Private Vintergard From ruin

[Mystia]

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The girl couldn't help but shrug about it all.

"You'd have to ask people behind this world why they thought it was a good idea to add almost... no, 'definitely' sci-fi kind of aspect into a game that was very clearly designed to be almost the exact opposite. Though you might never get that chance."

With the developers being as secretive as they were, and never found over the course of the game's entire lifespan up until this point, it was highly unlikely that any of that would ever change. The fae was fully prepared to embrace the fact that they would likely never learn what the intent behind TerraSphere was. That said, she focused more on the transfer process for now.

"Spatious..? Would you really be able to perceive 'space' in that state... nevermind, all systems are green! No errors detected!"

Monitoring it all from the outside, Mystia was pretty certain that nothing would go wrong, but it was also impossible to predict events with absolute certainty. For now, she was glad that she was correct. The giant mech, in the meantime, offered a greeting in return.

"HI."

As blunt as usual. The explanation as to why Mila's model was the way it was, well... it send shivers down Mystia's spine. And a question followed naturally, though a part of her almost didn't want to speak it out loud out of fear for the answer and its implications.

"Changed from a cell-based mammal to a machine, just like some members of the... um... you say you don't remember much, but... is there any chance you were, or still are... Starcalled?"

Her throat dried out as she spoke in a clearly uncomfortable tone.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"I've kinda gave up on trying to find out who the hell are the people behind this world. If they even still exist, that is. The way this game is, it probably already gained a conciousness on its own." Hanno sighed, rubbing the back of his neck while his gaze fell. He wasn't really sure of what was behind all of Terrasphere, but he knew he intended to find at some time, and that he would keep protecting it and its people until then.

When the question regarding the little magia was raised, Hanno also held an interest on his eyes, looking at the big robot while the unmatching squeaky voice escaped from it-

"A... Starcalled? No, I'm not a Starcalled. There is a limit of how much trouble I could get into, haha!" She said, awkwardly. "As far as I know, I am from this world. At least, I feel like I belong in here... Even if I feel... At loss."

Hanno pondered about it for a moment. "So she is a lander. I'm not sure how... The whole magia thing happens to Landers. But I guess we will find out." He sighed, urging for them to move ahead. "I think we can talk while we advance a bit, I wouldn't want us to get wherever we want too late!"

@Mystia

 

[Mystia]

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"Giving up is the antithesis to curiosity! Though I can understand how some issue can seem daunting Especially an issue that, in this instance, is truly larger than life."

That, however, didn't mean they should give up trying to find out. Such was Mystia's mindset as a woman of science and reason... and other similar buzzwords.

"But at least we have that, then. A lander beast feline turned magia in search of her body... are you at all capable of leading us inside of your new vessel?"

Hanno was correct that it was unwise to remain in one place for too long, especially if there was a reason to believe that they were on a borrow time. But the question remained, how exactly will they find what they're looking for? It wasn't like they could just scan for a magia body, given how much other scrap was hiding around the battlefield.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"It truly is. No one goes anywhere by giving up." Hanno nodded at Mystia's words, continuing to follow the way out of their current location, at the very least. It wasn't for a particular direction, but they had to at least start to get moving, and then readjust their route according to what their new companion would tell them.

"Yes! I can lead you, for sure! I can still feel the signals, at the very least... Not exactly of Szofrit, even if I do still feel her very little. But I mean where I should be! Uhmm, ummm- OH! Okay! For now... All the way to Northeast should be the right direction, if we ignore all the obstacles, sentries and overseers!

Hanno huffed a chuckle.

"We can't really ignore them, but I get what'cha mean, buddy." Hanno glanced at Misty. "Do you have any way to detect magitech stuff, Misty? I think it will be useful, if we want to avoid any more trouble on our way to... Wherever she needs us to be."

As he asked, he started shifting his path, trying to guide them through covers in the rubbles of the fallen structures that existed in the surroundings.

@Mystia

 

[Mystia]

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A few clicks could be heard from the hulking machine before it extended its giant hand and formed a thumbs-up with its mechanical fingers. It seemed, that a partial link between its software and the magia's consciousness was successfully established as she found the necessary information within her own memories and ego.

"VARIABLE COORDINATES FOR THE LOCATION OF AN EMPTY HUSK OF A MORTAL FR- SORRY, I MEANT A SUPERIOR MECHANICAL VESSEL HAVE BEEN UPLOADED. STARTING NAVIGATION. DO NOT FALL BEHIND BECAUSE OF YOUR INFERIOR FLESHY SACKS OF BODIES."

The mechanical girl was but a passenger inside of the mech, but if they could share information like that, then it hardly mattered. Mystia's creation was now taking the lead and would direct them to the desired location within Northeast of Vintergard. Mystia herself has looked at Hanno after his question, promptly using one of her hands to lift the patch of hair that was obscuring one of her eyes. The peeper behind it was lacking in color, leaving the eye pale and clouded, as was sometimes the case with those who were blind.

"Not Magitech specifically, but one of my eyes can see the magical instead of the physical. And seeing how Magitech always operates on magic, as the name suggests... well, it can see Magitech very clearly even from a distance, basically. No matter how obscured it may be."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"Thanks for the warning, buddy." Hanno showed a sarcastic gratitude to the robot, with a smirk that made it even more clear he was just fooling around as much as the big guy. But his attention soon shifted to what was actually important, and that was @Mystia showing off her detect magic eye, that caught his attention the most.

His mana wings appeared and fluttered, and his mouth formed an 'o' shape as he whistled.

"Aren't you a resourceful lady? Two pretty eyes, and each one with a very useful ability." He made a two with two fingers, and then one with each hand and pointing at his own eyes, briefly opening them slightly wider to show their emerald green iris.

She had shown some amazing skills so far anyway, so he shouldn't be that impressed.

"Perfect~ This way I can focus all my radars to detect my body's location."

A gleeful voice escaped from the bulky robot, and Hanno continued to follow them, pushing away bulky obstacles. "Yeah, and since she can see how magitech operates, putting you back into your body will be easy pease for her." He was certain, especially when she made things much easier, with them avoiding most of the enemies that could be on their way, and getting through the most efficient paths possible.

After pushing through, the path would eventually get them to meet a tower that had been dominated by the magias. The stone structures of the tower were clearly damaged, but the missing parts were covered with some strange type of metal, unique of the magias. On top of that, additions were applied to it, making the tower become almost a magia on itself, with sentries patrolling near it.

Hanno frowned his lips at the sight, casting a glance to Mystia.

 

[Mystia]

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Mystia's hand quickly retreated, exchanged for a faint blush as Hanno decided to call her eyes pretty. What a surprising flirt, that one.

"I'm not sure many would find a clouded blind eye to be pretty, but thank you. It is definitely more useful than anything..."

The situation where one needed to sneak by magia-grade magitech certainly was rather rare, but now that they have found themselves in exactly such a scenario, the ability to perceive magic came in very handy. Especially given that these machines were positively saturated with magic. Unfortunately, even a tool like that had its limits. Once they arrived at the tower, it quickly became obvious that there was no good way to sneak inside. Not with patrols that dense.

"I guess the only truly safe paths would be from up above, or from down below. And we don't exactly have a jetback, or a drill, last time I checked..."

She might have been knowledgeable, but she was no strategist. How exactly they could proceed here was beyond her, which meant that Hanno's glance burned extra hot. What could she think of that he wouldn't be able to? Could they just smash their way indoors? That seemed rather risked in itself...

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno gave a carefree grin to @Mystia's sheepish reaction to his compliment, but he didn't fend off her retort, knowing there was something more important for the two of them to focus at the moment. If anything, hopefully that helped to ease the tension of the situation. They were in a dangerous area after all, Hanno would be lying if he didn't feel the pressure, regardless of how optimistic he usually was.

The knight crossed his arms, averting his eyes from the fellow faerin and scanning the situation.

"You wouldn't have an EMP nuke, would you?" He asked with his voice being quite low. The question wasn't that much of a joke, as he expected an 'actually!' and once again the young woman would surprise him by pulling it off.

Still, that scenario seemed impossible, so he added: "Unless we have a power strong enough to defeat all of them at once, fighting them with only four of us will be too risky." He rested a hand on the obstacle they were using to hide.

"We could try a distraction. A big one... And three things out of one could happen: We could get all magias out of the tower and we just slip in and catch the body. Only the sentries could go away, but the internal defenses of the tower would increase, ooor..." A wry smile crossed his lips. "They don't fall for it, we get surrounded and we need to do something rash."

And then he added: "But I will make sure if things go bad, I will make a way for you to leave without a scratch." It was his job as a tank to remove the worries of his buddies, so they could focus on doing their jobs as well as possible.

 

[Mystia]

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Biting her lower lip in mild frustration, the fae narrowed her single-eyed gaze at the tower in front of them. The question posed by Hanno brought up a visage, that clearly showcased just how much Mystia did want to say 'Actually-' and then pull out some amazing stunt. Alas...

"I've tried to experiment with things like EMPs, but there is one pretty glaring flaw... I use magitech almost exclusively. Activating a device like that, it would shut down all of my own devices as well, not to mention my golem. Might as well be a self-detonation packaged in."

While magitech itself was capable of vastly diverse things, the intense focus on this one single mastery ensured that the user also had some pretty bad weaknesses that could be exploited. This was one of them, and Mystia was almost painfully aware of it, given the current situation.

"Stealth is pretty much not an option, anyway... I mean, how is a massive machine like that supposed to sneak around? And the one we actually need to get inside is, well, inside of said hulking machine as well. This is all too risky either way."

In other words, she didn't like any of the possible approaches. It seemed that they hit a bit of a dead end, or at least a very strong brick wall that would demand some bloody foreheads before it would break down.

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

"In this case..." Hanno stood up, though still behind an obstacle, as much as his size allowed him to do at least. He pushed his thumb against his chest, confident. "I will cause a havoc and a distraction, and will taunt most of the enemies toward me. This will give the opening to you and the Buddy-bot." He voiced his plan, that was quite straightforward and lacked any complexity.

"Hmm... I am not sure if that will work out... Just because the enemies are out of the base, it doesn't mean it won't be protected by its interior security systems."

Hanno huffed. "That's why this smart girl is going in, not me." He gestured to @Mystia. "I don't doubt she could hack a security system and render it useless even. I will distract the security that is independent from it, and if Misty can handle the interior security, she won't even need to bother about being stealthy." At least, that was what he considered in his mind.

"And as soon as I can get done with it, I will try to get together with you guys."

 

[Mystia]

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It took all of the girl's restraint not to immediately try to pull Hanno back into proper hiding.

"You will do what? Right after saying that charging ahead would be far too risky? Nuh-uh, you're not going anywhere, boy!"

Hanno might have behaved like a mature individual, but his small fae stature combined with Mysty's instinct as a teacher made sure that she wouldn't just let him rush into danger like that. Biting her own lip, she soon let out a sigh and scratched the back of her head.

"Haah... if you're determined that we do this now instead of falling back, I guess there is one other option... It's a bit of a last resort sort of a thing, but it's better than getting pulled apart by those patrolling machines."

Partly standing up herself, she moved around Hanno to approach the magitech golem.

"I'll have to disassemble you."

"I BEG THINE FUCKETHING PARDON?"

"Hey, language! Anyway, I can extract your core and memory repository. Our new friend will come with. I can then set the body to autopilot and let it engage the magia, lead them away. It'll, uh... probably get destroyed in the process, but unlike ourselves, I can rebuild it later."

@Hanno Futaba

 

[Hanno Futaba]

Hanno rose his hands in a surrendering gesture when @Mystia suddenly scolded him. The way she was protective was cute, so he didn't feel bothered that he was being refrained from practicing what his role is expected to do.

As she voiced her concern further, he couldn't help but smile softly.

"How we are going to do this then?" Hanno asked, looking at the fellow faerin walk around him, and declare something that made his eyebrow raise.

He wasn't the only one caught off guard.

"W-Wait! Does that mean I will be disassembled too?!"

Crossing his arms, he patiently listened to her explanation despite the initial scare, and after listening to it, he tried to reassure: "I am sure it will be fine. If she has your memories, it will be no different from how we found miss cat over here." He gestured.

"It will be okay. Misty knows her way in this."

As he spoke, he casted glances at the surroundings, making sure the enemy didn't notice their presence, being ready to tackle any offensive they would receive while Mystia worked on the robot.