<ROUND SIXTEEN>
We're really good at sniping the start of pages. I won't question it!

Emerald attempts to magic the blood out of Chloe's scarf, but it seems that there's no force on this planet that could remove the blood from that scarf. Not even an Omega+ Godmodder has the talent to clean something soaked with that much blood. Emerald decides to not hand the scarf back. Emerald then pulls a seeker out of the Inventory, and shoves a stick through its throat. The Seeker promptly dies when Emerald pulls it out... and for some dumb reason, his stick upgrades! JOE then gets some Not-Idra™ to toss some dirt into the bunker of the Fortified Cavern, as it's actually decently well-lit. The Not-Idra™ then think that maybe it'd be a good idea to drill a hole into the ceiling for more of that natural sunlight.

DCCCV then equips a Lifegem, +2's his RES, and moves into the River Crossing. He then... happily(?) greets Nia.

NIA: Hiya!
NIA: I think it'd be cool to work together!
NIA: There definitely was a warp signature, though. The sort of thing that a portal generator would create.
NIA: I guess he'd say something nerdy like...
NIA: ...I'm not sure how Xavier would describe it.
NIA: Uh, he'd probably go like "Warp signatures are the distortions in time and space that are super weird and I can detect them because I'm a huuuuuge nerd bluuuh."
NIA: Basically, we can detect when people walk through portals and stuff. It's kinda cool!

The Author also notes that he might know what made the signature. Nia's face lights up.

NIA: Ooh! Really!?
NIA: Yes! That'd save me so much time! Please say
[small][small]NIA: I mean, when you can. There's a delay on talking. Forum games and stuff, right?[/small][/small]

...Her face suddenly blinks out of existence for a moment, being replaced with a ":D" for a moment. Seconds later, her face blinks back to normal.

NIA: Oh, right! I had that installed!
NIA: It's cute, don'tcha think?
NIA: And relax, I don't think we'll need to fight, anyway~

The Author then uses Ink Specter shenanigans to communicate with Taeda. While she does show initial fear in the presence of the inky figure, she's quick to realize that it's actually the Author. The Author accepts her gift, looting:

-100 Credits
-10 Wire Scraps
-10 Iron Ingots
-10 Uniform Logs

TAEDA: There's no shame in accepting a gift.
TAEDA: A-And... thank you again!

He then rather suddenly asks about the attackers.

TAEDA: No, sorry.
TAEDA: I mean, one of them had short blonde hair, and the other had flowing blue hair... and t-those accursed eyes.
TAEDA: Hopefully, that helps!

Mr Krabs then takes Chloe on the grand tour. He shows Chloe the Chairians, the area where she once was, and then the Spher-

...It occurs to Mr. Krabs that he has not teleported to the Sphere. Chloe didn't follow, either. He sees static. The static assaults all of his senses; his sight, sound, taste, smell, touch- all of it. It fills up his brain to the brim. It's unbearable. Is the world trying to tell him something? He swears he hears something.

...And then he's back at the Savepoint. Did he die? He's not really sure. He still does drag Chloe to the River Crossing, however! Chloe, apparently unfazed, greets the lady.

CHLOE: Heya, Nia!
NIA: Hiya, Chloe!

They take a moment to look at each other. With perfect timing, the two suddenly jump back, shock consuming them fully.

CHLOE: WAIT, WHAT!?
NIA: WAIT, WHAT!?
CHLOE: I-I thought you died!
NIA: I thought you-
NIA: Wait, now we can't sync our sentences perfectly now!
NIA: Damn it, Clo!

Nia giggles, while Chloe's still in shock. She's left there, stuttering and mumbling...

CHLOE: B-But... but... but...
CHLOE: ...
CHLOE: Nia, I-I can't even begin to s-state how s-sorry I am about... a-about...

She floats forward, and pats Chloe on the head.

NIA: Hey, it's alright!
CHLOE: B-But... I-I...
NIA: Seriously! It's fine.
NIA: I was being dumb! A-And... actually, what the hell are you doing here!?
CHLOE: I could ask you the same thing!
CHLOE: B-But, I came here to save Xavier from whatever... this place is.
NIA: Oh? Well, he doesn't really need saving.
NIA: He's come here to destroy his own creation. Something about "repentance" or something. I can't really understand why.
NIA: I'm his assistant! And... well, I'm not sure how to bring up the news to him about how you're here.
NIA: ...Did you take a portal here?
CHLOE: Y-Yeah-
NIA: MYSTERY SOLVED! WOO! YOU'RE THE WARP SIGNATURE!
NIA: MAN, THIs'll be really hard to explain to Xavier oh geez T.T

A notification appears in front of her face. Xavier's received her call. She hushes Chloe, and clears her throat.

NIA: Oh, sup!
NIA: So! Good news and bad news! Two bad news articles, actually!
NIA: What do you wanna hear first?

...You can't hear Xavier's responses.

NIA: Bad? Uh, well, I think I've met those "Descendant" people you've been fretting with about.
NIA: Visual? Um, sure! Sending a pic now.

A screen appears in front of her, which flashes with light. It vanishes as soon as its appeared. Nia stands there in silence, her face tensing up.

NIA: Okay okay okay I can explain.
NIA: Uh, bad news article two! Your sister's here! Surprise! I mean, you saw the photo, but still. S-Surprise...?
NIA: The good news is, she's the warp signature! You must've left your portal open.
NIA: And...
NIA: WHOA, SLOW THE gorilla DOWN!

She's become panicked and frightened. Her drones begin to swirl around, weapons brandished.

NIA: Y-You...
NIA: YOU WANT ME TO KILL THEM!?
NIA: I know! I know you're paranoid of them getting in your way, and I know you're scared of the "Descendants"...
NIA: But... KILL THEM? You know I can't do that! I-I don't want to do that!
NIA: Y-You're being gorillaing paranoid!
NIA: ...
NIA: Oh shut up! Killing the purple things is different :/
NIA: But I won't! I-I won't!

She's panting heavily, trembling.

NIA: I-I mean, I don't want them to hurt you...
NIA: B-But... t-they're...
NIA: ...
NIA: ...I understand.
NIA: This won't take long, don't worry.

A screen vanishes from near her head; she's ended the call.

NIA: U-Um, anyway!
NIA: I'm sure t-there's a way we can resolve this without combat! I just need to think!
NIA: Uh, um, maybe I can... uh, play dead!
NIA: No no, that wouldn't work-

A foil suddenly materializes in her hand. Ever-so-suddenly, she lunges forward towards Chloe. Chloe's heart skips a beat, and she instinctively dodges backwards, narrowly avoiding impalement. Nia seems horrified.

CHLOE: N-Nia! What's gotten into you?
NIA: I-I don't know! For the record, that attack wasn't me!
NIA: Uh, maybe it's a-

Her body swings violently towards Chloe, the blade poised to remove her head. The blade stops just short of her neck. Her arm is trembling violently, torn on whether to actually kill her or not.

NIA: I-I swear to god, I'm not doing that!
NIA: B-But, I can k-kinda restrain it!
NIA: L-Look! Chloe! Company!
NIA: I need you to beat the everloving gorilla out of me!
CHLOE: A-Are you crazy!?
NIA: You know for a fact that I'm crazy!
NIA: B-But seriously!
NIA: I-I can't control my limbs...

Her left arm stretches out, her hand goading everyone close.

NIA: ...
NIA: O-Oh no.
NIA: This is actually happening, isn't it?
NIA: B-Brace yourselves!

The ground beneath her feet crystalizes, and she's quick to toss everyone around the area! It seems she's hellbent on splitting everyone up, which is made clearly evident as she rises up a wall of ice, born from the river. Chloe in particular is separated from the party, left bashing the ice wall.

CHLOE: W-Wait!
CHLOE: W-We don't need to fight! J-Just... we'll find a way to fix you, Nia!

...She turns around, witnessing a cloud of drones descend behind her. They have their weapons drawn, but don't seem to advance on Chloe. With hesitant feet, she takes a step towards the frontline drone. It eyes her with an unfeeling lens, awaiting her actions.

CHLOE: X-Xavier! Stop this!

...The drone doesn't appear to be able to communicate. It still doesn't seem to care about her. The other drone's weapons appear to be focused on the others in the darea.

CHLOE: I-I know you don't want to hurt me, b-but...
CHLOE: I won't stand aside w-while you threaten... t-these people!
CHLOE: S-So... I-I...
CHLOE: ...
CHLOE: T-TAKE THIS!

Chloe jumps forward, and slashes the drone in front of her. With a burst of sparks, the drone's two halves fall to the ground. The remaining drones immediately mobilize, one of them going as far as to shoot a beam directly towards her chest. She bobs to the side, the laser barely missing her, instead tearing through some of her golden locks of hair. What hair she lost is carried with the beam, which crashes into the titanic wall of ice behind her. She gives a yelp of panic, before steeling herself.

CHLOE: Sorry.
CHLOE: This... this is how it needs to be.
CHLOE: I'm sorry, Xavier.

You are accosted by...

[big][big][big][big]NIA[/big][/big][/big][/big]
Experiment 15: The Combined Conscious
PLAY - Battle of Tribulations (Bravely Second)

Elsewhere, not inside a gigantic boss battle, Comet decides to tape up her trait a little to make it cooler. Terry then purchases a Santa Hat, wears it, modifies a few skillpoints, and then also edits a skill. He also goes to loot the present, and finds a few goodies inside!

-100 Credits
-Memory Weapon (Key Item)
-Memory Equipment (Key Item)

The Man attempts to sneak through the River Crossing fight, but ends up getting intercepted by a Drone. He's promptly shooed back to the entrance to the zone. The Voice decides to do some crafting, melding a Goddess's Servant, 2 Refined Wood, 4 Thyme Matter Blobs, 3 Circuit Boards, and 40 Credits worth of Wire Bits to create a Circuit-Laced Stick! He also redistributes a few of his stats.

Calibri strolls to the River Crossing, and upgrades some of his stats, and also switches to a Goddess's Servant. Verdana then tries and talks with Chloe, but it's a bit hard to given that there's a wall of ice between her and him. At least, she's met a Chairian already due the tour she was taken on. EN then asks Taeda if she's been a bother or not.

TAEDA: I-I mean, you've been fine!
TAEDA: I at least know that you're not going to kill us...
TAEDA: A-And... company is always nice...

She's still sorta absorbed in her check-up on the cart. Apparently one of the wheels was cracked in two during the struggle, so it'll take her a bit of time to fabricate a new one. Elsewhere, Brutishace edits his gear, while Zedros attempts to melt some of the ice pillars. While he has success in this field, Nia's incredibly quick to raise another pillar in the fallen one's place.

<HIDDEN GROVE, TURN TWO>
This shouldn't take long. Thanks to Toast's efforts, one of the Assassins has surrendered! Finish off the remaining foes, and you should be done here.

<RIVER CROSSING, TURN ONE>
It's time for the first official boss battle of the game! Nia may hit like a train, but she's actively trying to not kill anybody. In fact, she'll only down or kill people with her moves if she has no choice but to. Abuse this to survive! Anyway, by far the most important mechanic of this fight is Ice Skate, in which Nia will swap sides of the field! When she's not on your side of the field, it'd be a good idea to heal up, and destroy the drones that she'll spawn on the opposite side of the field! This shouldn't be horribly difficult; just work together, and victory will surely come!

Originally posted on 2017-12-29 01:00:00

Bergilmir, seeing the beginnings of a major STRIFE! in the distance, runs off to the Nia battle as fast as possible, his feet leaving imprints inches deep in the ground!

cA: Curse that girl, running off. I swore that I would PROTECT her, gods gorilla it! Grant me haste...

Originally posted on 2017-12-29 04:44:00

I change my mind I'm not switching out Hailstorm.
Seiken -> Hailstorm.
----
A pattern of lightning-blue holographic cross-swords appears on the ground of the River Crossing. Terry is teleported to where it is, currently reading something off his phone.

"So, that girl's limbs are moving on their own, and they want to murder us. I think I'm all caught up now."

Terry backs away, and casts Hailstorm.
----
Spawn at R6, move to T5, Hailstorm on T4, retreat to T6.
@Chloe: To T2!

Originally posted on 2017-12-29 07:26:00

uA: Ah. Just like before... well. Miss Khioneas, while I remain reluctant to do this... I understand why it's important to do so. Please do not worry. After the end of this battle, I promise you'll be okay.

Author takes a bow, and reaches into the air as a black wooden rod is caught in his hand.

uA: If Mr. Elem can hear me, then I say to him thus; We have no desire to interrupt whatever it is you are doing. You have no reason to fear us. You are being irrational, and putting Miss Khionseas in harm's way for no reason. Please call off this inane event.

Auth realises that Xavier probably can't hear him. He just recalls the Mindscape.

MEANWHILE, ELSEWHERE.

uA: Yes... it is. The blue haired one? Just off to the west. I... don't think that she's completely in control of herself. I would like to believe that it's not her fault about that... and the other is overtly paranoid. It shall be safe to move on soon. Worry not.

Auth then looks at the contents of the gift from Taeda. Useful crafting materials... for the others. Not useful for him... alas. Then, the Spectre summons a table with which to put things on whilst crating a new weapon...

CRAFTING BEGIN

End Result: (T2) Ethereal Conductor: (6-8) Light.
Range: 1-2
Retreat: 1
Counter: 1
Hit: 5
Stat Changes: +2 MMP, +2 INT, -2 STR
Weapon Effect: Orchestrate: Apply Mending(x+2) to a target within Range 1 for one turn, and remove one turn of Basic DoT effects. x is equal to the value of (INT / 2). Also passively grants a Skill Slot.

Materials Used: (T2 Weapon) Eternal Flower, (T1 Weapon) Inkshot, x1 Goneblossom, x1 Soulblossom, x3 Luminous Crystals (purchased this turn), x2 Iron Ingots, x1 Refined Wood, x1 Uniform Log

With a flourish, all the above listed items are laid upon the table, with the exception of the Inkshot. That is, of course, a representation of Auth's own power. The only thing that's missing is the important Luminous Crystals, which (once shaped properly) will form the core of the wand-like weapon that is being crafted. Auth makes a quick stop to the shopkeeper drone, acquiring the needed crystals. Then, he places them in the center of the table, and breaks them apart. Genoa leaps up onto the table, and places them so that the crystal fragments make the shape, put together neatly, of one larger crystal rod. Auth carefully grinds the Soulblossom into a fine dust, which he gently scatters over the crystal parts.

Auth performs a similar process with the Goneblossom, and places the dust over the crystals as well. With a deep breath, the area around is illuminated in red as Genoa breathes a stream of fire over the crystal fragments, fusing them all into a crystalline rod. The rod is now differently coloured, swirling black and white instead of whatever color the crystals were before. Auth picks up the core, and focuses it above the table. He focuses as Ink flows off his hand into the Core, energizing it and powering it. If one listens through the noise, they may hear two voices...

uA: All are not the same, but three shall be as one. Freedom in the flame, the end has just begun. Strands may break alone, but twisted make a braid. Together on their own, the journey shall be made!

gC: All are not the same, but three shall be as one. Freedom in the flame, the end has just begun. Strands may break alone, but twisted make a braid. Together on their own, the journey shall be made!

After the brief part of the song, there's a black pulse. Auth places the core on the table, as it glows now a deep gray. Auth takes an Eternal Flower, and takes the gemstone flower off of the end. He places the rod of crystal in its center, and the color flows into the crystal flower. Auth places the black-and-white crystal formation on the table, and takes the wood he had prepared. Using the Refined Wood, he takes a knife and carves of it a casing for the crystal core that fits almost perfectly. The flowery base's largest petals still protrude out of the casing, which Auth accounted for whilst carving. Auth then takes the other log, and makes a bulb for the end out of it. The bulb is carved to fall around the petals.

Finally, with some iron, Auth creates a metal decoration around the base of the weapon, for aesthetic purposes. Just to make the thing look better, chasing the outside of the bulb. After the metal cools after being attached to the wand, Auth picks up his baton, and waves it in the air dramatically. It leaves a trail of ink, illuminated in gray light in its wake. Before being sent to where it needs to go, Auth takes care in staining the wood a deep black, before hurling the rod towards the River Crossing...

CRAFTING COMPLETE!

Where Auth, the real one, catches it and spawns into the battle at the River Crossing on R8, casting Black Shield on Chloe. Auth then moves to S11.

Originally posted on 2017-12-29 11:35:00

Emerald notices a STRIFE going on through the power of being generally nearby Chloe and therefore following her, and prepares his new Sitick, or Iti Stick I guess, noting the enemy is Nia ”I swear if the JOE guy does anything like what he did last time I might murder him”

Emerald spawns in at R6, and runs to U5, planting his feet in the ground and GUARDing. He then yells to the other side of the map ”NIA! If you can hear me from this side of the map, come at me!”

@Chloe Sprint to T2 for now please, we need to get you out of the way of 6 attacks.

Dear Ire, an OOC reminder that you already said telling Nia to attack me would work. Sincerely, Emerald as a friendly reminder

Originally posted on 2017-12-29 18:38:00

DCCCV watches the events unfold. His eyes widen at the sight of the foil. It's hard to forget a weapon that you once used, when it's being waved around by a person who previously was compelled to kill you.

A memory comes back to him.

DCCCV: But there is one thing I can say with certainty.
DCCCV: I'm going to fix this.

He cringes at how melodramatic he used to be. It's hard for him to believe that he really talked like that a month ago. Speaking of which, let's dispense with the fancy-schmancy century gothic text, it's different, and not in a good way.

"One moment, please."
"There. That's better. My name is Simeon. I... have some crafting to do. I'll be right back."

And with that, he disappears into the trees of AE20 to do a craftpost of dubious quality.

---

He reemerges five seconds later, with his sword in hand. It looks like he just hammered an iron bar into a flat shape, and bolted it onto the blade, making it longer.

"Give me a break, I'll fix it up later, alright?"

(Yes I know this was a super short craftpost.)

Items used:
1 NeXus Omega Sword
1 Iron bars
1 very thrifty crafter

Result:
Griever
The start of something, for better or for worse.
(7-9) Slashing
Range 1-2
Retreat 2
Counter 2
Hit 4
-1 SKI
WEAPON PASSIVE: Graze the Soul
On a Crit, the wielder can choose to apply one of the following effects to the target.

• Deal 4-4 bonus Psychic damage, scales with Int at half rate.
• Drop Enemy damage by 1 for three rounds.

Regardless of whether the crafting succeeds or not, Simeon equips Griever, and enters the battle on E8. He directly rushes Nia, slashing at her from I8, and then retreating back into the trees, to H9.


Originally posted on 2017-12-29 18:42:00

Before anything else; Mr. Krab votes for the Crystalline Claw and the Tentacles for Arms card.

"Oh.. Xavier Elem... Aha, that's right! I almost forgot. I have a message, for him. I guess it can be relayed to you? Also, a letter B and a clefted note, but that'll be in person. The person who put me up to this was a complete weirdo..."

Two massive speakers (they're about the size of a town) are abruptly constructed right in front of Nia. A voice that is clearly the result of text-to-speech technology plays at volumes that almost qualify as sonic assault... and they somehow do not travel far enough to reach any other zone.

"XAVIER ELEM. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OR FOR ANY REASON ATTEMPT TO KILL OR SHUT DOWN ANY ACTIVELY RUNNING VERSION OF SLEUTH.EXE, INCLUDING NUMBERS FOURTEEN AND FIFTEEN. ATTEMPTING EITHER WITHOUT FIRST COMPLETELY REMOVING ALL ENTROPIC CORRUPTION WILL CAUSE THE RELEASE OF THE FINAL STAGE OF THE ENTROPIC CORRUPTION, BEGINNING IMMEDIATE UNIVERSAL ANNIHILATION. DUE TO EITHER ADDITIONAL CORRUPTIONS IN THE CASE OF FOURTEEN OR BONDING WITH A LIVING CREATURE IN THE CASE OF FIFTEEN, TRADITIONAL METHODS OF REMOVING ENTROPIC CORRUPTION WILL NOT WORK. SPECIAL DEVICES TO SPECIFICALLY TARGET ENTROPIC CORRUPTION ARE REQUIRED TO SAFELY SHUT DOWN FOURTEEN AND FIFTEEN. CONSIDER THIS A WARNING. IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY OR HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, IMMEDIATELY BEGIN CONSTRUCTION OF ANIT-ENTROPIC DEVICES TO DESTROY THE ENTROPIC CORRUPTION. I REPEAT: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES OR FOR ANY REASON ATTEMPT TO KILL OR SHUT DOWN ANY ACTIVE ACTIVELY RUNNING VERSION OF SLEUTH.EXE, INCLUDING NUMBERS FOURTEEN AND FIFTEEN."

"POST-SCRIPT: THE ALTERNATIVE CORRUPTION OF NUMBER 14 IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT. THE REMOVAL OF ENTROPIC CORRUPTION SHOULD AT LEAST QUELL IT DESPITE THE ALTERNATIVE CORRUPTION BEING COMPLETE BULLSHIT. THE ALTERNATIVE CORRUPTION OF NUMBER 14 ONLY WORKS IN A MANNER MOST FIT FOR 'DRAMATIC TENSION,' SO IN THIS INSTANCE IT IS MOST LIKELY TIED TO THE ENTROPIC CORRUPTION. ATTEMPTING TO TARGET IT INDIVIDUALLY IS A WASTE IN ALL INSTANCES UNLESS IT IS THE ONLY PRESENT CORRUPTION, SO TARGETING THE ENTROPIC CORRUPTION IS THE MOST WORTHWHILE ABILITY, DESPITE THE ALTERNATIVE CORRUPTION BEING THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF THE 'ITI.' I REPEAT: THE ALTERNATIVE CORRUPTION OF NUMBER 14 IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT."

The speakers abruptly annihilate themselves with oblivion magic. Mr. Krabs looks mildly annoyed.

"Well, I get the feeling this whole 'save the world' thing is a tad more complicated than I had in mind... Barnacles. Ahh, whatever. Don't worry, lass! I'm sure we'll all have that sorted out in due time, and we'll sort out the whole 'being puppetmastered by a paranoid maniac' soon. Oh, uh, does anyone here have any clue what my boss was talking about?"

Mr. Krabs spawns at E7, moves to I7, and shoots Nia in the arm with a blast from the Goddess Servant. The sooner she's unable to swing a sword, the better.

---+---

OK, everyone, welcome to boss planning hell number one. Thankfully this one is the first boss. The big points are:

-Ice Skate is a pain, so keep an eye out for it. The person targeted must split from the group to a far off position and the others must stay away from that position at all costs, unless she is stunned. If you do not, Nia may be able to combo you; depending on your defenses, it could be an instant kill if you're the only target, and the combo includes confusion to cripple you if it doesn't kill you.
-We should only ever completely stun her when she's using Glitchform: Maelstrom, so as to burn her MP. Opening stuns to set up the stun that negates the full effects of Maelstrom is OK.
-Nia will take any action to avoid killing us unless she can't help it. Injured people can stay nearby healthy people to dodge a few attacks, as long as they're not the ice skate target.
-Control the drones. They have no complications about picking us off while we're weak, unlike Nia herself. When Nia isn't available to target, attack the drones instead.
-Anyone confused must wait to get cured. The only two people who can do this, just off of spells we have right now, are Terry and the Eternal Author; they ought to act first so as to remove confusion before you act. Attempting to move or attack while confused has (in this instance) a 40% chance to damage you. There may be other effects to 'Hiya' that are not obvious, so be on guard.
-Pay attention to her full moveset in the Codex Monstrum. Not everything is covered here. There's lots of little intricacies to deal with.

Follow this simple guide and you'll be OK. Mostly. Boss battles are rarely clean affairs, but this minimizes the ugly.

Oh-and if you have Blizzard, you may want to consider casting it and having a target of Ice Skate stand on it. Nia can be slowed by Blizzard's effect, which makes Hiya (and thus her combo) a lot less imposing.

Originally posted on 2017-12-29 23:40:00

Boshi and Hat Kid both stare onward in utter shock from what they just witnessed.
Hat Kid was clearly uneasy. "..."
Boshi was absolutely sickened. "(...)"

What they could both agree on was that they didn't have much of a say in the matter. They had to do something, and fast.
But clearly seeing that Chloe was in immediate danger from a couple of drones, they both agreed on another thing; they had to help her first.

---

Boshi leaps really freaking high, ground pounds above (R8), and lands. "(I'm all for a little competition...)"
He walks to (S10). "(...but this...)"
Hat Kid becomes an ice statue floating above the dead Drone, hitting the ground and sending a shockwave out to Blade Drone 1. Don't ask how said shockwave reached it while it was flying. She breaks out of the statue and runs back to Boshi. "(...is just sickening to see.)"
Boshi walks back to (R11). "(This isn't going to be fun...)"

Boshi calls to Chloe. "(Now would be a good time to start practicing on some actual targets.)"

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 05:01:00

The ROBOTS brand Trion warriors are hard at work. most of their number have not yet arrived, preserved for future use, but two of the ROBOTS types do arrive, the duo most specialized in construction... in the story anyway, functionally they are pretty similar to Idra with weird hands:
The earth miner-bot, which grabs large veins of coal and many times saved earthlings from dying before they where even under attack, because they were too dumb to find a reliable energy source... which is to say, a robot that isn't suited for combat and has done nothing special: 'Ol Thunderbutt. No, I'm serious. that name came straight from this ridiculous book. they called it a 'Ground pounder 500', which implies hundreds of models before they got to the design of "Large robot with claw shovels, fossil fuel engines, and a box to put coal in."... I'm not buying it, but whatever. Whoever came up with this thing didn't realize how dumb the name "'Ol Thunderbutt" is, because they only use the formal name (Ground pounder 500) once, and call it "'Ol Thunderbutt" 6 times.
Anyway the Trion warrior version inherits a small shoulder laser cutter, which is really just a modified scorpion copy, a low battery life, high durability, and a weird body shape. this ridiculous being will Bring in very large quantitys of dirt, finishing up that (or at least, working until there is a 1.5 meter x 1.5 meter area of dirt.).
oh right, I haven't described quarryboys yet. these aren't as ridiculous as 'Ol Thunderbutt over there, being defined by relatively short stature (to maintain scaling relative to the tall-human sized Thunderbutt, they are about half a meter tall.), and with one arm replaced with a titanium "drill fist", which is just a drill. the book claims it can eat through practically anything. it also claims the "Tankbots" have drills covered in "Micro-Diamonds" which can "Cut through anything", and later say that "The Nexus-Borg has armor made of ""Ultimatium""- The rarest and most indestructible of materials", and the Legs on a "Nexus-Borg" can cut through most anything. so then they are saying that diamonds are stronger then the rarest and most indestructible of materials, which makes themmsssssssmmmaaaaaaammmmmmaduiiimmmmmmAhem.
Back on topic, the quarrybots are powered by cables to external power sources which they drag along with them. they'd normally be way worse then Idra but spices are magical. hey maybe people can turn the field back into a more basic form with Basil? just a thought, anyway.
the quarrybots use the "Drill fists" they are equipped with to drill holes in the ceiling. when the ceiling is mostly Broken, they turn back into Trion, and then are reformed into a glass-like substance for the ceiling, blocking very little light and being equal to "The most indestructible of materials", that is to say about as strong as some rocks.
'Ol Thunderbutt proceeds to fart so loudly it sounds like thunder, then finish bringing in dirt. the remaining quarrybots and Ol' Thunderbutt proceed to transform as well. 'Ol Thunderbutt partitions the room in two with a black material, leaving a third of the room on the other side of the material and in near-total darkness. the quarrybots all partition the room such that breezes will be exceedingly uncommon and only affect small areas.
Finally, a third type of robot comes through the flickering black rift: Repo-Borgs. coming from the "Spaceborg empire", they run on "Strontium core engines"... oh, as it turns out, the people who came up with this stuff are more horribly inconsistent then I thought. Repo-borgs have a "Height" statistic of 27.45 Meters. a specific member of the group known as "Alpha-99" uses a shard of armor from a fallen earthbot to hide itself fully. Almost all Earthbots have a Total height of 24.4 Meters. it would need the entire, intact body of an earthbot to hide its---- Sigh....... Anyway, since the "fact files" are already inconsistent, and the image they provide shows a repo-borg being about the size of an earthbots finger, these Trion Warrior repo-borgs are pretty small,and since "Repo-Borgs" rebuild fallen soldiers in the books, repo-borgs are experts on construction, and have multiple scanning tools. the Repo-Borgs will be important later, but for now they just make sure this place is structurally stable and within my specifications. also they where the ones that transformed the other 'Bots back into trion, thats part of what the "Rebuild other soldiers" thing manifested into.

JOE jumps left, landing on a tree, and springboards off, Landing at G12 and rolling to E10, where he lashes out with his leach shield, knocking the second Rebel assassin off their feet, dealing his weapons damage and Downing them.
(essentially, move to E10 and slappeh the rebel assassin to down them.)

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 15:52:00

Destiny spawns at R8.
Hello, you must be Chloe. Everyone talks about you. Greetings, my name is Destiny, and I'll help you not die today.
Destiny moves up to V9 and grapples on to Gust Drone 2. She then retreats to Y10.

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 16:48:00

Read Messagelog?


Monika spawns at R6 and runs up to S6. Monika then-

CODE

tileposition.chloe("T5")

...Well, that.

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 17:51:00

"Wow. Okay. Was not expecting that at all."

The Man jumps in at R8, rolls over to V8, and uses Heartpiercer on Blade Drone the second.

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 20:20:00

Teag (acting first, preferably) runs to G10 throws the Assassin 2 as far North as he can with Skeletal Toss, while reloading another piercing round.

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 22:43:00

Comet spawns at C7, moves to H7, and uses Discharge on Nia.

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 22:43:00

Toast moves to I9 and casts Aerobeam northwest, utilising the last point of Intellect in her Mana Well for +1 DMG. Once it (presumably) hits and downs the Rifler, it takes a sharp detour eastward.

2 MM generated. 18 + Damage SP generated.

Illusion 1 stops being glitchy and moves to J7.

~~

If the battle is over, Toast helps the Rebels into a sitting position against a wall she crystalises behind them. She gestures for the surrendered assassin to sit down.

Then, she strikes up a conversation, "So what's your deal? You don't look like any Charians I've seen before, and, judging by your stunt from before, I think its safe to say you aren't members of the Charian Legion. As you can probably guess from our appearance, we're outsiders- so there's a little bit of trivia about us. Now... I ask again: what's your deal?"

Originally posted on 2017-12-30 23:12:00

Berg spawns near Chloe, moves to U8, and casts Hidden Rock on Blade Drone 1! He looks in satisfaction at the bisected drone at Chloe's feet.

cA: Do not worry human, we are here. Although you seem to be doing well yourself.

He then looks over the wall at Nia.

cA: We shall make this quick, if that comforts you at all.

And I'm switching a spell out.
Hidden Rock (8 MP)
Deals (9-9) , due to INT scaling. And replaces Static Overcharge.

Originally posted on 2017-12-31 02:40:00

The Voice spawns in at E6, moves to H6, and summons an Electroshock Bot at H5.

Electric-element Sage, Precise trait, spells are Static Overcharge, Cure, and Glacveil, 5 points in HP, 3 in MP, 5 in CRT, 4 in HIT, 50% Ice resistance.

Preconverted stats, for ease of import, can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xSq...dit?usp=sharing -- The Voice's Summons, top stat sheet (labeled Summon for Import), the source is down at row 153.

Originally posted on 2017-12-31 19:54:00

Zed takes 1 point each out of SKI and RES and puts them into SPC, replaces Resurrect with Terraform, and sets his second Hidden Force element to Air.

---

Zed then hops into the River Crossing fight at E8, moves to I10, and scans Nia.

Originally posted on 2018-01-01 00:04:00

Irongutta runs to G6 and uses Overpowering Smash on the Rebel Firebomber!

Originally posted on 2018-01-01 00:26:00

Brutishace inspects the Zen Ribbon he just got his hands on. It seems to be significantly more advantageous than using his garbage-tier Ring of Magic. However, he doesn't have much time, as he notices some violence taking place in the distance.

He draws his Serpentine Pistol, waves farewell to the Chairians, and rushes away to T9 at the River Crossing. He has Berg on his left, so their combined HP and range compensation should work nicely. He aims his pistol at the second Blade Drone and fires a bolt of reptile-derived magic at the machine, hopefully hitting its mark and dealing damage.



Originally posted on 2018-01-01 05:19:00