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Post by EskimoOfTheNight on Feb 7, 2015 3:38:41 GMT -5
In a world covered by endless water...
People known as Diggers scour the few remaining patches of land looking for ancient ruins known as gates. Within these gates are found refractors, ancient power sources, and the foundation of all modern technology.
As with any thing sought after, rumors of a great fortune known as the "Mother Lode" began circulating.
While stranded on Kattelox Island, a small group of diggers consisting of Megaman, Roll, and their grandfather Barrel Caskett discovered clues that brought them ever closer to the mysterious Mother Lode. Further discoveries resulted in the discovery of the living quarters of an ancient race known as "Prototype Anthro Units." The keys guarded deep within these mysterious ruins unlocked something far more disturbing, buried deep within the Main Gate, an ancient Bureaucratic Model known as Megaman Juno had slept for centuries.
Juno awoke and revealed that his purpose was to keep the number of Carbons, the people of Terra, below a certain threshold. In the centuries of his sleep the population had grown rapidly out of control. Juno deemed it necessary to reinitialize the island, and begin again from the beginning.
Megaman would not accept this, and destroyed Juno, however, it was revealed that Megaman was actually an incredibly powerful unit known as a Purifier, originally from the same mysterious realm as Juno. What this means is not yet apparent, as Data knows more than he has let on...
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Three weeks have passed since the events on Kattelox Island. Megaman's search for where he came from has hit a wall. Roll has not found any new leads on her quest to find her parents. All in all, Graps is the only one in a cheery mood. Ever one enticed by adventure, he's almost dancing with excitement over the discovery of a new island. Adding to the mystery is the fact that it was found in an area that had been previously explored and charted...
Gramps is so excited that he took the night shift for flying the flutter. It's been years since he stayed up past eight in the evening while flying.
Over the Flutter's intercom you hear him shout, "Megaman! Roll! Hurry to the control room!"
Eager to see what's going on, you hop out of bed, quickly get dressed, and head to the control room.
Once there, Gramps points excitedly and exclaims, "Look, out the window!" The sun is just starting to rise, Gramps had flown all night. In the distance, you can see the mysterious island appearing over the horizon. The island is shaped like a giant triangle, with a fair sized mountain rising on the northernmost point of the triangle.
The island has been nicknamed "Trinity Island," partially due to its triangular shape, and partially because of the three massive stone reaverbot heads that face the sea along the southern shore, one at the eastern point, another at the western, and one in between the two. The people who have begun to explore the island have given it a different name, however...
"There it is, Reaver Island. I've been in this area before in my younger days, and I assure you there was no islands anywhere around here. In fact, geologically speaking, island formation in this region is theoretically impossible." The flutter continued toward the island, but something strange seemed to be going on.
The Flutter was about four miles from the island now, and looking down, the waves were churning violently. Suddenly, they started swirling, forming a vortex hundreds of feet deep. Gramps spun the wheel of the Flutter and violently shoved the accelerator. "Hold on!" he yelled.
It only took four seconds for the three hundred foot tall tower to shoot out of the ocean, nearly knocking the flutter out of the air. Gramps had manouvered swiftly enough though, and they were still flying when the waves calmed.
"Wh... What was that?!" Roll exclaimed. "I've never seen anything like it!"
"You recall the sea tower Megaman explored just before we crashed onto Kattelox Island?" Gramps asked. "That's what it looks like when one comes up!"
"They rise out of the water?" Asked Megaman.
"Of course!" exclaimed Gramps. "I've just never been so close to one when it happened! And between you and me, I'd rather never be that close to one again!" Gramps rotated the flutter to better see the tower that had appeared before them. The tower stood three hundred feet above the surface of the water, however there didn't appear to be any landing platform. Rather, at the base of the tower was a large ring of columns forming a ring around a door. The top was apparently hollow, or at least formed a bowl of some sort, and appeared to be filled with water.
"Well I'll be." Said Gramps. "It's a Neo Torre!" Not waiting for anyone to ask, he explained, "Neo Torres are exceedingly rare, only a handful have been discovered. All had been partially destroyed, probably by pirates trying to break in and grab any treasure they could."
"Megaman," Gramps continued, "I'd like you to explore this tower for me, and I'd like you to take Roll along as well. This is a unique scientific opportunity for us! I have developed a special sonar attatchment for your armor, it will emit silent radio waves that will document the entire structure as you explore it!"
To Roll he said, "Now Roll, remember everything I've taught you. You've grown to be big and strong, you're not a little girl anymore, and I'm not as young as I used to be either... If something should happen to me... I just want you to be prepared." He turned to Megaman, "Keep her safe."
Gramps led the way to the storage room and opened it up. He rummaged around, and finally found what he was looking for, a set of Kevlar armor for Roll. "I got these a long time ago, you were too small to use them back then. Hoo hoo, how time flies. Well, should just about fit you now. Try it on!" Upon seeing that the armor fir properly, he rummaged around for a few more seconds and pulled out something else, an arm mounted buster unit. "This should do the trick," he said motioning to her arm. He slid the unit over her arm and connected it to the Kevlar suit. "To fire, clench your fist. Just don't test it out in the flutter! It still works though, I give it a test run every month or so."
"Now Roll, let's head to the support room and see about some weapons! I never was very good at this stuff, but since you're going this time, perhaps you could quickly give me a lesson or two?"
Roll obliged him and taught him the basics of putting on and removing special weapons, both the interchangeable limbs for Mega and the arm mounted versions for herself.
Having figured it out, Gramps asked, "Alrighty, which weapon do each of you want?"
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Post by Mikéy on Feb 7, 2015 14:56:52 GMT -5
"I'll take the Drill Arm!" exclaimed Roll eagerly, "since Megaman does so well with fighting, he should have the honor of picking a weapon he's comfortable with using, especially if I'm going with him! If we come across any weak walls, I can blow them away since using a Drill Arm's so simple! Good idea, right?"
Roll glanced around the R&D room proudly. Every weapon she made for Megaman while they were on Kattelox was there, all crafted by her own two hands. It was just such a shame that this was going to be one of the last times that they'll ever see use; she had set up the Terra-bay account just last night, and was ready to begin selling them all! Her eyes fell lastly on the Shining Laser, the most powerful of all of the weapons she had crafted. Yes, that one was going to be worth a pretty refractor... It was weird that it couldn't cut through walls like the Drill Arm could though.
Roll realized she was daydreaming a bit and snapped her attention back to Gramps.
"Since that tower rose so suddenly out of the ocean, it's important to be prepared for any possible outcome! Taking the Drill Arm means that we'll have access to anything that tower may have to offer!" she added.
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Post by Dashe on Feb 7, 2015 15:48:24 GMT -5
"I'll take the Spread Buster, then," Mega Man decided. "I'm hoping I'll be able to clear out all of the Reaverbots with just my buster, but if we get ourselves surrounded I'd like to be able to take down a bunch of them quickly. You're going to want to stay out of the blast zone, though, Roll. If anything comes close to you while I'm cornered, just run straight at it and drill through! It's a little scary, but it works!"
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The more time they spent talking, the longer it would take them to get down in that Neo Torre. Sure, a ruin was a ruin, but being the first Digger to explore one was an incredibly exciting prospect that had him anxious to jump in and get started before anyone else had the chance. "Hey Gramps, do you think we'll find any new Reaverbots down there? I know I'm supposed to protect Roll, but this is a brand new ruin. What if we discover a Reaverbot nobody else has ever seen before? Should we do anything different if that happens or just shoot it down as usual?"
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Post by EskimoOfTheNight on Feb 10, 2015 1:18:27 GMT -5
"Already you two are planning with teamwork in mind! I'm impressed Roll, the drill arm is quite a bold choice! Here, perhaps you should take this as well." Gramps checks through a pile of scraps, and eventually finds a small ring of metal with a lens in the middle. He affixes it to Roll's buster, explaining how buster upgrades are all about focusing the energy into different spectrums affected the density and wavelength, and as such how much damage the individual blasts do, the color of the energy, and the range. As he explained, he was affixing the drill arm over Roll's arm and attaching it at the sleeve of the Kevlar vest. When he had finished, he took a step back and admired her. "You look ready for anything Roll! Go show those reaverbots who's boss!"
Gramps next motioned for Megaman to come over. The room was fairly small, only he and Mega fit inside, just as it had been only he and Roll moments before. "To answer your question, I'm not quite sure if there will be any new reavers. I anticipate that there might, but none have ever been found inside. Part of the destruction commonly seen is that a good portion of the roof has fallen through, clear to the ground below. Regardless, new reaverbots aren't to be taken lightly. Generally speaking, shooting first is beneficial, even if it reflects off of armor, you learn something about the reaver. It that doesn't work, well, no machine is perfect, and that includes reavers. There has to be a weakness somewhere!" Exchanging the arms was a quick task, one of the benefits of cybernetic implants. When he was done Gramps didn't stand up, he instead spoke in a slightly hushed voice, quiet enough that Roll couldn't overhear. "Listen, Megaman. I'm getting old. I'm not going to live forever. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going without a fight, but still... when I go Roll will be all the family you have left. Keep her safe in there, OK Megaman? Don't worry about any new reaverbots, I know you'll make the right decision." Not waiting for an answer, gramps stood up and lead the way to the bottom deck.
"Alright then, I guess this is it! I've got the Flutter hovering in the center of the columns we saw earlier, just hop into the lifeboat, I'll lower you down into the water."
They both got in, and gramps lowered the lifeboat out the back of the Flutter. It touched down in the water without any incident, the waves of the ocean diminished by the dozen or so large columns surrounding them. Mega pulled out the oars and rowed them into the mysterious Neo Torre.
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Inside, a cursory glance revealed that the entire tower was hollow. The water flowing in from the entrance ended in a circular pool surrounded by a fairly narrow walkway leading to a staircase circling upwards. From the center of the pool, it was possible to see straight up to the top of the tower, every floor seemed to consist of an outer ring of floor, and an inner circle missing. About thirty feet above the entrance was a hollowed out chamber with a glowing light, opposite it the floor levels out, then continues rising upwards. There are no reaverbots visible from here.
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Post by Dashe on Feb 10, 2015 14:22:05 GMT -5
"It's so...quiet." Mega Man remarked once he'd had his customary pep talk with Data over by the boat. The mechanical monkey, much to his chagrin, hadn't happened to bring along anything along the lines of a useful buster part this time around. Mega Man's voice and footsteps echoed around them over the gentle sloshing sound of the water as he took a few tentative steps up the stairwell. They were so quick to get to the new ruin that the floors were still damp and water dripped from the ceiling every so often. Although there really didn't seem to be anything else in the tower with them, he had his buster raised in defense just in case. "Let's check out that room up above where we came in. Stay behind me, Roll, and keep an eye out for any sign of movement or anything that looks suspicious."
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Post by Mikéy on Feb 10, 2015 19:03:28 GMT -5
Roll glanced at their surroundings as they steadily climbed the staircase.
"Looks as if there's nowhere to go but up anyways! What a shame, I hope I didn't bring this silly Drill Arm for nothing! Maybe I can chip away at a big reaverbot's hide while you've got him distracted!" Said Roll, thinking out loud.
"Not that it's likely that there will be one... Although it would certainly be boring if we had nothing but steps on the way up!" she continued.
"Once we get past this upcoming floor, maybe the scenery will change! I'll most certainly let you know if I spot any doors. They're bound to not be far from our current position if I manage to see them with my own eyes- oof!" she said. They had climbed all the way to the top of the staircase, and Roll had bumped slightly into Megaman because she wasn't paying too good attention. They were ready to peek over the end of the staircase...
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Post by EskimoOfTheNight on Mar 27, 2015 0:03:37 GMT -5
As Mega and Roll came up to the crest, they can clearly see that the path levels out for ten feet, then continues to spiral upwards for about a hundred feet before it becomes difficult to see clearly. It does seem that the incline does eventually end up going into the ceiling above that, but the lack of windows makes it difficult to tell exactly how far above them this occurred. Along the opposite wall, directly above the entrance is an alcove, from this angle it's tough to see what exactly is inside, however you can see a faint red glowing.
You hear Gramps through the intercom, "Megaman, Roll. Testing testing. Can you hear me?" Both confirm that they can, and he continues. "It seems that there's a refractor directly across from you. Even better, it looks like it isn't shielded! The bad news is, it doesn't seem that there is any way to get across from where you are, and the scanners show that it's at least thirty feet across, too far even with your spring jump Megaman... Perhaps the solution lies higher in the tower? I'll keep scanning and let you know if I find anything interesting."
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Post by Dashe on Mar 27, 2015 12:57:12 GMT -5
"Thanks, Gramps." Mega Man replied. He glanced across the room again at the red glow from within the room across the center of the tower. "Hmm...if I could reach it right away, and it's this close to the entrance, touching it would have probably set off some kind of trap," he figured after a short period of deliberation. There always seemed to be a catch with these things. The more effort it took to get to a refractor, the easier it usually was to just whistle a happy tune and walk out of the ruins with it without much issue. After at least a dozen trips into various ruins, he'd managed to figure out at least that much. Nothing quite set off red flags like an unguarded, unshielded refractor sitting in an easily-approachable room.
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Post by Mikéy on Mar 27, 2015 13:26:34 GMT -5
"I'll bet that refractor's a trap!" declared Roll, after a minute or so of thinking. It was obvious that Megaman was thinking the same thing, especially since he just said something similar.
"However, it may not be, since that it's obviously not readily accessible unless you have a backpack that has thrusters that give enough propulsion to keep you suspended in midair... I've been studying them, but it's such a slow-going process..." Roll continued, looking thoughtfully towards the red glow, which looked pretty far away.
"We'll just have to come back to it and continue going up! Gramps is right, the solution to this puzzle to a digger would be to climb higher and see what else is in the ruin to help with this later!" she said, holding up her drill arm. She slowly inched her way up the makeshift "staircase", straining her eyes to try and see farther into the gloom above them as she moved.
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Post by Dashe on Mar 27, 2015 14:00:19 GMT -5
For a short while, Mega Man grinned to himself as he imagined the fun he would have once Roll managed to build him a functioning jetpack. He had no doubt that if Roll said she was interested in making it, it would end up getting built eventually. However, his eyes shot open the moment he realized Roll was heading up first into uncharted territory with nothing but perhaps the second most useless weapon for potential ranged combat that she'd ever built.
"Hey Roll, wait up!" He shouted as he scrambled up the stairs after her. He hoped he'd be able to get up there first, especially if there were any Reaverbots waiting to ambush them.
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Post by EskimoOfTheNight on Mar 28, 2015 1:20:36 GMT -5
As they continue upwards, Roll leading the way, Mega just behind her, the two notice something change as they arrive on the landing above the alcove. The floor suddenly widens here, seemingly making it impossible to jump down into the area containing the refractor. In addition, a small groove is cut into the wall running parallel to the floor, following the curvature of the tower.
Megaman glances over the edge, and from this higher vantage, it becomes clear that there is a massive stone button a dozen feet below the surface of the water. It appears that it would require a great deal of weight to press it down.
Roll, following his example, looks down as well. She goes a step further by lying flat on her stomach and looking over the edge upside down, into the alcove below. She sees that there is indeed a large, red refractor inside, floating above its pedestal with no sign of a barrier anywhere.
Gramps comes in over the radio. "Be careful you two, I'm picking up a medium reaverbot signal a few stories above you. It seems it isn't moving towards you, but at any rate, whatever's in this tower is starting to wake up... Also, it seems that there is some sort of mechanical retraction system in the walls. The scanners don't show exactly what it's for, but it's something to be aware of."
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Post by Dashe on Mar 28, 2015 16:18:08 GMT -5
"Thanks, Gramps," Mega Man responds. He heads back to the stairs and glances up. "A medium-sized Reaverbot signal, huh? Sounds more fun than standing around in an empty room trying to figure out how it works. I'm going to try and find where it's coming from. It shouldn't be too hard to take down."
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Post by Mikéy on Mar 29, 2015 10:57:50 GMT -5
Roll frowns.
"Well this isn't any fun! If we want to get that huge button pressed down, someone will have to row the boat out so it doesn't end up getting crushed! I'll definitely end up having to do that, since my combat experience is like, zero..." Roll stated disdainfully.
"Doesn't sound as if the medium-sized reaverbot will be capable of weighing down the button anyways; unless it has some serious mass inside of its material makeup, and I'm not entirely sure if we can break this floor..." she continued.
Then a light bulb lit up in her head.
"Or YOU could be the one to row the boat out while I attempt to break through the floor with this!" She exclaimed, holding up the drill arm.
"Who needs grenades when you can just aim a drill arm downwards? Am I right?" Roll stated proudly.
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Post by Dashe on Mar 29, 2015 11:40:46 GMT -5
Mega Man frowns and turns back toward Roll from the staircase. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," he uttered. "What if the ground collapses from under you and you fall too?"
Gramps had told him to keep her safe, after all. He'd have to be insane to screw that one up.
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Post by Mikéy on Mar 29, 2015 11:52:13 GMT -5
"Awesome! You passed that little test, Megaman!" Roll said brightly, "this floor probably doesn't even break. Not that I'm dumb enough to try."
Roll was certainly having a fun time with her brainstorming.
"Ready to go see what the medium-sized reaverbot is?"
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