10 Bullet Flies, 8 Nostalgia L-002 units , and 1 A-HAB autonomous AI unit. That was the job. Those Nopon might be small and fluffy, but they sure are demanding. Nalu was crying her eyes out and I had to find all these objects to ensure the safety of their caravan. There was some internal conflict going on with the Nopon but it couldn’t be too bad, and I wanted to take this mission to settle things. We all have to work together to keep life on Mira going, or it all falls apart. The Bullet Flies were quite common to the local area so I thought I’d leave them until last. As luck would have it, I already had dozens of Nostalgia L-002 units from roaming around Noctilum. I thought this stuff was trash but I’m glad it can finally be put to use. The A-HAB unit really sparked my curiosity. What the hell is that thing? What could a Nopon want with it? How is it going to help? There were so many questions, it seems this planet is just an infinite mystery. Only one question mattered right now, where do I get an A-HAB autonomous AI unit?
I remember hearing from someone in New LA that A-HAB units were found in Sylvalum but that’s not very specific. The continent of Sylvalum is vast, stretching all the way from Hilal Meadow to the Anvil Sandplains. Caves run deep and mountains greet the sky. Due to the strange crystal shape of many structures on this continent, indigens blend into the environment very well and anything could come alive at any moment. Ganglion machines were perched on cliffs, but that wasn’t even the most dangerous threat. The indigens on Mira still dominated the land with their natural power and mystical presence, and Sylvalum was quite the haven. Ancient Coronids patrolled the waters and they were 50 times the size of my Skell. A devastating sand worm also stationed itself near the middle of the continent. There have already been quite a few BLADE casualties with this thing, and many close calls, but most of us have been informed about it now. Rumour has it there’s a second one, but that sounds a bit crazy to me. When your life’s in danger you see some crazy things and somebody might have seen double. My Skell isn’t nearly good enough to take even one of those down. Maybe after this mission I can do some work on it and add some augments.
I needed more info on this A-HAB unit if I was going to find it this century. Just “Sylvalum” was stupidly vague. I send out a BLADE report “anyone seen an ahab unit?“. I have no idea who’s going to even see that. A lot of BLADEs in the field have their notifications turned off, and the rest might not have a clue what I’m talking about if they haven’t ventured this far yet. I looked out and just reflected for a moment. Even though a lot of things in Sylvalum can kill me, there’s a certain calmness and beauty to it. The roars and cries of indigens echo through the caves and bounce off the jagged shapes to create quite a unique sound. The nice ambience comes first, then suddenly a melody plays as all the sound collects itself. I think it may be the sound “falling”. Whatever it was, it would be impossible back on Earth. There’s something about this planet that has an effect on sound. The way the Ma-non, Prone, Wrothians could instantly speak English still fascinates me. How can we all understand each other without spending years learning a language? Not even the Ma-non could answer that and they have some impressive technology. I think there’s definitely some kind of energy in the air. Sylvalum was the evidence. The same thing that translates our speech can also create music.
*beep*
Finally, a reply. This was from someone on my current squad named McButt. “Think I saw an ahab unit around the northern area. lol“. Okay then, thanks McButt. The “northern area” means I will find this thing within a year, instead of a century. Oh well, it was a start. The northern area of Sylvalum was home to many Lepyx, some Arenatect and a tribe of Virago, with some little caves and a nice pond out in the open. It was a pretty good place to scout with my Skell assuming I didn’t disturb the indigens and get in too many fights.
OOOOOOPS! This one’s a big beauty but I should be able to handle myself. The serenity of Sylvalum was shattered the instant this Mighty Virago attacked me, and all I could hear now was the virago’s roar and my heart beating like a drum. It was like a band started playing, and it suddenly hit me that I was on a whole different planet, as if someone was yelling it in my ear. I had my best Diamond Sword equipped and it was time to kick some arse. This enemy presented an opportunity, because I needed Virago Claws for a certain augment on my Skell. May as well get some while I’m here on this stupid mission. I had Treasure Sensor bonuses equipped on both arms to increase the chance of picking up these materials. To make sure I got the claw specifically, I stood close to the virago’s hand and pressed the right analog stick inwards to switch targets and lock-on to the claw. I had a few levels advantage over this thing, so I wasn’t too scared of taking damage. Destroying its claw would also stop it from doing claw attacks, so there’s a combat purpose on top of the item scavenging.
SPLAT! The claw was down so I shifted my position to target the other claw. I’m not sure why indigen’s limbs explode like that, maybe they really want you to know their limb has broken for battle purposes. Nah, that makes no sense. It’s got to be something about the atmosphere on Mira. We still don’t know where all this life came from, the building blocks of life could be completely different to what was on Earth. Before I could break the second claw, the virago ran out of total HP and fainted. Ah well, the drops should still be good. YES! Two claws in the spoils on the floor. The vendors are going to love this. This will help me get PositionDmg.SIDE XX for my Skell later and give me huge power when attacking from the side. I know a lot of enemies I could use that on. Maybe I could take down that sand worm… oops, better get back to the mission.
This damn A-HAB unit. I had been circling Northern Sylvalum for an hour now and I started to doubt the BLADE’s intel. How could someone named McButt be wrong though? This item is rare so it was a bit too early to give up. I continued sweeping the area in my Skell’s vehicle mode and fought a few more indigens. Didn’t mean to bother them, but I got a few more claws. The controls of this Skell aren’t great and I accidentally bump into a lot of things, I might have to get a heavy model Skell just so cruising on the ground is more enjoyable. Another thing to do later. I had carved myself a pretty good racetrack to optimise item collecting, avoid indigens and cover a big enough space to respawn the orbs. Orbs are just what I see when there’s an item nearby, it’s just BLADE instinct I guess. We collect so many things that items start to glow. It was getting a bit sweaty in my Skell, so I got out and started running around.
YES! THERE IT IS! FINALLY! After being lost out here for hours, there it was, the A-HAB unit. I confirmed it with my BLADE device and it felt like a magnificent triumph. The A-HAB autonomous AI unit actually exists and I have it. My mind was put at ease and I could finally move on with the mission.
All I needed now were Bullet Flies. I already had 3 so I had a very good idea of the search area near the Nopon Caravan. It might take a little time to get 10, but at least I knew what I was doing this time. I jumped in my Skell and headed back to Cauldros.
Whoa, an electrical storm?! Did not expect this. This is quite a rare sight in Cauldros, you usually only see these in Oblivia. I got out of my Skell just to feel the energy in the air. Even when it’s storming in Cauldros it’s usually raining brimstone instead of this. This was rare and magnificent. I remembered a story from a BLADE stationed at a Cauldros Camp, she spoke in fear of a Tyrant in the Dragonbone area that only appears during Electrical Storms. My eyes darted over there and there was definitely an abnormal amount of electrical activity. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. The segment recon in that area would be very hard to get if I didn’t take advantage of this storm. I had a brand new powerful Skell, but it wasn’t equipped with good gear or augments yet so I approached the Tyrant with caution.
There it is, what a beauty. I’m the first BLADE to properly approach it so I’m gonna call it Coil, the Never-Ending. It was level 55, holy crap. Normally I would feel comfortable taking one of these Scintimure-type enemies on at that level, but Tyrants have extra strength and an element of unpredictability. There was a huge chance my Skell would get wrecked and I needed backup. I also couldn’t go too far, because the storm would fade and the Tyrant would disappear. Hunting this Tyrant was not a mission posted on the Mission Board or the Blade Console. I sent a message “Any BLADEs in the Dragonbone area?” but I couldn’t wait for a response. I circled the ground a bit and looked for a white dot on my mini-map. Is that somebody over there?
Nice to meet you Sinderos. Wow, you’re level 21 and you don’t have a Skell, this is going to be rough. Are you sure you want to come? I can give you a lift with my Skell, and there’s a little circular platform underneath the Tyrant you can stand on. Do you think you can do ranged shots from there? At the very least you can distract it so I can fire all my Skell weapons before it kills us.
We approached Coil and I used my Skell’s physical attack. Oh crap, it barely made a dent. It looked really angry and fired an electric charge down to Sinderos. Ouch, I felt really bad about bringing her along now. I was going to cycle through all my attacks but I quickly picked the most powerful beam I had. *WHOOOSH* and the Tyrant was defeated.
I couldn’t believe how powerful my Skell was, but we were lucky to be alive. Tyrants have devastating attacks and we didn’t give it a chance to use any of the worst ones. I looked down and saw the Nopon Caravan… oh crap, the mission.
I sent out a BLADE report “Got some Scintimure Fat if anyone wants it“. Sinderos called me crazy and went back to her own adventure. Fair enough. I was grateful for the help and took her back down in my Skell. Being on 1 HP, a single lightning strike would kill her. She remained remarkably calm in such a high-risk situation. I really hope she finds a good place to level up because being level 21 in Cauldros is not a pleasant way to travel.
My little mission had turned into quite the ordeal, but I was finally ready to finish it. Somehow I had 9 Bullet Flies now, I guess I must have picked them up while rushing through the electrical storm. It was nice to finally be looking for a common collectible without relying on dodgy info. I did a few laps around the caravan and found the last Bullet Fly I needed. I didn’t even care about the Nopon drama anymore, I just hoped they were alright.
I handed over the goods and they seemed pretty happy. Lularita had plans to set a trap with the Bullet Flies, but I have no idea what they are going to do with the A-HAB autonomous AI unit. The mission was now complete and I gained 160 EXP and got 9000 credits. Sweet.
Now to get that new augment for my Skell.
Pietriots 