Double

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

The mission was going well. Takatora defeated GM's as as they advanced to his chosen zone, slicing into them with the Dragon Sword. As he did so, Takatora made sure to pay closer attention to the sparks pulsing from the blade. Just as Sento said, the sparks seemed to gradually enlarge and increase in frequency with each strike from the blade. This, Sento had said, was designed to be Takatora's visual cue for how much energy the blade had stored up. And then for the next wave of GM's, Takatora held off on striking them down immediately. Instead he briefly activated the Trans-Phase Armor and let himself take a few minor hits. The armor did it's job, reducing the damage a considerable amount but at the cost of energy consumption. After a few hits Takatora toggled the Trans-Phase armor back off in order to conserve power.

"He wasn't kidding..." he said to himself as he looked at his energy levels, "...this thing was was definitely intended for emergencies, not something I can use liberally, it seems." But whatever he was thinking was abruptly interrupted. Suddenly his radar was detecting heavy losses on both sides coming from a nearby zone. Too much to be caused by NPC opponents. It could only be the work of another player. In fact, Takatora had only just not noticed the notification of a new player having joined the mission shortly after he began it. Just one? That would mean they were attacking both Zeon and Federation Forces. Just what were they thinking.

"Wait... he's heading this way!" the signal for the player's Gunpla was rapidly approaching, apparently downing and wiping out NPC's on both sides along the way. The Dragon Sword was already out, and Takatora barely had enough time to ready before a Golden Gunpla burst into his zone and attacked, seemingly without any kind of strategy in mind. Takatora could barely recognize the shape and armor pieces belonging to the Musha Gundam and Hyaku Shiki. Clearly this player incorporated both into their Gunpla. The enemy Gunpla even held its Katana in a backhanded stance along with the weapon's sheath in other hand, a stance very similar to how the Hyaku Shiki wielded its dual beam sabers in Zeta Gundam.

"Who are you?" demanded Takatora on open comms, "And why are you attacking both sides? You won't earn any points doing that!"

"Who says I'm here to complete the event?" responded the enemy player.

"S-Sakakibara...?" all at once Takatora's blood turned to ice. That voice, it had to be him. One of the three founding members of Kiyotaka's team, the Build Warriors. Masato Sakakibara. Takatora went to counterattack but his shock made him too easy to read and Masato dodged easily before slicing the Hayabusa's back. Nothing devastating, in fact if anything Masato was intentionally avoiding dealing heavy damage, as if to kill his opponent slowly and more painfully.

"Come on!" Masato shouted, his voice sounding like it contained an increasing amount of bloodlust, "Was that actually the best you could muster? The Hayabusa is completely wasted on you."

"Shut up!" Takatora shouted back, trying to keep swinging but Masato parried all his strikes, either with the blade of his sword or with the sheath in his offhand. Takatora then boosted backwards, trying to throw energy shurikens to keep his distance when it became clear that he was no match for Masato in melee. Unfortunately, Masato just deflected every single projectile with his blade and sheath. One could almost see the aura of aggression grow increasingly violent with each swing. Takatora only had one option, but he didn't even know if it was possible for him to use that at all. But it was the only choice left, and so Takatora raised the Dragon Sword, the sparks from the collected energy appearing to grow, like an egg trying its absolute hardest to hatch.

"Oh... now this I gotta see." taunted Masato, knowing exactly what Takatora was planning, "Okay then, little Taka..." he said, said, actually sheathing his sword, "...I'll give you this one for free, so come on! I want you to do it! HIT ME!"

Takatora screamed in anger as he boosted forward. He brought his sword to bear against Masato who just stood there and did nothing. For a hopeful second, a golden aura seemed to be trying to form around the blade, but flickered and died as the blade struck the shoulder piece of Masato's Gunpla only to glance off of it harmlessly. At this, Takatora could hear laughter over the open comms. Masato, howling with laughter and amusement. Suddenly golden Gunpla reached out and lifted the Hayabusa by its throat.

"Just like I thought." Masato said, his Gunpla tightening its squeeze and causing sparks to jump from the Hayabusa's throat. If this kept up for too long the Head Unit would be torn from its joint, "You're pathetic, that Gunpla's power is an absolute waste in your possession." suddenly the Golden Gunpla whirled around and hurled the Hayabusa briefly into the air and sending it crashing into trees next to the Zabi Mansion. Then, the Gunpla took an Iado Stance, familiar looking sparks pulsing from its sword even from within the sheathe. That's when Takatora made a horrify realization, "The Hayabusa should have burned along with Kiyotaka!" Masato screamed in a blood-curling tone as he boosted forward. A similar aura of energy coated his sheathed blade, though one that was fittingly black, as if tainted by Masato's own bloodlust.

Takatora could do nothing. The Hayabusa had no energy left, and its head unit seemed like it could fall off at any moment. All he could do was wait for Masato's killing blow. But the blow never came. Something else took the attack. Neither pilot had noticed a third player entering the mission. And now Masato's attack was halted by something that looked like an electric force field being generated by floated discs of some kind. When it was over, they flew back to where they were deployed from.

♫

A Dark Grey Gunpla emerged into the zone. It looked like a Grimgerde, though modified from it's official design. The disc-like objects attached themselves to a place on the Gunpla's back beneath its tattered cape, while a couple of the others attached themselves to the shield on its arm. Apart from the cape, the other most notable feature of the Gunpla was its massive weapon. A massive sword blade on a polearm shaft, though it looked like it break apart into smaller weapons if needed.

"...Adam?" asked Takatora, recognizing the Gunpla as the one and only Blood Baron. Masato seemed to realize this as well.

"Who gave you permission to butt in?" Masato demanded, quite angry that his attack that he had built up energy for was wasted.

"It was an open mission." responded Adam coolly, as if this were just another day for him, "And besides, I believe you were first one to violate the mission's stipulations, Masato, were you not?"

Outside the mission in the GBN Lobby, players began to notice Adam's name in one of the active missions. Crowds began to watch the active footage, most of them curious about the player who dared to challenge King in such a way.

"Typical Adam Roman," Masato taunted, "ever the white knight coming to his friends' rescue." a fairly ironic description, considering Adam's Gunpla looked more like a black knight than a white knight, "Alight, I'll be the bad guy in your little game. That little brat was getting boring anyway."

"Try me if you dare." responded Adam, actually pointing his massive blade in Masato's direction, "Just try to break through my shield if you can."

"You asked for it!" screamed Masato as his Gunpla charged forward. But just before the two ace pilots could clash, the mission suddenly ended. Apparently the timer had run out and all players were removed from the field to be returned to the lobby.

Once all three players emerged, Masato glared angrily at Adam and Takatora, "Well well, saved by the clock. Sorry kiddies, looks like we're going to have settle this another time. We're not finished, Roman!" and then he abruptly logged off.

"Adam... I..." Takatora said, no words were coming to him.

"Don't worry about it." he said, then began to notice players approaching them, "I think it's best if you log off. You don't seem in the mood to deal with a crowd right now."

"Yeah... thanks." and then Takatora also logged off.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

Seems like a good place for another timeskip. What do you guys think? @Double@vancexentan@Shiyonichi

@Renny

I kind of started a battle/mission.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

"Huh? You got to be kidding me..." Takatora muttered as he scrolled through the event list. None of the currently available events were suitable for the practice he was looking for. They all utilized Space or Colony areas, where there would be no ocean or other body of water to make use of the Scale System. True, the Hayabusa had a Flight Unit it could equip for aerial and space mobility but that wasn't what he wanted to test. He'd already known about the Flight Unit and used it before. What he wanted was a good aquatic mission, but none seemed to be available right now.

"Hm, well, the Scale System will have to wait. May as well focus on the Trans-Phase Armor and the Dragon Sword first. This one will have to due." he chose a base defense mission. NPC GM's would be deployed in waves to capture the Zeon-controlled Side 7. Players entering the mission would be able to sortie as either Zeon or Federation. Zeon players would be tasked with holding back the GM's until the timer ran out while Federation players would be tasked with making their way to the Zabi Manor and attempting to capture it before the timer ran out. It was an open mission, meaning it was possible other players might choose to jump in mid-battle, but that didn't bother Takatora. He chose the Zeon side, deciding that that would be most efficient way of testing the defensive capabilities of the Hayabusa's Trans-Phase Armor and then started the mission.

After launching, Takatora found himself deep within Side 7, having spawned in a defensive spot near the Zabi Manor. A computerized voice counted down from 5 before announcing the start of the mission, "Time to to see how much punishment this Trans-Phase Armor can take, bring it on Feddies." he moved from his position to slightly more well-hidden vantage point after drawing the Dragon Sword. It wasn't ever in his nature to go looking for enemies, but instead let them come to him. If he waited, a GM or two would show up soon enough.

---

Back in the lobby, a black clad player logged in. He strode over to the registration desks to look for a battle of some kind to fight. That was all GBN and Gunpla were good for as far as he was concerned. Gunpla were just another weapon, and GBN was just another battlefield. And he intended to dominate it. Nothing caught this particular player's interest. So far everything seemed boring and dull, hardly anything that would satisfy him.

"Hm?" he raised an eyebrow as a name finally caught his eye. It wasn't a highly populated mission, only a single player was taking part. Normally this would be considered a waste of time. But it was the name, the player's name and more importantly the name of the Gunpla attached to them that made this interesting. What was at first a bored-looking grimace became a wicked grin as the player in black registered himself to join the mission... on the Federation side. The actual objectives were meaningless to him. Whether the colony was conquered or not made little difference. He had only one target, and before this was done he would make that target suffer and scream in agony.

"Masato Sakakibara launching. Shin Musha Hyaku Shiki... fan the flames and crush everything!"

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

@Double I might try it out. My biggest concern is the parts breaking and being changed. Like whats the point of making my own personal Gunpla if Its just gonna get changed and shit mid-battle lol.

@Renny

Your parts can break mid-battle but you'll still have them after the mission's over and your Gunpla will revert to whatever build you made it in between missions. You basically have to use the actual customization screen to make permanent changes to your parts. You're mostly going to be collecting parts in order to unlock them for use later on. You can swap parts that you pick up from enemy drops, but you don't have to. You can also unlock skills and whatnot that "heal" you so to speak, aka restore your broken parts mid battle. You're also going to change your parts a lot early on anyway unless you're determined to go through the whole campaign using the bare bones RX-78-2 Gundam that the game forces you to start with. That did kind of suck, the fact that you don't get to choose a base model to start with, but it's very easy to obtain parts so you'll be rocking a custom build pretty quick.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

@Double Tell me how it goes? I'm curious but I'm cautious about buying it myself.

@Renny

Well, it's definitely a Mecha Game... linear, mission based, heavy customization, all that jazz. Gunpla move feels kind of slow, but that could also just be early game stats giving me low movement speed. One thing I'm not entirely sold on is the fact that the armor parts have stats. I mean it makes sense, but that also means Multiplayer will eventually just be filled to the brim with everyone and their mother using the same exact optimized/min-maxed build because it's statistically "the best". Granted, I'm still playing the Single Player Campaign, and so far that's actually been a lot of fun since there's no competitive meta game to worry about... at least not yet. The story itself is... basic, and I do mean basic. Takes place at Not!Gunpla Academy (it's actually called Gunbre High School but it may as well just be the Gunpla Academy) where a corrupt Student Council is being tyrannical in how Gunpla Battles are regulated and how students are ranked. I have no idea how a Student Council gets away with this sort of shit since you'd think the Teachers and Headmaster could just remove them so someone else can take the positions but I guess there wouldn't be a plot if it were that easy. That's about all I know, I've put about 3-4 hours into the game at this point.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

So I bought New Gundam Breaker. Just thought I'd let everyone know since that game is likely going to be distracting me quite a bit over the weekend. <_<

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

After logging back in, Takatora found the buzz surrounding Adam's video even more inescapable. In the online world there were even more people talking about it. Some were in discussion, others were debating who would actually win in a match up. Takatora was pretty sure he could even hear a rather heated debate - in the loosest terms, since it seemed to be becoming an argument - coming from somewhere but chose not to pursue it. If the players around here knew that he was a personal acquaintance of Adam's, they'd likely be swarming him right about now. Either curious to hear his thoughts, or perhaps as an angry mob if they were fans of King. Either way it wouldn't be pleasant.

"Focus, Takatora." he told himself aloud in a whispering tone, "You're here for you're own reasons." he continued telling himself as he made for the battle registration table. He'd probably take it easy and look for a solo event he could use to test the waters on the Hayabusa's full capabilities. But as he walked, he was making one last double check of the Hayabusa's specs when he noticed something in his character screen. A friend request, having been in his inbox for nearly twenty four hours now. Right, I'd almost forgotten about them. Alright, I humored the Meijin so I guess there's no harm in humoring the other guys for now as well. With a bit of lingering reluctance, Takatora accepted Isamu's request from the previous day which would naturally send one in return automatically.

"Right, now to focus for real..." he muttered after closing his character screen. It was time to knuckle down and get serious. Sento had shown him just how powerful the Hayabusa could be when it was in Kiyotaka's hands. Now it was time for Takatora to start bringing out that potential. Assuming GBN's rules even allowed that to be physically possible. He didn't know what he was going to do if this turned out to be waste of time.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

Takatora stared at his phone in disbelief, "Adam... what are you thinking?" thinking back, the last time he saw Adam was the previous day, he migrated to the Japanese server to observe a battle involving King. Was this the reason? Takatora remembered a specific part of Adam's private message. I'd seen all I need to see. He wasn't planning this from the beginning... was he? There was no time to think about it. Takatora pocketed his phone and grabbed his book bag. Today was still a school day, and so he would have to wait until the afternoon to get the Hayabusa back from Sento. In a way he was almost nervous about what Sento would say about it. What if it wasn't as strong as it seemed? Or worse, what if it was too much to him to actually handle?

He could barely pay attention throughout the day, instead having to resort to remaining on auto-pilot for most of it. Between thinking about his inevitable trip to Sento's later and overhearing a number of conversations concerning Adam's video, it was difficult not to have those thoughts racing through his head. Eventually, the school day came to its end and Takatora practically made a b-line to Sakuraba Plastic Models. He was anxious to get the Hayabusa back, but even more so about hearing the result of Sento's appraisal.

---

It was almost midnight. He couldn't afford to remain up all night, but at the same time he couldn't afford to go to bed yet until he reaped the results of his work. At last, something appeared in his inbox. A video, and the young man watched it intently. So that was what King looked like? Interesting, it was almost strange knowing that he was likely one of the first people to ever get this good of a look at King's person. When the video finished, the man reached for a nearby bottle of water and drank from it, actually downing what was left inside. Then he stood up, the video paused on King's grimace, and picked up a nearby mobile phone. He awoke it from its idle mode and then looked for a specific contact before pushing the call button.

"It's me." Adam said, when he heard the recipient of the call answer. He wasn't speaking in his native Romanian, in fact he wasn't even speaking in English either. He was, in fact, speaking Japanese of all things, "I take it you saw the video?" a pause, "That's true, everyone in the GBN community has seen it by now. I'm letting you be the first to know... my challenge was accepted." another pause, "Actually, no. I have another reason for calling you. I'm going to email you the full specs of the Blood Baron, it's been too long since it's last appraisal." another pause, "Yes, I'm well aware there are shops here in my country, but you're the only person in the world I would ever want to entrust my Gunpla's secrets to." one final pause, "Right, I'll send it in the next hour or so, so keep an eye on your inbox. Thank you, Sento. Goodbye." and then he hung up. The next 20 or so minutes was spent putting together a list of his Gunpla's specs that he then put into an email that he sent to an old friend. When that was done, he could finally lay down in bed and get some much needed sleep.

---

When he made it to Sento's store, Takatora entered the door without any pause or hesitation. He was getting even antsier about the appraisal. But once he was he inside, he heard Sento's voice coming from the back end of the store. It sounded like he was on the phone. As Takatora approached the counter, he could hear a little of what Sento was saying.

"You do know there are shops in your country, don't you?" there was a pause, "Well, now you're just trying to flatter me. Oh fine, I'll appraise it for you. An hour or so? Alright, I'll be waiting for it. Goodbye." and then there was a click. After that, Sento emerged and spotted Takatora, "There you are, right on time. That's good." he went behind the counter and reached under it. When he stood back up again he presented the all-too-familiar case for the Hayabusa, "Just like it was when you brought it to me, just as promised."

Takatora practically snatched the case from him and quickly opened it to check on the Hayabusa. True to his word, it looked absolutely no different than when Takatora brought it in. The fact that Sento could so perfectly recreate the build after dismantling it was a testament to the sheer level of his building skill, "So...? What can you tell me?" Takatora asked after an awkward long pause.

"For starters," said Sento, hanging a small poster board on the wall behind him before beginning to write notes on it, "he was a lot more prepared than I used to give him credit for. Not only does it have the Scale System for underwater mobility, but he also equipped it with Trans-Phase Armor to be used in a pinch. Turns out the black paint job isn't just for looks, that particular paint has a peculiar oil mixed into it that somehow renders the Gunpla nearly invisible to enemy scanners and radar. So much like how the Deathscythe and Deathscythe Hell could be used for stealth operations, so too can the Hayabusa, but he took it further than that. The legs have a clay-like substance reinforcing them. This provides a dampener of sorts of that allows the Gunpla to step silently despite it's scale size. Not completely silently, but enough to make a difference."

"Scale System and Trans-Phase Armor? I... didn't even know about that." Takatora admitted, suddenly feeling a little foolish for having piloted a Gunpla he apparently knew very little about.

"A standard vulcan, nothing particularly unique, just an emergency back up weapon. The twin beam sabers are an interesting choice, near weightlessness of a beam saber allows them to be swung faster than a solid. That combined with their beam energy blades make them ideal for high speed strikes capable of burning through physical defenses. Of course there's also the Dragon Buster, it's weight allowing for powerful swings that deal devastating damage, it's ideal for larger and more heavily armored opponents such as Mobile Armors. But the real trump card, the real masterpiece to this build..." paused before gesturing toward the katana, "...is that sword there, the Dragon Sword."

"It's just a Katana, though..." responded Takatora, to which Sento practically slammed his hand on the counter.

"It most certainly is not 'just a Katana'!" exclaimed, before clearing his throat, "While it may look like the same Gerbera Straight used by the Astray Red Frame base model, this sword has been modified. Now it holds a powerful secret. With each swing, each strike against opponents, the blade can collect and store particle and kinetic energy bit by bit. Over time, it builds up, and then it can be released for a single, extremely powerful strike, far more deadly than anything than even the Dragon Buster is capable of. From what I gather, you can actually see the signs of the energy the blade stores whenever it pulses with electrical sparks. Evidently those aren't just cosmetic, but instead act as a visual cue for keeping track of how much energy is stored in the blade."

Takatora blinked in disbelief. Could that really be true? He had to admit, he had noticed the Dragon Sword occasionally sparking with electrical energy but... he always just assumed that was a design choice for dramatic effect. He never would have guessed there was an actual functional purpose to it, "I... honestly had no idea. Is it really that powerful?"

"I thought you might ask," Sento said, "so I dug this up." he pulled up a video clip on his phone for Takatora to watch. It was battle footage of the Hayabusa, but was recorded a long time ago, meaning that Kiyotaka was the one piloting it. He was in battle against a Psycho Gundam capable of firing a large beam shot from its chest. The specific moment of the clip showed the Hayabusa's sword almost constantly producing sparks up and down the length of the blade. The Hayabusa boosted forward, making for a direct frontal attack against the Psycho Gundam which fired it's chest beam. But the Hayabusa didn't dodge, instead the blade gleamed as the black gunpla sliced into the beam, releasing the stored energy and producing a golden-like aura that burst from the blade and seemed to extend it's length and greatly increase its power. After that, the beam from the chest laser actually split into two, indicating it was being cut in half by the Dragon Sword as it continued boosting forward. After a moment, the Hayabusa blew past the Psycho Gundam and sheathed the sword in time for the big Mobile Armor to split it into two halves before exploding.

"...Wow." was Takatora's only response.

"Of course, your mileage may vary." warned Sento, "After all, what you just saw was Kiyotaka at his best. The actual power and effectiveness of the sword likely boils down to the skill level of the pilot. I doubt you'll be cutting down Psycho Gundams anytime soon. It's also very possible that what you witnessed was Kiyotaka's special technique awarded to him upon reaching Rank C. If that were the case, then you may not be able to use that attack at all. Even when you reach Rank C, the attack you are awarded with is one completely unique to you, which would mean this particular attack may simply be impossible for you to even use, much less master."

"But what choice do I have? I don't have any Gunpla of my own, so I'm just going to have to master the Hayabusa. Even if I can't be as strong as him, I can still use what you told me to be even better. So... thanks." he took the Hayabusa and hurriedly left the store. He was now more eager than ever to log back into GBN. If for no other reason than to try out the other systems and functions of the Hayabusa.

"I really hope..." Sento said with a sigh after Takatora left, "...you show more ambition than that. You'll never grow if you just stay like this forever."

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

@Renny Oh, before I forget. Feel free to add Sento to the NPC list.

Gundam Build Divers: Neo

@vancexentan Takatora didn't make the video. A pilot named Adam Roman did. A pilot who is currently at Rank A and is in the top tier in the European Server. That's kind of the main reason why the video went viral in the first place. Because it's one top tier player calling out another.