number of enemies to smash now.
Seeming to sense the disturbance, the statuesque servant that had been heading for the warp pad stopped and turned its head towards the intruder. The others did so as well. Those in safari gear began to brandish their guns, pointing them upward, while the others simply watched...
AyaShade might be disappointed to find the warehouse extremely barren apart from the enemies. The console near the pad was the only one, and there was no warehouse manager directing traffic. She/he did have some luck, though: they managed to dodge an inverse-oriented hailstorm of shots from below, as the statues began unloading and reloading in their direction. Simply jacking out of the warehouse may be a fine idea; nimble or not there were way too many of the armed, rocky opponents, and those that did not have guns were beginning to brandish their stakes as though they planned to throw them.
"Very well. One of us ought to report these bomb findings to the police, at any rate. I will find the officer and let them know. I won't stray far from the cave, for I would hate to lose track of it," the elderly dragon elaborated.
"Pfft! Just mark the cave! Leave, whaddya call it... a landmark. Yeah, one of those," Roc laughed in response, perhaps pleased she had come up with a plan for once.
"And broadcast the location of this cave to our assailants? I think not-" he murmured. Just then, a loud bang, followed by a mechanical explosion, came from inside the cave, as HoundMan and Suzume released a magnum shot into the room with SafariMan. "Oh dear... You two ought to rendezvous with your ally and the other officer. I recommend you mark your path deeper inside carefully..
You wouldn't want to get lost. Of course, if you finish your business, feel free to leave. Good luck to you, in case our paths do not cross again."
"Yeah, yeah. If they do cross again, I'll try not to trip over that jump rope you call a neck," Roc guffawed, which made the other navi lower his brows again, perhaps wondering when he became so unpopular with the ladies. At any rate, he took off. "Alright, DragonierMan and uh.... DragonierMan's SP. Let's go see what happened to HoundMan and that other SP," she nodded, before squeezing her way deeper into the cave.
---
Deeper inside, Suzume leaned over HoundMan's shoulder. She pressed onto his back to do so, which seemed to make his tail armor wag more furiously. Still, he remained quiet while she went about her business. She wouldn't be able to see inside the room well, but she could at least make out enough of the interior to activate a teleport.
Once the two were inside, HoundMan fell to the floor with a momentary, startled yelp, not understanding what had happened. On the other hand Suzume was fine, being capable of flight and also aware of her own teleport.
The inside of the room was a mess, blackened from its pristine white by their attack. The monitor system's console was on fire, though thankfully, there wasn't much of a spread or creep. Sparks shot out occasionally. The charred figure of SafariMan was huddled next to it on one knee; it looked like something was wrong with one of his legs, judging by how he had it bent under him. Finally, the mysterious tanning bed / pod / whatever it was had stayed closed and was blackened, but otherwise no worse for the wear.
SafariMan looked much like his goons, only not so big and burly. Rather than stone skin, he had a (charred) Netopian complexion with a thick white moustache. A device similar to a monocle sat upon one of his eyes, though it was made of metal. If he had been impressive before the explosion, that had been lost during the surprise attack, and he now looked more like the victim of some freak explosion, awaiting rescue. All the same, Suzume took caution, pushing him to the floor and threatening him with the blade.
"Well... yes, I believe I already stated you won. Let me have a better look," the old man murmured, adjusting his monocle (the other eye was practically squinted shut). "There's a surprise! Not the dragon, but one of his allies. I didn't even think to register SPs. A mistake to fix for next time, I suppose."
"Next time?" HoundMan asked, genuinely confused.
"It was such a smashing watch, I am thoroughly certain I'll do it again. Well, in that sense, I'm lucky the bull didn't reach me. If she had, I would probably be under a jackout barrier and in a right sticky wicket," he chuckled. "Ah, but no matter. It's the policeman that found me, so handcuffs it is. I'll be the NetPolice's captive while my daughter is the Mafia's! There's some humor for you, eh?"
"I don't get it," HoundMan commented. It sounded like he just didn't catch the humor in the statement, rather than expecting an elaboration on the daughter/Mafia comment. "Anyway," he sighed, then produced a pair of NetPolice Virtucuffs, the kind that prevented jackout. He motioned for Suzume to scooch back a bit on their prisoner, then cuffed his hands together.
At this point, the communications barrier lifted. Anyone watching the various robots would realize that they had stopped moving. It was likely that the NP cuffs doubled as a stop switch, freezing technology that was commonly used by their enemies such as these.
HoundMan nodded, then turned to the tanning bed. "I'll open this up..." he reported, then grunted as he began to work on forcing open the lid. Suzume would have a moment to reflect that the handcuffs were preventing SafariMan's jackout... she could take this time to question him if she wanted. She could let the NP take back their captive, but securing him for the Empire or destroying him here were also potential options. HoundMan, for his part, didn't seem to be considering this at all, as he went about his work.
---
The Aya half of AyaShade made a quick decision to memorize coordinates and then back them out or the transport machine. Whether that would bear fruit or not remained to be seen, but it was presumably a wise precaution, as now the additional statue men would be unable to transport into the other area. They may have helped Bullrun by doing so... at least she had a finite number of enemies to smash now.
Seeming to sense the disturbance, the statuesque servant that had been heading for the warp pad stopped and turned its head towards the intruder. The others did so as well. Those in safari gear began to brandish their guns, pointing them upward, while the others simply watched...
AyaShade might be disappointed to find the warehouse extremely barren apart from the enemies. The console near the pad was the only one, and there was no warehouse manager directing traffic. She/he did have some luck, though: they managed to dodge an inverse-oriented hailstorm of shots from below, as the statues began unloading and reloading in their direction. Simply jacking out of the warehouse may be a fine idea; nimble or not there were way too many of the armed, rocky opponents, and those that did not have guns were beginning to brandish their stakes as though they planned to throw them.
last edited by Azureink
It was unclear where the dagger came from, but quick as a flash, a gleaming blade punctured the ground right at Roc's feet. The handle wobbled a little as the glow from the blade faded, eventually also coming to a stand-still. "Do not call me an SP," Magistrate snarled. It was clear she was trying to keep her voice professional and even, and failing due to the flash of anger made by Roc's comment. Magistrate straightened up and returned her arm to her side, brushing off her clothing and pulling the hair out of her face, and trying to look presentable again from that gaffe. "Please refer to me as Magistrate. Or if that is too hard for you, Magi is fine."
A moment later there was a chime on a general channel. Communications had been restored and someone was trying to broadcast across the sector. Failing that, at least the dragoniers would hear it because it was coming from Suzume.
Also, over the Neo-Shogun private mission channel, Suzume was sending a text message: informing that she had captured SafariMan with the help of the NP officer HoundMan, and was requesting further orders. The message included a ping to her location, the fact that SafariMan was in Virtucuffs, and a quoted statement about SafariMan's daughter being a captive of the Mafia. Magistrate piggybacked off the message and added in the data that she obtained from Gala's drone. DragonierMan turned to Magistrate and Roc and nodded, heading deeper into the caves following Suzume's beacon so they could meet up with her and HoundMan.
Suzume lowered her hand after broadcasting, and learning about the drone, and turned to SafariMan. "Was that the reason for Gala being involved? Because she has your daughter?" she asked, intent on interrogating him a little while HoundMan worked on the 'tanning bed'. "Why would she take your daughter in the first place? Who are you really?"
Wherever Ayashade was, there was a delay on the shutdown of the robot stonemen. Most likely there was also a similar delay on whether they received Suzume's messages. Unfortunately, there wasn't much here in the warehouse of interest. So the Aya part of Ayashade began giving options to the Nightshade part about what they could do. She didn't think they had enough ordinance to level the hundreds of soldiers here, so it would be more sensible to just destroy the teleporter and leave. They probably should go back to the Zodiac Challenge location and go looking for the rest of the group while they were at it. Staying here much longer would probably end up with them being battered, ejected, and unable to continue with the mission.
A moment later there was a chime on a general channel. Communications had been restored and someone was trying to broadcast across the sector. Failing that, at least the dragoniers would hear it because it was coming from Suzume.
Quote (Suzume)
<This is a message to all participants: stand down. SafariMan has been captured and the contest is over. I repeat, the contest is over.>
Also, over the Neo-Shogun private mission channel, Suzume was sending a text message: informing that she had captured SafariMan with the help of the NP officer HoundMan, and was requesting further orders. The message included a ping to her location, the fact that SafariMan was in Virtucuffs, and a quoted statement about SafariMan's daughter being a captive of the Mafia. Magistrate piggybacked off the message and added in the data that she obtained from Gala's drone. DragonierMan turned to Magistrate and Roc and nodded, heading deeper into the caves following Suzume's beacon so they could meet up with her and HoundMan.
Suzume lowered her hand after broadcasting, and learning about the drone, and turned to SafariMan. "Was that the reason for Gala being involved? Because she has your daughter?" she asked, intent on interrogating him a little while HoundMan worked on the 'tanning bed'. "Why would she take your daughter in the first place? Who are you really?"
Wherever Ayashade was, there was a delay on the shutdown of the robot stonemen. Most likely there was also a similar delay on whether they received Suzume's messages. Unfortunately, there wasn't much here in the warehouse of interest. So the Aya part of Ayashade began giving options to the Nightshade part about what they could do. She didn't think they had enough ordinance to level the hundreds of soldiers here, so it would be more sensible to just destroy the teleporter and leave. They probably should go back to the Zodiac Challenge location and go looking for the rest of the group while they were at it. Staying here much longer would probably end up with them being battered, ejected, and unable to continue with the mission.
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Night's part of the being known as Ayashade would be inclined to agree with his other half. He was quite sure that they could take them all, though it would be fruitless effort, considering they could just trap them there.
The small black dragon's feet claws touched down on the teleport pad. Nighty was loving his new form. His body was craving for whatever Aya's energy was made of. It was just awesome. "Sorry boys, we don't have time to deal with you guys." The dragon waved at the robots with a huge grin on his snout, exposing his row of sharp fangs.
With his tail, he poked the teleport pad to activate it. "See you next time, we have an appointment with your boss."
The small black dragon's feet claws touched down on the teleport pad. Nighty was loving his new form. His body was craving for whatever Aya's energy was made of. It was just awesome. "Sorry boys, we don't have time to deal with you guys." The dragon waved at the robots with a huge grin on his snout, exposing his row of sharp fangs.
With his tail, he poked the teleport pad to activate it. "See you next time, we have an appointment with your boss."