Noah's Park was a lush area of rolling hills and thriving vegetation, along with the occasional wild animal facsimile. The overall goal behind the park was to give any evacuees - when and if it actually happened - a last peaceful look at Earth before being sent off to the moon. After all, if the facility on the moon did prove viable as an evacuation facility, priority would be on making it habitable for as many evacuees as possible long before making it pleasant.
Axl and Octavia weren't surprised to see many of the systems that maintained the park running amok, birds fleeing in panic as robot bees attacked everything in sight. "Hop up," Axl suggested with a sigh. "I think we'll be wanting to go fast."
"I'll watch your back," Octavia promised as she leapt up to Axl's shoulders, allowing him to start dashing forward.
As they dashed forward blasting the rogue Mechanaloids, the exploding mechas scattered a great deal of Metal resources the R&D department had requested. Luckily, one recent upgrade had been a new sub-system that drew the Metals to them once inactive, sending them back to base as they were collected. This meant the pair didn't really need to think much about collecting them.
It wasn't long before they caught sight of the Crabs-Y that had gone rogue, causing the disaster of this day. It stood well above the pair in height, as Axl barely came up to the first joint of the leg. Red armor covered the lowest part of the four silver metal legs, the wide main body far above, and the two massive claws held towards the pair, each claw large enough to seize and crush a Reploid, let alone a pony. Inside the claws, a green crystal sparking with energy could be seen.
"That crystal generates a paralysis field," CiCi informed the pair over the comms. "If one of you gets grabbed by the claws, you'll be stuck until the other is able to free you. Signas has predicted that this is a tactic we'll be facing a lot, and ordered that Hunters travel in no less than pairs."
"Then we just won't get grabbed," Octavia stated firmly as she leapt off Axl's shoulders. "Let's give it more targets to chase."
The pair focused their attacks on the upper body, Axl attacking from the front while Octavia dashed ahead between the legs to attack from behind. As they'd discovered previously, Maverick Mechanaloids - whatever the size - lacked the AI necessary to deal with a multi-pronged attack, and it was soon backing away in an attempt to get a more favorable combat area. Before long, it had started to break, leaving behind a slew of Metals before leaping away.
Axl dashed after it, coming to a stop at a cliff's edge that wasn't in the original plans for the park. "Okay, I think we should be more careful now," he muttered worriedly.
"Agreed," Octavia confirmed as she caught up. "We should probably wait for X and Zero-"
"Ya-hooooooooooo!" a familiar voice cried out as a Ride Chaser flew overhead. "I'm comi-wait, where'd this cliff come froooooooom?" The Ride Chaser - and its crimson armored passenger - sailed overhead beyond the edge of the cliff to descend to the ground far below with a resounding crash.
X dashed up behind the pair, stared out over the edge of the cliff, and brought his palm to his face. "Makers dammit, Zero..."
"Well, as long as we're all here," Octavia sighed, climbing back onto Axl's shoulders and nudging him into leaping off the cliff to catch up to Zero. X quickly followed.
Dropping down, they made their way past a waterfall, now dealing with robotic bats instead of bees as they progressed. They eventually caught up to Zero in a cave system, rubbing his head as he stared at the wrecked Ride Chaser he'd bailed off of. "Okay, I'm gonna sue whoever put that cliff there," he grumbled as they arrived. "They did not properly submit the new plans to GPS tracking-"
"We're pretty sure it was done by the Maverick Mechanaloid, Uncle," Octavia pointed out dryly.
"...so I get to rip them apart instead?" Zero asked eagerly. "Sweet!"
Hoof met face, and the group continued.
Beyond another cliff, a massive waterfall fell behind a bridge. The Crabs-Y stepped out from within the waterfall to attack, only to be forced to withdraw as the group immediately unleashed a massive barrage of energy blasts and saber slashes, dropping more Metals for the group to collect.
Not long after, they made their way into a building. "Anyone else thinking we're walking into a trap now?" X asked cautiously.
"Do you even have to ask?" Axl countered as he primed his guns.
"I doubt there's anything in here we need to worry about," Zero added with a grin, limbering up his sword arm.
"...men," Octavia grumbled under her breath.
The path through the building proved rather straightforward, the only obstacle of any concern being yet another upward tunnel that closed in on them as they climbed. Thankfully, this one was opened by blasting a button below it, so Octavia dealt with it by calling Classic in to constantly shoot the button until they were clear.
As they entered the final chamber of the building, the Crabs-Y blasted its way in through the outer wall. However, with the four of them combining their assault, it proved incapable of sustaining itself and soon collapsed into a pile of scrap.
"Not bad, Hunters," a familiar voice spoke up from the opening in the wall. "You're just as tough as I remember."
"Vile!" all four in the group snapped out angrily, lunging for him with their weapons drawn.
Vile leapt back out into the open, shaking his finger chidingly. "Now now, don't be so hasty." He waved his hand to his side, where a drone running off his signal clutched Lumine in a vise-like grip. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to him, now would you?"
All four hesitated. "You bastard..." Octavia growled deep in her throat.
"Flattery won't get you anywhere with me," Vile taunted. "I'd love to stay and play, but I'm just too busy. However...I suppose I can leave you with one parting shot." Lowering the cannon on his arm, he fired off a stealth shot, a charged sphere of energy that was completely self contained, making it next to impossible to detect mid-flight.
X ducked to the side as the blast shot right over his shoulder. "That doesn't really do any good when we're watching you shoot," he chided.
"You missed by a mile!" Zero taunted.
"Did I?" Vile gloated, chuckling wickedly. "Tell me, Hunters...how do you deal with a snake?" With that, he, the drone, and the captive Lumine warped away.
Octavia frowned worriedly. "What do you think he meant-"
"Emergency recall of all Hunters!" CiCi barked out over the comms. "I repeat, emergency recall of all Hunters! We have a Skyfall scenario! Signas is down! I repeat, Signas is down!"
Gasping in shock, the four immediately warped back to base.
Ah, find me in the Alps! Sigma is almost assuredly behind this, him or Lumine.
Reminds me, are you going to cover Command Mission? I've heard that technically it comes after X8, but I've heard also heard that X8 is technically a sequel to CM. Confusing, I know. Doesn't matter in the end since CM and X8 don't need to be played to understand the other, but I am curious if you're going to cover the events of that game.
Cut off its head.
7714487
Command Mission comes after X8, because the Orbital Elevator you fight the final boss of Command Mission at the top of is the very Orbital Elevator being built in X8.
7714508 Ouch.
7714576 Huh, okay. That makes sense, actually. I never got past that bird boss in CM, Mach something-or-another so I never realized. Never did bother going back and trying again either, I should really rectify that situation.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
7714614
Mach Jentra?
7714621 I think so, yeah. Been years since I've played it, I just remember being very fond of the game until that point.
7714628
Mach Jentra's actually rather easy with the right strategy.
First, have Axl in your party, equipped with Force Metals so he's gaining at least 40 WE every turn (can be managed by then if you Generate lots of Force Metal).
Second, memorize the Action Trigger combo for Silver Horn.
Third, have X and Cinnamon as your other party members. (Make sure Cinnamon is equipped with a Generator and Energy Field).
Your strategy should be as follows.
X regular attacks Mach Jentra every turn.
Cinnamon uses Energy Field and Generator every turn, followed by either regular attacking or using her Action Trigger to restore everyone's health if she has at least 50 WE (with practice, it's possible to get as many as 6 or 7 full hearts in that time if her Action Trigger is high enough level, which will restore 60-70% of everyone's health).
Axl uses Action Trigger (Silver Horn) every turn, unleashing a high-power hit-all Water attack.
7714643 Well, should I ever get the game again, I will remember that strategy. Thanks for the heads-up.
7714658
Welcome.
Seriously, if you manage it so Axl is generating 50 WE per turn, having a few good memorized Action Trigger combos makes him totally broken.
Especially if you combine his Stealth mode with the Bait sub weapon...though then you need 57. (Bait sub weapon causes all enemies to target the user until his next turn, Stealth Mode means all attacks automatically do 0 damage.)
7714668 Cripes, because that's not broken at all. Even if I have used similar tactics in other games SHUT UP DON'T JUDGE ME.
Well.... shit
7710664
they already do that, and it was a silly idea not to be taken seriously.
Not having to pick up the metals themselves is an attractive prospect.
Zero definitely dropped the ball on his entrance.
Now if Lumine only didn't drone on about how he could handle himself quite well...
I can't wait to see our heroes get the chance to rip Vile to pieces for good. I'm also eager to see how the various Mavericks are portrayed in this game.
i.ytimg.com/vi/yLbbNVrh9p4/hqdefault.jpg
Confirmed. He is male.
7714671
"But I had a judge outfit and everything."
7714818
Like this?
7714628 7714643 And here's two chucklefucks showing how NOT to do it: https://youtu.be/J1YE2h06IVw?t=775
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE TURNS, FORTY FIVE MINUTES.
Anywho, my strategy: I grind to get X's ultimate armor beforehand, which honestly over levels me quite a bit just to be able to beat the boss, let alone using it. Otherwise:
Glint Massimo, Generator and Power Charge, because it's pretty easy to unlock the two other bars for his Trigger (hell: found a way to unlock the first one it in his first chapter!)-- it works out to something like octuple of the base damage (x2 Power Charge, Crit's another double, the full 12 hits I think is another double, plus the stat boost of being in Hyper mode).
Zero, both Heat Hazes and 8 inputted commands is much more damage than 16 inputted commands.
Fire X comes with a Power Charge, and while his weapons in that mode are fire and would heal Jentra, his action trigger is neutral-element: so all someone else has to do is ground Jenrta first for the full effect.
And while ya have to deploy for the Ruins key, and grind for a lot of money, getting the Kitty Gloves early makes Cinnamon a total beast.
So, mostly grinding in the Eternal Forest for cash, rare drops, and XP.
Wait, what kind of-
...Oh. That kind of snake.
7714668 Hey T, since a few stories have been completed since I last asked, could you tell me what stories get updated on what days? On a side note, you should set a day aside for where you don't update any stories.
7717132
Sunday and Wednesday - "Order and Chaos" and "Dressed to Steal"
Monday and Thursday - "Three More Things" and "Sons of Damas"
Tuesday and Friday - "Melody of the Future" and "Sparkle in His Eye"
Saturday - whatever the I want, even if it's nothing
Mu first thought, seeing the chapter title, was "hands of blue."
After that Ride Chaser incident, I kinda got a Goku vibe from Zero. And when they were finishing off the Crabs-Y I thought of Mega Man's Final Smash, except Zero had to move but instead he sword slashed the air in an attempt to look cool.
I'm starting to miss Piano, Classic, and Timber. Like, do they own a house but also live in HQ so the pets just wait for their never returning masters?
EDIT: I wonder if Roll is still in Light Labs with our depressed Rush, waiting for a Dr. Light Hologram to come home? Maybe Roll will finally leave but see the changed world, beg for Zenny, buy a new outfit, & find X only to see Vile and Sigma fighting him and three others.
We know X will win but she doesn't so she would hug Vile and self-destruct leaving everyone to ask, "Where did that messed up horror movie doll come from and did it just kill Vile?!" Roll will be forgotton by all... except a Light Hologram that returned too late.
How do you deal with a snake? You cut off the head.
Okay, how was Signas hit? Have I missed something?
8180001
The stealth shot Vile fired has an incredibly long range.
8180093
With how the shot was self contained, yes long range. Though that was some distance. And a very high speed shot to boot.
I really don't want to be on the buissnis end of that cannon.
vile you are a clever bastard
You know, there's something about Vile's weapon that reminds me of an episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, in which an angry Vulcan used a rifle whose range was assisted by a built-in teleporter.
I understand why but this starts being soooooo repetitive after awhile
8265359
Ah yes, Starfleet Intelligence Prototype TR-116 - The rifle that could shoot through walls, as seen in the DS9 episode 'Field of Fire'.
An intriguing and terrifying concept to be sure.
Damn, that's a LONG range shot. Also:
That's friggin' genius, go Tavi.
7723825
Read the end of this story. She’s actually the ruler of Mars. A project that she took over for Vinyl when she time-traveled/teleported home.
that was some serious aim... poor signas... he was a good man.