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[Chevaleresse]

Score remained calm as the giant bore down on her, ice-blue eyes surveying the situation before her. She turned her weapon toward the Needler, then loaded and fired an AirShot at it, to attempt to disrupt it.

[Dwarmin]

WindKnight had summoned a great shield of bronze to block the craggers attack from striking his friend-the boss of the shield was now decorated with WindKnights navi sigil, a swirling light blue mote of air. Had the ancient shield chip been a higher resolution it would have been perfectly round-instead it looked a bit like a brick wall stacked just so,  with the corners forming steps rather than a smooth curve.

But, now the shield had done its job-dented, he cast it aside, where it burst into a cloud of blocky pixels.
 
The old Knight advanced upon the Cragger without pause, raising his windy blade in a duelist salute-only now, it was streaked with golden blocks of light.
 
WindKnight spoke staves as he advanced.

"...Inside the tables circle,
Under the sacred sword.
A knight must vow to follow
The code that is unending.."

...

Kauko had actually seen this before. SnowMan had too. It would be disrespectful to roll his eyes, but...WindKnight sure could be a bit of a ham at times.

"...WindKnights doing the speech again..."
 
Kauko had kept most of WindKnights original NCP installed, as they had less glitches. The old Knight was particularly found of his retaliation subroutine, which he had asked never to be removed.
 
For WindKnight, these attacks hit notably harder than his ordinary ones, and for that reason Kauko had agreed to his request-and, picked up a +1 attack chip. No shame in weighing the dice!

...

WindKnight nodded with appreciation as his low poly wind blade suddenly developed enhanced high definition.

He suddenly dashed across the room in a zig zag burst, hoping to evade the needle barrage and close in on his stony foe!

Action: Bravery melee attack on cragger! Slot in attack +1 chip!

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Thanks, old man." Snowman fell back slightly to make use of his long-range attacks as Windknight charged.

Snowman: Move back one range and take a shot at the same Cragger that Windknight is attacking.

[SirAston]

"Well, that just turned into a pickle. Do something and then give me as much visuals as you can from the environment, buddy!"
"Something, something... Well, if it's something, it gotta be mushrooms!"

And with that, ShroomMan.EXE began swaying his body from side to side, waving his hand in erratic directions. The purpose for that exercise was soon to be revealed, as digital spores spawned out of nothing in an area between WindKnight.EXE and the Needler, small puffy clouds spreading out where they landed, giving way for a colorful variety of mushrooms. Which started to grow in size at a rapid speed...

ShroomMan.EXE: Use Mushroom Element to create oversized mushrooms to act as visual and physical cover for WindKnight.
Damian: Make ShroomMan.EXE look around after his action to get a closer look at the environment.

[USEC_OFFICER]

ShroomMan.EXE: Use Mushroom Element to create oversized mushrooms to act as visual and physical cover for WindKnight.
Damian: Make ShroomMan.EXE look around after his action to get a closer look at the environment.

Normal Affinity: [1] [5] [5] [5] [6] [6] - Critical Success!

The tiled floor hardly seems like an ideal place for something to grow, but ShroomMan doesn't care. His swaying and erratic movements spread spores everywhere and mushrooms quickly sprouted, forming a small forest for WindKnight to hide behind. The surface of a Cragger is not an ideal place for something to grow either, but the mushrooms seem equally happy to sprout on the virus as the clouds of spores blow against its surface.

The rightmost Cragger doesn't seem hampered by the mushrooms clinging to it, but the hyphae dig into its body, weakening its armour.


The interior of the memorial is covered with the same murals as the outside. Despite being surrounded by walls a strong, clear wind can still be felt thanks to Kauko's efforts. Alcoves on the left and right side of the memorial once held Cragger viruses in the shape of the titan Semele, but only two remain to oppose the treasure hunters. At the back of the memorial are several terminals, which probably hold information about the people interred in the tomb and other interesting and valuable data.

Of course ShroomMan just made a mushroom forest in the middle of all of this, though there's still plenty of space for the Navis and viruses to maneuver.

Smash

Normal Strength vs Normal Speed: [1] [1] [2] [5] [5] vs [1] [2] [3] [4] [6] [6] - 0 damage.

The leftmost Cragger swings at Score multiple times, but the smaller Navi quickly backpedals and escapes the reach of the virus. Its club smashes several mushrooms to pulp without slowing down, but she could have easily escaped even without the cover. As large and intimidating as they are, Craggers aren't fast viruses.

Sforzando Enhanced Needles

Hard Sense vs Normal Speed: [1 3] [1 5] [5] [6] vs [1] [1] [2] [5] - 0 Damage.

The Trumpy virus lets out a sudden blare as the Needler unleashes a barrage at WindKnight. The Navi isn't fast enough but the oversized mushrooms created by ShroomMan absorb most of the shots, leaving WindKnight unharmed aside from a few nicks.

Spotlight refreshed!

Score remained calm as the giant bore down on her, ice-blue eyes surveying the situation before her. She turned her weapon toward the Needler, then loaded and fired an AirShot at it, to attempt to disrupt it.

1 Damage vs Normal Stamina: 1 Damage vs [4] [4] - 1 Damage!

Clinging to the Cragger's shoulder, the Needler has nowhere to run as Score lines up an AirShot at it. The blast of wind sends the virus tumbling off of its comrade and down onto the floor, wiggling about before it begins to right itself. Apparently the tortoise motif wasn't just for decoration.

Action: Bravery melee attack on cragger! Slot in attack +1 chip!

Normal Bravery +1 vs Hard Stamina: [2] [3] [4] [4] [5] [5] + 1 vs [3] [4] [4] [5] [6] - 2 Damage!

The mushrooms covering the Cragger burst as WindKnight slashes at the virus with his sword, carving off chunks of stone in the process. The leonine virus lets out a roar of pain and raises its club high, intent on striking at WindKnight in return. Even if his frequency wasn't exposed, the virus would want to retaliate for his violent attack.

Snowman: Move back one range and take a shot at the same Cragger that Windknight is attacking.

Normal Sense vs Normal Stamina: [3] [4] [4] [6] vs [1] [2] [3] [3] [5] - 0 Damage.

Without the covering of mushrooms weakening its armour, Snowman's shots harmlessly impact the bulk of the Cragger. It is no more harmed by the blasts than WindKnight was by the Needler's stray shots.


The rightmost Cragger prepares to smash WindKnight in retaliation, while the leftmost one continues to advance on Score, smashing through the oversized mushrooms in the way without slowing down.

The Needler virus is still trying to right itself.

The Trumpy virus jumps forward, preparing a Cresendo to protect its allies.


Spotlight:
Damian Lowell/ShroomMan.EXE
Kauko Lehtonen/WindKnight.EXE
Lumi Lehtonen/Snowman.EXE
-/Score.EXE

Threats:
Cragger A 5/5: Advancing on Score.EXE.
Cragger B 3/5: Threatening on WindKnight.EXE.
Needler 3/4: Righting itself.
Trumpy 3/3: Preparing Cresendo. -1 Bravery

Spoiler: NetOp Status (click to show/hide)

Damian Lowell:
HP: 7/7
BP: 1/1

Battlechips:
AirShot, Bubbler, RockCube, Repair

Talents:
American Football


Kauko Lehtonen:
HP: 5/6
BP: 2/3

Battlechips:
AirShot, Attack +1, GuardShield (A), SonicWave (A), Sword

Talents:
History Buff (Net)


Lumi Lehtonen:
HP: 6/7
BP: 1/2

Battlechips:
AirShot, Barrier, Bubbler, Cannon

Talents:
Parkour

Spoiler: Navi Status (click to show/hide)

Score.EXE:
HP: 10/10
BP: 2/2

Battlechips:
AirShot, DashAttack, Sword

Reductions:
None.


ShroomMan.EXE:
HP: 8/8

Reductions:
None.


Snowman.EXE:
HP: 8/8

Reductions:
None.


WindKnight.EXE:
HP: 8/8
ExposedFrequency

Reductions:
None.

[Dwarmin]

"That was TOO close! I'm getting too old for this! ...What an odd time for my animated chat log to turn on..."

WindKnight was glad his friends had his back-without the timely assistance of those shrooms, he would have barely damaged the beast himself. Golden motes on his sword (the light was already fading, and his sword had returned to its classic low textured state) left it, and formed into the wispy image of his Navi sigil, prepared to fly off and aid ShroomMan by bolstering his spirit-if the tubby little fellow should have inspiration to act further.

Light gouges marked his armor where the needles had been barely deflected-no data leaks, though, not yet. They had not drawn first blood on him.

He still felt the clarion call deep in his code-the viruses would still focus upon him, which came as a relief-his friends would not be harmed while he was the vanguard. And for a moment, he could meet even the Cragger blade to blade, as it were! His sword began moving in looping, sweeping movements-he couldn't block a hammer of that size directly, but he could deflect the momentum of it at just the right moment and send it crashing to the ground, which would leave the beast open to an additional flurry of attacks while it recovered-like a stinging bee to a bear, he need only dodge the paw!

Naturally, any damage would be pointless if the Trumpy finished the Crescendo of the ancient tune it was playing, but he liked his odds better than trying to evade it entirely.

...

Kauko steeped his hands in a triangle shape. His anti-virus program was still trying to isolate and deleted the ExposedFrequency glitch, but on sudden inspiration, he paused it.

Why let good data go to waste? WindKnight seemed to be enjoying the effects, anyway. And the error was close enough to a modern day NCP he was sure he could reconstruct it using Frags from the mystery data-it was entirely possible it had been a working program once, and it had just installed itself in sympathy to its design intent. Maybe he could get it working now, maybe later. It could come in handy anyway, and it'd be more valuable-AntiKytheran NCP's sold as well as chips.

Naturally the glitch would continue running, unless he was successful enough to isolate, stabilize, and perhaps uninstall it manually- but he didn't consider that too much of a problem. WindKnight already had the whole room attacking him anyway.

He also palmed his sword BattleChip-prepared to launch it at a moments notice. The Cragger wasn't particularly fast, but it did take some quick reactions on the part of the operator to help his Navi win these sorts of swordfights...and since his coordination wasn't all the great, he had to plan these things ahead.

He immediately pressed the wrong button.
 
"...That turned on the animated chat log, weird..."

WindKnight Action: Prepare to parry Cragger with Bravery! On Escalation, use sword chip to parry the next attack. Otherwise, continue to escalate until a blow is struck by either side.

If ShroomMan uses affinity roll, then use rally on him!

Kauko Action: Try to compile the ExposedFrequency glitch affecting WindKnight and turn it into a working NCP, or at least attempt a partial reconstruction he can complete later.

[SirAston]

"Think I found some more sites for you all to dig for data, at the back of the memorial. If someone wants to give it a shot in the middle of combat, Shroomy here could cover you, with RockCube if it needs to happen fast. Could save some time."
"Ah, so many friends at once! They really like that one virus, too! But, they don't like that other virus back there... Alright, my spotted friends, be set free!"

ShroomMan.EXE: Use Control, dramatic arm movements and part of the mushroom forest to fire mushroom "rockets" at Trumpy.

[Dwarmin]

"Think I found some more sites for you all to dig for data, at the back of the memorial. If someone wants to give it a shot in the middle of combat, Shroomy here could cover you, with RockCube if it needs to happen fast. Could save some time."

Kaukos face appeared on everyones PET chat to give encouragement.

"Good eye, Damian. Let's cut a path through these trash mobs so we can get access! SnowMan is best, ShroomMan too! WindKnight can probably reach it faster than anyone, but if it's anything more than a big red button that reads DOWNLOAD DATA on it, he's not much help without me to guide him..."

...

"..."

[Chevaleresse]

>. . . Lehtonen-sama's recommendations are best, yes.

Score's face took on a cast of muted embarrassment. Excellent fighter though she was, it was a bit humiliating for basic tasks like data retrieval to present a challenge to her.

[Dwarmin]

>. . . Lehtonen-sama's recommendations are best, yes.

Score's face took on a cast of muted embarrassment. Excellent fighter though she was, it was a bit humiliating for basic tasks like data retrieval to present a challenge to her.

Kauko sometimes forgot his Navis actually felt bad about not possessing certain abilities. He half wanted to buy the both of them a Collect NCP just to get that look off their faces...it was strange feeling bad for a Navi. For the longest time he had viewed them as just programs. Smart, funny, useful, endlessly adaptive programs-but, still lines of code. Even after SplashWoman...well, he hadn't been entirely sure how he felt...like any young person, he was confused and like some of them, he believed he was finding his way.

One day at a time.

He sent Score a message that would be sent to her chat backlog-she could respond when she was in less uh, mortal danger of deletion.

"...Hey, um, don't feel too bad I left you out Score. Just concentrate on what you're good at-the fight, and we'll all carry each other when we are weak, right?" He said, channeling WindKnights style of motivational speaking.

[USEC_OFFICER]

If ShroomMan uses affinity roll, then use rally on him!

ShroomMan.EXE: Use Control, dramatic arm movements and part of the mushroom forest to fire mushroom "rockets" at Trumpy.

Normal Affinity vs Normal Speed: [1] [1] [2] [5] [5] [5] [5] [6] vs [1] - 5 damage!

WindKnight rallies to help ShroomMan, but the Navi hardly needs the assistance. Trumpies are support viruses and this one is standing out in the open without any cover. Exerting his influence over his newly created mushroom forest, ShroomMan.EXE makes several dramatic movements that causes several of the mushrooms to uproot themselves. Several large, Navi-sized mushrooms. Caught flat-footed, the virus barely has time to let out a blare before the first of the mushroom trees slams into it, followed up by several more that explode one after another. When the cloud of spores clears, all that is left is a glimmering piece of mystery data, slowly pirouetting in the air.

Threaten Score.EXE.

Normal Strength vs Normal Speed: [2] [2] [4] [4] [6] vs [1] [1] [4] [4] [4] [6] - 0 damage.

Once more, Score proves to be too fast for the lumbering virus. A solid strike from its club would cause terrible damage but it would have to connect first. As long as Score pays attention and doesn't get cornered she can keep on retreating to avoid its slow swipes.

Duel WindKnight.EXE.

Normal Strength vs Normal Bravery (-1): [1] [4] [5] [5] [6] vs [2] [3] [5] [5] [5] - Tie!

WindKnight Action: Prepare to parry Cragger with Bravery! On Escalation, use sword chip to parry the next attack. Otherwise, continue to escalate until a blow is struck by either side.

Normal Strength vs 2 Damage: [1] [1] [4] [6] [6] vs 2 Damage - Tie!

Normal Strength vs Normal Bravery (-1): [1] [2] [3] [3] [6] vs [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] - Parried! 3 Damage!

The Cragger is certainly not an honourable warrior like WindKnight but it is stubborn and unwilling to back down. The virus and Navi cross weapons several times, but despite his opponent's greater strength and reach, WindKnight refuses to back down. Kauko tries to help by slotting in a chip but the stoney virus just swats that blade aside like it was nothing. While the Cragger's great reach initially keeps the Navi at bay, eventually its slow movements produces an opening as it draws its club back for another swing. Swiftly taking advantage, WindKnight rushes forward on a gust of air and runs his blade straight through the virus. The leonine virus takes a moment to realize what happened and then lets out a loud roar that is abruptly cut off as it explodes into many glittering sprites.


Spotlight Refreshed!

Kauko Action: Try to compile the ExposedFrequency glitch affecting WindKnight and turn it into a working NCP, or at least attempt a partial reconstruction he can complete later.

Normal Coding: [1] [3] [4] [4] - Failure!

It's more of a trap than a glitch but either way Kauko probes the ExposedFrequency signal floating around WindKnight's head. It isn't very complicated and so it's easy to get a basic framework of its innerworkings, to help with reverse engineering once he has the proper equipment and time to do so. However, the designer of the trap must have expected that it would be tampered with to try and shut it off. That sprite stops floating above WindKnight's head and moves right in front of his eyes, blinding him with its light and deafening him with its blaring.

The remaining Cragger virus turns away from Score and towards WindKnight, no doubt seeking to take advantage of his temporary blindness. The Needler virus rights itself and turns its guns towards the unfortunate Navi as well.


Spotlight:
Damian Lowell/ShroomMan.EXE
Kauko Lehtonen/WindKnight.EXE
Lumi Lehtonen/Snowman.EXE
-/Score.EXE

Threats:
Cragger A 5/5: Advancing on WindKnight.EXE.
Cragger B: Deleted.
Needler 3/4: Aiming at WindKnight.EXE.
Trumpy: Deleted.

Spoiler: NetOp Status (click to show/hide)

Damian Lowell:
HP: 7/7
BP: 1/1

Battlechips:
AirShot, Bubbler, RockCube, Repair

Talents:
American Football


Kauko Lehtonen:
HP: 5/6
BP: 2/3

Battlechips:
AirShot, Attack +1, GuardShield (A), SonicWave (A), Sword

Talents:
History Buff (Net)


Lumi Lehtonen:
HP: 6/7
BP: 1/2

Battlechips:
AirShot, Barrier, Bubbler, Cannon

Talents:
Parkour

Spoiler: Navi Status (click to show/hide)

Score.EXE:
HP: 10/10
BP: 2/2

Battlechips:
AirShot, DashAttack, Sword

Reductions:
None.


ShroomMan.EXE:
HP: 8/8

Reductions:
None.


Snowman.EXE:
HP: 8/8

Reductions:
None.


WindKnight.EXE:
HP: 8/8
ExposedFrequency
Disadvantaged

Reductions:
-1 Bravery.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Did you hear that, Snowman? We need you to run a recover mission." As she spoke to her NAVI, Lumi idly toyed with the urn, unsure if she should open it or not. She set it on the ground for now.
"You need me to shovel some data? On it! Just make sure I don't get iced!" And with that, Snowman moved to capture the mystery data - he'd worry about the potential data dig sites after.

Lumi: Put down the urn and look around the tomb some more.
Snowman.exe: Try to recover the data from the defeated Trumpy!

[Dwarmin]

WindKnight had been about to use a heroic quip after single-handedly dispatching the Cragger (mostly), when it seemed like a flashbomb battlechip went off right beside his head-he staggered!

Sounds, sights, and memories went into sensory overload-images flashing by in the dark, a roar of wind in his ears, the keen electric trill that meant the clashing of navi blades. He saw 150 Net-Knights gathered around a great circular table, laying their blades down and declaring allegiance-each one unique as their owner, and all of them a gift from their Blue Armored King, and the sword next to him looked like a bright green spring leaf, folded into green steel...The King, who seemed so impossibly young, and yet shouldered such awesome responsibility with a tireless grin...

Then another memory flashed by...the battlefield...the one across from him, blade angling for his core-wielding a green leaf sword...the King...

He had no time to reminiscence.

WindKnight was no stripling navi-squire to panic in moments like this! He decided quickly. Feeling it would be more dangerous to advance than retreat, and that he might hurt his allies if he tried to attack blindly-he attempted to backpedal into the mushroom forest. Hopefully he could kick up a cloud of spores that would block the vision of enemies! Let their attacks go astray!

"...Blinded! I am withdrawing momentarily! Please cast the AirShot spell!" A few moments later, his right hand turned into a small blue turbine fan, ready to blast.

WindKnights eyes, usually a solid color, now flashed like warning lights as SnowMan jogged past him vigorously.  He tried hard to concentrate and keep from panicking.

...

Kauko frowned. The program was apparently a trap-one that had gone off! Showers of static danced across his pet-though thankfully, Scores screen seemed to remain unaffected. WindKnight couldn't hear Kauko, so he saved his breath-his Navi seemed to be intending to use the mushroom spores as cloud cover-Kauko quickly slotted in AirShot.

It was clever, but viruses didn't need eyes to see the ExposedFrequency, which was still pulsing away merrily. He hurriedly restarted the anti-virus program, and now he knew what to look for, maybe he could hurry things up a bit...had everything he needed, after all.

WindKnight Action: Try to use bravery to calm his nerves if necessary. Then, he backs into the mushroom patch and aims an AirShot chip at this feet, intending to create a cloud of covering spores!

Kauko Action: Attempts to get rid of the exposed frequency now that he has the data, to hide WindKnight!

[Chevaleresse]

"WindKnight, I will cover your retreat." She circled the Cragger, leaving a glowing line behind on the ground and staying between it and her knightly companion. "Dealing with these attacks should be trivial." She spared a nod toward SnowMan; she'd create the opening and he would exploit it once he had the time, she was certain. That just left ShroomMan, which she was less certain of, but her lord trusted him.

Score moves near WindKnight and uses Bodyguard for both attacks(-2 Bravery!) If possible, she will A. prepare to Reflect the incoming ranged attack, and B. summon some of her Element for later use!

[SirAston]

ShroomMan.EXE continued his eccentric and exaggerative motions and even seems to pick up in speed slightly.
"I can feel it! I can feel it! A navi's best friend will arrive... It is the spongiest superhero, Mushroom Man!"

ShroomMan.EXE: Use Alt to turn a larger mushroom that's closest to the Cragger into a Mushroom Man to run towards Cragger and get in its way of moving closer to anyone.