Scene #6791: Old Content 5: Dungeons and Law Officers

Owner	Pose
Tomoe	SAO Earth Japan Hokkaido Tomoe had gathered interested parties at the hot springs restaurant from their previous outing to report on how the translation work had gone. R The translation work had gone fairly well, from the seized missive. It had only taken the Dark Elves a little time to translate it in full detail. The information contained within proved to be the Orcs are working for the Dragon Sunfall and now they were seeking a bride. It also noted to keep an eye out for the Dark Lady as well for rumours hinted she was in the region, somehow without most of her dark generals with her. Tomoe would have played innocent with the Dark Elves and would just be facepalming in private. It was good to be aware that the old Dark Lady Quest was going to come back to haunt her somewhere. The note had also noted further orders regarding the Dark Lady were coming into play here which made Tomoe wonder. There hadn't been much more time for anything on that as a call came in for help. She had gathered with anyone else interested contacted by a town's Police Chief, it seemed the underground sewers had transformed into a dungeon. To the police's credit and one local Augma user they had gone several floors down, even dealing with the first boss without help. It was when they got to the second things went bad and if they had nearly wiped. The police were happy to give the map the team had made to the party with the route they took down. This would lead the party to the storm sewer that was the entrance to the dungeon, and on the map, it was labelled. The Sub-Urban Blight It looks like it had twisted the modern nature of the place making it look like an old warren, Tomoe would cast a quick spell causing a mote of light to form at her shoulder, and she'll start moving ahead. "So this zone keeps going. It almost feels like this isn't just random content but something far bigger event... and it's now bringing up the Dark Lady I do not like this."
Silica	"That's not good, no." remarks Silica, following after Tomoe, using her sharp eyesight to peer ahead, past the circle of light from the spell. She's taking point, scouting ahead with Pina on her shoulder acting as an early warning system. The Cait Sith has had a bad feeling about this whole thing since she first joined up... no other Zone has ever been so expansive, just a few quests, fight a boss or two and it settles down..
Staren	Sewers. Stinky enclosed places. Staren offers everyone going down who needs to breathe vacsuits, just in case. Not because of the stink but because enclosed places may not have enough oxygen or contain poisonous gasses. He also offers glasses or tablets that share his map data, if they don't already get a map HUD for being here. Staren's not entirely sure how that works anymore. Staren himself, of course, is in armor that's environmentally sealed anyway. He considered trying to get alternate weapons that don't use intense heat, but it seems unthemely for the game to bother with explosive gas hazards. Lights come on built into his armor so he can see where he's going. As Silica's scouting, he asks her to carry a breadcrumb positioning system to better stay in contact, and sends a couple of drones ahead of the party but behind Silica to watch for monsters and snap pictures of side-tunnels.
Sarracenia	Not another sewer...at least Kirito is once again here. Since her last outing into a festering cesspool, Sarracenia has had a typical rebreather properly styled to match her princessly style. But...it still looks like a rebreather, no matter how many jewels she bedazzles it with. And she isn't wearing her typical dress either. Not even her battle dress. Do you know how hard it is to get those kinds of stains out of leather?! So, the princess is wearing a dress that was made completely from sleek, smooth plastic. It is basically a hazard suit, but with a long skirt added. Even her hair is covered. Not a bit of princess is visible! And even after all of that, the princess is -still- whining. "Why do these sorts of things never happen in a nice clean area? Like a tropical island or a well kept castle? Nooooo. It has to be a sewer, or a cave, or a dungeon that hasn't seen people in ages and is covered with dust and grime!" The talk of the Dark Lady does at least draw Sarracenia's attention. "Who is this Dark Lady? And...what does it mean if this is a bigger event?"
Kirito	Kirito's already seeing plot threads in the translated information that has his gut sinking. Because he's always thinking of the worst possible outcomes when it comes to plot twists in these quests. The Spriggan doesn't need to worry about how dark it is though. His natural nightvision's so good that he doesn't even realize it's so dark in here! At the moment he's picked Elucidator and Dark Repulsor for his weapons, but only drawn the former. It's a wonder he has somehow managed to regain these - a wonder he has Arthur Lowell to thank for. He's also donned a cheap air filter mask to ward off some of the stench and the yuck, but otherwise is relying on his normal loadout and skills. What kind of swordsman would he be, otherwise? "You'd like it even less if you knew what gamer's intuition is saying here." Kirito exclaims in a vaguely resigned tone.
Tomoe	Toimoe nods in agreement to Silici about the matter of the Dark Lady "At least the outfit debuff hasn't kicked in." She's tempting fate but nothing happens, and the whole matter of them finding out about the Orcs working for the dragon was from them checking out that kidnapping in the end she muses. The map given to them by the Police Chief is fairly well done and sings of the passing of the Police and local Augma user are clear by spent shell casings here and there laying on the ground, also the odd opened chest. These hold out Silica as she explores deeper and head of the party the way is clear of monster looks like things haven't respawned or Cardinal is just using this as an event dungeon. Staren handing out the kit is welcome and then there would be signs Silica would find of a more intense fight, barrels and chest stacked up as cover and a whole lot of brass this would likely be the first boss room from the looks of it and things go deeper from there, she'll find some bloodstains when she gets deeper in. "Hey My castle as the Dark Lady was very well kept I made sure of it!" IT's an attempt of humour and then she looks to Sarracenia. "That would be me, as I was saying, see a quest broke a while ago and I got stuck as the Dark Lady. We had to deal wth a band of heroes Cardinal sicked on. If it's a bigger event it may lead to the zone expanding, world bosses, or who knows what other sorts of changes and that's worrying me. Also, you still come down into places like this and don't balk at doing it, Princess." There's a level of admiration in Tomoe's tone there. Kirito would have no issues as Tomoe does take one of Staren's air filter as even she can't stand it anymore. "Kirito? What are you thinking something's on your mind." Meanwhile Silica would find more traces of the first team's passing and she'll find the boss room door. There are bloodstains on the door and floor here, and a whole lot of empty shell casting looks like things had been rough and all that awaits them is the boss right? Maybe this is too easy.
Silica	Silica is moving quickly. She's counting on this being a cleared floor and not taking side paths, just following the main run, and taking the little hints of where the Augma user and the local police cleared through. When she finds the barricades and the bloodstains and discarded casings, she radios through and drops a marker from the unit Staren gave her, before pressing on. She uses her light body and high agility to press further, and soon enough finds the second Boss Door, coming up short with ears flattened down against her head. <"And there's the second door... I've left a trail of markers from Mister Staren's device, and a few paint pellets, so just follow the path. There's no spawns, looks like the locals cleared it out well enough."> she radios through, dropping another 'Urgent' marker to signal the end of the path. And then she waits, watching the Boss Door nervously, like it'll crack open and swallow her up any second.
Kirito	Kirito freezes in place, thus asked. If he could sweatdrop... well, it would be pretty big. Clearly though, a spark of anxiety strikes across his face as he grinds his teeth a little. "So... they're hunting for a bride... and have their eyes open for the.. 'Dark Lady.'" The implications thereof are left floating in the air. He really doesn't wanna spell this one out so bluntly.
Staren	Staren follows the trail. "What does your 'gamer's intuition' tell you about this dungeon, Kirito?" When the bit about the dark lady is floated... "Oof. If only we could actually put an end to them rather than the AI spawning more every time we kill them..."
Sarracenia	Sarracenia blinks in surprise at hearing that Tomoe is or was the Dark Lady. And then her eyes widen as Kirito implies something. "Wait...so the dragon wants to marry Tomoe?!" Sarracenia exclaims. She has much less tact than Kirito. And to make things even worse...the princess starts to pout jealously. "This is completely unfair! A dragon wishes to kidnap and marry my lady-in-waiting, but no such monsters have ever attempted such a thing with me!" Sarracenia's walking is more accurately described as angry stomps the rest of the way to that second door. When they reach it, she pulls her hammer from her purse and grips it tightly. Whatever is past this door is going to have an angry, frustrated princess all over it. The sounds of her grip tightening are easily heard by those around her.
Tomoe	Tomoe will move to catch up with Silic and everyone else at the door to the dungeon. As Kirito gets more grim about things and doesn't say what he's thinking it leaves Tomoe puzzling for a moment until Sarracenia outright say is. Tomoe expression is comical she turns bright red a this. "Wait? It wants me for what?" She looks t Sarra with this look on her face. "Princess I had no idea about this either.... wait you want to be monster napped?!" Okay so she's learning things about a friend in a way she never expected. At this point the party will all catch up with Silica and Tomoe will push the Boss Door open heading in first as she's the tank right? Readying abilities. "Let's keep alert then, as the boss should be?" She looks about. "Wait where's the boss?" Then after the last person is in it will drop down from the ceiling. Orc Bounty Hunter Evil Sun. The boss is armed with a large number of weapons on it's back currently it has a morning star in hand as it appears and it's health bars become visible. Tomoe is already charging at the boss attempting to draw it's agro. The boss pulls out what looks like a grenade and throws it at the party as Tomoe engages it.
Staren	The doors open and... nothing? Staren watches warily from the doorway, until suddenly, a grenade is thrown at him! "GRENADE!" He shouts, and positions his forcefield to bounce it back, but it explodes shortly after the bounce anyway, sending him flying back before he halts his movement with his wings. "Very well then. Let's work out his pattern." He fires the beam cannons. Good old reliable particle beams, aimed for the orc's chest. He's generally trying to keep out of the orc's melee range, using flight to quickly reposition if needed.
Silica	Silica draws her dagger as the others arrive. She also summons Tetsu, bringing the dracotiger into the bossroom with her, while petting Pina on the head as the little dragonling kwrrrls uncertainly. And then we get a sudden boss appearance and he's throwing explosives! Tetsu bellows, and shields Silica from the majority of the blast, red streaks of damage spiderwebbing across his side as the explosion goes off right next to him. A few shards of shrapnel get past and lodge into Silica's leg, making her cry out in pain though her Avatar does mitigate some of the damage. In response, Tetsu rears back his head, and roars, sening out a pulse of sonic energy at the offending Boss, before he leaps and tries to sink claws into the Orc, trying to rend flesh and cause some Bleed DoTs
Sarracenia	Sarracenia hmphs softly at Tomoe. "Of course! No princess on Pipeworld has any real prestige until she has been kidnapped by and almost forcibly married to a big draconic creature of some kind! It is almost the entire reason that anyone knows that prissy Peach's name at all!" Oh yes, this has hit the the biggest button Sarracenia has. That grenade come in, and Sarracenia just rushes straight ahead fast enough that she almost clears the blast area before it even explodes. "Why would you not kidnap ME?!" she exclaims as she is blasted forward. She uses that momentum to add a bit of power to her leaping attack, and like the other bosses so far she goes somersauting through the air, her hammer a blur thanks to the RPMs she manages to reach. She aims for the orc boss's head, and after the powerful impact she bounces off and somersaults backward more slowly, dropping a few Bob-ombs on her way down.
Kirito	Staren's constant questioning means Kirito finally has to answer him. "It's an underground dungeon. Watch out for ambushes and traps, especially from above. Since parts of it are durt we might also run into burrower ambushes... tight quarters means the front has to switch out frequently and flanking enemies is tough...." All of this stuff is pretty straightforward, really. Of course, Sarracenia's weird outburst has him giving her an EQUALLY weirded-out glance. SERIOUSLY? She -wants- to be kidnapped...? Huh. The minor adventuring is nothing though. Kirito sees the boss doors and strolls on through... finally drawing Dark Repulsor to complete the set of blades of darkness and light. The doors slam shut and DOWN comes the boss with a mighty WHAM. Kirito's already in his battle stance, attention fully on the boss. His eyes rapidly scan its form and attire. He zips up just behind Tomoe, swerving off to the side. She can hold aggro, but his job is to dive in and harass the thing with mighty bursts of DPS! To get there, though, he charges straight through an exploding grenade. Were he any less of a swordsman, the blast would've knocked him right off his feet. SOMEHOW though, Kirito emerges from the explosion largely unscathed. Only a few damage decals mar his form as he swoops in for the warrior and aims to leap across his body, slashing with twin energized blades in a deadly dance. One of his lower-grade Celestial Blades techniques, no doubt...
Tomoe	Evil sun is already getting into the fight but is this boss ready to deal with survivors of the death game and multiversal elites? Silica does some very nasty work with her pets which just hit it a bunch of bleed dots and its health bad is already dropping from that hit. Staren comes in next and he's keeping out of mele range a wise choice as his shots connect boring into the boss' chest. So hard that it causes red wireframe damage to appear. On top of that? He will see the hp boss of the boss drop. Kiritio is now attacking it along with Tomoe, she's doing her best to hold Agro as Kirito attempt to do his own attack the blade does hit it's just the boss has trigged some sort of defensive ability called perfect parry when Kirito's attacks hit. Without warning it uses it's weapon to intercept the attacks with a loud clang. That leaves Evil Sun open to Sarra who just savages the boss the first hp bar is gone by this point from the savage beating it's getting the bad news is? She did pull threat off of Tomoe for a moment, the boss turns about with its mace breaks off from Tomeo and will moe to try and golf slam the Princess across the room. As for everyone else they get an off-hand crossbow pistol firing bolts at them.
Silica	With Tetsu mauling the Boss, the large monster weaving through the strikes from the meleers, Silica herself is left wide open. The crossbow bolt slams into her chest, and the Cait Sith is sent sprawling with a weak little grunt. Tetsu breaks off attack, and moves to protect his Mistress. Silica yanks the bolt out, wincing as she gets back up. She then summons the rest of her menagerie, and points at the Boss. "Kill." is her only command, causing her pets to break formation, and swarm the boss with breath weapons, claws, teeth and magic-skills. The true power of The Beast Mistress.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia doesn't really seem to realize that she should let Tomoe pull aggro, and doesn't seem surprised when the big orc swings that club at her. She grins as it comes for her. "That's right! -I- am the one worthy of attention!" she says as she rears back for a golf swing of her own. Her hammer makes a 'woosh' as it moves through the air...timed just right to clash with that club. The shockwave produced radiates out in a circle as Sarracenia uses her hammer's immense and enchanted power to golf that club right back into the face of Orc Bounty Hunter Evil Sun. Even so, the blastback from the impact and the shockwave it produced sends Sarracenia flying backwave with a cry. She bounces off the floor a couple of times before smashing flat on her back against the wall. Her teeth are locked in a wincing clench as she slides down and lands in a heap. She is awake, but looks like she's been stunned a bit from the clash.
Kirito	When his slashes rebound so fiercely, Kirito growls in frustration. NOTHING?! That's totally uncool! It just causes his determination to surge though. He WILL bring this thing down! And it should reaally know better than to use a projectile weapon against him like this... Kirito smirks to himself and quickly takes a stance for a Sword Skill. Elucidator shines blue and he swiftly lunges forward in a whirl of slashes, battering away almost all of the bolts fired his way. Only one strikes him dead in the side, causing his health to plunge a bit... but that's not enough to slow him down. Not just yet. Unwilling to budge further than this, Kirito lashes out with a swift retort of ordinary slashes at the boss's legs and lower body as he dives this way and that. He'll wait until there's a clear opening before unleashing his BIG moves!
Staren	Staren winces at the strike aimed for Sarracenia, turning his field back on when he sees the crossbow -- the bolt glances off, but with enough power to unsteady his flight again all the same. He flies around the boss room, circling behind but not QUITE to an angle where he'll be shooting at his allies. He keeps up the fire. They just have to wear it down until it changes patterns, and then find the next strategy...
Tomoe	Tomoe says "Wait! No! Sarra!" Tomoe is moving to try and intercept Evil Sun's attack. It fails abut Sarracenia is not down for the count the Princess is more than able to ride out the injuries and issue a brutal counter-attack which demolishes half of the bosses middle bar in one strike and it's left reeling for Kirito's own attack this time Kirito gets past the thing's guard and will strike it once more setting up for something far larger. Staren does what he does best and keeps shooting, flaking it burning away at more of its health and then comes Silicia without mercy as she issues the kill order to her pet and they rip into it catching the thing by the throat and it's flailing around wildly now rather than doing any major focused attacks. Still even undirected that big old mace could be a problem for people if it connects.
Silica	Silica sees the swings starting up. "Switch!" she calls out, darting forwards and into the fray. Her pets all back off as the Boss swings around wildly. Silica then channels an Elemental Sword Skill into her dagger, and with the timing and reflexes earned from over two years in a death game, she strikes the mace at the precice time to knock it into the ground, setting off a resonant TWOOOONG of metal against concrete. Her skill then propogates into the body of the Orc, slashing freezing ice into its body as she completes a full 6 hits. "Frost Heart Flammenco." she says after landing from the attack, her body locking up briefly in Skill Lock.
Staren	Staren darts around as the fighters shift positions. At one point the mace wings his armor, denting and warping it on one arm and sending him spinning before his wings recover. "For crying out loud..." He holds out his arms and a half-dozen tiny missiles launch -- they swerve around to home in on the orc from multiple angles, and then detonate feet before impact -- rather than undirected explosions, they turn into tiny lances of plasma, to skewer him from six angles!
Kirito	In come that thing's wild swings... but Kirito is ready for them. He crosses his blades in a fashion that ONLY works in fantasy (and he knows it), but the defensive skill Cross Block is not to be underestimated. The boss's weapons slam hard into his guard and it drives him back a good ten feet, the impact triggering a small shockwave. But it doesn't knock him off his feet! And that's the important part. But then he sees Silica dash in and... utterly surprise him with that knife-work. She really has gotten good, hasn't she? Now he's got to answer that awesome with something of his own... And with the boss taking the assault seriously, he sees an opportunity. Kirito puts power into his legs... and vaults upwards at an arc, his blades glowing ferociously. Mixed colors of black-purple and white-blue swirl around him as he cries out with a ferocious battle roar and-- And descends upon the boss with the ferocity of an angry star. His blades draw huge arcs of rippling light through the air as they cut with impossible force, swinging back and forth without any regard for inertia. Each blow triggers a titanic explosion of light and glowing particle spray, torrents of rushing energy curling about the blades and just barely keeping up with them! He slowly descends through the air, shifting his aim with every flurry to adjust for the descent. Needless to say, this is no easy feat. Activating Sword Skills is frequently hard enough to do ON THE GROUND with proper footing. He's managed to turn this one into a jump combo and strike where a boss opponent's rarely prepared to deal with melee.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia has just barely made it back to her feet when those wild swings start up. She manages to guard against the few that head her way, but it still sends her sliding across the floor with her hammer held out in front of her like some people use their giant swords to shield themselves. Tomoe's warning registers and the princess blinks. "What? That is how you defeat a monster! Smash its face in!" she says, grinning at how effective returning the club to its sender had been. Then she just sits back and watches for a bit. Not just because she is tired, but because Silica does some amazing dagger work, Staren unleashes a lovely fireworks display, and Kirito performs a dazzling shooting star attack. "Oooooh~ That almost makes up for this being in a sewer!" she says almost cheerfully. It seems like smashing this boss was cathartic for her. She waits until the others are clear, then just tosses a Bob-omb. The cute little creature cause a nice explosion to add to the fireworks.
Tomoe	Tomoe is still doing her thing against the boss keeping it's attention s best she can and smacking it when she's able to as her allies just keep hammering on it. Attacks come from all directions. Silica evades its latest attack and then her friends. Silicia is able to rip into the boss. Mauling it pushing it down to its last hp bar. The boss is now on its last hp bar at this point Staren dods more to eat away at the thing's hp with a salvo of micro missies which cause the room to shake in a chain of plasma explosions. Thankfully it doesn't collapse and Staren controlled his shots well. It's takes Kirito's own assaults, the Black Swordsman and infamous Beater to some has a lot of moves and this shows as he just trips on his signature move the Starburst stream slams into the boss hacking and slashing what little remains of most of it's HP bay the boss is coved in scar it lets out a cry of anger and rage. Sarra is coming in. "It's my job to intercept its attacks and keep in on me so you guys don't end up in the ICU." Three's no anger in her voice. She's stating important fact top her. Then comes the Princess bomb, Tomoe leaps back casting a taunt as she does so, the Boss drops it's mace and pulls out a second crossbow as it starts to rain shots, on the party. "It's almost done finish it!" Tomoe calls out as she intercepts a number of shots with the mourning wall.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia blinks again as she hears Tomoe's explanation. "Oh. I see! It is good you are taking your role as lady-in-waiting so seriously! Protecting the princess is very important, you know~" She stays back for now and just tosses a couple more Bob-ombs, running in a strafing circle around the orc boss. "He is still standing after all of that?!" Sarra exclaims as she runs. "Not even Kirito's amazing swordwork finished him off?" She doesn't have an unhealthy attachment to Kirito, really! "Come on, Kirito! And you too, cat-girl and cat-boy!" She knows their names, but just found it amusing that they have both here.
Staren	"I know! But we can't ALL stand behind you!" Staren replies. Another crossbow shot wings his armor, leaving a deep gouge in the plating. "Besides, that crossbow is clearly ignoring aggro!" Tomoe cries for them to finish it. Staren considers his options. "Fine." He blasts it with the beams just because, then pulls out a pistol and empties the magazine. Every bullet does the same thing as the missiles he just used.
Silica	Silica watches the others tearing into the Boss.... and it still isn't going down. "This is almost as bad as some of the Aincrad bosses." she whines, then gets shot, again. She manages to shift out of the way of the bolt so it only skims past her, gouging out a furrow of her avatar, instead of slamming into her this time. She's exhausted, she's in pain, but she'll be damned if she gives up, especially with Tomoe and Kirito here giving it everything they have. So, she whistles sharply for her pets, and they array around her as she begins to chant. "Ek skýt fjórir ískaldur ör!" As the final rune locks into place, a quartet of icy javelins forms and lance out at the Boss. This is backed up by her pets firing off their own ranged attack skills, be they breath weapons, or some kind of projectile or pulse. She's trying to create an opening for the others to finish it off.
Kirito	It's rather amazing that this thing HASN'T gone down after that massive combined assault. Kirito has no time to be amazed though. The Black Swordsman reacts almost without thought, transitioning flawlessly into spinning Elucidator out in front of him at spectacular speed. The Spinning Shield technique does an admirable job deflecting the few bolts fired his way, leaving him grinning ferociously as it ends... his other blade held back into position. Yes, Dark Repulsor's held horizontally at his side and as Kirito's stance deepens at the very tail end of the shieling maneuver... "THIS IS IT!" Dark Repulsor gleams with an emerald light as the elemental version of Sonic Leap activates. He simply dashes forward in a blur that's almost an invisible line of motion, zipping PAST the boss and unleashing a slash of howling winds in his wake!
Tomoe	Sarracenia is able to keep on her feet and deliver some counter pain to Evil Sun. The Bob-onbs find their mark exploding the boss wearing it down more, it staggers a is attempts to start charging up some sort of final desperation attack? Staren, Silica and Kirito will see that does not come to pass the ice arrows riddle the thing's body interrupting its spell, Kirito sword art hacks into it and just as the best is about to rise? STaren catches the thing in the head with his salvo of bullets it hurks falls over and explodes into a shadow of shards. CONGRATULATIONS Appears before everyone and there are loot drops, there's a quest item drop labelled bounty list, and the general gear, Staren would end up getting one of the orc's auto crossbows as an last hit drop. Tomoe looks around and pauses. "There may be more levels to this place but after that, I think it's best we pull back to the surface. Also, Sarra if you are so keen on being kidnapped we need to talk, I have an /idea/." The cash drops and general other drops turn out to be /really/ good.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia doesn't really seem interested in the cash, but if there is any pretty jewelry or other sparkly things she immediately claims them. "Excellent work everyone! Another successful venture for Sarracenia's Smashers!" She hoists her hammer in a victory pose, then makes her way over to Tomoe. She is curious about this idea. "I am happy to discuss it, but...a kidnapping sort of loses its appeal if it is planned. I only do that when I-..." She stammers a moment. "I-I mean I have never done such a thing before!" She coughs into a hand. "We can discuss it more once we are out of this dreadful sewer dungeon."
Kirito	Down goes the boss! Kirito... immediately relaxes. Relief floods his body. He makes a show of slashing both blades in sequence as if casting any blood or dirt from them, then smoothly sheathes them across his back. A practiced motion to be sure. Does he do this after almost EVERY battle...? It seems he does. Weird. But in the tail end of that... he hears something VERY weird. Something that gets him turning to look over his shoulder in the vague direction of Tomoe and Sarracenia. Kirito's eyes have gotten just a little bit wider with.... concern, probably. He knows crazy when he hears it.
Tomoe	Tomoe looks back. "What Kirito I have an idea there's no harm in floating one later, right? Let's get out of here first..."