<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Current Day 44th Current Quarter Mia (Winter) Current Year 81379 At approximately 7:00 PM earth equivalent. Let's get this part-ay started! It should be noted that my actual post starts alittle (like 20 minutes) before the timestamped time. In signing your names I may have commited a tiny tiny powerplay... forgive me! ^.^;</td></tr></table> +--------------------------------------+ Unoffical Menlo Tournmate! To be held at Janardan Arena! At 7:00 on Day 44 We will be playing all night long! Please bring your own equipment and cards. All skill levels welcome, we're playing for fun, and bragging rights! Please sign form below if interested No more than 6 please! 1. Dushek Iom'lu 2. Del___________ 3. Sylverstryx Rymapumkaj 4. Kilske_________ 5. Mordraug Nyote 6. Cueasu________ +-----------------------------------------+ Dushek tore his flier off of one of the Janardan's bulletin boards. Head jerking back in surprise, he realized he'd booked his little event. He hadn't been expecting that. None the less, a slow grin took over his face, as he basked in possibility of a real large Menlo match he'd been in for a long time. After stopping shortly by his dorm to pick up his equipment, and two Team Adapters, he left the Academy and started down the street to the Arena, which everyone had taken to calling "Janardan Arena" even though it was technically the "Watani Arena". It was only at this point to review the names of the people who had signed. Hm. Del... Could be anyone really. He knew alot of Dels. He shrugged. He'd just have wait to see. Sylverstryx... Stryx? Yea. It's probably him. Although Dush had never actually met Stryx, he'd a lot about him. Good and bad. He'd reserved judgment until he had met the guy, and know he would. Kilske... He'd seen her around, from afar. Seemed like the anti-social type. He grinned. Maybe there beating was a heart of a menlo-mainiac, and the 6 person limit appealed to her. Maybe. We'll see. Mordraug.... MORDRAUG?! Dushek stopped dead in his tracks. His teacher had signed up. His teacher had signed up! Gah! He laughed to himself nervously. This might be awkward. He examined the last name on the list. He wasn't familiar with it. Well, this'll be fun, they were mostly new people. He smiled to himself. He entered the Arena, and waved the Sectary. "Hey Elina! Think you could open up an Arena for me and some of my friends? I'm holdin' a little friendly bout." She looked up from her book, but when she saw who it was she smiled, and threw him a key. "Oh. Hi Dush! Go open up number 7, it's been collection dust for nearly a week." Dush grinned. "Oh, I'm a janitor now, am I?" "Ha. Ha. Ha. Hey. Where's the rest of you?" "My friends? Oh, they'll be trickling in any minute now. Hey." He gave her the list. "If any of these people wander in, could ya send 'em my way?" She mock-saluted and said, "Sure thing." "Thanks Elina, now I'm gonna go set up, now. Cya Later!" "Later." It was a minor breach of company policy letting Dush have a key, but it was ok, Dush was a regular. After walking down a longish hall, he came to a door marked with a clear <span style='color:#FF0000'><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>9</span></span>. He unlocked the door, and hung up the key on a nail in the wall. After a quick survey of the room, he found it satisfactory and unburdened himself. Despite his flyer, he'd brought along an extra console, and card. Just in case anyone would have technical difficulties. He plugged in the 2 team adapters (one was red, and other blue), and plugged his console into the #1 slot on the red one. He was excited, he hoped everyone'd show.
Del stepped silently into the arena lobby and up to the secretary, told his name, and was pointed into a room #9. <span style='color:red'>This the tornament?</span> He said quizzically, already unpacking his gear, <span style='color:red'>Do you mind if i'm on your team?</span> He said, looking over his headset, then plugging it in. he looked over his chip a moment, and smiled a bit. <span style='color:red'>what do you got for a chip?</span>
Kilske walked down the empty street towards the designated arena. Her long black hair steamed behind her and hung down in front of her downcast face. She wore a Menlo cap backwards on her head. She had a black shoulder bag on her back. Her paws were thrust into the pockets of her baggy pants and she walked with a slump. A smirk was hidden behind her hair. This match was going to be fun. She had never fought others at Janardan before. These last few weeks she had been visiting her brother who lived at the school. In her own school, Notsalepua, she was one of the Menlo regulars and her techniques and tactics were well known. This also gave her an opportunity to fight some new blood. She fingered her cards in her pocket. She had brought a couple, planning to base her decision on the impression of her fellow players. This was going to be another first for her, a team match. Cooperation was not one of her strong points but for the good of the win, she would have to give it a try. She reached the arena and entered silently. She walked up to the secretaryÂ’s desk. "IÂ’m meeting Dushek." She said suddenly, her first noise since entering the building. The secretary started, looking up from her book. "Oh, you scared me. You are in room 9." Kilske smiled, taking the comment as a compliment. She trotted silently off towards the 9th arena. When she reached it she pushed open the door and met eyes with two male pendragons. She lifted a paw to sweep her strait black hair from her face. "One of you I assume would be Dushek, the other of you would be one of my competitors am I right?" She said jerking her head towards the team adaptors and the two headsets plugged into them. She smiled and walked towards a bench to set her things down. She took out her own headset, a fairly new model and plugged it into the first slot of the blue team.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td> I'l probably be breaking the turn order a few times as people enter the room, and Dushek greets them. I'll also list off the grafts when more people get in the room, so Dush doesn't have to repeat himself too many times. :P</td></tr></table> Dushek looked up from his work to see the first new comer enter the room, "<span style='color:#FF0000'>This the tornament?</span>." Before he could comment on it, the he continued, "<span style='color:#FF0000'>Do you mind if I'm on your team?</span>." Dushek answered, "Not'ta'all, he smiled. " I'll be happy to ha- "One of you I assume would be Dushek, the other of you would be one of my competitors am I right?" To Del he said, "Hold that thought." "That'd be me -he watched her plug into the blue team- seems we're both your competitors," he beamed. "You're Kilske right? Yea, I think I saw you at a tournmate, a little while back. Pleased to meet you. I'll explain what rules we'll be playin' under when everyone gets here. We'll be allowing 1 detachable per person though, so plan accordingly!" To both of them he said, "I'd got some chips you can graft onto one of your cards, if nobody has a detachable, and wants one. Most of 'em graft to the 809 connection -which on standard cards governed the fore arm- and the 906 connection - which on standard cards governed the shoulders."
Sylverstryx and Mordraug padded along beside each other, heading for the front desk of the arena. They had ran into each other at the sign up sheet a few days before, and after a striking up a small conversation had agreed to come down to the area together. Both other them sported bags, a back pack in Sylver’s case and Mordraug with his usual leather satchel. It was a short affair for the two of them to confront the secretary and get directions to the correct arena. As Sylverstryx paused outside the door, Mordraug leaned forward over his shoulder, a crooked grin twisting his thin lips and revealing a crescent of yellowed teeth. <span style='color:steelblue'>“Let’s go in, shall we?"</span> he rasped, prodding the young male ahead with a dagger-like talon. <span style='color:firebrick'>“I’m going, I’m going…"</span> Stryx replied with more than a hint of annoyance. <span style='color:firebrick'>Crazy old coot.</span> As Sylverstryx entered the room, he saw two plug-ins. Seeing more space available on the blue team, he cracked open his bag and pulled out his custom head-gear, a thick visor that fitted over his eyes and ears. He plugged into a waiting slot on the blue side, and was more than a little dismayed when Mordraug jacked in right beside him. Great, now they were both on the blue team.
Dushek smiled, if with a tiny amount of falsetto, when Mordraug and Stryx entered. "Hey guys, just plug in where ever you want. We're still waiting on Cueasu, so when ever she arrives, I'll explain the rules, and we can get started!" He ended the sentence with enthusiasm.
Cuesanu ran clumsly up to the door, she had a saddle bag with lots of things in it, mainly about 6 menlo cards and some random stuff too. She was late due to some meddling with Nekhalla. She entered the room and smiled <span style='color:blue'>"Who's ready to get their ass kick?" </span> She pulled out a card in a case labeled "Lightning" and uncased the card. She smiled it was really cute saying she was so fluffy and young. She had one mean bite though, underneath that fluffy head she was a Menlo genius. Her suit could be considered near perfect just because she was such a good programer. This made her cocky sometimes, mainly her biggest fault.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>GAH! My turn. O.o Whoops</td></tr></table> Uh. He watched the little pendragon walk in. If life was an anime, a large teardrop would have appeared somewhere behind his head. "Erm. You must be Cuesanu then?" He coughed. He hoped she was just small. "Well... er. Since their's only one spot left, you can be on my team." Try as he might, he couldn't keep that 'I'm talking to small child" tone out of voice, although he mostly held out until the end of the sentence. "Well, it's going to take me a moment to program these adapters. I'll explain the rules after that. Let's have everyone introduce themselves. We'll start with me. I'm Dushek. I'm coordinating this event, menlo is one of my favorite games, although I love just about any game I can learn. I've participated in I-don't-know-how-many unofficial tournaments like this, and 3 official tournaments, one of which I got into 4th place." He beamed. He was very proud of that success. "Alright -he pointed to Del- you next." He flipped up a cheap-arse monitor on the red team adapter, and started to peck at buttons.
<span style='color:red'>Huh? me?</span> He blinked, <span style='color:red'>I'm nothin' special, i like menlo, never been in an official match, so i guess i'm an amature,</span> He seemed to find his feet suddenly interesting, and stared toward the floor.
Kiske shook her head to answer Dushek's question. This was not to say her cards were perfect, but she knew exactly how each one moved and how it felt. She did not want to play around with them just before a match. She watched the others as they entered and cursed under her breath when Mordraug plugged into her team. How could you have fun with a teacher around? And on your team too, always critisizing every little thing you do. She was being paranoid, maybe he was just here to have a good time. She dismissed the subject from her mind but did not feel any more comfortable. She was glad she did not have the living fluff ball on her team, that might mess everything up. She sighed and fingered the cards in her pocket, narrowing down her selection a bit. She looked up when Del introduced himself. She took it apon herself to go second, since it had been the order or arival. "Well, the closest I have ever been to compeating in an official match was a sponcered virus match. But I guess that doesn't count. I have worked up a bit of a reputation though." She added to make her feel a little less like a newbie at the game. She did not want to sound like she was just another ditz who decided to try out Menlo for the fun of it.
Mordraug stretched, grinning at the younger 'dragons around him. <span style='color:steelblue'>"I'm a teacher at the Janardan, as I'm sure most of you know, and in my spare time I design, build, and modilfy menlo equipment. As well as play with any who are willing. I've participated in various official matches, and quite a few unofficial ones as well."</span> he chuckled, nodding to Sylver. <span style='color:firebrick'>"Yeah... I've mostly been in unofficial matches. I like to think that I'm pretty well known."</span> Sylverstryx grumbled, shooting a dark glare to his teacher. Sometimes the old coot could be reallyannoying.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Whose turn is it now?</td></tr></table>
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>Mine oops</td></tr></table> Cuesanu smirked...though she was young she was considered a Menlo Genius. <span style='color:blue'>I'm one of Janardan's resident Menlo geeks. I'm considered to be one of the best. I design and sell Menlo chips...One of my best is owned by Nekhalla who I'm sure a few of you know, when she does use it, its one of the best. Mine is still better though. You can tell its my design because somewhere on the suit there is a blue C usually small, but thats how you tell. I've made over 50 of them so you should see one around.</span> Cuesanu was quite full of herself at this point. Being the classic nine yearold with a mind of a 25 year old. She thought this won't be a challange at all. She had brought about six of her personal chips to decide from depending on the rules. She was ready to go whenever.
Both adapters were flashing "Y?N" on there displays now. "Nice to meet you all." He nodded in friendly fashion. "Alright, everyone knows the basic regulation rules, correct? Good. This match differs in 2 ways: You are allowed 1 detachable component or ranged weapon. And we're playing on teams." He smiled. "Teams can communicate easily from anywhere in the arena just by talking. But keep in mind that other team may be able to hear you talking if you're close enough to them." "If anyone needs a graft for a ranged weapon or detachable component I've got some in bag." He pointed over his shoulder at his bag, then walked to it, and brought it back. He took out his "Crawler" Card. He smiled devilishly to himself, as he'd designed this card only a week or so ago, and this would be it's first use outside of the testing arena. He also took out a Spreader Gun graft. He put up against the 809 connection and waited a moment. The graft made a swirling sound and then a light came on at the top, showing the successful grafting. "Alright. Is Everyone ready?" When they were, he hit the "Y" keys on both the adapters. His vision swam for a moment, and then courtyard materialized in his vision. He shook himself to check the weight on the suit. Everything was in order, although the spreader gun weighted just a little on his side-forearm. He pounded his breast plate to make use it was working properly, and did the same for his leg plates, arms plates, gauntlets and helmet. They weren't heavy armor, just enough to protect from a glancing blow; This suit was built for speed and agility. Next, he checked his arm blades, running the length of the suit's forearms. He flipped them forward and back a few times, and grinned. He could play them outwardly, for extra reach, or inwardly to his arms more parrying power. His claws clicked together, tipped with wicked looking blades each one. But they're we're for combat really. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td> Ok. I got us in the arena, so we wouldn't have to go through another full round before we got into it. ^^ The arena is a maze with the teams starting in 2 courtyards on opposite ends.</td></tr></table>
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>is it my turn?</td></tr></table> Del could never get used to the feeling of getting pulled away from reality, and this was no different, his head swam for a second and then his vision cleared, for a moment he was frozen about three feet off the ground, then landed with familiar ease beyond that of his real-world limits, even as a student of acrobatics. He flexed his dark metal fingers, tested the retracting blade on his right forearm, ran an ammo diagnostic, then checked out the new laser sight for firing at short to medium ranges and went over his spider gloves code. he had removed his sniper scope and back spines for the new stuff, but it was worth it, <span style='color:red'>My system checks out, hows everybody else?</span> He said over the team Comm. <span style='color:red'>Lets rock and roll!</span> He said out loud, flipping down his re-coded visor, now it compensated by placing night vision only in dark areas of his view, he reached down to his belt and pulled out a ten shot clip for his blade gun and slapping it into place on his left forearm, His stealth meter was already 20% charged, at full he gets about 5 muinites of stealth time, He willed the small, snakelike camera attatched to his helmit to activate, and it pulled itself out of its reel, twisting around three feet in front of Del's Vizor, following his thoughts. He checked the little window that popped up in the top right corner of his H.U.D., the camera code was worth what he'd done for it, and doing somebodys homework for a month is NOT fun, He stepped over toward the exitway, <span style='color:red'>I'll Scout ahead and be back in a flash</span> he said, dashing off into the dark, silent as a mouse. He Came to a T-intersection, <span style='color:red'>Whitch way?</span> he muttered over the comm. <span style='color:red'>Right</span> he thought to himself, he reached into one of his belt pouches and took out a marker, he dropped the bright red light on the ground against the wall from the path he came. turned right, and dashed off again. <span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>My longest post EVER! 2156 characters! YAHOOOO</td></tr></table>
Kilske managed to make her final decision and stuck her Praying Mantis card into the slot provided. This was by far her favorite suit that she had ever worked with. She sat back down and waited while Dushek brought them into the virtual world. She felt the gentle pull on her senses as they were dragged into the virtual world. She saw the courtyard scene materialize in her eyes and she almost forgot they were in a game. Instinctively she looked around at the rest of her team. This would be confusing, she thought as she stared into the open end of the maze in front of her. She was used to playing in the city arena module. Fighting in a flat area would be a little different for her. Also she would have to discern teammates from enemies before attacking. She sighed, letting out the sudden feeling of unreadyness. Calmly she looked herself over. The Praying Mantis was built for easy maneuverability and stealth. It was not a very fast suit as far as the standards went in the Menlo game, but it could sneak up to 4 feet behind you without so much as the sound of a footstep to let you know it was coming. It was built for bipedal stance, and was not very useful while on all fours. The armor around Kilske’s initial body was thin and practically body hugging. Each of her limbs however was at least four times their initial bulk and length. She had focused the main inner workings of her suit into the limbs, leaving almost nothing but a hard casing for the rest of her body. Her back legs were long and triple jointed. Her back paws were covered by a “boot" that bended into a single long blade that stuck out of its front. Her arms were similar, triple jointed and very bulky. The section for her upper arm and shoulder was a little shorter than was proportionate. The hands on her suit hung down, weighted by two long sharp jagged blades. She had to hold these up off the ground and the fact that they bent down naturally gave the suit its name, the arms curled like that of a praying mantis. Her suit seemed to have no neck and just curved into her head above her shoulders. There were two oval red ‘windows’ for her to see out of. The head also sported two inward facing blades at the mouth that formed pincers. Kilske’s suit did not have a tail, she had found it slowed her down and served no ultimate purpose and used the space for some other part of her suit. Satisfied that all was in working order, she spoke into the team communicator. "Kay, I’m ready for this thing to start." She said, waiting for the familiar buzz of the siren that started the match. She was not sure if there even was one in this module but she hoped it was one of the standards, she did not want to be left at the start the entire match. She took another quick look at her team.
<span style='width:100%;font-weight:bold; font-size:10px'>Out of Character</span> <table class=ooc><tr><td>GAH!!! I give up on the turn thing</td></tr></table> Cuesanu rummaged thru her bag till she picked up a card that was labeled PL, and an attachment labeled CC. She quickly attached the attachment to the card and pluged in. She shook her head to get rid of the blurriness and flexed her fingers. Her suit was quite fitting for her personality. It was oviously built for speed and quick shots. The tail part was most interesting though...her own tail had been replaced with what looked like a wire with a paw on the end except the paw had dimond hard claws on it. The tail section was completly posable etc. Next to her appeared her detachable component, a metal Cucu. It was white with a purple visor. It flexed its claws impatiently, it was oviously an AI. Her suit itself was a nice Pink color and on one of the legs in gold was her signiture. Her wings had also been turned metal and had blades on the edge of each feather making them a great weapon also. She herself had a purple visor infront of her eyes, it didn't effect her sight, but it did give her vital information about her surroundings and also let her see what the Cucu could see. She had two long blades coming off the top of her paws that could easily give someone a hard time. She turned to the cucu and gave it instructions <span style='color:blue'>Okay CMS1 I want you to look for the quickest way to the other side staying undetected. If you are detected use the quickfire tequnique to get around and confuse the opposing team. They don't know your here and they don't know you can cling to walls.</span> Cuesanu smiled and mentally had the visor switch to half screen mode so she could see what the Cucu saw, and in the coner had a map of the undefined maze so she could follow. The buzzer sounded and she smiled. <span style='color:blue'>Go CMS1!</span> The cat sped off silently, she then turned to her team. <span style='color:blue'>We can track the cat and find our way thru the maze, the cat will also tag the opposing team when they come by him so we will be able to track them also.</span>
