[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6W7bqko.png[/img]
[h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2]
[b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,376 (+3)
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 11 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (200/110)
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 11 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]///////////////////// (79/110)
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 11 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////(78/110)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 6 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]///////////[/color]///////////////////////////////////////////////// (11/60)
[b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Dirmouth
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[color=Aqua]”Couple of groups of rough looking people down there”[/color] Rika noted offhandedly as she idled, back leaning against a building with her new helmet held under one arm and her eyes looking up and to the right as she watched her scout plane’s feeds. 

[color=SpringGreen]”What, rougher than this lot?”[/color] jr asked, jerking a thumb towards the closest group of miners, [color=SpringGreen]”How they manage that?”[/color] 

[color=Aqua]”You know. More weapons than diggy things. Loitering around rather than using said diggy things like the others down there. Oh also one group of them yelled at one of the diggy thing people till they handed over something they had on them. That kinda stuff”[/color] Rika replied in a very detached manner

[color=SpringGreen]”Huh. Sounds like bandits or robbers or something…”[/color] Jr said idly, then had a thought and yelled [color=SpringGreen]”Hey! Kamek! Ask that guy about the armed thugs in the canyon or whatever!”[/color] at the magikoopa in question, who was trying to negotiate for some surplus goods with the Troops’ not exactly impressive stash of money. Or rather Kamek’s not particularly impressive stash of money, because the other koopas were broke, and his promise that Rika’s money was all her’s still stood.

The people, or rather, person in question he was talking with (with Bowser looming over them all in a failed intimidation check) was a [url=https://i.imgur.com/vQD8h5Q.png]brain in a jar leading a couple of cyclopean robots[/url] who seemed to be both quite well armed and rather well geared given that the digging equipment they had were technologically advanced cannon shaped devices that their owner had been more than happy to show off, the digging tool boring a impressive hole in a rock in mere seconds.

These futuristic diggers which were, naturally, way out of the troop’s budget. Something the brain seemed to enjoy lording over them. Fortunately, Jr’s interjection interrupted the snobbish corporate gloating from the brain unit, which turned its glass dome towards the boy to admonish him for being so rude as to interrupt him.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, hmmm, that does not seem like it is constitutive to a safe working environment”[/color] Kamek noted once the unit had got gloating and complaining out of his system, before inquiring [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Don’t suppose you could tell us about what to expect from these, ah, ‘armed thugs’?”[/color]

[color=FD0000]”and hey, maybe we could ‘take care’ of them if you make it worth our while”[/color] Bowser added with a crack of his knuckles. 

“Hah. Those low lifes are no threat to the likes of me and my magnificent Techion machines” the brain unit replied in a slightly synthetic man’s voice, while one of his robotic troops racked a shotgun for emphasis (and then had to crouched down to pick up the shell it had ejected) “So I hardly need to take you up on that offer”

[color=Aqua]”Really? There’s quite a lot of them”[/color] Rika asked, having wandered over seeing as her scouting was the basis of this whole run of the conversation

“Yes yes but they have all the coordination and unity of a bucket of crabs, so they can’t get together to do anything of note. So instead of being kings of the pit they are a bunch of flocks of territorial magpies, cawing at anyone that comes near,  and only distracted from their scavenging in the muck if they spot something shiny. They aren't worth the trouble interacting with, and they certainly aren't worth the trouble to put out a hit on. Anyone with half of brain knows you just need steer clear of their rather obvious holdings and not flaunt any big findings and you’ll be golden“

[color=Aqua]”Huh? But I just saw someone get into trouble with some of em?”[/color] Rika said, genuinely confused by this attitude

“One of these brainless county bumpkins no doubt” the brain replied dismissively “I don’t see how that affects me. I’m not exactly running a charity here, I have quotas to fill”

Attempts to point out that he could very well be next to fall prey of the bandits fell on deaf ears, and the same went for the next few groups Bowser attempted to convince into handing over stuff in return for vague promises about dealing with the bandit problem. The general consensus was that if you know how to avoid them, the bandits were no threat, and if someone got caught out, well, clearly it was because that person was an idiot.

In the end the troops lack of real negotiation skills meant that all they could really boast from the whole string of encounters with the miners was being fleeced out of all Kamek’s souls for a stack of [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/terraria_gamepedia/images/d/d5/Holding_torch.gif]tourches[/url]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well. Having more sources of light can’t hurt I suppose”[/color] Kamek said, trying to find a literal bright side to the situation. When it came down to it, however, this wasn't a complete disaster, as the Troop had (unintentionally) brought some gear that would help, and powers too. 

Kamek had his new wisps and an Abyssal Lantern he’d picked up some time ago to shed light into the darkness. Bowser had his fiery breath and would be turning himself into a lamp by eating up as much light as possible before they descended. Jr had glowing fiery goop, Mimi’s electro balls in a pinch and, rather importantly, drill arms on his clown car that would help with any digging they might need to do.

That left only Rika without any light of her own, unless you counted muzzle flares, and so it was to her that the majority of the torches ended up going too, with the ship-girl almost immediately point two in the ‘eyes’ of her Brachydios gauntlet, giving it some spooky glowing eyes which everyone agreed was very cool.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well that’s all we got”[/color] Kamek admitted once the rest of the group who had stayed topside gathered back up again, [color=DeepSkyBlue]”So I suppose we head down now?”[/color] 

[color=Aqua]”mmm. I’ve got an easy path down there that avoids lall the bandit camps all scouted out, so yup, we can go whenever”[/color] Rika informed them all as her planes came back in for a landing in the little hangers on her gauntlets.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Excellent…”[/color] the mage replied, before realizing something and asking [color=DeepSkyBlue]”wait, what happened to my whisps, hmmm?”[/color] 

The mage turned, raised a hand over his brow and spied out over the canyon, but it was jr who first pointed up at the glowing motes hovering in the air close to a building that looked like a barge.

[color=SpringGreen]”There they are … Are they making an arrow”[/color] he asked and, sure enough, the dots of sentient mana were doing just that, creating the rough shape of a glowing arrow pointing at the area where an incident seemed to be ongoing. One involving some of their crew and some rough looking fellows. Quite possibly the bandits they had been informed only an idiot would get close too.

[color=SpringGreen]”Oh come on! He can’t go like an hour without causing trouble!”[/color] Jr tossed his arms up and cried out, blaming all of this on Omori, before slapping his hands down on the rim of his clown car and declaring [color=SpringGreen]”Guess we’ll have to go and bail him out. Again!”[/color]

With that, the prince took off, swooping down towards the barge, though odds were he’d arrive after whatever was going to go down. An ever nervous Kamek went after his young master, worried about both children, and leaving the ground pounders behind.

[color=Aqua]”But… my path… aw”[/color] Rika said, a fair bit dejected that her route wasn’t going to the one they used.

[color=FD0000]”Eh, their fault for running off before you could make it. Besides, we’ll still need to go down the rest of the way so, uh, maybe re-jig it a bit and it’ll be good?”[/color] Bowser told her encouragingly with a pat on the back, [color=FD0000]”now come on, you can beat your disappointment into a bandit or something if things get messy”[/color] 

With that poor advice given, the king set off at a stomping jog, occasionally leaping over obstacles or Meowser scrambling up them. Rika revved her chainsaw bayonet once at the thought of working out a bit of her frustration, and then set off after him, floaty jumping and thruster boosting herself after the rest of the Troop.