Light in the Storm, Interlude: Chasing Echoes (Combat Thread)

((Branch, Lyntael from => Sharo Mafia Facility))
--------

The passage led into an open space, and Lyntael hesitated. It looked like a factory floor, almost, with huge blocky-looking machines at either end of trundling conveyor belts criss-crossing the room. No progs were here, thankfully, and the entire system seemed automated. A number of broad, tall archways led out of the work floor in different directions, and a tall gantry of metal latices rose from the floor and crated a higher walkway up above, which supported a variety of hanging tools and machine arms. Lyntael moved forward, cautiously. This was the place, she was sure of it... Where was Rogan?

Her eyes drifted to the moving conveyor belts. The machines at the ends all spat out or ate up the contents of the belts, iron jaws clamping open and shut in front of black voids... but she stepped back again with a flinch as she looked at the contents – some belts had weapons, or parts of weapons. Things that looked like actualised battle chips, in some cases, and other that looked much more like their human-world counterparts. Other belts, though, had pieces that looked like virus parts – the faintly flickering face-plate from a Megalian, a large wooden boomerang with metal-capped ends, a small bundle of pickaxes... something that looked suspiciously like a set of six metal arms that made her shudder with a sudden painful memory. What was going on in this place?

A moment later, A brief hiss of freezing air and the thin sound of slicing metal cut the air. Lyntael crouched, hands clapping over her ears on instinct as an electrostatic whine assaulted her senses. As she looked up, a great rent opened in the steel plating on one side of the room, letting in a veritable blizzard of snow and ice, from what she could only guess was an outside network.

Then, suddenly, in a near blissful sensation that almost made the small girl sink to her knees with relief, a sense of connection blossom into the back of her mind. She felt overwhelmed tears threaten her eyes for a moment, before she could say anything. She swallowed and stood straight again.

“I'm here, sir. I'm here!” she failed to mask the desperate relief in her voice as she called out. Rogan wouldn't answer, she knew, except by text command. She wanted to hear his voice, even for just a curt command or two, but it was unlikely he'd be able to talk to her any more at all until they were finished, now, but she was glad anyway. It was still only an emulation signal, and not a proper jack-in line, she knew that, but at this point it didn't matter. A prompt came from Rogan a moment later.

“Confirmed. Commence masking, and remain close to my dive signal.” She nodded and swallowed, then answered aloud even as she located his intrusion and cloaked it from her side.
“Yes, sir. Mask is in place and stable, extenuation is less than ten percent.” She nodded to herself and took a breath. Rogan was just going to dive from here to secure some actual higher clearance details for what he needed to do deeper in... it shouldn't take him long, really. She just had to monitor a mask, like she'd done a dozen times before for other reasons. Nothing dangerous about it. Except if she had to run away because of viruses or getting caught, this time, the consequence might be deadly. No pressure. The girl drew a long breath and held it, then let it out slowly as she rubbed at her arms. The wind blowing in from the rift was icy.

((Requesting Battle 1, Lyntael: 150Hp, using Gust and Airstep))
The factory floor-like area gradually grew colder as it was robbed of its temperature, thanks to the breach from the nearby steel wall. The sound of the wind whistling through the tear in the wall was the only sound for a good while, before a much louder banging noise reverberated from the steel plating. Each time, a visible dent could be seen bulging from the plating around the tear. The banging repeated again and again, until a massive metal disk came flying out of the hole, now made much larger.

The howl of the wind was now much louder, as four viruses emerged from the hole. The subzero cold's effects began to creep in as an ice sheet that spread out onto the floor and walls around the hole. Leading the charge was a hockey puck-wielding Karma and sword-swinging ElecMech, presumably responsible for the breach in the wall. Behind them, a Shellnerd and Slimer hopped side by side to support them. As soon as the Slimer entered, Lyntael felt a sharp chill through her bones, as if the temperature in the room had sharply dropped from its already cold levels.

Lyntael's positioning was, luckily, behind one of the blocky machines that fed the conveyor belts with viral parts, and she had not been spotted just yet, but they would likely be passing by her position to the rest of the floor, so she had to think fast.

-- Viruses --
ShellnerdShellnerd (ShellGeek)

Shellgeeks alternate actions between attacking and guarding. These are the only actions Shellgeeks may perform, and the first action of every battle is always guarding. Shellgeeks will not break from this pattern unless forced to by status effects. The secondary attack of Shellgeeks can be used to grant an ally of this virus a free movement, or even to knock an ally out of the path of an oncoming attack.

Area: Yoka, Sharo, Beach, Okuden Valley

HP: 140
Primary Attack Damage/Effects: 20 Null x 2 Spears
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Fires two spears at one target.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effects: 40 Null
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Fires a star tipped arrow. Can be used on an ally to move them. Causes no damage to allies.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): TripleNeedle, StarArrow2 (Rare), Zenny
Special: Attacks every other action. IronBody when not attacking.
: 140 HP [Ice] [Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]
SlimerSlimer (Slimey)

Slimey viruses were produced to be sources of major traffic lag. While a Slimey virus is on the battlefield, all Navis and SPs suffer from a passive Slow-like effect that imposes a -10% Evasion AND Movement Speed penalty. This effect is not a status ailment, and cannot be cured. This effect does not stack with itself if more than one Slimey is on the field at once. As this does not count as a true Slow effect, up to two instances of Slow may stack on top of this effect for a total penalty of -30% Evasion/Movement Speed. This effect expires when all Slimey viruses on the field are deleted or flee. Slimey viruses are very slow to move and dodge, but every move they make that is not a dodge counts as an attack. Slimeys deal damage by touching an opponent, thus touching a Slimey directly results in damage to any non-Slimey the virus considers hostile.

Area: Sharo, NetVegas, Beach

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Aqua + Slow
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Body slams its foes. Any foes hit are slowed the following turn. Must be within melee range to attack a foe.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MetaGel2, Zenny
Special: While this enemy is on the field, dodge effectiveness is reduced by 1 Rank.
: 150 HP [Ice] [Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]
KarmaKarma (Dharma)

Dharma move and dodge at average speed. Their puck attacks rebound off of the edges of the battlefield as if there were an invisible wall there. They can rebound up to 3 times before finally passing off of the field or dissipating into thin air. The pucks pass through anything they hit except boundary walls, terrain, and friendly viruses. The pucks can not damage other Dharmas. This virus cannot attack while moving.

Area: Yoka, Netopia, Sharo, NetVegas

HP: 170
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Null + Break + Piercing + Rebound(3) + Ground Attack
Attack Accuracy: E
Attack Description: Throws a Hockey puck at the enemy. Break.
Element: None
Possible Rewards (Per virus): AirHockey2, Zenny
: 170 HP [Normal] [Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.
: 200 HP [Normal] [Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]

-- Navis -- [Slimer: -10% Dodge Rate]
Lyntael.EXE: 150 HP [Normal] [Behind Belt Feeder Machine D]

-- Terrain --
85% Normal
  • No effects.
[Everywhere else]
15% Ice
  • +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
  • Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
  • Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
  • Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.
[Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]

-- Objects -- [A and B are next to each other. C and D are the same, but on the opposite wall of the room.]
Belt Feeder Machine A: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine B: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine C: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine D: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]

-- Rogue Battle 1 Ready? Start!! --
At the first sound of further impacts, Lyntael's breath caught and she ducked back hard against the side of the nearest machine, barely peeking out towards the rift in the wall. It was supposed to be a small breach, mended quickly and quietly. What was..? The next few crashes gave way to viruses. They were taking advantage of Rogan's brief ingress before he could back-seal it. She swallowed and looked up and around the rest of the machine floor again. This was no good.

Her heart quickened again and as she crouched low in hiding, she could feel the growing current beneath her skin, thrumming and buzzing. Breaches had to happen from time to time... but if they were major, then there would be clean-up crews, or virus sweepers to deal with it. She took a few long breaths trying to focus and think it through, stealing another brief glance outward. She could feel their presence in the chamber, and the machines around seemed to have grown more sluggish as well. It would be a perfect cover, in one sense... but at the same time, she couldn't leave them here, and draw more heat and attention right down on the very place she needed to cover for Rogan. She had to get rid of them, somehow...

More importantly, she had to stay calm. Had to keep hold of the mask for Rogan, and not overdo it, or burn herself out. Keep herself safe, and keep herself calm. The girl closed her eyes and concentrated, then gently extended one hand in front of her. The familiar pulse followed as the barrier expanded from her core and faded from sight after it stabilised just beyond her strikers. It was a fairly deep network, but she had to try anyway; Rogan's life could well be endangered if she messed up. She was at risk herself, but... that didn't matter right now. There was no running from this, if it was just going to get them both caught.

She hesitated again, taking a low stance as she prepared herself to dash out. They were still grouped up, and if she got to them quickly, before they noticed her... She just had to get in quickly. Just go. Her breath drew in and out for a few more moments, the charge humming in her body as she tried to will herself forward.

At last, with a small, tightly clenched growl behind her teeth, Lyntael shoved her fears away and darted out into the open, attempting to cut the insurgents off before they could move out into the rest of the factory floor. Small curls of wind travelled with her as her toes brushed the panels. She stayed low to the ground, though her eyes fixed on the largest and most dangerous looking virus. she'd seen one of those before, and the memory of it still made her want to cower back, but she pushed forward and concentrated instead on the movements of her own body.

Just before she reached the mech virus, her shoulder twisted and her left hand went to ground. the pivot turned her momentum and let her left foot whip up and around towards the machine's mid-section. Energy flowed as she struck out, a portion of the charge within her drawing in to her core, then rushing outward to her leading foot. A burst of static light provided a moment of relief from the electrical tension as two progressing waves of lightning lanced past on onward, into the back row of viruses, beyond her initial target.

Lyntael didn't slow. The initial surge was accompanied by the brief feeling of drain and she landed with its innate rhythm. Both hands hit the panels as her leading foot curled under her for the next spring. It followed through immediately, this time slamming her other foot back and up in a rising heel that was aimed at the same point, and sending two more lances of vibrant electricity arcing out behind her target. The second flow of power drained off the rest of the charge inside her for the time being, and as the motion let her twist her body over into a neat flip and she landed on her toes, Lyntael staggered slightly and swayed. The yawning void of empty drain lasted only a second before the cycle of her charge began to build faster and harsher again, making her muscles start to ache.

It was too much at once. Had to be more careful, she knew. She turned quickly, ducking low again in the hopes of avoiding harm, but she knew she couldn't stay in the middle of them like this, not for long. Her eyes darted around and she took a breath, putting both hands down again before kicking up. An inrush of wind followed as it curled around her, propelling the girl towards the ceiling of the factory area in the midst of a potent updraught of wind. The gantry above rushed closer and just as she reached the peak of her jump, Lyntael snapped out a hand to grab a hold of the metal grating. Sparks crackled between her fingers and the grid as she gripped tight and swung around, landing and rolling over once on the walkway as the winds around her settled down again.

Sparks cracked in the girls hair as she gasped a few quick breaths, lying on her back. She had to get up. Couldn't stay like this. The build was already returning, fast and strong. It wanted out again, and she had to resist; had to keep it in check and not get washed away. With an effort she rolled over then up, coming to a crouch on one knee and with a hand down as she looked down at the factory floor to asses the situation. The breach was already beginning to seal itself down again neatly as Rogan back-patched his entry point. The mask was still fine, and in a moment or two the hole would be gone like it had never been there, she hoped. No more viruses, but she still had to survive these ones.

Summary

L*) Subtype Ability: Gust (All Knock-back and Pull effects are amplified, and attacks containing them gain Wind-Type)
L1) Instinctive Activation: My Pain is Real (Multi-Stage: (On Set: Self-Slow2), Counter(On Hit): 40Elec, Knockback, Nova3, A)(Overcharge +1 on Set, +2 on Trigger)
L2) My Heart Falters (80Elec Barrier, Buster Charge, Off-Target1)(Overcharge -1)
L3) Buster Charge, and try not to panic.
L4) My Fear Rejected (30Elec, Knockback, Spread2, Break, Shot-Type, Charge Burner1, A)(Overcharge +3) @ ElecMech, Spread back to Slimer and Shellnerd
L5) My Thoughts Collected (30Elec, Knockback, Spread2, Impact, Shot-Type, Charge Burner1, A)(Overcharge +3) @ ElecMech, Spread back to Shellnerd and Slimer
L6) Airstep: launch self (and any in Nova2) into High Altitude, Lyntael grabbing onto upper gantry.

Cooldowns and Overcharge

Overcharge: Begin: +0, My Pain is Real (Set) +1, My Heart Falters -1, My Fear Rejected +3, My Thoughts Collected +3, End: +6

My Pain is Real: 3TCD
My Heart Falters: 3TCD
My Fear Rejected: 3TCD
My Thoughts Collected: 3TCD
Lyntael's mind raced as she saw the viruses breach through into the facility, trying to work out how to navigate the situation. There was no way she could just leave them there and attract attention to the area, and so she resolved to take them out before anyone noticed. Drawing on her strength, she began to stabilize her electric charge to provide herself with her usual protective barrier, all while the Karma and ElecMech went forward out to the factory floor to scout the area out. In the back, the Slimer could be seen pushing the rather stubborn Shellnerd to little effect, as it had locked itself inside its shell and resolute in not wanting to move at all. At that moment, the Shellnerd opened its shell to protest against the Slimer's persuasions, when Lyntael took the opportunity to jump out and kick off an electrical attack towards the supposed leader of the viruses: the ElecMech.

Her kick landed accurately, sending the mechanical monster slightly back and lancing off two arcs of lightning towards the two viruses in the back, dealing massive damage to both of them due to the ice amplifying the energy. Her second strike landed again, this time with the mech suffering from the effects of the ice as well, and the remaining two in the back were instantly charred into an unrecognizable black against the ice. Taken by surprise, the deleted viruses were unable to react quickly enough, but the survivors were quick on the draw to retaliate back, with the Karma spitting out its metal puck from its underside at Lyntael. The projectile thankfully bounced off of her barrier, which then triggered a reactive discharge from Lyntael's core, knocking back both the Karma and the ElecMech. Meanwhile, the Karma's metal puck crashed into one of the machines feeding virus parts onto a conveyor belt. The crash wasn't enough to destroy it completely, but it was certainly quite busted up.

Despite being critically damaged, the ElecMech wasn't one to be deterred, and sent out a small electrical ball that hovered slowly towards her, but Lyntael was faster in dashing up and out of harm's way, high up into the gantry.

-- Viruses --
ShellnerdShellnerd (ShellGeek)

Shellgeeks alternate actions between attacking and guarding. These are the only actions Shellgeeks may perform, and the first action of every battle is always guarding. Shellgeeks will not break from this pattern unless forced to by status effects. The secondary attack of Shellgeeks can be used to grant an ally of this virus a free movement, or even to knock an ally out of the path of an oncoming attack.

Area: Yoka, Sharo, Beach, Okuden Valley

HP: 140
Primary Attack Damage/Effects: 20 Null x 2 Spears
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Fires two spears at one target.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effects: 40 Null
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Fires a star tipped arrow. Can be used on an ally to move them. Causes no damage to allies.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): TripleNeedle, StarArrow2 (Rare), Zenny
Special: Attacks every other action. IronBody when not attacking.
: DELETED
SlimerSlimer (Slimey)

Slimey viruses were produced to be sources of major traffic lag. While a Slimey virus is on the battlefield, all Navis and SPs suffer from a passive Slow-like effect that imposes a -10% Evasion AND Movement Speed penalty. This effect is not a status ailment, and cannot be cured. This effect does not stack with itself if more than one Slimey is on the field at once. As this does not count as a true Slow effect, up to two instances of Slow may stack on top of this effect for a total penalty of -30% Evasion/Movement Speed. This effect expires when all Slimey viruses on the field are deleted or flee. Slimey viruses are very slow to move and dodge, but every move they make that is not a dodge counts as an attack. Slimeys deal damage by touching an opponent, thus touching a Slimey directly results in damage to any non-Slimey the virus considers hostile.

Area: Sharo, NetVegas, Beach

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Aqua + Slow
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Body slams its foes. Any foes hit are slowed the following turn. Must be within melee range to attack a foe.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MetaGel2, Zenny
Special: While this enemy is on the field, dodge effectiveness is reduced by 1 Rank.
: DELETED
KarmaKarma (Dharma)

Dharma move and dodge at average speed. Their puck attacks rebound off of the edges of the battlefield as if there were an invisible wall there. They can rebound up to 3 times before finally passing off of the field or dissipating into thin air. The pucks pass through anything they hit except boundary walls, terrain, and friendly viruses. The pucks can not damage other Dharmas. This virus cannot attack while moving.

Area: Yoka, Netopia, Sharo, NetVegas

HP: 170
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Null + Break + Piercing + Rebound(3) + Ground Attack
Attack Accuracy: E
Attack Description: Throws a Hockey puck at the enemy. Break.
Element: None
Possible Rewards (Per virus): AirHockey2, Zenny
: 130 HP [Normal] [In front of Belt Feeder Machine B]
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.
: 30 HP [Ice] [Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]

-- Navis --
Lyntael.EXE: 150 HP [Normal] [High Altitude, upper gantry] [ElecBarrier: 35/80] [Off-Target1] [Self-Slow2] [Homing: ElecMech Thunderball x1]

-- Terrain --
85% Normal
  • No effects.
[Everywhere else]
15% Ice
  • +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
  • Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
  • Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
  • Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.
[Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]

-- Objects -- [A and B are next to each other. C and D are the same, but on the opposite wall of the room.]
Belt Feeder Machine A: 10 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine B: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine C: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine D: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
The earlier explosive recoil that had drained her body before was only adding to the thought-clouding burn of static that was swelling inside Lyntael. Sparks danced and jumped from her hair and skin, onto the gantry around her as she fought to stay focused. Her charge was raging near to bursting point again already, and she had to get it out before it burned her alive.

Through a growing stinging sensation at the edges of her eyes, Lyntael pulled herself up to the rail and glanced around at the floor below. Her gaze flicked to the approaching thunder ball, before she forced her limbs to movement, swinging over the bar and kicking off at an angle that launched her forcefully back down towards the remaining viruses. Her body twisted and rolled over in the air until she came down with a slamming drop from one heel, aiming for the puck-spitting one and hoping to drive them back into the icy corner they'd come from. As she landed, and the burst of bright electricity accompanied her strike, a further wave of static charge rolled out form her, cascading off in every direction as her body struggled to stabilise after the repeat expenditures.

She hadn't drained herself entirely, despite the speed and force of her assault, but even so, the girl staggered roughly as she pushed back to her feet again on the ground. The cycle of her charge rushed up, scattering her thoughts with painful white noise, but she held her ground, doing her best to block the way out onto the rest of the floor. A secondary thrum of energy hummed under her skin, sending rippling patterns of energy dancing visibly just beneath the surface as she tried to hold a ready pose and tried to reform and strength the barrier-like shell of energy about herself. The more machines they wrecked the more likely it would be that people would look into the incident. She had to keep it to a minimum if she could... and she had to keep herself together and conscious to do that.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a thread of thoughts was still trying to count the seconds. How long would Rogan take to get what he needed here? How long did she have? The stinging in her eyes was only getting worse as energy arced and cracked off her, but she didn't dare take her eyes of the remaining viruses.

Summary

L*) Counter Activation: (Overcharge +2)
L*) Subtype Ability: Gust (Movement harm negated, all Knock-back and Pull effects are amplified, and attacks containing them gain Wind-Type)
L1) Action Precluded: Buster Charge
L2) Half-Charge Buster Strike (60Elec, A)(Overcharge+2)(Deep breath, over the rail and launch back down) @ Dharma
L3) A Manifest Spirit (Multi-Stage: (First: (15Elec, Nova2, A)), Then: (Time Delayed (15Elec, Nova2, Per Turn, for 3 additional turns)) (Overcharge -1 per pulse, when active)
L4) Lingers After (Multi-Stage: (On Set: Self-Slow1), Counter(When Hit): 30Elec, Knockback, Nova2) (Overcharge +1 On Set, +1 On Trigger)
L5) And Beats Anew (50Elec Barrier, Buster Charge, Off-Target1) (Overcharge -1)
L6) Action Precluded: Buster Charge

Cooldowns and Overcharge

Overcharge: Begin: +6, My Pain is Real (Activation) +2, Half-Charge Buster Strike +2, A Manifest Spirit -1, Lingers After (Set) +1, And Beats Anew -1, End: +9

My Pain is Real: 2TCD
And Lingers After: 2TCD
My Heart Falters: 2TCD
And Beats Anew: 3TCD
My Fear Rejected: 2TCD
My Thoughts Collected: 2TCD
A Manifest Spirit: 3TCD
Though her first round of attacks was about as successful as she could ask for, Lyntael still had to deal with the remaining two, this time with the debilitating effects of her own electricity locking up her body. With the hovering electrical ball floating into range, she avoided it by charging up with an attack in her heel, before kicking herself off back to the ground towards the metal puck-spitting virus. Unfortunately, as she landed, the static plaguing her eyes caused her to misjudge the Karma's position slightly, and it missed the virus's head by a hair. The static discharge from her body did manage to graze the Karma slightly, but the ElecMech was much more wary now, and used the ice it was on to its advantage to swerve out of the wave's path.

A hiss came from the Karma's undercarriage as it loaded up another iron puck, and ejected it out at high speed. The puck ricocheted around the room rapidly before it struck Lyntael from the back; thankfully her barrier absorbed the blow, as it erupted in another reactive discharge. The reaction struck the Karma and caused a few more cracks on its body, while the ElecMech had already been out of range earlier. Once more, it put out another ball of electricity, but the ice under its feet made its aim somewhat lopsided, and it was shot to Lyntael's side instead. Once more, the ball slowly hovered towards her position.

-- Viruses --
ShellnerdShellnerd (ShellGeek)

Shellgeeks alternate actions between attacking and guarding. These are the only actions Shellgeeks may perform, and the first action of every battle is always guarding. Shellgeeks will not break from this pattern unless forced to by status effects. The secondary attack of Shellgeeks can be used to grant an ally of this virus a free movement, or even to knock an ally out of the path of an oncoming attack.

Area: Yoka, Sharo, Beach, Okuden Valley

HP: 140
Primary Attack Damage/Effects: 20 Null x 2 Spears
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Fires two spears at one target.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effects: 40 Null
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Fires a star tipped arrow. Can be used on an ally to move them. Causes no damage to allies.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): TripleNeedle, StarArrow2 (Rare), Zenny
Special: Attacks every other action. IronBody when not attacking.
: DELETED
SlimerSlimer (Slimey)

Slimey viruses were produced to be sources of major traffic lag. While a Slimey virus is on the battlefield, all Navis and SPs suffer from a passive Slow-like effect that imposes a -10% Evasion AND Movement Speed penalty. This effect is not a status ailment, and cannot be cured. This effect does not stack with itself if more than one Slimey is on the field at once. As this does not count as a true Slow effect, up to two instances of Slow may stack on top of this effect for a total penalty of -30% Evasion/Movement Speed. This effect expires when all Slimey viruses on the field are deleted or flee. Slimey viruses are very slow to move and dodge, but every move they make that is not a dodge counts as an attack. Slimeys deal damage by touching an opponent, thus touching a Slimey directly results in damage to any non-Slimey the virus considers hostile.

Area: Sharo, NetVegas, Beach

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Aqua + Slow
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Body slams its foes. Any foes hit are slowed the following turn. Must be within melee range to attack a foe.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MetaGel2, Zenny
Special: While this enemy is on the field, dodge effectiveness is reduced by 1 Rank.
: DELETED
KarmaKarma (Dharma)

Dharma move and dodge at average speed. Their puck attacks rebound off of the edges of the battlefield as if there were an invisible wall there. They can rebound up to 3 times before finally passing off of the field or dissipating into thin air. The pucks pass through anything they hit except boundary walls, terrain, and friendly viruses. The pucks can not damage other Dharmas. This virus cannot attack while moving.

Area: Yoka, Netopia, Sharo, NetVegas

HP: 170
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Null + Break + Piercing + Rebound(3) + Ground Attack
Attack Accuracy: E
Attack Description: Throws a Hockey puck at the enemy. Break.
Element: None
Possible Rewards (Per virus): AirHockey2, Zenny
: 85 HP [Normal] [In front of Belt Feeder Machine B]
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.
: 30 HP [Ice] [Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]

-- Navis --
Lyntael.EXE: 150 HP [Normal] [In front of Belt Feeder Machine A and B] [ElecBarrier: 50/50] [Off-Target1] [Self-Slow1] [Buster Charge x2] [Homing: ElecMech Thunderball x1] [Manifest Spirit: Elec15 Nova2 (3 turns)]

-- Terrain --
85% Normal
  • No effects.
[Everywhere else]
15% Ice
  • +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
  • Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
  • Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
  • Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.
[Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]

-- Objects -- [A and B are next to each other. C and D are the same, but on the opposite wall of the room.]
Belt Feeder Machine A: 10 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine B: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine C: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine D: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
No good... she had tried to do too much again, already. Wasn't she better at this now? Why did it hurt so much? As Lyntael steadied herself and staggered, her stance slipped wide just to keep the girl on her feet while electric sparks seethed across her skin and lit her hair. She could feel the muscles in her arms and legs twitching and firing in erratic jolts as the swelling of her charge demanded release. The two viruses were still here, around her, somewhere. She hadn't managed to take care of them yet, and the repeated impacts of their attacks against her were driving her body to react again and again.

She tried to look around, taking a half step to turn about, before another convulsion of her charge attempting to break free made her hunch in on herself. She had to hold it back, at least, from the large bursts. Any more of those and it would get worse, and thinking was already getting difficult. A thought in the back of her head scolded her again; she was better than this. Why now, of all times, was she having so much trouble keeping it under control? Frustration sparked as she grit her teeth, turning again to look around while she clutched at her form. No stay calm. Don't overdo it. She had to say calm.

Her eyes stung and she blinked trying to make the aching sensation go away, but it wouldn't. Calm. She tried to force the overwhelming burn of her charge back and down, mentally trying to visualise crushing it inwards, though it didn't really help. Her attention had slipped away from the battlefield around her amidst the difficulty. More than anything, she had to not burn out, because then she'd lose the masking for Rogan. Think calm, like Eternalis and Aurora. They were both always so calm and relaxed when fights broke out; she had to try to be more like them. This was serious.

As she focused, Lyntael concentrated on the way that her bond with Eternalis and Aurora helped keep her charge calmer and she drew on the sensation from somewhere within her chest. Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to calm herself and let the sensation of slight shifting and change wash over the rest of her body.

The crackling burn in her strikers grew muffled and dampened as a set of metallic gold bracers formed about her wrists and ankles, the edges trimmed in blue. She tried to steady her breathing as she felt the changes begin; eyes closed, she felt the cool metal gorget ripple across her collar and fasten itself in place around her emblem. Next came the soothing sensation of the gel armour extending out from her bracers and collar, replacing her other clothing swiftly as it covered her instead. The feeling of it was cool and reassuring, but as the other fabric disappeared, she couldn't help but feel slightly naked, even if she knew the gel clouded up tactically in all the important places. Unseen, the mad sparking in her hair settled into contained lances of power darting back from her scalp, down the length of hair that now lay down, lank, damp and flat, with bluish tips that trailed a few extra centimetres of blue gel from the tips.

When she opened her eyes again, Lyntael felt... still dangerously close to losing control, but her thoughts were clearer, more measured. Her limbs still ached and burned with the nerve fire of her charge, but she could hold steady like this and finish up. There were only two of them, after all. Just take it in order, and be certain about it. She drew in a breath and let it out again, trying to firm up her stance. Her eyes flicked down briefly, then up again. And don't think about how borderline indecent this cross form looks.

Lyntael kicked forward, darting across the ice on the ground with easy footing and sweeping one foot around in an effort to strike the mech and knock it down for good. The gel across her body rippled as she moved, and she felt the surge of it on her skin as the energy drew in from her wrist and ankle bracers, then flowed out into a directed blast of blue gel that sought to overwhelm the virus. The lead point of her aim had been towards the mech's swords; with luck, even if she didn't have the power to delete it, she might be able to get some of those weapons out of its hands.

As her foot completed the arc and she landed, Lyntael let her momentum slide her on the ice briefly, before a rolling wave of electricity pulsed out through the gel body suit covering her and skittered across the ice in every direction. Small pulses. Let it balance out. Stay in control. That was what she needed to do.

As her body came to a halt, Lyntael ducked low, putting one hand on the ice then darting back the way she had come, covering the few steps she needed to deliver a direct over-arm punch towards the Dharma. A second rippling flow passed across her skin in an awkwardly stimulating way as the gel channelled the movement of her energy, in from the strikers, and out again through the focus point. Another burst of blue gel crashed out of her wrist striker as she swung. Short, controlled bursts. Spend the energy, but evenly. Calmly. She could still feel it building inside her; a muted crackling and surging now, but voracious all the same. She landed from the force of her first punch and let the momentum carry the rest of her body down with it, crouching low to sweep with her back leg, aiming for the puck-spitting hatch on the virus this time. Another flow of energy, another blast of blue slime. It was okay; even if she wasn't' strong enough to stop them cleanly, she could disable them enough to keep herself safe. A steady stream of rationalising thoughts marched through her mind like a mantra as she fought, moving quickly and with more precision now.


Summary

L*) Counter Activation: (Overcharge +1)
L1) Action Lost to Overcharge
L2) Action Precluded: Buster Charge (Unable to Charge Further(!))
L3) Engage EternalAurora Cross (Aqua/Recover, +1 Action (Cap 7), +40Hp)(Overcharge Shift Activated)
L4) Half-Charge Buster Strike (60Aqua, Disarm, A -> B)(Overcharge Neutral) @ Mech
L*) A Manifest Spirit (15Elec, Nova2, A -> B)(Overcharge -1)
L5) Half-Charge Buster Strike (60Aqua, Disarm, A -> B)(Overcharge Neutral) @ Dharma
L6) Action Precluded: Buster Charge
L7) Half-Charge Buster Strike (60Aqua, Disarm, A -> B)(Overcharge Neutral) @ Dharma

Cooldowns and Overcharge

Overcharge: Begin: +9, And Lingers After (Activation) +1, A Manifest Spirit -1, End: +9

My Pain is Real: 1TCD
And Lingers After: 1TCD
My Heart Falters: 1TCD
And Beats Anew: 2TCD
My Fear Rejected: 1TCD
My Thoughts Collected: 1TCD
A Manifest Spirit: 2TCD
With how her internals were wreaking havoc with her focus, Lyntael couldn't quite bring herself to finish off the remaining two injured viruses through all the pain. While she tried to deal with it with little success, the thunderball from the ElecMech hovered closer, and collided against the electrical field barrier around her. Her barrier managed to offset the damage that would have been done to her, but its effects still leaked through, amplifying the nervous system lockup that she was already experiencing. In an attempt to force herself to calm down, Lyntael manifested her link with Eternalis and Aurora into physical form as a SoulCross, which seemed to work well enough; it allowed her to suppress her electrical charge from going out of control, but at the cost of most of her clothes.

The Karma's metal puck shot out once more towards her, and cancelled out her barrier as the Cross took hold. Being exposed in one more aspect didn't hold her back, though, as she struck out towards the ElecMech. Right as it extracted its blades, Lyntael kicked forward and quickly connected with a kick. The kick shaved its bladed arms right off, which then landed far out to the side with a noisy clanking. The mech itself crashed to the ground shortly after, leaving the Karma alone to fend for itself. In a panic, it spat out another metal puck, which struck her solidly in her midsection (-45), right before she delivered a punch to the virus's head that dented it significantly. Her momentum carried her to kick it right in the hatch, sending it flying off to the side.

-- Viruses --
ShellnerdShellnerd (ShellGeek)

Shellgeeks alternate actions between attacking and guarding. These are the only actions Shellgeeks may perform, and the first action of every battle is always guarding. Shellgeeks will not break from this pattern unless forced to by status effects. The secondary attack of Shellgeeks can be used to grant an ally of this virus a free movement, or even to knock an ally out of the path of an oncoming attack.

Area: Yoka, Sharo, Beach, Okuden Valley

HP: 140
Primary Attack Damage/Effects: 20 Null x 2 Spears
Primary Attack Accuracy: B
Primary Attack Description: Fires two spears at one target.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effects: 40 Null
Secondary Attack Accuracy: B
Secondary Attack Description: Fires a star tipped arrow. Can be used on an ally to move them. Causes no damage to allies.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): TripleNeedle, StarArrow2 (Rare), Zenny
Special: Attacks every other action. IronBody when not attacking.
: DELETED
SlimerSlimer (Slimey)

Slimey viruses were produced to be sources of major traffic lag. While a Slimey virus is on the battlefield, all Navis and SPs suffer from a passive Slow-like effect that imposes a -10% Evasion AND Movement Speed penalty. This effect is not a status ailment, and cannot be cured. This effect does not stack with itself if more than one Slimey is on the field at once. As this does not count as a true Slow effect, up to two instances of Slow may stack on top of this effect for a total penalty of -30% Evasion/Movement Speed. This effect expires when all Slimey viruses on the field are deleted or flee. Slimey viruses are very slow to move and dodge, but every move they make that is not a dodge counts as an attack. Slimeys deal damage by touching an opponent, thus touching a Slimey directly results in damage to any non-Slimey the virus considers hostile.

Area: Sharo, NetVegas, Beach

HP: 150
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Aqua + Slow
Attack Accuracy: A
Attack Description: Body slams its foes. Any foes hit are slowed the following turn. Must be within melee range to attack a foe.
Element: Aqua
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): MetaGel2, Zenny
Special: While this enemy is on the field, dodge effectiveness is reduced by 1 Rank.
: DELETED
KarmaKarma (Dharma)

Dharma move and dodge at average speed. Their puck attacks rebound off of the edges of the battlefield as if there were an invisible wall there. They can rebound up to 3 times before finally passing off of the field or dissipating into thin air. The pucks pass through anything they hit except boundary walls, terrain, and friendly viruses. The pucks can not damage other Dharmas. This virus cannot attack while moving.

Area: Yoka, Netopia, Sharo, NetVegas

HP: 170
Attack Damage/Effect: 45 Null + Break + Piercing + Rebound(3) + Ground Attack
Attack Accuracy: E
Attack Description: Throws a Hockey puck at the enemy. Break.
Element: None
Possible Rewards (Per virus): AirHockey2, Zenny
: DELETED
ElecMechElecMech (DarkMech)

DarkMechs move and dodge at an average rate, usually. The exception is that they move at a very high rate of speed when they are rushing in to attack a stunned target with their twin swords. They fire low damage thunderball projectiles until someone becomes stunned, at which time one of the DarkMechs present will attack that target.

Area: Sharo, NAXA, NetVegas

HP: 200
Primary Attack Damage/Effect: 15 Elec + Homing + Stun1
Primary Attack Accuracy: C
Primary Attack Description: Fires a slow-moving homing thunderball that stuns on contact.
Secondary Attack Damage/Effect: 30 Null + Slashing x 2 Hits, Stun Cure
Secondary Attack Accuracy: A
Secondary Attack Description: When a stunned target is detected, this virus rushes in to attack them with twin sword slashes. If the attack connects, the target will be cured of all instances of Stun, no mater how many.
Element: None.
Possible Rewards (Per Virus): ElementSword, Zenny
Special: Only slashes stunned targets. If a target is stunned by another virus, it will attack that target. If more than one DarkMech is present, they take turns attacking.
: DELETED

-- Navis --
Lyntael.EXE: 145 HP [Normal] [In front of Belt Feeder Machine A and B] [Manifest Spirit: Elec15 Nova2 (2 turns)] [Soul Cross: EternalAurora Lv3]

-- Terrain --
85% Normal
  • No effects.
[Everywhere else]
15% Ice
  • +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
  • Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
  • Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
  • Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
  • PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.
[Between Belt Feeder Machine A and B]

-- Objects -- [A and B are next to each other. C and D are the same, but on the opposite wall of the room.]
Belt Feeder Machine A: 10 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine B: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine C: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]
Belt Feeder Machine D: 100 HP [MetalBody, Anchored]

-- Rogue Battle 1, Victory!! --
Rewards: StarArrow2Damage: 100 + Carry
Accuracy: B
Description: Fires an arrow that hovers still in the air for a moment before rocketing forward. If anyone grabs the arrow at any point before it hits something, they are sent flying along with the arrow.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Carry: If anyone, user, ally, or foe, grabs the arrow at any point before it hits something, they are pulled along by it until it either hits something or they let go. This does not affect the arrow in any way.
Trader Rank: C
Battlechip, 3150z, 20 BugFrags
Even as the last strike landed, the sudden puck that slammed into her dragged a pained noise from Lyntael and she staggered back, stumbling, with an arm across her mid section, until her back struck the side of the opposite belt machine. She barely noticed that the virus itself had crashed away and broken down for good as her vision swam, unfocused against the ground and her body convulsed in protest of the brutal gut shot. Her eyes squeezed shut as she hunched over, tears forming at the corners as she fought off a retch, then another, before failing to keep the reaction down entirely.

The cool gel of her body suit was beginning to repair the physical damage rapidly, and the pain faded away before long, but ti still took Lyntael another few moments to recover. Eventually, she dragged herself upright fully, trying to wipe at her mouth with what passed for a sleeve in the blue gel, and stumbled away from the main battle scene, and out onto the centre of the factory floor. Fragments of data from the destroyed viruses filtered to her, tracing slim lines of string data that curled across her body to settle into tight rings about her emblem, ready to be registered properly once she was actually reconnected properly.

She steadied herself then looked around, trying to get the acidic bile taste out of her mouth. She needed a drink of water, but there wasn't time. A sudden thread of panic shot through her and she gasped, looking up and back to the place where the breach in the wall had first formed. She'd lost track of the time count. What was Rogan up to? Hurriedly, she check the mask; Rogan's dive had shifted slightly in its search and the extenuation was creeping up. Lyntael worked as quickly as she could to correct it, then took a longer breath as it settled back to a safe percentage.

He would have to get moving soon, there wasn't time to linger. As she looked down at herself, the gel covering rapidly receded away from her midsection and she looked at where the broad impact mark had swiftly faded away to almost nothing. she felt.. alright. the pain was gone, at least, and her charge was calming down. A moment later, Lyntael let out a much more startled squeak of alarm as the gel suit continued to recede, disappearing entirely into her bracers and gorget and leaving nothing behind. Hands darted to cover herself, just as a crackle of sparks and light filtered across her skin from the rapidly disintegrating armaments and restored her original clothing. The girl sagged and let out a small sigh, then stood straight and shook herself off.

It didn't seem like any alarms had been sounded, but as she looked around the area, one of the machines was badly damaged, and the strewn remains of virus parts were conspicuous. Nothing she could do now though. With luck they'd find this and just assume it was a minor virus breach and nothing else. They sometimes fought one another. the girl looked at the remains and thought as quickly as she could. there were enough bits and pieces left over to make it convincing, and they were degrading slowly, so...

While she could feel Rogan working behind the mask that she maintained, seeking more advanced identity logs and access codes, Lyntael moved quickly. the sheared arm from the mech virus got driven into the damaged ejection hatch of the Dharma, blade first, while a fallen spear from he shell virus ended up wedged into one of the metal rends in the remains of he mech. The belt machine that was damaged already had a broken puck embedded in it... Lyntael stepped back and away again, casting her eyes over it. It was all going to break down into data fragments soon enough, but, if any progs came by and found it before then, or if they had some means of reconstructing it... hopefully that would be enough. She nodded to herself, then began to focus on the emulated connection she could feel to Rogan's PET.

“Sir... there was a virus breach that happened when your dive entered the network. I... I dealt with them. I'm hurt, but I'm okay. Mask is fine. I've tried to make it look like a natural incursion. I think it will be okay.” There was no response from Rogan, but she had to presume he was busy and focused. He probably couldn't send messages back to her safely. It was okay. He knew, at least. Her gaze wandered about the space, and back to where the odd machines were processing lines of weapons and viral components. the damaged machine was beginning to back up gradually. If it got bad, then programs would definitely be arriving soon to assess it. How much longer would Rogan need before they were moving on? She looked towards the other exits from the factory area. She knew where she needed tog go, once he was done here, at least in theory... it was going to be another rush, but instead, she had to stay put for now and wait, every moment being one that other programs might catch her when they came to inspect. Frustration set the girl to a small loop of pacing as she waited for Rogan's word.

--------
((Branch Back => Sharo Mafia Facility))