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>>32510873
"You didn't tell us he could fly," you comm tiredly at Zero, still hissing with white noise. The Red Reploid strides over a massive pile of rubble and lightly hops down on a calm advance towards the G-class threat that has spent the last few minutes very nearly ending your life, over and over again.

"He can fly?" he asks.

"...Fuck," Em mumbles from the far side of the room. Thank fuck, he didn't die on...whatever that was back there.

"Lieutenant, I need you and the Captain to disengage and clear out," Zero orders.

"Copy that," you reply, edging around Shiva warily, who has promptly discarded his murderous pursuit of you to stare down the Zero Unit commander. "Em, can you move?"

"Working on it," he says. "I think--yeah."

"Exfiltrate by the wall I cleared," Zero continues. "Continue ahead to the forward operating base we're establishing."

Shiva raises his plasma cannons, sheathing his saber to heft both of the heavy missile launchers in his upper arms as well. In response, Zero simply squares himself, raising one arm, as the hum of building plasma begins to rise.

You're alive, (you think) unwounded, and your capacitors were emptied out in your last desperate gambit to avoid certain doom.

>Fall back carefully--you don't doubt Shiva would burn you down with one last shot if you turned your back.
>Get the hell out of there, hell-bent for leather. When Zero says "scram," you fucking scram.

>>32510957
>Fall back carefully--you don't doubt Shiva would burn you down with one last shot if you turned your back.

>>32510957
>Fall back carefully--you don't doubt Shiva would burn you down with one last shot if you turned your back.

>>32510957
>>Fall back carefully--you don't doubt Shiva would burn you down with one last shot if you turned your back.

>>32510957
>Fall back carefully--you don't doubt Shiva would burn you down with one last shot if you turned your back.
Make sure Em gets out.

>>32510957
>Fall back carefully--you don't doubt Shiva would burn you down with one last shot if you turned your back.
You should post on your twitter that the thread is up

>>32510873
Aww yeah, not gonna miss this one. Fall back carefully but quickly. Maybe warn Zero about the weird telepathic communication thingy as we do? On the one hand we don't wanna be in the way, on the other I feel like we oughta let Zero know that's a thing so it doesn't throw him off mid-fight.

>>32511751
And for the record I mean 'in the way' in the figurative sense. By absolutely no means should we even think about moving anywhere near either one of them.

Too bad I have an exam in roughly 9 hours, please don't get Anode killed after I go to bed.

Maybe I'm high, but did you tweet that you're starting? Because I didn't see it if you did.

>>32510957
Fall back carefully - Also, tell Zero about the Saber beam Shiva can do, and warn him about the flying-spinning-death-beam thing. If he didn't know Shiva could fly, he might not know about the beam saber fling.

>>32512086
>>32511658
Whoops, I knew I was forgetting something. I got side-tracked as I was leaving the house to take care of something important.

>>32512256
Heck yes, back in action!

>Fall back carefully--you don't doubt Shiva would burn you down with one last shot if you turned your back.

Any important information you can shoot Zero's way couldn't hurt but he may already know the big things anyways. Getting Em out and fixed up is probably the best thing we can do for the moment before getting back out there.

>>32510873
Exactly how far is this town OP has to run into?

>>32511787
Yeah a just a quick "Commander, he can talk to you in your head" while we're pulling out is in order.

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>>32511039
>>32511115
>>32511168
>>32511244
>>32511658
>>32511751
>>32512529
You decide to carefully break off, rather than risk being cut down at the very end of this mess. As you go, you decide to clue Zero in to a few of Shiva's tricks.

"He can shoot messages right into your head without speaking," you warn. "He throws saber-waves, he can use those cannons to fly, probably a few more tricks."

Zero doesn't answer--and a second later, the plasma is flying.

You hadn't realized how massive those beams were when they weren't coming straight for you--all you had to do was get out of the way before impact, but now they're carving swaths of destruction up and down the walls. You dash-roll beneath one and come back to a crouch just in time to have to dive for it again, as a cannon rakes the ceiling and drops a massive block of rubble over your head. A stray missile flies over your head as you hear a saber snap alight, debris raining down as your relatively straight retreat is massively complicated by new terrain and obstacles.

"You still with me, Anode?" Em comms, the static thicker than ever.

"For now!" you shout over the sound of a two-man war. "Where are you?"

"End of the hall! I can't see--okay, there you are."

You find Em slumped against a large chunk of ex-wall, hauling himself up as you come into view.

"You okay, dude?" you ask, noticing that his armor is crushed in pretty thoroughly where he hit the wall.

"Yeah. Fine. We gotta move."

Up ahead, you see another assembly line room just like this one, the entire wall separating them blown apart. It's another long, sparse room--moments before a stray plasma shot sails over your heads and impacts midway through, causing another shower of debris and rock.

>What's up with the static on the comms?
>So what the hell was that trick you pulled earlier?
>So is this what they mean by Zero Collateral combat?
>Other?

>>32513295
>What's up with the static on the comms?
>So what the hell was that trick you pulled earlier?

>>32513295
>Static?

>>32513295
>What's up with the static on the comms?
>So what the hell was that trick you pulled earlier?

At best case scenario, assume comms are compromised. At worst case scenario, assume comms are compromised and everything else with them. Also, what the hell was Em thinking with that trick? (I'm glad he's not dead though)

>>32513295
>So what the hell was that trick you pulled earlier?
While we continue to get the hell out and maybe see if we can leech anything out of these assembly lines. We might need to haul ass again shortly. Also probably should give him that sword back in case he has to pull another crazy stunt with it.

>>32513295
>So you remember that I'm the one built to take hits, right?

>>32513460
This. No telling what we'll run into, so having more Go Juice is a good idea, and we should really leave the sword with the sword guy.

>>32513471
Now is not the time to be giving him crap. He knew what he was doing and it saved both of your asses.

>>32513295
>What's up with the static on the comms?
offer to princess carry Em if he cant book it out under his own power

>>32513460
>>32513596
Both of these work well together. Faster we get out, faster we can patch up and recover so we can do more. I also recommend we try to get in contact with the other two members of our 4-man squad. Support on getting out would be nice.

>>32513295
voting for this
>>32513460
and this
>>32513596
(Though if he's slowing us down a lot, don't bother offering the princess carry, just do it. Em can be mad at us when we're both safe and not scrapped, and we can be happy we're able to experience him being mad 'cause we're both still not dead.)

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>>32513389
>>32513408
>>32513434
>>32513460
>>32513596
>>32513460
>>32513494
>>32513806
"Yeah, let's go," you agree. "You sure you're good? I can carry you."

"Oh goddamn no," he barks, standing straight and rolling his shoulders (the entire back of his chestplate smashed in, and obstructing the move a bit), "I would rather march myself right back to Shiva than hear India get ahold of that one."

You have to give a weary chuckle at that. "Yeah. You want your saber back?"

"Keep it, for now," he says. "Shouldn't need it again. Thanks for grabbing it, by the way."

"What the hell was that thing you pulled, anyway?" you ask, as the two of you move into the next room.

"Counter-stroke," Em explains. "Destructive interference, basically. You need a really fucking strong blade to pull it off, and you have to line it up, time it perfectly or you eat the full hit. If you pull it off right, you convert it all to kinetic energy at once, and--well, you saw."

"Why the hell did you risk it, then?" you ask, even as a droning rumble builds through the floor. You're not sure you could have taken a direct hit, let alone Em.

"Magnetics," he says. "He saw what the first wave did to me. He was gonna do it again, and then shoot while I couldn't dodge fast enough. What about you?"

"What about me?" you ask. The entire room shudders.

"I saw--well, some of--your dodging. That thing on the ceiling, how the hell did you do that?"

"Raikousen," you say. "I've been doing them all fight."

"Not that, I mean--his missiles track, dude, how'd you know when to move? They just missed you, every time."

"Huh? Oh, I was waiting for him to pull the triggers on both before I moved."

"What, really? Goddamn, dude. That was unreal."

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>>32514466
Your discussion is cut off as the sound of combat draws sharply closer. The fight's spilling your way--and a moment later, another stray blast, one of Zero's, streaks between you, hitting a conveyor belt and destroying it wholly.

"We need to get in touch with the others," you note, quickly diverting to take advantage of the bared power cables. "Wisent? Flares? 15th officers, do you read me?"

All you receive back is hissing static. And melted cabling, about three feet down before you give up and stop pulling. No power from that station, it seems.

"Goddamn, what's doing that?" Em asks, breaking into a full sprint.

"Fuck, I was hoping you knew. Jamming?"

"No, wrong response. If he were suppressing our comms we'd just get dead air, they still work. But, if it's affecting you, too...mother fucker, I think we're irradiated."

Fucking what? "Terrific."

"It can't be too bad, we're vertical," he says. "But I think we're gonna want to avoid humans until we get an all cl--watch it--"

You divert to the side as another of Shiva's beams cuts through the room and chops up the world even finer, making yet more obstacles on your escape. The fire is getting thicker over here, stray shots and beams filling the room with death and making conversation impossible.

>Stick by Em. He might need the help, stubbornness or no.
>Stay near a wall. Affords you the most reaction time, and more chances at collecting charge from the conveyor lines.
>Other?

>>32514511
>Stick by Em. He might need the help, stubbornness or no.

>>32514511
>Stick by Em. He might need the help, stubbornness or no.

>>32514511
>Stick by Em

>>32514511
>Stick by Em. He might need the help, stubbornness or no.

>Stick by Em. He might need the help, stubbornness or no.

No way in hell are we gonna let Em off the hook that easily.

>>32514511
>stick by em

Do we have anything that can cut or blow through walls? may be a faster exit if we make our own path.

>>32514511
>>Stick by Em.
Bros before hos, or some such

>>32514511
>Stick by Em.
Since conversation is impossible due to noise and comm interfereence, we need to have proximity to signal each other in case something happens.

>>32514511
>Stick by Em.

>>32514511
>Stick by Em. He might need the help, stubbornness or no.
>Stay near a wall. Affords you the most reaction time, and more chances at collecting charge from the conveyor lines.

These two - Don't leave Em behind, but this is still a combat zone, and we can't afford to be caught unprepared.

>>32514677
Combo vote! I approve.

>>32514511
this
>>32514677
But with an emphasis on sticking by Em. If our bro dies, we're going to be spending waaaay too much time in the roboshrink's office.

when we get back, we're fucking forcing em to get SOME work done on his armor. If he whines about weaknesses we'll get whichever one of his siblings is supposed to beat him some armorpiercing stuff.

>>32514756
I agree; No one gets left behind. But if we are not in a position to defend Em, or ourselves, neither of us are getting out.
It sounds like Em has taken a bad hit, and is in about as bad of shape as we usually are after a tough fight. He doesn't seem like he's built for that, so I think we need to be in as good a form as we can, since we need to be able to fight for two now.

>>32514641
That's a good excuse.

>>32514803
I actually really approve of this. The hazard pay for this mission ought to cover enough to AP-ify whoever it is that's supposed to take him out if he mavs.

>>32514803
So when we make it back to base we attack Em with a welder and just start adding armord plates

>>32514927
But wouldn't that make him also good against the third brother?

>>32514958
No, we wait until he shuts off to recharge, then break into his room with a welder and some metal so he wakes up with like twice as much armor.

>>32514958
Nah, Em's main defense is his agility, we need to get him some top of the line lightweight armour.

>>32515013
Let's just bolt a bunch of Metool helmets to him while he sleeps. Or at least crazy-glue some Metool plush dolls on there.

>>32514996
Nah. matched set. the ranged person takes em-out, em takes out the stronk dude, the stronk dude takes out ranged. and you know what, if we have to upgrade all of them to keep Em alive, are you really opposed to that?

>>32515071
Yes, There is no price to high to super glue Metool plushies all over Em

>>32515091
Nope, just thinking out loud.

>>32515071
That would actually make a pretty good prank.

Come to think of it, Schwartz gave us instructions on how to build our own Metool for Christmas. We should do that.

>>32515091
Speaking of which, haven't his relatives all upgraded to cover weaknesses to some degree?

>>32515189
They want to keep the weaknesses so they can kill each other if need be.

>>32515216
That's still morbid as fuck, if you ask me.

>>32515189
>>32515216
Eh, actually I'm pretty sure that's mostly just Em. I could be remembering wrong, but I think it's actually somewhat of a sore spot between them cause Em absolutely refuses to upgrade his "weakness" even just to make sure he stays industry standard, whereas the others haven't eliminated theirs, but have kept them from becoming a significant liability on the battle field.

>>32515216
This does raise the question of whether or not we should clue Cathode in on some of our weaknesses for a possible worst-case scenario... but hell, if Anode went Maverick odds are good he'd somehow end up as nothing but a head attached to a barely mobile robotic skeleton before Cath made it far enough into the mission to fight him. She'll do fine.

>>32515270
I thinks it's a mad kind of noble. Em wants to make sure the sibling sent to kill him has an easy time of it, to the point of sacrificing his own safety.

In a weird way, what he's doing is trying to protect his brother and sister.

>>32515328
I rather doubt that Cathode would be tapped to hunt us if we went Mav, we were designed before the RPS system was implemented, and we'd still be the scissors to her paper.

>>32515362
We could always just promise to come along with the sibling in question.

>>32515370
If anything we're more like the paper (absorb) to her rock (heavy attack)

>>32515390
And then we find out our parents made us a little brother who's a sapper.

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>>32515438
"Master hacker, if I do say so myself"

>>32515362
I see where you're coming from and agree that it is a weird kind of noble, but that also doesn't make it rational. Also, while I do think we should respect Em's opinion, we're by no means obligated to shut up about something that might get our best friend killed.

>>32515371
That's a promise we might not be able to keep. And also you aren't taking into account that Em's siblings might not want anyone to interfere with them if it came to that.

>>32515590
Then maybe we could make him a bet: If Anode survives long enough to make S rank, Em has to get some better armor.

>>32514605
We have Lockon hunters and the Grenades whose proper name i forgot if we need to blow it.

>>32515754
High Ball Skippers.

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>>32514558
>>32514561
>>32514563
>>32514598
>>32514600
>>32514605
>>32514622
>>32514641
>>32514670
>>32514677
>>32514756
>>32514829
>>32514848
You take up position alongside Em as you sprint out--you could outmove him with dashes, but he seems to prefer to leave them for when necessary. He mentioned that his boots were overheating, so there's that, too.

"What are you doing?" Em asks. "Gimme some space."

"Can't really comm over all that hissing shit," you reply. "At least this way we can coordinate."

"We've got a secure line to each other, we could switch to text-transfer comms," he says. "It's like what that fucker was doing, but only to a specific person instead of broadband. I just don't want us both to get taken out in one sweep."

"Yeah, but this way I can grab you if you're gonna get whacked," you note.

"Come the fuck on, dude," he yells over the roar of Shiva's beams, "It was just the magnetics, I'm goddamn fine."

"Your armor's all fucked up, come on!"

"You let me worry about that, all right? You worry about yourself. I'm still alive on my own, after all this time!"

"In spite of yourself, maybe!" you argue--man, it's a good thing India's not here to see this.

"Goddamnit, Anode, I'm serious." He stops short, snapping the beam knife off his elbow and casting it behind him, carving a hole into a conveyor belt for you. "I get enough of this shit from Schwarz. I don't need it every fucking mission!"

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>>32516086
You take his cue grudgingly, topping up another 20% on your capacitors before digging out the knife and tossing it back to him. An explosion rocks the ceiling again, dropping a huge wall of stone between the two of you--fortunately not so much that you can't climb it. A moment later, Em sends you one of those messages, text-transfer. Given it takes fractions of a second to 'write' them, it's rather unlike his normal, clipped speech.

>If Schwarzhund couldn't change my mind, what chance do you think you have?
>Now isn't the time or the place.
>Just drop it.
>Please.

How do you respond?
>Drop it. Escape comes first.
>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.
>Other?

>>32516108
"I only worry cause I'm your friend, damnit."

>>32516108
>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.

>>32516108
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T_LT8-uuX4

>>32516108
>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.
That pride is gonna get him one day.

>>32516108
>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.

>>32516153
Not if we have anything to say about it.

>>32516108
"I thought we had some kind of special connection, I just care about you man"

>>32516108
Table it. Honestly I think we shouldn't bug him about the armor thing, because hey, dude is still alive, and he DID just deflect a beam saber slash from a G-Class. We'd be in worse shape if we went head-on with Shiva.

>>32516108
>Alright, this isn't the place.

>>32516108
>Drop it. Escape comes first.
>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.

Let's combo here. Drop it for the moment and work on escaping first but reserve the right to bring it up later if necessary.

>>32516108
>>Drop it. Escape comes first.

It is really not the right time. Besides, he got a jacked up as he is stopping an attack from a dude way above his pay grade. Just straight up stopping it. Could we have done that?

>>32516137
This and

>>32516108
>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.

>>32516108
>Table it for now.

>>32516108
>>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.

>>32516108
You can't boost as well or take as hard a hit for now, so for just right now I'll be close enough that IF NEED BE I can keep you alive so you can keep me alive. Then you can keep being as awesome as you are and we can do this shit. I'd rather you have this inferiority complex then being dead when I could have saved you. Don't make ME carry any more weight like that

>>32516108
>Table it for now. He's right, this isn't the place.
Also this, but in text-message form:
>>32516304

>>32516108
"I got my armor all fucked up like that too. You know what happened the next mission? I fucking died!"

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>>32516137
>>32516151
>>32516153
>>32516177
>>32516200
>>32516201
>>32516202
>>32516208
>>32516268
>>32516275
>>32516342
You sigh, before shooting back a message of your own.
>Okay, I'll leave it.
>For now.
>I'm just concerned because I'm your friend.

You climb atop the new mountain of rubble and hop down beside him.
>I know.
>Thank you.

You go through a few arguments in your head that you force down, hoping he'll listen to reason someday. In the meantime, you hit the ground running, giving him a bit more space.

>I'm going to stay close just in case. It can't hurt.

He looks over at you, about to respond, but pauses. After a moment, he sends a quick message.
>All right.

Fortunately(?), the rain of destruction helps interrupt any awkwardness, as the intensity of the firefight behind you abruptly redoubles. It sounds like Shiva did that fucking flying trick again.

You both break off in opposite directions as another chunk of ceiling comes down between you, before reaching another wall. You sight ahead and blast off the top of the thing with a highball skipper, sending another one bouncing wildly down to clear the next mound of debris. Em's still spry despite the damage, scaling over the top of his own obstacles without breaking stride.

>Incoming, missile, your side.

You dash ahead of it, letting it impact at your heels, and take advantage of the moment of momentary lull to slash open and drain another conveyor. You notice you're back up to a solid 50%--you didn't notice how much the damned floor has been shaking. Apparently those inlined coils are doing their jobs.

Behind you, Em kicks off a wall with a beam in hot pursuit, twisting his body uncomfortably to skirt around the line of death and still managing to flip 'round and land on his feet like an angry green cat.

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>>32516989
Christ, how long is this room? You're wending your way around falling debris and mounds of scrap, but this is insane. And up ahead, you see another door that looks like the same kind as the entry to the assembly line, before it got utterly destroyed in the chase.

"--verland, can you hear me?" your comms crackle and spit, but at least you can make out the signal at this distance. "This is Flares. Please respond."

"This is Anode, I copy," you reply, finally breaking the non-violence-based silence. "We're retreating from Shiva, Commander Zero has engaged."

"I know, I can hear it," she replies. "I was directed to meet up with you ahead, I'm at the hunter forward position. Is Emerald with you?"

"I'm here," he replies. "What about Wisent?"

"Negative," she replies, concern in her voice. "He can take care of himself, and obviously he hasn't run into Shiva, but I haven't heard from him since we were separated. Are you two all right?"
>

>>32517026
"After Tangoing with a G-Class, I can at least say we are alive"

>>32517026
"We might be radioactive, Comms are screwed, those are probably connected. Em's dented because he went sword-to-sword with a Philosopher. Other than that, peachy."

>>32517026
>Haven't heard from him since we were separated
ALART
ALART
TRAITOR ALART

>>32517026
"Well, we're not dead, and we went toe-to-toe with a G-class for a few minutes. I... think that counts as good? Emerald's armor's fucked, though; ended up on the wrong end of flying into a wall."

>>32517026
>We can move and shoot, at least.

I'm not sure exactly how text-transfer comms work, but if those might work we could suggest trying them.

>>32517077
Ditto this.

>>32517107
Wisent is actually Shiva in disguise, true fact.

>>32517077
>>32517072
"What about you?"

>>32517026
"We're as alright as we can be. How bout you?"

>>32517026
"Possibly irradiated and banged up, but otherwise alive and intact."

>>32517026
These:
>>32517077
>>32517165

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>>32517072
>>32517077
>>32517108
>>32517131
>>32517165
>>32517330
>>32517375
>>32517496
"Well, Em hit a wall at mach 1, we just spent God knows how long fleeing a G-class just trying to survive, we're probably radioactive, comms are spotty, and I lost my hat. Other than that, I think we're pretty good. How about you?"

"I'm fine. We got hit by mavericks when we tried to reconnect with you, they destroyed the floor under us. Wisent told me to keep going to link up with you two, and he'd catch up."

"And that's the last you heard?" Em asks.

"Yeah. Orders are orders, and he's safer alone than any of us, but..."

"Well, no sense worrying about it. Do we have orders?"

"Let's meet up here, first, and then we'll move back out, maybe link up with another fireteam that's taken some losses, and--what's that in the background?"

"Shiva," Em replies lightly.

"...Oh."

"Yeah."

Finally, it seems like the fight is either in hand, or at least moving the opposite way. You cross through another room, this one well and truly ruined already, and from there a few straight hallways take you to a perimeter, overseen by friendly faces. You've made it.

Sure enough, a quick scan confirms Em's suspicions--you're both extensively irradiated. Apparently the Hoover Dam is still practically glowing, after Shiva's attacks. They take you to an impromptu chem shower set up in the corner, called in from Deploy. You take one "stall," Em takes the other.

"So all of those beams are just--spraying rads everywhere?" he asks aloud. "That's colossally shitty."

"Fucking Philosophers," you mutter. "That makes two I've run into."

"No shit?"

"No shit."

Fortunately, since you're not humans, and none are on this mission, there's no immediate urgency to scrubbing yourselves down, so you have a moment to catch your breath.
>Try talking to Em about upgrading again. Carefully.
>You're still on mission, and it's only been a few minutes. Let it wait.
>Other?

>>32517764
>>You're still on mission, and it's only been a few minutes. Let it wait.

>>32517764
>You're still on mission, and it's only been a few minutes. Let it wait.

>>32517764
>You're still on mission, and it's only been a few minutes. Let it wait.

>>32517764
Don't talk about upgrading now, that's a lost cause. Scrub yourself clean of radiation as best you can (you never know when you'll end up running into a human and don't want to give anyone cancer), and make small talk about how long he can brag about cancelling out Shiva's sword swing.

>>32517764
>others
"So, Firefly,....she your type?"

>>32517764
>You're still on mission, and it's only been a few minutes. Let it wait.

Don't drop the soap joke?

>>32517764
>>You're still on mission, and it's only been a few minutes. Let it wait.

The man said not to bring it up during the mission, and it's not like he could run off to get upgraded right now anyway.

>>32517764
Don't talk to em about upgrading as much as telling him to accept help. People care because they like him and the whole cause is hurt by losing him

Who else would make fucking LN high beam knives for us if we lose him?

He still has hard counters built into himself, but making what he already is better with like LN cooled boosters won't really change much if he goes mav.

But saying "i'd rather let you let me die" is a step to far for him, and for anode to take. Anode's already lost a lot and takes it to heart, he couldn't take that too and Em should be mindful of what it means to us and schwartz when he says stuff like that

>>32517764
>You're still on mission, and it's only been a few minutes. Let it wait.

>>32517764
>Other?
Keep alert; this is still a warzone, but see if we can find anything about Wisent. He might be able to handle himself, and Em is still our Bro, but we shouldn't neglect our other squad mates, even if we have only known them for an hour or so. AFAIK, we're still in fit condition, so if he needs rescue or backup, that should fall on us.

>>32517764
No mention of upgrades, but get some jokes in about MECHA SHIVA and thank Em for being a bro. We can get protective of Em once we are far, far away from Godzilla's snack bar.

>>32517892
What a fucking asshole. There's no way he had that shit before he went Maverick.

>>32518017
Yeah, isn't it ironic that they run into literal Mecha Shiva?

>>32517923
"So, Em, I'm not gonna harp on you about upgrading. Just go into this knowing that. You should... maybe try accepting help when people offer it. You overstepped a boundary when you tried to get me to leave you to die. That's all I'm gonna say about it. Maybe I'm a sap, but I don't leave people behind, even and especially not for, 'heroic sacrifice,' style crap. We good?"

>>32518093
Considering the name of that other philosopher? Not really. We do high profile missions, we run into high profile enemies.

Also, when we explain mecha shiva to India, Em needs to ride our shoulders while we wave our arms around.

>>32518145
We've done that already. Before we ran into the first Philosopher, I think.

>>32518094
I'm pretty sure he could have told us to do that considering that he outranks us. Since it came out of the same concern we have for him it seems a bit hypocritical to rag on that.

We should talk about how we can best find Wisent. We're probably going to need his firepower.

>>32518145
This time we do it sober and not fall to the ground in a laughing pile.

>>32518211
Agreed; Zero might be a badass, but his track record for surviving off camera and cutscene fights is pretty bad.

>>32518283
He's alive in time for X3. He'll live.

>>32518207
>>32518273
True, but now it's relevant and we can totally make pew pew noises to explain it to her while not being drunk.

>>32517764
>"No shit?"
"I'd say they're all equally just above fucking scary."

>>32518322
And how do you know he doesn't die in between? His death and resurrection happens pretty often honestly, so who is to say he doesn't just get demolished once a week?

>>32518394
He wouldn't be in Zero Division if he wasn't one of the most powerful hunters in the world.

>>32518420
His true power comes from his dual semi-main character yet mysterious mentor status. The writers can't kill him off for good; he's a protagonist, but at the same time, his death inspires other to greatness. It's his greatest power, greater than his fighting skills at least.

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>>32517834
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>>32518094
"So, Em," you start--noting he immediately bristles and freezes up from across the stall. "I'm not gonna start in on you, but--you totally asked me to leave you to die there. That's kinda fucked up."

"I was serious, you know. I could have made it an order."

"Yeah, and I'm glad you didn't. But really, how do you think I felt? Leaving my best friend to die is kinda over the line, dude."

"Well, I didn't want you t--" he hesitates. "Sorry."

"It's fine, just--don't. For real, just don't."

You're both quiet for a while as you try to scrub the Geiger-clicks off.

Finally, after a long silence, Em throws up his hands. "Fuck it, this is awkward."

"What is?" Flares abruptly asks, making you both jump as she leans in over the side of the shower wall. "You boys come here often?"

"Good to see you again," you say with a relieved laugh. "Mind the radiation."

"You too. Everything okay?" she asks, looking back and forth. "Good grief, you got trashed."

"I'm fine," Em insists. "It's just cosmetic. I'll go get the dents popped out before we redeploy."

"Any word on that front?" you ask. "I wanna track down Wisent."

"Nothing yet, but that Web Spider guy directed us down a cleared path, should have less threat than a fresh one."

"'Should.'"

"Don't I know it," she replies emphatically. "If we catch up to a forward element, we'll fall in with them. Otherwise, we just hope Wisent shows back up."

"I'll go see if he's called in," she says, trotting off.

"So," you ask conversationally. "Is she your type?"

Em chokes.

"What, seriously? I was just--Oh man." You start grinning manically as he whips around.

"Oh no you don't, you son of a bitch," Em glowers. "Don't you dare."
>?

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>>32518420
Why do you think that is? Coming back from the dead is his single most valuable skill.

>>32518473
Well, Capcom's writers can't. We, on the other hand...

>>32519026
Don't we dare what?

>>32519026
She's quick melee, right?
Of course she's his type.

>>32519026
"Don't worry, I won't break India's little heart."

>>32519026
Waggle eyebrows. Deploy shit eating grin. Feign shock and jealousy.
>>32519126
Don't forget she's short. Short enough to be Em's size.

>>32519026
"Should I tell Sapphire and Diamond their brother's got a cruuuuuush?"
>>32519091
There is canon to adhere to, Cain. Zero still needs to show up for X3 alive and well.

>>32519026
"Don't what? Engage Subroutine Wingman?"

>>32519026
I am SO telling her how you used your big sword.

First we need to get out of this mission with both of them alive

>>32519231
That's a good point. Joking about hooking the two of them up is all fine and dandy now, but if one or both of them end up dying horribly it's all gonna be really awkward in retrospect.
That said we can still get Em a novelty plaque that says "G-CLASS WHEN IT COUNTS"

>>32519026
"You know, maybe nows not the time to be talking about this. But later, I can totaly help you with that."

>>32519280
"5 out of 5 Gynoids agree - My saber is G-class!"

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>>32519118
>>32519126
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>>32519205
>>32519231
>>32519280
>>32519425
"Don't?" you ask, voice dripping with saccharine false innocence. "Don't what?"

"I'm serious, motherfucker, I will end you," Em growls.

"Okay, okay, you get... a deferment."

"Deferment?"

"When all this is said and done, and no one has any tragic deaths, I am gonna wingman the shit out of you."

"Argh," Em mutters. "You really are just Schwarz today, aren't you?"

"What, he's tried playing matchmaker? God, I'm trying to imagine that and it won't stop being hilarious."

"Hilarious for witnesses, maybe," he sulks. "I had to live with it."

The two of you finish scrubbing off the death particles, and Em heads off to a Lifesaver station. That leaves you alone for a moment to think about just how lucky you really are to be alive. Goddamn, you fought a G-class. You fought a G-class, and you actually pissed him off, and you walked away. You thumbed your nose at a robotic god, and whether he was toying with you or not, you escaped without retribution.

The elation and nervous thrill is abruptly stolen away from you, however, when you hear the scream.

You turn to the source in time to see a Reploid fall beside a large, cumbersome looking device, which is smoking as something melts from within. A dozen other hunters are there in a moment, examining him. You're the only one that sees the shape darting up to the ceiling and out of sight, however. You stare in silence, shocked and unable to process what just happened.

Because you're sure that was Chaff Weasel retreating back into the shadows.

>>32519639
...what?

>>32519639
Oh shit, I'd forgotten about this.

It's time for the refights.

>>32519639
...................................................................

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>>32519662
oh god, this asshole again.

>>32519682
I know. The what was more 'oh god what?'

>>32519639
son of a bitch, they made a mark II version of him. tell me there is some way of stopping him form shattering our optics again.

>>32519639
Dude at least tell Em what you just saw over that text speak thing. We dealt with that bastard once already and it sucked god forbid if anyone has to go through what we went through when dealing with that guy.

>>32519712
Looks like some poor bastard just did, and it didn't go as well for them.

>>32519700
That was mostly because we fought him in the first or second thread. Also, assuming that's Chaff Weasel and not, like, cousin-in-law or something, why wasn't he under surveillance?

>>32519682
http://ssntails.srb2.org/ssntails/music/MegaMan%20X%20-%20Maverick%20Intro.ogg

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>>32519639
"Anode? Anode, what the hell was that?" you hear Em as he grabs your shoulder and gives it a shake.

"That was--that was fucking Chaff Weasel," you murmur. "Did anyone else see that?"

"Who?" That 0 officer, Spider, jogs over. "The KIA?"

"No, the maverick," you shake your head, clearing your senses. "That was the first guy I ever took down."

He pauses, looking you over. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay then, what can he do? Give me the highlight reel."

"B-class, weak but sneaky, he broke my optics right out of the gate and I had to fight him blind."

"How did no one see him coming?" Demands Spider at a few of the guards. "This area is supposed to be secure."

"Nothing on sensors, no direct observation," one insists.

"He was a counterintel specialist," you explain. "He must have jammed them to slip by. I just don't understand how he could be alive."

"Well, it doesn't matter. You retired him before?" Spider asks pointedly.

"Yeah."

"B-class?" You nod. "Then take your team and go after him. Be wary of an ambush, he might have let himself be seen to draw us out. In absence of your team lead, you're calling the shots on the takedown by dint of prior experience. Report back right after."

"Em? Flares? You get all that?" you ask.

"Copy," Em says. "I'm ready."

"What's the plan?" Flares asks.
>?

>>32519673
Oh man.. I hope not. Saetos 2 turkey boogaloo would be horrifying.

Still, we know who it is, and we have dealt with him. If it's a copy or not, we don't know yet, but we should be careful when explaining things.

...wait, wasn't Chaff being tested on by Doppler? Yeah, we DEFINETLY have to be careful with our words.

>>32519639
Definately need to let everybody know. figure out what countermeasures we can take

>>32519639
Fuckity fuck. If there's another Weasel... shit, are we gonna run into all of our greatest hits before long? I can't imagine how fucked-with our head will be when we find out there's a Jagwire or Saetos Mark 2 out there. Or nightmare scenario...
>Jagwire/Saetos combination

>>32519748
Chaff Weasel is dead. And surveillance on Weasel?

As in the Maverick we got Black Out Rockets from?

As in a Reploid designed for recon and surveillance avoidance?

>>32519762
Stay close, but dont group up too much. sennd text messages to each other if that'll be more secure.
And keep moving at all times, he's less likely to fuck us up.

Also assume he got a combat updgrade to A class, and that he has freinds.

>>32519826
and make sure to warn them about the whining sound in their heads that indicate he's trying to smash their optics

>>32519762
Stay close together, check every angel (last time he got us from the ceiling), from the way he fought before I get the impression that Em or Flares would tear him apart in a second. Create an opportunity for the to do just that.

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>>32519768
>Revived Replilroid

OH SHIT LIIMTED.

>>32519797
Oh God why, stop giving the QM ideas!

>>32519800
>Chaff Weasel is dead. And surveillance on Weasel?
Didn't Anode see a news report a while back on how a cure for the Maverick virus had been discovered, and that Chaff Weasel was the very first Maverick to receive it?

>>32519857
>>32519826

Seconding these.

>>32519762
alright so we know that last time he shattered Anode's optics with some kind of high frequency something or another and we had to fight blind. He had a thing for theatrics like cutting all of our outside communications one by one to try and make us panic and liked to run his mouth. Not sure if he still drags things out or not but know he'll never attack openly and tends only to fight when he has the advantage either with numbers or like when he can see and you can't. So in short we're going to need a way to smoke the little bastard out.

>>32519893
Must have been confusing him for Lockon.

>>32519893
Nah, the virus was discovered by researching chaff.
We offed the bitch when we fought him

>>32519762
>Flare watch the ceiling, including vents.
>Em watch our rear.
>Anode takes point.

>>32519762
Lock down the area quick, set up a cordon and get a status report on that fallen Reploid. We may be able to determine what type of attack it was.

>>32519867
Actually, now that I think about it, Saetos CANNOT be copied. If I recall, to make copies you need the DNA of the reploid, but the only copy of said DNA belongs to us. Ergo, no Saetos or a much weaker version with none of the brains.

>>32519768
It might not be just our sons-a-bitches. We might run into that dude the tore Em's arm off, for example.

Ahahahaha this is my first thread I caught live and I'm loving it. Fuckin' amazing quest by the way, I really like it.

Seconding being super careful with handling this because Doppler was analyzing this dude and it's weird that his DNA data was able to be resurrected. Thankfully we'll be able to warn people of Chaff's capabilities, but we better keep in mind that this shouldn't have happened.

>>32519955
It would be, if we didn't know OOC that Doppler is a maverick.

>>32519762
oh god oh god. okay. first we need to figure out where he is. Where the hell could he be hiding? where could he have gotten to from the ceiling?

Stick together, regular reports on coms. If he starts jamming one of us we need to know about it immediately. Work out a way to avoid shooting each other if you all go blind. Also some basic gestures in case he takes out sound. If anybody has some spare eyeparts lying around, we might consider taking some along, assuming we can perform field repairs.

What was that thing of machinery the injured reploid was near? was it sabotaged, and if so, is everything else working? If that spider guy can make some webs, that'd probably help make further infiltration of the home base more difficult.

arsenal pastebin link?

>>32520036
http://pastebin.com/Qke6PABF
This one should still be good.

>>32519910
>>32519911
>http://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/19207778/#19221680
Huh. Must've misread that exchange as the Lifesaver telling Schwarz that Chaff was nearly killed but pulled through and received the treatment, instead of how Anode's repairs following that op were almost complete.

>>32520052
Highball Skipper looks like the weapon to use against Weasel when we catch him.

>>32520138
Either that or a Lockon Hunter.

I can't remember, did Chaff Weasel work via magnetics? if so we should probably leave Em behind. I kinda want to leave him behind anyway, but he'd just bitch if we left him behind because of all his armor being gone. Maybe we can convince him to get quick-repaired first, should such facilities be available (and unsabotaged).
>>32520052
Thanks!

Are we sure this isn't a trap created specifically to target and freak us out?

>>32520052
Note that we do not have the Wire Spool weapon data loaded at this time

>>32520168
I don't know. Why would they target us when they've got Zero on site to fuck with. Surely he'd he'd be priority one.

>>32520168
By the Mavericks?
No. We're not really that important, in the grand scheme of things. Little presumptuous, don't you think?

By Hunter Command?
ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY.

>>32520149
Blackout Rockets were key in taking out Lockon, making Lockon Hunter the worst weapon to use against Chaff.

>>32520247
Timult was the least fucked by Blackout Rockets in our current loadout, so I'm thinking that will be the key.

>>32520247
Yeah.. so far Blackout trumps lockon and high ball trumps Blackout. I think lock on was effective against Tumult and the Shield would be useful against Guns. The Nitro Mis wrecked Saetos' armor as well. That's all the connections I can make so far.

>>32520294
The problem is we have 7 bosses and only 4 subweapons. That's three we don't have the weaknesses for.

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MEANWHILE: ON FIGHTS I'M GLAD WE DIDN'T HAVE BEFORE THE CLONE FIGHTS

fucking reploid scorpions

>>32520344
I don't think we're going to fight ALL the mavs we've fought till now. Hell, it hasn't been a full 24 hours since we fought Skipjack, I don't think.

This is probably more of a tease to for whats to come

>>32520344
You remember MMX's fortresses, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8pBnd4y2mQ

We won't fight all eight in one mission.

>>32520306
Phase crippled Wolfspider and Wire and our natural Electrics ate Skipjack

>>32520344
Misericorde, Phase lance, natural Electrics and Flambard are our last 4 weapons.

>>32520401
X2 and beyond had teleporter rematch rooms.

>>32520245
Oh? Diabolical scheme and I get none of the blame? How amusing.

>>32520423
i actualy liked the way X1 did it. Just cause of how different it was

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>>32519770
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>>32520001
You force yourself to fight down your panic and focus. "Em, watch our backs. Flares, you take the ceiling and keep an eye out for vents, crevices, anyplace he could hide. I'll take point." They both sound off and fall in. "We need hand signs if he takes our hearing and some means of communicating danger if he takes our sight," you declare. "If he jams comms, try to use direct text messaging."

"Slow down," Em says. "Can he do that?"

"Think so. When he blinded me, I heard this electric whine in my head that kept building until my eyes broke."

"Your EYES broke?" Flares asks.

You nod grimly. "Shattered right in my damn head. These used to be purple." You turn to Spider. "That machine he wrecked, what was that?"

He folds his two humanoid arms. "Temporary beam-in pad we were assembling. We've got another setting up already--and I've already posted guards on it. I'll be watching from above. If there's nothing further, Lieutenant, I suggest you don't let him get away."

"Roger that, we're moving." You salute and set off, double time.

The three of you quickly work out some basic hand-signs as you make your way down the next hallway, looking for danger in every shadow. Soon enough you reach another assembly room, shut down by a passing hunter team.

Abruptly, Flares shoots you both a message.
>Let me light the room.

You glance back at Em, and then ahead into the clinging darkness before sending a reply.
>Do it.

>>32520423
But there aren't teleporter rooms here.

Well, yet.

>>32520452
Callback to MM1.

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>>32520477
"You see anything?" you ask aloud.

She answers by taking off at a shot and rolling in midair, deploying small glass-like spheres behind her off hatches inside her wings. After an instant, they spring alight, burning away the shadows with bright, flickering light.

"There!" she shouts. "He's--" An instant later you feel a hum of power as something activates. On Flares's body, faint spots suddenly spring alight with purple sparks, and her jets cut out. As she tumbles ungainly toward the ground, Em draws a saber, only to have its blade flicker and shutter, covered in the little spots itself. Your boots suddenly feel heavy as you notice a dusting of flecks on your heels--and your EAS isn't communicating with the rest of your body. And ahead, already taking aim at one of the flares lighting the room, you see Weasel, cast in sharp relief in the stark lighting.

He's...different. His armor, formerly a mottled urban grey digital camouflage, is now midnight blue and silver. A knife glints in one of his hands, solid alloy, probably ceretanium, and a large wrist-mount barrel rests above either hand. A complex optic of some sort has replaced one of his eyes, with multiple lenses connected by tubing across his sinuous chassis and around to his back. From where he clings, you see the glint of a large jewel of some sort where the cabling meets. He tenses and uncoils his body like a spring, launching out of sight as he shoots down one of the flares and plunges part of the room into the dark.

"I'm okay," Flares comms, "he did something to my flight systems." Em stows his first saber and draws another, shorter and lo-beam.

>What do?

>>32520401
>>32520423
To be fair those also generally didn't have said revived Mavericks stalking you through a stage while you had backup and... the games are probably not a good way to judge this is what I'm saying.
Also, since this is a giant factory, I'm willing to bet that might have something to do with Weasel's 'revival'; are they slapping together Maverick bosses down here, and if so, how many more of these things might be rolling off the assembly lines further inside?

>>32520344
>7
Weasel, Bloodhound, Skipjack, Terrapin, Wallaby, Jagwire, Wolfspider, and Saetos.

That's eight.

In addition:
>4
Blackout Rockets, Lockon Hunter, High Ball Skipper, Tumult Shell, Plasma Phase Tech, Tension Coil, Ice Tech Misericorde, and the Fire Tech Flambard(loaner until we get Saetos's data back).

That's also eight.

>>32520500
B\Start Building up some charge in our busters and wait for him to make the next move

>>32520500
Oh hell. It's not just a rematch, he's new and improved to boot. He seems to have hit all our gear at once; start testing things to see what still works.

>>32520500
ANODE: Shoot some wire to get firing lanes set up
TEAM: Fan out for multiple firing angles

>>32520545
Tension Coil was left behind due to our choosing a 5th VWES weapon (We have a 4 slot VWES system) after Skipjack, but since it was Jagwire (electric) we should be fine.

>>32520500
Can we let off some of our charge to fry those flecks? Discreetly, if possible. Then we could surprise him with an EAS charge when he tries to hit and run us.

Call out to him. "What Weasel, nothing to say this time?" Something like that. It worked once.

>>32520500
No energy weapons huh? Make with the grenades.

>>32520612
Oh. right fuck.

>>32520610
Changing to "fire fucking everything at last assumed location"

>>32520500
>Deploy High Ball Skippers if possible.

>>32520500
Maybe use some grenades to flush him out?
I'd suggest overcharging the first one we toss at him to trick him into thinking they're more potent than they actually are.

>>32520500
hm, so he now has something that lets him interfer with our systems and weapons. he must be using some kind of chaff like our missles but not as harmful by itself... OK then so we're going to need to find a way around that or to remove it entirely.

Think if we had Flare light up the room again but this time from the ground we might be able to spot him? If so have Em try to draw his attention by FIRING HIS BLASTER. I know it's shit but Weasel doesn't and if that anti weapon crap can only work on one thing at a time then all that we lose is Em's blaster which he doesn't use anyway. while Em is being the detraction we try and hit weasel with a skipper and see if we can't catch him by surprise. Also talk throw text speak so he doesn't catch on.

>>32520500
Grenades are going to be our major helper here. They are crazy fast and we should be able to hit him with them.

We need to deal with the chaff one way or another and also try to keep visability up. Also, we might want to aim for the glowing jewel weakspot.

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>>32520651
>>32520675
>>32520704
>>32520623
>>32520622
Rather than wait for him, you open up with a pair of highball skippers, sending them zipping towards him as he springs. He has to coil and spring again, just avoiding the pair of blasts, giving Flares time to get back on her feet. "Whatever they are, they come right off," she reports.

You test for yourself--sure enough, it takes a concentrated yank, but they're only fixed on with a relatively weak magnet. Not even Em seems negatively affected, quickly scraping his saber clean.

Unfortunately, that gives Weasel time to move again. Two more flares go out and he disappears into the encroaching dark once again.

"Fucker loves ceilings, doesn't he?" Em observes.

"He's fragile," you reply. "Or at least he was. Don't expect him to let you get close unless he's blindsiding you. Flares, keep things as lit as possible."

"You got it," she says. "Em, how fast can you climb?"

"Very. Want me to watch your back if he tries to jump on you?"

"You got it."

"Sounds good," you agree, "go. In the meantime..." you raise your voice. "What, nothing to say to me this time, Weasel?"

No reply. Maybe he learned his lesson.

>Watch Flares and Em. With the lights, they're where the action will be.
>Keep an eye on your immediate. He's sure to pick the odd man out.

>>32521203
>Watch Flares and Em. With the lights, they're where the action will be.

>>32521203
>Watch Flares and Em. With the lights, they're where the action will be.

>>32521203
Tough choice. They're more fragile, and taking them out would let him have more control over the room in general... My gut says he'd go for them first.
Doesn't seem like he remembers us enough to hold a grudge, either, which is probably a good thing.
>Watch Flares and Em, keep your eyes peeled and hopefully unshattered

>>32521203
>Watch Em and Flares

We're even tougher than we were last time we fought. If he does try to blindside us, we can tank it.

>>32521203
>>Watch Flares and Em. With the lights, they're where the action will be.

Her especially. She's the one that can make light, he'll want to remove her quickly. Bet he has night vision in that fancy new eye of his. Since those little magnets are so easy to scrape off he'll probably use them right before he attacks.

>>32521299
I don't think he has his old personality or memories. I believe that's half the reason they don't bring back reploids from the dead too often. They're basically soul less husks.

>>32521203
Watch Flares and Em.

>Watch Flares and Em. With the lights, they're where the action will be.

he might have changed since we last saw him or hell maybe whatever the mavericks did to him messed with his head either way if you want to keep taunting him go for it but focus on mostly watching your asses

>>32521354
Yeah, that's kinda what I meant by it. I suppose it'd be too much to hope that he doesn't know how to shatter our eyes this time around. With these upgrades there's really no telling what he can do, but for now we'll just have to go off of what we remember about the original.

>Watch Flares and Em. With the lights, they're where the action will be.

If he had his old personality, watching ourselves might be best, but he seems pretty empty-headed. Whatever his old preferences were, I doubt they'll be in play here. He'll probably just go for the tactically expedient move of trying to kill the lights.

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>Watch Flares and Em. With the lights, they're where the action will be.

>>32521446
My thinking exactly.

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Anode's next line is: "I'm not even going to give you enough time to regret dying twice!"

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>>32521252
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>>32521349
>>32521351
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>>32521446
>>32521461
You decide to keep watch on Em and Flares, since Flares is lighting up the way for you. It stands to reason he'll go after her first, right?

She flies high and slow, Em keeping pace beneath her. She throws the flares as she moves, one, two, and three.

"All clear," she says.

Then he's probably right above--

You go to dodge aside only for your dash to malfunction again as another magnetic... whatever buzzes to life on it. You stumble and fall, trying to ready a buster only for more of the damned things to come online. You go for the lance and--no surprise, it's been struck as well. You hit the ground awkwardly, rolling over in time for Weasel to come down on you, knife leading. He lands atop you, driving that knife into your chestplate. It leaves a long gouge, a deep and biting blow repelled only by your shielding.

Em comes up on him with a swing as you fumble for the flambard on your back. Weasel recoils back like a snake, just out of the way of Em's swing, before springing forward with a thrust. Em pushes his wrist aside and comes up with a counterstrike, catching the bastard--who, of course, is also fully shielded now. He springs back with the force of the blow, narrowly avoiding Flares's fist coming down, and fires on the three of you with a blackout flare at point blank range. Flares bats it out of the air, detonating it early and protecting you, but she and Em both are struck by the glittering chaff. You realize it seems to be clinging around their eyes and helmet ports.

Flares shakes her head. "Can you two hear me? I can't see--or hear."

Em doesn't respond, hopping backwards (away from the two of you, no doubt), and taking a ready stance, one hand high near the emitter on his saber.

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>>32522106
It looks like you have no idea he's attached those damn magnetic traps to you until he engages them. You can see and hear, but your teammates can't. And you can pull off some of the magnetic interference devices, but you don't have time for all of them if you want to be ready to answer his next move.

Clear any 2 of:
>EAS
>Lance
>Buster 1
>Buster 2

And:
>Wait for his next attack and intercept him.
>Try to help Flares and Em.
>Other?

>>32522134
>EAS
>Lance

Dash stab the fucker before he can back off again. We didn't get to use our speed on him last time, and it might turn the tide in our favor.

>>32522134
>EAS
>Buster 1

>Wait for his next attack and intercept him.
Distracting ourselves only leaves us open to further attack. He's a cheeky bastard.

>>32522134
>EAS
>Lance

>>32522134
>EAS
>Lance
>Wait for his next attack

>>32522134
>EAS
>Whichever buster can give us grenades.
>Wait and intercept

>EAS
>Buster 1
>Wait for his next attack and intercept him
>Try slipping some text communication to Em and Flares.

Chaff lacks much range beyond his blackout flare, so an active buster might help keep him out of range while we pick more of those suckers off. Still want to be able to move. We're on the defensive for the moment.

While Em and Flares may be deaf and blind for the moment, they still might be able to receive text communication. Just alerting them to the situation may be all they need. Keep panic down.

If we get a chance for upgrades, I've got an idea I'd like to propose.

Remember how India said the missiles on her craft were templated upon firing? What if we had a grenade dispenser that did the same?

>EAS
>Lance
>wait for his next attack

Does weasel know if we're blind or not? if not act blind, if so just keep sending those text chats to your teammates so they at least have an idea of what's going on.

>>32522134
>EAS
>Buster 1
>Wait for his next attack
>>32522323
Seconding this guy's idea. Hold our lance out like its on and start swinging it around

Try to use Text message to coordinate with your squad mates

>EAS
>Buster 1

>>32522314
I'm going to bet she only has something like that because you could actually fit all the hardware needed to do that on there and still have room left for everything else.

That's a luxury Anode doesn't exactly have, being limited to only whatever can be stuffed inside his own body. After all, where else are you going to store the spring-loaded foam snakes for the next time the Lifesavers or scientists at Liberty Labs open him up?

Oops, forgot the other half.

>Wait for his next attack and intercept him
>Try slipping some text communication to Em and Flares.

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>>32522190
>>32522192
>>32522217
>>32522231
>>32522323
You clear your boots again, and opt for your lance, rather than your busters. You decide to play at being blind, hoping he'll take the bait. In the meantime, you try another text transmission, one to each hunter.

>Em, can you read this?
>Flares, can you read this?

>Y.s....rely.

>.n.d.,...th...y..?

Shit. So much for that.

>.e.,.b...ly.
>..s, .ar..y.

Wait. Two more garbled transmissions, from Em--you realize he's hoping to brute-force a message through. 'Yes, barely?'

>T.l..me.when....att...s ag....
>..ll m. w... he...ta.k.....in.
>....... .h.n ....t.ac.s a.a...

You turn to keeping your eyes out--when you're not rubbing at them theatrically and glancing wildly from place to place as if you can't see. You swing your lance left and right, pausing every few swings to rebalance.

And then, a flicker of movement in your peripherals. You dash aside as you hear a buster fire, a chaff foil cloud filling the space where you stood. Then he fires another, and another, chasing you away from Em and Flares as he targets you. It looks like he didn't fall for it.

His ambush foiled, he disappears into the rafters again. Across from you, he targets and blacks out another flare, beginning to darken the room again.
>Response?

>>32522861
Do we have anything that clears out the chaff ourselves?

>>32522900
You might be able to open fire on it to cut it down to size.

how many chaff rockets do we have left? I mean those things leave a chaff cloud up affter they explode right? could we maybe pepper the room with them and make Weasel's job a bit harder.

Also brute force a message to flare and em that then next time you text them they should move forward and attack. This way they can dodge whatever is coming at them and if he's attacking from the front he'll get hit or have to dodge.

Oh and don't let him split you up. If he can divide the three of you he wins.

Wait for him to close in on the flare to take it out, and then lob a highball skipper at him. The things are fast, so if we can catch the weasel while he's already committed to an attack, we might be able to take him out.

>>32523009

Somehow, I doubt the wisdom of peppering the room with his own weapon. I'm pretty sure that covering everything in chaff would be a counter-intelligence unit's birthday bash confetti.

The intelligence division has a strict ban on birthdays.

>>32523110
I'm with this if it sounds like it could work.

And hell, even if it doesn't, the idea of attacking him when he goes for the flares is a pretty good one, since it's something he's consistently been doing (and therefore, something that can be planned around)

>>32523110
I'll support this as well.

>>32522861
Can we reach the rafters, or some metal connecting to them? We should run some electricity up into them. That can at least flush him out.

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>>32523110
>>32523181
>>32523320
You sight ahead to the next flare as he goes to black it out, and fire a pair of canisters to either side. They arc, sailing high, and a pair of detonations thud and you're rewarded by Chaff falling from the ceiling, stunned and lightly injured. You decide to press the attack, keeping him tied up. You ignite your lance and come in with a high, fast overhead, as Flares messages, looking up toward the source of the sound.

>Ano..? I...ar..tha.,.wh.t w.. .t?

You ignore her for now, too busy persecuting your attack to respond. Chaff recovers quickly and rolls aside as you come down on him, bringing up his knife into a ready position. He comes back in from the side with a quick knife thrust, which you twist around, unable to score a counter-attack before he leaps back to disengage. You dash away as he lobs another chaff bomb at your position, hitting the wall and looking down as he leaps back to the ceiling.

Here, you notice that the chaff clouds seem to be lingering with no signs of fading. You're running out of breathing room fast--you either need to put him down or clear them out. Flares takes off, flying slow and blind.

>Anode? ....you read me? Movem... s..m. t. h.lp.

>Clear the remaining magnetics from your body, regain use of your busters.
>Try to plot Flares a course through the chaff so she can shake the rest off. You need lights.
>Try to respond to Em. He sounded like he had something in mind.
>Other?

>>32523947
Listen to Em. He likely has an idea and I think I have one myself: Remember the BURNING GREAT SWORD Em gave us? It could likely serve both as a means of light and as a way to burn up the chaff. Hell, maybe the shields can help too?

>>32523947
>Try to respond to Em. He sounded like he had something in mind.

See what Em is doing, it sounded like he typed help near the end there.

Also try to help out Flare. We do need some light in hear our everyone is in trouble.

Just make sure you keep your eye on everyone. Right now Weasel is focusing on you because you're the biggest threat, but he'll disengage with you in a heartbeat if he see a opportunity to take out either Flare or Emerald so make sure you're watching there backs as well as yours.

>>32523947
>try to plot Flares a course through the chaff.

>Message em to use the flamburge, maybe he can melt the chaff down to managable levels

>>32524023
Anode currently has the Flambard, but that is not a bad idea.

>>32523947
>Try to plot Flares a course through the chaff so she can shake the rest off. You need lights.

And then while the Weasel is trying to foil that and/or the flares she puts up, talk to Em.

It's kind of funny how having more people along makes this actually more difficult. When Anode was up against him before, his focus was on taking out Anode, and not much more. But now that he's got more people to deal with, he's actually HARDER to fight against. ...That's a pretty scary thought, actually.

>>32524210
He got a bit buffed, and I assume they scrubbed him of personality. Which was one of his weakness.

Hmm, I wonder what his weapon weakness is. I'm guessing tension coil, knowing our luck...

>>32523947
>Try to plot Flares a course through the chaff so she can shake the rest off. You need lights.
>Try to respond to Em. He sounded like he had something in mind.

Think I'm gonna take a break for now. Can't guarantee I'll be able to pick this one back up, either, though I should know by today. I'll throw it into the archive now.

Any questions or comments on today's adventure?

>>32524556
How large is this place anyway?

>>32524556
Thanks for running

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>>32524595
Unclear, but apparently gigantic. You know it has to be mostly below ground considering the relatively low profile topside.
>>32524649
No problem. Thank you all for reading.

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oh boy, is this going to be like X, where we prod off 2-3 rebuilt mavericks at a time, and then fight a giant construct?

>Try to plot Flares a course through the chaff so she can shake the rest off. You need lights.

Let Em know what we're doing. If what he's planning is more important, he'll let us know.

Whatever else we do, we should let Flares know that brute-forcing the message helps get it through. If she was the one that sent us the message about movement helping get the chaff off, we should tell Em. If it was Em I'm assuming telling her is already included in the vote.

>>32526021
wait, I wonder if our tumult shell would be any good at clearing out chaff?

>>32526171
tumult dissipates on contact with solid matter, I don't imagine it'll do much good, unless chaff bits are small enough to not count

>Try to plot Flares a course through the chaff so she can shake the rest off. You need lights.

Em specifically requested that we let him know when Weasel attacks. Given the shambles our communications are in right now, I think it would be best to stay silent for now and just deluge him in about five thousand NOWs if and when that happens; we don't want to make him jump the gun thanks to scrambled messages.

On the other hand, Flares sounds like she might be in trouble.

>Movem... s..m. t. h.lp

Something's up with her movement, whether she intended to move or not, and that's a pretty clear "help" at the end. Considering how vulnerable she is while moving blind, she needs the cover.

>>32526733
I'm pretty sure that's "Movement seems to help.", as in "Movement seems to help with getting the chaff off."

>>32526794

Ah, hadn't read it that way, and good point! Still, she needs the cover while she shakes the stuff off, and she's a big target if she's moving around blind. Since Em isn't moving, he's a little more stable. He just needs that warning when Weasel attacks.

Of course, what we should really do is assume that whoever we opt to help, Weasel will target the lone hunter for an attack, since that's how the scumbag operates. We need to keep an eye on both our partners regardless.

We actually might be able to turn this to our advantage. Em obviously has something in mind for when Weas launches an attack. If we move to assist Flares, and just keep an eye out for Em, we might be able to bait Weas into trying to attack him. At that point we just need to float Em as many "do it nows" as we possibly can, and let him spring whatever plan he has cooked up.

>>32526964
Hm, yes, this is a good plan. I want to see what Em has up his sleeve.

>>32526964
I like this plan. Try to assist Flares, keep an eye on Em, warn him when Weasel makes his move.

>>32526964
I'm gonna go ahead and agree with this for a couple of reasons. First off it makes sense. Secondly I feel like we've been giving Em a bit of a hard time lately and it might make him feel better to stab Chaff a bit (which I rather expect he'll be able to).

Okay, why aren't we using our electricity? It lights up the chaff and probably shorts out the magnet jammers.

>>32527652
Well the issue is that if we light up the chaff we'll probably light up Em and Flares. However, I think we might be able to hit Chaff with a well-placed conduit capacitor if we manage to immobilize him, but we need to make sure we're not going to miss since that pretty much drains our energy reserves even when they're full, and they're only at 50% (ish) right now.

>>32527652
It would likely arc to the chaff around our allies, harming them. Or worse, it might've been modified to actually have its effect amplified when current is applied.

>>32527822
I kinda doubt the chaff has been modified that way, since it could actually prove harmful to Chaff (since he can probably move though his own chaff fields, he likely doesn't want them easily become white-hot maelstroms of electrical rage), and wouldn't harm us (remember, the worst thing that getting hit with electricity does to us is force us to shoot something to eliminate excess). The chaff does, however, seem to be clinging to the sensitive bits of our allies, and I'd really not give Em or Flares an eye/ear-full of concentrated electric death.

>>32527905
>I kinda doubt the chaff has been modified that way, since it could actually prove harmful to Chaff (since he can probably move though his own chaff fields, he likely doesn't want them easily become white-hot maelstroms of electrical rage), and wouldn't harm us (remember, the worst thing that getting hit with electricity does to us is force us to shoot something to eliminate excess).

This was my reasoning as well; lure him into his own cheff clound, and then fry the mofo.

But if the two of them also get caught... yeah, that'd be bad.

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Okay, I'm back, and this should be post 275. Ought to be able to squeeze a bit more life out of this one, or at least we can damn well try.

Let me get some caffeine, I dearly need it.

>>32529203
Hell yes. Maverick Hunter Quest is back!

>>32529203
Did OP fall asleep?

>>32529334
We wouldn't leave you in the lurch while there's still the possibility of playing Pop Goes The Weasel.

Or the Hunter, as the case may end up being. But what do I know, I just manufacture the obstacles.

>>32530269
Yes. He didn't make it to the coffee in time.
Nah, he'll be back.

>>32523947
Flare needs to move to shake off chaff, and needs to see to do that.
We have eyes.
Obviously, the only correct answer is to get on Flare's back and ride her to freedom from chaff! (Or at least until she can see enough in a cler patch.)

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>>32526021
>>32526733
>>32527108
>>32527182
>>32527215
You decide on a course of action, and shoot Flares a few repeats of a message.
>Move right and up, straight and up, left and down.

She nods, moving ahead (and closer to you) by your instructions, most of the chaff clinging to her trailing behind and settling down.
>Okay, I can see and hear a little more now, thank you. Status?

You take a chance with a tumult shell, firing it through the thick of the chaff on a hunch. Sure enough, it coasts through lazily, sweeping away a thick layer of foil unimpeded, partially clearing the way.
>Fine. I think he's going for Em next. Hold on, light him up.

Flares aims for the ceiling over Em and launches another of her namesake lights--sure enough, there's Weasel. The second he knows he's been seen, he pounces, ceratanium knife leading.

You hammer Em with warnings as you dash to assist an interrupt.
>Now now now now now now now now now
He stands there, blind and deaf, right where you left him, having not moved an inch, with the reanimated maverick bearing down on top of him--

In one fluid motion, Em snaps one of his sabers off his shoulder and makes a heavy overhand swing the instant the blade comes alight. It catches Chaff dead on, the blade biting his shielding and giving him a nasty cut across his midsection. The force of the impact sends Weasel flying.

"GOTCHA BITCH," Em crows triumphantly.

Weasel bounces across the room, skidding to a halt as he crashes into the far wall.

>You've got a massive capacitor buildup. End this before he slips off again.
>You've got him licked now--clear your busters for use again, and help your team set back up.

>>32530364
Fry him

>>32530364
>You've got him licked now--clear your busters for use again, and help your team set back up.

He's gonna pull something.

>>32530364
>You've got a massive capacitor buildup. End this before he slips off again.

FINISH HIM!

>>32530364
>Clear busters.
We can't risk using our assisted dash with our allies still partially coated in magnetized metal strips, so let's get set up.

>>32530364
>You've got a massive capacitor buildup. End this before he slips off again.

>>32530364
>You've got a massive capacitor buildup. End this before he slips off again.

>>32530364
>You've got a massive capacitor buildup. End this before he slips off again.

>>32530364
We're all still covered in magnetized metal bits in a room full of chaff and other annoying metal things. Maybe don't go the electric death route just yet. Clear our guns, get Flare and Em back up and running, and feel reassured that Weasel's gonna be a hell of a lot less acrobatic for the rest of this very short fight.

>>32530364
Oh no, no more running. Throw the spear if we must, use the capacitors, we are gonna pin the bugger down before he flees or tries to pull any more tricks.

>>32530389
Okay, changing my vote to throwing our lance at him before he even moves.

Don't let him get up, but don't use the charge.

>You've got him licked now--clear your busters for use again, and help your team set back up.

Our friends are still covered in magnetized metal. Let's not fry them, a'ight, yo?

Changing my vote (>>32530446) to
>You've got him licked now--clear your busters for use again, and help your team set back up.

because of what >>32530494 said

>>32530364

Fuck
>>32530494
>>32530585

Changing this:
>>32530493

>>32530526
By the by, I'd rather do this before we clean up the other guys or charge him.. though with the worry of electricity causing damage, it's better to be safe and clean up ourselves and our buddies.

>>32530364
>You've got him licked now--clear your busters for use again, and help your team box him in and finish him off.

What's wrong with our busters, didn't we just shoot a tumult shell? If we can shoot some highballs at him that'd be good since they're fast and can probably catch him even if he recovers quickly enough to slip away.

Throwing blades is probably better for Em, since he has a gazillion of them. He's crazy ninja so he might be able to aim based on text directions we give him.

If Flare's lights can explode or if she has some other method of denying air mobility, she may be able to keep him on the ground. More important to not make ourselves vulnerable, though, so only do this if he'll be out long enough to set up the air denial.

>>32530547

Actually, while we're at it, let's lob a highball or something. It's quick, was fairly effective before when he wasn't reeling, and Em just gouged into the weasel. If we can target the damaged area, we might be able to jack him up even more.

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>>32530870
>What's wrong with our busters, didn't we just shoot a tumult shell?

...Welp, I'm a dumbass.

>>32530364
>dat iaido

>>32530364
>You've got a massive capacitor buildup. End this before he slips off again.
ANODE, BREAK DARK THUNDER PHENOMENON!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7l11nDAR5Q

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MHQ: Now with hasty bonus retcon!
>>32530626
>>32530624
>>32530585
>>32530547
>>32530444
>>32530396
You decide not to risk using your capacitors in a room full of highly conductive material/highly conductive allies, instead taking the momentary reprieve to clear your other buster (you realize after a moment that your left buster read all-clear and you fired without thinking--you must have dislodged the damper somehow), and restore all your systems to full functionality.

Unfortunately, before you can follow up, he's back up, trying to retreat under a cloud of chaff. He hops backwards, clinging to the wall with his arms and legs, and leaps back up to the ceiling.

More unfortunately, for him, Firefly can see again, and boy, is she pissed. She rockets through the air, dropping flares like fireworks, and catches him with both fists in the gut. She slams him into the wall, and then boosts straight down with him, driving him back into the ground. She lands on his chestplate, caving it in as she kicks off him and flips back into the air, ringing him with burning flares to leave him no place to hide.

Down but not out, the resurrected maverick kips back up as you surge forward, drawing the flambard off your shoulder and coming in with a charging two-handed slash. Out of options, he lashes out with his knife, trying to divert your strike by stabbing through your arm. His blade finds purchase, but fails to do more than score your heavy shoulder-plate as you barrel into him, undaunted.

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>>32531235
The first time you killed him, you ran him through--blind, you felt his death spasms through your arms as he murmured a faint, final disbelief. This time, you cut him right in half. His knife clatters to the ground in a moment of silence, the ceratanium edge red-hot from where it passed through the blazing hi-beam, but holding. Chaff Weasel blinds you one last time as his ruptured LIFE cell begins to go up in a flash of white, a chain of explosions blooming across the surface of his body as it's rent apart, inside and out.

All at once the clinging chaff dissolves into glittery snowglobes around you, sound and sight coming back into full relief as passive jamming you didn't even realize you were under fades away.

"Everyone okay?" you ask.

"Fine," Flares says, pushing the antennae on her helmet back like hair.

"I'm good," Em says, able to hear and see again. He pries the hilt of the ceratanium knife out of the wall it embedded in, the blade shattering in his hand after the intense heat and impact.

"Took a few hits, but nothing major," you add for your part. "Let's head back and report with Spider."

You check back in to find the forward camp has doubled in population, much more tense and on guard. You find Spider dangling from an artificial web, directing two enlisted to finish setting up some fortification or other. "Sir," you greet.

"Welcome back, Lieutenant," he says. "Report. Quickly, if you please, we've both much to do."

>Details?

>>32531343
One resurrected Maverick sent back to hell. He was upgraded from the last time we saw him, but he didn't have nearly as much personality.

>>32531343
"He was a lot more upgraded and a lot less chatty than when I retired him."

>>32531343
"Bastard was upgraded. It wasn't enough to keep him alive, though." hand over a couple of his magnetic disruptors if we still have any on us.

>>32531343
>Report
Weasel is down for the second time. We'll need a second to get rid of the mag strips he used to hamper us, other than that no real injuries to speak of just couple stories for the ride home.

>>32531343
It was indeed Chaff Weasle. Heavily modified with improved gear but non of the quip he originally had. He caused some issues due to his chaff, but we managed to defeat him with minimal damage.

Screw this >>32531412, go for
>>32531402

>>32531343
"He had weapon systems he either didn't have, or didn't use, during our first encounter. Seemed to be some kind of electromagnetic interference that shorts out whatever systems are close to wherever it hits, but does not damage on its own. He had a lot less personality this time.

"He's dead now, though. Again. I hope I don't have to say that too many more times."