Doom Squad, What?: SABER meets their match in F23.

“I don’t know Jinzo, that might not be the best idea… I’ll admit that your powers of persuasion are pretty formidable, but I mean not even you know how strong they are… so this seems like a bit of a risk.” Roun reasoned.

“Well that may be true, but there’s little risk.  If Cy attacks me, I’ll just duel him, and I can’t be double teamed because the others will be too busy with the pick up.” Jinzo replied causing Roun to raise an eyebrow.

“Somehow, that doesn’t sound as innocent as you made it sound yesterday.”  Roun replied curiously now, but Jinzo just smiled.  “Okay…”  Roun added, deciding simply to drop it.

With this, Jinzo took off, leaving Roun and Ryuu a bit more curious about this pick up.  The island had been becoming exceedingly active, with Brian Bell and Silver Fang chartering flights just days before and now this incoming team of five that were supposed to be picking up Amanda.

In addition to Roun and Ryuu, the members of SABER were also becoming quite suspicious.  Needless to say, Blitz had already searched everyone on the island, and they posed little threat to the team, but for a place harbouring 3 dangerous criminals the island was a bit more populated than one would have expected.  Unfortunately, the team didn’t have the time, nor more importantly the stamina to revert every channeler that wandered onto the island.

Unfortunately, SABER’s suspicions were not enough to keep Cy’s curiosity from getting the best of him.  With news of the team that were supposed to pick up Amanda on their way, Cy was a bit relieved to be getting on with his life, and Jinzo’s offer of a business proposition seemed like a perfect way to do so.  Needless to say, Cy didn’t go into this completely off his guard, but even he had to admit that he was inexplicably inclined to at least hear Jinzo out.  Their meeting took place some distance from both camps, on more even territory to avoid an ambush on both sides, allowing the two to discuss business without fear of a double cross.

Cy was at first a bit sceptical of Jinzo’s offer, as the young Summoner seemed to have big plans of mass producing copies of the Orbital Enhancer that Cy had come into possession of, even speaking of Oyan technology that could power these copies on souls, causing less of a drain on whatever resources would be necessary for their production.  But as Jinzo continued to speak, Cy scepticism gradually began to fade.

While this conversation was taking place, the pick-up team arrived on the island.  As expected, Blitz made his initial pass mere seconds after they had landed, doing a quick scan of the ships to make sure everything checked out before he returned to the base.

SABER had to admit that it was strange that they would send two ships to pick Amanda up, rather than one, but he assumed that the threat of their Kurudo would be more easily neutralised by two light assaults than a single F-25 or Zeta Wing, should it come to that.  Shade laughed lightly to himself at the thought, these military types were always the cautious ones.  The team tracked their movement right up until they arrived outside of the Medium Assault vehicle before exiting and preparing to make the transfer.  Shade noted amidst it all that Ms. Real seemed very surprised by the fact that she was being picked up, which gave him a rather uneasy feeling about the whole thing, but nevertheless, this was the job that he was being paid to do so he didn’t put too much thought into it. 

As SABER made their way outside in the company of Jais and John, they sized up the team, noting four smaller soldiers, two males and two females, accompanied by a single larger male.  However, what was also strange was that these five soldiers seemed not to exhibit any kind of channelling ability.

Back with Jinzo and Cy, the discussion seemed to be progressing nicely, until Jinzo mentioned the money that he would need to get the project started.  Up until this point, Cy was unable to pick up any out of place energy concentrations with his True Sight, and even then, that fact remained so, but still Cy could sense that their was something up with this whole scheme.  At this point, Jinzo noticed that Cy was becoming less cooperative than he had previously been, as it now took far more effort to keep Cy as compliant as he was being previously. 

The entire interaction was thrown off by a strong surge of energy however, drawing the attention of just about all channelers present on the island.  Brian and Silver Fang wasted no time in making their ways towards the location of the commotion, but they would be stopped just metres away from the location of the scuffle, but Roun and Ryuu.

“What the hell is going on here?” Brian now inquired, with Silver Fang sharing the sentiment.

“I’m not entirely sure, but it looks like a show down between SABER and the supposed pick up crew.”  Roun replied, maintaining his distance from the battle.

As Brian took a closer look, he recognised a number of the persons involved in the conflict, their faces being rather familiar on the communication sub network of the R.E.Lod Network (RN).  As it would turn out, the five members of the pick up team were no other than Seig and Paco Stryfe, accompanied by a new comer to the network, Yasmin Star.  The three were in turn led by Tyler Cage, and Deacon DeSaint.  By the time they were able to focus in on the battle, Paco and Shade were already facing off, leaving Seig to deal with Rock, while Tyler’s copy held off Blitz, allowing Yasmin and Deacon to deal with John Blake and Jais respectively.  The original plan for Yasmin to face off against Blitz was hindered by the stealth capabilities of their Venom Suits, as it also prevented her from scanning his form before hand, a task that became nearly impossible now that he was in motion.  Luckily, Tyler needed no such thing, already having a speedster cached for summoning, and one that seemed to easily keep up and at times, exceed Blitz’s speed.

Rock’s lack of offensive capabilities made the battle between him and Seig rather one sided, though Seig still proved unable to actually damage him initially.  This left him more vulnerable to Rock’s counter attacks, which seemed to destabilise his Chaos Theory Barrier, making it almost too easy to damage Loki.  The first punch landed on the Manipulators form knocked the wind out of him, as the shock from being hit through his barrier sunk in, only then allowing him to be smashed into the ground before he used Hermes Wings to clear the range of Rock’s melee attacks.  With his form already reading more than half of its structural integrity lost, he remembered a key piece on information that Paco had received in his conversation with Roun, regarding his scans of Rock’s impervious defense.  Seig continued to dodge the attacks of Rock as he moved closer, now attempting to end the match quickly so he could change his attention to Tyler, the summoner of the copy that actually seemed to have Blitz on the run.  Seig easily evaded the original punch of his opponent, though he struggled to dodge the follow up hook punch with the other hand.  Luckily, this gave him all the time he needed to complete his attack.  Infusing his Reversion Blast with the dimension properties of his Chaos Theory, Seig created a small orb of concentrated energy, thrusting it into the chest of his opponent as Rock’s finisher for his three hit combo sent him skating across the battlefield yet again.  Seig coughed now, as the physical damage from Rock’s attacks actually began to take their toll on his form, causing small droplets of blood to seep from his mouth.  Seig wiped his mouth and growled lightly to himself, noticing that his vision was also beginning to blur, a sign that the end would be near if he didn’t get on his guard.  As he focused his Force on maintaining his body, his vision cleared up, giving just a fraction of a second to notice Rock sailing above him, preparing to descend with a knee-press to end the battle.  But Seig would have none of it, using Chaos theory he attempted to warp, only managing to get a few metres away before the properties of Rock’s defence began to interfere with the technique, flinging him from his warp and sending him skating away, this time with minimal damage.  Once again however, Seig’s form started to lose its cohesion, but his determination was too strong.  With his remaining energy, he began to charge his resengan attack, creating a swirling vortex in his palm, using Kratos to maintain the energy.  Rock smiled as he charged his opponent, running through a hail of miniature reversion blasts as they rained down on him from Seig’s Wraith of Loki attack.  Their infusion with his Chaos theory, much like his original guard break allowed them to do some damage, but the lack of concentration of the attack greatly reduced the power of the attack, only verifying that Loki would need to get a lot closer if he really wanted to end the match up.

Paco’s battle was going slightly less in his favour.  Roun had advised him to stay off the ground, and to do his best to avoid contact with his opponent’s form and energy directly, as it prevented his Obsidian Shadow from being very effective in its passive mode.  This forced Shade onto a more attacking strategy, evening the playing field a bit more.  With Paco’s Cronos burning Shade’s Obsidian Shadow’s energy drain capabilities, the two were almost at a stalemate, and with Paco’s energy multipliers in full swing, his energy output was more or less equal to his opponent, causing the battle to go on for quite some time.

In fact, it would be Seig’s last stand that would allow Paco to get the first hit in on his opponent.  With Seig’s form slowly decaying, he accepted that he wouldn’t leave the battlefield powered up, forcing him to throw everything that he had into defeating his opponent in a single hit.  His Last Stand a technique previously designed with a single channeler in mind was the only option he had left.  Throwing all of his energy into the attack, he slid forward towards his opponent, thrusting his energy forward at light speed to create a Vector Flood before Flash Converting the energy into the same mix of his Reversion guard break that had first made Rock vulnerable.

The resulting energy cascade lit up the entire area, briefly bathing the area in so much light that nothing could be seen.  It was only at this point that Shade’s Obsidian Shadow lost its residual affects, allowing Paco to guard crush him and blast him into the ground with a Cronos Blastt.

On the other side of the island, Jinzo’s persuasion was quickly fading, and within no time he found himself unable to hold Cy there any longer.  Instinctually, Cy went for the one hit reversion, but Jinzo was not completely unprepared for this, jumping back and summoning both Grand Viper and Dead Defiant.  With the jump backwards, he was barely able to dodge the attack, while Dead Defiant grabbed his opponent and Grand Viper cleaved into his shoulder with his sword.  The resulting pain was excruciating, but not enough for Cy to be thrown off his game.  Unfortunately for Jinzo, his summons’ invisibility didn’t count for much against Cy’s True Sight and within seconds, his Demi had burned the two summons to nothing but residual ether, allowing him to turn his full attention to Jinzo.  Needless to say however, this was not in the Summoner’s best interests, as he wasted no time in resummoning backup.

The only thing more terrifying than the amount of energy that Seig had to put into his last ditch attempt to revert Rock, was the fact that after it all, Rock walked out of the still clearing smoke.  Even the tanker had to admit that his form was barely holding itself together at that point, but he still had enough remaining energy to catch Yasmin off Guard, grabbing her from the back and planting her before Tyler’s Vector Cannon finished him off.  Blitz would fall soon after to Tyler’s Carbon Copy of Zed Cross, bringing the Rogues’ reversion count to two.  Even with his extreme evasive abilities, Jais also found that Deacon’s power was quite overwhelming, as he too soon fell, dropping SABER’s squad to two, as Cy was off doing combat elsewhere.

Speaking of Cy, the young Morpher seemed to be back in Jinzo’s web as the Summoner now employed his Voice of Reason in addition to the further persuasive abilities of his Succubus to further boost his Persuasion to a point that even Cy found it hard to resist his suggestions.

John would fall next, as Yasmin used the copied abilities of Loki to crack down on his defenses, wearing down his guard until her chip damage finally took its toll on the half of his total health remaining from his duel with Cy the previous day.

Seeing his imminent defeat, Shade made the most logical decision, expanding a shadow over the battle field before vanishing with the members of his team.  Just seconds later, their Kurudo powered up, signalling to Cy that it was time to leave. 

Accepting now, that in his current position a victory against Jinzo would be quite difficult; Cy conceded defeat, fusing with light and allowing himself to be washed away, vanishing from the area.

Unfortunately, SABER’s escape would not be as smooth.  Deacon’s Griphon impacted the top of the ship hard, sending the vehicle back to the ground as they attempted to take off, before Tyler Mach Dashed up to the outside of the control bay and slammed her palm into the front of the ship, overdriving her form with her Omega Drive and running her Metic Sculptor through the ship, disabling the flight controls, grounding the trio of Mercenaries.

Not willing to risk another escape attempt, Deacon’s Disca quickly neutralised young Shade, allowing Tyler to take them into Rogue custody, while Deacon transported the others back to France for questioning.

Outcome: Seig, Paco and Yasmin are escorting Amanda back to France.  The SABER Kurudo was confiscated by the Rogue special forces.  All three members have been offered a probationary period of membership to both the Rogue Special Forces and Knights of The Council of Xelots, but they have refused and opted for the respective tests for full membership.

Cy: +33 Exp (-134HP)

Awareness: 12 Exp

Awareness: 8 Exp

Accuracy: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 8 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Precision: 6 Exp

John: +24 Exp (reverted)

Awareness: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 4 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Paco: +56 Exp (-220HP)

Awareness: 4 Exp

Awareness: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 10 Exp

Accuracy: 12 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Yasmin: +46 Exp (-295HP)

Awareness: 12 Exp

Awareness: 8 Exp

Accuracy: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 28 Exp

Precision: 8 Exp

Precision: 16 Exp

Deacon: +100 Exp + 10 Exp (perfect bonus)

Awareness: 8 Exp

Awareness: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 20 Exp

Accuracy: 10 Exp

Precision: 12 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Back To The Drawing Board: Rayne, Uncovered Ruins quest

Sitting at home doing nothing was becoming rather tiresome to Rayne, but at the same time, unlike his brothers, he wasn’t a big fan of doing things that did not assist him in furthering his goals.  Given this, his delight when he noticed a quest specifically related to Zeta was quite understandable. 

After reading the specifics of the quest, Rayne made a quite predictable realisation: he would be more useful to these scientists if he had the ability to detect Zeta itself.  Rayne wasted no time in making this known to his employers, unfortunately, they also wasted no time in making it quite clear that they were rather disinclined to provide any and every channeler attempting the quest with expensive equipment, especially given the track records, especially of young channelers, to destroy valuable equipment.

Rayne could not help but be annoyed by their lack of a will to assist him, but even so he pressed on, offering to forego half of paycheck if they could provide a permanent means of erasing his problem; that being his inability to sense and channel zeta.  This brought loud and excessive laughter to the group of scientists, who didn’t even grace his offer with an actual reply.  This caused Rayne to froth internally as he proceeded to the site of the Ruins, but nevertheless he went through with his plans.

Rayne’s inability to sense Zeta directly didn’t play a very large role in things, as the facility remained in the ethereal dimensions, allowing him to track all important changes in the environment with his True Sight and regular six senses. 

As he moved towards the area, he engaged his stealth capabilities using Chaos Theory, before sending his Nature Fiends into the facility to investigate.  As they moved inwards, Rayne could sense that he was tripping a number of security systems, but he couldn’t actually sense the trips.  This gave him a rather uneasy feeling, especially given the fact that this seemed to be a primarily zeta based structure, this meant that they could be a number of things which could be going unnoticed to Rayne.  This caused the Itami to growl lightly to himself before he reassured himself that everything that could see him had to interact with ether in some way, and as such, he should at least have an idea of it’s presence whether or not he could do anything with the knowledge.  Using this premise, this would mean that the trips should also be detectable, but Rayne simple could not seem to sense them.  Being preoccupied with this, Rayne didn’t even notice his first Fiend vanish, but the severing of the connection jumped him back to reality, allowing him to sense, rather graphically, his other fiends being taken out by some unforeseen force.  Fortunately, given the energy output of this weapon, Rayne could actually sense, to some extent, the effects it had on the ether around him.  This energy was indeed Zeta, or at least zeta-like, as it created the same effect in the ether stream that I-type zeta did, which only brought Rayne to question exactly what was going on.

Further attempts to pin-point this defense system also failed, forcing Rayne back to the drawing board, he would need to retreat and rethink his plan.

Outcome: Quest remains incomplete

Rayne: 26 Exp

Awareness: 8 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

A Frigid Welcome: Hyaku and Dark, Ruins of Gehena quest

The inhospitability of the Yukon was already beginning to take it’s toll on Davius and Hyaku, who both quickly realised the need to upgrade their Environmental Regulators if they planned to spend a great deal of time in the area.  As the cold began to take it’s toll, the two channelers were forced to power up prematurely, noticing very quickly that their Staminas were dwindling faster than usual as well.

“We should take care of this as quickly as possibly, there’s no telling how long our forms will be able to function under these conditions.”  Hyaku warned Davius as the two prepared to initiate their plan.

Davius nodded as he attempted to Glyph Craft a simple communicator, a task that proved more difficult than one would imagine.  This in itself took some time, on his part, and similarly on the part of Hyaku as he attempted to do the same copying his Comm. Unit with the combination of his Compiler and Code Vision ability.

After quite a bit of trying, the two finally got the devices to work, allowing them to synchronise them and encrypt the information being transferred.

With this done, Davius could then turn his attention to his Nature Fiends.  As he summoned the creatures and set them lose on the facility, he realised that it was becoming harder and harder to keep a link between himself and the bugs, making his remote scanning of the facility even more difficult.  This was only further compounded by their inability to scan the facility’s interior.  Hyaku raised an eyebrow at this.  He knew well the deviced that person’s employed to protect their privacy, but in an abandoned facility, especially one that should have been inactive for years, even if those devices were present, they should have been long since deactivated.

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Hyaku cautioned his accomplice, who nodded simply in reply.

“My bugs aren’t having much luck either.  Tis strange… seems one may have tripped a security system… ‘cept it was never detected…” Davius explained, only further confirming that something was definitely up with this quest.

The nail in the coffin however came when Davius lost contact with his bugs.  Judging by the energy drain, he could sense that they were still active, but with the cold offsetting his ability to concentrate, he couldn’t seem to maintain the link with his fiends… or was it just more than the cold.

“I think we should call this quits and come back with a new plan…”  Hyaku suggested, but Davius shook his head, unsummoning his Fiends.

“Apart from buying new Environmental Regulators, there isn’t alot we can do to make this any easier… we might as well go on.”  Davius reasoned, causing Hyaku to shrug.

“Very well, but if one of us is going to die, it’ll be you… not me.”  Hyaku replied coldly, causing Davius to laugh lightly.

“Safe…”

Davius did manage to get the layout of the rooms and passage ways near the entrance of the facility, so the two moved in with caution.  Due to their preparations, and the energy draining effects of the cold, their respective Staminas were nearing half, which didn’t bode will with the two channelers who had only been there for probably less than ten minutes.

From what they could detect on the inside, they could say with almost certainty that their was no actual living personnel present in the facility, this all but guaranteed that they wouldn’t be dealing with any channelers, making their most dangerous threats to be automated defences and unmanned suits.  Unfortunately, as they moved further into the facility, the temperature of the environment and the energy drain on their forms began to rise.

“That’s it, as of now, we are risking reversion and I can’t afford to be slowed by this.  We will regroup and make another attempt later.” Hyaku commanded, turning to the exit, causing Davius to scoff loudly before also abandoning.

Luckily for the two, thanks to Hyaku’s judgement they had made a good call.  Just seconds after they left the facility, they found themselves depleted of stamina and unable to power up.

Outcome: Quest remains incomplete

Dark: 29 Exp (soft reverted for 2 days)

Awareness: 8 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 6 Exp

Shedding Some Light: Rueben, Master of Fist quest

After his stalemate with Sun Lee, Tener’s mood had took a turn for the worse, causing Rueben to be quite uneasy around the already unstable channeler.  As they travelled through China to seek out another Martial arts champion, Rueben turned to Tener.

“Dude, I’m wondering… you don’t really seem much like the law enforcement type, why are you so intent on being a Rogue.”  Rueben inquired, causing Tener’s glance to snap to him before he answer.

“Law enforcement? Hah, your naivety is almost refreshing.  The Rogues are no different from any other faction, they are the personal army of an egotistical Perfect.  However, unlike the other factions, Kyasho is concerned only with the strongest of channelers, he does not accept rift-raft.  My power is unquestionable, he should be begging me to join his faction… but instead he recruits a little girl with the ability to copy greatness.”  Rueben raised an eyebrow.

“She used your own form to beat you?”

“How else could she defeat me, my power is unmatched… only I could defeat myself.”  An almost unnoticeable smirk broke across his face.

“So that’s why you’re so interested in the Rogues, because being accepted there would what?  Prove that you’re the strongest?”  Rueben laughed loudly.  “I don’t get it then, so how does owning random noobs back home help?”

“If Kyasho denies my power then I will flaunt it in his face until he recognises my abilities!” Tener replied, getting somewhat excitable.

“And if he doesn’t?” Rueben inquired, causing Tener to pause, for a second making Rueben think that he had gotten through to him.

“My power cannot be ignored, he will recognise my ability!”  Rueben just nodded, clearly Tener was no longer being rational, so convincing him of anything would be impossible.

It wouldn’t be long before the two arrived at the dojo of the past world Martial Arts Champion, Tseng Xiao.  Unfortunately, word of Tener had spread, and the dojo would not even entertain the two, leaving Rueben fresh out of ideas.  If things continued to go the way they were going, it wouldn’t be long before he was Tener’s next victim… he would have to find a way to solve this puzzle once and for all.  Even if he managed to revert Tener, given his mentality, he would return, and the quest would never be completed… somehow he would need to convince that his random attacks were not the way to get what he wants.

Outcome: Rueben is a step closer to figuring Tener out.

Going About This, All Wrong: Jubei, Guardian of The Shrine

The extent of information that Jubei collected was extensive, though little of it seemed to be useful.  None of the companies that he researched seemed likely to have anything to do with the area, and his historical check would only send him on a wild goose chase it seemed.  The structures were definitely Oya, as they seemed to be primarily magi-tech, however that was about all he could determine from that.  From what little Jubei knew about Oya, the complimentary location to Japan in Oya was Itam, but little was known about their architectural styles, as the only Itam residents to have made it to earth have made it seem to have either slipped under the radar and avoided detection or, even more unbelievable, Shin was the only Itami to have made it to earth.  Eitherway however, the information on Itam was practically non-existent.  Failing in gathering information remotely, Jubei decided that it would be best to simply move into the area, where he would be able to get a better view of things.

With the viruses moved from the area, there was slightly less that Jubei had to worry about, but this didn’t make him any less cautious.  Boosting his speed with his Hora Houkou, Jubei made his was through the forested reserve as quickly as he could, stopping only to acquired readouts on the structures.  Unfortunately, they would indeed be long stops.  Being a magic user, Jubei could sense that their was something bizarre in the way that magic flowing into and out of these device behaved, but he couldn’t quite put his hand on it.  His research would be cut short however as a kunai flew his way.  With his boosted reaction time and speed, he was barely able to dodge the attack, allowing the kunai to hit the ground and dissipate into the ether.  Jubei activated his scanners again, searching for his target, but he couldn’t seem to locate them amoung all of the trees.  Jubei raised an eyebrow, they must be employing some form of stealth, he thought to himself, only to feel the impact of a kunai in his back.  For such a small weapon, it did quite a bit of damage, as Jubei rocked forward from the impact before turning to search for his enemy again.  Once again being unable to find his enemy, Jubei began to retreat, abandoning his research.  He would be hit by another two kunai before he was out of the reserve, where it seemed that his pursuer gave up the chase.

Jubei then returned to his research to try, though futily, to put the pieces together.

Outcome: Quest remains incomplete

Jubei: 18 Exp (-285 HP)

Awareness: 5 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Wrong Approach: Meric and Zhie, Silent Protestor quest

Zhie and Meric made their way to the city of Amsterdam next, where they would collect information with regards to the business of Misha Teragi, in an attempt to aid them in convincing the channeler to move her business.

The channelers were surprised to learn that Ms. Teragi was a prominent fashion designer, running one of the leading fashion houses in designing fashionable and at the same time practical gear for the more active channelers.  Meric laughed lightly as he checked the tag of his suit, before continuing his research.   As they continued to investigate similar businesses, they realised that Amsterdam tended to house a number of prominent fashion houses, most of which had already relocated to the commercial area designated in the restructuring program.  However, Amanda’s business seemed to be the only company that catered specifically to the growing populous of active player class channelers.  In fact, the two channelers also noted that the designer had a hand in the cosmetic design of a number of things which were used by the everyday player, from standard issue clothing to their expansion suits.  Unlike her more common competitor brands, Misha had a number of exclusive contracts with influential channelers as well, having designed the field and formal uniforms for both the Xelot and Demai army, while working closely with weapon’s companies like Elixer Inc. and other companies to engineer the combat armours for a number of the other factions.  Given this, it wasn’t hard to see why Misha had no intention of moving.  In fact, barring the avoidance of trouble with the government, their seemed to be no particular advantages or disadvantages to the move from her current location, causing Meric and Zhie to really begin to wonder what the point of the whole thing really was.  Having collected the information, and having made no progress on the phone, the channelers made their move to Teragi Designs to see if they could, for one last time, convince the channeler to move. 

Misha scoffed loudly as she saw the two men making their way into the facility, activating the security systems to ensure that the channelers didn’t go about trying any funny business.

“Good afternoon Ms. Teragi, would it be possible for us to have a minute of your time?”  Meric opened, drawing an exasperated sigh from the large business woman.

“Are you another one sent to try to move me?  Well if that’s why you’re here, then I have nothing to say to you.  I will not move, and that is final.”  She stated firmly, leaving Meric and Zhie at a loss.  Their day just wasn’t going as they had originally planned.

As they were about to resort to their final solution however, a large channeler entered the facility, walking straight past the two men before proceeding towards Misha.

“Good afternoon Ms. Teragi.  My name is Enrique Bayman, and I have come to have a word with you on behalf of the Mercenary Army.  Will you come with me?”

Outcome: Quest paused

Meric: 12 Exp

Awareness: 4 Exp

Awareness: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 0 Exp

Precision: 0 Exp

Easy 15k: Jubei, Virology 101

As Jubei made his way towards the quarantined area, the security services made a quick glance down at his hands, giving him a strange look as he walked past them with cages, containing rats with toys glued permenantly to their backs, causing the guard to raise their eyebrows.

“He must be the weirdo Toshio say he ran into yesterday.”  One guard communicated to the other, drawing a disdainful nod as Jubei proceeded into the facility.

With his preparations completed and being fully suited up, the channeler was released into the quarantined area, allowing him to release the poor rats which he had held captive and scaring them towards the mound created by the viruses.  As the toys powered up, Jubei noticed that activity of the virus mounds peaked, with the viruses flowing from the mound like a wave, engulfing the rats and roaches.  Their immune systems meant nothing as they were quickly taken over, driven into the same sporadic madness that was exhibited in humans while the zeta based toys malfunctioned, being warped and skewed viciously.  Some of the toys self-destructed as a result of their warping, others simply continued to malfunction while all the rats were plunged into madness.  Jubei noticed that the greater concentration of viruses were located around those that possessed the zeta based toys, though that did not stop them from attacking the others at all.  Within seconds, his own suit was being overrun by the viruses, that were now trying to break through onto his form.  Having not attacked them, and given the way that they swarmed the pests, Jubei could be almost sure that their actions were offensive rather than defensive.  Jubei stayed the time limit, leaving just seconds before time was up, being sterilised before being released back into the real world with the data.  He quickly copied the data before returning it to the scientists, waiting patiently to see if he had gotten what they had wanted.

“Hm… this is pretty comprehensive…” One of the scientists stated, looking over the results of Jubei’s tests.  “But we’ll have to send you back in one more time, makes no sense waiting a day to have you run a test that will take 3 seconds.  I would have preferred if you had come up with this yourself, but I guess that’s why we’re the scientists and you’re the muscle.”  He reasoned, trying albeit without much success, to not sound offensively condescending.  “We will need to you to back in and attempt to attack the mound, so we can guage their attack and defensive capabilities when compared to the average channeler.”  He requested, providing Jubei with another suit.

So requested, so done; as Jubei returned with the requested data.  Jubei had noticed from the advanced scanners, that the creatures had no real method of defense or attack, all they would do was replicate, much like a real virus.  However, direct ethereal attacks did act somewhat like fuel.  Though it managed to kill quite a number of the creatures, some where able to replicate using this energy… however, Jubei was unable to determine exactly what determined whether they would be destroyed or replicate.  Even with several different types of attacks, the results still seemed quite random.  Jubei sighed, these creatures were quite anomalous.  Even so, he wouldn’t be too bothered, he had completed the simple quest and mad it out unscaved, it was an easy 15k in his pocket.

Outcome: Quest passed

Jubei: 18 Exp + 15000$

Awareness: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 2 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

A Productive Day: Cloud, Gabe and Xian continue Mysterious Benefactors Quest

Cloud arrived at the port early the next morning, making his way to the non-restricted area which was most frequented by the workers, running a temporal scan in an attempt to see if he could overhear any more revealing conversations with regards to the package.  Unfortunately, much like Gabe before him, he received no real data that have him leads towards finding out who the package was from or even what was inside of it.  What he did learn was that the average porter wasn’t even entitled to information regarding what was inside of confidential packages, information that was only know by those would scanned it to ensure that contraband or restricted material or devices were coming through, otherwise, these things were regarded with the strictest of secrecy.  In addition, the package was sent “To Whom It May Concern”, not an uncommon practice, especially in the scientific arena, and though this did go against protocol, it was easily over-looked for a fee as it caused no real problem once the items were delivered to the correct location.  What Cloud did manage to find that was of use was that the package arrived some time after the completion of the Ruins of Tesera quest, suggesting that his theory may have been correct.  As the workers began to arrive, Cloud took up more sociable behaviour, attempting to blend in, a task that was quite hard for the large oyan who hulked over the average citizen, making his attempts at casual conversation quite suspicious, and to some even somewhat creepy.  Gabriel was having more luck in this arena, doing his best to persuade any workers that assisting him would be in their best interests.  Though met by far less resistance however, he learned, much like Cloud, that the average worker, most of whom were porters, genuinely didn’t know much about the package, hence their intrigue.  Gabriel sighed loudly.

“Useless…”  He mumbled to himself, as he attempted, more covertly, so make his way into the storage room, where he could possibly have a chat with the checkers.

As Gabriel did this, Cloud made his way over to Xian’s location, where the Summoner had completed his first scans, and was now pondering one of his pawns with great bepuzzlement.  As Cloud approached, he gained Xian’s attention, causing him to focus on the large Psycher rather than his pawn now.

“Do we have a problem, Xian?”  Cloud inquired in a serious tone, drawing a sigh from Xian.

“The population of my pawns seems to be as a constant… and very low constant…”  He thought out loud, wondering why this would be so.  Cloud on the other hand had no idea what he was talking about, reiterating the question, so that Xian would understand that he meant with regard to the quest.  “Sorry, there is no problem… I just haven’t been getting much information on the area.  I can sense that the ground upon which we are standing has a different constitution and ether potential that regular earth, but past that I cannot read much…. And I have been avoiding taking any particularly hasty, hostile actions, as to avoid possible automated defenses.”  He explained to Cloud.

Gabe arrived, quite happily with a small sheet of paper, a relatively outdated way of storing information, but still useful in stealthy operations.

“What do you have their Gabe?”  Xian inquired, completing his boosted scans of the area.

“Oh nothing much, just the description of the specialised zeta generator that was transported weeks ago, and delivered to this very spot before mysteriously vanishing.  What did you two find?”  Gabriel smirked.

“Well initially, I believed that this area may have been exhibiting residual energy due to some form of forced teleportation of the package.  However, I’ve come to realise that it is actually a zeta reinforced structure, most likely a passage way to somewhere else.  However, it is heavily shielded against both scanning and damage, so we will have to devise a way in which to get in before we can proceed.

Outcome: Progress Is Slowly Being Made.

Cloud: 20 Exp

Awareness: 8 Exp

Awareness: 8 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Precision: 0 Exp

Xian: 38 Exp

Awareness: 10 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 6 Exp

Overkill?: Crydus, Davius, Jinzo, Seig and Paco do National Security Quest.

Having substantially weakened the defences of the bunker in their attack the previous day, Seig and Paco had managed to assemble a pretty impressive team in their bids to finish the quest off. Fortunately, they had managed to take out 2 of the 3 frames stationed in the facility on day one, leaving just the automated defenses and the third frame user to be dealt with.

The initial plan was simple, with Crydus moving into the bunker via the air ducts using his Ventuso’s Rune, while Davius’ Nature Fiends made their way through the facility. As they moved inwards, both Crydus and Davius detected the single frame pilot, with Davius’ fiends quickly closing in on them. However, the custom frame which the young woman piloted was a modified version of the standard Sentinel Frame Pack, who’s high scanning capabilities allowed her to detect even the most negligible defenses created by Davius’ fiends. However, her stealth capabilities were slow in engaging, allowing her to suffer a single bite from the fiends before she vanished off of everyone’s scanners.

Davius cursed under his breath as he had his fiends search the rest of the facility, finding little automated defenses, which Crydus had managed to make short work of with his Terra thrusts, allowing them to effectively neutralise the facility itself, leaving just the single sniper who posed a problem. A long range, fully charged shot pierced the external unit, consisting of Seig, Paco and Jinzo, the single round connecting right between the eyes of Seig and reverting him on the spot, passing without interestion through his defenses as they did so.

“What the hell!?” Paco exclaimed, knowing that he would be the next to be targeted, and quickly drawing energy into his form, remembering the technique that he and his brother had planned to do together.

As he sensed the incoming round, he released a powerful wave of Kratos energy, combined with the effects of his Chaos Theory, creating a ripple of warped reality that expanded outwards. Davius cursed as he barely managed to clear the blast radius of the techniques, losing his Nature Fiends to the attack, while Crydus made a mad dash to exit the facility, still being albeit slightly in the expanding wave. The attack did manage to deflect some of the power of the incoming charged shot, leaving Paco alive after it impacted his form, but more importantly, it temporarily glitched the stealth engines of the modified sniper frame. Davius wasted no time blasting the frame to the ground with his Benediction, tearing off a considerable chuck of the lightly armoured frame before the sniper crashed into the ground and was mauled by Jinzo’s summons.

Once this was done, Jinzo moved into the bunker to interrogate the unconscious guards while Crydus and Paco did their best to gather information from the bunker’s computers.

Outcome: Quest Complete - The team has found information that would lead them to believe that Lt. Com. Teren may have had interest in acquiring Ms. Real's research...

Crydus: 29 Exp + 55000$

Awareness: 4 Exp

Awareness: 8 Exp

Accuracy: 6 Exp

Accuracy: 4 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Jinzo: 24 Exp + 55000$

Awareness: 4 Exp

Awareness: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 4 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Seig: 20 Exp (reverted) + 55000$

Awareness: 2 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Of Flames of Dragons: Leonardo attempts Sun Lee Bounty and is ambushed by Juggerknot

One would find it amusing to know that almost the exact same thoughts were running through the minds of Derick and Leonardo, despite their very different reasons for being in China.  Leonardo, who had already made the agreement with Amy, the younger sister of the infamous Sun Lee, was there for the completion of a bounty, while Derick was there for one reason and one reason only.

“Learn…”  He said as he took off, initiating his slip stream skill to gain added speed as he moved towards his opponent.

His eyes would open however as Leonardo took off towards his target, with his form engulfed in his Soul Call energy, making it quite difficult to catch him.  Even with his nos-like­ fire expansions, Juggerknot still found himself unable to catch the young manipulator, who only seemed to be getting faster, and what was scary was that his acceleration was at a higher rate than that of the Juggerknot.

Both spikes drew the attention of Sun Lee, who had been practising his martial arts forms, causing the channeler to power up, wondering exactly what these two maniacs were up to.  His boosted senses allowed him the ability to distinguish Leonardo’s form from the flames which engulfed him, but didn’t prove to be too much help in predicting what would happen next.  As Sun Lee braced himself for the attack, Leonardo vanished, a quite standard tactic, and one that Sun Lee easily distinguished as he dodged the subsequent attack.  As Leonardo stopped, the Juggerknot was able to close the distance between them, causing the world martial arts champion to evade again, this time clearing the area to avoid the Juggerknot’s attack.  Unfortunately, this attack would not happen as Leonardo exploded the area with the powerful energy gained from his Soul Rush technique, the one that he had used to close the distance.  Hundreds of s.p. of energy flowed through the area, burning the kinetic energy of the structures near by, causing a wave of frost to expand as his energy took over the area.  Luckily, the energy dampener in the area contained the attack to the recreational facility, as all of its inhabitants made a run for it, only a few being caught in the expanding wave and being frozen in place.  In addition to these people, Juggerknot and Sun Lee found themselves unable to move as well.  Not wanting to get himself into too much trouble at this rate, Leonardo cancelled the effects of his energy on those innocent by standers in the area, who were still in his area of influence, allowing them to flee before he turned his mind back to battle.  Had it not been for the Juggerknot’s interferrance, Sun Lee would have been Leonardo’s main target, but the young channeler wasted no time in summoning another Soul Rush, dashing towards the Juggerknot and smacking into him, releasing the rest of the energy.  The attack sent the still frozen Juggerknot skating outside of the park, where the effects of Leonardo’s dehabilitating technique were quickly dampened, as well as his ability to power up, leaving somewhat dazed as he attempted to catch himself.

By this time however, Sun Lee’s Dragon Explosion had been fully charged, allowing him to negate the effects of Leonardo’s energy and prepare for his counter strike.  Leonardo found himself barely being able to dodge Sun Lee’s return attack, thanks to his Mind Control, as Donpha quickly compiled data on his fighting style, feeding the info back into Leonardo’s Mind Control, allowing him to replicate the martial art’s movements.  Leonardo’s high speed made this battle somewhat easier as well, as his Wind Expansions give him that added boost, allowing him to keep up.  Sun smiled.

“Impressive.”  Sun commented now, drawing a proud smile from young Leonardo.

“You’re really impressed?”  Leonardo inquired.  “I was hoping you would be, I wanted your help in ironing out some bugs from my form.” He continued, dashing back.  Sun just shrugged.

“I could be persuaded to do that, but I’m not yet… show me what you got.” Sun Lee prompted.

Leonardo nodded, summoning Syndrone and launching off two vortex rings at his opponent, who easily dodged, allowing Leonardo to teleport in with a palm strike.  Sun easily dodged the attack and spun to counter with a backfist, before both channelers noticed an energy spike, causing them both to clear the area.  As Juggerknot returned to the battle, he used his Bending to desolidify the earth beneath them somewhat, in an attempt to slow them.  Unfortunately for him, Leonardo easily teleported out, while Dragon’s speed made it seem as if the attack was ineffective.  Leonardo wasted no time in detonating the volatile gas left behind by his teleport with Soul Call as Juggerknot moved closer to the area.  Unfortunately for the young Prodigy, Juggerknot took to the air at this time, Hulk jumping towards Leonardo.  As the Juggerknot came close to the ground, he felt his momentum redirected, causing him to land some distance away from Leonardo before he heard an unfamiliar voice.

“You’re interrupting a very interesting duel my friend.  Your brutish tactics add neither length nor breath to this volume of skill exhibited in this demonstration.  It would be appreciated if you would leave.”  Sun requested, as he moved through a series of Tai Chi stances before returning to his usual dragon stance, this time facing the Juggerknot.

“Juggerknot bitch!” Juggerknot exclaimed, materialising a tank and throwing it at his opponent who easily punched through it, materialising in front of him to deliver two swift punches to the stomach before releasing a back-fist to the face that rocked his hulking opponent backwards.  Leonardo sighed, this would have been the perfect oppourtunity for a sneak attack on Sun Lee, but if he had any intensions of gaining the channeler’s respect and training, then he couldn’t piss him off now.

Leonardo watched as Juggerknot used his Bending to generate a powerful gust of wind, knocking Sun Lee back to give him to time to think, desperately needed time as between Leonardo’s upgraded Soul Call and Sun Lee’s piecing attacks he found his form quite near to reversion.   Juggerknot, now enraged, powered up his Making Me Angry technique but he wouldn’t have the time to be effective as Sun Lee’s Dragon Explosion, took him out of the equation, allowing him and young Leonardo to return to their battle.

Sun Lee took the liberty of attacking this time, moving in with a punch before clearing the area with a sweeping round house, trailed by his personal Draconic energy.  Even with his AI units and Cyber Brain working in tandem, Leonardo couldn’t manage to dodge the attack, which Sun Lee easily followed up by a 180 hook kick before he could accumulate the energy for his teleport and explode the area with energy, knocking Sun Lee backwards. 

Sun Lee’s scales, cut the power of the attack considerably, but the Soul Call now running through his form was going to pose a bit of a problem if he didn’t deal with it quickly.  Unfortunately, Leonardo would be giving him no time. A butterfly kick managed to catch him offguard, but the reverse sweep that Leonardo followed up with was countered with a rolling axe kick, which caught Leonardo squarely in the head before Sun Lee’s Dragon Explosion ended the battle for the young channeler.

Outcome: Sun Lee remains undefeated.  Sun Lee has agreed to training with Leonardo.

Leonardo: 52 Exp (reverted)

Awareness: 10 Exp

Awareness: 4 Exp

Accuracy: 6 Exp

Accuracy: 6 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Sniper!: Seig and Paco, National Security quest

Both Stryfe brothers made their preparations before they made their way to the abandoned bunker in the French countryside.  Seig, who had no intention of being surprised by their upcoming quest decided to do a bit of research on their target and his associates, while Paco spent more of his time attempting to link with the security system set up at Amanda Real’s cottage in a feeble attempting to acquire the schematics for the system.

Seig’s information diving did prove somewhat useful however however.  Though he didn’t have any access to military files, making it near impossible to get any real information on the Lieutenant Commander, his checks did reveal an article in the press that noted 3 members of Lt. Com. Teren’s original unit who had also gone MIA recently.  This information seemed to slip under the rug since the 4 soldiers have no served in the same unit since their induction into the army, and their level of contact has been unsubstantial.  Seig did not over look this however, alerting Paco to this fact as the two made their way towards the bunker.  Paco noted this, being somewhat surprised by his brother’s helpfulness, as he reformulated the plan somewhat.

As the two approached the facility, Loki powered up his Odin’s Eyes, switching it to mode 2 and releasing a number of remote scanning bits, attempting to get a feel for the area and in hopes of achieving some kind of precognitive feel for the facility.  While he did this, Paco powered up his Ronin sight, attempting to scan the bunker on a myriad of spectrums before sending his copy images in to get a closer look.  Like most military bunkers, this facility was impervious to all forms of low level active scanning, making the Stryfe’s efforts at remote scanning fruitless.  Luckily, Paco’s copy images would have a bit more luck, checking out the three possible entrances before proceeding inwards.  Paco now turned to Seig.

“So, do you want the good news first, or the bad news?”  Paco inquired to Seig, who just sighed.

“What’s the good news?”

“Good news is, there are no automated defenses.” Paco started, not bothering for Seig to ask the next obvious question.  “Bad news is, all three of my clones just got taken out, and none of them saw what hit them.”  Paco continued, engaging his defensive armaments and making his way to the facility.  Seig followed, wrapped in his Chaos Theory shield.  The second the two breached the facility, the dimensional disturbance tripped a series of alarms, drawing powerful laser fire their way.  Luckily, their Chaos Theories made the attacks useless, while Paco’s Push Call redirected the attacks, knocking back one of their attackers.  As Seig partially declocked, retracting the Chaos Theory bubble to a disc-like shield in front of him, he noted the face of the man who now seemed downed, with a hole burned through his armour.  Seig wasted no time in releasing a Kratos modified blast at the down meta-human, quickly taking him out of the fight before he and Paco turned their attentions towards any possible incoming targets. 

It wouldn’t take long for the commotion to attract the other’s present, and Seig quickly found himself defending against a powerful wave of energy.  The powerful particle cannon seemed to be pushing it’s way through Loki’s barrier, much to his dismay, forcing him to encapsulate himself again to avoid it.  Unfortunately, a powerful single round from an unseen opponent would pierce his Chaos Theory, clipping him in the shoulder and sending him spiralling back into reality.  Paco would waste no time however, releasing a Cronos-Hestia wave at his opponents heavily armoured opponent that was no barraging Seig’s location with the powerful Cation Stream Cannon.  The incoming attack forced his opponent to reroute his power, summoning a spherical barrier which absorbed the energy, feeding it to his cannon before he returned fire at Paco.  Paco easily guarded the attack as well, though the energy seemed to prevent him from redirecting it with Push Call and preventing him from reflecting it.  A powerful energy round would also impact his form however, burrowing deep into his chest before exploding violently to rock him backwards, stunning him long enough for the heavy armoured fighter to target him.  Luckily, by this time Loki had recovered, countering the attack with his Reversion technique, actually managing to overpower his opponent before blasting him into a nearby wall, actually managing to leave a small dent in the bunker.  Unfortunately, he once again found himself being knocked backwards by an attack that seemed to pierce his barriers as if they were nothing.

Loki took cover now, attempting to locate his opponent, while Paco did the same, scanning through the 11 dimensions of ether to locate the sniper, but to no avail.  Luckily for the two, Loki’s Odin’s eyes detected the next attack before hand, allowing Loki to evade the attack, allowing them both to move back into the fray, combining a final attack to put the large heavy armoured fight out of commission.  However, their victory would be short lived.  A stream of weaker rapid fire shots began to impact their forms, forcing both channelers to retreat from the facility.  With both Stryfe’s activating Hermes Wings, they barely made it out of range of the sniper before reversion.  They would need to come up with a battle plan if they were going to enter the facility again.

Seig: 52 Exp (-245HP)

Awareness: 8 Exp

Awareness: 12 Exp

Accuracy: 12 Exp

Accuracy: 8 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Precision: 4 Exp

Why Players Can't Be Trusted: Cloud, Davius, Gabriel and Xian attempt Mysterious Benefactors Quest.

It was exactly for reasons like this that channelers tended to warrant the high levels of surveillance and restrictions that were placed on them, especially at their lower levels.  In fact, had it not been for these restriction, the entire Dehli area would have found itself the victim of the infringement of a number of constitutional rights to privacy.  Luckily however, this was not the case and as such, the remote surveillance methods of Davius and Xian found themselves restricted to the streets and more open areas with homes and other private areas being far too secure for their intrusive surveillance to function without some suspicion.   Even with the restrictions however, their surveillance methods did prove to be more effective than simply moving around town and attempting to eavesdrop on conversations themselves, allowing them to cover a relatively large area in a small amount of time.  However, both Davius and Xian would soon realise that nothing of importants was ever really said in the open, Davius’ Nature Fiends returning little more than idle chit chat and gossip while Xian’s scouts found very little in the Field barring a few explorers making idle chatter, forcing him to get to his real strategy as he powered up his summons and formulated a powerful scanning array. 

Gabe was having a bit more luck at the port, managing to overhear a number of conversations with regards to an anomalous shipment, however none of his direct questions seemed to be getting him anywhere in particular as the workers seemed to be less than willing to give up any form of information with regards to this package.  This forced him to change his approach back to one of stealth, to see what other information he could pick up.  What Gabriel found interesting was that despite how secretive the worker seemed to be about the package when confronted directly, they could seem to help but talking about how weird it was amoung themselves.  The event seemed to have happened some time ago, and as a result, the workers were well acquainted with the story, causing them to refer to events that took place rather than explain them.  This made it hard for Gabriel to fully understand what exactly took place, but from what he could make out, it seemed that the package itself was delivered to an open plain, sometime around mid day, and vanished within minutes.  What pique his interest was that no one seemed to see it disappear, as it vanished sometime between the time it was dropped off and the time when the next delivery craft passed the area.  Gabriel raised an eyebrow, doing a bit more probing before he left the port to rendezvous with the others.

Cloud on the other hand spent most of the day in a very unfamiliar place, the library, looking up information on Tesera and Gehena, trying to make any connections between the two companies, whether they be in terms of similar products, contracts, mission statements or even personnel.   The first things that stuck out in his search were the remaining facilities own by the Tesera Corporation, dispersed throughout Europe and Asia, with one additional facility being located in Tasmania.  His research would then lead him onto their possible projects.  Like most companies that occupied military contracts, the workings of these two companies were well hidden, leaving Cloud to research their known products and possible projects.  He found that Tesera specialised in dimensional manipulation, creating a number of dimensional shielding devices for buildings and carriers, as well as a number of security devices which prevented eavesdropping, burgulary and a number of other unwanted happening which were a threat to privacy.  In fact, Cloud noted that with the instances of free roaming channelers becoming higher and higher, Tesera’s sales of these devices were on the increase, with privacy protection unites being present in most standard homes and in all commercial, executive and industrial transport vehicles, installations and facilities.

Gehena on the other hand tended to specialise more with weaponary, being one of the leading researchers in its time in thermal energy and similar or complimentary energies.  Between 2385 and 2391 they were quite successful, however, militaries began to lose interest in their newer weapons and management decided to take their research in another direction.  It was unknown what this direction was, but it seemed that whatever they were testing were quite expensive and yielded results either in too small a quantity or at too slow a pace to satisfy their buyers and those funding the projects.  It was this that lead to the lost of a number of their facilities and their subsequent bankruptcy.

Given this information, Cloud could begin to see some links between the two companies, though few and far between.  In fact, barring the fact that these companies both obtained military contracts and contracts from similar other companies, and had abandoned facilities which they no longer maintained or surveyed, very little else could be said to be similar.  Cloud paused for a bit, becoming somewhat frustrated, it seemed that these two companies were almost polar opposites, with none of the companies particular interests or specialties inter-lapping.

Cloud continued his search now, shifting his attention to religious groups and groups of the sort, trying to find any possible connections.  Given Gehena’s name’s close relation to the religious concept of Gehenna, and their location, it was no wonder that his search seemed to produce a number of links to this particular country; however, none of these showed any links to Tesera or the mysterious benefactors for whom they were searching.  Cloud tried everything, from financial checks, most of which he had little to no access to due to lack of clearance to conspiracy theories, none of which really providing much of a basis to go on.

The rest of his search involved actual interaction with persons which he believed may have been of help, however, he would quickly learn that few people in Dehli even had any idea of the two companies or their business.  Forcing Cloud to retire for the day.

At the end of it all, the four returned to the designated rendevous point to share their information.  Xian collected huge amounts of information, but after filtering, he found that little to none of it was actually useful, while Davius still had a headache from the senseless drivel that he had subjected himself to for the entire day.  Gabriel enlightened them to the mysterious shipment, which seemed to be the most interesting piece of information that he had come across in his searches, while Cloud went on about the hundreds of possible conspiracy theories that he had developed based on the information that he had amassed.

Cloud: 38 Exp

Awareness: 8 Exp

Awareness: 14 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Precision: 5 Exp

Gabriel:  27 Exp

Awareness: 15 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Precision: 3 Exp

Once Bitten: Jubei prepares for Virology 101 quest

Jubei was in no hurry to be reverted again, knowing all too well what the so called virus that caused these Yokai could do to a player and their form, suffering reversion one too many times at the hands of it.  As a result, he intended to do quite a bit of research before he moved into the cordoned off area.  Jubei had no intension of a encountering hidden, unforeseen or unplanned for events, so his day would start in the safest of places… the library.  Quite a few players had made this a popular spot for those on the networks, who now took the less ‘kill it with fire’ approach.

Jubei’s studies ranged from pathology to virology, going as far as learning diagnostic techniques to aid him in his data collection.  Additionally, he looked into any previous instances of an ether virus, but unfortunately, no such thing was found.  He did however find a number of acticles by prominent members of the scientific community who dared to suggest that this new ether virus did share some characteristics with the odd entities that resided in the main water body located in Long Island.  As intriguing as this was however, it wasn’t particularly useful to Jubei at this point.  With his research providing moderate results, Jubei went into the next phase of his plan, this one proving to be slightly more interesting that his previous actions.

Passers-by would watch in disgust as Jubei went rummaging through the local trash cans, searching for pests such as roaches and rats before he went onto the next phase of his plans.  This wouldn’t take long given the channeler’s abilities, and even though he did leave the area smelling quite foul, his task was accomplished, leaving him to simply purchase some cages before he proceeded to the area where the authorities were maintaining the quarantine.  Jubei smirked greasily as he prepped himself to toss the cages into the quarantine before a digitised voice sounded, startling him and causing him to drop the cages.

“You there, what are you doing?”  The enforcer pilot inquired, tracing the targeter of his neutrality cannon across Jubei’s form.

“Nothing, heh.” Jubei smiled nervously at the large armour.

“This is a restricted area…”  He started, before looking down at the cages and pulling up Jubei’s records.  “I’ll assume that you weren’t going to do what it looks like you were going to do…”  He paused, looking at the large translucent dome that encapsulated the quarantined area. “How about you get out of here before I change my mind and put you on a 5 day vacation.”  Jubei nodded before moving quickly out of the area.  “Channelers…”  The enforcer scoffed, before powering down his offensive gear and releasing the creatures into the reserve.

Jubei cursed under his breath, as he continued with his plans, noting that this action was seeming far less successful than he had originally foreseen.  But what else could he do at this point?  Nothing, he thought to himself, nothing but finish things off and go for the real thing tomorrow.  With his resolve strengthened, Jubei made his way towards the scientists that were offering the reward for the quests, to make a few inquiries before he finished the day off with some training.

Jubei noted that the wording of the quest seemed particularly vague, leaving him somewhat puzzled as to what the scientists wanted exactly.  This left him with little choice but to make an inquiry, and hopefully to clear up the situation.  Jubei’s questions seemed to put a damper on the scientists’ day, but after some stalling thaey finally answered his questions.  It seems that the virus itself possesses offensive and defensive capabilities, causing the scientists to wonder whether of not it has the intelligence to utilise these abilities tactically.  Additionial, they would like to observe its behaviour to see if it is simply harmful or whether it possesses some form of mal-intent, these were the main points of the task, however, they did stress that players would be rewarded for any additional information that they could bring in.  Jubei nodded in agreement with the terms, before attempting to negotiate an agreement with the scientists, attempting to formulate some form of contract where they would be willing to share their finding with him, but his offer was promptly and firmly refused as the scientists so nothing that Jubei himself could provide them with that they would be unable to acquire on their own, or through the use of a less demanding channeler.  Even in their outrage at the offer however, they still provided him with the additional information that he had wanted.

Virus activities seemed to fluctuate according to the number of ethereal constructs in the vicinity and their proximity to the area, rather than the date or time since the quarantine was established, one of the main reasons why scientists were outsourcing help rather than conducting the experiments themselves.  The ethereal virus, was transmittable at the speed of the fastest ethereal component, Ki, exceeding the speed of light, however, the quarantine area was quite small so this was a very small factor as Jubei could make it from one edge of the quarantine in under 5 seconds, giving him a possible 85 seconds of activity once inside the area.   With this finished, Jubei moved off to a secluded area to train, attempt to cut that 5 second escape time to between 1 and 2 to maximise his usefulness and as a result, his likelihood to pass the quest in one go.

Jubei: +30 Exp

Awareness: 5 Exp

Technical: 12 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Tactics:0 Exp

Precision: 5 Exp

Control: 8 Exp

He Who Fights and Runs Away: Donovan and Iolus, Reconnaissance quest

Having travelled back to Easter Island after his painstaking research in America, Iolus was now far better equipped to carry out the final phase of his plan, and with it, hopefully make a considerable amount of money.  Unfortunately for the young channeler, someone else had planned on benefiting from the fruits of his research.

As Iolus made his way back to the spot where he had first encountered the anomalous events he began to pick up an energy signature at the end of his sensory range.  The brief flicker of energy was not enough of a warning for him to evade the incoming attack as Donovan’s Monstrous caught him, surrounding his form and trapping him, but it was enough for him to power up, activating his fixed armaments.  As Nautilus activated, Donovan found himself converting the energy of one of Iolus’ clones.  Donovan sighed lightly, somewhat annoyed by the fact that the unique didn’t simply die.  As he now mentally scanned the battle field for Iolus, he found that the channeler’s Environmental Meld made him quite difficult to locate, and with the myriad of false signatures covering the battle field, eliminating them all would be, at best, tedious.  With this in mind, Donovan began to summon Rutaedes.  With his guard no dropped, Iolus attacked, launching forth a powerful blast from his spot hashed Tsunade, knocking the summoner off his feet and forcing him to reactivate his Monstrous barrier.  This didn’t help Donovan’s disposition much, as he charged his nautilus, quickly expanding his energy and extending a Monstrous field across the area, warping reality as he engulfed a number of the clones.  Seeing this, Iolus made no time jumping to the clone furthest from his over powered opponent, thinking it best to run in a situation like this.  This was a good plan and a bad plan at the same time.  The bad part, which was exceedingly obvious to young Donovan was Iolus’ inability to outrun his expanding Monstrous field, even with his ability to create and switch between clones.  The good part however, was something that neither channeler had counted on.  The expanding energy, and the dimensional properties of Monstrous only further excited the disturbances in Easter Island, creating more pocket-like portals from which creatures seemed to be able to interact with the Earth Realm. 

Iolus did manage to escape the attack slimly, as Donovan’s Precog warned him of an incoming attack, one that even with Monstrous already summoned he would be unable to avoid.  Donovan went flying across the terrain, skating to a stop some distance away, as a creature, which could be seen through the portal-like disturbance searched the immediate area for his form.

Interestingly enough, even though Donovan was very much within the creature’s line of sight, it seemed that it couldn’t see him, causing Donovan to wonder, but the area was far too unstable for him to carry out any real studies now.  The mere energy from his form seemed to be opening, closing, shifting and repositioning these portals making the area too sporadic, even for his Precog to predict.  He would need to retreat and continue his attempt at a later time.  Donovan muttered angrily, swearing that Iolus would get what was coming to him before he left the area.

Outcome: quest remains incomplete.

Donovan: +18 Exp (-78HP)

Awareness: 5 Exp

Awareness: 5 Exp

Accuracy: 3 Exp

Accuracy: 2 Exp

Precision: 1 Exp

Precision: 1 Exp

No Martial arts God: Rueben attempts to complete Master of Fists and/or Sun Lee bounty.

Tener was still contemplating whether or not he should have obliterated the young channeler with whom he was now travelling, as the two now journeyed to China to take on the legendary Sun Lee.  Rueben on the other had seemed rather comfortable on the carrier class flyer, feeling somewhat anxious to see how his plan would come out.

As they made it to China, the two channelers made their way to the residence of Amy Lee and within minutes were off to find her older brother, Sun Lee.  Sun Lee, more commonly known as Dragon, was located some time later in a small residential park, training his forms in seclusion.  This wasn’t exactly what Rueben had expected, but the specifics were unimportant at this point, all he needed was for one of these channelers to be reverted and he would be collecting a handsome reward.

Tener’s energy signature alerted Dragon, who now paused his training, turning his attention to his channeler and raising an eyebrow.

“Can I help you two?”  Dragon turned, looking at the two channelers who just watched him.

“Prepare for battle, you face a martial arts master.”  Tener sounded, moving towards Dragon and powering up.

“What is the purpose of this battle?”  Dragon now inquired, falling into a defensive standce and preparing himself for a possible sneak attack, drawing a look of disdain from Tener.

“The battle is reason enough.”  He replied coldly, warping behind Dragon and launching a quick three strike combo.

Dragon spun as Tener warped, deflecting the first attack before blocking the two follow up attacks and countering with a straight palm strike.   Tener smiled now as he guarded the attack, skating backwards with the impact.  Tener’s eyes opened at this point, a smile breaking across his face as he rushed again.  His Ashura was useless against Dragon’s incredible speed and his attacks did little, failing to make it past the World Martial Arts champion’s incredible defensive techniques, however, even given this, Tener’s mastery of combative channelling served to even the battle field, leaving the two channelers at a stalemate.  A few more exchanges would mark the futility of the challenge, forcing Tener into a rage.

The continuous exchanges lended towards neither of the channelers gaining the upper hand, a reality which caused Tener to become somewhat frustrated, but Dragon, the more disciplined of the two, simply accepted the situation, exploding the ground around him and forcing Tener to warp backwards before he powered down.

Tener dashed in with a follow up attack, but realising that his opponent had no intension of powering back up, he stopped himself in his tracks, watching as Sun Lee walked away.

“You’re an excellent fighter, but you’re no martial arts god.”  Sun Lee remarked as he left the area, leaving an enraged and fuming Tener and a very confused Rueben.

“…well that didn’t go quite as planned.” The young Itami remarked as he plotted his next plan.

Outcome: both quests remain incomplete.

Proof enough for ya?: Jubei does Akuma quest

The police chief perused the request form Jubei had presented him with on his return to Japan. The police chief had no love for the young jet setting channelers from the Networks but the Akuma were getting out of hand and this channler had done the most work in trying to solve the case. The chief didn't like the idea of the danger to his men that the mission posed, however as the young channeler had pointed out the akuma were posing a threat to the populace at large and needed to be dealt with.

The chief and his men suited up and headed out with Jubei and the two controllers they could spare in tow. The controllers had scanning gear brought along from the police h.q and the group maded its way to the reserve in two armoured betchnars. Also along was an Enforcer. It was less support than Jubei liked however he appreciated that the police force could not sortie its whole squad on a non critical threat such as this and clearance would not be granted for any more back up.

The group arrived outside the reserve and took up the formation that Jubei had specified, with the two department channelers as bait up ahead, the controllers powered up as the exo frames and enforcer from the department covered them from the rear. The controllers did not have to play bait for long, within less than five minutes after they powered up the phenomenon dubbed the Akuma swarmed.

"What the hell?" the police chief muttered as the glitching effect was seen around the controllers, who themselves were swearing as their expensive scanning equipment malfunctioned.

The exo frames opened fire before glitching and going down their pilots seemingly going out of control. The controllers began a tactical retreat along with Jubei and the police chief trying to make it back to the Betchnars. However they didn't make it and the controllers watched the now familiar site of the Akuma taking down their colleagues before the enforcer went to work buying enough time for the controllers and enforcer to get out of the area and to hospital.

When Jubei came to he would learn that the controllers scans were fruitless but based on the attacks on their form they concluded that the entities may be a virus or have viral attacks which can harm all ether based structures. The police also had the definitive proof they need to proceed.

Outcome: quest passed.

Jubei: +13 Exp (-5 days rejuv) +$25000

Awareness: 3 Exp

Technical: 3 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Tactics:7 Exp

Precision: 0 Exp

Control: 0 Exp

Unexpected Arrival: Loki and Paco, Assistance Required Quest.

“Amanda!” Seig yelled, pounding on the reinforced door of her laboratory, being all too tempted to hit it with a reversion blast to get it open.  Luckily for the Oyan, his brain took over before this happened, preventing him from making such a hasty action.

Paco sighed at his brother as he struggled to get Amanda’s attention, searching for some kind of communications port, linking the fortified lab and the rest of the house.  His search took some time, but was eventually fruitful, allowing the two to contact Amanda, drawing her from her laboratory.  Though slightly distracted for the past days, the two Stryfe brothers were finally ready to put their plan into action, a plan that would make any kidnapping attempts or attempted assaults near impossible.

“Did you boys need something?  Are we low on food or is the bathroom all clogged up?”  Amanda inquired sweetly, drawing sighs from both Stryfes who were not being taken seriously, as usual.

“Nothing like that, we just wanted to run a plan past you.”  Paco started, only for the house’s external sensors to go off.

“Looks like we have visitor.”  Seig laughed, charging a reversion blast and making his way towards the door.

“Who’s out there?”  Paco inquired now, somewhat nervous about getting their plans off the ground before anything went wrong, having have an ominous feeling about this plan all day.

“Dunno, looks like 3 noobs, all level 5s, fairly low energy outputs too… free EXPS!  Level 7 here I come!”  Loki laughed, watching as his energy reached max charge and the three mysterious channelers rang the doorbell.

“Tastes good don’t it!”  Loki exclaimed as he popped open the door, jumping out and blasting the largest of the channelers who took point.  The attack his point blank, rippling around the channelers form before dissipating into the atmosphere after having done nothing.

“Hmm…”  The large channeler remarked, looking down at his undamaged form before turning his attention and looking to another channeler behind him before Loki felt his energy quickly dwindling.  Loki looked down with horror as he saw his shadows and the shadows around him all merged into one, taking on an obsidian ripple as the incapacitated him and sucked his energy.

At this point, Paco noticed that his brother was in trouble, but what was more troubling was the fact that he could only sense two energy signatures at the door, and those two that he could sense were growing in strength.

A sharp sheik signalled Amanda’s disappearance now, followed by an ominous silence as Paco looked around, sensing no signs of Amanda at all.  Paco’s mind boggled at this anomaly as the large channeler made his way through the doorway, pushing the dehabilitated Loki to the side as he made his way into the house.

Paco’s eye’s widened now, his mind snapping back to reality as the channeler moved in, walking through his Cronos blasts and making his way towards him.  Needless to say, upon seeing this, Paco didn’t stay still, activating Hermes’ Wings and Guido to quickly get out of the way, barraging the hulking channeler with more energy attacks while he formulated a plan. 

In the meantime, the shady manipulator was dispatching Loki.  Now unable to move or control his own energy, Loki found himself completely at the disposal of the channeler, quickly finding his own energies being turned against him as his form’s natural defense against his own energy seemed to fail.  Loki screamed in pain as his own energy destroyed him from the inside, and he found himself unable to power down.  The manipulator watched with a mild smirk as Loki bursted into flames, burning continuously until his form exhausted itself and he reverted.

“Puppets…”  The manipulator started now, turning his attention to Paco, who was still dodging around, attempting to damage the brute channeler.  “Do you even know why you fight?” He inquired to Paco, who now turned his attention to him, dividing his attacks to target both channelers with equal futility, the manipulator sighed.  “You fight ever so feverously, for what?  Five thousand dollars, is that all, is it really worth your time… weeks of planning, preparation… all for this.  To be decimated by two… no, a single channeler, ranked at a lower level than you?”

“The hell!?” Paco exclaimed at the fact that his attacks were ineffective.

“Hell?  No, not yet, but soon… first despair.  Despair as you realise that there is nothing you can do.  Then panic, as you try, despite the futility, then as all hope seems lost and your death is eminent, then… then… I will grant you the luxury of hell… and you’ll thank me for it.”

And so said, so done; the Stryfes were defeated and Amanda disappeared, leaving behind nothing but the calling card of “Rock, Blitz and Shade.”

Outcome: Amanda Real is now missing, quest failed.

Seig: +10 Exp (reverted)

Awareness: 5 Exp

Awareness: 5 Exp

Accuracy: 3 Exp

Accuracy: 5 Exp

Precision: 0 Exp

Precision: 1 Exp

Good Idea, Bad Idea - Gabriel and Xian attempt Silent Protestor quest

While Xian was off doing actual research, Gabe decided to take the more direct approach, speaking directly with the protestor.  The young woman, Misha Teragi, was a citizen of Amsterdam with some Asian origins, those her physical appearance showed more of her European origins than anything else.  The woman stood six feet one inch, and easily weighed in at over 225 pounds, making her around Gabe’s height, but definitely out of his weight class.  Gabe raised an eyebrow.

“She’s still kinda hot though…”  He smirked to himself as he moved in.

Misha’s reasoning was simple, she didn’t have to move and therefore she would not move.  Her actions were within the law, and hence she should be left alone, period.  Gabriel smiled at this, it was exactly what he had expected.  Without any warning, Gabriel powered up, causing Misha to do the same, but she would be too slow to block his first action.  Before she could do anything she felt a hand cup her buttocks and squeeze, causing her eyes to go read with rage.  Gabriel failed to parry the following advance, which was a grab rather than an attack, and the rest was a blur for him.  Xian showed up just in time to see his partner being slammed into the ground.  Gabriel was hit with so much force that the area around him literally exploded, causing pieces of the earth to fly everywhere.  This stunned Gabriel long enough for her to slam him one more time, and with that he was reverted.

“She’s a beast…”  Xian commented to himself, deciding that it would probably be best to engage her at another time, after she calmed down.

Xian hadn’t gotten much information from the authorities however.  The restructuring program entailed mostly physical reformats of the city, and the relocation of a number of businesses from generalised commercial areas to more product specific areas, organising the market in such a way that similar businesses could be found in the same locations.  Xian just shrugged, and moved on to more productive actions.  He would have to begin the production of his pawns for later plans.

Outcome: Quest remains incomplete

Gabriel +10 Exp (reverted)

Awareness: 3 Exp

Technical: 2 Exp

Accuracy: 1 Exp

Tactics: 1 Exp

Precision: 1 Exp

Control: 2 Exp

Xian +11 Exp (reverted)

Awareness: 3 Exp

Technical: 2 Exp

Accuracy: 0 Exp

Tactics: 0 Exp

Precision: 2 Exp

Control: 4 Exp