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Post by Zane on Dec 20, 2019 20:52:36 GMT -8
How bothersome this Overlord could be. He could nail the hammer down on which ones were more annoying to deal with and which should be dealt with accordingly at a proper date, Genesis managing to drive him back at long last, making his way past Faith and Vanguard that followed soon after. This would have to do for today, unsurprising that he was as irritating to deal with as they were told. The others that were rising up certainly were their own problems now as well. ...But still nothing that was out of hand from the look of things, disappearing into the shadows rather silently unlike Vamin before him. They had managed to drive him off, though the forest was once again decimated as a result of the clash that took place here.
:Deav: King's Resilence A king is one to not simply bend the knee, to not simply yield. Effects: Once per battle, can survive a turn of fatal attacks if engaged with the opponents for the first time. Cannot be pierced. Passive.
Faith, Genesis, Vanguard: 600exp, 6,000z + Reaver's Mineral + some other PM'd goods to the proper folk.
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Post by Gaia on Dec 20, 2019 21:18:47 GMT -8
Vanguard.EXE
Vanguard huffed as he watched Deav skirt beyond the shadows, disappearing into the darkness. Vamin had a much more grandiose exit, but, then again, Vamin was also much larger.
Both of the monstrosities seemed like easy opponents on the surface, but carried lethal surprises and sudden changes in attack pattern and strategy that was a direct result of their own choices in combat. The unprepared combatant would have been completely destroyed by the sudden revelations, and it required quick thinking to recover before they were destroyed.
Vanguard knelt down, feeling even more drained than after his fight with Vamin, which was saying quite a lot. Angrily punching the ground beneath him, Vanguard released the pent up flames he had been generating and withholding the whole time, the ground beneath his feet only flecked with a tiny hole in its surface that caused cracks and quakes to upheave for miles around him as the heat of his strike resurfaced.
"Another Reaverking faced, another abated - if only for the time being," Vanguard breathed out, reaching up with his free hand as he felt the energy in his eye finally leave. He could see clearly again, his whole world in proper color rather than partially in reds. Looking up, Vanguard surveyed the destroyed forest, noting the remains of yet another strange material left behind, this time by Deav. Comparing it alongside the one he already had from Vamin, Vanguard took his time now, while everyone else was still recovering, to give the two substances his full attention, scanning them like he would anything else.
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Post by Warrior on Dec 20, 2019 21:31:04 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/AESZGIl~png Faith had recovered a bit after all of that, Mistair's lingering barrier keeping her protected through it all and during Vanguard's release afterward.
It was her and the "terrorist" gang now, so good a time as any to get to the bottom of things. She rose to her feet, still plenty of blood down her arm but the wound had clotted up by now and she could function as normal for the time being.
" So. Question time. "
Vanguard seemed most-concerned with the spoils, so she didn't interfere with that. To Mistair and Genesis then, primarily the overlord since he was the only one here she fully recognized but the questions were open-floor all the same.
" I see you know Deav, too. I had a run-in with him once in the past... left a bad impression, as you may have guessed. I didn't see any of you there at the time and I've been under the assumption that he disappeared after the whole Juno incident. So where did you cross paths? "
The first of many questions, but the most relevant to the situation. So far they had a common enemy, though contrary to popular saying, that didn't always make allies out of them. Knowing Deav's past doings was useful knowledge for her, having been out of the loop for a full year now, there was a lot that she could be filled in on concerning the matter.
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Post by Genesis on Dec 20, 2019 21:54:50 GMT -8
*He relaxed himself now as well, his stance as the Overlord calming now as he returned to his neutral state instead. He had left quietly and without a fuss, as death itself fitting should. It wasn't a certain victory, but a victory all the same. He would leave investigating the goods to Vanguard for now, directing his attention to the one asking questions first: Faith. He was still considering the abilities he had just conquered, but he was good at figuring those things out as is.*
"I ignored the call to arms when he showed up in the first place. Juno's bid to have us fight each other after we already finished doing that drew no interest of mine. Everyone else cleaned up neatly after themselves when it was finished, at least on this side of things."
*The human side was a different story after all. They had been in this latest situation because they were upset with the conclusion, but then maybe if they didn't build death satellites then that also wouldn't have become a problem. That didn't answer her question as much as detailed why he wasn't involved in the whole reaverbot nonsense that took place and his unfamiliarity with some things, glancing to Vanguard for a moment.*
"I crossed paths with him, or at least caught sight of him, at New Life before it fell. I didn't engage him at the time due to taking care of another... combatant. If I could call it that."
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Post by Zane on Dec 21, 2019 0:25:28 GMT -8
Vanguard was taking it in that this was a hard thing to accomplish for himself, Faith was preparing for next time as it were, and Genesis was treating it like this was just another day for him. ...Well it probably was in his case so it made sense that the wear and tear of it didn't bother him much. She didn't let her guard down much, as things never seemed to conclude when they assumed they would. But at least for the time being they appeared to be in the clear. Vanguard's analysis would let him find out exactly what it was that was being left behind, as he noticed a bit of resemblence between what he had now and before as Mistair contemplated this just the same. A creation that worked around the throes of death... Deav had a purpose for his creation too one way or another. That purpose may or may not been justified, but what mattered was that he was a threat for them now. They would have to confront him again to try and finish the fight rather than him escaping. As for her answer to this particular inquiry, she couldn't give a positive one in the light of gathering information about the Reaverking.
"This is my first time meeting Deav. I was just under fire when we arrived and responded accordingly."
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Post by Warrior on Dec 21, 2019 9:39:17 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/HMwvYex~png Faith listened on as the two responded. More focused on Genesis for the time being since Mistair seemed bystander for this occasion, but she had things to ask her as well later.
" Hmm... "
Humans were indeed to blame for their outcome of Juno's era, and it was more than just their own satellites falling on them. Faith herself was the one responsible for beginning that era when she accessed to Pandora Mystery Data that sealed Juno, something that had been implied that only a human, or "trigger", could do.
That kicked off "The Exordium Game" which was basically just a global battle royale, and all told it made sense that Genesis wouldn't have cared much about that. As he continued though, her next topic of discussion came organically from him so she'd move on to that now: the other combatant.
" Rosso? "
That was the name Warrior had told her, which he had heard from Nightshade who'd accused Rosso of being the one responsible for bringing down New Life. The subject of the attack on New Life was next, but half of her question could have been answered ahead of time depending on how he reacted to that name.
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Post by Gaia on Dec 21, 2019 17:28:39 GMT -8
Vanguard.EXE
Looking up at Faith, Vanguard first glanced over to Mistair as she answered her questions, and then realized that he had gone this far without explaining much of his past connection to the Reaverkings. As he absorbed the power of the Reaver Mineral into his code, feeling the remnants of his old master wash over him, Vanguard rose up from his knee, somehow feeling refreshed. When he turned back to the group, he realized that his Reaver Eye was acting up again, and covered it with one hand as he moved to rejoin them.
"When Juno began calling for combatants, he made it clear that he had large resources, and the powers amassing under him were impressive upon first inspection. I was just starting out, in need of guidance, and had a lot of anger built up from an incursion with the one who created me. I joined the Reavers under a different name, and was personally trained by Var - I know all of them personally."
He let that roll off the tongue rather easily, glaring across at those gathered, largely unbothered by the implications of his claims. Vanguard looked at Mistair last, figuring her response would be the most calculating, but, at this point, he felt that she knew he could be trusted. "As for the other concerns - we have no solid proof that Rosso attacked Element City, but, considering his actions immediately after the cat accused him of that crime, I have a very strong assumption that the answer to that question - and any others involving his actions - are what you could expect them to be." He looked up, then, referencing Genesis. "We know that our enemy has retreated. Do we want to risk remaining here for our deliberations, or do we want to move elsewhere to avoid the arrival of backup?"
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Post by Genesis on Dec 21, 2019 17:41:27 GMT -8
"He wasn't at New Life as far as I know. He was busy fighting in Element City at the time to my knowledge. At the very least I can confirm that as a fact."
*That was where Resonance fell, after all. Far as New Life went they had been taken down from the outside, the inside job that happened during it all not exactly in his realm of knowledge. At the very least as far as he could tell she was asking whether or not he was responsible for New Life going down, which was a negative. He had gotten what he was there for and was gone back into the wind with that, but he assumed those from the NIA had a better idea of where he went after he was done in the city. That wasn't quite why he wanted to speak with them for an exchange of information, but it would ultimately play a role in them taking care of his next goal. Sounded like they had an incursion with him too, plus he knew the Reaverkings more personally. That made for a much better way to handle them even if they held out on him a bit when they trained him.*
"As for them sending backup, I doubt it. In every incursion thus far they haven't sent reinforcements after their initial lineup was cast. They don't feel they have to yet. Just don't let any lingering sentiments hold you back against them."
*It was as much applied to himself as it was to Vanguard. While Vanguard might have some issues or not fighting his old compatriots, once a side was chosen that was that. He would have to apply the same logic to himself for better or worse with who he was up against too.*
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Post by Warrior on Dec 21, 2019 18:05:47 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/HMwvYex~png " I see. "
Vanguard added more useful knowledge, but as expected she had many more questions as a result. There were long discussions she wanted to have, but there was only so much time for that and he made a valid point of wanting to relocate. Genesis declined the notion while further confirming Vanguard's information, even deducing Faith's suspicions among it. But she'd go on anyway until convinced.
" I'm fine with staying here as well since a little bit of air needs to be cleared before moving on. You'll have to excuse this turning into a negative first impression of each other as a result, but as it stands, I'm a stranger to all of you and most of you are strangers to me, aside from the public's opinion of you. "
And the public's opinion wasn't a good one -- such was the strain of working against those with higher social influence, after all.
" I'm not one to blindly trust that opinion, of course, but I don't coldly dismiss it either. So I'd like to get to the bottom of it instead. "
Eyes shifting around to each of them, landing last on Genesis as that's the way things tended to go these days.
" Public knowledge is that you brought down New Life with the aid of the Armored Destroyer, the rest of the gang being guilty by association as far as the world cares. Rammount and the Netopian Border as well. "
Her stance on the matter was showing now. Not coldly against them because she didn't know the full story, but not blindly trusting them because she hadn't been shown the full picture either. This was going to boil down to her choosing a side, and she'd know full-well what she was getting herself into before she chose one.
" I don't know who this Rosso is, but we can get back to that later. You've confirmed he wasn't the one to destroy New Life though, which was the rumor that was passed to me. So now I'm more concerned with the rumors surrounding you, Genesis. "
The others here were clearly his acquaintances, but the rumors involving them hadn't circulated around to Faith's ears yet, at least.
" Are they true? Did you destroy New Life? "
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Post by Genesis on Dec 21, 2019 18:59:45 GMT -8
"The public opinion of me is probably that I'm a menace to human society but a defender of rights to net society. Which makes me a problem when they make a poor decision and run with it."
*Which led to the current reputation he held. The only navis who often held a negative impression of him were the ones who sided with the law they knew would draw his attention. That was why he wasn't regarded as a symbol of terror despite the constant destruction he had brought in his wake unlike Embera when she was on her rampage. Which meant it would make sense that the public's opinion weighed on her mind in regard to him. It was easy to tell what parts were slander or not after meeting him, but he never was one for clearing misconceptions others drew for themselves until they asked him to clear it up, like now.*
"The Netopian Border was an act of self-defense and the destruction of it was collateral that I had decided on after the fighting started, but not an act I followed through with. Someone else took it down. Rammount's destruction was my doing as I initiated that fight with the NIA."
*He was gone before the rest that happened there aside from being framed for the Cybeast part of it. But that network was ruined as a result of him, the Destroyer, and Rosso butting heads. As a result Rammount was ruined and a lot of things were set in motion, something he would repeat again if he thought it necessary. He had to wonder who would pass out a rumor that Rosso was the one to take down New Life, but there seemed to be a lot of misinformation lately for some reason that only served to hinder them. He would mention the Destroyer felt himself too important for New Life, but he ended up behind bars unlike him. How fitting that was in the grand scheme of things even if he didn't get to do it to him personally. The guy mellowed out after he was stuck behind those bars for some time and was useful against larger threats than the Destroyer personally was.*
"It would be strange for me to destroy it after they finally got their act together. If they had given me a reason to bring it down, then I would have. Unless I was working with Deav to do so and we suddenly had a falling out just now, but who's to say?"
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Post by Warrior on Dec 21, 2019 19:51:22 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/HMwvYex~png " Who's to say, indeed. "
Faith had mingled with the NIA herself in the past as the student of Seth Pele, fully understanding why a particularly powerful Navi wouldn't see eye to eye with them. She herself thought their methods were far too extreme for what they wanted to accomplish, her dagger being a remnant of a tool they'd intended to crush navi-kind with at one point in the past.
But a disagreement coming at the cost of a network? And a landmark at that. Surely there was more to that story.
" Nothing done for sake of being an act of terror then, as I figured at least. "
She gave him more credit than wreaking havoc just to wreak it. Still, proper intentions could yield improper actions, so those intentions required testing too.
" What are you after, then? Who's provoking all of the carnage? "
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Post by Gaia on Dec 21, 2019 21:23:24 GMT -8
Vanguard.EXE
Vanguard spoke up as the deliberations went on, some information being shared about New Life and the happenings beyond. This was ultimately what he was looking for, but, the discussion was still too wild; it wasn't focused enough.
"The enemy that we face is incredibly well prepared. They have a lot of access to information and seem to be very adept at gathering new pieces of it. The most important piece to the puzzle that the public appears to be missing, however, is this," Vanguard stated, pointedly holding up his hand. A window raised him from his palm, previous data analysis of Rosso appearing in his signature purple outline. It held a picture of Rosso in his coat, and, as with any data file stored by Vanguard, the right of the window held Rosso's stat yield as analyzed over time by his analytics.
It was empty. Rosso's statistical analysis, across the board, noted that he was so pathetically weak in all areas as to not have any statistical analysis worth merit. "Wherever the enemy appears, there is no way to trace them. Certain individuals have reported accounts on seeing them in locations, and those reports are the only notion that the enemy has been present. If we can declare that those reports are correct, then the enemy is making moves that the network's systems cannot record - video files, audio logs, anything and everything that the public sees makes it appear as though the enemy is not there," he explained, looking at Genesis, then. He closed his hand and opened it up again, accessing secure files to bring up the data log of Genesis and the Armored Destroyer in Ramount. It showed Genesis and the Armored Destroyer trading blows, presumably with one another, because no one else was present.
"They know how to paint a good picture, and have been setting up scenarios since the very beginning. They are using each and every one of us as pawns in their game, relying on what they know about each of us to determine what we may do next and capitalize on it. Everything up to this point has been orchestrated, and we, unfortunately, come to the table with information retrieved while working alongside the enemy before they revealed themselves."
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Post by Genesis on Dec 21, 2019 22:23:16 GMT -8
*Yeah, that footage didn't do them any favors. Well, it actually did them one favor at least. Resonance would be the only one blamed for the Cybeast as opposed to all three of them being held accountable for it. However it would paint the NIA in a favorable light for eliminating him at Element City and have him take the fall for the destruction of that city along with Serix too. That picture probably looked like it was framed incredibly well on their wall. The New Life footage just added to that, though in reality that made a more contradicting doctored image instead. Why would they fight in Netopia then work together in Electopia? ...Well, it wouldn't be the first time so that wouldn't work as a solid alibi with his own knowledge, but could be a good bait for anyone who didn't know them and their not so complicated relationship.*
"It's because they're good at setting up that picture and considering our next move that even as we plot our course, it meets obstruction. At the very least we have to cut off some of their limbs, and the only limb I know of is at the NIA. My next plan of action is cutting off that limb. There's another lead that takes us to Sharo, but no way to get there means a dead end for me at least."
*It narrowed his options down to severing a problematic body part. The fewer limbs they had, the better. Electopia was left vacant of its defenses now while Netopia was hurting but had their own. He imagined Creamland had its own problems, but he had no way of knowing that they were fine or not. They likely expected him sooner or later to return to Netopia, so may as well spring that trap and provide more resistance than they expected and succeed in wiping out that organization before they lived for too much longer. It would also mean he'd likely get to engage Rosso, which at least meant he was encountering him one way or another. That was more than they could say right now given finding them was impossible for them to do. Which of course probably just sounded like he was provoking the carnage in this scenario, but the shots were already fired and he was just making sure the other side were the ones that were bleeding out instead of them.*
"As for who's provoking all of this, I can't give a clear answer. I could say it's Rosso and be wrong like Nightshade was. There's been no gradiose show of force or announcement to say their grand plan or how superior they are. That typically made the blame game a lot easier to do. Instead we get people we can't prove exist unless you see them yourself and Reavers who aren't the biggest elephant in the room."
*Not to him anyway. This was nothing in comparison to inflicting absolutely nothing to Rosso in that encounter with still no legitimate clues on how to harm him. No clear goal, no intentions stated, and no signs of their aggressors whatsoever. It would just take blind faith to take them at their word for it, and the word for it often times came from someone who the public had no positive opinion of. Meaning that once again they would just have to rely on themselves to take care of matters, which was fine as it at least meant no untimely surprises like some idiot pulling the plug and assuming that would work. Rammount clearly said otherwise, not that the public could see that either.*
"Unfortunately I probably know about as much on Rosso's skills as you do. Comparing notes to make certain of that is better than nothing."
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Post by Warrior on Dec 21, 2019 22:54:11 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/HMwvYex~png Faith looked at the hologram Vanguard had presented, the designation "Rosso" next to the display. She raised one eyebrow at the bland statistical analysis of it, falling quite short of what she expected.
This was the guy that was rumored to destroy New Life?
It made more sense after he went on to explain it, though. Then he brought up the video footage she had seen earlier that all of her current assumptions had been based off of, now knowing the other side of the story behind it. The validity of these claims held by the fragile string of "the cat's" story at least barely lining up with what was being shared now.
She looked perplexed at those claims though. What madness was happening on these eastern continents?
" ... You're saying this unmodified footage isn't accurate? That your enemy was indeed present, despite what's being shown? "
She watched it closely as it played through -- no hint of anything beyond what the raw footage already implied.
" What deceit... "
She bit her lip as she listened on. It was a wild tale for sure, but to be fair, still not as wild as the story she'd heard from Warrior about "Vinyl". It was clear that Genesis and Vanguard weren't activists causing all of these commotions throughout the eastern regions, perhaps she owed them an apology.
But Genesis chimed in and plenty of what he said grabbed her attention.
" ... "
There was really a lot going on, and they seemed as unsure about everything as she was. Her eyelids flinched ever the slightest at his mentioned of Sharo -- she'd sent Warrior there hoping it'd be a cold search, but it may have ended up putting him hot on this same trail instead. There was an argument to be made whether she could get there herself, Navis in-tow, but while she no longer fully distrusted this gang, she didn't fully trust them yet either, so she didn't offer.
" I was initially looking for answers... but I can see now you're still looking for them yourself. "
Surprisingly, they asked her nothing in return, but such was the nature of somebody being strung along by another: focused only on what is affixed to their vision and not wasting time on the distractions.
" I'll help you find them; I've got my own resourcefulness to contribute. But I want to know what you know, if you haven't already shared it all. And I want to know NIA's place in this before I offer my hand in what you're implying. "
And so her side was nearly chosen, several factors having contributed to her decision that they probably wouldn't notice upfront, but at the end of the day, they seemed to share the common goal of getting to the bottom of this and their best bets were to work together on that front.
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Post by Genesis on Dec 26, 2019 1:02:52 GMT -8
*That summed it up rather well: they all had something they had to figure out here. Though a sign that got to him was anyone caring about what happened to the NIA. He would let it slide for now as it was probably just a show of concern that should be commonplace for most, even if he felt none for the group. Before he went about spilling his guts, however, came addressing something that was important too. Others could assume that he just arrived together with Faith, but that wasn't the case in reality. All three of them were strangers to him as much as he was to them, save for the fact that he had a reputation that preceded him.*
"Before that, you all know plenty about me, but I don't know much about any of you. While that isn't my largest concern, fair is fair."
*At the very least it would let him know what he could expect of each of them. And that was better than going in blind as their enemies already knew what they were capable of. So he might as well learn what he could too, even if everything they knew about him wasn't entirely accurate or his entire life story either. They didn't need to know that, but he did have to learn what they knew about who he was up against, be it the NIA or the Reaverkings. He didn't spend time learning much about them personally and more from hearsay and even that didn't get his attention when it came to it with Juno. That was a problem now, but not taking the time to learn when you had the time to did that to anyone.*
"As for my reasons for attacking the NIA, they aren't as complex as Vanguard's reasons for it. I'm gunning for Rosso and can't find him with the only connection that I know he possesses is with them. They're just in the crossfire to lure him out unless they decide otherwise."
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