File: last time on maverick hun(...).png (395 KB, 2000x1500)

395 KB PNG

"Is this roster--" Em blurts, before catching himself and cutting off.

Not fast enough for Gopher--your new CO, still sinking in--to shoot him a sharp glance and a very pointedly worded challenge. "There a problem with your targets, Captain?"

"No, sir," he replies. "...Actually, yes, sir. I specifically requested attachment to Seventh's former--"

"And I specifically denied that request." Frog winces behind him, as Em balls his fists silently. "I'm not signing off on sending one of our few A-ranks left on a suicide mission. Is that clear?"

You've never heard a "yes, sir" spoken so insultingly in your life--and definitely not from Em.

"If there's nothing further, move out." Gopher rounds on you. "And how about you, Captain? Have a hunt?"

"Yes, sir," you reply--more guardedly than anything. "Tossup between Moloch and Foxfire--going after Foxfire."

"Smart," Frog chimes in. "Worried about Rho?"

"Yessir."

Frog gives you a small smile. "Not sir any more, Anode, not to you."

Em pipes up again, scrolling through his roster without looking up. "Sir, you're still a Colonel. Or a Major, probably, if you're not commanding Eighth."

"Emerald?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Stop making me feel old."

He gives a little chuckle at that before punching in his pick from his own roster. "Yes, sir."

You review Foxfire's dossier one last time.

File: the big ball of hurt.jpg (414 KB, 1400x788)

414 KB JPG

>>44520810

Soul Foxfire (B-class)
Known weaponry: N/A
A known mercenary hacker for hire, Soul Foxfire has raided and occupied a remote cyberspace development facility. The research station is underground and has full, but isolated, cyberspace overlap. Nonetheless, she has made several intrusion attempts on Rho's systems and is attempting to steal hunter data through numerous security inroads.
Foxfire is mercurial and likely simply sees this as another job. She is cloying and playful in demeanor, but in combat has demonstrated that she is very capable of brutal practicality from seemingly nowhere. She avoids direct confrontations wherever possible, however, and often seems to enjoy posing challenges for the sport of them.
Available support: N/A


>Any questions, now's the time.
>Em, what the fuck was that?
>You're ready. Move out.

File: Christmasisover.jpg (542 KB, 1290x775)

542 KB JPG

And happy new year, everybody. I hope the holidays were kind to you.

>>44520824
>You're ready. Move out.

in b4 cyberspace mindfucking

>>44520824
>You're ready. Move out.

>>44520824
>You're ready. Move out.
Cyberspace is rad. I wish I didn't have to go to work myself- Anode'd better survive at least until I can get home.

>>44520824
>Any questions
The most important one I can think of is; Should we play it safe with colateral damage? Chances are we could mess with soul simply by draining the grid and taking her offline or simply breaking systems. If thats a no go, we'll have to play smart.

Coil, lock on hunter, grenades, and shield if collateral is a no go. Coil, lock on, nades and chaff if it's ok.

>>44520824
>Em, what the fuck was that?
Also this >>44520951

>>44520966
Probably not something we should push with when it comes to EM. We'll ask once we return from the fox hunt, but not while tension is up.

>>44521056
Good call i second it we need to ask but not now.

>>44520824
>Em, wanna talk about it?
Seems kind of obvious what the fuck that was, but we should still talk to him about it.

>>44520951
Seconding.

And definitely need to talk to Em later, if we somehow survive.

>>44520824
>>Any questions, now's the time.
should I worry about collateral damage or no more then any other mission?

>>44521056
It's because we're bros that we must see what the fuck Em's deal is. If he's off his game, we don't want him in the field without dealing with it.

>>44520824
>What's going on, Em?

>>44521753
Yes, we are his bro, but there is a time and place. Riling him up and throwing off everyone's game with a new superior is going to cause problems for more than em. He's just started chuckling and acting normal with Frog and us with the banter. Give him time to recover.

File: Who is Cain Labs and why (...).png (24 KB, 480x320)

24 KB PNG

>>44520892
>>44520903
>>44520939
>>44520951
>>44520966
You side-eye your friend--that was the first time you've seen him snap back at an officer since ever. You decide not to press it, for now--maybe after a mission he'll be up to talking about it.

"Cyberspace lab, yeah? Can I wreck the place, try to make my job easier?"

India speaks up from her chair. "Doesn't work that way, unfortunately--just as well, too. If it did, you'd be as like to find out maverick hunter is a lossy format, if you were in when it collapsed."

"Damn."

"Plus," Gopher adds, "It's a civilian-owned lab, too. The Canadian government has greenlit the op to retake it, any means necessary, but the less damage we do, the better. This isn’t our only cyberspace operation on the table, so having a research facility working for us will do us favors for the rest of them."

“Roger that, keep my hands to myself. Suppose she brings the place down on us, though.”

“Like the Lieutenant said, there’s measures in place. This was an existing lab, so it will have been built to spec with the safeguards. It’d be faster to set up an entire new architecture than try to modify the existing one, and we’d be talking months if not years on that.”

“So I’m safe?” You pause. “Relatively speaking.”

“You ought to be,” Frog nods. “Anything else?”

You look up as Em takes the beam-pad, giving you one last nod before he vanishes into the compression beam.

>

File: Desantnik Magpie.png (4 KB, 64x82)

4 KB PNG

We XCOM now.

>>44521871
So no damaging stuff then, but we can if things get rough. Alright. Grendades will come while the black out stays. Their blast is smaller and the flak might just mess with too much stuff. A faster nades might be good as well if Fox is a quick fighter. Shields can serve as cover and protecting vital spots. Coil for speed and moving around, hunter for precision fire.

>>44521871
> "You know this girl at all? Is she the kind of mercenary willing to die for the job?"

>>44521871
Nothing else.

Happy new year, everyone!

>>44521871
What's our current loadout like? We should probably swap out the 'nades if we have them.

>>44522145
Take it from a guy that slings EM interference like it's going out of style, you do NOT want chaff rockets in a cyberspace lab.

>>44521871
switch load out to coils, Lockon, Blackout, and shields. The flak from the blackout will probably be extremely effective here, but we'll need to use them sparingly to reduce collateral.

>>44522145
The nades should come, but the flak must stay. Mainly due to this tib-it in chat.

<Hunter_Command> "Hey reality, what's in my hand?" "Is it... chaff?" "IT'S DJSBANIOSHFFASKFIA■■■■■■■■■■■

So yeah.. no messing with electronics while in cyberspace. So NO blackout.

>>44522203
ALLAHU CHAFFBAR

File: chaffweasel.jpg (60 KB, 613x464)

60 KB JPG

>>44522203
>>44522221
I love that Anode's first weapon is still the most fun.

>>44522280
You never forget your first, HC. Even if other options pop up, we'll probably find ways to make use of it. Both for our squad and the hunters in general.

File: implying you can be the b(...).jpg (125 KB, 700x666)

125 KB JPG

Good lord, it's slow today. I've been out of the game too long.

Regarding your loadout, while we wait, you can opt to leave behind one of your VWES entries, and it looks like blackout rockets are "winning."

Any objections?

>>44522566
nope

>>44522566
No objection here. For what we are dealing with blackout rockets are slow and risky. It's not worth it.

Besides, got an idea to upgrade the high ball skipper to serve as a high speed grenade template for different types of grenades. Like incidiary, frag, gas and the like.

>>44522566
Seems like leaving them is the way to go. I like Anode not being warped into bits.

>>44522566
shit i just realized that there are probably Vanish Blocks in this level.
...
I'm not sure if that makes me Giddy or
Freaked out
Both?
Both.
Both is good!

File: Corrupted_721d3e_5311325[1].gif (263 KB, 300x166)

263 KB GIF

>>44522566
They can stay behind.

>>44522749
Don't worry. We have a 1-2 combo that will help us against the greatest foe; a double/triple jump and the wires.

Honestly, we are probably one of the few non-flying hunters who could trivialize those things.

Blackout hammer weapon when?
Rocket propelled melee weapons are my fetish.

>>44521871

I feel like a reference to the Matrix or Hackers or something is going to be required at somepoint during this mission, but we should probably save it for the mavericks. We should ease our CO into our crazy.

>>44522933
See, we lull them in with the Matrix cliches, then BAM, hit 'em with War Games.

>>44522797
probably not the rocket, but depending on the data from graverend and sabomole, we could probably develop a rocket stake/pile driver. Big guess though.

So Hammer is going to the 8th (Cross a line on the list of answers)

And are the votes still open? Then we better add in to contact Wellington now rather than in enemy territory

Although, Command, why do we receive support from Officer Wellington rather than a normal operative of the 5th?

>>44522987
I think we could just ask Cath for a copy of that f we cared.

To quote the lady herself:
>Stake Shells don't give a fuck.

>>44523014
Because he's the only one who'll put up with us.

File: somethingoutthere.jpg (68 KB, 400x400)

68 KB JPG

Right, going ahead and writing. The show must go on!
>>44521966
>>44521965
You double check your loadout--opting to ditch the chaff rockets in case of horrendous reality failure in cyberspace--and step onto the pad.

"Right, I'm going," India says. "They're going to put my halves back together today. Safe travels, Anode."

You throw her a wave. "I'll try not to die. So, this lady, you know of her at all?"

"Just the few reports thrown together since she appeared on our radar," Frog explains.

"We know if she's willing to die for the cause?"

"I doubt it," Gopher says. "She's not frontline material and she makes a living selling her skills. That doesn't suggest a whole lot of cause outside of taking care of herself."

"Works for me. Okay, ready."

"Good hunting, Captain."

The world vanishes into white as you're beamed to the op zone.

...And white remains. You're on a small temporary pad--a faint dusting of snow recently brushed off of it, along with a little "2" and a smiley face written with a stick beside--Recon's signature.

All around you, ice. Ice, snow, evergreens.

And a few hundred feet below you in a valley, a small cabin beside a frozen lake. It looks almost homey, on the edge of dawn, light just starting to creep over distant mountaintops. You even see a faint plume of smoke rising from the chimney.

THIS is a cyberspace research lab?

>Comm for a navigator.
>Head in first, get eyes on the situation.

>>44521871
>>44523014
>>44523069

>Wellington
Can he help us? This isn't our usual kind of op. We might need some sort of specialist navigator.

>>44523232
>Comm for a navigator.

>>44523232
>Comm for a navigator.

>>44523232
>Comm for a navigator.

>>44523232
>Comm for a navigator

Even if we can't get Wellington, we tend to need all the logistical help we can get.

>>44523232
Wellesley!

>>44523232
>Dial 'W' For Wellsey

This isn't a cyberspace research lab, Anode. This is the public front of a cyberspace research lab. Welcome to the fucking cold war.

>>44523232
>Comm for a navigator.

>>44523242
Seconding this. We got a cyberspace specialist in the house?

>>44523292
Are you suggesting we should cheat on Wellington with another navigator? For shame, sir.

File: EvilGeniusCover.jpg (109 KB, 480x679)

109 KB JPG

>>44523232
>Comm for a navigator.

>THIS is a cyberspace research lab?
No Anode, that's just the camouflaged entrance. Got to keep the tourists from stumbling into the underground lair.

>>44523320

Except this war isn't very cold, except for the bit where it is snowing.

>>44523399
We may need to consider that this might not be a cyberspace research lab, but in fact a Bob Ross painting.

>>44523578
Oh god, we're already inside the cyberspace

>>44523763
I'd love to have that conversation with Recon.

"So, I notice you placed a beam-in pad inside cyberspace? Is that... actually possible?"

"Don't question our fucking methods, Captain."

File: Overdrive Ostrich patrols(...).gif (1.87 MB, 314x240)

1.87 MB GIF

>>44523268
>>44523275
>>44523291
>>44523292
>>44523321
>>44523375
You key comms. "This is Anode, paging 5th. You guys there?"

A momentary pause, and then--

"Hello, Captain."

"Rho?" you ask, blinking.

"Yes. I am sorry to inform you that all navigators are currently fully tasked with missions of A-rank or above."

Well, shit. "Okay, uh. I'm just... I'm looking at a cabin in the woods. Is that the lab I'm after?"

"Per your signal's location, yes. Is there anything further?"

"Uh--no, I guess not, but--"

"Then I must break contact. Good luck, Captain."

Well, you guess that's that.

The cabin is warm, cozy, well-appointed, and has a rather conspicuous trapdoor hatch on the floor, no doubt normally hidden underneath the rolled-up carpet resting on top of an otherwise unused bed.

Opening the trapdoor leads to a small drop with a ladder, which you hop down. A moment later, your optics adjust to the dimmer lighting.

You're in a hallway, sloping downhill.

It seems to run under the lake.

File: General realizes X has de(...).gif (97 KB, 398x303)

97 KB GIF

>>44523910
Up ahead, the first door that betrays the real nature of this place--cool grey metal. It opens as you approach, hissing silently on well-oiled machinery. Slowly, the path levels out, and lights begin to come on--red sweeping lines flash on with a loud clunk. There's no avoiding them, and they're not tied to any weaponry... and no alarms go off as you pass through them.

You hope.

You must be a few hundred feet down, at least, when you reach the end of the long entry hall, another door similar to the first blocking your path. You step through...

Into a massive, rectangular room, the sides flanked by three massive columns, ridged bases and rounded tops, ozone and blue fog thick around their caps as lasers fly every whichway. You whistle low in appreciation--your internal readings just off the ambient energy tell you that they use enough electricity to fry your systems inside-out. Each.

On either side of the room, cylinders--they look like reflective glass, but you know better, with vague, dark figures within them, unmoving shapes that suggest the angular plating of combat-armored machines.

And then, at the far end of the room, you see her.

She looks up at you from behind a console on a raised dais, looking vaguely surprised at your intrusion.

"Oh, hi," she says lightly. "You must be the maverick hunter. Cool."
>...Hi?
>Hands up, motherfucker.

>>44523928
>...Hi?

>>44523928
>...Hi?
>*insert standard request of surrender here*
>*add politeness to request*

>>44523928
>...Hi?

>>44523928
>Can I borrow a cup of sugar?

>>44523928
>...Hi?
>Don't suppose I can get you to just give up?

>>44523928
>Candy gram
>...so, uh, first off, what and why? Secondly, I don't suppose I could get you to just scoot off, could I?

>>44523928
>...hi?
>So, preeeeety sure I know the answer, but gonna have to ask you to come quietly.
Be on guard still. Data said she's a tricky one who likes to play with her targets.

>>44523928
>...Hi?

So this is totally the part where she warps us into Cyberspace where she'll have a more assertive personality?

>>44523928
>...Hi?

>>44523928
>...Hi?

>>44523928
>This unit demands your surrender.

>>44523928
Defiantly
>>...Hi?
>>*insert standard request of surrender here*
>>*add politeness to request*

do we also want to add a personal assurance that if she comes quietly we will do our best to help her get off lightly?

Shit, what cyberspace-related movie puns do we know?

This is important.

>>44524149
There's no spoon?

>>44524149
do we want to make a red pill blue pill reference mixed with out polite surrender request?
>>44524133

>>44524149
only thing I'm coming up with is Tron, and I only saw like half of that movie.

>>44523928
"so would you be willing to just cut and run? normally i'd be up for the whole trippy cyber battle to the death thing, but the next guy I need to stop is killing something like 20 civllans a minute."

>>44524133
Crap! We dont say hi.
We say "greetings program" like in tron.

>>44524241
Tron didn't have puns, just memorable lines:
"Greetings, Program."
"I fight for the Users!"
"I'm a User, I'll improvise." Oh wait, can't use that one.

>>44523928
>>44524288
>Greetings, program.

Agreed with all the bits about politely requesting she come along etc. etc.

File: GAHDAMMET VIEL.png (92 KB, 177x255)

92 KB PNG

>>44523965
>>44523967
>>44523969
>>44523995
>>44524033
>>44524052
>>44524066
>>44524070
>>44524103
>>44524124
>>44524133
After a moment, you shrug. "Yo," you reply. "So, uh. I always ask this, and it always, always goes the same way. Could I pretty-please get you to surrender?"

The fox takes a long pull from what looks like a coffee mug before setting it down, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. A moment later, and she puts a clawed fingertip into the air.

"...Yes?" you ask, after she doesn't move.

With a small pneumatic hiss, a little column rises up from her control console, two halves of a glass case parting to present a button.

"...Don't do it," you warn.

She turns her finger down over it.

"Don't you do it!"

She lowers her hand.

"Don't you fucking do it!"

She pushes the button, something engaging with a cheerful little "doot!"

The lights go low, and an alarm starts to blare, red emergency lights coming on as great clouds of fog roll from those tubes on either side of the room.

"Fucking--"

To your right, one of the tubes shatters, and--

Half of Winter Wolfspider tumbles out.

He catches himself on two of... now four hands, looking somewhere like a half-melted construct made of his humanoid and arachnid bodies. One of the visorplates that shifted back to reveal more of his eyes seems stuck, clicking in time with his mandibles, a steady leak of liquid nitrogen frosting the floor beneath him. He slowly pulls himself up and turns to you, no lights in his half-formed eyes.

Three times. THREE TIMES you've had to kill this marauding prick.

In the chaos, Foxfire disappears with a whirl at the corner of your vision, ducking down a hallway past your snap shots.

Wolfspider lunges.
>?

How about.

... Greetings, Program.
Do you want to know the truth. This is your last chance You take the Blue pill you shut down these Gibson come with me and everyone is fin Or you take the Red(yelow) Pill you stay in wonderland I fight for the Users and one of us is likely to die.

>>44524369
FUCK

>>44524369
WHAT A CUNT
See if we can't target this crippled Wolfspider's limbs, leave him helpless.

>>44524369
shoot at him until he dies.

>>44524369
>Wolfspider lunges.
>>?
Wait, is this the wolfspider we cut in two?

At least she didn't have time to complete him.

Zipline him, that seems to work. Also, expect suicide bombing.

>>44524369
>Teach him why you don't charge someone with a polearm by introducing him to your lance, Weasel style

>>44524369
Play smart and stay calm. He's even worse off than before. Use the lance and wires to quickly take him down and keep him down.

Also, keep an eye on the second container as well. Either thats the other half, or we are going to be dealing with something ELSE due to possible mind fuckery.

can we dash into it with the lance and stab it before it can hit us?

>>44524369
This fucking guy.

>Deal with the spider quickly but cautiously, this is only the first attack.

>>44524369

>>44524434
I'm in the "Run them through with their own momentum" camp.

>>44524501
This.

>>44524501
this t coil is his weeknes

Oh hey, I actually caught one of these live.

That aside, probably for the best we hit her now, if she had enough time to fully restore him, that could have gotten real ugly.

Would Wellington have died if we hadn't gone to Navigation, do you think?

File: Pleased to greet you.jpg (84 KB, 942x942)

84 KB JPG

Good day everyone! Happy New Year.

>>44524912
Get thee away from me, satan!

File: Winter Wolfspider.jpg (87 KB, 972x769)

87 KB JPG

>>44524434
>>44524501
>>44524516
>>44524541
By now, you've taken him on at his best, and better than his best, after that garbage with Limited. Your lance comes up and around as Wolfspider pounces, catching him full across the middle and gouging deep through sparking shields, sending him tumbling across the room. You switch to a onehanded grip as you raise your buster, launching a T. Coil after him while he twists and rolls back upright. The coil snags him, but he levels three of his arms and blasts the line to shreds with heavy plasma, the ozone fog in the air thickening as his half-calibrated cannons sizzle.

He walks a line of blasts towards you as you roll to the side, firing another coil past him and zipping across it, closing the distance and forcing him to duck and throw himself away, lest you catch him on the pass.

Your mind is buzzing with frustration and anger, though.

This isn't just a cyberspace research lab.

She's fucking around with DNA.

Another volley of cannon shots chase you as you scale the wall and leap, firing another coil at him to keep him from intercepting your jump. You come down heavily and then dash, closing the distance. You see his mandibles chitter.

Not this time, fucker.

You trigger your booster pack for its first practical test, feeling the blast of thrust and heat blossom up at your back, burning away some of the fog as you rocket into the air on wings of fire, wreathed in a burning cloak as you wind up and swing.

You actually slam into Wolfspider shoulder-first, before he's finished priming his fangs, scorching his plating and toppling him backwards. Your lance connects a moment later, slashing through him with only a scant moment of resistance.

Once again, Wolfspider tumbles away from you in two halves, one going slack as the other writhes and spasms in a chain of explosions.

File: yesImet.jpg (34 KB, 320x280)

34 KB JPG

>>44525076
The room falls to silence and the lights slowly come back up, leaving you to inspect the area.

Foxfire's console is surrounded by scattered trash--dirty plates, empty food wrappers, and a half-eaten bowl of cereal and her just-finished mug of coffee (shaped like a fox head with WORLD'S GREATEST DAD proudly emblazoned on it. In permanent marker.)

(Jesus.)

To the side of the console, there's another hatchway that drops down. On the other side, a ladder up. All other doors have sealed behind blast doors, including your entrance. Great.

>Up.
>Down.

>>44525102
wait

wait a moment

why is she eating? I thought she's a mav?

it makes sense for human computer-types to eat all kinds of crap while coding/hacking/etc, but why would a mav do that?

>>44525102
>Up
Considering the building (from outside) appeared to be rather short, it shouldn't take too long to check here
Unless she trapped us in cyber-space already and the insides being smaller than the outside becomes more of a suggestion than the truth

>>44525147
She's a merc, not a mav.

>>44525147
Oh, and go down. Assuming up could be another way out, but unless a chopper is coming for her, she wouldn't go that way, right? I mean, it's in the middle of the forest, and she didn't look like the forest expert type.

>>44524912
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5phl8p3euG4

>>44525102
Well, considering we went down to get here... Down?

>>44525147
>why is she eating? I thought she's a mav?
All Reploids eat and drink in this version of the Megaman universe. Have you forgotten how much alcohol Anode drinks?

>>44525102
>Up.

She probably expects us to go down.

>>44525263
Yeah, but it's optional.

>>44525178
I assumed she's both.

>>44525102
>Up.
Just because it's not the obvious choice.

>>44525102
>Down.

>>44525281
>Yeah, but it's optional.
Em was ordered to eat pistachios in order to boost his self-repair capabilities in one thread. So its not totally optional or unusual to eat.

>>44525312
I knew that guy was a nut case.

File: 1444752443569.jpg (29 KB, 192x171)

29 KB JPG

>>44525436
Image.

>>44525102
I suggest we head down

Can we break Wolfspider a bit more before moving on? Decommissioning this asshole is getting old. Then,

>>44525102
> Down

>>44525102
UP

>>44525102
>Up

File: energy recharge.jpg (81 KB, 960x896)

81 KB JPG

>>44525312
refilling those e-tanks

>>44525793
Just because he's green, it's got to be pistachio. Freaking colorists.

File: goddamnitEm.gif (203 KB, 640x480)

203 KB GIF

>>44525793
That is ADORABLE.

>>44525102
>Up.
>Finish the cereal first, though

>>44525882
Calling it here so as to avoid the tie getting re-re-re-remade.

HC, are we ever going to have that 'Em's first mission' thread you suggested?

>>44525964
At some point, yeah. Were it not for the fact we're getting back to business after being away from it for so long, I'd have considered running it as a Christmas or New Year thread.

File: Em gets a playable S2 mission.png (13 KB, 645x483)

13 KB PNG

>>44525820
Well if Em is Sans...

File: SCHWARZ HUND OF NORMAL GERMANY.png (286 KB, 600x459)

286 KB PNG

>>44526106
Awesome. You guys are too good to me, you know that?

>>44526106
Where does Em keep all the sabres he'll need for his attacks?

>>44525995
Aww yeah, backstory!

>>44526174
His special locker, and then on magnets attached to him, duh.

>>44526106
If Seven is Frisk, who's Anode?

>>44526358
Don't you mean Seven is Chara?

>>44526358
Well, if Sev's Frisk, Papyrus has to be Frog since we caused him many headaches, I would assume, and Tanker would be Flowey. Meaning we would likely be...I dunno, Undyne maybe?

>>44526552
And all the mavericks are now goat-themed.

File: FU-.png (290 KB, 500x360)

290 KB PNG

>>44525177
>>44525270
>>44525289
>>44525632
>>44525730
>>44525882
You opt to go up, wrapping your hand around the first rung and quickly scaling.

You've barely cleared the top of the hatch when you're clocked by something scuttling down the opposite direction.

Reflexively, you let go, falling back down an instant before what looks like a mechanical salamander barrels down at you from the top of the shaft. You fire up at it before it can dart away, stepping back as you shear one of its legs off and send the flaming wreck of its body clattering to the ground at your feet.

...the tail of which promptly hits the cereal bowl on the desk and catapults a sodden mush of 2% milk and soggy marshmallows across you. Goddamnit. Wiping yourself clean with a grimace, you examine the sparking remains.

A Ladder Yadder. Wow, they actually exist. And they're just as stupid as you thought they were from the name.

You climb again cautiously, pausing and listening every few moments, but nothing comes up.

...Not until you emerge from the top of a confined ductway and find yourself in a massive underwater dome. It must be thousands of feet across, spanning the length of the frozen lake, cool blue light filtering in from all around you. The sun isn't visible, but the muted glare through the ice is, casting an otherworldly, suffused glow, matched by the artificial lights of what looks like some kind of hydroponics garden. Fish move slow and languid outside the glass, conserving their energy in the frigid water under the ice.

Atop you, though, the maintenance ladder ends, and another opens up to your side. Sure enough, you see another one of the strange lizard mechaniloids scaling it--it pays you no mind on its passage up and down, up and down.

>>44526552
Smells like batteries

File: Flares Firefly x Bullet B(...).jpg (45 KB, 335x248)

45 KB JPG

>>44526661
You're about to blast the thing when motion to your left draws your fire--you blast another one out of the air as it's launched, curled into a ball, from a small vent, angled at your own ladder. So, they're not going to stay clear for long, that's a problem.

You hop to the other ladder and scale quickly, ready to leap to a third ladder that begins not far above the first.

That's when you see three bright streaks against the murky, filtered blue backdrop--Hotarions. And they're banking around fast.

>Prioritize the Hotarions.
>Keep your ladder clear.
>Other?

>>44526683
>Keep your ladder clear.
Can't dodge if we don't have room to dodge.

>>44526683
>Keep your ladder clear.

>>44526683
>Keep your ladder clear

>>44526683
>Keep your ladder clear.
I bet we go through this entire mission without going into cyberspace, and desperately needing chaff.

>>44526683
Keep your ladder clear.
Remember, we have our jump jets and wire with us if we want to move up the ladder faster and dodge out of the way of the hotarions, but we need room to grab onto the ladder.

>>44526683
>Keep your ladder clear.

>>44526725
Basically this reason.

>>44526683
>Prioritize the Hotarions.
That Ladder Yadder dindu nuffin

>>44526683
>>Keep your ladder clear.

>Keep your ladder clear.

>>44526683
>Other?
Coil Hotarion, swing like lasso while yelling.

>>44526683
I hate to ask, but is Soul Foxfire, what with the food, the coffee, and the novelty mug, supposed to be based off of somebody?

Seriously, though, for now, give yourself room to move by keeping your ladder clear. Hop down it if you need to get out of the way of a Hotarion.

>>44526919
I'm going to vote 'roughly every computer jock stereotype since 1990.'

>>44526950
Sounds about right.

>>44526950
Can we shout nerd at her if she talks in technobable? Because I want to.

File: Zero questions the useful(...).png (750 KB, 1000x700)

750 KB PNG

Stand by, eating delicious pizzas.

>>44527197
Seconding.

Beginning to suspect she has a fondness for Looney Tunes and the like personally. Feels like she has a Bugs Bunny style sense of humor.

>>44527416
Thirding.

We need to shout, "Stop right there, nerd," the next time we see her.

>>44527498
"Stop right there, Nerdinal Scum!"

>>44527554
Better. Yell, "Stop right there, criminal scum," and if she stops and laughs, we rush her with the battle cry of, "NERD!"

File: Rubble..jpg (44 KB, 400x267)

44 KB JPG

>>44527595
This.

>>44527595
Yes!

>>44527595
Alternatively, ask to touch fluffy tail.

>>44527773
No, that's what Indy would ask.

>>44527773
I like the way you think, anon. Seconding this.

>>44527595
Not really fair if we make the reference. Let's just threaten to shove her in a locker.

>>44528010
Much better than fluffy tail bullshit.

>>44528127
Yeah, that's probably better, and I say that as the guy who suggested fluffy tail.

File: CAPCOM MAKE UP YOUR MINDS.png (164 KB, 500x500)

164 KB PNG

>>44526725
>>44526769
>>44526779
>>44526790
>>44526806
>>44526830
>>44526868
>>44526875
You size up the incoming pass quickly and decide to keep your climb clear--you have just enough time to turn your guns on the Yadder, chain-firing one-handed and swinging around with the other as its corpse falls past.

You twist around all the way, arm wrenched at an awkward angle to avoid the first incoming Hotarion. You have to use your boosters to try to clear the second, and you're just about to fire a cable back the way you came to snag the ladder again when the third one clips you, sending you tumbling gracelessly through the air in freefall. Your shields pulse as you curse and yowl, flailing blindly to try to grab the ladder and missing. You roll off the shoulder of one of the Yadders as you very-nearly right yourself, plunging back down through the shaft and back beneath the ceiling of the entry room.

The bowl rattles on the floor as you slam facedown right beside it with a thunderous whumph. With an irritated groan, you haul yourself back up, rubbing your nose.

"Stupid fucking fireflies," you mutter thickly, shaking your head clear. "Stupid fucking fox. Stupid fucking nerd fox from Dorkulon IV."

And that's when the K-pop starts gleefully jingling from speakers in the ceiling.

"Son of every bitch."

>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.
>Grit your teeth and get back up there. Forcefeed the mechaniloids some Lockon Hunters, if you need to.

>>44528213
>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.
I dont like this game, so im not going to play!

>>44528213
>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.

>>44528213
>Grit your teeth and get back up there. Forcefeed the mechaniloids some Lockon Hunters, if you need to.

>>44528213
>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.

>>44528213
>Grit your teeth and get back up there. Forcefeed the mechaniloids some Lockon Hunters, if you need to.

>>44528213
Keep going. Try shutting off your ears if you have to.
As a side note, the CIA at one point used Barney music to torture prisoners.

>>44528213
>>Grit your teeth and get back up there. Forcefeed the mechaniloids some Lockon Hunters, if you need to.

>>44528243
>Annoying as shit firefly sons of bitches
>Annoying as shit gecko sons of bitches
>K-Pop

She is trolling us so, so very hard. I think she's hilarious as shit, and we should make every attempt to capture her so we can turn that trolling against the mavericks.

>>44528213
>Grit your teeth and get back up there. Forcefeed the mechaniloids some Lockon Hunters, if you need to.

Criminal Scum deserve no retreat!

>>44528213
>Grit your teeth and get back up there. Forcefeed the mechaniloids some Lockon Hunters, if you need to.

File: Rubble...jpg (47 KB, 400x267)

47 KB JPG

>>44528213
>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.
We don't know what's down there but from what we're seeing, I doubt it's worse. I feel like we should at the very least check it out before we waste any lockons going the high route.

>>44528313
I agree.

>>44528328

I also think we should try >>44528313 's plans.

>>44528313
she's willingly taken a job to help screw up Rho, killing Hunters and civilians alike. I really doubt she'll play nicely if HQ bribe or threaten her, and there's no point risking our life or the mission just because someone's supposedly 'hilarious'.

>>44528213
>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.

>>44528213
>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.

>>44528510
She also has no real loyalties, and, from what we've learned about her, tends to just follow the money. She's a mercenary, and not, necessarily, a viral maverick, so offering her more money than the other side is is a valid strategy.

In any case, we have two paths to removing her from the mavericks' payroll; one of them puts her to work for us, the other puts her in the scrap heap. Tactical necessity will decide which one we go for, but if we can get her to surrender we should.

File: Rubble....jpg (140 KB, 600x400)

140 KB JPG

>>44528510
Also the hunters Really can't afford to be throwing away potential assets right now. I mean, if she proves to be unwilling to help then yeah. Bang. But otherwise we need any and all help we can scrape together.

>>44528620
And she also brought half of Wolfspider back, and if we had took her later we might not only have faced him again, we might have fought others

Mercenary or not, she is as maverick as any other we fought before

>>44528664
I'm on to you. Don't think I'm not.

>>44528692
There's too much at play here that we can't tell just from looking at the situation. She could be viral, or she could just have a healthy paranoia of anyone wearing her employer's enemies' colors. Use of revived mavericks does not indicate one way or the other on its own.

I think we are already in cyberspace. We teleported into the lab and were given a cabin illusion in order to confuse us.

Our contact with Rho was actually a faked message from Foxfire.

The Wolfspider we fought was a recreation based on Foxfire's knowledge of who we are.

>>44528213
>Fuck. This. Take the lower route.

File: Rubble.....jpg (383 KB, 1025x769)

383 KB JPG

>>44528692
All I'm saying is that we don't know definitively that she's virally maverick, and until we do know that we shouldn't throw away the possibility of getting her to work for us. I'm not saying we should take chances or anything, just that the hunters need all the assets they can get right now.

>>44528760
Who, me? Why I've no idea what you mean good sir.

File: Rubble......jpg (53 KB, 400x300)

53 KB JPG

>>44528862
That's... worryingly possible actually.

>>44526683
It seems a little too obvious to just leave, I'd assume that's exactly what Foxfire would expect us to do, to be fair. If we can hold on a bit longer (even if we need to tune things out) that's probably a good course.

>>44528862
It's possible. Hell, it's even plausible. Rho's always been curt, but she's also always been accommodating.

We need to check back with Rho, see if she plays the same exact message again. If she's a hacker, then she'll think like one, vis a vis: Why do something yourself when you can automate it?

>>44527622
>>44528342
>>44528664
>>44528881
>>44528910

The rubble images were confusing at first, but I now have it figured out.

>Show yourself Foxfire.

You are a 3rd person posting under Hunter Command/Cain Labs direction in order to confuse us.

File: Rubble.......jpg (149 KB, 1024x768)

149 KB JPG

>>44529056
I'm flattered that you think I'm working with HC/CL, but you don't need help being confused.

File: lazercavalier.png (2 KB, 70x70)

2 KB PNG

>>44529056
>>44529254

I know the mystery, but I like to keep secrets. Usually.

>>44528881
I would have to disagree on hiring her. She would have to have a handler with her at all times, which would put her at odds with how Hunters are deployed. On another note, the attack on 4th Overland HQ shows this conflict shouldn't support Hunters with shaky loyalties. She could do some good in a controlled environment, but that doesn't put her above the other Mavericks Anode fights.
If I've missed anything, please tell me.

File: pleaseconsider.jpg (65 KB, 640x480)

65 KB JPG

>>44528243
>>44528265
>>44528289
>>44528342
>>44528512
>>44528577
>>44528873
You spend entirely too long throwing rude gestures up at the ceiling ladder before you finally decide to take the other path.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_lSP8Vc3o

"I hate you," you grumble murderously, "I wish I could hate you to death."

The music only increases in volume as you descend. Like the first drop under the cabin, this is a long corridor hallway that levels out...

And this time, you hear the faint 'plip!' of a non-buster energy weapon emitting as a purple light winks in the darkness ahead.

You only just dash underneath a bounding projectile that flies from floor to ceiling at an angle, sailing on past you and up the way you came. You advance cautiously, waiting for the next attack, and this time manage to get close enough to see what looks like a mechaniloid eye installed in some sort of cut crystalline shell. It accumulates energy around the eye as it builds up for another shot--only for you to blast it to ribbons before it finishes.

Refleczer, you think they're called. Okay, this way won't be so...

You hear rockets thrusting from deeper inside. A moment later you're nearly tackled by an onrushing shape coming out of the darkness, a giant rocket-propelled purple shield with a central core radiating a shimmering energy field. You manage to reverse and backpedal clear before it hits you.

>Lob some Highballs in front of you as you go. That'll handle the Barrier Attackers.
>Advance under cover from some Tumult Shells. That'll clear the Refleczer fire.
>Other?

>>44529573
>>Lob some Highballs in front of you as you go. That'll handle the Barrier Attackers.
>>Advance under cover from some Tumult Shells. That'll clear the Refleczer fire.
can't we do both? like through the highballs and then a shell to cover our advance?

>>44529498
She could just work on the home front as a hacker support with the 5th. That way, she could have a handler without going against how hunters are deployed.

File: Rubble........jpg (194 KB, 1095x729)

194 KB JPG

>>44529498
Nah, you make decent points. The hunters would definitely have to be careful using her, if they decided to at all. I'm more or less just arguing that we should keep our options open. Which, of course, includes the option to put several lockon hunters through her.

>>44529573
>Highballs
>Other?

Circle around and stay mobile to avoid the Refleczers as we do this. If we can, we should try to ricochet some of the Highball Skippers off of walls or floors into the Refleczers to take out two mechaniloid birds with one explosive stone.

File: Rubble.........jpg (104 KB, 720x540)

104 KB JPG

>>44529573
This really.

>>44529606

>>44529573
>Lob some Highballs in front of you as you go. That'll handle the Barrier Attackers.

>>44529573
>Other?
Stop. Neither path was going to lead us to her. We will just be lead around in circles and worn out by her cyberspace illusions.

She is taunting us with K-pop so lets start calling her a kitsune and complain about kimchi.

>>44529730
Hear hear. I don't care for kimchi.

>>44529573
>Lob some Highballs in front of you as you go. That'll handle the Barrier Attackers.

>>44529573
>Lob some Highballs in front of you as you go. That'll handle the Barrier Attackers.

>>44529573
If we destroy the rocket, can we just lob the purple shield part ahead of us to crash into whatever is ahead?

File: maverick factory operates(...).jpg (109 KB, 776x430)

109 KB JPG

>>44530031
Sorry, no. It's shielded, so destroying it will take out the whole thing.

I might be persuaded if you could try to saber it, but at that point you're literally trying to cut around a shield built for the express purpose of negating damage.

>>44529573
seconding >>44529606
better to run out of WE than to reach Soul bruised and furious.

>>44530031
I like the way you think. But we just killed an enemy with a nice defensive shell.

Play soccer and kick it into our new friend's face.

>>44529606
>>44529672
>>44530133
This is an option. Go for it?

>>44530231
God please no. We are in cyberspace and having mindgames played on us. treating this as a standard stage is going to get us worn out if not killed.

>>44530231
>Yes
Better safe than sorry - specially when sorry can mean dead

File: Rubble..........jpg (235 KB, 600x400)

235 KB JPG

>>44530271
So your line of logic is sound, but there's no genuine evidence to back it up. If we take your advice and just stop... then what? You think she's gonna just come out because we're not playing her game? I'd say let's move forward until we have some solid evidence as to whether we actually are or are not in cyberspace.

Thus
>>44530231
Yes.

>>44530231
No. Let's not expend resources when we barely know how we're being fucked with yet.

>>44530231
No. We have limited resources as is, best to keep them reserved for now.

>>44530231
No, save ammo and keep your cards close to your chest. Foxfires probably monitoring all of this.

>>44530231
Sure. The issue with limited resources is we have lmited health as well. Everything is limited and pussyfooting will force us to be stuck in that corridor. We have our dodgigna nd other methods to help as well.

>>44530342
I have an idea. Do we have any communications with the outside world at the moment?

>>44530342
>So your line of logic is sound, but there's no genuine evidence to back it up. If we take your advice and just stop... then what? You think she's gonna just come out because we're not playing her game? I'd say let's move forward until we have some solid evidence as to whether we actually are or are not in cyberspace.
If we just keep moving forward we are not looking for evidence. We would be running on an obstacle course treadmill designed to wear us out waiting for proof to fall into our laps.

We need to find proof of illusion/reality before we continue any further.

>>44530778
Unknown. As I said earlier in the thread the Rho contact could have been faked.

>>44530778
The line hasn't been responsive since you entered the facility, but that makes sense, given you're here to stop the network intrusion attempts on Rho/the hunter database.

Also good god, the deadlocks are real.

>>44530851
If she's managed to spoof our senses for this long, then we really should be dead or highly wounded by now. Let's stick with Occam's razor and treat this as what it seems.

>>44530851
Pain seems real enough, and buying time for her is bad for us anyways. Let's say we are both in the cyber world. Remember when india said breaking the machine with us in it is bad?

If we do nothing, what stops her from breaking said machine? We are going to be pushed around either way, but putting up a fight and pushing fast and hard enough that we jump the treadmill.

Use both weapons. We still have our charge and hp and time is a much more precious resource.

>>44530231
Yes please. I value Anode's skin more than his equipment.

File: Sir sir we are getting bodied.jpg (54 KB, 640x387)

54 KB JPG

>>44530953
>>44530962
I'm going to go ahead and call it with these, if only because sweet damn, we's slow today.

Having a ball of fun, though. Hope you all can say the same.

>>44531002
I'm enjoying the thread. This quest's playerbase has had reasonable levels of discourse so far while waiting, which is pretty high fucking praise here.

>>44531002
>>44531124
Maverick Hunter is consistently one of the highest ranked quests on /tg/, and for good reason.

>>44531002
>because sweet damn, we's slow today.
I thought that was you simulating the torment Fox Only is currently inflicting on Anode.

File: FUUUUUCK.jpg (156 KB, 911x900)

156 KB JPG

>>44529606
>>44529672
>>44530133
>>44530291
>>44530342
>>44530492
>>44530953
>>44530962
Fuck it, you decide. No more attrition bullshit.

You unload with a walking barrage--literally, taking measured steps forward, switching weapons per the target as necessary. The skippers arrest the movement of the Barrier Attackers, breaking their energy shield--when the casings open up to allow the core to charge up another, you peg it with another grenade or a plasma shot, if you've got the time. Every time you hear the energy shots coming downrange, you shoot first, clearing the way with a shell before you gun the damned thing down.

Before long, you make it to the end of the hallway, and find it blissfully clear of hostiles. You see that, you furry hypernerd? You got through just fine--

You realize that the far end of the hallway comes to a dead end, marked only by a giant down arrow. You leap back reflexively, anticipating the trap--

And the floor collapses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApYD4DGHFbE

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU SO HARD YOU DIE TO DEATH," you howl, plunging into a freefall.

Once again you hear the thrum of rocket exhaust, the plips and plings of bounding energy, but this time, you're in freefall. The walls are far to either side, and enemies all around as you plummet through the shaft.

>T. Coil the wall. Buy yourself some time.
>Open up with Lockon Hunters below you to blast a path clear during your descent.

>>44531280
>Open up with Lockon Hunters below you to blast a path clear during your descent.

If we're going down, we might as well make sure we can do that without falling splat somewhere.

>>44531280
>Open up with Lockon Hunters below you to blast a path clear during your descent.
This landing better supercharge our capacitors.

>>44531280
>Open up with Lockon Hunters below you to blast a path clear during your descent.

We're going to have to depend on our speed when we face her, but that's okay. Anode's faced far nastier villains than her.

>>44530913
Depends on what she wants. Does she want to kill us or does she want something else.

Occam's Razor doesn't actually work in this situation. As both possibilities are equally simple/complex.

>>44530953
A Reploid's senses can be tricked digitally and a standard trope with illusions is that there is no difference between imagined pain and real pain.

Conartists and Illusionists work on abusing common sense and misdirecting.

>>44531280
>Calm down. Use your lance to be a spinning ball of death. Waste no WE.

>>44531280

>Open up with Lockon Hunters below you to blast a path clear during your descent.

Also start singing Free Fallin'. Loudly.

>>44531280
>T. Coil the wall. Buy yourself some time.
Stop wasting all our actually good weapons, goddamn

>>44531280
>>44531396
>THIS.

>>44531396
I agree with this. If need be we can also use our rocket pack's fire shield to help us meteor drop right through spots.

>>44531396
Fourthing

>>44531573
Yes. Very, very yes.

File: matrix-trinity-falling.jpg (24 KB, 400x218)

24 KB JPG

>>44531396
>>44531623
Quite quite.

>>44531396
#1 best plan

File: Rubble.....................jpg (89 KB, 600x402)

89 KB JPG

>>44531280
This. With gusto.
>>44531396

>Open up with Lockon Hunters below you to blast a path clear during your descent.

Okay, sure.

Is everyone having a winning time in the foxy funhouse?

File: ...!.png (285 KB, 1280x1280)

285 KB PNG

>>44531980
...Maybe I am?

>>44531980
Eh, it's okay. Needs more confetti. Neon signs, maybe.

>>44531280
>>Open up with Lockon Hunters below you to blast a path clear during your descent.

The obvious choice when dropped down a pit is to try to catch oneself. She'll be expecting that. Get to the bottom ASAP, before she springs the real trap...

>>44531980
Could use a pool and a beer, but it's got grade a scrapyard stuffers.
Open question: has anyone been keeping score for Anode so far?

>>44531339
>>44531354
>>44531391
>>44531396
>>44531446
>>44531466
>>44531573
>>44531623
>>44531656
>>44531695
>>44531705
>>44531763
>>44532110
You twist around, aiming both barrels down and opening up with an alternating cascade of Lockon Hunters. You burn clean through a Barrier Attacker, the thing shorting out and joining you in freefall, and heavily wound another, causing it to list to one side and explode against the wall.

More than that, though, you will not be outdone by this woman.

"I'M FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE," you crow, even as your internal sensors tell you that you've hit terminal velocity, "FREE FAAAAAAALLIIIIIIIIN'!"

Dulcet tones of mad rage and glee aside, though, you can't do anything about the incoming fire, though--a few stray hits graze you, pulsing your shields.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_qwUS8Uqjg

You can feel the ground rushing up to meet you as you burn two more lasers clearing your path, another damaged-but-not-downed mechaniloid still in the way.

You engage your thrusters and twist around again, and you elbow drop the motherfucker into the ground at full speed.

Your crash actually deafens you for a moment--your capacitors jump up 23%--and you realize you've landed... not gracefully, but safely, on something hulking and massive.

That something is Tumult Terapin.

He unceremoniously grabs you with both hands and flings you full-force across the room, slamming you into the far wall.

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahd DAMN IT.

>?

>Weapon counters:
>T. Coil: 29/32
>Lockon Hunter:8/16
>Tumult Shell: 12/16
>Highball Skipper:9/16

>Other:
>Phase Lance
>Misericorde

File: Slide encounters the repu(...).webm (2.93 MB, 800x450)

2.93 MB WEBM

>>44532153
Damn it, forgot my picture.

>>44532145
Foxfire has.

>>44532153
Open up with some busters and an overcharged Lockon Hunter. Use a Shell if he wants to close the distance.

>>44532184
God I love how fucking OP Uncle Knux was in Symphogear S1. Almost fucking solo'd that bitche Fine.

>>44532153
>T. Coil
My first instinct is to grab this guy by the leg, use our boosters to topple him like an AT-AT, then shove our lance into his chest cavity.

>>44532153
>Lockon Hunter

>>44532250
Last I checked, busters don't work on Terapin. He was, for all intents and purposes, a hard counter to Anode.

File: Rubble......................jpg (263 KB, 778x1167)

263 KB JPG

>>44532153
Yeah I'd go with this:
>>44532267
Maybe get some misericorde action in there if the lance isn't penetrating good enough.

>>44532315
okay, maybe we're better off just bypassing him entirely. How fast can he run?

>>44532338
Oh, right, I forgot that the Misericorde is a one-shot, ice-based, "fuck your armor," weapon. That works wonderfully.

>>44532359
Damn fast and he doesn't have his teleporter. Also I want you guys to remember something; Wisent destroyed terrapin FULLY. This is most definetly trickery. Disable, don't destroy and head through the exit.

I feel this is relevant, just fished it out of the archives

Spin Jagwire > Chaff Weasel > Lockon Bloodhound > Tumult Terapin > Guns Wallaby > Winter Wolfspider > Solstrike Saetos > Splashdown Skipjack > Spin Jagwire

>>44529573
>Foxfire is a hipster who plays century-old K pop during fights

>>44532153
Misericorde then stabby stab.

>>44532153
>>44532267
this one

>>44532338
>>44532657
>>44532399
Please keep >>44532615 in mind. Misericorde is Saetos' weakness not Terapin's.

File: Rubble.......................jpg (3.54 MB, 2816x2112)

3.54 MB JPG

>>44532726
So I'd agree with using lockons to do the job if the fall hadn't taken like half them. I mean I won't deny that voted for it, but that may not have been the best idea.

>>44532726
It may not be his weakness, but it is an anti-armor weapon. Soften his shell up with the Misericorde, then bore holes through it in key places, like into his LIFE Cell, with what we have left of Lockon Hunter.

>>44532832
Let's just do as was suggested here and bypass the tubby.
>>44532415
Give him a couple T. Coils to slow him down then get around him. We are one of the most agile Hunters ever.

>>44532415
is it possible to create illusions designed to bait us to use our weapons in whatever ways were their weaknesses?

That way, Soul will know the "intended" use of each weapon

>>44532726
>>44532832
But here is my question; Do we need to kill him or can we disable him and be on our way? Because this guy is a right pain and I got a feeling this is also a illusion since the original terrapin was destroyed utterly by Winsent in the big mission.

>>44532153
>Lockon Hunter

Since we have some distance.

File: Rubble........................jpg (145 KB, 962x640)

145 KB JPG

>>44532909
>>44532926
If we can just bypass him, I'm certainly all for that, I just didn't really think it was on the table. Also the thought of him showing up from behind us at the same time as we encounter another old acquaintance is somewhat unappealing...

>>44532926
Does Anode actually know about that?

>>44532981
Yeah, same. Bypass if possible, disable/destroy if necessary. We never know what, exactly, we'll need to take down an enemy.

File: Tumult Terapin.jpg (44 KB, 480x442)

44 KB JPG

>>44532250
>>44532267
>>44532303
>>44532338
>>44532399
>>44532657
>>44532726
>>44532832
You start with another T. Coil--they're cheap, what the hell--and snag him around the legs. He just wraps the cord around his meaty wrist and yanks, hauling you over, sailing toward his fist. You cut the cord and fire another behind you, arresting the movement a hair short.

While you're back there, you drill him through the center with a Lockon Hunter on overcharge. It punches right through, the coherent beam diffusing on exit as it hits a rippling, shimmering energy shield projected from his shell. Despite the big smoking hole in his chest, he bounds forward, head low and fists up, going for a grab.

You wait, remembering the lessons you learned between Em's sparring, driving a knife into Saetos's chestplate, and getting grabbed by this bastard the first time around.

At the very last instant, when he's all but filled your vision, you hop back, just barely avoiding the snag. Before he can bring his fist up in a defensive jab, you pour on the dash.

Having that refined throttle on your conduit capacitors is incredible--you only need a couple percent, just enough to get inside his guard. And with a blast of thunder and lightning, there you are. The misericorde flashes to life and you drive it home, even as you can practically feel him re-appraise the situation, his arms coming back in to crush you against him.

No luck--you surge with flame as you engage the thrusters again, as soon as they cool down. Wreathed in heat, the misericorde flares, hissing with flash steam and a loud, ringing CRACK as you shear the entire bulk of Terapin's frontplate off.

He actually stumbles a moment--enough for you to wrest your buster forward and put another Lockon Hunter through his unprotected "heart." He stumbles back, trying to regain his footing as blinding fire consumes him from the inside out, evaporating him once again.

...And that's when the cereal bowl lands on your head.

File: because I can motherfucker.jpg (25 KB, 640x473)

25 KB JPG

>>44533301
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvq9r6R6QAY

Ugh.

To your left and right, two tunnels, both just unsealing and opening. The lights from above dim as you hear massive hangar-style blast doors grind closed.
>Left.
>Right.

Zipline back out of this pit. She's at the top laughing at Anode.

>>44533345
Top of the pit just closed. Not saying you're wrong, just saying it's not an option.

>>44533322
This repeated cerealing must be punished! Take the bowl with you in preparation and go left.

>>44533345
Honestly, we're probably going to have to scrub this mission. We've expended a lot of ammunition and our control of the situation, which is nil, hasn't changed.
What's lost if we bail now and blow the place up? Some Canadian's credit card history?

File: Cain Labs considers not t(...).jpg (269 KB, 698x712)

269 KB JPG

And being that I've been running a hot minute, I think I'm gonna call the thread for the night. We'll resume tomorrow, with luck the thread will be alive.

Hope everyone's enjoying, and once again, the old refrain--sorry about the wait, and I hope you enjoyed your [seasonally relevant holiday]!

>>44533450
The wait always pays off, good work so far, you glorious bastards.

>>44533444
That and losing, completely, on the entirety of the cyberspace front, and setting cyberspace tech back to nearly nil for years.

We can't - can not - scrub this mission. It will likely lose us the war.

File: Rubble.........................jpg (63 KB, 600x399)

63 KB JPG

>>44533389
I heartily agree.
>>44533444
I don't think we should duck just yet. We're rarely "in control" of missions, it's just that in this case it's difficult to see whether or not we're actually making progress. Press on, I say, press on!

>>44533444
>We've expended a lot of ammunition

We still have more than half of everything except the Lockon. We're good.

>>44533711
There's also our charge. Got to admit that throttle made the fight that much easier along side the jump jets.

In Xtreme it was four refights and then a new boss.

Two to go.

So, did this bitch seriously just pull Caramelldansen on us? This won't stand; No one outmemes Anode. Especially with memes as outdated as those.

That fox is gonna have a bad time.

>>44533941
At least Anode's memes are culturally relevant, what with being from movies and all.

>>44533444
Nah, this was par for the course, exactly what I wanted to avoid in mission select. This is what was picked, so bite the bullet and keep trucking.

Besides, we haven't really taken damage yet.

>>44533322
Left. And no reasoning with her. Even if she's not Mav she's too annoying to be kept alive for very long.

>>44533322

>Left

Right's too obvious.

>>44533444

>Letting the Mavs win.
Get out Sigma.

>>44533322
>Left.

>>44533322
>Left.

File: Anode vs Doppler.jpg (206 KB, 775x1177)

206 KB JPG

>>44533301
see if we can scavenge any WEAPON or other energy from Tumult's corpse(God it was satisfying dropping him so quickly after the thrashing he gave us before)
>>44533322
>Right
the rule is to hug left in a maze, she probably knows that, so let's go the oposite, even if they're both equaly trapped.

bump

So, does anyone have ideas for Soul Foxfire's appearance for fan art?

File: Press in case of cage match 1.png (165 KB, 579x364)

165 KB PNG

>>44524369
>With a small pneumatic hiss, a little column rises up from her control console, two halves of a glass case parting to present a button.
>"...Don't do it," you warn.
>She turns her finger down over it.
>"Don't you do it!"
>She lowers her hand."
>Don't you fucking do it!"
>She pushes the button, something engaging with a cheerful little "doot!"
>The lights go low, and an alarm starts to blare, red emergency lights coming on as great clouds of fog roll from those tubes on either side of the room.
>"Fucking--"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldHwIBtmA7A

>>44538946
A smoking corpse of blackened, twisted metal, covered in cereal.

>>44539076
Fair enough.

>>44539076
>>44540048
hey now, all she did was press a button, let's not go full Tanker on her cause of that. we're both professionals, let's at least see if we can resolve things as such.

>>44540124
>Anode
>professional

>>44540195
Professional at not being a professional.

What are the chances she has all our old enemies lying about? This has to be cyberspace crap, which means she's currently lounging about in a control room. We're gonna die to a B-rank.

>>44540925
>Implying she wants us dead
If we die, her fun goes away. She's a bored merc, not a mav.

Good morning everyone!

He says, feeling like death.

We're gonna be a little slow (argh) and end early (ARGH) because I have to do that thing where I dress nice and do things in a building that's not my house tomorrow.

Also, just a reminder if anyone doesn't know, Awesome Games Done Quick begins a bit before noon eastern.

https://gamesdonequick.com

Get hype, everyone.

Now let me get some coffee and take care of some morning stuff, and then we can return to the houndiest of the foxes.

>>44541215
Unfortunately agdq might be even more lifeless than it was last year.

File: India laments the loss of(...).jpg (205 KB, 642x596)

205 KB JPG

>>44541215
Morning

>>44541342
Lifeless? Hm?

File: Megaman Classic.png (611 KB, 603x403)

611 KB PNG

Let me try to get one update out, it's usually slow enough in the morning that I'll have time to take care of my errands.
>>44534086
>>44534181
>>44534236
>>44535481
For lack of any better information, you opt to take a left. Probably what she was expecting, but...

You venture into a gigantic cylinder, as long around as the room you just left, and as tall as the length of the pit, stretching up into the ceiling. Maintenance causeways ring the entire thing, top to bottom, and a giant fan slowly turns overhead--you're in a maintenance area for a giant vent, maybe for the whole facility.

You make sure to keep your coils ready in case she tries to do some shenanigans with that fan.

Movement catches your eye from the base of the first causeway--a mechaniloid tracking up and down the wall, a gun pointed out over the way you have to cross.

A snap shot sends it scuttling away rapidly on a blast of thrust from the bottom, nimbly dodging your fire. It begins to slowly track back down again, blue light warming on the barrel of its weapon.

The aptly-named Dodge Blaster. Terrific.

>Clear 'em out. Nothing at your back.
>Just hustle through. You're wasting time.

>Just hustle through. You're wasting time

>>44541522
Just hustle through. We have our lance to clear shots if need be and our dash to get moving. Trying to hit the scooting bugers won't work too well if they just keep coming.

>>44541522
>Just hustle through. You're wasting time

>>44541522
>Just hustle through. You're wasting time.

>>44541215
>>44541413
Other than the Mega Man runs, what games are you most looking foreward to this GDQ?
For me it's got to be Mirror's Edge and Dragon Age.