Vacation in Orbit

((From ACDC))

A trio of cyan beams zipped down from above one of the larger floating platforms in the network, crashing down and disappearing to reveal Mach and his SPs at his sides. The three started to take in the sights, looking at the floating platforms dotting the landscape, wreathed in a star-filled sky. It looked as if they were on an orbiting space platform, nothing but twinkling stars above, and what appeared to be the earth's bright surface below.
Wow, this is really cool! I wonder if it really looks like this out in orbit.

Aera looked around as well, then looked down at her feet before she made a little hop in the air. However, she looked visibly disappointed when she very quickly landed back on the panels below.
Aw... I thought we could just float around... Maybe there are special areas that let you do that?
That's quite possible, M'lady.
Mach, could we take a look around?

Mach turned back towards Aera, giving her a smile.
Sure, let's see what we can find.

Aera returned Mach's smile with one of her own, following close behind the Navi as he started to venture into the network.

((Ready for Battle #1, interaction, etc.))
The trio landed in the network full of platforms and open space, and while it made for such a beautiful surrounding, the major drawback was it would be quite a risk if one miss-stepped and fell. Still they'd not have to look for long, because even as they approached the edge of that main platform, three more were readily accessible. The first being a solar platform floating just above where they currently were. While just ahead, a second one could probably be jumped too.

Lastly a larger metalic platform was floating off in the distance. What'd be more concerning though, is that solar platform straight ahead held a virus atop it, while in the distance, that larger platform boasted two enemies to contend with!

Enemies
ElecOgre2 A: 210HP (Solar)
ElecOgre2 B: 210HP (Metal)
Elesphere: 150HP (Metal)

Terrain
10% Normal (Main Platform)
10% Solar (Platform 1 action away from Normal platform)
20% Metal (Platform 2 actions away from Normal Platform)
10% Solar (1 action up above Normal platform)
50% Missing (open space between 4 platforms)

Allies
MachMan: 250HP (Normal)
Aera.SP: 110HP (Normal)
Vector.SP: 110HP (Normal)

—MachBros, world 1-1, Start!—
As they reached near the end of their platform, three others floated ahead, with two of them hosting viral activity. Mach was first to detect the viruses on the platforms, prompting his protective energy shields to energize. Aera and Vector did the same, Aera with her own energy shield, and Vector with a protective cloud of floating armor plates.
Mazer, send me a Boomerang, Magnum, and MetaGel please.
[On their way!]

Mach turned his head to look to his SPs at his flanks, directing their actions for this battle.
You two focus on the lone virus, I'll take the other two.

Aera's shoulders buzzed excitedly as she smiled, it has been a while since she's been in a battlefield, but she was psyched get back in the action. Vector's arms formed into a pair of blades, and the fractal SP nodded in acknowledgement.
Will do, Mach!

Mach winked at Aera, and in a flash of cyan, he disappeared. Off in the distance, past the pair of viruses on the furthest platform, a similar cyan flash appeared, revealing Mach at its epicenter. He held a wickedly curved metal boomerang in his right hand, his eyes catching his targets quickly. An arcing red overlay appeared in his vision, plotting the path of the boomerang if he threw it in the direction he was currently facing. He quickly adjusted his body and arm position to make the U-shaped path cross through both the ElecOgre and the floating Elesphere. With a flick of his arm and wrist, he sent the green metal boomerang spinning through the air so quickly it looked more like a blurred disc than a chevron-shaped blade. The boomerang hummed quietly as it whipped through the air, and soon it's hum was drowned out by the familiar boom of Aera's electrical bolts.

Holding her ground on the main platform, Aera faced both of her hands towards the ElecOgre, and electrical bolts quickly blasted forth from her electrified body and streaked towards her target. Little electrical discharges arced from her arms as she fired a trio of white-hot electrical blasts. Vector's own attacks were nearly cloaked by the light and sound of Aera's electric assault, but the spinning dagger-like blades pack a decent amount of punch.

Mach watched the boomerang carefully as it made its banking turn back towards the Navi, returning to its owner dutifully. Mach reached out towards the boomerang and started to roll to the right. The boomerang slowed its rotation and started to fragment, impacting his hand like a ball of gelatin before quickly changing in size and shape as Mach cart-wheeled through the air. The data swelled and stretched into a large, forearm-mounted firearm, fitted with three separate wide-bore barrels, each with their own metal slide. The slides slid back in unison, revealing the breech of each barrel and the large explosive shell nestled inside before slamming forward to chamber the rounds. Mach swung the weapon towards the viruses, bringing up a crosshair overlay in his field of vision. The green crosshair turned a bright crimson as it floated over one of the ElecOgres, and remained there, Mach's arm seemed to freeze in place, and didn't move until the weapon went off with a loud boom and a flash of light. The recoil was abated slightly by the slide of the barrel moving to the rear, and ejecting a large brass-colored casing.

He still had two rounds left, and put them to good use. He waited for his crosshairs to stop dead-center on the Elecsphere before firing his second shot, and tried to place his third round directly between the second ElecOgre's eyes. Even if he didn't manage to hit them dead-center, the resulting explosion from the bullets' internal warheads would do the job nicely. However; for good measure, Mach activated his MetaGel2 chip, causing three blue blobs to materialize above each of the viruses. Mach's wing thrusters kicked on and sent him zooming off to the right to shake off enemy fire as the gelatinous blobs started to fall. He glanced back towards the viruses and switched directions, trying to make his way back to his SPs.


ACTIONS: -[Passive Haste, Accuracy Enhancement, Dodge x2]-
1. Heavy Shielding: MachMan.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
Aera: Repulsion Shield to Self (2-hit shield + 1TCD)
Vector: Orbital Blade Defense System to Self (2-hit shield + 1TCD)
2. SCRAM Boost: Teleport behind Metal Platform (Teleport + 2TCD)
3. Boomerang3: ElecOgre2 B, Elesphere (120dmg Wood + Group Attack {Arc})
Aera: Attack ElecOgre2 A (50dmg Elec + Spread)x3
Vector: Attack ElecOgre2 A (35dmg Aqua) x2
-[Dodge]-
4: Magnum1: ElecOgre 2 A,B, Elesphere (120dmg Fire + Break + Panel Break {x3 targets})
-[Dodge]-
5: MetaGel2: ElecOgre 2A,B, Elesphere (130dmg Aqua + Drop Attack + Slow x3 targets)
6: Dodge
The trio all kicked things off with a proper set up of defenses, which as it turned out was a great idea when those viruses attempted to strike at them, all to no effect. That's when navi and crew went on the offensive, with a sudden teleport and surprisingly quick boomerang, MachMan smashed apart the electrical viruses, while he left the last to his underlings. Who as it turned out were doing great, until one of those flying daggers just barely missed its target. Luckily for them, MachMan was pulling cleanup duties and with a sudden violent blast, quickly destroyed the last of the viral threat before the metal gel ball could drop.

Enemies
ElecOgre2 A: Deleted
ElecOgre2 B: Deleted
Elesphere: Deleted

Terrain
10% Normal (Main Platform)
10% Solar (Platform 1 action away from Normal platform)
20% Metal (Platform 2 actions away from Normal Platform)
10% Solar (1 action up above Normal platform)
50% Missing (open space between 4 platforms)

Allies
MachMan: 250HP (Metal)
Aera.SP: 110HP (Normal)
Vector.SP: 110HP (Normal)

—World 1-1, Completed!—
MachMan: 1380z, 28 Bugfrags
The trio of viruses were very quickly out-gunned and eradicated, bringing the battle to a very abrupt end. Mach paused in the air and turned back to the remains of the viruses and noticed Aera and Vector jumping to the next platform. They started to gather up the zenny and bugfrags left behind by the single ElecOgre, so Mach touched down on the furthest platform and gathered up the spoils as well.

Aera and Vector cleaned up quickly, and leisurely jumped to Mach's platform. Vector's metal plates cleared the gap effortlessly, while Aera made the jump without issue thanks to her wing thrusters.
That was simple enough, good work.

Aera smiled and handed the zenny she collected to Mach, getting bugfrags from him in return.
Thanks!

After downloading/absorbing all the useable data, the trio looked further ahead into the network. There was no reason not to continue on, so they made their way deeper into the space-themed netspace, occasionally jumping from platform to platform carefully.

((Ready for Battle #2))
Bounding along and hopping across platform after platform, the trio would soon find another break in their play, as suddenly the platforms all seemed to make up a collection of stairs in a way. From where they stood, just ahead needing a strong jump was a floating magnet platform, beyond that were two more spread apart an equal distance from the first. Ending at a higher platform above, which seemed to have something of a blue glow emitting from it.

Sadly they'd have to really work hard to get that far, for resting atop the two solar platforms were two gun tooting satellites that looked none too friendly, with a third hanging out on the highest platform. And if that weren't bad enough, drifting out in the openness of space between the 4 platforms an alien space craft seemed to lay in wait.

Enemies
BlueUFO: 160HP (Floating in front of smaller metal Platform)
Satellite2 A: 200HP (Solar)
Satellite2 B: 200HP (Solar)
Satellite2 C: 200HP (Metal)

Terrain
40% Missing
20% Metal (Main Platform)
10% Metal (Platform 3 actions ahead)
10% Solar (Smaller Platform 2 actions ahead right of Metal)
10% Solar (Smaller Platform 2 action ahead left of Metal)
10% Magnet (Smaller Platform 1 Action ahead of Metal)

Allies
MachMan: 250HP (Metal)
Aera.SP: 110HP (Metal)
Vector.SP: 110HP (Metal)

Misc
BMD: 20HP (Metal)

—MachBros, World 1-2, Start!—
The trio had made their way into the network, but it quickly came apparent their path was obstructed, this time with a trio of floating Satellite viruses floating over their own individual platforms. A single blue UFO-type virus idled near the furthest platform, which was slightly glowing a similar hue... was there something else up there? Mach raised his protective energy shields, and quickly made an assessment of the battlefield.
Aera, focus on the UFO, try to bring it down quickly, or disable it while Vector provides defensive cover. Mazer, looks like I'll need an AirRaid and BigHammer for now.

Aera and Vector nodded as Mazer grabbed the pair of chips and started to slot them into the PET. Aera started to buzz with excitement, charging her internal capacitors.
[Uploading now. *cough*]

Mach's wings began to splay out slightly, their thrusters beginning to glow in anticipation. The lower surface of his right forearm opened up, causing a large bracket to fold out, creating a straight mounting point for the large weapon rapidly materializing below. The triple-barreled Vulcan extended about a foot or two past Mach's hand, which gripped a folding trigger assembly. The gunmetal black barrels were supported by a blue cylindrical housing/ammo drum. Just as the Vulcan was nearly complete, Mach lifted off the ground, floating several inches in the air.
Go!

The thrusters on Mach's right wing roared to life, sending Mach cartwheeling to the left rapidly, hoping to keep himself from getting caught in the crosshairs of the enemy. As Mach made his evasive maneuver, Aera extended her hand towards the BlueUFO. Though invisible to the naked eye, Aera had launched a "beam" of magnetic force towards the virus, attempting to grab hold of the UFO and pull it into range. Waiting at the end of her improvised "tractor beam" was a great deal of pent-up electrical power, desperately trying to find an object to flow through. The buzzing and arcing gradually intensifying around her body seemed to be her attempting to charge up the attack, but she was preparing something entirely different.

Vector kept his distance from the female dynamo, armoring himself up by sending his more robust body plates floating in front of him, creating a dynamic orbital shield over his body. By this time, his armor would be flickering from the lightshow coming from Aera; her capacitors were at their limit, and close to purging to prevent extensive damage to her programming. Aera had a grin on her face, seemingly unfazed as she focused her beautiful sapphire eyes on the BlueUFO and brought her left arm parallel with her right, facing both towards her target. In a sudden burst of light, her capacitors simultaneously purged, creating an explosion of electricity accompanied by an invisible magnetic pulse. This pulse was guided by her arms and sent surging towards her target, with the hope of causing several errors or glitches in its cognitive functions.

While Aera assaulted her target with crippling waves of electricity and magnetism, Mach took a slightly more archaic, though no less potent, approach to his first target. He started to gain altitude as he trained his Vulcan on Satellite virus hovering over the left-most solar platform. The Vulcan emitted a high pitch whine for a brief moment as it spun up, only for the whine to be drowned out by the roar of several hundred armor-piercing rounds erupting from the rapidly spinning barrels. The super-sonic rounds glowed crimson as they streaked towards the target, hopefully perforating the floating virus like rocks through wet paper. Mach continued to ascend and keep his cross-hairs dead center on the virus while he expediently depleted his Vulcan's ammunition supply.

The roar of the weapon quickly ceased and the barrels spooled down quickly, prompting the gun to fragment and disappear, and Mach to quickly accelerate before making several sharp turns in the air. As he zig-zagged over the platforms, Aera decided to continue her assault with a pair of electrical bolts. Pale blue arcs of electricity surged down each of her arms just before she attempted to further roast the virus with blasts from her hands. Vector made a note to stand clear until she delivered her last "gift" to her target, then he stepped in front of her, providing the SP some physical cover while she recharged.

Mach took the opportunity to re-evaluate the battlefield from this new viewpoint, his "wingman" took a few moments to materialize anyway. Within moments of activating the AirRaid chip, Mach received a notification from the newly summoned FighterPlane, requesting orders. He responded by glancing over to the virus on the opposite Solar platform, "painting" the virus as the tiny aircraft's target. With a simple "acknowledged" reply, the 'mini-MachFighter' banked away and angled into a strafing run. Though its guns were potent, they didn't pack the same amount of punch as Mach's own, and wouldn't be enough to take the virus down.
Let's throw in a DashAttack for good measure.
[Gotcha, on the way.]

The FighterPlane's twin guns opened up on the virus, sending two streams of bullets towards the Satellite. In one quick burst, the aircraft strafed the area and buzzed overhead. It quickly changed its attitude and started to climb as it made a shallow bank to the left, not only to set itself up on another strafing run, but also to clear the area for Mach's follow-up assault. With the target area free from allied fire, Mach rocketed towards the Satellite at a terrifying speed. He ripped through the sound barrier with ease and continued to accelerate towards his target. The air around him had little time to get out of the way, causing a veil of highly compressed air to form over his body like the tip of a spear. With any luck, his supersonic charge would tear the virus apart, or even shatter the enemy with a dead-center impact.

He charged over the solar platform, hopefully fragmenting its viral inhabitant behind him, and appeared to be zooming off with enough speed to leave the battlefield behind in seconds. However, not even a second after passing over the platform, with a flash of cyan he disappeared. A very brief moment later, another cyan flash announced Mach's reappearance, this time directly behind the last Satellite. Unfortunately for the virus, Mach had already made preparations to delete the virus, and held a massive hammer aloft over his head. The weapon looked like a rectangular metal pillar attached to a long handle, and appeared just as heavy. Mach couldn't help but grin as he got to finally use this needlessly brutal weapon on an enemy, hopefully bringing the hammer down on the unsuspecting virus with a satisfying crunch. If he somehow missed, Mach felt chasing the virus down wouldn't be difficult in the slightest.




ACTIONS: -[Passive Haste, Accuracy Enhancement, Dodge x2]-
1. Heavy Shielding: MachMan.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
-[Passive Dodge]-
Aera: ElecBolt1 to BlueUFO (90dmg Elec + Stun {pulls enemies towards user with magnetic field}) ((Chip Preset))
Vector: OBDS to Self (2-hit shield + 1TCD)
-[Reinforce OBDS (+2 Hits)]-
Aera: Tesla Pulse to BlueUFO (Confusion + 2TCD)
2. Rising Barrage: Satellite2 A (50dmg x4 Multi-hit + Breaking + Seeking + Impact + Knockback + Movement + BusterLock + 8TCD) {Gain altitude and advance towards the floating solar platforms}
-[Passive Dodge]-
Aera: Attack BlueUFO (50dmg Elec + Spread)
Aera: Attack BlueUFO (50dmg Elec + Spread)
Vector: Move in front of Aera to shield her
Vector: Brace
3. AirRaid2: Summon 100HP FighterPlane
--FighterPlane: Attack Satellite2 B (10dmg x15)
4: DashAttack2: Satellite2 B (120dmg + Null + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement)
5: SCRAM Boost: Teleport behind Satellite2 C (Teleport + 2TCD)
6: BigHammer2: Satellite2 C (220dmg + Impact + Break)
Starting things off well, Machman and crew were quick to take the offense as the navi split off from his SPs and took aim and started to blast his very devastating Vulcan, which smashed into the satellite virus but seemed to just not have enough to fully strike it thanks to a few of those shots just barely missing. Meanwhile Aera stopped the UFO in its tracks from following MachMan, her magnetic strike easily pulling it off course and beating it up some, following up with a quick charged pulse that left it dazed and confused long enough for her to easily take it down soon after. Though not all was well and good as two of those Satellite viruses quickly locked on and rose into the sky.

The first target seemed to be Vector, and in a blaze of raining down shells it started to shoot, and while he did manage to avoid some, his shield could only eat a few of them before he was hit dead on. To make matters worse the second virus targeted Aera and Vector quickly rushed to her aid and willingly took the hits that were no doubt meant for her.

Though revenge was sweet, at least when it was given through their navi who called up his own fighter plane to start blasting one of those remaining viruses and taking a large chunk of its life away. Which MachMan quickly followed up with a devastating dash, and while he'd missed his primary target, his actions veered him off and actually struck down his original target, deleting it effectively. While he took to a sudden surprise attack, easily teleporting the last lock-on attempt only to smash down and crush one of those enemy planes with ease.

Enemies
BlueUFO: Deleted
Satellite2 A: Deleted
Satellite2 B: 70HP (Solar)
Satellite2 C: Deleted

Terrain
40% Missing
20% Metal (Main Platform)
10% Metal (Platform 3 actions ahead)
10% Solar (Smaller Platform 2 actions ahead right of Metal)
10% Solar (Smaller Platform 2 action ahead left of Metal)
10% Magnet (Smaller Platform 1 Action ahead of Metal)

Allies
MachMan: 250HP (Smaller Metal Platform) (6-hit Shield Equipped)
Aera.SP: 110HP (Larger Metal Platform)
Vector.SP: 16HP (Larger Metal Platform) (4-hit Shield Destroyed)

Misc
BMD: 20HP (Metal)
FighterPlane: 28HP (Metal) (2 Turns Remaining)
((Turn Splice))

Vector managed to keep the heat off Aera, but the rapid-fire assault by the Satellite viruses bashed his armor relentlessly. After the barrage ended, Vector's orbiting plates were smashed, and the rest of his body was chipped and dinged. Vector's eye glowed fiercely, still holding his ground dutifully as he glared at his opponents.

However, the SP was caught slightly off-guard by a gentle touch to his back. Aera's hand was placed softly on his armored body, just as little green sparks started to pour forth into the armored plates.
Thank you, Vector. Hold still a second and I'll return the favor.

With an intense green glow, Aera inundated Vector's body with restorative energy, causing his fractal body to regenerate and repair itself. Within moments, the SP quickly returned to nearly full power. In the meantime, the FighterPlane (which took some damage as well) banked sharply in the air to line itself back up with the lone Satellite virus. Its wings went level as it drew a bead on the virus, prompting its twin guns to open up on its target and spray lead downrange.

Mach looked over towards the virus before making a request to his operator.
Just one left, send me a TankCannon and I'll make sure it stays down.
[Will do, Mach.]

The Navi extended his right arm towards the virus just as it began to change. Unlike the magnum, which materializes over his arm, his entire arm all the way to the shoulder made a drastic change. Fully formed it looked like a massive, heavy-duty version of the MachBuster, and it was loaded with an equally massive solid round. Thanks to his shoulder being incorporated into the weapon as well, he managed to keep the cannon steady as he aimed it towards the virus.

Once he lined up the shot, he fired with a loud boom and a flash of light. The recoil drove the Navi back several feet in the air, and hopefully caused a much more devastating effect to the virus.



ACTIONS: -[Passive Accuracy Enhancement, Haste, Dodge x2]-
Aera: Electro-therapy to Vector.SP (Heal 72 + 3TCD)
-[[color=ff6600]Recharge:[/color] Vector.SP (Heal 18)]-
--FighterPlane: Attack Satellite2 B (10dmg x15)
1. TankCannon3: Satellite2 B (160dmg)
Healing was given to the SP that had risked his life and limb to protect his partner in arms, while MachMan and his Fighterplane were quick to take down the last of their enemies with little trouble to be had.

Enemies
BlueUFO: Deleted
Satellite2 A: Deleted
Satellite2 B: Deleted
Satellite2 C: Deleted

Terrain
40% Missing
20% Metal (Main Platform)
10% Metal (Platform 3 actions ahead)
10% Solar (Smaller Platform 2 actions ahead right of Metal)
10% Solar (Smaller Platform 2 action ahead left of Metal)
10% Magnet (Smaller Platform 1 Action ahead of Metal)

Allies
MachMan: 250HP (Smaller Metal Platform) (6-hit Shield Equipped)
Aera.SP: 110HP (Larger Metal Platform)
Vector.SP: 106HP (Larger Metal Platform) (4-hit Shield Destroyed)

Misc
BMD: 20HP (Metal)
FighterPlane: 28HP (Metal) (2 Turns Remaining)

—World 1-2, Completed!—
MachMan: 1380z, 38 Bugfrags, Lock-On2

Quote ()

Lock-On2
HP: 80
Properties: Omnishoes, Mobile
Object Damage: Not Applicable
Damage Method: Not Applicable
Attack Damage: 15 Null + Lock-On x 6 shots
Accuracy: A
Description: Summons an auto-targeting satellite cannon that fires a volley of 6 shots.
Duration: Until destroyed.
Element: Null
Special: RP quality does not boost or reduce this chip's accuracy. - This chip's accuracy cannot be boosted or reduced by any means.


[Open BMD? ([b]Y/N[/b])]
With the battlefield cleared of opponents, Vector and Aera stood down and started to gather up the spoils. In the meantime, Mach flew up to the highest platform, where a single glowing blue mystery data waited for him.
Alright, let's see what you've got.

MachMan reached out, touching the data to attempt to access it and reveal its contents.

((Open BMD))
Stepping up and claiming his much deserved prize, MachMan placed his hand upon the brightly glowing blue crystal, and with a bright blinding flash it shattered apart, leaving behind the remains the data of a new attack!

[[b]BMD Opened[/b]]

MachMan: BurnSquare2

Quote ()

BurnSquare2
Damage: 90 + Blast 2 + Ground Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: Creates a small, square shaped explosion of will-o-wisps that erupt from the ground, scorching the very soul of whatever is occupying that space.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Fortune smiled upon the Navi as the BMD presented a new battlechip. He already had one in his chip library, this new addition could prove useful regardless. He downloaded the data to the PET as his SPs approached with a wealth of zenny to be downloaded as well.
Two battlechips, zenny, and bugfrags; not too shabby if you ask me.
[Indeed, hopefully there are even better rewards further in.]
I was thinking the same thing, you two ready to go?

Aera smiled and nodded, while Vector did the same... sans smile due to his inability to do so.
Of course!

The three turned deeper into the network, and stepped off the platform in unison before gliding to the next floating platform, "island-hopping" further into the space-themed network.

((Ready for battle #3))
Thankfully the deeper into the net they got, the less frequent the various islands were becoming, as they were starting to feel more like long stretches than simply stepping stones. Particularly the one the trio had found themselves on.

Quite large and long, almost as if they'd stepped onto a bridge, all around the vast emptiness of space seemed to surround while the study platform simply hovered there. Though deeper along this platform they'd find a large round opening as if something had crushed through, and hovering there in the center of the missing area was a brightly colored cube, flipping slowly between shades of red and blue. While on either side of the whole, Swordys seemed to be facing off against two Eleballs, though what sort of game there were playing was impossible to tell, as each side would swap a player as the colors on the cube changed.
But all this was put to a halt as they party was spotted, and the swordsmen quickly turned their sparking blades upon them with quite a hostile intent.

Enemies
Elesphere A: 150HP [Left side of Hole]
Swordy-E2 A: 160HP [Left side of Hole]
Elesphere B: 150HP [Right side of Hole]
Swordy-E2 B: 160HP [Right side of Hole]
TRICUBE: 220HP [Hovering in center of Hole]

Terrain
50% Metal [Platform]
30% Missing [Surrounding Platform]
20% Missing [Hole in Center of Platform]

Allies
MachMan: 250HP
Aera.SP: 110HP
Vector.SP: 106HP

—World 1-3, Start!—
Upon reaching the long bridge-like platform, the trio saw the group of viruses habitating the platform. It looked like something quite large had punched a hole through the center of the platform, and a floating colored cube floated above. On either side were an eleball and swordy pair. They were grouped up, making them perfect targets for the programs. However, the TRICUBE was the primary target.

Mach spoke to his Operator as a pair of small drones materialized next to him, and their projector lenses started to glow.
Requesting BigHammer and Boomerang chips... and throw in a SummonBlack and MetaGel, if you don't mind.
[Gotcha, on their way.]

As Mazer started to slot in the requested chips, the drones projectors came online and veiled themselves with a perfect holographic copy of Mach's body. All three "Machs" thruster wings swung into position as their thrusters began to glow cyan as they primed up. With a flash of cyan, MachMan disappeared, prompting his decoys to rush forward and split towards the pairs of Swordys and Elespheres. The drones became armed with massive hammers, and let the column-like heads trail behind them as they rushed the viruses. MachMan quickly reappeared behind the TRICUBE, brandishing a BigHammer of his own. With one mighty swing, he flung the brutally large hammer over his head as he tried to bring it down directly on top of the bi-colored virus.

After hopefully smashing the TRICUBE into tiny bits, the hammer fragmented in Mach's hands before disappearing. The Navi's chest and boot thrusters barked and drove Mach back rapidly. He tried to put some distance between himself and the viruses, floating opposite of Aera and Vector on the platform, and raised his protective energy shields. In the meantime, Aera raised her hands towards the pair of viruses on right side of the large hole and prepared to unleash a torrent of electricity towards them.

Though it appeared MachMan was in the immediate area of the viruses, it was merely an expendable decoy; Aera opened fire without hesitation. Within moments, the two electric viruses found themselves under a fierce barrage of lighting bolts which crashed over the area with significantly large explosions. The metal panels buzzed and sparked as electricity spread through the immediate area, only amplifying the intensity of the attack.

Vector prepared to protect Aera again as she fired a trio of electrical blasts towards her targets. Several metal plates floated in front of him, forming an extra layer of defense. In addition to protecting the SP, the metal plates can be launched at an aggressor, delivering a painful counterattack. As soon as Aera completed her assault, Vector stepped in front of her before bracing himself.

While the SPs started to turtle up, Mach started to line up the viruses around the large void in the platform, holding a sharpened green boomerang in his right hand. With the viruses hopefully distracted enough by the decoys to stay near the circular hole in the platform, they would be in the perfect position for the boomerang's arc-shaped flight pattern. Regardless, Mach cocked his arm back, holding the boomerang vertically before making an overhand throw. The boomerang spun quickly in the air and buzzed towards the viruses as it started to bank through the air, following the shape of the hole in the platform. The boomerang was spinning so quickly it looked more like a blurred disk than a chevron-shaped blade, and was heavy enough to hopefully tear through Mach's targets as it looped back to him.

The boomerang dutifully returned to the Navi, prompting him to snatch the boomerang out of the air with his right hand. As soon as he recovered the weapon, he dropped out of the air and plumetted to the platform below. Just before touching down, his thrusters lit up again, keeping the navi a foot off the ground just before bolting forward in an attempt to cross over the void in the middle of the platform, returning to his SPs. On his way towards them, a swirling black portal formed in the right side of the hole. Within moments, an inky black virus emerged from the portal, holding a sinister looking jagged blade. Its single glowing eye focused on the Swordy and Elesphere, prompting the shadow to hurtle towards them, slashing at the viruses with its blade.

Mach continued forward, and a trio of blue globs materialized above the viruses on the the left side of the hole. Though they originally started out the size of baseballs, they quickly ballooned out and swelled to the size of beachballs before falling towards their targets.



ACTIONS: -[Passive Accuracy Enhancement, Haste, Dodge x2, Decoy x2]-
1. SCRAM Boost: Teleport into melee range of TRICUBE (Teleport + 2TCD)
2. BigHammer2: TRICUBE (220dmg + Impact + Break)
Aera: Attack Swordy E2 B, Elesphere B (50dmg Elec Spread) [x3]
-[Dodge]-
3. Heavy Shielding: MachMan.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
Vector: OBDS to self (2-hit shield + 1TCD) [+ Shield bash (Reflects attack(s) back for half damage at the cost of an extra hit)]
-[Reinforce OBDS (+2 Hits)]-
4. Boomerang3: Swordy E2 A,B, Elesphere A,B (120dmg Wood + Group attack (Arc))
Vector: Guard Aera.SP
Vector: Brace (block 1 hit for ½ damage)
-[Dodge]-
5. SummonBlack1: Swordy E2 A, Elesphere A (160dmg Slashing + Wide Attack) {can only be summoned on broken/missing terrain}
6. MetaGel2: Swordy E2 B, Elesphere B, TRICUBE ((130dmg Aqua + Drop Attack + Slow) x3 Targets)

DecoyA: Rush Swordy E2 A, ElesphereA
DecoyB: Rush Swordy E2 B, ElesphereB
Overwhelming power and ease, that's the best way to talk about this quickly apparent one sided battle. Speed, power, cunning, the viruses seemed all out matched from the moment the Tricube had been smashed to bits. Leaving them somewhat in a dazed confusion which easily allowed for MachMan and his support programs to clean house and quickly end the threat before they even got a shot off.

Enemies
Elesphere A: Deleted
Swordy-E2 A: Deleted
Elesphere B: Deleted
Swordy-E2 B: Deleted
TRICUBE: Deleted

Terrain
50% Metal [Platform]
30% Missing [Surrounding Platform]
20% Missing [Hole in Center of Platform]

Allies
MachMan: 250HP
Aera.SP: 110HP
Vector.SP: 106HP

—World 1-3, Completed!—
MachMan: 2300z, 42 Bugfrags
Mach made his way back to his SPs, noticing they were completely untouched. Their lightning fast assault brought down the viruses before they were able to react; textbook battlefield supremacy. After meeting up with the SPs, Mach lead them forward and gathered up the spoils on the way.
Good work with the right flank, took them down before they could retaliate.

Aera smiled, enjoying the praise. However, she knew it was a tandem effort between both herself and Vector; she was completely open after her electrical barrage.
Even if they did, Vector would've stopped them cold.

She put her hand on Vector's shoulder, still smiling as the SP's single eye glowed a bit brighter.
You're too kind, m'lady.

Mach looked up, towards Mazer's point of view as he downloaded some of the zenny data to the PET.
Thanks for the quick upload, Mazer; let me know if I'm going too fast.

Mazer leaned back in his chair, cracking his knuckles with a grin.
[Don't worry about me, I'm just warming *cough* ...warming up. You guys gonna continue on?]
If that's alright with you.
[Of course.]

Mach nodded and continued forward, SPs in tow. They floated deeper into the network, keeping their eyes peeled and their bodies ready.

((Ready for Battle #4))
Venturing deeper yet into the net, finally the platforms seemed to come to an end, or at least expand so the risk of falling finally seemed to have disappeared. But that was not particularly a good thing.

For up ahead, stood a towering iron building, rough pillars and walls climbed high topped with jagged spikes and towers that loomed over head menacingly. No windows could be seen, and the only entry point was a large door, or what appeared to be a door. However as they approached the 'door' floated forward and suddenly parted, revealing a glowing red core, though it quickly snapped back closed threateningly.

It was far from the only thing standing guard however, as along either side of the door seemed to be a lineup of front line soldiers, Either side of the living gate was a shielded gun tower and perhaps less threatening, what appeared to be wooden scarecrows.

Enemies
CannonGuard2 A: 150HP
CannonGuard2 B: 150HP
Gridder: 190HP [IronBody]
Scarecrow2 A: 180HP
Scarecrow2 B: 180HP

Terrain
70% Metal
30% Castle? [Large Metal building beyond Viruses]

Allies
MachMan: 250HP
Aera.SP: 110HP
Vector.SP: 106HP

—World 1-4, Start!—
((Trying a new writing style, let me know if it works out or not))
The trio continued forward on their digitally cosmic adventure, approaching what appeared to be a towering iron castle of some sort. The field was less fractal, creating a metal plain instead of a group of floating platforms, which seemed necessary to support such a large building. The group looked over the structure; Aera's gaze was focused upward, she noted the daunting windowless walls and towers, adorned with menacing-looking spikes. "Can't say this place looks welcoming..." Mach looked up as well, tilting his head slightly in affirmation before responding, "No kidding, if I searched 'Evil Castle,' this would probably be the first result."

Vector's glowing red eye had swept over the entirety of the castle, focusing more on the large door and the viruses flanking it. He turned to MachMan and gestured towards the quartet of viruses ahead. "Sire, the entrance is guarded," he said cautiously. Mach had seen the viruses as well, but noticed they made no move to make their presence known, or repel the trio. "Let's see how vigilant they are." Mach then looked over to Aera, gesturing with his left hand to fall back. "Stay back a few paces, and keep an eye out for anything that might appear from the ramparts above. Vector?" The fractal SP turned to his master, awaiting command. "You're with me. Got us covered, Sir?" Mazer was already thumbing through his battlechips, anticipating combat. "Way ahead of you, Mach. *cough* Looks like you'll need some armor-piercing weaponry for the cannons. How about Magnum and TankCannon?" Mach gave his NetOp a thumbs up, "Sounds good to me. Let's see if these things are hostile," said the Navi. His confident look seemed to give off he was anticipating, hoping they were going to react aggressively.

Mach's prediction was right in most respects, but he didn't expect the very door of the Castle to slide forward, opening and closing threateningly. The Navi took a step back in surprise, but his eyes quickly focused on the virus with deadly intent as he raised his right arm towards the virus. As he did so, a triple-barreled Vulcan rapidly materialized underneath his forearm, and already started to spool up before the trigger assembly swung up to his waiting hand. Mach pointed the weapon towards this new foe before sternly declaring, "Definitely hostile." His declaration was punctuated with the feverish roar of his Vulcan, which responded to the virus's threat with a hail of 30mm armor-piercing rounds. The virus graciously pointed out the location of its core, so Mach already knew exactly where to direct his barrage.

Aera blinked out of reflect, not expecting Mach to immediately open up on the viruses. She responded by priming her internal capacitors, and started to build up electrical power. She tried to focus on the ramparts of the castle, in case others are drawn to the commotion, but she couldn't help but notice Mach's projector drones materialize behind the Navi. They flickered like little floating disco balls as their holoprojectors came online, then two exact copies of the Navi appeared over them, seemingly out of thin air. Silently acknowledging the commands of their master, the decoys dashed towards the castle wall as they strafed away, trying to draw the attention of the sentinels on either side of the doorway. Mazer had already started to slot in the heavy weapon chips into his PET, the last of which successfully uploaded to the Navi just as his Vulcan ammo was depleted.

The Vulcan barely had enough time to spool down before it collapsed down into a rapidly compressing mass of data. However, instead of disappearing, the bits of code relocated on top of his forearm before taking shape again. Meanwhile, a cloud of data surrounded his left arm. As if on cue, both weapons materialized simultaneously and nearly instantly catapulted the navi's offensive power to several times normal. In a couple seconds, Mach was outfitted with a triple-barreled cannon on his right arm, and his left was encompassed by a massive single-barreled weapon, which looked akin to an artillery piece. Ordinarily he would utilize his targeting software to determine his targets' speed and direction, then use that information to refine his aim, but his targets were conveniently immobile.

The Navi quickly lined up his targets before opening up with a deluge of high-caliber artillery fire. His body quaked from the recoil of his cannons and the ground shook from the sharp explosions that followed as the explosive/armor-piercing rounds impacted. He wasn't entirely sure the rounds would even scratch the stalwart walls of the building if he somehow missed, but he'd just have to find out. Vector took the opportunity to follow up Mach's barrage by hurling a trio of dagger-like slivers of metal towards the scarecrow viruses. He aimed his blades at the viruses' stalk-like bases, hoping to possibly cut down the foes and disrupt their attacks if they weren't deleted outright.

Mach's heavy weapons began to disappear from his arms, and he took the opportunity to raise his protective energy shields. The spherical clear blue barrier materialized in front of him with a soft hum, but was drowned out by a rapidly intensifying flurry of electrical discharges spurting forth from behind the Navi. Aera had completely saturated her capacitors with energy, and was ready to purge the stored power in one concentrated blast. She pointed her hands forward towards the viruses, ready to direct the pulse as her body was nearly enveloped by a near white explosion of electricity. Two jagged arms of electricity frantically reached out towards the CannonGuard viruses and exploded around them while an invisible pulse of magnetism surged towards the Scarecrow on the right.

Mach waited for the noise to die down before speaking to his operator. "Mazer, could you send me the Burner chip? Gonna try to clean them up." "You got it, Mach," the man spoke with a nod as he thumbed through his battlechip clip. Upon locating the requested chip, he quickly slotted it through the PET and uploaded it to the waiting Navi. Mach kept his focus on the enemies ahead, and tried to catch any attempts of a counterattack with intent to avoid them. Upon confirming the chip upload, his wing thrusters barked and pushed the Navi towards the viruses. He quickly advanced towards the middle of the viral group before stopping just short of the walls of the building. As soon as he stopped, every thruster on his body primed with a high pitched whine and rapidly intensifying cyan glow. Then in the blink of an eye, the area around him exploded with heat and intense cyan flames. He attempted the bathe the immediate area with thruster exhaust and burn away the opposition. Unfortunately he couldn't broil the viruses for long, or his own systems would overheat and malfunction. The flames died down as quickly as appeared, followed by Mach kicking away from the building and utilizing his anti-grav drive to allow him to smoothly float back and away from anything that managed to survive.


ACTIONS: -[Passive Haste, Accuracy Enhancement, Dodge x2, Decoy x2]-
1. Rising Barrage: Gridder (50dmg x4 + Multi-Hit + Breaking + Seeking + Impact + Knockback + Movement + BusterLock + 8TCD)
2. Magnum1: Scarecrow2 A, CannonGuard2 A & B (120dmg Fire + Break + Panel Break)
3. TankCannon3: ScareCrow2 B, CannonGuard2 B (160dmg Blast2)
Vector: Attack Scarecrow2 A (40dmg Aqua + Disarm)
Vector: Attack Scarecrow2 A (40dmg Aqua + Disarm)
Vector: Attack Scarecrow2 B (40dmg Aqua + Disarm)
4. Heavy Shielding: MachMan.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
-[Reinforce Heavy Shielding (+2 Hits)]-
Aera: Tesla Pulse to Scarecrow2 B (Confusion + 2TCD)
Aera: Attack CannonGuard2 A (50dmg Elec + Spread)
Aera: Attack CannonGuard2 B (50dmg Elec + Spread)
-[Passive Dodge]-
5. Strategic Movement: approach gateway
6. Burner1: CannonGuard2 A,B, Gridder, Scarecrow2 A,B (110dmg Fire Nova2)
-[Passive Dodge]-



Decoy A: Advance on CannonGuard2 A and pass in an attempt to get locked on
Decoy B: Advance on CannonGuard2 B and pass in an attempt to get locked on
((I think it's ok... Not sure if you should space out speaking from description but...))

Machman unleashes his own peacemaker at the Gridder, shredding it in an instant due to his signature attack's high defense breaking capacity. The CanonGuards try to lock onto to the decoys, finding their bullets to simply pass through the holographic images.

Machman unloads heavy artillery onto the castle's turrets, with Vector's help, eliminating almost every virus at the same time before they have a chance to react.

When the smoke clears, a lone CanonGuard adamantly survives with its guard up, but that won't last for long. Even so, Machman generates a high-output shield upon himself while Aera weakened the virus by attacking its unprotected sides.

Dashing in, Machman finished the battle with an enormous wave of heat.

With a groan, it seems the castle's inner doors open up.

Enemies
CannonGuard2 A: DELETED
CannonGuard2 B: DELETED
Gridder: DELETED
Scarecrow2 A: DELETED
Scarecrow2 B: DELETED

Terrain
70% Metal
30% Castle? [Large Metal building beyond Viruses]

Allies
MachMan: 250HP
Aera.SP: 110HP
Vector.SP: 106HP

-VICTORY-
GET: 2800z, SolarShield2, 45 Bugfrags