Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 430: Innotek Showdown at the ARK

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Date: January 26th, 2008.
Metal Man (GM): The ARK's Eclipse cannon, after many, many (60+) years of neglect, is nearly completely fixed. Since that time, technology has advanced to the point that it no longer requires 7 chaos emeralds to fire. Rather it simply required an upgrade... ..and since the repair meant about 25% of the old mechanisms had to be replaced anyway, that made it very possible. The various Cornerian and/or Lylat scientists and workers are nearly done with the work, as the ARK orbits Mobius. Protoman looks on, bewildered that the Questers managed to get so much work done. Of course, he is repeatedly assured "What they did for us makes this more than worth it." In the background, some of the scientists read the notes. Indeed, there is a mildly bitter tone to the proceedings, as the relics of Gerald Robotnik remain to see the weapon being restored. Some of them wonder what miracle caused the hologram of Gerald from The Void times from repairing it and destroying planets himself. Little do they know that in an alternate timeline, Smithy and Grodus II (these both The Void's constructs) did just that. But of course, with that null... we move to HQ, where Metal Man has gathered the Questers... just near the warp room, to brief them.
Quester HQ, 1500 hours.
Metal Man salutes the Questers and begins speaking. The warp to the ARK is already up, as well.
Metal Man: "We are embarking on a new mission which, truly, is a new approach. Instead of a costly direct battle, we will use what we already have to eliminate a menace to the world."
Deloth: "Educational television?"
Metal Man: "With that in mind, I have been told that Innotek's base has a number of defenses, and thus, you will have to protect the ARK as the cannon is charged up to destroy it."
Julian: *Julian's there from the start, for once, dressed in his usual white sleeveless shirt/vest and jeans combo. And of course, Hat.* "'Bout time we put something like this together."
Deloth: "About time. Let's blast those bastards off the planet."
Digifanatic: "Sounds like we're going somewhere."
Julian: "We bustin' out the MTAs again?"
Metal Man: "Indeed... the engineers have told me we will be able to repair it again and destroy any other organization which dares to exist in our realm and threaten our world."
Aribar frowns as he listens to their briefing.* 'What will we have to defend the ARK against?"
Metal Man: "It will be a matter of choice, Julian. You'll be briefed on the ARK and its defense when you get there, though MTAs will be a viable option... with a little work. I am not exactly sure, but based on the prototype ship you found, it appears they have an appreciable air and space force. It should be a cloud of fighters, perhaps a larger control ship."
Julian: "Sounds easy enough."
Metal Man: "They are not expecting this, so you will get a window of opportunity to do with what you want. Indeed, as Protoman tells me, they rebuilt several floors thinking you would attack them directly. But this will circumvent that. So, assuming you protect the cannon enough for it to charge, fire with decent accuracy, and do not over or under-do it, the fiends of Innotek shall be obliterated."
Julian: "Great."
Metal Man: "I leave the mysterious being who keyed us into this whole catastrophe to fill you in on the ARK itself, as knowing the ARK will be vital in your mission."
Metal Man (GM): The warp to the ARK appears.
Metal Man: "As the ARK is not in this dimension, we will be using our warp to send it here. Warp technology having advanced quite a bit since 5 years ago."
Digifanatic: "...Right." *heads over.*
Halbardeer: "So we have to buy time till the cannon gets in place? Not sure how good I'll be if it's a naval battle. You definitely won't have to worry about enemies boarding the ark with me there though."
Deloth steps into the warp. I shall destroy you soon, educational television.
Julian: "Whatever you say, Mets. Let's go!" *Julian stands up from where he was sitting and heads into the warp.*
Dragoshi: "..." *Follows along.*
Metal Man: "I am not exactly sure... you shall be further briefed on the ARK."
Aribar nods and follows the others to the warp room.*
Halbardeer heads through.
The ARK, 1507 Hours.
Metal Man (GM): You appear aboard the ARK. There's new equipment being put in everywhere. The lights are strangely brighter now. Protoman salutes you as you enter. He still looks to be in bad shape.
Protoman: "Before we warp to your realm, you must be briefed as to the ARK's defenses..."
Dragoshi: *Returns the salute, then stands still* "I see. And, they are...?"
Protoman: "Little is known by me, however the mysterious one has brought up many things."
Halbardeer: "Who's the mysterious one?"
Metal Man (GM): He stands aside. A weird silhouette of a man appears again on the control panel, speaking with his weird voice.
Digifanatic: *Gives a quick salute.*
Julian: "He's mysterious."
???: "Ahem, yes. The ARK possesses several options. The first thing is that... your unorthodox choice of attack means the enemy ships have to fly to you first. That will give you time. So, these are your options... The first one, is that the ARK has a shield system. But it hasn't been activated in ages. You would need to jury-rig it into operation, but it would probably hold them off if you did. Then there are built-in defenses which could fight any ship attack. They were damaged in the 60-years ago incident. You would need to repair them. You could use your own ships to defend it; there will be Arwings and other ships defending. But I fear that requires good piloting skill... We do not have much time. Innotek has spies everywhere. Hence whatever you do will begin after the warp in and targeting acquirement begins."
Dragoshi: "...And, apparently, I'm the only one here that can pilot worth a damn."
Deloth: "Could half of us work on the shields and half on the anti-air defenses, just in case one or the other's breached?"
???: "You could also sabotage the Innotek base, however it is likely to be extremely guarded and changed now. The size of the systems for both means that, to do that might mean neither activate."
Deloth: "I see."
???: "If they get through, the ARK would rather simply be destroyed. They have enough weaponry to destroy the, unfortunately, exposed Eclipse Cannon and with it the main power core. Gerald never made this for war directly. The defense systems were only meant as experiments at first. There are other ways, but I have not thought of them. You might have ideas I don't. You could attempt to distract the ships with your own instead, but there are few usable ships for that."
Halbardeer: "The barrier probably won't be much good if we don't also have ships of our own to take out the enemies, since the cannon will only damage the enemy base..."
Aribar frowns. "Hrm... It sounds like no matter the plan, I'll be useless.."
Julian: "Yeah, but once they lose the base, they got no where to go."
???: "The base coordinates the enemy ships. Without that they will either surrender or flee to another one elsewhere."
Julian: "We take out the base, call in the Cornerian Navy, an' smash 'em between a rock and a hard place."
???: "They can be picked off easily if no base gives them orders, as that would be their main advantage..."
Halbardeer: "Bah, that means they lack good commanders... I suppose that's a good thing for us"
???: "You will have approximately 15 minutes to do whatever you have in mind. If you flew your ships to engage them that might give us 15 more... but we'd be unable to help you if you were shot down, resulting in loss of lives..."
Halbardeer: "Wait, why don't we call in the reinforcements to defend the ark BEFORE the cannon goes off too?"
???: "Fighting near the cannon means you could be recalled if your ship broke, but also threaten the ARK."
Deloth: "I vote for one of the mechanics options. I'll be able to help most there... how about the shields?"
???: "The reinforcements? We'll have all the defending ships in place before the battle starts, of course. The Cornerian arwing division. The shields have the advantage for defensive power. Used properly, they would make the ship untouchable, especially with the other ships fighting them. Unfortunately they're hard to repair... and it's all or nothing with them. The defenses are more segmented, but they can't completely protect it either. We must warp soon, so... discuss amongst yourselves and make your choice." He waits.
Digifanatic: "Hmm...what's good that involves computers?"
Julian: "Hmm...What's our ship options?"
???: "Silly. This entire ship is made out of them. But also mechanical devices..."
Halbardeer: "If only we had a way to hide the ship so they didn't know we were coming until we're ready to fire..."
???: "Arwings, CACs... a few MTAs, but all require decent piloting."
Digifanatic: "Well, I'm not much of a repairman, but if there's something that I can get hooked up with once it's fixed, I'm pretty good with those."
Deloth: "Well, since we have a squadron of ships headed our way, I'd say it's all-or-nothing anyways... I vote shields."
Dragoshi: "Well...I could either way on the built-in defenses or the shields...? *."
Aribar: "Besides keeping the morale of the Arwing fighters up, I don't think I'm going to be very useful.."
Digifanatic: "I like working with the shields myself."
Julian: "I ain't much for repairin'...but I've been hittin' the sims pretty hard to get my drivin' skill back. I'll do whatever the group votes, but I can't guarantee I'll be much help."
???: "We must launch in a few moments... just so you know."
Dragoshi: "...Actually, yea. I think I'll go with the shields."
Deloth: "Shields."
???: "Shields... are you mostly sure on that?"
Digifanatic: "Yeah..."
Dragoshi: *Nods.*
Halbardeer: "Would it be easier to fix the shields so that they only protect the core?
???: "If they blow up the other parts of the ship, it'll fall apart when the cannon is fired."
Halbardeer: "So who here knows how to fix the shields?"
Deloth: "I'm okay with construction."
Digifanatic: "Not very well...but I could get a break."
Dragoshi: "I'm not useful in that aspect." :/
Julian: "I got nothin'."
???: "I guess that'll have to do... So then. We must warp now. What will you people be doing?"
Julian: "Escortin' Del an' fightin' anythin' off that gets in our way, I guess."
Halbardeer: "I wonder if it's possible for me to defend this kor without getting in one of those ships..."
Dragoshi: *Nods.*
Digifanatic: "I'm limited in fixing but if anything needs to be booted up, I should be fine there."
Aribar looks to Halbardeer* "I think that we'll be sitting on the sidelines until the cannon's fired."
Deloth: "You might want to come along. If we get attacked on the ship, we'll need as much firepower as we can."
Dragoshi: "...Though, I could assist the Arwing pilots as well, if you need any minor assistance in that aspect. Or if any computers need to be hacked into or repaired, I'm also there if needed."
???: "If they board, perhaps, but we don't think they're foolish enough to try to take it over. They'll likely want it destroyed."
Halbardeer: "Perhaps we could taunt the enemies into boarding the ship?"
Julian: "...Why the hell would we do that? Look, enough talk, we gotta get this show on the road. Open the warp."
???: "These enemies are rather intelligent... but it is too late. You must warp now anyway." A sign or two lights up. There's three doorways marked; no, four. One is labeled 'Shield control area', another 'Hangar', another 'Armed Defenses/Computer', and a final one 'Eclipse Cannon Core'... and... another one. 'Eclipse Cannon control room'
Metal Man (GM): Take your pick.
Halbardeer takes a look at the Armed Defenses/Computer room.
Digifanatic sees the AD/C room and gets a bit of relief at that...he'll take that room.
Halbardeer: "Maybe we can get one of the defenses or two that are in good shape up and running!"
Deloth heads to the Shield Control Area.
Digifanatic: "Yeah."
???: "I already said that you are unlikely to get the shields OR defenses up if you split between them."
Julian: *Julian escorts Del to the Shield Control area* "Forget it. Myst said that if we split up, we ain't gonna get nothin' done."
???: "There is simply too much to fix... but that I shall finish my speech with." The hologram phases out.
Halbardeer: "We're not trying to get very many of them up. We're seeing if any of them still work"
Dragoshi: *Assists in the escorting.* "Don't bother."
Aribar follows the others to the Armed Defenses/Computer room.* "Eh... So far the plan has been perfect. Now's the perfect time to mess it up with our typical actions.."
Julian: "Get yo' ass in gear an' head for Shield Control!"
Digifanatic: *sigh* "I think you're right...dang if all of these were in the same room..." *heads back to where everyone else is going.*
Metal Man (GM): The warp to the hub realm appears, the ship beginning to lurch towards it. The shield control people would be on their way down a long hallway to the Shield control. A similar walkway leads to AD/C. Those turning around will take slightly longer.
Deloth runs down the hallway to Shield Control at top speed.
Halbardeer follows after Deloth reluctantly, perhaps he can be of SOME help to him. He can carry replacement parts at least.
Julian: *Julian follows close behind, fists up and ready to pound.*
Dragoshi: *And, Dragoshi has his assault rifle at the ready. Whee.*
Metal Man (GM): The warp is entered; the ship appears in orbit, and above your home planet... though it isn't 'Nintendus', so to speak. The shield people reach there, with Halbardeer and Digi still walking to it, and Aribar, alone, would reach the defenses/computer room.
Digifanatic: .oO(Ari...you should be listening to the guy...)
COMPUTER: "Firing sequence has begun. Part 1 engaged. Steadying orbit and aiming... 10%."
Metal Man (GM): Both the AD/C and Shield rooms consist of various panels and computers... and fuses... both of which look like somebody blew half of them up, as none of their panels are working.
Deloth: "Okay, hero time."
Metal Man (GM): They're just in chunks around the room.
Julian: "Let's get to work."
Aribar: *Snaps out of his daydream and rushes back towards the others.*
Metal Man (GM): Of note, you need to find all the pieces and put them back together, THEN program them. If not more stuff.
Dragoshi: *Just stands guard, making sure no funny business happens to Del.*
Julian: *Logic Puzzle time! Julian checks to see which chunks match up with each hole in the wall.*
Metal Man (GM): You see labels for 'Controls' 'Backup controls' and 'Diagnostics'
Deloth first glances around for something to put the chunks together with.
Metal Man (GM): The pieces look all very similar...
Julian: *Julian looks for a chunk that looks like it fits with the 'Controls' section.*
Digifanatic: *also looks for panels...he goes for Backup Controls as well.*
Metal Man (GM): Helpfully, there is plenty of repair material laying around, left behind by the workers eons ago. It's still good.
Deloth gathers that up first thing.
Halbardeer: "You decide where you want these things and I'll move them for you while you decide on some more."
Metal Man (GM): They pieces are all on the floor and, ostensibly, stuck in the walls occasionally. Digi finds 2 of 10 pieces for the backup controls. Julian destroys a piece of the backup panel.
Halbardeer pulls the ones in the walls out so they can be better identified by people who know what they do.
Julian: "Whoops."
Deloth starts looking for chunks in the walls--way to go, Jules.
Metal Man (GM): Halbardeer puts them neatly in a pile on a floor. In the middle of the floor. Searching this pile is easier than just looking everywhere.
Digifanatic tries to fit the two found panels into the backup panel.
Deloth: "Nice work."
Computer: "Aiming is at 20%--enemy ships have been launched and are approaching the atmosphere."
Deloth starts picking up chunks and trying to match them together.
Dragoshi: *Helps Search around for chunks that would fit with the 'Backup controls' section. How? Lessee...He would look at the pieces Digi acquisitioned so far, and then with that, use those as a baseline example for what they look like, so with that, he would then search through the pile Halbardeer so helpfully made.*
Metal Man (GM): Digi haphazardly sticks the pieces in... they don't fit there, but they aren't broken. Or fixed. Dragoshi finds nothing.
Dragoshi: *Continues his search...This might take a while...>_>;;*
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi finds one piece. That's 3/10 for the Backup, and one broken backup piece.
Computer: "The enemy ships are entering space. Aiming sequence 45%."
Julian: "Hey, let's work on the actual controls first."
Halbardeer decides to keep looking for more parts while the others try and fix them.
Deloth picks up the broken piece and tries using some of those repair materials to fix it.
Metal Man (GM): Halbardeer destroys more parts. You can't tell what they were. Halbardeer just broke two more.
Halbardeer: "That was really stuck in the wall... probably wasn't much use anyway..."
Digifanatic looks into the walls to see if there are any more panels that fit for the primary Controls this time...
Computer: "55%. Enemy ships are about to meet the defense perimeter."
Metal Man (GM): Digi finds... 2 primary control panel pieces. 2/15, that is. Deloth fixes every broken panel piece.
Aribar continues towards the shield room..*
Digifanatic quickly brings them over to the primary control panel.
Dragoshi: *Continues searching for the Backup pieces...*
Metal Man (GM): Aribar reaches the shield room.
Digifanatic: *Let's keep this going*
Metal Man (GM): Deloth also found some more backup panel pieces. 5/10 found. And one of the Control panel pieces.
Deloth: "Halfway there!"
Metal Man (GM): 3/15. Digi: You find one more. 4/15.
Halbardeer shrugs and keeps going.
Computer: "The enemy possesses much stronger ships than expected. The Arwings are having trouble."
Metal Man (GM): Halbardeer finds nothing.
Deloth places the backup pieces in a small stack next to the pile of pieces and glances around the floor for any more backup pieces...
Metal Man (GM): Aribar sees the people frantically trying to repair the shields. They're trying to find all the pieces and repair them. Deloth finds no backup pieces... on the floor.
Dragoshi: "Hey, Ari. Could you help me search for the pieces to the backup panel?"
Metal Man (GM): Digi breaks the one primary panel thing he finds.
Halbardeer: "So none of you are going to the hangers to buy Deloth more time?"
Computer: "Arwing defenses are at 50%. Brutal opposition from the advanced fighters."
Deloth: "Dangit..." *wipes the sweat out of his eyes and glances up near the tops of the walls.*
Computer: "Aiming at 80%."
Dragoshi: *And, with that, he continues searching.*
Metal Man (GM): Deloth finds 3 more panels there, of course!
Aribar: "Yeah... Apologies, totally got off track.." *Rushes over to the pile Dragoshi's at and tries to find some stuff.*
Julian: *Oh my* "Shit...Arwings are having trouble. I gotta bail. Keep searchin' an' stuff." *Julian exits the room and heads for the hangars.*
Metal Man (GM): 8/10 of the backup panels.
Digifanatic: "Crap...sorry, Deloth." *brings the broken panels over to Deloth.*
Metal Man (GM): Julian will be in transit to the hangars for a little bit.
Deloth: "We need two more pieces of the backup controls!"
Metal Man (GM): Aribar finds the remaining Backup panel pieces. And 2 primary ones. 7/15 primary pieces, and 1 broken one to the side.
Deloth snatches the backup pieces out of Ari's hands and starts fixing the Backup panel using the repair kit...
Metal Man (GM): You have enough pieces to repair the backup panel.
Computer: "Aiming complete. Arwings at 25%."
Halbardeer takes the backup panel pieces we've found to Deloth and holds them so he can put them back in place more quickly.
Aribar: "Found some... Things.." *Watches as the parts are snatched from his hands.*
Metal Man (GM): You get it plugged in... it's not fully fixed, but you're on your way. Julian reaches the hangar. There's many vehicles there... an MTA, CAC, Arwing, and a cargo thing.
Deloth: "There! It's not 100% okay, but it'll do for now."
Dragoshi: *Continues his search for pieces...This time, Primary panel stuff!*
Julian: *Julian heads for a trusty MTA. The enemy shall be punched into submission!*
Deloth activates the backup controls if he can...
Computer: "Charging is beginning. 5% complete. Arwings losing effectiveness..."
Metal Man (GM): 8/15 primary panel pieces picked up. Deloth fails to activate the backup controls. They have power, but he hasn't restored the data connections.
Halbardeer: "Dragoshi, maybe you should head to the hanger. we're almost done here and Aribar seems pretty good at finding parts."
Digifanatic: *Data connections... he thinks on how to repair them*
Dragoshi: "I suppose so. Good luck, guys." *Salutes, then zooms over to the Hangar.*
Metal Man (GM): Julian flies out all of a sudden and into the mass of weird, angular fighters, which are so large in number and coordinated the Arwings are getting blown to bits left and right.
Deloth: "Digi, I need your help over here!"
Digifanatic: *heads over to Deloth.*
Metal Man (GM): Need to physically re-connect the computer bits.
Digifanatic: "Okay, let's see what we've got..."
Deloth: "Can you help me patch up these connections? If not, I'll still need you to activate the systems."
Metal Man (GM): Julian sees an incoming group of fighters. They're trying to break through the line!
Halbardeer heads with Aribar, picking up any parts he points to so Aribar can keep looking without having to bring them back.
Digifanatic: "Like I said, I don't repair much..."
Deloth starts repairing the connections. C'mon, c'mon...
Digifanatic: "But I can try..."
Digifanatic tries to help him...
Metal Man (GM): BEEBEEBOO. They don't respond. Stupid lag...
Deloth: "Grrrr..."
Halbardeer: ;_;
Aribar continues looking for some parts...
Metal Man (GM): Digi touches the panel and is electrocuted. He is unable to react for a little bit.
Digifanatic: "Crap crap crap..."
Julian: *Crap. Julian flies over to where the Arwings are concentrated the least and tries to strengthen that portion by knocking some enemy fighters out of the sky!*
Digifanatic: *ZZZT* "Geez!"
Deloth: "...I'll help you right after this!"
Metal Man (GM): 11/15 thanks to Aribar, when it comes to primary panel. Though one primary panel piece is broken.
Deloth tries that repairing action again...
Metal Man (GM): Deloth now has 1/4 of the shield controls (backup) online. They reveal that a major fuse has been blown. It is to his left.
Deloth runs over to it and looks for said fuse.
Digifanatic: "Take the fuse, I'll help finish Ari's part!"
Metal Man (GM): Deloth will need to repair that. Also, the program may need some tweaking. It's glitching. A lot. Julian punches one or two ships, but then gets fired upon. He is still a good distraction, though.
Computer: "Ships are barely being held at bay... 15% charged."
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi reaches the hangar. Digi finds the remaining 3 primary panels. You now have 14 primary panel bits and one broken piece. Deloth cannot seemingly get the spare to fit. Perhaps he needs some muscular help.
Julian: *Julian's cockpit shakes as he's fired upon. Julian grits his teeth and directs his MTA back at the enemy fighters!* "C'mon! You ain't gettin' through me!" *Julian tries to locate a mass of oncoming fighters and break-up and disorient the group so that the remainders can be picked off by the Arwings.*
Deloth tries that again with a bit more force...
Halbardeer heads over to Deloth. "Need any help?"
Digifanatic: "Deloth...we've got all of the primary control panels set...should we shift our attention to that one?"
Metal Man (GM): MTA shields at 75%. Deloth tries again. It jams half way. You need somebody to shove that thing in.
Halbardeer pushes the fuse in.
Deloth: "I've got a fourth of the connections repaired! Someone help me shove this in!"
Metal Man (GM): Julian crashes through a group, doing just as he wants. The enemy ships are temporarily backed off. Halbardeer and Deloth smash the fuse on in, as intended. More systems power up... red lights light up the otherwise dim area.
Digifanatic: "Okay, nice job you two..."
Deloth zooms back to the backup panel and keeps repairing computer connections.
Digifanatic: "Deloth, I've got this part now...repair the primary systems."
Dragoshi: *Decides to take a...MTA, this time. Huh.*
Metal Man (GM): Deloth gets the backup panel up to 50% functionality. Still needs some help with the programming.
Deloth: "Right. Good luck."
Julian: *Julian keeps taking the fight to the enemy, trying to break up and disorient another group with a suicide charge!*
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi takes an MTA. However, the ship front gets worse! A giant ship is coming!
Deloth starts repairing the primary control panel.
Metal Man (GM): Julian suicide charges more ships. His shields are at 40%. But the enemy ships are being distracted.
Dragoshi: *...Wow. His timing is freaking beautiful. He looks at the features of his MTA.*
Metal Man (GM): The enemy mothership, however, is entering range. Deloth puts several pieces of the primary together.
Julian: "Shit...Enemy mothership oncoming." *Julian tries to bring up some Specs on it.*
Metal Man (GM): It's showing there's another busted fuse, to the left, under a floorboard. Julian brings up the specs. It's about 2.5 times the size of the Dauntless, loaded with fighters, and most importantly, shields and a ton of laser cannons.
Halbardeer rips the broken fuse out so Deloth can put the new one in.
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi flies out and joins the ship battle.
Julian: *He looks for a convenient weak point on this mothership.*
Metal Man (GM): Halbardeer does so with the fuses just fine. Julian sees a potential weak point... maybe if you remove the shields, yes. It has an exposed core of sorts...
Deloth starts pushing the new fuse in.
Julian: *He looks for the shield generator.*
Metal Man (GM): Digi has the programming up. It shows that shields are in need of more repair... Deloth repairs the next fuse.
Computer: "25% charged. Shields can now go up to 25% if engaged. 75% needed to block all enemy opposition."
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi is attacked by enemy ships. They utterly fail to hit you. The shield generator on the mothership is underneath the bridge... shielded as well, but apparently their shields don't do well against punches.
Deloth: *shakes the sweat off* "Where do you need me next?"
Dragoshi: *Retaliates by OPENING FIRAR on them with a MTA version of the Rifle Strafe.*
Digifanatic: "Deloth? Commander? What's the status on the primary?"
Metal Man (GM): The diagnostics panel is still busted. Primary is only partially online.
Julian: "I'm goin' under the ship! Drago, cover me!" *Julian jets to the underside of the massive mothership, trying to locate the shield generator.*
Dragoshi: "Understood!"
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi hits some more ships. They're not getting through... except the mother ship, which is approaching.
Digifanatic: "Okay...Deloth, Commander, keep repairing these two...I'll get diagnostics organized."
Deloth: "The shields are at a third of their needed power!"
Julian: *Hah!*
Metal Man (GM): Shield status: The backup controls are nearly perfect. 1/8 Diagnostic panels found, Digi.
Halbardeer starts looking for EVEN MORE panels.
Digifanatic: *Slowly but surely.*
Metal Man (GM): Julian finds the weakness. A small nub under the bridge... a good punch would get it.
Deloth searches through the pile for more panel pieces...
Digifanatic: *Okay, that's 4/8.*
Aribar belatedly tries to search for more pieces...*
Metal Man (GM): Now 2/8 Diagnostic panels... Digi finds another. 3/8.
Julian: *Julian flies over to the nub...SPACE. CANNON. BLOOWWWWWWWWW!*
Metal Man (GM): ... ... Aribar finds the remaining 5 pieces of the diagnostics, all stuck together and functional.
Deloth: "...NICE."
Metal Man (GM): You can just plug that right in and stick in the missing bits.
Aribar: "Eheheh..."
Digifanatic: "Alright...repair that and I'll look at the primary controls."
Digifanatic heads over to the primary control panel and sees if he can program that online.
Deloth slaps that into the Diagnostics slot, along with the bits o' panel.
Computer: "35% charged... enemy mothership threatens..."
Metal Man (GM): Julian dents it. The shield fluctuates. Then the ship fires at Julian.
Halbardeer: "Maybe we should turn the shields on now, even if they aren't strong enough"
Metal Man (GM): PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW Julian's shields and right arm MTA piece are blown away. He is knocked back as well. Diagnostics 1/4 operational. One good attempt to repair it should do the job.
Dragoshi: *Dragoshi continues to blast away at the ships nearby with two normal assault rifle blasts.*
Digifanatic: *Well, that attempt with the computer's as good as last time.*
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi would see that Julian needed help moreso than the other ships.
Julian: "GNAAAAAAAAAH!" *Julian's MTA tumbles away, missing an arm and all shields.* "Dragoshi! Where the hell are you?!"
Metal Man (GM): Digi gets the Primary at 'normal' status now. The enemy ships fire at Dragoshi. They remain Stormtrooper-esque.
Digifanatic: *Checks the shield status.*
Computer: "Shields can now reach 40%... there's still a major fault in the systems... 45% charged."
Metal Man (GM): Deloth puts the panels together. All panels are working... ... ... And they point to one horribly damaged crystal in the middle of the room. You thought that was a decoration!
Julian: *Julian shakes out the cobwebs, rights his MTA, and tries to fly straight into the nub under the mothership! Hope this works.*
Dragoshi: "Dammit..." *Blasts at those ships in retaliation with an assault rifle blast, then goes to assist Julian...Or try.*
Metal Man (GM): It's gonna need more than the repair kits, which are used up. It needs... DUCT TAPE. Dragoshi shoots some ships. Julian damages the shields much more, but they're not done for yet...
Deloth: "...RIGHT WHEN I RAN OUT, DAMMIT!"
Metal Man (GM): ...It reaches Arwing range and begins blowing them away.
Digifanatic gets his 1337 n0t-h4x-cuz-that-would-hurt-progress 5kI11Z going on the diagnostic panel.
Deloth glances around. Duct tape, chewing gum, Krazy Glue, ANYTHING!
Dragoshi: *In any case, Dragoshi goes to assist Julian, switching out the rifle with the DETH BRED.*
Computer: "Shields can now reach 50%... that will not be enough to stop that other ship."
Halbardeer: "Anywhere we could go to get this... duct tape?"
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi crashes into the bridge of the enemy ship.
Aribar hrms... He tries to think of if he could use his magic to repair the crystal or something..*
Metal Man (GM): He bounces off, shields taking 20 more damage... But also damaging the ship.
Julian: *Julian's MTA somehow survives a direct crash into the shield generator...and tries to take it out again with a left-handed Cannon Blow! Why can't Julian be ambidextrous?*
Metal Man (GM): The crystal is magical in nature, almost chaos-like.
Aribar: "I've an idea..."
Metal Man (GM): Julian punches the ship, but the shields on it will hold. Deloth finds nothing except how to fall on his face...
Aribar tries to cast some magic on that crystal then!*
Metal Man (GM): Digi's Diagnostic indicates someone -could- bypass the crystal...
Digifanatic: "Go for it...as long as it doesn't kill us!"
Julian: *@^#(%@#(^%!*
Metal Man (GM): But it might blow up the shield generators after a bit.
Deloth: *trips on his own sweat and flops to the floor.*
Metal Man (GM): Aribar shoots sparks out of his fingers.
Deloth: "Ow..."
Metal Man (GM): Julian desperately smashes the shield, blasting away his other arm... ...But taking out the shield.
Digifanatic: "Hmm...if we bypass this whole crystal bit, we might be okay for enough time...but we risk exploding the generators."
Metal Man (GM): The enemy mother ship responds by launching another fleet of ships.
Digifanatic: "I don't think it's worth it."
Metal Man (GM): The arwings cannot stop them.
Deloth gets up, looking around again. ANY adhesive?!
Julian: *Awesome! Oh crap!*
Metal Man (GM): Deloth finds... .. ...some old gum!
Aribar: "Gah... No... Stupid, stupid Aribar. I'm thinking... That crystal up there seems magical. I -should- be able to repair it!"
Metal Man (GM): It's still sticky.
Dragoshi: *Oh, shit. In any case, Dragoshi starts charging up a Gravity Well...*
Metal Man (GM): They're heading right at Dragoshi!
Halbardeer: "Need me to chew it for you?"
Computer: "55% charged..."
Julian: *And Julian's MTA is armless. ****. Julian quickly tries to find the weak spot on the mothership, akin to the Death Star's exhaust port...*
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi dodges. They continue circling him a lot. Julian finds the engines on the rear! Without those, it'll never get into killing range! But they're armored...
Deloth grabs it, chews it a bit (it's for the WORLD!), then carefully starts repairing the crystal with it...
Digifanatic: "Do you think the crystal can like, telepathically absorb the powers of a Mushroom or Heart Container?"
Dragoshi: "...Wrong move." *And, then, Dragoshi unleashes the Gravity Well on the ships!*
Digifanatic: "I know it sounds really absurd, but..."
Dex: "Unknown. Gerald used very strange technology."
Julian: *Considers the effectiveness of a suicide attack on the mothership's engines*
Halbardeer holds a mushroom up to the crystal to see.
Metal Man (GM): Deloth sticks the crystal together with bubblegum. Dragoshi fails to hit anything with his well attack. The mushroom is absorbed by the crystal.
Computer: "Shields can be turned to full. Engage?"
Deloth: "YES!"
Digifanatic: "Yes."
Halbardeer: "THAT WAS AWESOME! Can I keep it when we're done here?"
Digifanatic: "The crystal? No."
Metal Man (GM): The ships shoot at Dragoshi. Both the mothership and small ships.
Digifanatic: "The mushroom? I'm not sure if it still has any use."
Metal Man (GM): *BLAM BLAM BLAM* Bye bye Dragoshi shields... And a leg is blasted off.
Halbardeer: "I meant the crystal! A mushroom eating crystal is like, the best pet ever!"
Metal Man (GM): The ships are headed straight towards the ARK.
Digifanatic: "No!" *click.*
Deloth: "Activate the shields! Hal, shut up! ACTIVATE THE SHIELDS!"
Computer: "Shields Activ--"
Metal Man (GM): *BZZZTZTBALBALAB.* The shields turn on for a split second.
Digifanatic: "OH, WHAT NOW?!"
Halbardeer: "That doesn't sound good..."
Metal Man (GM): Several ships are sliced in two. Diagnostics indicates... A critical wire must be re-soldiered! You see it hanging loose... under the main control panel.
Deloth: "I have the heat! We need solder!"
Metal Man (GM): Julian figures a suicide attack would work, but might kill him, too. It's not called 'suicide' without a reason.
Digifanatic: "Oh man..." *peers at the diagnostic panel* "We need to take this apart? Guess not..."
Digifanatic looks for some spare metal rods or whatnot for soldering.
Aribar: "Ah... I have spells to heat up metal..."
Metal Man (GM): Deloth sees that there is lots of little pieces everywhere, of metal. Not very good solder, but...
Digifanatic: *Nothing this time.*
Metal Man (GM): Halbardeer finds a single metal rod.
Digifanatic: *He looks it over.*
Deloth: "Toss it over here!"
Metal Man (GM): You have little choice. The ARK is getting shot up now. In desperation, prototype ships based on the one you captured are launched by the Cornerians.
Halbardeer throws it to Deloth.
Metal Man (GM): They distract the ships a bit. *BAM* A room nearby depressurizes and explodes, and is sealed off.
Computer: "65%... taking damage..."
Digifanatic: "Heat! Now!"
Dragoshi: *Tries to quickly fly to the back of the ship, and when he does, he attempts to blast the nigh-unholy hell out of the mothership's engines with the assault rifle...*
Julian: *Which is what heroic sacrifices are all about.* "...What the hell, I've got two more." *Julian pilots his armless MTA out from under the mothership, and makes a full-on bull rush into the engines, trying to take them out with a suicide self-destruct attack! But Julian also tries to eject before it explodes... the MTA does have an escape pod, right?*
Deloth catches it, melts it down using his Fira bracelet, then runs over and starts soldering the wire!
Metal Man (GM): *BAM!* Another room goes out... *BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM.*
Digifanatic: "One more, maybe?" *That was to Del*
Metal Man (GM): The enemy mothership gets the engines blown up by the MTA crashing into them and exploding. Julian's vulnerable eject pod is shot amongst the enemy ships.
Deloth tries that again, carefully...
Metal Man (GM): The enemy mothership is on a collision course, now.
Julian: "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" *BOOM. Eject!*
Deloth: *BOOYAH!*
Digifanatic: "There we go, there we go..."
Metal Man (GM): Deloth re-soldiers the circuit...
Computer: "Shield generators are cooling down from the short-circuit... 75% charged."
Deloth: "YES!"
Digifanatic: "Yes! That was the magic number..."
Metal Man (GM): *BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM* Several more rooms are hit. Lights fluctuate.
Julian: *COMMS* "Take out the ship! This ain't the only life I got!" *Julian quickly tries to set up a warp using the Dex to get back inside the hangar...*
Halbardeer: "Is everything else working?"
Metal Man (GM): Julian is near the ship.
Digifanatic sees if he can put some insurance % on that...
Metal Man (GM): *VOIP* Julian appears in the hangar.
Dragoshi: *...Julian still has more lives, anyway. So, Dragoshi decides to be brave and try to shove the mothership out of the way!* "That was my plan!"
Metal Man (GM): It all comes down to this, sorta. *BAM BAM BAM* Some more rooms are hit. Dragoshi's MTA is crippled while pushing the ship away.
Computer: "Shields up in 3... 2... 1..."
Julian: *Julian flops into the hangar, breathing heavily as his escape pod is presumably blown up* "Too close..."
Metal Man (GM): *BZTZBTBZT RMMMMMMMM* The shields are up, despite lots of sparks. The enemy mothership bounces harmlessly off of it.
Halbardeer: "Are those sparks supposed to be there?"
Deloth collapses against a wall in sheer exhaustion. "We... we did it..."
Metal Man (GM): Despite multiple room damage, the Eclipse cannon has been saved from damage.
Dragoshi: *Stuff's prolly' flashing red and stuff inside the MTA, while Dragoshi's trying to push it away...And, then it bounces off.* "...Yea. This is why I prefer Arwings."
Deloth: "WE DID IT! AHAHAHA!"
Digifanatic: "I don't think so...but we didn't explode."
Computer: "85%... shield is holding."
Deloth grabs Digi and starts jumping up and down in excitement.
Metal Man (GM): The enemy mothership fires violently at the shield.
Digifanatic: "85. That's fine."
Metal Man (GM): It does not get through.
Julian: *Julian gets up, turns around...and watches the mothership bounce off the shields through the hangar door!* "YEAH! YEAH!" *Fist pumps of victory!*
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi is safely inside the shield. The remaining arwings and ships attack the mothership.
Digifanatic: "Whoo!"
Aribar: "Whew..."
Metal Man (GM): The mothership is blown to bits, the shield taking a few more hits before ceasing to take damage.
Digifanatic: "Now if THAT doesn't rush some blood through your system, I dunno what does!"
Metal Man (GM): Dragoshi surveys the damage to his ship. One thruster intact, one arm left. Enough to get back to the hangar.
Deloth: "WE DID IT WE DID IT WE DID IT!"
Metal Man (GM): Nothing else.
Computer: "95%..."
Dragoshi: *Okay, then. Dragoshi would then fly it back to the hangar.*
Halbardeer: "Wanna go try and fix the weapons systems?"
Metal Man (GM): The Eclipse Cannon is now fully charged. More ships, including another mothership, are coming.
Deloth: "This'll do, Hal. Let's just leave it alone."
Deloth leans back against a wall. "Phew... man, talk about grace under fire."
Julian: "Fire! Waste those muthafuckas!" *Julian doesn't realize he can't be heard, being in the hangar. He doesn't mind.*
Computer: "100%..."
Digifanatic: "Deloth, nice repairs. Ari, nice searching. Commander, you look to me like you're already looking good among the rest of us. I had my part in as well...I can only hope Dragoshi and Julian are taking their part..."
Metal Man (GM): A video feed comes in, from the enemy base. You finally see who was running that base... a business man, with a red tie. Vaguely Irish-looking man. He stares at the screen. You see people running away from his base like mad.
Ethelrad: "Hmph. If I knew the one weapon I had been guaranteed never to be used against me was going to be used against me... I would have fled earlier. As CEO of this base of the Innotek Industries Corporation, I, Ethelrad, wonder why you did this. We were making our weapons to stop the likes of Kuja... then... these strange people, named Smash Questers, attacked us without reason. We tried to reason with them, but then our main computer went psychotic." He looks in the background. "That's odd... it appears it left the moment the ARK entered this realm... I do not know what you want... but rest assured, justice will be served."
Metal Man (GM): The transmission is cut short...
Computer: "Eclipse Cannon: Firing."
Deloth: "Good riddance..."
Aribar: "... Could the Void be in this realm?"
Metal Man (GM): The enemy ships divert their course, several of the motherships being blown to bits. The beam hits with deadly accuracy, annihilating Innotek's base.
Halbardeer: "Well, they certainly didn't try and talk us out of killing them until they were sure they couldn't kill us first..."
Metal Man (GM): The bits are thrown about, the enemy ships flee, chased by the wounded remainders of the once giant Cornerian force.
Computer: "Target has been annihilated."
Halbardeer: "I wonder if the Cornerians are going to be a bit mad about that..."
Metal Man (GM): A Cornerian walks in, as if to answer that question.
Cornerian: "No. These people have also been attacking us... Or at least, someone like them. This destruction appears to have ceased their robotic activity in our realm as well."
Deloth raises his hand. "May I pass out in one big adrenaline crash now?"
Cornerian: "We lost hundreds, but... we never imagined we could destroy them." He looks to Deloth. "Your work is done... yes."
Halbardeer: "Yeah, I suppose you're the man of the hour."
Deloth: "Oh, good. Someone collect my pay for me, please." *ker-thump.*
Computer: "Thirty rooms were lost in the battle. They are being repaired by the Cornerians."
Dragoshi: *Walks in, now that he's prolly' made it to the ARK by now.*
Halbardeer: "How's Julian?"
Computer: "Julian appears to be okay..."
Julian: *Julian walks in too, feelin' might proud of himself* "I just blew up a goddamn mothership by myself. Guess."
Halbardeer: "Tired?"
???: *appears* "Hmm... hmm! Indeed, excellent work."
Halbardeer gets REALLY close the the screen to try and get a look at this ???.
Metal Man (GM): You see... generic outline of a main of sorts. It shifts a lot. You can't quite tell.
Julian: "So now what?"
???: "The Innotek base has been destroyed... there are more, though."
Halbardeer: "Is he changing shape as well as shrouded in darkness..."
???: "Additionally, Doctor Proctor appears to have noticed this fight and appears to be up to something. He's been sighted near the destruction. You might want to check it out."
Aribar: "Great..."
???: "The ARK... shall remain in this realm, since with your efforts it is now safer than Mobius'. You may return to your headquarters now." The warp back appears.
Metal Man (GM): Halbardeer would see... ...No, not quite. It's like a weird static thing... interference.
Halbardeer: "So I take it you guys have a good relationship with this mysterious guy? I mean, it seems odd to me but hey, there's a lot of odd stuff around here, like that crystal."
Julian: "Thanks. I"ll take ya up on that..." *Into the warp.*
Dragoshi: "Speaking of Innotek..." *He would show the mysterious man the map of the Innotek Industries HQ he uploaded into his Dex last mission* "This might be of some interest."
???: "Of course they do..." He smiles. "I will be going now." *VOIP* He's gone, you may go to HQ.
Metal Man (GM): He reappears upon hearing that.
???: "Oh. Yes."
Metal Man (GM): He takes the data and vanishes again. That was quick.
Dragoshi: "...You're welcome." >_>;;
Halbardeer: "I mean, do you even have the FAINTEST idea who that guy really is?"
Dragoshi: *Heads back into the warp.*
Aribar: "Not I." *He heads into the warp.*
Halbardeer shrugs and heads through the warp. "This is making my head hurt."
Protoman: *Walks in* "I... can't believe it. You destroyed them in one shot." He watches. "I hope you have that much luck with your other stuff..."
Digifanatic: "Thanks..." *warps out.*
Digifanatic: .oO(Okay...something's strange here...either I had a one-off delusion or there was a one-off Quester in this madness...)
Digifanatic walks back up to his room to put away his two larger 'weapons'--the golf club and keyboard. He walks back to R&R a little bit shaken up after the last mission, but he's good for a little bit. He's actually looking to say hi to the Commander again.
Halbardeer is getting something to eat.
Digifanatic walks around a bit before seeing Hal in the kitchen area. He waves to the new Quester.
Digifanatic: "So, enjoying your work so far?"
Aribar sighs and heads up to his room. He might not have done much this mission, but he's tired..*
Halbardeer: "Hmm? Yeah... It's been alright. Not quite as much direct action as I'd like but strategy is important too."
Digifanatic: "Well, as long as you find something that fits your views, it's all good."
Halbardeer: "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Digifanatic: "I always have. And it's always nice to see people winding up here...now, one quick question. You a volunteer or did you get sucked into something against your will?"
Halbardeer: "I'm a volunteer."
Digifanatic: "Ah, very nice."
Halbardeer: "Are there people who are forced to work here against their wills?"
Digifanatic: "Well, let's just say there are some that weren't planning on doing this. It's not like they were drafted by a military organization, but sometimes, things happen and people suddenly get warped into the action."
Halbardeer: "You guys seem pretty proficient with this warp technology. Can't you just send those people back once the danger's passed?"
Digifanatic: "Two things. One, some of us come from places and planets others have never heard of before, never mind been there... And two, some people just decide, 'Hey, I'm stuck here for now. I might as well make the best of it.' And those that think that way have been contently fighting since."
Halbardeer: "I can certainly approve of the second opinion."
Digifanatic: "Hmm. Remember one thing...a lot of us here go back a long ways with this organization, myself included. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Surely, someone can answer."
Halbardeer: "How long have you been working with a mysterious guy as one of your primary informants?"
Digifanatic: "The 'excellent work' guy?"
Halbardeer: "Yeah. I don't trust him."
Digifanatic: "Not very long. For him, we're just doing a few favors to the Cornerians so we could do a favor for somebody else... So once we get out of this favor chain, we'll be back to doing whatever for Metal Man."
Halbardeer: "What is this organization's goal anyway? It's sort of like mercenaries right, but it seems it's something more than that."
Digifanatic: "Yeah...mercenary, peacekeeping, police force... Even a source of fighting entertainment on off days."
Halbardeer: "At least, you're somewhat selective of who you take missions from."
Digifanatic: "Yeah. Metal would be considered our boss...he tells us what's not right and we do whatever we have to when we can. But fortunately, he's not a dictator-like boss. Just someone who leads and manages the organization."
Halbardeer: "Oh, and what's this thing?" Halbardeer holds up the smash dex
Digifanatic: "Ahhh, that is a Smash Dex."
Halbardeer: "Oh? I'd been using it as a coaster."
Dragoshi: *Pokes in, as per usual* "Smash Dex. Standard Quester equipment."
Halbardeer: "What's it do?"
Digifanatic: "We use those when we need to know more about the current situation--be it who we're fighting, what the setting is like. Also a good 2-way communication device when necessary."
Halbardeer: "Huh... so it's like a portable seer."
Dragoshi: "Can be used for such things as scanning various objects, uploading and downloading stuff, communications, and other things."
Digifanatic: "Portable seer..." *thinks for a few seconds* "Yeah, I see what you mean."
Halbardeer: "Well it makes a good coaster too."*sets down a yellowish drink on top of it"
Digifanatic: "Heh...just don't mess up the electronics. Eh, we've gone underwater without those things breaking. As long as there's nothing really odd in that drink, it should be alright."
Halbardeer: "Ahh, so they're as fragile as actual seers."
Digifanatic: "Well, if that's supposed to be a compliment to durability, then yes." *chuckles.*
Halbardeer: "Where can we spend these anyway?"*Halbardeer holds up a wallet with all the coins he's collected so far in it.*
Digifanatic: "Well, we have items and badges you can spend those on" ."* "Just be warned, some of the badges can get a bit pricey. So if you don't want to put down a loan...I'd say check the tags first. Heck, I'm not sure if they allow loans."
Halbardeer: "I was looking at a price list for badges a while back... All of them are pricey. Some of them are just downright unnaffordable. Unless we usually get more pay than we did the last two missions."
Digifanatic: "Hmmm...it's going to take something incredibly unusual to do that, I think. Usually, we're 10 a job right now."
Halbardeer: "Maybe someone will hire us to rob a treasury."*Halbardeer lets out a hearty laugh.*
Digifanatic: "Heh...no, we usually don't do burglary."
Halbardeer finishes off the drink and stands up. "Well, that was refreshing. I'm going to go have a bath and than head to sleep."
Digifanatic: "Ah...hang on."
Halbardeer: "hmm? Well... I suppose you could join me if you REALLY want, the bath is pretty big after all..."
Digifanatic: "So that we make all future conversations smoother...name's Ian Hoffman. Nickname's 'Digifanatic' or just Digi if you choose. Call me whatever you prefer, as long as it's one of those." *extends a hand.*
Halbardeer extends a gauntlet. "I'll call you Izzy."
Digifanatic: *shake* .oO(He just...no he didn't... He...don't even, don't even...) "Alright. See ya."
Halbardeer shakes his hand and head off.

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