Electown Exploration

Battle Theme

Delta successfully yanked his wrist out of the HeelNavi's grip, leaving the infested Navi briefly stunned and stumbling as Delta flipped over its head. After landing behind the reeling HeelNavi, Delta could get an unfettered look at the prog rooted to its back. The prog's lower half was almost entirely torn away, and its large face was slashed and crunched in places. Only one of its eyes remained undamaged, and stared back at Delta with a faint red glow.

The prog's reactions were surprisingly quick; a stream of metal shards flowed out of its disembowled torso like shimmering insects and floated in front of its body like an array of miniature shields. Delta's quick Cannon "double tap" was near-perfectly aimed, but both shots loudly clanged against the floating metal shards. While it didn't look like either of the two projectiles managed to reach the Prog's ruined body, they obliterated all of the defensive metal shards.

The HeelNavi recovered from its brief stumble with a snarl, and whipped around to face Delta. As the program turned with previously unseen agility, Delta heard the whistle of a blade pass from left to right just in front of his face. The HeelNavi had activated a sword chip, which had manifested over its right arm, and its swing was merely inches too far out of reach of Delta's head. The program's previously uneasy and pleading posture was gone, it stood with a wide stance and a slightly hunched back, with arms out in an agressive, ready-to-pounce sort of stance.


"GIVE THE̞M͖̱̱̘ͦ̅ͤ̀̚ T͉̟̮͉̳̙̼̼̈́̋͌́O̸̹̲̞̜ͥͦͣ̈̚͡ M̧̭̺͕̦͈̭̩̱̎ͤ̓ͥ́̀È̴̻̰̝̭͕̭͕̱̦̠̹̜͉͕͒̂ͥ̀̽̒̈̇̽͂̑͗́͡!̶̵̛̞̲͕͖͓̟̘͍̠̻̖̳͗ͭͫͪ̎̌̄̆̓̂̂̂̚̕͜!͉̮̼͖͎̓̒̎̂͜͟͠!̫̳̻̟̝̮̎ͮͦ̿̅̃̆̍͒͛̿ͬͧ́̚͢͢͡͝" the HeelNavi shrieked, its voice quickly became more and more blended with a distinctly female, yet unfamiliar, voice.

-=Now Definitely Hostiles=-
Strange HeelNavi: 150HP [Normal] (Melee Range) (Sword)
Parasitic Pro͚̣̮̪̜͑͑̔͜g: 100HP [Normal] (attached to HeelNavi's back) (Shield Destroyed!)

-=Navis=-
Delta.EXE: 110HP [Normal]

-=Terrain=-
50% Metal

• Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.

(Piles of trash nearby, climbable)
45% Normal

• No effects.

(Clearing beyond trash heap)
5% Magnet

• Non-Elec Elementals get -30% Evasion, and 50% (+/- 25% RP) chance to fail movement off the panel.
• Only Elec Elementals can burrow.
• Wood attacks: Change terrain hit to Normal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Seeking.

(Occasionally dotted further beyond)

-=Objects=-
Small Junk Pile: 20HP [Metal]
Partially eaten Cacty: 5HP [Normal]

"Darnit." Delta kept his focus on the HeelNavi's blade even as he contacted his netop over the private channel, "The prog had a shield. No effect from either shot." Even as he spoke, the navi was ready to at least try and avoid any further swipes from the blade. Meanwhile, his aches from previous battles continued to fade, thanks to his self-repair systems.

"Shotgun, slot in. Bubbler, slot in. Go through him, we can't let that prog regenerate its shield, and I don't think that we'll be able to get behind him again while he's got that sword."

Delta almost hesitated, evaluating whether the other navi would be able to survive the two chips...then, having reached his decision, raised his buster again. The first shot was a blast of shot, the scattered pellets hopefully going straight through both the HeelNavi and parasite.

At that point however, Delta paused, attempting to evaluate the effect of the shot on his opponent.

((Yeah, I'm not sure that what I'm about to try is gonna work...))

The frenzied HeelNavi swiped again with its blade, but the combination of the poorly aimed swing and Delta's evasiveness forced the blade to cut nothing but empty air. The infested program hissed in frustration and launched itself again towards Delta, its sword pointed directly at the Navi in an attempt to spear its target.

Delta responded with a shotgun blast at near point-blank range, which ripped into the HeelNavi's chest and indirectly parried the sword; the tip of the blade passed harmlessly out to Delta's left side. The HeelNavi's poorly aimed charge also gave Delta a good view of several shot pellets passing through both the HeelNavi and its parasitic prog 'backpack,' eliciting a dual-toned howl of pain from the infested program.

However, it appeared Delta wasn't the only one with gradual healing subroutines; some of the holes in the HeelNavi's chest started to flicker with tiny green sparks before slowly closing up. Though injured, the HeelNavi still showed no signs of letting up. "FINE, I'LL TEA̞͙͉ͩ͊R͎̗̠̠̣̍̂̂̿̌̍́ T̩̟̮̞̩̲̯̆̍ͅH͕̳͖ͤ̓̀ͤͩ̓̋̓̆͢É̸̳̙͈̞̠̣̦̣̌ͫM̵̴̖̳̮͖̜̖̆̾̇́̔̾̑ͤͣ͘ F͎̳̬͙̮͝R̛͙͊OM YOUR CORPSE!!"




-=Now Definitely Hostiles=-
Strange HeelNavi: 110HP [Normal] (Melee Range) (Sword)
Parasitic Pro͚̣̮̪̜͑͑̔͜g: 50HP [Normal] (attached to HeelNavi's back)

-=Navis=-
Delta.EXE: 125HP [Normal] (1/3 actions remaining)

-=Terrain=-
50% Metal

• Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.

(Piles of trash nearby, climbable)
45% Normal

• No effects.

(Clearing beyond trash heap)
5% Magnet

• Non-Elec Elementals get -30% Evasion, and 50% (+/- 25% RP) chance to fail movement off the panel.
• Only Elec Elementals can burrow.
• Wood attacks: Change terrain hit to Normal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Seeking.

(Occasionally dotted further beyond)

-=Objects=-
Small Junk Pile: 20HP [Metal]
Partially eaten Cacty: 5HP [Normal]

"Not likely." Those words were Delta's only verbal response as he fired the second chip into the infested navi.

The weapon lived up to its name, a cloud of bubbles bursting from the point of impact, momentarily obscuring Delta's view of the Strange HeelNavi.

Though at close range, the stream of bubbles didn't hit their mark; they merely grazed and slightly dampened the infested HeelNavi's left arm. Its amber LED eyes continued to glare at Delta throughout, but the HeelNavi itself didn't move to strike.

However, Delta saw one of the Prog's damaged ears pivot forward and down with a mechanical *click* so it angled parallel to the ground above the HeelNavi's water-specked shoulder. The two halves of the ear split apart just an inch or so and briefly became a-buzz with electrical arcs before a small bolt of lightning rocketed towards Delta with a sharp *Kra-koom!*.

The small, white-hot bolt hit Delta in the upper torso, sending a burning pulse of pain as it coursed over his body and burst out from his back in a somewhat similar fashion to the shotgun chip the Navi used mere seconds ago. The ear flipped upwards towards a similar position of its twin, but the halves of the ears remained seperated and occasionally coughed up a few sparks while radiating enough heat to give off slight distortion ripples in the air.



-=Now Definitely Hostiles=-
Strange HeelNavi: 110HP [Normal] (Melee Range) (Sword)
Parasitic Pro͚̣̮̪̜͑͑̔͜g: 50HP [Normal] (attached to HeelNavi's back)

-=Navis=-
Delta.EXE: 85HP [Normal]

-=Terrain=-
50% Metal

• Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.

(Piles of trash nearby, climbable)
45% Normal

• No effects.

(Clearing beyond trash heap)
5% Magnet

• Non-Elec Elementals get -30% Evasion, and 50% (+/- 25% RP) chance to fail movement off the panel.
• Only Elec Elementals can burrow.
• Wood attacks: Change terrain hit to Normal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Seeking.

(Occasionally dotted further beyond)

-=Objects=-
Small Junk Pile: 20HP [Metal]
Partially eaten Cacty: 5HP [Normal]

Delta wheezed, trying to regain his breath after being hit by the electrical attack. His internal systems were working to repair the damage, but that attack would take longer than he really had to simply vanish.

A moment later, he brought his right arm up across his chest and triggered the only active program currently in his navicust, causing a white shield with a band of red around the edges to appear on the arm. Holding the new defense between himself and the pair of host and parasite, Delta started moving.

Careful to keep the shield facing towards his foe, the navi focused more on moving to get behind his foe than avoiding any attacks. As he did so, he allowed the tubular form of his rocket launcher to manifest on his left shoulder. Seizing the grip with his left hand, and slipping a finger through the trigger guard, he brought the weapon to bear on the prog, and fired, launching a rocket at the...thing.

Both Navis slowly repaired the damage inflicted upon eachother; the tingling burn of the brief shock started to be soothed away, while more of the pellet holes from Delta's shotgun started to close up on the HeelNavi's chest. Said HeelNavi continued its assault on Delta, but the Navi was near-perfectly prepared; the HeelNavi slashed at Delta with a more well-placed swing, but it crashed ineffectively against the Navi's shield. Delta's shield began to crumble and fragment after the blow, but he was no worse for wear while the HeelNavi seethed and muttered in frustration after yet another unsuccessful swing of its blade.

As Delta began to move in an attempt to get behind the HeelNavi, his foe gave chase like a frenzied predator. Either its previous clumsiness was just a show, or it was now being controlled more directly by the parasite; the infested HeelNavi kept itself facing directly towards Delta, sometimes merely pivoting in place to stay eye-to-eye with the white and red Navi. Delta readied his shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, and seemingly in response a sharpened metal tendril curled around the HeelNavi's ribcage from its back, and pointed towards Delta. With no other warning, a diamond-shaped sliver of metal shot forth from the tendril like a dart, striking the rocket launcher at its connection point and Delta's shoulder, severing it from his body and sending it clattering to the ground.

However, the Prog Parasite was a moment too slow; by the time the dart hit the launcher, said launcher was filled with little more than residual smoke and heat. While the rocket wasn't successful in reaching the Prog, it solidly struck its host in the chest (where the Prog's face would be if the rocket was capable of boring through the program's body) and briefly obscured Delta's target in flame and smoke. The HeelNavi belted out a choking, male & female-toned scream, but managed to keep its footing and re-cage its amber glare on Delta, albeit through a now slightly charred and melted visor.


-=Now Definitely Hostiles=-
Strange HeelNavi: 40HP [Normal] (Sword)
Parasitic Pro͚̣̮̪̜͑͑̔͜g: 50HP [Normal] (attached to HeelNavi's back)

-=Navis=-
Delta.EXE: 80HP [Normal] (Shield Broken!)

-=Terrain=-
50% Metal

• Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.

(Piles of trash nearby, climbable)
45% Normal

• No effects.

(Clearing beyond trash heap)
5% Magnet

• Non-Elec Elementals get -30% Evasion, and 50% (+/- 25% RP) chance to fail movement off the panel.
• Only Elec Elementals can burrow.
• Wood attacks: Change terrain hit to Normal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Seeking.

(Occasionally dotted further beyond)

-=Objects=-
Small Junk Pile: 20HP [Metal]
Partially eaten Cacty: 5HP [Normal]

Henry was the first to respond, in a somber tone. "Delta...I don't think that we're going to be able to take out that prog without deleting the navi as well."

Delta frowned as he brought up his shield again, supporting the bulky defense with one arm. "...it wasn't really a sure thing to start with. Send me our last cannon, and I'll end this." As he was taking cover, his systems were once more working to negate the damage that he had taken, but they were fighting a losing battle on that front.

Henry plucked the chip in question from the carrying case, then slid it into the docked PET. "Cannon, sent."

Delta raised his buster to point at the hostile navi. "I'm sorry." Even as he spoke, he pulled the trigger, shoving his arm aside from the recoil of hurling a shell downrange.

As soon as the chip had been expended, Delta moved in an attempt to throw off the aim of further attacks, sidestepping away from the position where he had fired the cannon from.

Delta's shield again proved to be useful, as it completely protected him from an electrical blast fired from the prog's either ear. The shield disentigrated nearly as fast as it formed, but all Delta was subjected to was a harmless light show of electrical sparks.

While both Navis continued to heal up, they also brought cannons to bear against each other. The HeelNavi still had its sword-reformatted right arm, so it pointed the CannonDumb-esque artillery piece with its left. In a scene almost akin to an old Netopian Western flick, the two programs exchanged glares like a pair of dueling gunmen, then fired off a single shot nearly at the same time.

Both shots hit their marks; the HeelNavi took a round directly to the chest, while Delta wasn't successful in evading the HeelNavi's own and took a solid hit to one of his shoulders. Though both programs were hit by the highly damaging firearms, Delta was the only one left standing at the end. The HeelNavi's eyes flickered then went out as he slumped forward from his heavily cratered chest. He hit the floor like a porcelain figure, shattering into dozens of small data fragments that rapidly broke down and began to disappear. The exception was the sword that manifested on the infested Navi's right arm, which seemed to collapse in on itself as it reverted to a chip data packet.

The Parasitic Prog settled to the floor as its host disintegrated. As its former host disappeared, Delta could get a better look at the segmented, mechanical tendrils that had bored into the HeelNavi. They briefly twitched and thrashed as if clawing for something to latch onto, then started to snap and twist to partially lift the ruined prog's body off the ground.

It vomited out several metal shards to reform its orbiting metal shield, then uttered a piercing, shriek like that of a banshee before skittering away with unsettling quickness as it bee-lined towards the massive piles of junk nearby. The prog hit the closest pile with enough force to send smaller pieces of scrap flying in every direction, but seemed to tunnel in with alarming efficiency. In mere seconds, it had concealed itself inside the veritable mountain of trash.

It wasn't certain if it was briefly retreating to mount a counterattack or going to ground, but after several seconds the creaking and clinking rustling of garbage stopped, leaving Delta alone on the outskirts of the junkyard.


-=Now Definitely Hostiles=-
Strange HeelNavi: DELETED
Parasitic Pro͚̣̮̪̜͑͑̔͜g: FLED

-=Navis=-
Delta.EXE: 35HP [Normal]

-=Terrain=-
50% Metal

• Cannot be Broken or Cracked except with Geddon/PanelShot, cannot be Burrowed into.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• 100 Damage Aqua attacks: Change terrain hit to Cracked.
• 100 Damage Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Furnace.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Break.

(Piles of trash nearby, climbable)
45% Normal

• No effects.

(Clearing beyond trash heap)
5% Magnet

• Non-Elec Elementals get -30% Evasion, and 50% (+/- 25% RP) chance to fail movement off the panel.
• Only Elec Elementals can burrow.
• Wood attacks: Change terrain hit to Normal.
• PanelShot: Imbue Elec + Seeking.

(Occasionally dotted further beyond)

-=Objects=-
Small Junk Pile: 20HP [Metal]
Partially eaten Cacty: 5HP [Normal]

-=Battle 5, Victory!=-
Spoils: 800z, SwordDamage: 80 + Slashing
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a sword made of solidified energy, with a very short blade. Hits one target per slash
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 6 swings.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D, 8 Bugfrags

As the...thing...disappeared into a pile of refuse, Delta raised his buster-

"Delta, stop. You're in no shape to pursue it."

"But..." The armored navi was clearly displeased at leaving the parasite to vanish. He did lower his arm, however, allowing the weapon to be replaced by his hand. "...alright." He still watched the pile where the creature had vanished, clearly upset about the results of the fight.

"There's no helping it now. Please, just grab the reward data and let's go before anything else shows up."

Delta walked over to the dropped sword chip first. "...you probably need to go to bed soon anyways." Collecting the rest of the data, he vanished in a beam of light, returning to his PET.

After he left, the area was as quiet as a grave.

[Get: 800z {4620 >>> 5420}, SwordDamage: 80 + Slashing
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a sword made of solidified energy, with a very short blade. Hits one target per slash
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 6 swings.
Element: Null
Trader Rank: D, 8 BugFrags {59 >>> 67}]

((Not really the result that I was going for...but I wasn't going to get another good shot at the Prog))

((Jack Out to Electown))