Harrowing Hunt

((Turn Splice))

With his systems locked again, in addition to his main NaviCust program being rendered useless, Mach snarled in frustration as he lay in the snow. His legs showed significant damage from the awkward fall; even if he could get back to his feet, it appeared unwise to do so with crumpled legs. Mazer wasn't as visibly frustrated, but he too was starting to get flustered by the foe's annoyingly consistent locking down of his Navi's critical systems. Before the Navi even asked, he saw what might be a temporary preventative measure loaded to his "magazine" as his debug systems coursed through his body to free up his combat suite.

Mach immediately activated the chip as soon as it was successfully uploaded; he didn't want to get instantly declawed again. His focus then shifted to cracking the proverbial nut that was his enemy. It showed the capability of making its hull harder than stone, and even utilizing a shadowy, phasic defense he'd seen only on rare occasion. It was apparent he had to pick his attacks carefully; its defenses were too varied to simply power through, he had to respond to each play with a perfect counter.

With a silent command, the slightly damaged FighterPlane changed course and began to set up a strafing run on the colossus. He didn't want to waste chips yet, but the small aircraft's twin guns could be enough to prompt the quasi-centaur to show its first hand. The FighterPlane leveled its stubby, angular wings out, then opened up with its machine guns. Small white puffs of smoke spewed from the barrels and were quickly left trailing behind the aircraft as it fired a volley of over a dozen small-caliber rounds towards the enemy's large body, but careful to not strike its chess piece ally that teetered precariously on its back.

Mach tried to attentively observe the mechanical program's reaction to the attack while Shrike struggled with all of its might with its twin leg-mounted engines burning bright. The SP tried to lift and/or drag its master in a zig-zagging path away from the unnamed foe in an attempt to put a more comfortable amount of distance between the two whilst trying to avoid the temporarily blinded beast's ballistic response.

His limbs likely struck all manner of debris as he was dragged along, but the unintentional silver lining of having all "prosthetic" limbs meant he didn't feel any real pain. Additionally, he activated his sole recovery program in an attempt to buy himself some more time by restoring his armor and energy to near 100%. He felt he'd likely not get another chance to use it again, so now was as good as any. His armor was quickly and briefly flooded with restorative energy, which "bled" into his limbs to hammer out the dents and snap them back into their proper places.

Downed but not yet out, Mach did his best to clear up his combat systems while the massive war machine loomed down at him. The damage he had dealt it before was still rapidly repairing; in another few moments, it seemed like it would have fully restored itself. Sparks of energy raced across its tendrils and down over its optical lenses, before the trio of multi-hued pinpoints glowed again, one after the other.

Shrike rushed to pull Mach out of the way, but the smaller SP wasn't nimble enough, working with Mach's heavy form, and the first bolt of light clipped him anyway; it was the red one, reinforcing the physical sizing that was stopping Mach from moving his limbs himself. The next bolt was on target as well, but Mach managed to raise his aura just in time, scattering the blue ray without effect; his weaponry would remain his own for the time being. The purple bolt lanced through with unerring accuracy, striking into and through the aura and beyond into Mach's body directly. There was no sign that his defence had been damaged at all, but as Mach began his healing processes they hit a very sudden wall, reporting him to be at full integrity. Another customiser part had flickered off-line.

While this was happening, Mach's fighter plane swooped in for anther strafing run, and as Mach had probably suspected it wasn't fast enough; the machine's steel-like sheen had already covered it again; the window of time when it fell was very short, and without disrupting it in some way, getting good shots in when it was 'vulnerable' would be very difficult. It didn't appear to be paying any attention to the summoned allies that Mach had, at this point; neither the plane, nor the knight had drawn more than a cursory turn of its head, while its body stance remained focused on Mach and Shrike.

It took a step towards him, broad stance lowering slightly, though it was hard to tell whether it was preparing to dash or leap at him again, or if it was preparing some other attack. Its hands were open and low, with glowing points of light at each clawed finger tip, and behind Mach, the two remaining spheres of energetic light still hung poised, doubtless ready to strike at any inopportune moment.

-=Remnant=-
[No Designate Registering]: 600Hp [Snow][Directly opposite Mach][SteelBody]

-=Navis=-
Machman.Exe: 440Hp [Snow][Hold!(Reapplied at the splice)][Body-Pack Uninstalled][Hp+200 Uninstalled][Two Shots Homing!][80Hp Elec Aura (Status Guard)]
Shrike.SP: 100Hp [Equipped to Mach]

Air Raid: 65Hp [Above Snow][1 Turns Left]
Knights: 100Hp [On target's back?][1 Turns Left]

-=Terrain=-
65% Snow

• Non-Aqua Elementals get -10% Evasion and reduced movement speed.
• Wind attacks: +100% Source Damage. Imbue Aqua if Null. Change terrain hit to Ice for 1 turn after turn hit, then back to Snow.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Ice, generate Frosty Mist: -10% Accuracy for Non-Aqua Elementals, +10% evasion against Non-Aqua Elementals, Freeze1 effect for any Aqua or Wind attacks.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Ice

• +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

5% Normal

• No effects.

-=Splice Details=-
Mach has 4 Actions Remaining
Shrike has 2 Actions Remaining

Boss has (presumably) 4 Actions Remaining

While still grounded, Mach commanded Shrike to fire off the next volley, to possibly coax out more of the foe's defensive repertoire, though he wouldn't be surprised if it simply disregarded the SP's red-hot beam of energy as it was reduced to a mere laser pointer on its super-hardened skin. Meanwhile, Mach sent a chip list to his NetOp through their private channel; the quasi-centaur had a near-seamless defense against everything he had, so he couldn't rule out the chance it could recognize the chips he requested, and timed its own actions to respond to every one of Mach's attacks with a perfect counter.

Quote

Magnum1Damage: 120 + Break + Panel Break x 3 Targets
Accuracy: A
Description: A triple barreled gun that blasts through defenses and terrain alike. Rare
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: C & MoonRay3Damage: 140 + Lunar Drain
Accuracy: A
Description: Fires a ray of lunar energy at an enemy.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Lunar Drain: Removes the target's outermost defense layer, even if it wouldn't normally be removed by this attack. Nullifies any counterattacks from that defense. Still triggers other defenses' counterattacks, if applicable.
Trader Rank: B, then upload everything else, Elec first.

Mazer already had a bad feeling about this battle, so he was literally sitting on the edge of his seat when he saw the message scrawl across the top of his PC monitor. He rushed to upload the two specifically requested chips, then pulled the "spine" from his vertically-stacked chip magazine, causing the remaining chips in their arsenal to clatter down to his desk. They were simply easier to rapidly identify and grab as he started to frantically slot in every chip he could find.

With the first loaded, Mach struggled to rise enough to at least take a knee so he assumed a relatively normal firing position as his right arm quickly reformatted into a triple-barreled heavy cannon. Expecting the giant enemy to keep its hardened shell, he tried to counter with an armor-piercing weapon of his own. He aimed dead center between the "hips" of the biomechanical colossus' forelimbs, as it was likely the most stable target even if the enemy attempted to evade, like "aiming for the belt-buckle" strategy in football tackling. Once his crosshairs aligned with his target, he fired the first heavy, high explosive/incendiary round. The heat of the shot caused the projectile's surface to glow, which made it trace a rusty-orange path through the air from the end of the crimson-tinged muzzle to the eventual fireball that was its impact point. Mach's next targets were more or less immobile, so he moved to engage with a much more mechanical speed. As soon as the barrels rotated to lock the next loaded barrel into position, he fired a second shot in an attempt to blast the snowy terrain below the beast's right front foot, then immediately followed up with the third and final shot towards the patch of snow beneath its left front foot. Each of the three exploded on impact with a small fireball and a pulse of heat, leaving all three barrels that made up Mach's right arm empty and smoking.

Shrike's eye focused on the enemy as well; while its iris didn't change color like it would for some other attacks, it's mechanical shutter tightened before a white-hot spark blasted forth from its body, then streaked in a lightning-fast, jagged path towards the quadrepedal foe. The bolt had only a single target, so if it managed to hit and deliver its powerful burst of electricity, it didn't arc off to another target. While the bolt would've made the Knight that rode upon the creature's back as a sort of lightning rod, the large mechanical chess piece took the opportunity to launch itself about a dozen feet in the air, then drove itself down upon its target's back. If Mach's attempt to strip the target of its defenses were successful, the Knight aimed to deal an at least distracting blow over its back while its master prepared the next salvo of his assault.

His armor suddenly began to develop a crimson sheen, and his engine nacelles started to morph like a metallic pair of chrysalides. A second later, said shells seemed to burst open as the fang-like curved points of the nacelles stretched out ahead of his angular chest, with no intakes to speak of. Another monstrous metamorphasis occured beneath the nacelles as well. In an unnerving symphony of cracks, pops, and metal-on-metal grinding, his arms appeared to tear themselves apart to form three identical pairs. The slightly curved claws at the tips of each hand shone a more noticeable red than the rest of his near black carapace-like armor, matching the claws that protruded from his feet. His canopy was covered in crimson-tinged obsidian armor, but pocked with several vibrantly purple-glowing "eyes" that stretched over its entire surface in a grid.

While his armor was imposing, it seemed to be only a central focus point of the rapidly growing wreath of purple flame that erupted from the ends of his fang-shaped nacelles, as if they were a pair of oddly colored rocket motors. In addition, blue spindly arcs of electricity thrummed and snarled while spreading between the myriad of outstretched limbs and protruding armor pieces. With no more warning, his body exploded in a blast of flame and electricity, as if he was the core of a plasma globe on the verge of overloading. Beneath the purple-eyed, armored canopy, Mach's mangled face glared up at his opponent. What few strands of metallic hair that remained on his head were now a pale cyan, while his remaining eye was a blood-red iris surrounding a pitch-black vertical slit of a pupil. His darkened rocket engine nacelles rapidly began to glow from the heat, while his mind seemed to struggle between incredible efficiency and unintelligible static from the overclocking.

Mach rapidly sought to put together a strategy that would foil his adversary's tactics, but the situation was looking grim as the intimidating war-weapon bore down on him. Its lowered stance and broad posture wasn't as relaxed as it had been before; at least it was taking mach seriously now, if that could be called good news. As it prepared itself, another field of turbulent wind burst up around it, flinging snow and ice in all directions, just as the two lingering bolts of bright energy that hung nearby shot inwards at once, striking into Mach's beleaguered form with heavy impact; the first managed to crush his protective aura, and deal some small damage besides, while the second struck him directly, battering him down to one knee again. Barely a handful of feet away, the thing crouched, ready to dash forward, and either trample or pounce on Mach with all of its steel-bodied weight, just as Shrike took a pot-shot; not just in the hopes of distracting it, but working through one of its defences and giving Mach's plan that much more chance of succeeding.

The heat shot scattered against the field, and arcs of it spat back across the snow; Shrike suffered ill luck this time, as one of the split shards of its own attack scored deeply across the mechanical SPs chassis. the beast growled, but as it sprang Mach fired his own shot, the magnum cannon blasting at the exposed machine as well as tearing up craters in the snow to either side. It leapt forward at the same time, but as Mach brought his weapon to bear the machine's form shifted again, phasing into a black shadow that ghosted through the punishing weapon-fire without effect and passed through Mach and Shrike.

It might have been a relief that they weren't exposed to the likely multi-tonne weight of the behemoth, but as it blew past them a turbulent slipstream of shadows and wind scored across the landscape. Mach's flying ally had only just finished its attack run and hadn't peeled away far enough; it wobbled in the air, and while Mach weathered the dark winds without ill-effect, Shrike was further shaken and damaged by them. When Mach's vision cleared, he could see the huge centaur-like mech far above him, a dark blot in the blizzard; apparently this thing could, indeed, fly as well, adding more insult to mach's currently flight-revoked status.

Despite this development, Mach had more still to do; just as shrike had drawn off its outer most defence, leaving Mach free to assault its hardened body, so had Mach's own attack drawn out the next counter that he'd witnessed before, causing the weapon to shed its steel in favour of etherealness. Now he struck with his next attack, a lunar bolt that lanced up from his position and drained away the shadowy defence as it passed through. Perhaps disappointingly, the massive behemoth didn't fall from the sky as its insubstantial aspect fell away. Instead, it was revealed in its original form, dull metal body primed against the cold and efficiently built. The heavy duty thrusters he had seen before were working harder now, producing long, dark blue flames that extended beyond the ends of its feet as it shifted slightly, weaving left and right above him in the air. If he was lucky though, it might be more vulnerable now; there might be time before it could put its steel defence back in place.

Shrike took a shot, sending an electrical bolt up at it just as the Weapon twisted and extended one hand downward. Shrike's bolt hit, boring into the flank of the centaur machine and leaving a visible damaged section. Success. The hole began to flicker with small mechanical parts extending outward, the process of self-repair starting aggressively, and Shrike itself suffered another heavy hit from the bolt of energy that it had returned. The SP barely held together, its lat-chance programs holding it to Mach's side, but the war machine above seemed to have decided that the companion program was enough of a threat to be dealt with now. It extended its other hand as it righted itself, and blasted downward again, once more shooting for Shrike rather than Mach. This time there was nothing to save the SP as the bolt of energy tore it from its hooked-up position on mach and sent it back to Mazer's PET.

Mach was in the process of transforming, and the mechanical monstrosity above him watched, hovering. it attempted to spin away from the sudden projectile launch of Mach's other ally, but the large chess-piece finally earned its keep, managing to jump high enough to ram its sharp horn up and into the underbelly of their foe. Another large gash was torn as the knight fell back to ground, but the repairing processes continued and began working on this new injury as well. It seemed like it might take at least a little while for it to patch up both injuries, at least, but probably not as long as Mach might like. It bellowed, a sound like an aggravated metallic screech that rang down over the snowfield, then extended both of its head tendrils and turned towards the knight as it landed. Glowing points of light lit up all across the extensions, before the now-familiar bombardment of dense energy beams began, hammering into the point where the summon had touched down and sending snow and frozen earth flying. When the dense laser fire stopped, the summoned ally had been reduced to rubble, despite its sturdiness... but at least that volley hadn't been directed at Mach.

Mach himself had taken on a more viscerally intimidating look, but as his transformation completed the explosions of corrupting fire and electricity that followed flared out into an expanding wave that didn't manage to reach the machine hovering above him. As he looked up at it, though, some details of its previously hidden status grew clear. Whether it was because of Mach's altered form, or whether it had simply dropped the protection was hard to tell, but at the very least he could read its name now.

-=Remnant=-
WarAssassin.clnr: 480Hp [High Altitude][Above and Behind Mach]

-=Navis=-
Machman.Exe: 415/480Hp [Snow][SylkCross][Self-Slow2][Off-Target1][BusterLock (2 Turns)][Hold!][Body-Pack Uninstalled][Hp+200 Uninstalled]
Shrike.SP: EJO

Air Raid: 30Hp [Above Snow][1 Turn Left]
Knights: DESTROYED

-=Terrain=-
65% Snow

• Non-Aqua Elementals get -10% Evasion and reduced movement speed.
• Wind attacks: +100% Source Damage. Imbue Aqua if Null. Change terrain hit to Ice for 1 turn after turn hit, then back to Snow.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Ice, generate Frosty Mist: -10% Accuracy for Non-Aqua Elementals, +10% evasion against Non-Aqua Elementals, Freeze1 effect for any Aqua or Wind attacks.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Ice

• +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

5% Normal

• No effects.

-=Known Details=-

- Capable of agile movement and flight, as well as crushing force.
- Regularly generates a field of turbulence that deflects attacks.
- Makes frequent use of SteelBody defence.
- Can phase into Shadow defence reactively.
- Regenerates and self-repairs constantly when damaged.

- Not fooled by illusions, decoys or invisibility; all attack methods appear to Seek.
- All attack methods strike with exceptional force, naturally impacting and breaking.

- Often attacks with dense volleys of energy shots.
- Possesses at least one homing-style attack.
- Appears capable of nullifying traps and negating counters.
- Capable of consistently disabling and debilitating enemies with targeted beams.

- Appears intelligent and capable of responding to evolving situations, but is unwaveringly destructive and violent.

With no more defenses, and a mounting number of uploaded chips thanks to his previous request, Mach had no choice but to devote what was left of his energy to out-damaging the massive foe whilst being picked apart. Rings of white light rippled over his body in an attempt to restore his ability to move even if it was only temporary. As soon as his mobility subroutines were unlocked, the Navi disappeared in a flash of cyan light, leaving behind the shattered clamps of his freshly EJO'd SP.

He reappeared above the now named program, and rapidly began to fall due to his flight program being uninstalled. In two of his 6 hands he gripped a long handle, supporting a column-like hammer that nearly dwarfed his own body. He had the heavy weapon held high over his head, fully telegraphing his intent to bring the literal hammer down upon the WarAssassin. His fang-like engine pylons coughed and flickered while his anti-grav drives couldn't power up, he couldn't stay aloft with them alone.

His attack was obvious for a reason; as he fell down towards the program, suddenly one of his four unoccupied arms whipped out from more-or-less behind his back. The crimson-tinged claws of the hand were snapped outwards, with an odd, white energy blade sprouting from its palm. For the first time since Mach had this chip, he activated it like it was fully intended; it manifested as a blade made of visible kinetic energy. Mach hoped the quadrupedal program would see the impending hammer and shift to a more shadowy form to counter, only to then be hit by a sharpened wave of percussive power. The crescent-shaped slash rocketed through the air from the swing of his arm. While it didn't pack the brute strength of an AirShot, the wave had enough bite to carve through data, even projectiles being launched in the opposite direction.

Regardless of his success in fooling the program, Mach followed up by making good on his threat; he swung the massive hammer down while he was still in range, either aiming directly at the top of his foe's head, or at any point of its body other than its miscellaneous limbs. He half-expected the virus to catch on to the deception and change its shadowy form to its steely shell to block the shock wave, but only to "walk" into a crushing hammer blow. He swung the hammer with enough force to break its gigantic cylindrical head upon the enemy, if he managed to hit.

As he continued to fall, Mach's various small control surfaces fluttered and his free limbs tried to act as small wings to send the Navi tumbling in a wide spiral in an attempt to shake off enemy fire. Two of his remaining free limbs slammed against each other with their hands pressed against one another, with his right hand extending a single claw upwards. He attempted to channel some of the more mysterious power provided by the cross with is arachnid friend; if he managed to dodge, he could possibly switch places with the massive foe, using some sort of tech-ninja magic. If anything, it would again put him above the program, so he could fall upon it one last time.

Even if it failed, he activated one of his signature battlechips. His rocket-like engines sputtered to life and spewed twin purple tongues of flame to send the Navi careening towards the WarAssassin in a desperate attempt to get back in range, even if he couldn't cause a dent with his supersonic charge. He tried to drive up into the beast's flank or chest, even if he simply bashed against its body like a moth against a light bulb. After either driving through or bouncing off, Mach tried to face the virus as four of his six limbs moved towards a point a foot ahead of his chest. Sparks jumped over his quartet sets of claws, then erupted in a wide blast of electrical energy. The torrent of power manifested as a frenzied flow of rapidly expanding rings of electricity, wreathed and connected with vigorous bolts that arced amongst them. Even if he was unable to inflict damage, Mach hoped to scramble the enemy's data enough to possibly get an edge.

The cone-shaped geyser of lightning didn't last long, and Mach likely would've fallen out of range as his attack fizzled to nothing but mere sparks. Instead of spiraling downwards, he instead tried to veer off in an angle away from the WarAssassin. His Fighterplane, nearly out of fuel and ammo, angled in to roll in to one last gun run. It quickly leveled out and opened up with its twin guns to hopefully pepper the large foe with small-caliber machine gun rounds. As Mach fell away, his right arms snapped into place with their upper arms extending directly outwards from his body with the forearms angled 90 degrees forward, like a trio of missiles on oddly-shaped rails. Each of the talon-laden hands clenched into fists, then launched one after the other. Their single rocket motors left thin trails of white smoke that traced their slightly curved paths in the sky as they aimed to deliver a trio of rocket-propelled punches into the enemy.

While his fists were away and he still had a few seconds before hitting the ground, one of his remaining three arms transformed into a cylindrical buster. He pointed the weapon up towards the semi-centaur, and tried to draw a bead on his target. As soon as he got a solid firing solution, the buster went off with a loud *bang* and sent a high-explosive round rocketing upwards towards the WarAssassin. If it managed to hit, or made a high arc and crashed back down to earth, the resulting explosion blasted outwards in four directions, tracing a large X on impact.

Speaking of impact, Mach expected to impact the ground at any moment. Even if he braced or managed to right himself just before crashing down, whatever hit first would likely end up crumpled like an aluminum can. At this point, as long as a single arm survived the crash, it was enough to fight back, even though his arsenal and capabilities were drying up at an unsustainable rate.

Options thinning, Mach restored his movement and made an all-out assault on his target. Up above, the mech wove back and forth slightly, the turbulent flurry of wind creating a vague visual distortion about it as its thrusters super-heated the air. Mach was gone in an instant, warping high as it extended an arm down towards him; an energy blast slammed into the earth where Mach had been a moment before.

As Mach appeared above, hammer at the ready, he would be made aware again of the size of his enemy, but despite this it juked backwards with a surprising amount of agility, turning to face him properly as its impassive gaze lifted up towards the navi and his weapon. It seemed focused on the obvious weapon enough that Mach's sudden, faster attack cut its shockwave forward seemingly unnoticed, but as it struck in, the visible sound wave deflected at an odd angle, cutting back wildly in Mach's direction. Poised as he was, the navi wasn't able to reposition himself nimbly enough to avoid the cutting edge of his own attack, though it seemed more like ill-luck than anything planned by his foe.

He carried through anyway, slamming his hammer downward, but his enemy's aerial nimbleness saw him meet nothing but air as he began to fall; up here, while it was flying, it seemed that the weapon's tactics had shifted a little, showing more mobility and evasiveness than it had on the ground.

Desperate to push the attack, Mach activated his next chip and blasted back up towards the behemoth, though once again it shifted, thursters blasting as it slid smoothly around his trajectory. He had time to see its right hand extended towards him, and another white glow of energy forming, and he avoided it as best he could in the air, without his normal systems. There was a blurring of his vision and a moment of disorientation, before his skyline altered slightly. It didn't seem like he'd quite swapped places with his target cleanly; it seemed quite immovable to most normal efforts and even his cross' special technique hadn't managed it one hundred percent. It seemed like he was in a good position to blast it with his next chip, but the lingering disorientation and over-correction saw the broad wave of sparks spread out into the air nearby, without quite covering his target.

A moment later, as the static cleared from his view, a roar of motion and thrusters heralded a sudden impact at his back; the impression of a vicious tail-whip from the creature sent him hurtling back towards the ground like a meteor. As he fell, Mach still had shots to make; his fighter plane swooped in, making a distraction of itself, and this time its strafe of bullets seemed to score proper hits as they raked across its metallic body, though as always the constant regeneration and repairing effect continued everywhere the machine was damaged.

The distraction was enough for Mach to attempt two more shots before he crashed down, and though his barrage of claws only managed to strike one in three, his final attack struck hard, blasting its cross shape into the behemoth's chest and torso. A moment later, all of Mach's senses shuddered as he hit the ground with enough impact to throw up snow and crack the ground beneath him. It felt, and looked, surely like he was in a small impact crater of his own making. above, the war weapon looked down at him, then folded its arms across its chest for a moment, palms inward. A bright flare of white and blue energy blasted from its palms and sent ripples of crackling energy across its form, before most of the damage that Mach had managed to deal rapidly knit and regenerated at a monstrous pace, filling in, closing rents and righting dents in a matter of seconds.

It was hard to tell from his crater, but it looked almost as it had when he'd first happened across it now. Still hovering, the destructive machine straightened its posture, folding its arms neatly again. The head tendrils extended outward once more, tilting down at him before the trio of coloured laser points lanced down on him. Luck, if it could be called that, saw that only two of the three actually connected with Mach himself; his weapons systems crashed out again, but his mobility remained functional, as long as he could drag himself out of his crater. The purple beam connected as well, though fortunately Mach's write integrity remained where it was; instead his shield program scrambled to the point of uninstalling itself for safety.

-=Remnant=-
WarAssassin.clnr: 540Hp [High Altitude][Above and Before Mach]

-=Navis=-
Machman.Exe: 245/480Hp [Cracked][SylkCross][BusterLock (1 Turn)][Freeze!][Body-Pack Uninstalled][Hp+200 Uninstalled][Shield NCP Uninstalled]
Shrike.SP: EJO

Air Raid: EXPIRED
Knights: DESTROYED

-=Terrain=-
65% Snow

• Non-Aqua Elementals get -10% Evasion and reduced movement speed.
• Wind attacks: +100% Source Damage. Imbue Aqua if Null. Change terrain hit to Ice for 1 turn after turn hit, then back to Snow.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Ice, generate Frosty Mist: -10% Accuracy for Non-Aqua Elementals, +10% evasion against Non-Aqua Elementals, Freeze1 effect for any Aqua or Wind attacks.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Ice

• +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

5% Normal

• No effects.

-=Known Details=-

- Capable of agile movement and flight, as well as crushing force.
- Appears to change tactics while airborne?
- Regularly generates a field of turbulence that deflects attacks.
- Makes frequent use of SteelBody defence.
- Can phase into Shadow defence reactively.
- Regenerates and self-repairs constantly when damaged.
- Also capable of active, potent self-healing bursts.

- Not fooled by illusions, decoys or invisibility; all attack methods appear to Seek.
- All attack methods strike with exceptional force, naturally impacting and breaking.

- Often attacks with dense volleys of energy shots.
- Possesses at least one homing-style attack.
- Appears capable of nullifying traps and negating counters.
- Capable of consistently disabling and debilitating enemies with targeted beams.
-Also seems to change tactic based on how debilitated it expects its target to be.

- Appears intelligent and capable of responding to evolving situations, but is unwaveringly destructive and violent.

Mach's meteoric impact looked ugly, but he was "blessed" to have unfeeling prosthetics for limbs. His legs appeared to be mostly in ruin, and there were at least two of his 6 arms crumpled and folded by the crash landing. It took a very brief moment for Mach to re-cage his senses, but his eye managed to see past the "blood" speckled inside of his armored helmet and refocus on the enemy above. His weapons systems were scrambled yet again, but only for a brief moment; his debug program coursed through his heavily dented frame to free up his ability to give a ballistic response.

If his options were limited before, they were even more limited now; if the enemy grounded itself and armored up, he had nothing left that could even leave a scratch. He might have a chance if it remained airborne, so with a burst of violet light and the crackling roar of his surprisingly still-functional engines, he rocketed back into the air in an attempt to beeline towards the colossus. The already clawed fingers of his right hand swelled and became more pronounced, like a trio of curved daggers. As he careened towards the mechanical foe, if he wasn't able to directly collide with the beast he attempted to at least rake his claws along its flank before tumbling away in an unpredictable descent. He attempted to vary his trajectory as he fell in an attempt to avoid the variety of beams and blasts that would likely be hurled his way, while one of his still-functioning left arms transformed into an oddly-shaped buster.

The weapon had a large pressurization tank slung underneath, but didn't appear to have the extended nozzle or pilot light indicative of a flamethrower. Instead, the tank contained nothing more than air, but pressurized to a very hazardous degree. While he would normally fire the microburst-producing weapon towards the enemy, his complete inability to remain airborne against a hovering target required the Navi to get creative with the weapon's use. He wasn't sure of the timing, so he more-or-less guessed when he needed to fire the weapon down at the ground just prior to impact. The buster went off with a surprisingly loud bang, and likely created a circular blast of snow and debris from the sheer pneumatic force. It was inefficient, but Mach tried to use the force of the blast to send himself hurtling back towards the enemy; he had no more chips that would enable him to reach.

If his body didn't instantly become a debris field, Mach attempted again to bring his claws to bear and slash deeply into the massive enemy. In addition to the claws, the surface of his body rapidly became superheated, then he literally ignited in an explosion of scorching fire and searing heat, like some oddly rising meteor. Again he was forced to fall, but he continued to keep up the attack while he was still in range. He tried to maneuver the targeting of his next chip just right, so the Flashor virus would materialize in the air near the centaur mech. If the lightbulb-shaped virus was in range, its fright-induced blast of electricity would hopefully deliver a significant shock to his seemingly invincible enemy. The Flashor looked like it was in the middle of a plasma globe as long, jagged arms of electricity screamed outwards in every direction, desperately combing the air for something to electrocute.

While Mach continued to fall, he tried to vector himself out from being directly beneath the mech, since he didn't want to accidentally put himself on the receiving end of his next attack. The pressure tank disappeared from the buster over one of his still-functional left arms, and the barrel of said buster became significantly wider to accommodate the grenade-sized projectile nestled inside. Mach tried to quickly determine the right firing angle, which was difficult due to both he and his target moving rapidly, but he needed to fire before he hit the ground again. If he managed to pull off a shot, the buster went off with a deep *THOOMP* and sent the MagBomb sailing upwards in a tall arc towards the WarAssassin. If by some miracle he managed to hit, the mech would quickly find itself splattered in a blue-tinged gel, which had a latticework of tiny conductive wires. Those wires, which all led to the magbomb's single-use capacitor, allowed the weapon to send a stunning pulse of electricity across the entirety of its gelatinous mass.

Unwilling to give up, Mach pushed his remaining chips into service, shaking off his immobilised lock-up and launching himself up towards his enemy again. Above, the Weapon tilted its body slightly, its front quarters raising briefly as Mach rushed up. It had moved to a position directly above where Mach's personal crated had been formed, and had seemingly been planning some further action, but Mach was quicker and crashed into its underside with enough force to cause notable damage to its undercarriage. the impact failed to really move the mammoth war machine, despite the damage, and Mach got a momentary close up view of the aggressive automatic repair and regeneration process that seemed to be a constant feature of this construct, regardless of whether he was damaging it successfully or not. A moment later, a pulse of light and energy rippled across its animalistic, synthetic form and the familiar steel proofing hardness galvanised it with a static hum.

The beast began to drop suddenly, threatening to drive Mach to the ground with it and crush him beneath its bulk; it had likely been planning to drop onto Mach's grounded body like a second meteor, before he had launched himself up. Mach was able to roll out of the way, past its body with the last of his movement, raking his claws across its back and side as he did. It was already too late, unfortunately, and the claws scarped across unyielding steel.

Mach was also falling, but the behemoth dropped faster, crashing to the ground with a cacophonous impact that threw up snow and earth, and formed a second, much larger impact crater than the first. It seemed unfazed by this, standing like an immovable force where it landed. As Mach came down, it reared up on its hind legs, upper arms still folded in relaxed complacence, and attempted to rake and bat at him dropping body with powerful forelegs. Just barely, Mach managed to use his air-shot to launch himself at a new angle, deflecting to one side and behind the creature just before he hit the ground; his next claw attack looked as much like an attempt to stabilise the sudden force movement as he shot past its flank, though as before they failed to leave any deeper mark along its side.

The burst of compressed motion ran out and Mach tumbled across the snow, but even as he readied himself to close for another attack, the beast had already turned and pounced towards him in a sudden burst of movement. The souring of winds about the creature as it rushed him heralded a desperate few moments of rolling and shielding himself from the cutting gale of winds before his body burst into a fiery display and Mach launched himself back at his foe. He struck it in the centre of its chest, bathing the upper torso of the war machine in fire, but Mach himself was probably already aware of the futility of his efforts now. As his body collided and the fire ran its course, a sudden dazzling impact slammed him to the snow again, blind-sided by a head-blow from one of the creature's more humanoid fists from above.

It backed off a step and Mach heard, more than saw, the sounds of its tendrils unrolling and the humming energy charge. Twinkling lights along both extensions glowed brightly, but Mach managed to recover himself just fast enough to dodge clear of the barrage, more or less. It traced with his harried movements, blistering the snow with energy bolts, but Mach was quick enough that only a single one clipped his already damaged body. The lights faded as they hit the snow, winking out; this one hadn't been its more punishing barrage, thankfully, though the situation for Mach had only grown more grim as the seconds passed. His remaining chips failed to have the effects he wanted as he sought for any edge; the summoned Voltz scattered electricity over his enemy without success, and the the mag-bomb that he launched on its tail seemed to be sailing true for a moment, before the violent winds encircling the creature deflected the explosive away into the snow before it could detonate.

In the moment of post-firing stillness that followed, the devastatingly familiar trio of thin, precision point beams lanced out from points across the centaur's firing array. Out of mobility, Mach felt himself struck by the blue bolt, his motor capabilities seizing up once more, while the read beam missed him, sinking into the snow and leaving his weapons systems functioning. The purple bolt, third to fire, struck true and Mach felt the final element of his customiser crash out, and his personal integrity took another heavy hit as it went offline. A few feet from each other, Mach was left to look up at the merciless creation before him, its vaguely feline lower body poised to pounce again, and its upper body relaxed with its arms folded in passive patience. The face-plate gave away no expression as its focus remained on Mach, but the navi was in dire straits, and as the regeneration process subsided and the steely gleam faded back to dull metal, his enemy looked completely unharmed again.

-=Remnant=-
WarAssassin.clnr: 600Hp [Snow][In front of Mach]

-=Navis=-
Machman.Exe: 108/280Hp [Snow][SylkCross][Hold!][All NC parts uninstalled!]
Shrike.SP: EJO

-=Terrain=-
65% Snow

• Non-Aqua Elementals get -10% Evasion and reduced movement speed.
• Wind attacks: +100% Source Damage. Imbue Aqua if Null. Change terrain hit to Ice for 1 turn after turn hit, then back to Snow.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Ice, generate Frosty Mist: -10% Accuracy for Non-Aqua Elementals, +10% evasion against Non-Aqua Elementals, Freeze1 effect for any Aqua or Wind attacks.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Ice

• +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

15% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

5% Normal

• No effects.

-=Known Details=-

- Capable of agile movement and flight, as well as crushing force.
- Appears to change tactics while airborne?
- Regularly generates a field of turbulence that deflects attacks.
- Makes frequent use of SteelBody defence.
- Can phase into Shadow defence reactively.
- Regenerates and self-repairs constantly when damaged.
- Also capable of active, potent self-healing bursts.

- Not fooled by illusions, decoys or invisibility; all attack methods appear to Seek.
- All attack methods strike with exceptional force, naturally impacting and breaking.

- Often attacks with dense volleys of energy shots.
- Possesses at least one homing-style attack.
- Appears capable of nullifying traps and negating counters.
- Capable of consistently disabling and debilitating enemies with targeted beams.
-Also seems to change tactic based on how debilitated it expects its target to be.

- Appears intelligent and capable of responding to evolving situations, but is unwaveringly destructive and violent.

Back on the ground and with the enemy back to full strength, it looked to be all over; but Mach still had some chips left from Mazer's frantic mass-upload. He freed up his maneuvering again thanks to the ever-useful debug program; thankfully his weapon systems didn't get locked down as well, though his NaviCust was now entirely stripped of all programs.

With mobility restored, Mach flashed out of sight, only to near-instantly reappear directly behind the creature's head with an ear-shattering sonic boom. As soon as he appeared, he punched his still-clawed right hand out towards the base of the creature's head, his trio of talons open. Instead of trying to simply grind his claws down to nubs with slashes, he attempted to get even the tips of his claws within the segmented pieces of the giant beast's armor. If successful, he attempted to lock his grip and hold on for dear life; even if it shrugged off every attack, he at least wanted them to hit.

If he had any left arms remaining, one of them quickly sprouted a thin, cyan energy blade from its palm while the claws of his mechanical arm snapped open like an oddly-designed three-ended cross guard. Knowing time was of the essence, he didn't pause even for a moment before delivering a blurringly fast and frenzied trio of slashing swings of the energy sword. While he attempted to hack away at the mechanical terror's neck, the fist of another left arm rapidly began to become pale as a thin layer of frost rapidly formed over its lightly curved claws.

The reason for the frosty fist became apparent as soon as he finished his triple slashes; the Navi followed up by punching forward with said fist, opening it to uncork an impressively wide and powerful gale of ice and snow. The large spread helped him cover a wide area, but even in this Sharo cold, the torrent of supercooled air didn't travel far enough to snap-freeze distant targets. It did; however, appear to do a decent job of freezing his own hand, as it remained locked open and covered in a dusting of frost.

Once the wintery blast had quickly finished, and if Mach hadn't already been bucked off, the Navi attempted to let go just long enough to slide down the back of the giant's neck and roll to one side in an attempt to avoid the inevitable counter attacks. As he rolled, he attempted to rake his claws against the colossus one last time for good measure before crashing down to the snow. Once he touched down on now useless legs, he used what little power remained in his heavily damaged engines to jet roughly back and to the left to possibly avoid getting swatted down.

The claws that made up one of his right hands shrank down to normal size, then were immediately covered in a swirling mass of data as the limb reconfigured. A second later, the entire hand and lower arm had transformed into a rocket tube with four small cylindrical structures splaying outwards from its breech. Each of those cylinders were glowing a vigorous orange, at least until Mach aimed the weapon towards the enemy. The warm orange light seemed to drain from the cylinders into the main body of the weapon, followed by the shrill howl of a single rocket that erupted from the weapon. The rocket left a white trail in the air as it zipped towards the WarAssassin, aimed at the ground directly beneath the behemoth.

After the initial underwhelming impact, a large swath of ground suddenly erupted in a veritable wall of flames, as if the "earth" was wrenched apart and exposed the molten mantle beneath. The wide tower of flames burned a brilliant array of yellow, orange, and red, and due to Mach's relatively close proximity to the explosion, he could nearly feel the heat pouring forth from the flames. Not even the near-transparent energy shield that raised in front of his body was able to fully block the heat.

As the mechanical brute bore down on Mach with an air of finality the shadowy winds howled about it, blowing snow and scattered earth around them both, but Mach refused to lie down and accept such a loss quietly; the three pinpoints of coloured light glowed briefly and lanced down at him from somewhere on its head tendrils, but Mach disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the debilitating rays to his into the snow behind him.

He reappeared, poised for a final push, behind the machine's head, his stunning force-wave sending a visible jolt through the mech as it began to twist about, and giving the navi enough time to sink his claws into its neck from the back. Large as the beast was, Mach himself was only barely the size of its head, and the neck was thick and sturdy, but he managed to get the weapon to dig deep and take purchase nonetheless. A frustrated, metallic growl resonated at a nearly deafening volume from nearby, rumbling up through its torso and escaping from beneath its face-plate, quite close to Mach. An energy pulse ran through the creature that Mach himself was close enough to feel; the amount of power that the beast was using would be enough to intimidate on its own, in most circumstances. With the crackle of energy, however, the impervious metal sheen enhanced its body again, and Mach could feel his purchase begin gradually pushed out; a glance showed him the regenerative processes working fast to repair his incision, building up metal mass beneath each claw in the process of extruding the foreign objects and repairing the damage below. He wouldn't be able to hold on for long at this rate.

His next strikes came in quickly, trying to race the protective steel surface, but as the beast bucked once and tried to shake him off, Mach only managed to connect the first slice, and even that wasn't quite fast enough, glancing off the harder steel without effect. The centaur machine reared once and thrashed its forelegs, before whipping its tail around in another attempt to dislodge the relatively small navi from its back; the tail, Mach would realise, in its large, solid weight, was perfect for swatting irritants in the machine's supposed blind spot; Mach was only just barely able to duck and press himself in to avoid the swipe as it lashed around at him.

His next effort caused a fierce bast of freezing ice that coated the back and flanks of his target in frost, and he could see the ice clinging thick, even if it wasn't damaging directly, though the blast itself was the last straw for his grip; his rageclaw dislodged pushed out by the beast's repair processes, but Mach managed to avoid another angry tail swipe as he tumbled free, slashing the Weapon's flank again as he fell, even though it served more to stabilise his fall, than any chance of doing harm. As he hit the ice, he felt as much as saw the machine's massive form swing about, nimbly leaping on the ice and snow as it reoriented itself towards the persistent pest that Mach was making of himself. The tendrils uncurled, alight with white pinpoints, and Mach was forced into half-dragged scramble across the snow in an arc to avoid the laser barrage that tracked and followed his movements, churning snow as it did. Three of the beads of light still clipped him, and though they didn't do significant damage, Mach's capabilities were pushed to their limit already. It was enough of a winging to see him collapse again; most of his body was battered beyond function now, but he had enough fire-power left to send a final eruption of blasting fire to engulf his foe in a momentary pall of heat.

Briefly, the massive behemoth was obscured from his sight, before its silhouette resolved into the slowly stalking form of the creature, walking out through the fading flames towards him again. It stopped just in front of Mach, then leaned down towards him, lower body crouched while its torso bent low enough. One hand lifted, then slammed down, claw-like fingers crushing around his body tightly and holding Mach still as it lifted him up and stood to its full height again. Clutched tight, with the sharp finger digits digging into his body in different places, Mach had another look at its impassive, featureless face-plate, before his vision was nearly blinded by a circle of bright lights. his shielding was up, even if he couldn't do much more than struggle for the moment, but the light was still glaring; the beast was holding him at arm's length, and its long weapon array tendrils were extended and curled out slightly to curve around him. These were the brighter, more crackling glows that he'd only seen once before; the ones that were far more punishing than the lighter tracer-style bombardments it used.

There was a moment when he heard the charging hum reach a critical point, before he was drowned in a torrent of broad, data-rending energy blasts from many sides; his shielding held off a couple, but no more than that, before the rest pummelled his already broken form. The hand clutching him seemed to turn shadowy for a moment, letting the laser blasts pass through without weakening its hold on him, but it offered no escape; Mach was left with an impression of shadows clinging to howling winds, even as the energy bolts cut off the rest of his awareness sharply.

-=Remnant=-
WarAssassin.clnr: 600Hp [Ice][Freeze1]

-=Navis=-
Machman.Exe: EJO
Shrike.SP: EJO

-=Terrain=-
45% Snow

• Non-Aqua Elementals get -10% Evasion and reduced movement speed.
• Wind attacks: +100% Source Damage. Imbue Aqua if Null. Change terrain hit to Ice for 1 turn after turn hit, then back to Snow.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Ice, generate Frosty Mist: -10% Accuracy for Non-Aqua Elementals, +10% evasion against Non-Aqua Elementals, Freeze1 effect for any Aqua or Wind attacks.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

45% Ice

• +10% Evasion to all. Non-Aqua Elementals get -20% Accuracy.
• Aqua attacks: 25% Freeze chance, change terrain hit to Normal if triggered. Boost chance to 100% if Ice-type.
• Elec attacks: +100% Source Damage.
• Fire attacks: Change terrain hit to Sea.
• PanelShot: Imbue Aqua + Freeze1.

10% Cracked

• Changes to Broken when stepped on, chance to fall in when triggered.
• Burrow: Change terrain to Broken, Null 50 to burrower.
• Panel Crack attacks, >100 Damage Break/Impact/Drop attacks: Change terrain hit to Broken.
• PanelShot: Splash1.

-=Battle 5, Defeat=-
-=Battle Progress Lost, Battle Count Reset=-