Mach's heavy shielding held up against the viral attacks and he destroyed them easily. He approached the mystery data, and as he touched it, the green gem transformed in a large packet of zenny data. He uploaded that to the PET, followed by more he collected from the remains of the other viruses.
[Good work, Mach. We should have more than enough zenny for some good upgrades once we're finished.]
Mach nodded before he flew back to his two SPs. They were injured, but could still stand and were gathering bugfrags. They took a few hits, but were slowly recovering from their injuries.
You two alright?
Aera turned to Mach and smiled. She was kind of glad Vector's armored plating covered her eyes, since her eyes were still a little watery from the pain. Vector's armored body was slightly scorched and some of the metal plates were bent out of place, but he was still functional.
I'm okay, just a little bruised. Vector protected me from the majority of the blast.
Mach knew his SPs had to be fatigued from battle, and he knew what he needed to do.
Okay, time for you two to take a break.
Machman's body started to sprout several large metal plates that swung and unfolded into place as Mach started to pitch forward. In a flurry of metal he transformed into his MachFighter form. His engine vents kept him aloft as he hovered a couple feet from the snow-covered shore. The majority of his fuselage was over the water, and his nosecone was pointed towards the pair of SPs. His cockpit hatch slid open as he spoke over a pair of built-in speakers.
[[i]Hop in.[/i]]
Aera's wing thrusters opened up and sent her into the air as Vector started to separate from her body. His armored plates started to move into the cockpit, while others stayed on the undersides of Mach's wings. His core plates secured themselves to the ejection seat Aera eased herself into. Restraints stretched over her chest and waist like dark ribbon before they connected in the center of her chest and held her tight. As soon as Aera strapped in, Mach closed the hatch and activated the displays inside the cockpit. Aera watched as the external cameras projected the surroundings on the inside walls of the cockpit and gave her a near 360 degree view of the area. Engine and weapon displays lit up next to her armrests, and a radar indicator appeared slightly above the horizon.
Good to go, Mach!
[[i]Alright then, here we go.[/i]]
Mach tapped his nose thrusters to spin him 180degrees and point him out towards the large body of water ahead. He then throttled up and started to gain altitude before he angled vents back and ignited his 4 main engines with a loud roar. He rapidly gained speed and reached a cruising speed of around .8 mach as he soared over the water and chunks of ice.
((Ready for Battle #5))
Mach & Company's Flight in Sharo
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As Machman pulls away from the shore, he encounters a whole lot of.... water, and not much else. Eventually, Machman reaches a point over the digital sea where two landmasses are just beginning to become visible over the horizon. The one on the left seems mostly flat, with stormy weather nearby. The landmass on the extreme right seems to feature mountainous terrain with thick fog along the sea surface approach and low lying clouds concealing the mountain tops. Clear skies above that, however.
Directly ahead of Machman was a whole lot of.... wet nothing, frankly.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 25 HP
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Terrain---
Sea: Yeah, a lot of it.
Everything else: Less than 1%
Directly ahead of Machman was a whole lot of.... wet nothing, frankly.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 25 HP
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Terrain---
Sea: Yeah, a lot of it.
Everything else: Less than 1%
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Mach continued to cruise over the water at high speed, his engines howling loudly. He was several thousand feet above sea-level, so the icebergs below were quite small from his point of view. Aera was relaxing in the cockpit, the soundproofed and heavily armored section of Mach's frame reduced the howl of the wind and the roar of the engines to nothing more than a whisper. There wasn't anything immediately in the distance, and the trio remained silent. The silence eventually became irritating to Mach, and he felt obligated to break up the monotony.
[[i]Alright, it's nice up here, but how about we go have a closer look at the icebergs down there?[/i]]
Aera looked around in the cockpit, as if she was trying to find something representing Mach's face. She started to smile, since she recognized Mach's playful tone, and knew he was about to make the trip a lot more interesting.
Sure!
She gave a thumbs up and had a wide grin on her face. Mentally she was anticipating a sudden change of direction, and steeled herself in preparation.
[[i]Alright then, here we go![/i]]
((It's go time.))
Mach vectored the thrust his upper left engine slightly upwards as he pulled his elevators up and tapped his right aileron down to send his frame into the beginnings of a TRUE barrel roll in a counter-clockwise rotation. His wings easily withstood the pressure, and the restraining belts kept Aera firmly seated in the rather cushy ejection seat. The positive Gs pushed her into the seat and kept her there as Mach went fully inverted. As soon as he reached full inversion, he vectored both upper engines up and pulled the elevators back to send him hurtling towards the sea in an inverted parabolic dive.
Aera watched as her entire world flipped upside-down and then as Mach started to dive, she could see what was once completely behind her and out of sight. She saw the four long vapor trails left behind in the crystal-clear sky by Mach's plasma-thrust engines. Mach continued to dive towards the sea below without changing his dive plane, which was secured at around 45 degrees. Aera would have experienced some weightlessness, but due to Mach's acceleration she remained pressed into the back of the seat. She looked straight up to see the ice-specked water, and she spotted the shadow of the Machfighter itself just out of the corner of her eye. The shadow got bigger and bigger as it seemed to slowly fly over her head as Mach got closer and closer to the water. She started to see individual waves in the water before he performed a counter-clockwise aileron roll to right himself and quickly pulled up to point his nose up and above the horizon.
Aera looked down between her feet and resisted drawing her legs up out of the simulated fear of her feet touching the water below. Mach's frame was pointing several degrees above the horizon, but hadn't started to gain altitude, almost like he was popping a wheelie. After a second or so, Mach truly leveled out and had his wings parallel to the water below at a little more than 30 feet above the freezing spray. A particularly large iceberg rapidly approached slightly off to his left, and as he was about to pass, he banked slightly to the left as he rounded the iceberg. He picked out more icebergs in front of him and started to weave from left to right like a transonic slalom. Aera started to giggle as Mach smoothly banked from left to right and cut his rather gentle turns closer to the icebergs, so much so that his wingtips may have whizzed past an iceberg or two with only a few feet of air between them.
After rocketing past almost a dozen icebergs, one particularly large one lay directly ahead. The iceberg was probably 150 feet across, and easily 300 feet tall. Mach was on a collision course with the iceberg as he slammed his throttle to full. Aera's facial expression started to change as the iceberg seemed to leap towards them at an almost unnatural speed. Aera uttered a subtle gasp just before Mach angled his rudders right and caused his frame to yaw right to point him away from the iceberg. However, instead of simply flying past it, he angled up and started another counter-clockwise, wide barrel roll over the top of the iceberg as it whizzed past. The iceberg was surprisingly long, but they passed it completely before they went inverted and completed the roll. Mach eased off the throttle as went straight and level 50 feet or so above the water.
[[i]Heheheh, sounds like I got you there for a moment. Wasn't this a bit more exciting than a regular, boring cruise?[/i]]
Aera's giggling finally returned after a few scenes of her rather short life flashed before her eyes thanks to the supertanker-sized iceberg. Her giggling eventually stopped as she started to blush. Though she was frightened there for just a moment, she absolutely relished this kind of excitement that only Mach seemed capable of providing: the thrill of aerobatics, but at the same time the safety of a firm embrace. Her skin was hot, and she felt a slight thump in her chest, which seemed to become more and more noticeable the more she thought about it.
Y-yeah. That was really fun!
Mach noticed two landmasses approaching, a flat area with some storm clouds to his left, and a misty, mountainous area to his right. He wasn't too keen with potentially flying into a storm, and the mountains seemed more interesting so he gently gained altitude as he banked right and approached the mountains. Mach was focused on the terrain ahead, so he didn't check the camera peering inside his own cockpit to see Aera slowly close her eyes and cross her arms across her chest as she grasped the restraints over her shoulders. Her head tilted slightly to the side as her mouth curved into a subtle smile.
Vector's armored plates that coated the back of the inner wall of the cockpit remained fixed in place during the maneuvers rather easily. His eye darted from plate to plate to get better views of the surroundings as Mach flew over the area, but then his eye was focused on Aera. He tried to get a better look at her, something seemed a bit odd about her behavior, and it seemed to be similar to what happened during the battle in the forest. As Vector curiously tried to decipher what was going on, Mach continued to approach the mountainous area with a straight and controlled trajectory.
((Approach Mountainous Area))
[[i]Alright, it's nice up here, but how about we go have a closer look at the icebergs down there?[/i]]
Aera looked around in the cockpit, as if she was trying to find something representing Mach's face. She started to smile, since she recognized Mach's playful tone, and knew he was about to make the trip a lot more interesting.
Sure!
She gave a thumbs up and had a wide grin on her face. Mentally she was anticipating a sudden change of direction, and steeled herself in preparation.
[[i]Alright then, here we go![/i]]
((It's go time.))
Mach vectored the thrust his upper left engine slightly upwards as he pulled his elevators up and tapped his right aileron down to send his frame into the beginnings of a TRUE barrel roll in a counter-clockwise rotation. His wings easily withstood the pressure, and the restraining belts kept Aera firmly seated in the rather cushy ejection seat. The positive Gs pushed her into the seat and kept her there as Mach went fully inverted. As soon as he reached full inversion, he vectored both upper engines up and pulled the elevators back to send him hurtling towards the sea in an inverted parabolic dive.
Aera watched as her entire world flipped upside-down and then as Mach started to dive, she could see what was once completely behind her and out of sight. She saw the four long vapor trails left behind in the crystal-clear sky by Mach's plasma-thrust engines. Mach continued to dive towards the sea below without changing his dive plane, which was secured at around 45 degrees. Aera would have experienced some weightlessness, but due to Mach's acceleration she remained pressed into the back of the seat. She looked straight up to see the ice-specked water, and she spotted the shadow of the Machfighter itself just out of the corner of her eye. The shadow got bigger and bigger as it seemed to slowly fly over her head as Mach got closer and closer to the water. She started to see individual waves in the water before he performed a counter-clockwise aileron roll to right himself and quickly pulled up to point his nose up and above the horizon.
Aera looked down between her feet and resisted drawing her legs up out of the simulated fear of her feet touching the water below. Mach's frame was pointing several degrees above the horizon, but hadn't started to gain altitude, almost like he was popping a wheelie. After a second or so, Mach truly leveled out and had his wings parallel to the water below at a little more than 30 feet above the freezing spray. A particularly large iceberg rapidly approached slightly off to his left, and as he was about to pass, he banked slightly to the left as he rounded the iceberg. He picked out more icebergs in front of him and started to weave from left to right like a transonic slalom. Aera started to giggle as Mach smoothly banked from left to right and cut his rather gentle turns closer to the icebergs, so much so that his wingtips may have whizzed past an iceberg or two with only a few feet of air between them.
After rocketing past almost a dozen icebergs, one particularly large one lay directly ahead. The iceberg was probably 150 feet across, and easily 300 feet tall. Mach was on a collision course with the iceberg as he slammed his throttle to full. Aera's facial expression started to change as the iceberg seemed to leap towards them at an almost unnatural speed. Aera uttered a subtle gasp just before Mach angled his rudders right and caused his frame to yaw right to point him away from the iceberg. However, instead of simply flying past it, he angled up and started another counter-clockwise, wide barrel roll over the top of the iceberg as it whizzed past. The iceberg was surprisingly long, but they passed it completely before they went inverted and completed the roll. Mach eased off the throttle as went straight and level 50 feet or so above the water.
[[i]Heheheh, sounds like I got you there for a moment. Wasn't this a bit more exciting than a regular, boring cruise?[/i]]
Aera's giggling finally returned after a few scenes of her rather short life flashed before her eyes thanks to the supertanker-sized iceberg. Her giggling eventually stopped as she started to blush. Though she was frightened there for just a moment, she absolutely relished this kind of excitement that only Mach seemed capable of providing: the thrill of aerobatics, but at the same time the safety of a firm embrace. Her skin was hot, and she felt a slight thump in her chest, which seemed to become more and more noticeable the more she thought about it.
Y-yeah. That was really fun!
Mach noticed two landmasses approaching, a flat area with some storm clouds to his left, and a misty, mountainous area to his right. He wasn't too keen with potentially flying into a storm, and the mountains seemed more interesting so he gently gained altitude as he banked right and approached the mountains. Mach was focused on the terrain ahead, so he didn't check the camera peering inside his own cockpit to see Aera slowly close her eyes and cross her arms across her chest as she grasped the restraints over her shoulders. Her head tilted slightly to the side as her mouth curved into a subtle smile.
Vector's armored plates that coated the back of the inner wall of the cockpit remained fixed in place during the maneuvers rather easily. His eye darted from plate to plate to get better views of the surroundings as Mach flew over the area, but then his eye was focused on Aera. He tried to get a better look at her, something seemed a bit odd about her behavior, and it seemed to be similar to what happened during the battle in the forest. As Vector curiously tried to decipher what was going on, Mach continued to approach the mountainous area with a straight and controlled trajectory.
((Approach Mountainous Area))
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As Machman approached the landmass, it became steadily more difficult to see anything. The fog at this low altitude was thick, and above that was a layer of white, puffy low lying clouds aroud the peaks of the mountains. There was mildly hazy zone between the thick fog and the low ceiling of clouds. However, said strata was perhaps only several dozen meters tall and still wasn't the best in terms of visibility. The air above the clouds, however, was very much clear. A few mountain peaks actually broke the cove to rise above this layer, but not many.
Which way would Machman go?
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 25 HP
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Terrain---
Sea: Yeah, a lot of it.
Everything else: Less than 1%
Which way would Machman go?
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 25 HP
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Terrain---
Sea: Yeah, a lot of it.
Everything else: Less than 1%
last edited by
Mach noted the low visibility at lower altitudes, and since flying in the clouds through a mountain chain is a recipe for disaster, he pointed his nose skyward and climbed over the tops of the clouds. Some of the mountain peaks poked through the clouds like large thorns, but Mach kept a save distance away from the enormous masses of rock.
((Move above the clouds, and slightly above the mountain tops))
((Move above the clouds, and slightly above the mountain tops))
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Machman soared high above the cloud cover a safe distance above even the highest of peaks. He maintained a respectable cruising speed, and continued flying through the inexplicably virus free skies. Indeed, Machman had yet to encounter a single virus, or flying Navigator, or even catch a glimpse of a Prog for the last fifteen minutes straight. There weren't even any of the usual network path readings in this area. In short, this section of the network was completely deserted.
The cloud cover was something else, too. It blocked Machman's sight, sure... but it also blocked his radar and other sensors; those not normally associated with plain old sight. There was no telling what lay below the puffy white carpet, and only a lunatic would dip down to find out lest they be smashed by a shrouded mountain. The peaks jutting up from the cover from time to time were a sobering reminder of that danger.
Too, outside of the hostile net zone of HadesNet, Machman had yet to see a more difficult network area to traverse. Beyond flying or some very exceptional combination of water travel and mountain climbing skills, nobody had a reliable means of getting here. Even then, anything but flight would have been a nightmare. and any movement below the canopy of clouds would have been asking for trouble.... Which did not explain why there was zero air traffic, viral or otherwise, for at least 20 miles in every direction as there normally should have been.
Suddenly, the ready-light on the com system went red and Communications Jammed[b][/b] printed itself across the HUD. A moment later, a large radar signature appeared on the screen almost directly ahead, and began closing very rapidly. The contact came into view only seconds later... It was a large red and a silver aircraft, and it seemed somewhat familiar--
((Encounter Theme))
The early warning systems in Machman's programming beeped urgently, then buzzed as the contact locked him up with fire control. It ejected a series of large drums from the fuselage. The drums disintegrated and clouds of micro missiles began homing in on Machman even as the craft itself loosed a volley of its own larger missiles directly at him.
'Hostile' just didn't describe this accurately enough...
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies--- [High Alt]
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 25 HP
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Enemies--- [High Alt]
Large Red-and-Silver Craft(?): 1100 HP
-- Communications Jamming
---Hostile Objects--- [High Alt]
ClusterA: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
ClusterB: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
ClusterC: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
ClusterD: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
Volley: Small Missile x8 [Homing]
---Terrain---
???: Below the clouds. Unknown to you. (94%)
Ice: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
Snow: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
((Battle 5: Begin!))
The cloud cover was something else, too. It blocked Machman's sight, sure... but it also blocked his radar and other sensors; those not normally associated with plain old sight. There was no telling what lay below the puffy white carpet, and only a lunatic would dip down to find out lest they be smashed by a shrouded mountain. The peaks jutting up from the cover from time to time were a sobering reminder of that danger.
Too, outside of the hostile net zone of HadesNet, Machman had yet to see a more difficult network area to traverse. Beyond flying or some very exceptional combination of water travel and mountain climbing skills, nobody had a reliable means of getting here. Even then, anything but flight would have been a nightmare. and any movement below the canopy of clouds would have been asking for trouble.... Which did not explain why there was zero air traffic, viral or otherwise, for at least 20 miles in every direction as there normally should have been.
Suddenly, the ready-light on the com system went red and Communications Jammed[b][/b] printed itself across the HUD. A moment later, a large radar signature appeared on the screen almost directly ahead, and began closing very rapidly. The contact came into view only seconds later... It was a large red and a silver aircraft, and it seemed somewhat familiar--
((Encounter Theme))
The early warning systems in Machman's programming beeped urgently, then buzzed as the contact locked him up with fire control. It ejected a series of large drums from the fuselage. The drums disintegrated and clouds of micro missiles began homing in on Machman even as the craft itself loosed a volley of its own larger missiles directly at him.
'Hostile' just didn't describe this accurately enough...
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies--- [High Alt]
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 25 HP
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Enemies--- [High Alt]
Large Red-and-Silver Craft(?): 1100 HP
-- Communications Jamming
---Hostile Objects--- [High Alt]
ClusterA: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
ClusterB: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
ClusterC: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
ClusterD: Micro Missile x12 [Homing]
Volley: Small Missile x8 [Homing]
---Terrain---
???: Below the clouds. Unknown to you. (94%)
Ice: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
Snow: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
((Battle 5: Begin!))
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Aera continued to restore energy to Vector's body with a pulse of regenerative energy in addition to the IV pack placed on Vector's plates inside the cockpit with her. Machman's focus was immediately lost when the communications jam alert.
[[i]The heck?[/i]]
Aera's eyes widened as she saw a large object appear on the radar screen, and gasped as the object appeared within visual range.
N...no way...
She saw several flashes out of the corner of her eye, and looked down to a weapons control panel and saw several different weapon programs appear on his weapon loadout and quickly indicated an "armed" status. Machman spoke to his operator, his voice was dead serious and almost monotone.
[[i]Mazer, we've encountered the craft from the mission in HadesNet. Prepare all chips for rapid uploading.[/i]]
[W-what?!? What the hell is that thing doing here?]
Mazer started to grab the chips out of his chip magazine, but he stopped as he heard loud beeping coming from his PET. The sound was several missile lock alerts blaring through Mach's systems. Nearly a hundred red warning messages popped up in the HUD projected on the inside of the cockpit. Aera gasped as she saw several dozen missiles drop away from the craft and streak towards their position.
[[i]Missiles fired! Repeat, missiles fired! Mazer! Hurry up with those chips!![/i]]
Mazer almost dropped his entire case of chips as he tried to slot in as many as he could.
[They're on their way! Dodge those missiles, use the mountains for cover if you have to!]
[[i]I can't avoid all of them, I'll try to shoot some of them down! I need covering fire from both of you, aim for those larger missiles![/i]]
Aera's eyes darted amongst the missiles approaching them, and started to get very flustered.
I... I can't, they're too small and flying too fast! I can't!!
Tears started to well up in her eyes as her fear continued to grow. Mach's weapon blisters opened up to reveal a pair of triple-tubed rocket launchers, each loaded with a trio of high-explosive, solid fuel rockets. Machman tried to comfort Aera as he aimed his loaded rockets in a wide spread in front of him.
[[i]Calm down, Aera! This is nothing compared to what we've fought before! Just focus and let's fry this bastard![/i]]
Vector finally spoke up, and tried to further reassure Aera as Mach fired a full salvo of rockets towards the incoming missiles.
I shall protect you both, M'lady. My armor shall not be broken by mere missiles!
The rockets streaked forward in a wide spread before they exploded mid air in a series of large fireballs. The explosions overlapped with eachother and continued forwards like a wall of flames in an attempt to take out some of the incoming missile clusters. A single blue dagger-like projectile flew from Mach's wing towards one of the larger missiles approaching Mach. Aera looked back to Vector, who looked back before he refocused ahead and sent several plates floating over Mach's raised energy shields. She started to regain her confidence as additional power started to surge through her arms. She picked out one of the missiles coming towards Mach and attacked with a bright bolt of electricity that leaped from the nosecone of Mach's fuselage and blasted towards the missiles. The bolt started to arc out in several directions as it tore through the air, so much so that it may have had a large enough area of effect to zap several more missiles.
Two drones materialized off Mach's wingtips before they moved out to his sides and assumed his MachFighter form. They quickly peeled off to either side in an attempt to draw away any additional fire, or at least cause the craft to shift focus away from the actual Machman. They didn't act as if they were attacking and tried to retain a defensive posture, since Mach didn't want the craft to ramp up any aggression towards him.
Though Mach sent a large amount of fire towards the incoming missiles, the chances of them destroying all of them were slim at best. He gauged the missiles' speed as he banked hard right then started a clockwise roll on to his back. This caused his frame to move far to the right, and lose altitude in an attempt to avoid the incoming missile volley. He continued to roll upright and went level before he slammed his throttles to full and blasted ahead at full speed. Aera was pressed into the back of her seat as Mach rapidly gained airspeed in an attempt to blast past the craft, and any missiles that attempted to follow. The flames that erupted from the back of his quartet of engines burned bright cyan and stretched almost a full length behind him. He quickly locked his optical sensors on the craft as he started to blur by, but he cut his engines and rapidly bled airspeed before he pulled up sharply and performed an Immelman Turn by pulling a half loop to effectively reverse his direction and roll back to level to give chase. He started his maneuver before the craft passed completely over him so he could remain somewhat close after performing the turn.
As soon as he leveled out again, he pushed his engines to maximum speed and tried to keep equalize speed with the craft. As he gave chase, he tried to identify any sort of weapon arrays, sensors, engine intakes, or any other possible weak points he could exploit to possibly hinder its mobility or offensive capabilities. He knew his maneuver wouldn't go undetected, so he kept his "eyes" open for any sort of incoming fire or any other attempts to remove him from his current position.
ACTIONS:
-[Recharge: Vector.SP (Recover 20HP)]-
Aera: Stay in Mach's cockpit
Aera: IV to Vector.SP (Recover 5HP per action)
Vector: Act as an extra layer of armor for Mach
1. PhoenixShot1: ClusterA-D (70dmg Fire + Wide Attack)
Vector: Attack Volley (35dmg Aqua)
2. Heavy Shielding: Machman.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
Vector: Reinforce Heavy Shielding (+2 Hits)
Aera: Attack VolleyA (35dmg Elec + Spread)
3. Dodge
4. DashAttack: Blast through missile volley and attempt to get behind Craft (90dmg + Impact)
5. Attempt to identify any weapon arrays, weak points, or engines
6. Dodge
DecoyA: Attempt to draw fire (Mimicking MachFighter)
DecoyB: Attempt to draw fire (Mimicking MachFighter)
Cooling Sigs:
Heavy Shielding: 3 turns remaining
[[i]The heck?[/i]]
Aera's eyes widened as she saw a large object appear on the radar screen, and gasped as the object appeared within visual range.
N...no way...
She saw several flashes out of the corner of her eye, and looked down to a weapons control panel and saw several different weapon programs appear on his weapon loadout and quickly indicated an "armed" status. Machman spoke to his operator, his voice was dead serious and almost monotone.
[[i]Mazer, we've encountered the craft from the mission in HadesNet. Prepare all chips for rapid uploading.[/i]]
[W-what?!? What the hell is that thing doing here?]
Mazer started to grab the chips out of his chip magazine, but he stopped as he heard loud beeping coming from his PET. The sound was several missile lock alerts blaring through Mach's systems. Nearly a hundred red warning messages popped up in the HUD projected on the inside of the cockpit. Aera gasped as she saw several dozen missiles drop away from the craft and streak towards their position.
[[i]Missiles fired! Repeat, missiles fired! Mazer! Hurry up with those chips!![/i]]
Mazer almost dropped his entire case of chips as he tried to slot in as many as he could.
[They're on their way! Dodge those missiles, use the mountains for cover if you have to!]
[[i]I can't avoid all of them, I'll try to shoot some of them down! I need covering fire from both of you, aim for those larger missiles![/i]]
Aera's eyes darted amongst the missiles approaching them, and started to get very flustered.
I... I can't, they're too small and flying too fast! I can't!!
Tears started to well up in her eyes as her fear continued to grow. Mach's weapon blisters opened up to reveal a pair of triple-tubed rocket launchers, each loaded with a trio of high-explosive, solid fuel rockets. Machman tried to comfort Aera as he aimed his loaded rockets in a wide spread in front of him.
[[i]Calm down, Aera! This is nothing compared to what we've fought before! Just focus and let's fry this bastard![/i]]
Vector finally spoke up, and tried to further reassure Aera as Mach fired a full salvo of rockets towards the incoming missiles.
I shall protect you both, M'lady. My armor shall not be broken by mere missiles!
The rockets streaked forward in a wide spread before they exploded mid air in a series of large fireballs. The explosions overlapped with eachother and continued forwards like a wall of flames in an attempt to take out some of the incoming missile clusters. A single blue dagger-like projectile flew from Mach's wing towards one of the larger missiles approaching Mach. Aera looked back to Vector, who looked back before he refocused ahead and sent several plates floating over Mach's raised energy shields. She started to regain her confidence as additional power started to surge through her arms. She picked out one of the missiles coming towards Mach and attacked with a bright bolt of electricity that leaped from the nosecone of Mach's fuselage and blasted towards the missiles. The bolt started to arc out in several directions as it tore through the air, so much so that it may have had a large enough area of effect to zap several more missiles.
Two drones materialized off Mach's wingtips before they moved out to his sides and assumed his MachFighter form. They quickly peeled off to either side in an attempt to draw away any additional fire, or at least cause the craft to shift focus away from the actual Machman. They didn't act as if they were attacking and tried to retain a defensive posture, since Mach didn't want the craft to ramp up any aggression towards him.
Though Mach sent a large amount of fire towards the incoming missiles, the chances of them destroying all of them were slim at best. He gauged the missiles' speed as he banked hard right then started a clockwise roll on to his back. This caused his frame to move far to the right, and lose altitude in an attempt to avoid the incoming missile volley. He continued to roll upright and went level before he slammed his throttles to full and blasted ahead at full speed. Aera was pressed into the back of her seat as Mach rapidly gained airspeed in an attempt to blast past the craft, and any missiles that attempted to follow. The flames that erupted from the back of his quartet of engines burned bright cyan and stretched almost a full length behind him. He quickly locked his optical sensors on the craft as he started to blur by, but he cut his engines and rapidly bled airspeed before he pulled up sharply and performed an Immelman Turn by pulling a half loop to effectively reverse his direction and roll back to level to give chase. He started his maneuver before the craft passed completely over him so he could remain somewhat close after performing the turn.
As soon as he leveled out again, he pushed his engines to maximum speed and tried to keep equalize speed with the craft. As he gave chase, he tried to identify any sort of weapon arrays, sensors, engine intakes, or any other possible weak points he could exploit to possibly hinder its mobility or offensive capabilities. He knew his maneuver wouldn't go undetected, so he kept his "eyes" open for any sort of incoming fire or any other attempts to remove him from his current position.
ACTIONS:
-[Recharge: Vector.SP (Recover 20HP)]-
Aera: Stay in Mach's cockpit
Aera: IV to Vector.SP (Recover 5HP per action)
Vector: Act as an extra layer of armor for Mach
1. PhoenixShot1: ClusterA-D (70dmg Fire + Wide Attack)
Vector: Attack Volley (35dmg Aqua)
2. Heavy Shielding: Machman.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
Vector: Reinforce Heavy Shielding (+2 Hits)
Aera: Attack VolleyA (35dmg Elec + Spread)
3. Dodge
4. DashAttack: Blast through missile volley and attempt to get behind Craft (90dmg + Impact)
5. Attempt to identify any weapon arrays, weak points, or engines
6. Dodge
DecoyA: Attempt to draw fire (Mimicking MachFighter)
DecoyB: Attempt to draw fire (Mimicking MachFighter)
Cooling Sigs:
Heavy Shielding: 3 turns remaining
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((Encounter Theme))
The rockets streaked ahead, and detonated to create a screen of smoke and flame. The flames consumed several of the incoming missiles that arrived early enough to be rewarded with immolation even as they granted Mach that adrenaline rushed eternity of a second to deploy his decoys, deploy his defenses, and dodge. The missiles that hadn't been prematurely detonated by the flames temporarily lost lock, only to find a veritable gallery of attack choices when the smoke cleared on the far side of the clouds. Three Machs to pick from, and pick the targeting systems did. Mostly incorrectly.
The two decoys lasted a pitiful handful of seconds, but managed to draw off the majority of the remaining cluster missiles. Vector's attack, originally intended for the larger missiles to follow, ended up blasting at the few remaining cluster missiles that had been on their terminal attack runs straight for the cockpit from above. This bought Machman another heartbeat of life to flip, and drop away just in time for the first of the 8 missiles to slam into his forward shields while the rest overshot by narrow but increasingly wider margins.
Machman kicked his engines up to full throttle and shot ahead, now clear of the missile threat.... And discovered he was now very much within direct fire range of the enemy's guns as an elongated comet-like fireball went streaking past with a compression wave's boom, barely missing Machman. A flash from something atop the still-distant target and a second hypersonic projectile punched straight into Machman's forward shield. The projectile exploded with jarring force, and blanketed the air around Machman in flames for a moment. A third projectile launched, but missed. Mach closed fast enough that the dorsal mounted cannon could no longer track him even with the red and silver craft's slip to the right, down-leftward canting roll, and failed attempt to undercut the more agile fighter's vector.
This wasn't the end of it. The final near-miss by the dorsal cannon may as well have been the signal for the next array of weaponry to try and light Mach up as the fighter Navi entered the stratofortress' kill-zone. No other word for it, as the air became thick with 20mm autocannon tracer rounds, canister cannon shotgun spreads, and energy bolts from reciprocating beam guns. Machman entered this inner zone, passed under the enemy craft, and shot past the close in defense envelope in perhaps 2 seconds. Two seconds in which the enemy's close in weapon systems shredded Machman's heavy shielding, and scored a few hits off Machman and Vector as well. Had the SP not been there, there was no doubt Machman would have had his starboard wing sawed off by AIWS gatling fire, and his port engine would have been a smoking flaming ruin courtesy of point-blank blaster fire. The speed of the dash attack boost also played a major role in his survival at that range.
The barrage didn't stop even as Machman pulled away. Once the boost from the dash attack ended, and Mach cut his engines, he discovered the enemy had attempted to compensate for his speed as an impressive salvo of tracers and energy bolts flew through the space he would have occupied had he maintained thrust. The barrage waved up and away as it followed his previous path, then stopped for a moment as the enemy corrected its aim... An act that proved utterly futile as Machman performed rolling half loop that put him above the firing line of the next barrage.
Or was it?
Now that Mach was facing the enemy again, he could see the red and silver craft had continued its earlier maneuver and was in the process of pulling hard through a banked turn to head back in his direction... eventually. It was already a third of the way into the maneuver, and had rolled to present its dorsal weapon arrays to Mach. The only good thing about this move was that it gave Machman the best targeting profile he could ask for. The engines, which must have made up at lest half of the craft's total mass, were very obviously housed in their own separate fuselages to the left and right of the main chassis. If this red and silver plane wanted to go to space, those engines might well take it there as they were doing a fairly good job of performing like Shuttle Rocket Boosters instead of the ramjet nacelles they appeared to be. That made them very nice targets to unload upon. This angle also gave Machman the opportunity to see... absolutely nothing even remotely identifiable as a sensor mount he recognized. No bolted covers, no blisters, no arrays, no radomes, no lenses... Squat. Yet it was still lighting him up for targeting. All in all, a very nice view....
That was the good thing.
The bad thing was that the maneuverer brought roughly 50% of the behemoth's firepower to bear against Machman. This 50% happened to include what appeared to be four AIWS single-gatling turrets (caliber unknown) in laterally symmetric pairs along the front two-thirds of the main hull. A full dozen small twin turrets of what were probably those energy blasters from before studded to armor modules around the wings and engine nacelles were also apparent. Lines of weapon bay doors along the main hull opened to reveal two rows of missile tubes, and bolt on modules nestled along the hull-ward facing surfaces of the engine nacelles accounted for the cluster-missile pod launchers. And to top all of that off, the rear third of the craft's main hull broadened, and flattened out in order to support a twin naval bombardment turret that had no business being on any aircraft.
Even as Machman noted these features, fresh streams of tracers leaped from the no-longer silent gatling guns; accompanied by salvos of energy bolts from the smaller turrets. The gatlings fired so as to form a curtain of steel projectiles along the creaft's rear arc to prevent Mach from assuming the preferred tail pursuit position. The blaster bolts, on the another hand, were fired in a loose pattern straight at him. It was break-off from this vector, or be shot to pieces when the blaster bolts arriv-- And that's when the naval cannon turret pegged Machman head-on with a maser beam; uninstalling his Undershirt program from his Navi Customizer memory.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies--- [High Alt]
MachMan.EXE: 115 HP (Shields Down. Undershirt Uninstalled)
Vector.SP: 6 HP [IV: Regen5 (<-- survived thanks to being in the cockpit)]
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Enemies--- [High Alt]
Large Red-and-Silver Craft(?): 1100 HP
-- Communications Jamming
---Hostile Objects--- [High Alt]
VolleyA: Small Missile x5 [Homing] (far away)
---Terrain---
???: Below the clouds. Unknown to you. (94%)
Ice: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
Snow: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
The rockets streaked ahead, and detonated to create a screen of smoke and flame. The flames consumed several of the incoming missiles that arrived early enough to be rewarded with immolation even as they granted Mach that adrenaline rushed eternity of a second to deploy his decoys, deploy his defenses, and dodge. The missiles that hadn't been prematurely detonated by the flames temporarily lost lock, only to find a veritable gallery of attack choices when the smoke cleared on the far side of the clouds. Three Machs to pick from, and pick the targeting systems did. Mostly incorrectly.
The two decoys lasted a pitiful handful of seconds, but managed to draw off the majority of the remaining cluster missiles. Vector's attack, originally intended for the larger missiles to follow, ended up blasting at the few remaining cluster missiles that had been on their terminal attack runs straight for the cockpit from above. This bought Machman another heartbeat of life to flip, and drop away just in time for the first of the 8 missiles to slam into his forward shields while the rest overshot by narrow but increasingly wider margins.
Machman kicked his engines up to full throttle and shot ahead, now clear of the missile threat.... And discovered he was now very much within direct fire range of the enemy's guns as an elongated comet-like fireball went streaking past with a compression wave's boom, barely missing Machman. A flash from something atop the still-distant target and a second hypersonic projectile punched straight into Machman's forward shield. The projectile exploded with jarring force, and blanketed the air around Machman in flames for a moment. A third projectile launched, but missed. Mach closed fast enough that the dorsal mounted cannon could no longer track him even with the red and silver craft's slip to the right, down-leftward canting roll, and failed attempt to undercut the more agile fighter's vector.
This wasn't the end of it. The final near-miss by the dorsal cannon may as well have been the signal for the next array of weaponry to try and light Mach up as the fighter Navi entered the stratofortress' kill-zone. No other word for it, as the air became thick with 20mm autocannon tracer rounds, canister cannon shotgun spreads, and energy bolts from reciprocating beam guns. Machman entered this inner zone, passed under the enemy craft, and shot past the close in defense envelope in perhaps 2 seconds. Two seconds in which the enemy's close in weapon systems shredded Machman's heavy shielding, and scored a few hits off Machman and Vector as well. Had the SP not been there, there was no doubt Machman would have had his starboard wing sawed off by AIWS gatling fire, and his port engine would have been a smoking flaming ruin courtesy of point-blank blaster fire. The speed of the dash attack boost also played a major role in his survival at that range.
The barrage didn't stop even as Machman pulled away. Once the boost from the dash attack ended, and Mach cut his engines, he discovered the enemy had attempted to compensate for his speed as an impressive salvo of tracers and energy bolts flew through the space he would have occupied had he maintained thrust. The barrage waved up and away as it followed his previous path, then stopped for a moment as the enemy corrected its aim... An act that proved utterly futile as Machman performed rolling half loop that put him above the firing line of the next barrage.
Or was it?
Now that Mach was facing the enemy again, he could see the red and silver craft had continued its earlier maneuver and was in the process of pulling hard through a banked turn to head back in his direction... eventually. It was already a third of the way into the maneuver, and had rolled to present its dorsal weapon arrays to Mach. The only good thing about this move was that it gave Machman the best targeting profile he could ask for. The engines, which must have made up at lest half of the craft's total mass, were very obviously housed in their own separate fuselages to the left and right of the main chassis. If this red and silver plane wanted to go to space, those engines might well take it there as they were doing a fairly good job of performing like Shuttle Rocket Boosters instead of the ramjet nacelles they appeared to be. That made them very nice targets to unload upon. This angle also gave Machman the opportunity to see... absolutely nothing even remotely identifiable as a sensor mount he recognized. No bolted covers, no blisters, no arrays, no radomes, no lenses... Squat. Yet it was still lighting him up for targeting. All in all, a very nice view....
That was the good thing.
The bad thing was that the maneuverer brought roughly 50% of the behemoth's firepower to bear against Machman. This 50% happened to include what appeared to be four AIWS single-gatling turrets (caliber unknown) in laterally symmetric pairs along the front two-thirds of the main hull. A full dozen small twin turrets of what were probably those energy blasters from before studded to armor modules around the wings and engine nacelles were also apparent. Lines of weapon bay doors along the main hull opened to reveal two rows of missile tubes, and bolt on modules nestled along the hull-ward facing surfaces of the engine nacelles accounted for the cluster-missile pod launchers. And to top all of that off, the rear third of the craft's main hull broadened, and flattened out in order to support a twin naval bombardment turret that had no business being on any aircraft.
Even as Machman noted these features, fresh streams of tracers leaped from the no-longer silent gatling guns; accompanied by salvos of energy bolts from the smaller turrets. The gatlings fired so as to form a curtain of steel projectiles along the creaft's rear arc to prevent Mach from assuming the preferred tail pursuit position. The blaster bolts, on the another hand, were fired in a loose pattern straight at him. It was break-off from this vector, or be shot to pieces when the blaster bolts arriv-- And that's when the naval cannon turret pegged Machman head-on with a maser beam; uninstalling his Undershirt program from his Navi Customizer memory.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies--- [High Alt]
MachMan.EXE: 115 HP (Shields Down. Undershirt Uninstalled)
Vector.SP: 6 HP [IV: Regen5 (<-- survived thanks to being in the cockpit)]
Aera.SP: 16 HP
---Enemies--- [High Alt]
Large Red-and-Silver Craft(?): 1100 HP
-- Communications Jamming
---Hostile Objects--- [High Alt]
VolleyA: Small Missile x5 [Homing] (far away)
---Terrain---
???: Below the clouds. Unknown to you. (94%)
Ice: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
Snow: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
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Aera recoiled in her seat as she saw the tracers and other ungodly deadly projectiles ripped through Mach's shields and almost sawed off one of his wings. The direct maser blast didn't help either, since several warning indicators popped up indicating his core programming was vulnerable. Mazer couldn't believe what he saw on his PET screen as his Navi weaved through waves of fire and barely scraping by.
[[i]Argh, the target is bristling with weapon systems, I can't avoid them all this way![/i]]
Machman didn't directly feel the pain of the missile and bullet impacts, but he could feel his frame slightly rolling to the right since his starboard wing was heavily damaged by armor-piercing rounds and not producing as much lift.
[We gotta somehow disable that thing first, try to disable its engines or some of its deadlier weapon systems. That thing can't be that large for absolutely zero reason, so try to find some sort of hatches or loading bays; it probably can't shoot you from inside itself.]
[[i]Understood. Aera, Vector, I'm deactivating Machfighter to try and cut down my profile to better evade incoming fire. Aera, shift to damage repair and try to take out any weapon structures you can. Vector, provide extra fire on those weapons.[/i]]
Aera nodded as Vector's eye glowed brightly. Vector acknowledged, but Aera was still a bit stunned by the amount of death spewing from the craft. She started to sink into her seat, and closed her eyes as she disappeared into Mach's frame. As soon as Aera merged, Machman pitched his nose down sharply and slammed his throttles to full as he pointed his lower two engines straight down to have him go into a hurtling roll towards the aircraft. His body blurred into a mass of shifting metal before the mass quickly tightened down into Mach's default configuration. However, there were several changes. Machman had a third pair of wings behind him, provided by Aera, and Vector's protective armor protected the majority of his body, but several other pieces stretched back and past his body, as if they were being stretched backwards by Mach's velocity.
((Combat Theme))
Machman streaked forward towards the craft, the flames erupting from his wings, feet, and chest stretched almost double his height. Vector's eye appeared over the visor covering Mach's own eyes, but instead of a red circle, it stretched into a horizontally-stretched diamond. Mach poured on the speed as his engines burned with a screaming howl and tried to close the distance with the craft. As he approached, he watched as the lines of tracers streaked towards him and tried to keep himself out of the lasers of lead being fired towards him. As he did so, Aera raised one of her own protective shields as she summoned an IV pack on Mach's back. Additional energy flowed out from Mach's body into Vector's armored plates, which helped repair the previous damage.
An extra layer of Vector's armor moved to surface of Aera's shields to reinforce the defenses. They kept moving rapidly as shots got close, but they didn't obscure Mach's view as he tried to find any sort of creases in the craft that would hint at the presence of a loading bay or entrance hatch. A pair of decoys fell away from Mach before they projected exact copies of Mach's body and streaked towards the ship, one tried to cut into the craft's immediate flight path, while the other tried to fly over the craft's left engine housing and fly under it's belly.
As soon as Mach got within firing range, he slightly leveled out as he left his wings to provide the thrust while he pointed his right arm towards the craft's dorsal weapons array. A mounting bracket slid out from the underside of Mach's forearm as a triple-barreled chaingun materialized under the bracket. Mach had already aimed up on the relatively large engine and allowed his chaingun to spin up quickly before hundreds of rounds streamed from the spinning barrel assembly and streaked towards the engine's upper housing. Mach tried to direct most of his shots on the engine itself, nearest to the connection point to the craft.
Mach kept his thrusters going at full throttle as he continued to rain lead on the craft, and his SPs prepared their own attacks. Both SPs targeted the dorsal weapons array, as they launched hardened steel blades and bolts of lightning from Mach's body. Aera aimed towards the area of the array with the highest density of weapons in an attempt to fry several of them with one shot, while Vector targeted two individual anti-aircraft guns. Vector's blades were silent and hard to see as they zipped towards the craft, but Aera's bolt of lightning leaped from Mach's chest towards the dorsal array with a loud boom and a flash of light.
Mach continued moving quickly, but as soon as his chaingun ran out of ammunition and disappeared, he continued to pour on the speed and tried to weave through the lines of fire and attempted to get closer to the craft to find any possible weak points or vital structures. Mach couldn't help but feel impressed by the wide array of weapons the craft sported, but he felt more and more frustrated as he felt "caged" by the lines of death drawn by beams and lead. His internal HUD had two additional windows as the two decoys projected live video of their routes, since they were also tasked to get a better look at the target on top of drawing enemy fire.
{Aera, I need you to concentrate on those visual feeds. Keep your eyes peeled for any sort of features that hint to a hatch or door, or any exposed areas that could be vulnerable.}
Aera's "voice" responded to Mach's thoughts; she sounded much less distracted or nervous.
{Okay, I'll tell you if I see anything.}
Mach trusted Aera to keep a watch on the feeds and shifted focus on the large turret sporting a pair of maser beam cannons.
{Alright, you could use a good smashing.}
As he continued to streak towards the craft as it made it's hard turn to move Mach out of it's "6," he gripped a small orb in his right hand. He watched how the craft maneuvered, which was rather slow due to its size, and tried to gauge where he would aim the attack so it wouldn't undershoot its target. After making a rough estimate, he drew his arm back and hurled the object towards the heavy beam turret. As it flew through the air, it swelled up into a large, cork-shaped stone. Its momentum alone may have been enough to destroy the turret, or at least knock the cannons out of alignment to prevent effective operation or aiming.
With the stone projectile away, Mach shifted back into the defensive and tried to avoid being blown up/peppered/sawed in half by bullets by weaving erratically while trying to keep the turrets locked on to him from zeroing in their fire. As he weaved through the veritable "bullet hell" around him, His right arm bulked up and nearly doubled in size. He knew something was going to hit him eventually, but he was prepared to silence the weapon that hit him with a crushing fist.
ACTIONS:
-[Disable MachFighter.GMO]-
1. Dodge
-[Recharge: Vector.SP (Recover 20HP)]-
Aera: IV Pack to Machman.EXE (Recover 5HP per action)
Aera: Repulsion Shield (2-hit shield + 1TCD)
Vector: Reinforce Repulsion Shield (+2 hits)
2. Rising Barrage: Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Starboard Engine] (25dmg x4 + Break + Knockback + Strategic Movement + Busterlock + 7TCD)
-[Strategic Movement: Maintain speed and keep fire on the craft's engine]-
Aera:Attack Dorsal Weapons Array (35dmg Elec + Spread)
Vector: Attack Dorsal Weapons Array (35dmg Aqua)
Vector: Attack Dorsal Weapons Array (35dmg Aqua)
3. Dodge
4. Quake1: Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Naval Bombardment Turret] (100dmg + Impact)
5. Dodge
6. Counter1 (Counter 1 Attack with Gutpunch for 70dmg + Breaking + Impact)
DecoyA: Attempt to get underneath aircraft, draw fire while scouting out aircraft's underbelly (Mimicking Mach)
DecoyB: Attempt to get directly in front of aircraft, draw fire while scouting aircraft's forward hull (Mimicking Mach)
Cooling Sigs:
Heavy Shielding: 3 turns remaining
Repulsion Shield: 1 turn remaining
Rising Barrage: 7 turns remaining
----Busterlock: 2 Turns Remaining
[[i]Argh, the target is bristling with weapon systems, I can't avoid them all this way![/i]]
Machman didn't directly feel the pain of the missile and bullet impacts, but he could feel his frame slightly rolling to the right since his starboard wing was heavily damaged by armor-piercing rounds and not producing as much lift.
[We gotta somehow disable that thing first, try to disable its engines or some of its deadlier weapon systems. That thing can't be that large for absolutely zero reason, so try to find some sort of hatches or loading bays; it probably can't shoot you from inside itself.]
[[i]Understood. Aera, Vector, I'm deactivating Machfighter to try and cut down my profile to better evade incoming fire. Aera, shift to damage repair and try to take out any weapon structures you can. Vector, provide extra fire on those weapons.[/i]]
Aera nodded as Vector's eye glowed brightly. Vector acknowledged, but Aera was still a bit stunned by the amount of death spewing from the craft. She started to sink into her seat, and closed her eyes as she disappeared into Mach's frame. As soon as Aera merged, Machman pitched his nose down sharply and slammed his throttles to full as he pointed his lower two engines straight down to have him go into a hurtling roll towards the aircraft. His body blurred into a mass of shifting metal before the mass quickly tightened down into Mach's default configuration. However, there were several changes. Machman had a third pair of wings behind him, provided by Aera, and Vector's protective armor protected the majority of his body, but several other pieces stretched back and past his body, as if they were being stretched backwards by Mach's velocity.
((Combat Theme))
Machman streaked forward towards the craft, the flames erupting from his wings, feet, and chest stretched almost double his height. Vector's eye appeared over the visor covering Mach's own eyes, but instead of a red circle, it stretched into a horizontally-stretched diamond. Mach poured on the speed as his engines burned with a screaming howl and tried to close the distance with the craft. As he approached, he watched as the lines of tracers streaked towards him and tried to keep himself out of the lasers of lead being fired towards him. As he did so, Aera raised one of her own protective shields as she summoned an IV pack on Mach's back. Additional energy flowed out from Mach's body into Vector's armored plates, which helped repair the previous damage.
An extra layer of Vector's armor moved to surface of Aera's shields to reinforce the defenses. They kept moving rapidly as shots got close, but they didn't obscure Mach's view as he tried to find any sort of creases in the craft that would hint at the presence of a loading bay or entrance hatch. A pair of decoys fell away from Mach before they projected exact copies of Mach's body and streaked towards the ship, one tried to cut into the craft's immediate flight path, while the other tried to fly over the craft's left engine housing and fly under it's belly.
As soon as Mach got within firing range, he slightly leveled out as he left his wings to provide the thrust while he pointed his right arm towards the craft's dorsal weapons array. A mounting bracket slid out from the underside of Mach's forearm as a triple-barreled chaingun materialized under the bracket. Mach had already aimed up on the relatively large engine and allowed his chaingun to spin up quickly before hundreds of rounds streamed from the spinning barrel assembly and streaked towards the engine's upper housing. Mach tried to direct most of his shots on the engine itself, nearest to the connection point to the craft.
Mach kept his thrusters going at full throttle as he continued to rain lead on the craft, and his SPs prepared their own attacks. Both SPs targeted the dorsal weapons array, as they launched hardened steel blades and bolts of lightning from Mach's body. Aera aimed towards the area of the array with the highest density of weapons in an attempt to fry several of them with one shot, while Vector targeted two individual anti-aircraft guns. Vector's blades were silent and hard to see as they zipped towards the craft, but Aera's bolt of lightning leaped from Mach's chest towards the dorsal array with a loud boom and a flash of light.
Mach continued moving quickly, but as soon as his chaingun ran out of ammunition and disappeared, he continued to pour on the speed and tried to weave through the lines of fire and attempted to get closer to the craft to find any possible weak points or vital structures. Mach couldn't help but feel impressed by the wide array of weapons the craft sported, but he felt more and more frustrated as he felt "caged" by the lines of death drawn by beams and lead. His internal HUD had two additional windows as the two decoys projected live video of their routes, since they were also tasked to get a better look at the target on top of drawing enemy fire.
{Aera, I need you to concentrate on those visual feeds. Keep your eyes peeled for any sort of features that hint to a hatch or door, or any exposed areas that could be vulnerable.}
Aera's "voice" responded to Mach's thoughts; she sounded much less distracted or nervous.
{Okay, I'll tell you if I see anything.}
Mach trusted Aera to keep a watch on the feeds and shifted focus on the large turret sporting a pair of maser beam cannons.
{Alright, you could use a good smashing.}
As he continued to streak towards the craft as it made it's hard turn to move Mach out of it's "6," he gripped a small orb in his right hand. He watched how the craft maneuvered, which was rather slow due to its size, and tried to gauge where he would aim the attack so it wouldn't undershoot its target. After making a rough estimate, he drew his arm back and hurled the object towards the heavy beam turret. As it flew through the air, it swelled up into a large, cork-shaped stone. Its momentum alone may have been enough to destroy the turret, or at least knock the cannons out of alignment to prevent effective operation or aiming.
With the stone projectile away, Mach shifted back into the defensive and tried to avoid being blown up/peppered/sawed in half by bullets by weaving erratically while trying to keep the turrets locked on to him from zeroing in their fire. As he weaved through the veritable "bullet hell" around him, His right arm bulked up and nearly doubled in size. He knew something was going to hit him eventually, but he was prepared to silence the weapon that hit him with a crushing fist.
ACTIONS:
-[Disable MachFighter.GMO]-
1. Dodge
-[Recharge: Vector.SP (Recover 20HP)]-
Aera: IV Pack to Machman.EXE (Recover 5HP per action)
Aera: Repulsion Shield (2-hit shield + 1TCD)
Vector: Reinforce Repulsion Shield (+2 hits)
2. Rising Barrage: Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Starboard Engine] (25dmg x4 + Break + Knockback + Strategic Movement + Busterlock + 7TCD)
-[Strategic Movement: Maintain speed and keep fire on the craft's engine]-
Aera:Attack Dorsal Weapons Array (35dmg Elec + Spread)
Vector: Attack Dorsal Weapons Array (35dmg Aqua)
Vector: Attack Dorsal Weapons Array (35dmg Aqua)
3. Dodge
4. Quake1: Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Naval Bombardment Turret] (100dmg + Impact)
5. Dodge
6. Counter1 (Counter 1 Attack with Gutpunch for 70dmg + Breaking + Impact)
DecoyA: Attempt to get underneath aircraft, draw fire while scouting out aircraft's underbelly (Mimicking Mach)
DecoyB: Attempt to get directly in front of aircraft, draw fire while scouting aircraft's forward hull (Mimicking Mach)
Cooling Sigs:
Heavy Shielding: 3 turns remaining
Repulsion Shield: 1 turn remaining
Rising Barrage: 7 turns remaining
----Busterlock: 2 Turns Remaining
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The blizzard of gunfire emanating from the red-and-silver stratofortress slackened and died as the enemy's targeting systems no-longer recognized Machman as a target. re-calibrated to recognize Machman's current form as a target. This gave Aera and Vector enough time to repair damage and shore up their defenses while the guns remained silent.
Machman also took advantage of this lull to deploy and fire his 30mm chain gun. The streams of armor piercing rounds, traveling TO the red and silver craft for a change, lanced through the air and-- impacted upon a Barrier that suddenly appeared around the craft as the gunfire died; a matching sheathe of silver armor coating the hull at the same time. The barrage of steel continued to batter at the shield, end eventually sawed through it. The rounds then began to eat away at the heavy armor plating the craft had summoned in its own defense while it had had no means to target its enemy. The reactive armor now protecting the engines did its job... just barely. None of the barrage got through, but what remained of the armor was in terrible shape.
Aera's follow-up attack was met with the lunch of a cluster missile pod. The bolt struck the pod before it deployed, and destroyed the entire pod with all the missiles still in it. The bolt arced from the pod to strike the hull of the craft, finishing off the armor in the process. This opened up a window of opportunity for Vector to get in both of his attacks against the craft's weapon systems. They struck home against both targets, and visibly damaged them. However, the projectiles had not done enough damage to destroy the weapons.
Aera's attack had been a lucky shot, as it had downed one of the cluster missile pods.... One of them. Three more just like it were ejected from the craft at 45 degree angles in a repetition of the opening salvo Mach had witnessed from a distance. The canisters fell quickly behind as Mach flew right past them. A moment later, they broke apart, and thirty six anti-air missiles erupted from their remains. At the same time, the red and silver craft's close in weapon systems opened up again, apparently having re-calibrated to recognize and shoot at the form-shifted target.
Mach's decoys had no run-life to speak of this time around. The moment the guns opened back up, the decoys each ate a double burst of yet another kind of new anti-air weapon. The canister cannons, dorsal and ventral, aimed in the general direction of the decoys and fired a seemingly poorly aimed pair of sub-sonic bazooka rounds. The spinning projectiles made it all of a few dozen meters away from the craft before they began to break apart. The disintegrating projectiles had barely begun to properly shed the dozens of small squarish components when a concussion charge at the center of each mass scattered them in all directions suddenly. The components shattered, sprayed liquid everywhere, and exploded, creating a rapidly expanding zone of overlapping blasts that wiped the decoys from the air space. Aera got a great close up feed of how this weapon worked.
Good thing it was the decoys. The overlapping rippling shock waves from the cluster F.A.E. made flying a living hell for the next few moments. The larger craft could have cared less, but the smaller Navi was tossed about... Fortuitous, perhaps, as this threw the red and silver craft's aim off while Mach recovered and began real evasive maneuvers just as the missiles flew into range. The red and silver craft stopped firing for a moment as Machman proceeded to dodge for his life, and dodge successfully as the first cluster of missiles streaked by one after the other.
A lull in the action occurred just after the last of the first wave of missiles shot past. Mach moved to flank the craft, taking him out of direct line with the chase armaments and back over the dorsal facing as the red craft rolled to deny him any sort of look at the ventral surfaces. Very convenient, as Machman hefted and hurled the Quake1's shot-like sphere at the naval turret that was suddenly a much easier targ-- The naval turret, apparently aiming as the craft had rolled, fired. A blazing comet-like fireball of a projectile roughly the size of Machman blasted from the left barrel; the shockwave ot its passing altering the trajectory of the Quake1's sphere. A second later, and the Quake1's sphere was struck and annihilated as a second massive projectile smashed into the chip data on its course into space. The shattered remains of the sphere rained down and stippled the clouds below.
The shock wave of the second cannon shot's passing pushed Machman upwards and outwards, but most importantly, it pushed him out of the path of the third cannon shot. The third massive fireball blasted right through where he'd just been flying, and erased the volley of missiles he'd just dodged as it went by. Yet again, the compression waves pushed Machman further away from the craft. The laser turrets and AIWS had fallen silent while the naval cannon had tried to punch Mach's ticket, and were still silent now.
The remaining waves of cluster missiles, however, were converging on his location. As before, Machman began dodging and weaving to evade the missiles... However, the red and silver craft suddenly changed tactics on him, and opened up with the lasers and gatling autocannon once again... on it's own missiles. Indeed, the craft waited for the missiles to close with Machman, and then it began blowing it's own weapons out of the sky. The reason it did this became clear as the missiles that previously would have missed Machman completely began exploding in close proximity. Damage was simply inevitable, as there was no avoiding everything.
Machman somehow managed to make it out of the trap alive, and retaliated with a Counter. The blow struck the cluster missile pod launcher on the aft of the craft, nearly destroying the weapon system in the process. In exchange, Mach, Aera, and Vector had taken damage from gatling fire they couldn't see amid explosions they couldn't avoid. They were alive, but the enemy was getting smarter.
Smarter was bad.
The red and silver craft had leveled off, and was now traveling directly away from Machman at sub sonic speeds. Odds were good it was up to something.
And that's when enough of Machman, Aera, and Vector's hearing returned for them to hear the warning buzz of the missile lock warning system.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies--- [High Alt]
MachMan.EXE: 110 HP [IV Pack: Regen(5)] (Undershirt Uninstalled)
Vector.SP: 1 HP [IV Pack: Destroyed]
Aera.SP: 1 HP (Shields Down)
---Enemies--- [High Alt, directly ahead, facing away]
Large Red-and-Silver Craft(?): 1100 HP (Barrier: Destroyed, Casing: Destroyed)
-- Barrier and Casing were 70 HP each in strength.
-- AIWS-G: 15 HP (Dorsal)
-- Canister Cannon-D: 45 HP (Dorsal)
-- Pod Launcher-C: 50 HP (Aft)
-- Sensors unable to differentiate undamaged weapon systems.
-- Communications Jamming
---Hostile Objects---
ClusterA: Destroyed at launch.
ClusterB: Fratricide.
ClusterC: Intentionally shot down by the red and silver craft.
ClusterD: Intentionally shot down by the red and silver craft.
VolleyA: Self-Destructed.
VolleyB: Small Missile x8 [Homing] (D. F. A.)
VolleyC: Small Missile x8 [Homing] (D. F. A.)
---Terrain---
???: Below the clouds. Unknown to you. (94%)
Ice: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
Snow: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
Machman also took advantage of this lull to deploy and fire his 30mm chain gun. The streams of armor piercing rounds, traveling TO the red and silver craft for a change, lanced through the air and-- impacted upon a Barrier that suddenly appeared around the craft as the gunfire died; a matching sheathe of silver armor coating the hull at the same time. The barrage of steel continued to batter at the shield, end eventually sawed through it. The rounds then began to eat away at the heavy armor plating the craft had summoned in its own defense while it had had no means to target its enemy. The reactive armor now protecting the engines did its job... just barely. None of the barrage got through, but what remained of the armor was in terrible shape.
Aera's follow-up attack was met with the lunch of a cluster missile pod. The bolt struck the pod before it deployed, and destroyed the entire pod with all the missiles still in it. The bolt arced from the pod to strike the hull of the craft, finishing off the armor in the process. This opened up a window of opportunity for Vector to get in both of his attacks against the craft's weapon systems. They struck home against both targets, and visibly damaged them. However, the projectiles had not done enough damage to destroy the weapons.
Aera's attack had been a lucky shot, as it had downed one of the cluster missile pods.... One of them. Three more just like it were ejected from the craft at 45 degree angles in a repetition of the opening salvo Mach had witnessed from a distance. The canisters fell quickly behind as Mach flew right past them. A moment later, they broke apart, and thirty six anti-air missiles erupted from their remains. At the same time, the red and silver craft's close in weapon systems opened up again, apparently having re-calibrated to recognize and shoot at the form-shifted target.
Mach's decoys had no run-life to speak of this time around. The moment the guns opened back up, the decoys each ate a double burst of yet another kind of new anti-air weapon. The canister cannons, dorsal and ventral, aimed in the general direction of the decoys and fired a seemingly poorly aimed pair of sub-sonic bazooka rounds. The spinning projectiles made it all of a few dozen meters away from the craft before they began to break apart. The disintegrating projectiles had barely begun to properly shed the dozens of small squarish components when a concussion charge at the center of each mass scattered them in all directions suddenly. The components shattered, sprayed liquid everywhere, and exploded, creating a rapidly expanding zone of overlapping blasts that wiped the decoys from the air space. Aera got a great close up feed of how this weapon worked.
Good thing it was the decoys. The overlapping rippling shock waves from the cluster F.A.E. made flying a living hell for the next few moments. The larger craft could have cared less, but the smaller Navi was tossed about... Fortuitous, perhaps, as this threw the red and silver craft's aim off while Mach recovered and began real evasive maneuvers just as the missiles flew into range. The red and silver craft stopped firing for a moment as Machman proceeded to dodge for his life, and dodge successfully as the first cluster of missiles streaked by one after the other.
A lull in the action occurred just after the last of the first wave of missiles shot past. Mach moved to flank the craft, taking him out of direct line with the chase armaments and back over the dorsal facing as the red craft rolled to deny him any sort of look at the ventral surfaces. Very convenient, as Machman hefted and hurled the Quake1's shot-like sphere at the naval turret that was suddenly a much easier targ-- The naval turret, apparently aiming as the craft had rolled, fired. A blazing comet-like fireball of a projectile roughly the size of Machman blasted from the left barrel; the shockwave ot its passing altering the trajectory of the Quake1's sphere. A second later, and the Quake1's sphere was struck and annihilated as a second massive projectile smashed into the chip data on its course into space. The shattered remains of the sphere rained down and stippled the clouds below.
The shock wave of the second cannon shot's passing pushed Machman upwards and outwards, but most importantly, it pushed him out of the path of the third cannon shot. The third massive fireball blasted right through where he'd just been flying, and erased the volley of missiles he'd just dodged as it went by. Yet again, the compression waves pushed Machman further away from the craft. The laser turrets and AIWS had fallen silent while the naval cannon had tried to punch Mach's ticket, and were still silent now.
The remaining waves of cluster missiles, however, were converging on his location. As before, Machman began dodging and weaving to evade the missiles... However, the red and silver craft suddenly changed tactics on him, and opened up with the lasers and gatling autocannon once again... on it's own missiles. Indeed, the craft waited for the missiles to close with Machman, and then it began blowing it's own weapons out of the sky. The reason it did this became clear as the missiles that previously would have missed Machman completely began exploding in close proximity. Damage was simply inevitable, as there was no avoiding everything.
Machman somehow managed to make it out of the trap alive, and retaliated with a Counter. The blow struck the cluster missile pod launcher on the aft of the craft, nearly destroying the weapon system in the process. In exchange, Mach, Aera, and Vector had taken damage from gatling fire they couldn't see amid explosions they couldn't avoid. They were alive, but the enemy was getting smarter.
Smarter was bad.
The red and silver craft had leveled off, and was now traveling directly away from Machman at sub sonic speeds. Odds were good it was up to something.
And that's when enough of Machman, Aera, and Vector's hearing returned for them to hear the warning buzz of the missile lock warning system.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies--- [High Alt]
MachMan.EXE: 110 HP [IV Pack: Regen(5)] (Undershirt Uninstalled)
Vector.SP: 1 HP [IV Pack: Destroyed]
Aera.SP: 1 HP (Shields Down)
---Enemies--- [High Alt, directly ahead, facing away]
Large Red-and-Silver Craft(?): 1100 HP (Barrier: Destroyed, Casing: Destroyed)
-- Barrier and Casing were 70 HP each in strength.
-- AIWS-G: 15 HP (Dorsal)
-- Canister Cannon-D: 45 HP (Dorsal)
-- Pod Launcher-C: 50 HP (Aft)
-- Sensors unable to differentiate undamaged weapon systems.
-- Communications Jamming
---Hostile Objects---
ClusterA: Destroyed at launch.
ClusterB: Fratricide.
ClusterC: Intentionally shot down by the red and silver craft.
ClusterD: Intentionally shot down by the red and silver craft.
VolleyA: Self-Destructed.
VolleyB: Small Missile x8 [Homing] (D. F. A.)
VolleyC: Small Missile x8 [Homing] (D. F. A.)
---Terrain---
???: Below the clouds. Unknown to you. (94%)
Ice: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
Snow: The occasional mountain peak. (3%)
last edited by
Mach and the gang managed to survive the devastating barrage of weaponry, including a newly deployed weapon system that knocked Machman around in the air. He grunted under the force of the blasts and struggled to keep his course while remaining oriented in the air. The decoys were almost completely ineffective, but they were able to give Aera a close look at the new concussive weapon deployed by the craft. Mach looked back at the aircraft as it started to pull away, but then looked straight up to see over a dozen missiles streaming towards him directly from above.
Mach had nearly no time to react as he thrust his right hand skywards as thousands of volts streamed down the broken armor covering Mach's right arm towards his hand. The electrical power that surged up his arm was bolstered by an additional source of power coming from deep inside his core. The electricity ran out of room to run as it reached his open palm before it exploded outwards in a bright spread of electrical bolts. The sound of the air becoming superheated nearly instantly caused a loud crack followed by a near deafening boom. Though most of the electrical discharges didn't travel very far in their wide spread, a pair of bolts reached out much further towards the clusters of missiles and exploded into individual discharge "explosions." In addition to the electrical bolts, a pair of blade like slivers of armor were whipped towards the missiles in an attempt to cut them down.
Mach fired his thrusters to full power as soon as the electrical blast fizzled out in an attempt to match speed with the craft and possibly avoid any additional missiles. He continued to roll away from the missiles as several sensor drones materialized around him and scattered before equalizing speed with Mach in different areas within the airspace. Mach was about to tell Mazer about his new strategy, but he stopped as a thought went through his mind.
{Wait, if this thing has advanced communications jamming, it may be able to listen in on even text only messages.}
Aera's thoughts came into his head, she sounded strained, since her energy was very low and almost on the verge of EJO.
{I don't think it can read minds though. What are you trying to do?}
{I can't put you two at risk by fighting against this thing. I'm going to pull back, but hopefully I can give it one hell of a parting gift before we retreat.}
{I'm thinking the same thing; I'll follow your lead!}
Mach kept up his speed and shifted all the thrust to his feet and chest vents as his wings moved out to his sides and paired up. He tapped into the video feeds of his Overwatch sensor network in an attempt to determine the craft's speed and course, since the distance between them was rather high, and he needed an accurate shot. As two crimson orbs of plasma charged up in the wing pairs, he used several different feeds to get multiple angles on his target, and zoomed in on the damaged armor around the starboard engine. A pair of cross hairs appeared in his vision and they moved in unison with the wing pairs as they lined up on the craft's engine. The plasma reached near critical levels while Mach heard the crackle of electricity near his chest area.
The sides of his body were tinged in red by the plasma, due to the plasma's near uncontrollable energy levels and size that nearly enveloped the wings that contained them. Mach had his target, and he only had one shot to possibly cripple the craft or at least give it a memorable parting gift. He made careful aim before he released the plasma in one burst. The plasma erupted from their magnetic "cages" in the form of two large beams of crimson that streaked across the sky at near light speeds, and the lack of mass allowed the beams to travel in a completely straight line. The immediate area was bathed in an intense crimson glow as the beams tore through the sky with a loud roar; the volatile properties of the plasma added to the sheer force of the shockwave created by the beams may have had enough power to hinder the operation of the craft's starboard wing (though Mach would have preferred the engine have been torn off the fuselage completely).
As the beams blasted away towards the craft, a bolt of electricity arced from Mach's chest and blasted forwards as it seemed to bounce between the beams of plasma, thanks to the residual magnetic energy that formed a pair of barriers that deflected the electrical energy and contained it inside an invisible tube of magnetic energy and hopefully guided it to the target along with the plasma beams. Though the lightning bolt wasn't very powerful, the extra blast may have provided the extra energy required to cripple the engine. The beams quickly started to lose power and eventually thinned out to two broken trails of glowing data, burnt to ashes by the plasma. Before the beams lost power, a pair of projector drones materialized next to Mach and quickly created their holographic disguises. Mach looked down at the cloud cover and picked out a mountaintop that poked out of the clouds.
As soon as he found a decently large mountaintop, he left his wings behind and boosted as quickly as he could down to the mountain while his decoys surged forward in an attempt to fool the craft into thinking he was continuing to make chase. One continued to chase directly behind the craft while the other climbed in an attempt to get into a position advantageous to strafing the craft's damaged dorsal weapon arrays. The decoys acted very aggressively to imitate Mach's previous actions and try to shift the craft's "focus" to themselves.
While the decoys ran interference, Mach cut off his engines and fell towards the cloud cover behind one of the mountaintops. He didn't engage his boot and chest thrusters until he placed the mountain between himself and the craft, and only then did he stop his fall and he slowly approached the mountain before he grabbed on and lowered himself down to the cloud cover. His overwatch drones continued forward on their previous course and acted as his eyes; Mach watched the craft carefully to see how it reacted. Hopefully he had enough of them online to see what was happening, and he summoned his wings to his back and primed them in case his retreat was detected, and fire was coming his way.
ACTIONS:
-[Recharge: Vector.SP (Heal 20HP)]-
1. Elecshock: VolleyB, C (80dmg Elec + Panel Break + Cone Attack)
Aera: Attack VolleyB,C (35dmg Elec + Spread)
Aera: Attack VolleyB,C (35dmg Elec + Spread)
Vector: Attack VolleyB (35dmg Aqua)
Vector: Attack VolleyC (35dmg Aqua)
2. Dodge
3. Superior Thrust Laser: Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Starboard Engine] (40dmg x2 + Multi-hit + Microburst + 3TCD)
Aera: Attack Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Starboard Engine] (35dmg Elec + Spread)
4. Dodge
Vector: Brace (Take 1 hit for half damage)
5. Strategic Movement: Retreat behind mountaintop
6. Dodge
DecoyA: Chase Large Red-and-Silver Craft (Mimicking Mach)
DecoyB: Move into an advantageous bombardment position above the craft (Mimicking Mach)
Cooling Sigs:
Heavy Shielding: 2 turns remaining
Repulsion Shield: Ready
Rising Barrage: 6 turns remaining
----Busterlock: 1 Turn Remaining
Superior Thrust Laser: 3 Turns Remaining
Mach had nearly no time to react as he thrust his right hand skywards as thousands of volts streamed down the broken armor covering Mach's right arm towards his hand. The electrical power that surged up his arm was bolstered by an additional source of power coming from deep inside his core. The electricity ran out of room to run as it reached his open palm before it exploded outwards in a bright spread of electrical bolts. The sound of the air becoming superheated nearly instantly caused a loud crack followed by a near deafening boom. Though most of the electrical discharges didn't travel very far in their wide spread, a pair of bolts reached out much further towards the clusters of missiles and exploded into individual discharge "explosions." In addition to the electrical bolts, a pair of blade like slivers of armor were whipped towards the missiles in an attempt to cut them down.
Mach fired his thrusters to full power as soon as the electrical blast fizzled out in an attempt to match speed with the craft and possibly avoid any additional missiles. He continued to roll away from the missiles as several sensor drones materialized around him and scattered before equalizing speed with Mach in different areas within the airspace. Mach was about to tell Mazer about his new strategy, but he stopped as a thought went through his mind.
{Wait, if this thing has advanced communications jamming, it may be able to listen in on even text only messages.}
Aera's thoughts came into his head, she sounded strained, since her energy was very low and almost on the verge of EJO.
{I don't think it can read minds though. What are you trying to do?}
{I can't put you two at risk by fighting against this thing. I'm going to pull back, but hopefully I can give it one hell of a parting gift before we retreat.}
{I'm thinking the same thing; I'll follow your lead!}
Mach kept up his speed and shifted all the thrust to his feet and chest vents as his wings moved out to his sides and paired up. He tapped into the video feeds of his Overwatch sensor network in an attempt to determine the craft's speed and course, since the distance between them was rather high, and he needed an accurate shot. As two crimson orbs of plasma charged up in the wing pairs, he used several different feeds to get multiple angles on his target, and zoomed in on the damaged armor around the starboard engine. A pair of cross hairs appeared in his vision and they moved in unison with the wing pairs as they lined up on the craft's engine. The plasma reached near critical levels while Mach heard the crackle of electricity near his chest area.
The sides of his body were tinged in red by the plasma, due to the plasma's near uncontrollable energy levels and size that nearly enveloped the wings that contained them. Mach had his target, and he only had one shot to possibly cripple the craft or at least give it a memorable parting gift. He made careful aim before he released the plasma in one burst. The plasma erupted from their magnetic "cages" in the form of two large beams of crimson that streaked across the sky at near light speeds, and the lack of mass allowed the beams to travel in a completely straight line. The immediate area was bathed in an intense crimson glow as the beams tore through the sky with a loud roar; the volatile properties of the plasma added to the sheer force of the shockwave created by the beams may have had enough power to hinder the operation of the craft's starboard wing (though Mach would have preferred the engine have been torn off the fuselage completely).
As the beams blasted away towards the craft, a bolt of electricity arced from Mach's chest and blasted forwards as it seemed to bounce between the beams of plasma, thanks to the residual magnetic energy that formed a pair of barriers that deflected the electrical energy and contained it inside an invisible tube of magnetic energy and hopefully guided it to the target along with the plasma beams. Though the lightning bolt wasn't very powerful, the extra blast may have provided the extra energy required to cripple the engine. The beams quickly started to lose power and eventually thinned out to two broken trails of glowing data, burnt to ashes by the plasma. Before the beams lost power, a pair of projector drones materialized next to Mach and quickly created their holographic disguises. Mach looked down at the cloud cover and picked out a mountaintop that poked out of the clouds.
As soon as he found a decently large mountaintop, he left his wings behind and boosted as quickly as he could down to the mountain while his decoys surged forward in an attempt to fool the craft into thinking he was continuing to make chase. One continued to chase directly behind the craft while the other climbed in an attempt to get into a position advantageous to strafing the craft's damaged dorsal weapon arrays. The decoys acted very aggressively to imitate Mach's previous actions and try to shift the craft's "focus" to themselves.
While the decoys ran interference, Mach cut off his engines and fell towards the cloud cover behind one of the mountaintops. He didn't engage his boot and chest thrusters until he placed the mountain between himself and the craft, and only then did he stop his fall and he slowly approached the mountain before he grabbed on and lowered himself down to the cloud cover. His overwatch drones continued forward on their previous course and acted as his eyes; Mach watched the craft carefully to see how it reacted. Hopefully he had enough of them online to see what was happening, and he summoned his wings to his back and primed them in case his retreat was detected, and fire was coming his way.
ACTIONS:
-[Recharge: Vector.SP (Heal 20HP)]-
1. Elecshock: VolleyB, C (80dmg Elec + Panel Break + Cone Attack)
Aera: Attack VolleyB,C (35dmg Elec + Spread)
Aera: Attack VolleyB,C (35dmg Elec + Spread)
Vector: Attack VolleyB (35dmg Aqua)
Vector: Attack VolleyC (35dmg Aqua)
2. Dodge
3. Superior Thrust Laser: Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Starboard Engine] (40dmg x2 + Multi-hit + Microburst + 3TCD)
Aera: Attack Large Red-and-Silver Craft [Starboard Engine] (35dmg Elec + Spread)
4. Dodge
Vector: Brace (Take 1 hit for half damage)
5. Strategic Movement: Retreat behind mountaintop
6. Dodge
DecoyA: Chase Large Red-and-Silver Craft (Mimicking Mach)
DecoyB: Move into an advantageous bombardment position above the craft (Mimicking Mach)
Cooling Sigs:
Heavy Shielding: 2 turns remaining
Repulsion Shield: Ready
Rising Barrage: 6 turns remaining
----Busterlock: 1 Turn Remaining
Superior Thrust Laser: 3 Turns Remaining
last edited by
Machman, Aera, and Vector managed to shoot down the incoming barrage of missiles with concentrated effort. Vector's attacks, in particular, seemed to cut through the salvo of missiles with greater effectiveness and ended up accounting almost half of the missiles downed. The follow-up evasive maneuvers proved unnecessary as the red and silver craft did not open fire....
In fact, for a moment, the early warning buzz died completely as the enemy craft switched erroneously to mid and short ranged direct fire weapons as it had been doing every time Mach had charged in at it. Only, this time, Mach hadn't. And in the fire control equivalent of a surprised blink, the enemy craft switched to long range cannons after a short pause to process the change in tactics. As it did so, it cycled up the generators....
The barrier sprang into being just as the twin thunder-laced plasma beams arrived to smash into it with all the gentleness of a sledgehammer. The barrier stopped the worst of it, and the renewed armor casing waited to absorb the rest... And would have, too, had the remaining arcs of electricity not been aimed straight up the engine's main exhaust port, thus bypassing all forms of armor entirely. The initial point of contact inside the engine didn't really faze the craft at all. It had been built to take direct hits from large scale ground based anti-air emplacements and shrug it all off with simplicity of design and much redundancy....
Too bad, this shot came from the air at the worst angle and with the wrong kind of payload for any of these features to matter quite as much as they should.
From Machman's perspective, the engine seemed to continue operating normally. However, the red and silver craft's speed began to fall. The output of both engines seemed to lessen at the same time as if the enemy had planned to decelerate and come back around after him to retaliate for the thruster laser attack. The truth of the matter was the red and silver craft's starboard engine had suffered enough damage that its output had been reduced, and the craft had responded to this development by immediately balancing the output with the second, undamaged engine. It then began redirecting the excess from the undamaged power plant to the maneuvering thrusters and vertical lift thrusters just in case. And it was now using them to come about with drastically increased agility, but reduced speed.
Machman wasn't planning to hang around that long, and cut power to all of his engines entirely as he launched decoy drones to throw the craft's weapon systems off target. Anything to buy him time... Yet, the craft didn't bother trying to engage any of the three targets it could see with its weapons. It had seen these decoys time and time again, and had come up with a plan for dealing with them. The hull of the red and silver craft crackled with electricity for a moment, and then a strange thing occurred: the electricity formed a layer of energy across the hull that dissolved into static noise as an expanding clear translucent sphere burst from the surface of the craft in all directions with the sound of someone striking a tuning fork.
The wave washed over the first decoy, wreathing it in electricity before the fake image of Machman blinked out of existence soundlessly. The second decoy followed suit as the wave engulfed it without violence as well. The wave reached Machman and--
-P-I-N-G-
--Machman, Aera, and Vector... all three resonated and gave off the network equivalent of a sonar trace off a submarine. It was very very loud to all three of them, but the EchoLocation ping didn't hurt at least.... at first. Something had been added. And that something was forcing Machman and both of his SPs into emergency shutdown as he continued to fall uncontrollably towards the carpet of clouds. The last thing Mach saw before he blacked out was Aera and Vector falling away from him, both already unconscious and forced into separation by a massive dose of Stun and lord knew what else.
Machman never felt the impact of his landing.
-----
When Machman's protocols powered up once again, he found himself completely buried in snow. He was still in the Net, and still functioning. This was everything he knew about his current situation.
-----------
Summary
-----------
Battle 5: End.
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP [IV Pack: Shorted out] (NC Completely Uninstalled)
---Notes---
Vector.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Aera.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
---Terrain---
Snow The panel you landed on is covered in snow.
((^ This and the fact that you're buried in it are the only things that you know at this point. Aera and Vector are not available at this time.))
In fact, for a moment, the early warning buzz died completely as the enemy craft switched erroneously to mid and short ranged direct fire weapons as it had been doing every time Mach had charged in at it. Only, this time, Mach hadn't. And in the fire control equivalent of a surprised blink, the enemy craft switched to long range cannons after a short pause to process the change in tactics. As it did so, it cycled up the generators....
The barrier sprang into being just as the twin thunder-laced plasma beams arrived to smash into it with all the gentleness of a sledgehammer. The barrier stopped the worst of it, and the renewed armor casing waited to absorb the rest... And would have, too, had the remaining arcs of electricity not been aimed straight up the engine's main exhaust port, thus bypassing all forms of armor entirely. The initial point of contact inside the engine didn't really faze the craft at all. It had been built to take direct hits from large scale ground based anti-air emplacements and shrug it all off with simplicity of design and much redundancy....
Too bad, this shot came from the air at the worst angle and with the wrong kind of payload for any of these features to matter quite as much as they should.
From Machman's perspective, the engine seemed to continue operating normally. However, the red and silver craft's speed began to fall. The output of both engines seemed to lessen at the same time as if the enemy had planned to decelerate and come back around after him to retaliate for the thruster laser attack. The truth of the matter was the red and silver craft's starboard engine had suffered enough damage that its output had been reduced, and the craft had responded to this development by immediately balancing the output with the second, undamaged engine. It then began redirecting the excess from the undamaged power plant to the maneuvering thrusters and vertical lift thrusters just in case. And it was now using them to come about with drastically increased agility, but reduced speed.
Machman wasn't planning to hang around that long, and cut power to all of his engines entirely as he launched decoy drones to throw the craft's weapon systems off target. Anything to buy him time... Yet, the craft didn't bother trying to engage any of the three targets it could see with its weapons. It had seen these decoys time and time again, and had come up with a plan for dealing with them. The hull of the red and silver craft crackled with electricity for a moment, and then a strange thing occurred: the electricity formed a layer of energy across the hull that dissolved into static noise as an expanding clear translucent sphere burst from the surface of the craft in all directions with the sound of someone striking a tuning fork.
The wave washed over the first decoy, wreathing it in electricity before the fake image of Machman blinked out of existence soundlessly. The second decoy followed suit as the wave engulfed it without violence as well. The wave reached Machman and--
-P-I-N-G-
--Machman, Aera, and Vector... all three resonated and gave off the network equivalent of a sonar trace off a submarine. It was very very loud to all three of them, but the EchoLocation ping didn't hurt at least.... at first. Something had been added. And that something was forcing Machman and both of his SPs into emergency shutdown as he continued to fall uncontrollably towards the carpet of clouds. The last thing Mach saw before he blacked out was Aera and Vector falling away from him, both already unconscious and forced into separation by a massive dose of Stun and lord knew what else.
Machman never felt the impact of his landing.
-----
When Machman's protocols powered up once again, he found himself completely buried in snow. He was still in the Net, and still functioning. This was everything he knew about his current situation.
-----------
Summary
-----------
Battle 5: End.
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP [IV Pack: Shorted out] (NC Completely Uninstalled)
---Notes---
Vector.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Aera.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
---Terrain---
Snow The panel you landed on is covered in snow.
((^ This and the fact that you're buried in it are the only things that you know at this point. Aera and Vector are not available at this time.))
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Machman smiled under his mask as he saw the craft slow down to compensate for its damaged right engine, and dove towards the mountain top closest to him. However, his high spirits were quickly dampened when a loud PING broke into his ears, and caused his body to seize up. His vision nearly instantly became blurry as he quickly lost control of his fall. His hearing was disabled, and was unable to hear Mazer yelling into the PET. His sight flickered in and out, but he managed to see Aera floating away from him, surrounded by Vector's heavily damaged armor. Her eyes were closed as she fell limply through the sky; the last thing Mach could see was his hand weakly reaching out towards her before his cognitive functions shut down to protect his internal systems.
Several minutes later, Machman's vision finally went back online, but everything was dark, nearly pitch black. Mach's eyes darted around in an attempt to get his bearings, but all he could see was black, with a faint glow directly in front of him. He couldn't move his body, but his touch and temperature sensors finally came back online and greeted him with a feeling of being covered by a heavy, freezing cold blanket. As his motor functions started to reactivate, Mach heard static in his ear pylons before he started to hear an increasingly familiar sound.
[....ch.......ead........Mach, are....there? Machman, respond.]
Mach responded while he attempted to move his arms, they were weighed down, but he could move them through the material he seemed to be submerged in.
Machman copies... what the hell just happened? Where am I?
As he moved his arms in front of him, the light seemed to get brighter. It was then when he had enough light to see where he was, he appeared to be buried in several feet of snow.
[Jeez, thank god you're all right. You were retreating to the mountain before I heard this loud tone and you literally dropped out of the sky.]
Mach continued to dig himself out of the snow and started to remember what happened, one particular memory stopped him in his tracks, and he quickly started looking around.
Where's Aera and Vector?
[...I don't know, Mach. They didn't EJO, but I don't know where they are or what their statuses are. They disappeared into the clouds just like you. I don't even know exactly where you are at the moment, I just managed to see your status flicker a bit.]
Mach went completely still as his mind started working on overdrive in an attempt to figure out what may have happened. A few questions started to pop into his mind, some were more pertinent than others.
I do not detect any sort of jack-out barrier, are you getting anything on your end?
Mazer mulled over his PET screen as he tried to look for any traces of a barrier preventing any sort of recall into the PET, and thankfully didn't find anything.
[No, just the same communication jamming signal from the craft. I don't know where it is right now, it may still be looking for you.]
Mach sighed in relief, the lack of a barrier would have meant the two SPs must still be online, otherwise they would have EJO'd back to the PET. However, he could be a wanted Navi, and the search party has enough firepower to reduce him to a smoldering crater. He had to use caution. He continued to dig himself out of the snow, and as soon as he broke the surface, he remained below as he sent his overwatch drones out of the hole and attempted to get a better view. Both of his decoy drones activated next to him and flew out one after the other before they assumed Mach's appearance and spread out away from the hole.
Mach pulled up the video feeds from his overwatch sensors and decoy drones, and tried to look for any sort of suspicious items/activity while he attempted to get his bearings and scout out the immediate terrain.
((ACTIONS:
1. Dig to surface
Deploy Overwatch Drones
DecoyA: Exit hole and stand by due North (Disguised as Mach)
DecoyB: Exit hole and stand by due South (Disguised as Mach)
2. Attempt to scout out area using Overwatch and Decoy drone sensors))
Several minutes later, Machman's vision finally went back online, but everything was dark, nearly pitch black. Mach's eyes darted around in an attempt to get his bearings, but all he could see was black, with a faint glow directly in front of him. He couldn't move his body, but his touch and temperature sensors finally came back online and greeted him with a feeling of being covered by a heavy, freezing cold blanket. As his motor functions started to reactivate, Mach heard static in his ear pylons before he started to hear an increasingly familiar sound.
[....ch.......ead........Mach, are....there? Machman, respond.]
Mach responded while he attempted to move his arms, they were weighed down, but he could move them through the material he seemed to be submerged in.
Machman copies... what the hell just happened? Where am I?
As he moved his arms in front of him, the light seemed to get brighter. It was then when he had enough light to see where he was, he appeared to be buried in several feet of snow.
[Jeez, thank god you're all right. You were retreating to the mountain before I heard this loud tone and you literally dropped out of the sky.]
Mach continued to dig himself out of the snow and started to remember what happened, one particular memory stopped him in his tracks, and he quickly started looking around.
Where's Aera and Vector?
[...I don't know, Mach. They didn't EJO, but I don't know where they are or what their statuses are. They disappeared into the clouds just like you. I don't even know exactly where you are at the moment, I just managed to see your status flicker a bit.]
Mach went completely still as his mind started working on overdrive in an attempt to figure out what may have happened. A few questions started to pop into his mind, some were more pertinent than others.
I do not detect any sort of jack-out barrier, are you getting anything on your end?
Mazer mulled over his PET screen as he tried to look for any traces of a barrier preventing any sort of recall into the PET, and thankfully didn't find anything.
[No, just the same communication jamming signal from the craft. I don't know where it is right now, it may still be looking for you.]
Mach sighed in relief, the lack of a barrier would have meant the two SPs must still be online, otherwise they would have EJO'd back to the PET. However, he could be a wanted Navi, and the search party has enough firepower to reduce him to a smoldering crater. He had to use caution. He continued to dig himself out of the snow, and as soon as he broke the surface, he remained below as he sent his overwatch drones out of the hole and attempted to get a better view. Both of his decoy drones activated next to him and flew out one after the other before they assumed Mach's appearance and spread out away from the hole.
Mach pulled up the video feeds from his overwatch sensors and decoy drones, and tried to look for any sort of suspicious items/activity while he attempted to get his bearings and scout out the immediate terrain.
((ACTIONS:
1. Dig to surface
Deploy Overwatch Drones
DecoyA: Exit hole and stand by due North (Disguised as Mach)
DecoyB: Exit hole and stand by due South (Disguised as Mach)
2. Attempt to scout out area using Overwatch and Decoy drone sensors))
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Machman launched the two drones, and immediately got static from their video feeds even before they left the hole. Once the drones were out of the hole, Mach could make out very rough, very basic details about the surroundings, but nothing definite. Another thing Mach noticed was the drones were not managing to fly very far off the ground like they normally would. They hovered just far enough off the ground for the fake Machman images to appear to be standing or walking along the ground. Nothing appeared to have blasted them either.
What little he could make out from the feeds amounted to being in a basin of some kind. There were mounds of snow everywhere, some fairly large. There were also... things ringing the tops of the valley walls. This was all he could tell before the power ran out on the drones and they dematerialized.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP (NC Completely Uninstalled)
-- Learned info: Drone data feeds are not operating normally within the jamming field.
---Notes---
Vector.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Aera.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
---Terrain---
Snow The panel you landed on is covered in snow.
What little he could make out from the feeds amounted to being in a basin of some kind. There were mounds of snow everywhere, some fairly large. There were also... things ringing the tops of the valley walls. This was all he could tell before the power ran out on the drones and they dematerialized.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP (NC Completely Uninstalled)
-- Learned info: Drone data feeds are not operating normally within the jamming field.
---Notes---
Vector.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Aera.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
---Terrain---
Snow The panel you landed on is covered in snow.
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Mach watched the rather distorted video feeds quietly before they rapidly began to shut down, but due to interference than from enemy fire. It seemed safe enough for him to come out. He tried to take off, but raised an eyebrow as nothing reacted. His attempt to take off causes something in the PET, which caused Mazer to grunt in frustration.
[Rrgh, damn. Something knocked the NC program out of balance while I was trying to reinstall them.]
Oh, sorry, I think that may have been me trying to take off.
Mazer tipped his head to the side as he raised an eyebrow, interested in this new bit of information.
[Hm.. that must the reason, then again I haven't had to reinstall all of your NC programs. Whatever that aircraft thing did, it somehow caused even your flight programs to become uninstalled completely. Don't try to use your thrusters until I get everything back online. I'll let you know when everything is ready.]
Understood.
Machman started to climb up the small tunnel he dug to the surface, and before he reached the surface he looked down at his right arm. He tried to form his MachBuster, but his arm only partially reconfigured before it reverted back to its default setting. It was then that he remembered it was likely still offline from his vulcan attack on the craft. He continued to climb slowly out of the hole, and stayed low to the ground as he crawled out into the snowy basin. His gaze darted around the area in an attempt to get a hopefully unhindered view of the basin.
Mazer cracked his knuckles after the last NC program confirmed its reinstalled status, and everything seemed to be working fine.
[Alright Mach, everything should be set now.]
Machman's wings rematerialized behind him as he started to float above the snow. Mach's body was slightly hunched over, and his legs were spread a little further than shoulder-width apart with his hands slightly closed, ready for anything.
((ACTIONS:
Reinstall Undershirt, Floatshoes, and Airshoes
1. Climb out of hole
2. Survey Area))
[Rrgh, damn. Something knocked the NC program out of balance while I was trying to reinstall them.]
Oh, sorry, I think that may have been me trying to take off.
Mazer tipped his head to the side as he raised an eyebrow, interested in this new bit of information.
[Hm.. that must the reason, then again I haven't had to reinstall all of your NC programs. Whatever that aircraft thing did, it somehow caused even your flight programs to become uninstalled completely. Don't try to use your thrusters until I get everything back online. I'll let you know when everything is ready.]
Understood.
Machman started to climb up the small tunnel he dug to the surface, and before he reached the surface he looked down at his right arm. He tried to form his MachBuster, but his arm only partially reconfigured before it reverted back to its default setting. It was then that he remembered it was likely still offline from his vulcan attack on the craft. He continued to climb slowly out of the hole, and stayed low to the ground as he crawled out into the snowy basin. His gaze darted around the area in an attempt to get a hopefully unhindered view of the basin.
Mazer cracked his knuckles after the last NC program confirmed its reinstalled status, and everything seemed to be working fine.
[Alright Mach, everything should be set now.]
Machman's wings rematerialized behind him as he started to float above the snow. Mach's body was slightly hunched over, and his legs were spread a little further than shoulder-width apart with his hands slightly closed, ready for anything.
((ACTIONS:
Reinstall Undershirt, Floatshoes, and Airshoes
1. Climb out of hole
2. Survey Area))
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Machman climbed out of the snow. One glance told him he was indeed in a vast basin. It stretched probably the better part of a kilometer across, and was generally bowl shaped around the edges. And at high altitude to boot, as the cloud cover blotted out the sky only a handful of meters above the rim of the wide basin. Snow was, of course, predominant everywhere with a bit of rocky ice peeking out along the ridge walls.
However, these facts were almost moot and unimportant next to what else was located in the basin. As the basin curved upwards at the rim like a bowl, six pairs of hexagonal metal towers rose from the rocky surface of the valley walls. They expelled what appeared to be columns of steam that rose and merged with the thick cloud cover above. The towers were very notably not covered in ice or snow, and no ice or snow existed in a small ring around their bases either. There were also short, blocky objects sitting at regular intervals around the top of the ridge line, or so Mach could see between the rising columns of steam.
Furthermore, the bottom of the basin wasn't a complete bowl... No, it flattened abruptly, forming an almost perfectly flat field of snow. Almost. First, there were numerous identical mounds of snow dotting the field at unnaturally regular intervals. What they were was anyone's guess, however. There were also two very large banks of snow; one piled relatively close to Machman, and the other aaaaall the way across the basin from where he stood. The further one seemed shorter, and featured a depression in the top where the snow dipped into a very smooth bowl shape. The closer of the two was much taller, and had an array of antennas sticking out of the top. The front face of it was also covered in a thinner layer of snow than the rest, with piles of powder gathered around the base.
That was only the beginning... there was a great depression in the snow out in the center of the basin. It was rectangular in nature; a phenomenon too regular to occur naturally, even in the net. Poking up out of the snow were a set of sixteen rods arranged around the perimeter of the depression. They were capped with red lights, and flashing on and off in a slow, gradual manner.
Someone had been busy out here.
A second look around, and Mach noticed a very out of place depression in the snow near the side of the closer of the two large snow banks. It looked rather like the one he'd emerged from.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP [[color=green]All systems nominal[/color]]
---Notes---
Vector.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Aera.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
-- This area is so large, a single panel counts as a fraction of a terrain%.
---Terrain---
Snow: 95%
Ice: 3%
Normal: 1%
Metal: 1%
However, these facts were almost moot and unimportant next to what else was located in the basin. As the basin curved upwards at the rim like a bowl, six pairs of hexagonal metal towers rose from the rocky surface of the valley walls. They expelled what appeared to be columns of steam that rose and merged with the thick cloud cover above. The towers were very notably not covered in ice or snow, and no ice or snow existed in a small ring around their bases either. There were also short, blocky objects sitting at regular intervals around the top of the ridge line, or so Mach could see between the rising columns of steam.
Furthermore, the bottom of the basin wasn't a complete bowl... No, it flattened abruptly, forming an almost perfectly flat field of snow. Almost. First, there were numerous identical mounds of snow dotting the field at unnaturally regular intervals. What they were was anyone's guess, however. There were also two very large banks of snow; one piled relatively close to Machman, and the other aaaaall the way across the basin from where he stood. The further one seemed shorter, and featured a depression in the top where the snow dipped into a very smooth bowl shape. The closer of the two was much taller, and had an array of antennas sticking out of the top. The front face of it was also covered in a thinner layer of snow than the rest, with piles of powder gathered around the base.
That was only the beginning... there was a great depression in the snow out in the center of the basin. It was rectangular in nature; a phenomenon too regular to occur naturally, even in the net. Poking up out of the snow were a set of sixteen rods arranged around the perimeter of the depression. They were capped with red lights, and flashing on and off in a slow, gradual manner.
Someone had been busy out here.
A second look around, and Mach noticed a very out of place depression in the snow near the side of the closer of the two large snow banks. It looked rather like the one he'd emerged from.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP [[color=green]All systems nominal[/color]]
---Notes---
Vector.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Aera.SP: Status unknown (Did not EJO, obviously, or Mazer would know.)
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
-- This area is so large, a single panel counts as a fraction of a terrain%.
---Terrain---
Snow: 95%
Ice: 3%
Normal: 1%
Metal: 1%
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Machman stood silently as he took in the sights. After taking it all in, it immediately became apparent that he dropped out of the sky onto an advanced base-like structure, almost like the super villain's 'secret lair' seen in the spy-flicks Mazer used to watch. The sixteen glowing spires surrounding a large hole caught Mach's attention, and gave him yet another hypothesis.
{No way...}
Machman immediately remembered his first encounter with the red and silver craft, and could recall the craft hovering down into the crater of a volcano. The combination of the structure's very suspicious setup, and it's relative proximity to where Mach encountered the craft made him come to a very confident conclusion.
{I just fell onto one if it's home bases. Not good.}
Machman looked up instinctively, but was relieved to notice the thick cloud cover overhead. He then started to look around again, and started to make mental notes on the different structures and objects he saw.
{Okay... 12 tall, steam exuding structures: definitely vents, this mountain may be active, and these vents might channel excess heat out of the base. Ridgeline structures: ... unknown, possibly weapon positions, so I have to watch those. Randomly dispersed snow piles: treating them as hostile, since they are likely weapon positions or dormant viruses. Far odd-shaped mound: Most likely a comm array similar to a satellite dish. Closest mound: antenna array...}
Machman noted the pile of snow on the side closest to him, and the thinner layer covering that side.
{... used somewhat recently. There must be an access door or control panel on that structure.... but what is that hole next to it? It looks fresh-
.
.
.
no.}
Machman's gaze locked on the hole next to the antenna array, but he started to look cautiously at the smaller mounds of snow and occasionally at the ridge top structures as he tried to float towards the depression. He tried to stay as low to the ground as possible, and create the least amount of noise as he could before he peered into the hole, not knowing what he may find.
((ACTIONS:
1. Survey Area
2. Approach odd depression next to nearest large snow mound
3. Peer inside))
{No way...}
Machman immediately remembered his first encounter with the red and silver craft, and could recall the craft hovering down into the crater of a volcano. The combination of the structure's very suspicious setup, and it's relative proximity to where Mach encountered the craft made him come to a very confident conclusion.
{I just fell onto one if it's home bases. Not good.}
Machman looked up instinctively, but was relieved to notice the thick cloud cover overhead. He then started to look around again, and started to make mental notes on the different structures and objects he saw.
{Okay... 12 tall, steam exuding structures: definitely vents, this mountain may be active, and these vents might channel excess heat out of the base. Ridgeline structures: ... unknown, possibly weapon positions, so I have to watch those. Randomly dispersed snow piles: treating them as hostile, since they are likely weapon positions or dormant viruses. Far odd-shaped mound: Most likely a comm array similar to a satellite dish. Closest mound: antenna array...}
Machman noted the pile of snow on the side closest to him, and the thinner layer covering that side.
{... used somewhat recently. There must be an access door or control panel on that structure.... but what is that hole next to it? It looks fresh-
.
.
.
no.}
Machman's gaze locked on the hole next to the antenna array, but he started to look cautiously at the smaller mounds of snow and occasionally at the ridge top structures as he tried to float towards the depression. He tried to stay as low to the ground as possible, and create the least amount of noise as he could before he peered into the hole, not knowing what he may find.
((ACTIONS:
1. Survey Area
2. Approach odd depression next to nearest large snow mound
3. Peer inside))
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Machman hovered over to the odd depression in the snow. He glanced around cautiously, but nothing jumped out at him to ruin his day at this time. Once he arrived, he peeked inside to find one of Vector's wing blades sticking up out of the snow. The SP had reverted to his original form, and was now buried in the snow. He'd apparently landed here following the incident. He wasn't moving, but his HP counter wasn't zero.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 1 HP (Unconscious and buried in the snow)
---Notes---
Aera.SP: Status unknown
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
-- This area is so large, a single panel counts as a fraction of a terrain%.
---Terrain---
Snow: 95%
Ice: 3%
Normal: 1%
Metal: 1%
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 1 HP (Unconscious and buried in the snow)
---Notes---
Aera.SP: Status unknown
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
-- This area is so large, a single panel counts as a fraction of a terrain%.
---Terrain---
Snow: 95%
Ice: 3%
Normal: 1%
Metal: 1%
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Mach immediately recognized one of Vector's armored plates that stuck out of the snow, and quickly started to push the snow out of the way in an attempt to find more of his fallen SP. It was difficult to find the individual pieces, but he managed to find one particularly large sliver of metal. As his hand wiped the snow off it's dark blue surface, Vector's red eye appeared and stared up at him. Mach spoke quietly as he continued to dig out his comrade. Vector's armor was severely damaged, but he managed to remain online. Mazer thought this as a good time as any to slot in one of his two MiniEnergy subchips into the PET, which caused Vector's armor to temporarily glow green as he was repaired rapidly.
You alright?
Mach watched as the assorted plates slid out of previously unseen locations in the snow and reconfigured into Vector's default form, just before the SP spoke.
I lost consciousness in battle, are you unharmed, sire?
Vector poked his head out of the snow, his single red eye swept from side to side as he surveyed the area.
Where is lady Aera?
Mach put a raised index finger to his own face mask in an attempt to quiet his SP.
I don't know, I'm still trying to look for her. She may be somewhere around here, and unfortunately I think this may be the home base of that craft.
Vector immediately fell silent, but accepted Mach's hand as he reached down to pull his SP out of the snow. The two crouched on the snow before Mach floated a few inches from the powder. Vector's feet folded sideways to act almost like snowshoes and kept him from sinking into the deep snow. Mach looked over at his own hole, then at Vector's. When he last saw Aera, she was relatively close to him and Vector, so unless something carried her off course, she should have fallen somewhere in the basin. However, from where he stood, he couldn't see any other breaks in the snow.
He looked back at the antenna array, and knew he could probably find something out about the area, but his first priority was finding Aera. He turned back to Vector, and pointed towards the large rectangular depression lined with the 16 lighted poles.
We're going to make our way over towards those lights. Keep your eyes open, and try to be as quiet as possible as you avoid those small piles of snow, I think they may be concealed weapon arrays or even viruses. Stay silent and alert.
Vector nodded as he started to make his way forward.
Understood, sire.
The two slowly made their way towards the center of the basin, while they continued to survey the area to try and see if they could find where Aera would have landed.
((Actions:
MiniEnergy: Vector.SP (Heal 50HP)
1. Dig out Vector
2. Brief Vector
Leave hole
3. Slowly travel towards center of basin, while looking for any additional depressions and avoiding the piles of snow
Slowly travel towards center of basin, while looking for any additional depressions and avoiding the piles of snow))
You alright?
Mach watched as the assorted plates slid out of previously unseen locations in the snow and reconfigured into Vector's default form, just before the SP spoke.
I lost consciousness in battle, are you unharmed, sire?
Vector poked his head out of the snow, his single red eye swept from side to side as he surveyed the area.
Where is lady Aera?
Mach put a raised index finger to his own face mask in an attempt to quiet his SP.
I don't know, I'm still trying to look for her. She may be somewhere around here, and unfortunately I think this may be the home base of that craft.
Vector immediately fell silent, but accepted Mach's hand as he reached down to pull his SP out of the snow. The two crouched on the snow before Mach floated a few inches from the powder. Vector's feet folded sideways to act almost like snowshoes and kept him from sinking into the deep snow. Mach looked over at his own hole, then at Vector's. When he last saw Aera, she was relatively close to him and Vector, so unless something carried her off course, she should have fallen somewhere in the basin. However, from where he stood, he couldn't see any other breaks in the snow.
He looked back at the antenna array, and knew he could probably find something out about the area, but his first priority was finding Aera. He turned back to Vector, and pointed towards the large rectangular depression lined with the 16 lighted poles.
We're going to make our way over towards those lights. Keep your eyes open, and try to be as quiet as possible as you avoid those small piles of snow, I think they may be concealed weapon arrays or even viruses. Stay silent and alert.
Vector nodded as he started to make his way forward.
Understood, sire.
The two slowly made their way towards the center of the basin, while they continued to survey the area to try and see if they could find where Aera would have landed.
((Actions:
MiniEnergy: Vector.SP (Heal 50HP)
1. Dig out Vector
2. Brief Vector
Leave hole
3. Slowly travel towards center of basin, while looking for any additional depressions and avoiding the piles of snow
Slowly travel towards center of basin, while looking for any additional depressions and avoiding the piles of snow))
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And sure enough, the moment Mach and Vector had moved past the snow covered structure, they saw another place where the snow had been disturbed. Rather, Vector spotted it first as he looked to the left past the edge of the building and saw a row of four cylindrical structures neither had been able to see thanks to the snow covered structure being in the way previously. There was a pile of snow next to it that had a human-shaped imprint in it and a blue boot sticking out of the snow.
....Yep. That landing must have sucked.
The two were a ways away from the pile of snow Aera had obviously mega-faceplanted into, and the line of storage-tank-like structures next to it. She was clearly in her original form (judging from the boot), just as Vector had been. She wasn't moving, so odds were very good she was knocked unconscious. She was at least in one piece.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 51 HP
Aera.SP: 1 HP (Unconscious and buried in the snow)
---Notes---
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
-- This area is so large, a single panel counts as a fraction of a terrain%.
---Terrain---
Snow: 95%
Ice: 3%
Normal: 1%
Metal: 1%
....Yep. That landing must have sucked.
The two were a ways away from the pile of snow Aera had obviously mega-faceplanted into, and the line of storage-tank-like structures next to it. She was clearly in her original form (judging from the boot), just as Vector had been. She wasn't moving, so odds were very good she was knocked unconscious. She was at least in one piece.
-----------
Summary
-----------
---Allies---
MachMan.EXE: 160 HP
Vector.SP: 51 HP
Aera.SP: 1 HP (Unconscious and buried in the snow)
---Notes---
Communications Jamming.
Communications with PET unaffected.
-- This area is so large, a single panel counts as a fraction of a terrain%.
---Terrain---
Snow: 95%
Ice: 3%
Normal: 1%
Metal: 1%