Fandom Gundam Battle Nexus: Virtual Dive

[ManofManyRoles]

Dropping out of the sky for a clean landing, she had to suppress her cry of joy. Don't be a sore winner, keep it to yourself! She finally landed a damned hit on the thing, and it was a killing blow! Or...KO blow? Was it hers, or was this one shared? She wasn't sure. "That was awesome! I'm not sure what the heck you guys are piloting, but they're certainly impressive!" The RX-78 relaxed its stance, starting towards the Asmodeus and Artoria. "I think I understand basic controls so far, seems simple enough. Nice team-up there V!" The RX came to stop short of the Asmodeus, standing at rest. "Thanks for the match Artoria, that was a blast! How were you teleporting like that anyways?"
Gundam Watcher 27 Riven ​

 

[SpaceRavens03]

Flying aimlessly up in the air came a straight-build Gundam Bael (wearing an ABC Mantle that covered the whole body save the head) , apparently minding its business while ignoring several of the ongoing matches outside on several select areas in the NA Region server. The pilot of the Bael? A tired-looking Narukaze who looked as if he had been made to sit through several hours of tedious lectures serving nothing but to act as a half-effective sleeping drug.

“This is probably the 4th region I just entered with nothing to do now...”

The black-haired player muttered under his breath as Bael soon descended and landed onto a clearing in the desert. It was a good thing there wasn't a sandstorm occuring at the moment, otherwise the sand blown into the joints would've caused it to clog up the space and affect manueverability drastically. Assuming the cloak it was wearing did nothing to shield the sand from settling in. The hatch to the cockpit opened, with Narukaze emerging out of the cloak before noticing a 1v3 ongoing battle nearby where he and Bael landed.

“Wouldn't the fields be a safer area to fight on though?”

Judging by the end of the match and the performance of the 4 Gundams not dwindling in the slightest, it seems like it was not the case. Shrugging it off, he sat down and opened the menu, causing a sandwich to appear onto his hold within a few short taps in the window in front of him.

Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles Riven

 

[Riven]

Seems the fight ended up a bit abruptly then he expected. The impacts of the beam javelin and the Hyper Beam Saber, were successful? Visato stood there in confusion as the Impulse bursted into digits and simply vanished into the same bit of code as Shinji successfully caught her before falling to the surface. The DX then deactivates its Hyper Beam Saber, sticking its hilt back onto the hip skirt as it descended to stand beside the Asmodeus and the 78. "Didn't mean for us to actually win.. is your gunpla alright?"

Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Artoria rubbed the back of her head.
"It should be restored within a few minutes.... But my question is,"
She pointed at the RX-78

"How? Just how was it able to keep up?!"

 

[ManofManyRoles]

She honestly wasn't expecting much backlash about the fight, not this way at least. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean!? The RX-78-2 is a pinnacle of engineering for its generation and time! It's a perfect balance of mobility, strength, defense, and firepower! I took a lot of time to make this you know, it's an exact replica of the original 78-2 piloted by Amuro Ray!" She relaxed a bit, no need to get so defensive she figured. "Simply put, I kept up because the suit's good. You don't have to act like it isn't, you know." Looking around for a moment she paused, speaking up again. "Hey, question. What suit is that, and does anyone know it?"
SpaceRavens03 Riven Gundam Watcher 27 ​

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

"Wait... Repeat that?"
Artoria asked, as if she heard incorrectly.
"You said it's an 'Exact' Replica? Like... The real deal?"

Shinji would take note of the Gundam Dreamer pointed out.

"I think that's a Bael.... But why is one here?"

 

[SpaceRavens03]

Munching on his sandwich, Narukaze chewed on the contents from his earlier big bite onto the consumable he had brought along with him from <<Alfhiem Online>>. The fact that he could bring along his old outfit and swords into a completely different VRMMO was pretty neat in his eyes, especially if it means being able to bring Asuna's homemade delicacies as ultra-effective emergency rations during a long tiring time around in GBN, doing nothing.

“Could go have a match or something right now though...hmm?”

The three Gundams out of four that were battling each other before seem to have shifted their gaze towards him or probably his Gunpla. It did not look like it was of malicious intent either, so Narukaze casually waved at them in response. The cockpit has a "zoom in" function that gives then clearer visuals on small figures on interests after all, so maybe one of them knew that and could see him.

Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles Riven

 

[Riven]

"Its certainly impressive that she was able to work and maneuver with such an old model", V replies with a surprised expression and a nod. "You're the first person I've seen actually stick to the base model, as well as such an old classic of one", he replies once more, crossing the arms of the Double X. As Dreamer pointed to a suit on the side, it seemed Shinji had already jumped the gun on identifying it before Visato had a moment to even catch a breath and call its name.

"Indeed, it looks exactly like a Bael."​

Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles SpaceRavens03

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Honey was a bit confused why the idea of an exact replica was hard to believe. "Yes, as in the real deal. It's not some shoddy market brand construction set, this was entirely hand-designed! Do you know how much time it takes to get things identical, and to relative scale? Store models can be faulty, or off by just enough to screw it up, especially when you figure a construction set is mass-produced, so they can't account for perfection! So I did it myself! The only way I could make this more authentic is if I shoved Amuro into the pilot's seat!" She was proud of her 78-2, and that was quite obvious.

Turning her attention towards the Bael she continued to speak. "Like I told artoria, I'm still really new. All I know is the original season right now, but I can tell you schematics and information about the 78-2 like my own birthday....this has a zoom function, right?" She paused, fussing with the controls for a moment before the view zoomed in on the bail. "There's someone in front of it, eating a sandwich...I'm gonna head over." And without so much as another word the 78 started forward to investigate, raising a hand to hail for attention.
Gundam Watcher 27 SpaceRavens03 Riven​

 

[SpaceRavens03]

Seems like one of them was heading towards him under friendly terms, judging by the sight of the RX78 waving as it flew closer. Keeping his sandwich back into his inventory so as to avoid the sand getting blown onto his consumable, Narukaze stood and and watched as the RX78 landed a few short distance in front of him and Bael.

“Yo! That's a pretty good match you and your teammates who having there. Judging by the noticeable discrepancy of your RX78's appearance compared to the other retail models of the Gundam, I'm guessing it's build from the ground up ?”

ManofManyRoles Riven Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Artoria was silent, as If what she said was hard to process.

The Asmodeus would fly over to where the Bael was and land next to the RX-78 as the cockpit opened and Shinji stepped out.

"Uh... We aren't exactly teammates. "
Shinji replied to Narukaze's statement.

Artoria would scream not long after.

"THAT'S INSANE! HOW CAN A YOU BRING IN AN ACTUAL GUNDAM WITHOUT GETTING BANNED?!"
She would yell at Dreamer.

ManofManyRoles SpaceRavens03 Riven

 

[ManofManyRoles]

"I wouldn't call them team-mates, I just met them and I was learning the controls...I still have hardly any control of what I'm doing overall." Hearing him comment about the RX-78 she spoke up, obviously pleased someone had noticed. "Yea! It took me forever to get the sketches done, and then came the coloring, and just about everything else. It was so worth it though, I'm happy with it! I just...have to be able to look it all over outside of the cockpit." The gundams head turned in the direction of Shinji and Artoria, the young woman flinching a bit in her cockpit at the sudden shouting. "I don't see what the issue is here! If I wasn't able to create replica's, the reader platform wouldn't regard it as acceptable! Let alone that, I read the terms and conditions, nothing said I couldn't make a replica!" The RX-78 crossed its arms across its chest, as if offended. "It's not my fault, I don't believe in anything else than doing things perfectly."
Gundam Watcher 27 SpaceRavens03 Riven ​

 

[Riven]

The Double X followed behind the 78, crossing its arms as well. "Yeah, I wouldn't say teammates are the best thing to descr-", Visato's sentence was cut off as he noticed who it actually was that was standing by the Bael and enjoying the fight. "Hey!", his voice exclaims through the output speakers as he suddenly moves the Double X so it kneels close to Narukaze, as well as opening up the cockpit to reveal a waving V.

"Its you again! Nice to see ya again!"

SpaceRavens03 Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles ​

 

[SpaceRavens03]

“I see, guess you guys just met- ”

An intense gust of wind started slamming onto Narukaze full force, his hair and coat fluttering back from the force as the blonde Diver/Player screamed in disbelief at the presence of the RX78. His irises shrinking instantaneously and his smile immediately disappearing into a neutral expression, Narukaze could only silently stare speechlessly as both the pilot of the RX78 and the blonde Diver started bickering among each other.

“I mean, there's no rule that says you can bring along a Gunpla that is built fully accurately to the design from its source material-”

He eventually noticed the pilot of the Gundam with the DX Satellite Cannon land and kneel near him, the hatch into the cockpit opening to reveal a certain Diver he had met a day ago.

“Oh! Didn't expect to see you here. I take it's your first battle here in GBN?”

Riven Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles

 

[ManofManyRoles]

The 78 made a motion towards Narukaze. "See? I've violated no terms and conditions, or any rules. Why did you get so worked up about it anyways? I can't teleport, but you apparently can...how were you doing that anyways?" Noticing the other gundam kneel down and its hatch popped open, her own's arms laid at its side at relaxed attention. "Anyone know how to open the cockpit? Wait...hang on...got it!" The mid-section of the 78 opened up, Dreamer waving her hand a bit in greeting. "Hey there! So you and V know each other?"
Riven Gundam Watcher 27 SpaceRavens03 ​

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

Artoria looked away with a pouty face.

"It certainly feels like it though."
Being asked how her Impulse Gundam could teleport, she would chuckle.

"That's a simple answer! The Destiny Impulse has the Wings of Light, which provides the limited ability to warp from one spot to another, first used by the Strike Freedom. "

 

[Riven]

"Yeah, we met when I first logged on", V replies to Honey, nodding in response to Narukaze's question, "Yeah, I guess it was my first fight, though it was more like sparring than anything else." V latches his foot to the hook of his wire and descends to the ground, standing at the base of his gundam as he steps off of the cockpit device. He decides to leave the gundam alone, letting it sit there open as he turns to look up and smiles, admiring his machine before turning over his shoulder to Narukaze's direction.

"We never exchanged names did we? I'm Visato."

SpaceRavens03 Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles ​

 

[SpaceRavens03]

“Well, lucky for us that our Gunpla-s don't fully follow the laws of physics. Otherwise that ridiculously huge amount of G-force you've experienced from the swift dashes would've liquefied your internal organs and cause you to respawn back in the HUB.”

Narukaze remarked upon hearing Artoria's answer to Dreamer's question, before looking back at Visato.

“Narukaze. That's my username used specifically for this world. Nice to meet the four of you.”

Gundam Watcher 27 Riven ManofManyRoles

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

"Um... I'm Eliza-"
Artoria would run over to Shinji and cover her mouth.
"Don't give out your real name!!!"
Artoria would let go as Shinji would gasp for air then swiftly recover.

"Shinji."

"I'm Artoria Hawke!"
"Hey! Isn't that giving out your real name?! "

"No because I'm not using my first name. "

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Dreamer nodded at Artoria's comment, not fully following. "I see. Certainly makes you a pain to hit, that's for sure. Teleporting is always a hassle in games to deal with, especially if their cooldown is almost nonexistent." Hearing V and Narukaze exchanging greetings Dreamer nodded, waving her hand. "Dreamer here! Nice to meet you, Narukaze! I think everyone here besides you and Artoria are pretty new...me especially. I recognize absolutely none of these models, so everything I do is going in blind."
Gundam Watcher 27 Riven SpaceRavens03

 

[SpaceRavens03]

“Going in blind without knowing about the other Gundam lore huh?” Narukaze spoke, “You'll be having a pretty hard time against other players in this PvP-focused VRMMO game, just to warn you. Especially with all the other guys off to dock newbies' points as easy targets to increase their ranks.”

“Oh right, in case you're wondering, the "points" I mentioned refers to "Diver Points", which anyone earns through completing PvE missions or winning against other Divers. The rank you're awarded depends on the number of points you've gotten throughout your playtime, starting from "F" to "SSS".”

Riven Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles

 

[Riven]

"Ah, so a ranking system to see the best of the best.", Visato replies with a nod to Narukaze's words of the Diver Points. V keeps a grin, looking back up to his gunpla, before turning back to the group. "I'm honestly surprised Dreamer has such a lacking knowledge of other series and lore, might give the 78 a big disadvantage if she doesn't know what she's fighting against."

Visato's eyes brighten up to Narukaze once more, "PvE? There is more than just PvP?"

Excitement, is an understatement.

SpaceRavens03 Gundam Watcher 27 ManofManyRoles ​

 

[ManofManyRoles]

Dreamer rubbed the back of her head, giving an embarrassed laugh. "Hey, there's a lot to learn, y'know? But hard time or not, I'm not going to be spooked off or deterred. I love a challenge at any rate!" She grinned a bit before she continued. "Go ahead and underestimate if you want, you probably have reason too. It'll just make it all the better when I surpass expectations! Anyways...PvE? Do tell!"
Gundam Watcher 27 Riven SpaceRavens03​

 

[SpaceRavens03]

Wow, seems like the revelation of PvE got the two newbies looking pretty excited. Maybe even more so than "excited".

“Y-yeah. Sure.”

Narukaze responded, a bead of sweat rolling down a second after being taken aback by Visato and Dreamer's very exhilarated expression.

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“This PvE Mode here is what Divers refer to as <<Serial Battle>>. Think of it as a "survival" mode where you go through waves of enemies that gets more difficult as you progress further until the last round against the final boss.”

Narukaze explained, the Gundam Bael leading the other three Gundams (namely Shinji, Visato and Dreamer's, with Artoria inside Shinji's gunpla as a guest co-pilot) nearby alongside a ruined city area where a few number of players could be seen taking on GBN's designated NPC Units on the field of the mission, a large holographic window manifesting above in the middle of the mission area that read: "Phase 3 Cleared. Entering Intermission Area".

“The special thing about <<Serial Battle>> mode is that after clearing a particular phase, there will be up to three different route to pick and initiate rather than simply doing all waves in one simple row. And of course, there are <<Intermission Areas>> where you can have your Gunpla repaired and maintained after several <<Phases>>. Just a word of caution though, the repairs costs points that accumulates from the number of enemies you take down, so you can't simply fix every damage whenever you want in the <<Intermission Area>>. There also have been cases where some other players may try to steal Rank Points from completing Phases through Steal Killing, so there's that too. The points used for repairing damages doesn't add into or deduct the Diver Points earned from clearing the Phases, so you don't need to hesitate to get your Gunpla repaired in the <<Intermission Area>> if you feel you need to do so.”

“Oh and, there's also a <<Survival Mode>> where Divers band together to take down an enormous Mobile Suit enemy, which is a <<Special Mission>> of sorts.”
(User note:The bold-ed texts are so that anyone reading it can easily refer to some noteworthy information here regarding GBN Online's PvE modes)

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“Next up we have <<Musou Mode>>. Just like the Musou Gundam or Dynasty Warriors Gundam titles by the developers "W-Force" of Koei Tecmo, you take down hordes of enemies targeting each player in the mission area.”

Flying by a clearing where a Shining Gundam could be seen slamming its fist onto a Kowloon Gundam utilising the "Choukyuu Haou Den'eidan" Ultimate Attack, the Divers inside the four Gundams watched as the latter was propelled towards armies of Death Army units from the Mobile Fighter G Gundam units. A huge kill count racking up as the Kowloon Gundam took down the mook units with the help of Kyouji as if they were mere insects.

“Depending on which mode you pick before starting <<Musou Mode>>, you either destroy as much enemies as you can within a time limit or have to lure out the designated target to take down before you get overwhelmed by the numbers.”

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“Aside from the <<Tutorial Mission>> which newcomers could participate to immerse themselves into the world of GBN, there's also the usually more light-hearted mission under the category <<Collect Mission>>.”

This time, rather than flying above the terrain in their Gunpla-s, all five Divers opted to walk on foot under Narukaze's request. They were all strolling by the woods apparently made realistic despite everything in this world being manifested from polygons.

“Anyone picking this quest usually took it so that they could stop by at areas they've yet to encounter or explore, if not really completing them for a small sum of Diver Points. In a Virtual World as massive as GBN, it can be a little easy to get lost and be confused as for where you want to go specifically. The developers seem to have expected that Fetch Quests wouldn't be that exhilarating in the first place so as a compensation for their implementation...”

Narukaze stopped in his tracks before motioning for everyone to step forward and look at the view in front of him. Should they do so, they would be greeted by a gorgeous sight of an ever-expanding acres of fireweed flowers diffracting the sunlight towards every corner of the environment.



“The items of interest are always located in areas that are literally a sight for sore eyes. The fireweeds here is one of the items of interest of several of the <<Collect Missions>>.”

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“This one here is what the game classifies as <<G5 Attack>>.”

Everyone was now back in the Hub Area within the American Region of GBN, watching a recording of an Overflag from the "Gundam 00" series taking on a RX-78 Gundam, RX-178 Gundam Mk-II from "Gundam Zeta", MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam also from "Gundam Zeta", MSZ-010 ZZ Gundam from "Gundam ZZ" and lastly a RX-93 Nu/v Gundam from the film "Char's Counterattack". The five MSs of which are all custom coloured for some disclosed reason. Visato, Artoria and Shinji would likely recognise some of the movements and attacks from the Overflag resembling that of a certain pilot of the Leo from the 7th (I changed it) Gunpla Force Tournaments Finals.

“In this timed mode against 5 high-leveled NPCs, a single Diver takes all of them down as quickly as they can. The time taken for them to take down all five of the units will be recorded in the rankings right here.”

Narukaze explained as he showed the list of participants that took part in the <<G5 Attack>> and their completion time to Visato, Dreamer and Shinji, although upon them seeing what looks like Narukaze's own username among the top 20 participants, the former hastily closed the window list with a shaky smile before attempting to continue.

“W-well, ranking aside, there has been plans to different versions of the <<G5 Attack>> modes featuring protagonist units from other Gundam works. Anyhow, there's one particular mechanic GBN has that lets us create whatever missions we want here for us or other Divers to participate in as long as it's approved by the Administration. Whether it be PvP or PvE, it is up to the maker of the Custom Mission to do whatever they want during the creation.”

Manifesting a holographic window for the newcomers to look, the three of them could see a list of Player-made missions available for either individual players or Forces to partake in.

“Of course, the ones making the missions can also implement rewards for other Divers to claim upon clearing their missions. Rewards such as <<Build Coins>> (The ingame currency of GBN), <<Furnitures>> (For "Force Nests" as decorations, "Force Nest"-s being a place where a place where groups of Divers can meet up in outside of public areas like the Hub Lobby) or <<Titles>> that stands as proof your completion of said mission.”

Narukaze concluded, before continuing:

“There was originally a <<Story Mission>> mode in GBN, but after numerous complaints of how ridiculously difficult it was to clear, the Administration removed it and decided to work on several more manageable <<Story Missions>>. Not that it actually stopped several highly skilled players from actually clearing it before it was patched out anyway. Anyway, that's about it so far regarding the number of PvE Missions avaliable in GBN.”

With the last of the non-PvP modes explained, Narukaze cleared his throat before speaking,

“I'm don't really see myself as a guy who volunteers to be newcomers' navigators in GBN, so this is my first time leading and explaining tid bits of GBN to others. But if there's any questions you guys have, I'll try to answer them as clearly as I can.”

ManofManyRoles Riven Gundam Watcher 27

 

[Gundam Watcher 27]

After hearing the explanation of the many different missions, Shinji had sweat drop.

So many, and the various difficulties.... I don't know if I can manage one.

"You guys could also try signing up for a mercenary role. You get paid for your services and aid to other Diver groups."
Artoria mentioned to the newcomers.

"Depending on how well you do, you can get alot of build coin and DP too."

Shinji would cringe with a false smile.

"So you are basically just taking the easy way out."

"Hey, my dream is to be the highest ranked mercenary here in GBN! I'm currently rank C."