Mach/Vector in NetVegas

A pair of cyan flashes appeared high above the network floor, briefly giving the area a slight glow before disappearing as quickly as it appeared, and leaving two programs falling towards the floor. MachMan's antigrav engine silently spun up and decreased the rate of his descent by a significant margin as Vector floated around him like a fragmented cloud of dark blue and silver knives.

[[i]...Armor up.[/i]]

On queue, Vector's body plates swarmed Mach's frame, fastening themselves to his armor, bodysuit, and parts of his 'skin' and 'hair.' His eyes, with the new addition of the thin orange ring on the outer edge of his sapphire blue irises, were covered in body plates as well. In a flurry of metal, Mach's new armored form started to take shape. Nearly every part of his body had become much more angular and reinforced, providing protection while actually increasing the streamlining of his frame.

His already angled chestplate was accentuated by several sharp flairs giving him a knife edge, angled towards the wing-like projections extending diagonally up and out away from his shoulders. His normally unarmored abdomen, waist, and thighs are sufficiently layered with armor, giving him a decent amount of protection but not impeding his movement much. His boots, which normally are rather plain and rounded, now look much more like the greaves of an ancient knight: segmented and pointed, with several rotating, swiveling "wings" near his ankles to provide even more control surfaces for him to use.

These armored boots touched down on the network surface with a metal chime, not unlike a blade pinging against a stone floor. Mach stood there, his arms at his sides as the final pieces of his armor slid into place, the last ones opening a black, angled "slot" in the visor covering his eyes. With none of his face unobstructed, Mach appeared much more robotic than he usually was, especially when Vector's signature glowing red eye opened in the black slot, acting as a representation of Mach's own eyes. The eye burned brightly and fluidly swept from side to side as MachMan scanned his surroundings.

Meanwhile, back in the safe confines of the PET, the displays over the panels of her "command chair" glowed much more vibrantly, and more indications popped up as more and more battle routines were initiated. There was so much information, it was actually getting hard to track. Good thing for her, because a set of split ring-like structures materialized from her chair and curved around her head, mid-chest, and waist. These rings weren't closed, there was a fairly large opening in the front of each one, but not large enough for Aera to simply slide forward and out of the chair. The rings were the same dull gray as the chair, but several diodes started to glow a vibrant cyan, bathing her the soft light.

However, several "bands" of glowing data emerged from the light and actually branched out to her like glowing cables, before attaching to her program. Some of the ones extending from the lowest ring attached near the base of her spine while the others connected to spots on her hips. Cables from the middle ring also attached near her spine, while others attached to the sides and front of her chest. Only a single cable attached to her neck, while a visor-like screen stretched in front of her, completing the upper-most ring.

They all connected at relatively the same time, and as they did, Aera could feel herself synchronizing with Mach's program, not as completely as when they fused, but within the same realm. She didn't share his thoughts, but through the connections and the visor, she could see through his eyes, and hear through his ears. However, she could also simply look through the visor to see a much more "bird's-eye-view" of the netspace Mach and Vector occupied, not unlike what Mazer sees in the PET every time Mach battles. She watched with a silent wonder as everything was laid out in front of her like a chess board.

[[i]Alright, I'm ready when you are, Mach. ♪[/i]]
Likewise, sire.
Okay, moving out.

As soon as the word "out" was heard, Mach had bolted off like a shot, cruising a foot or two above the network floor. His red eye continued to slowly sweep the field ahead, and Aera watched carefully while the two programs ventured into the network ahead.

((Almost 2 months later... Ready for Battle #1))
Mach & Vector's first battle were the strange pair of the BigHat and the Fishy viruses. As they were busy preparing for something on top of the fragile glass panels, they saw the strange, armored navi hovering above them and immediately turned hostile. The Bighats scampered far away as the Fishies took the front, hoping to take on their enemy in a tactical fashion!

BigHat2A: 170 HP (2 movement away from melee range)
BigHat2B: 170 HP (2 movement away from melee range)
Fishy2A: 150 HP
Fishy2B: 150 HP

Terrain: 100% Glass

MachMan.EXE: 200 HP
Vector.SP: 110 HP

-ROGUE BATTLE ONE, START!-
Mach was first to see the viruses off in the distance, and slowed down to properly assess the situation before engaging. He noticed the terrain beneath the viruses was glass, which brought back a rather pleasant memory of obliterating an entire turret battery in one glass-filled explosion. Aera was watching the viruses closely as Mach approached and raised his energy shields. Several slivers of Vector's body floated away from his back and started orbiting just outside of the nearly transparent shield, providing an extra layer of protection.
[[i]Mach, what chips would you like? Also, the Bighats are falling back.[/i]]
Bubble-V, DashAttack, Flameline2, and Counter1, if you'd be so kind.

Aera smiled as her eyes moved to the chip display off to her right. Her fingers interacted with the projections like a touch screen, gently sliding the battlechips almost like cards on a table, and flicking the requested chips up to a little boxed off "Send" area. In less than a couple seconds, everything was loaded to Mach.
Thanks, Aera.

Machman extended his right hand forward as his forearm fragmented and reformed into a wide-bore cannon, large enough to plainly see the rifling of the barrel. His single red eye was trained on the pair of Fishy viruses ahead, and it started to glow even brighter as Mach targeted them with his recently upgraded sensor suite. In a flash he was able to know how fast they were moving, the distance between himself and his enemy, the X/Y/Z coordinates of each Fishy compared to the other, and even a highlighted cone showing the prediction of where the viruses could move next.

With this information readily available to him, he could very easily find a sweet spot to deploy this weaponry to tag one, if not both, Fishy viruses. He fired the cannon with a slight muzzle flash and a loud *pop*, sending the round downrange. The projectile was filled with highly pressurized water, and set discharge the water inside in a wide spread. Some excess moisture was leaking from two relief valves on opposite sides of the bullet, leaving behind a spiraling trail of water vapor behind it.

Normally MachMan would have deployed his decoys and sent them off to distract the enemy, but with these particular viruses, it wouldn't be necessary. He had faced both families of viruses before, and knew the BigHats merely toss flash bombs around, and the Fishys would charge their target. He was counting on the Fishys' direct approach, and was ready to counter them.

Mach's wing thrusters barked loudly as they provided a large burst of thrust, and sent Mach barreling straight towards the Fishys. He quickly reached near-supersonic speeds as he passed by, hopefully smashing the viruses against the shockwave formed around Mach's body, like an invisible steel battering ram. However, if they managed to survive the charge, the two long blades that extended out to either side of Mach's body, provided by Vector, would have hopefully cleaved the viruses in to pieces with the ease of a wire through clay.

MachMan didn't even look back as he started to slow down, and continued to close the distance between him and the BigHats ahead. He was still moving at a decent clip as a pair of cylinders materialized in his hands. They were polished silver, but the ends were rounded off like a capsule. Ringing both ends were four glowing squares of light. These capsules could be held in Mach's hands easily without trouble, but they would be hard to hold firmly if they were any wider. He skimmed over the glass panels and adjusted his approach to try and line the viruses directly in front of him.

As soon as he deemed himself to be in the correct position, he chucked both capsules forward as if attempting to make them roll across the ground towards the viruses. His chest thrusters burned brightly and helped him slow down very quickly while the cylinders were still in the air. As they rolled in the air, the lights lining them became even brighter before they literally exploded like flares, howling and burning brightly as they started spinning faster and actually accelerated. As soon as they hit the ground, the midsections of each capsule began to rupture, spraying fuel all over the place, which was ignited by the burning flares that continued to propel the capsules forward. These deceptively dangerous little capsules proceeded to rip a wide swath of the battlefield away in an unholy spray of fire and shattered glass.

The glass was hurled in nearly every direction as the panels were laid waste to the flame-spewing capsules, creating a spray of shards that flickered in the orange light of the explosion. Though they looked like harmless sparks, being inside of that explosion would have likely felt like being in a storm of flaming razorblades.

When the capsules finally ran out of fuel and the flames died down, one could see MachMan floating motionless in the air several feet behind the shattered glass panels. His right arm was covered with oversized armored plates from the tips of his fingers up to his shoulder, and was drawn back in preparation to unleash one hell of a haymaker on anything that attempts to fight back.


ACTIONS: ((Passive Haste, Accuracy Enhancement, and Decoy x2))
Vector: Act as MachMan's armor
1. Heavy Shielding: MachMan.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
-[Reinforce: Heavy Shielding (+2 hits)]-
2. Bubble-V: Fishy2A,B (80dmg Aqua + Spread2)
3. DashAttack: Fishy2A,B (90dmg Null + Impact)
Vector: Attack Fishy2A (35dmg Aqua)
Vector: Attack Fishy2B (35dmg Aqua)
4. Strategic Movement: Close in and line up BigHat2 group
5. Flameline2: BigHat2A,B (120dmg Fire + Ground Attack + Wide Attack) [+ glass 'splosion]
6. Counter1: MachMan.EXE (1-hit I-Field) + (Counter(70dmg Null + Impact + Break): On-Hit)[blocks debuffs]

DecoyA: Offline
DecoyB: Offline
Cooldowns

Heavy Shielding: 3 turns remaining

As MachMan buckled up with his defense systems, the BigHats did as he expected; some round bombs ended up on the field not a few moments later. First up, MachMan sent a single round at the Fishy, which managed to hit one of them in a cascade of pressurized water, instantly making its weakness relevant and deleting it. The other started to charge at the same time MachMan started up his thrusters. The Fishy attempted to smack into MachMan head-on, but got deflected by the shockwave his attack produced, causing it to suffer damage instead! In addition to that, Vector's additional help with some very sharp-looking blades dealt even more damage to it, enough to leave it in half on the glass battlefield.

The BigHats started to try and run as they were pursued by MachMan, who was closing in on them. With some fuel-filled cylinders in his hands, the flying warrior let it burn, dealing massive damage to them with the fire that ensued, in addition to the glass shards. He put up some extra protection, but it was really unneeded, as all the BigHats did in response was fall into the hole made by the explosion.

BigHat2A: 30 HP (Fallen, Broken) (1 movement away from melee range)
BigHat2B: 20 HP (Fallen, Broken) (1 movement away from melee range)
Fishy2A: DELETED
Fishy2B: DELETED

FlashBomb A: 60 HP [Detonating at end of turn]
FlashBomb B: 60 HP [Detonating at end of turn]

Terrain: 80% Glass, 20% Broken

MachMan.EXE: 200 HP [Equip: Vector (Armor) / Counter1 / Reinforced Shield 7/8]
Vector.SP: 110 HP
MachMan was surprised by the resiliency of the viruses, but they were now in a very precarious situation, stuck in the hole where the glass terrain used to be. He touched down on the ledge of remaining glass panels, temporarily focusing on the viruses below. His eye then swept from side to side, pausing briefly as he identified the two glowing flashbombs left on the field. They seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter, and would go off soon.
Hm... Send me a Magbomb and AirRaid, please.
[[i]On their way![/i]]

Aera tapped both requested chips with two fingers, and with a flick of her fingers, the chips were uploaded to Mach's program. He looked down at his bulked up arm, and watched as data started flake away, and split off into two directions and congregate; one in the palm of his hand, and the other just off to his side. The data in his hand quickly reformed into a softball-sized orb, with four gold rods protruding from it. The data next to him took a more advanced shape, turning into an armored, miniature version of the MachFighter. It was of a simpler design, and had a pair of tri-barreled vulcans in pods imbedded in the forward-swept wings, and only a single engine.

Without saying a word, Mach's single glowing eye looked over at the mini fighter, and glowed brightly for a few moments. The aircraft's cockpit emitted a similar glow in response, affirming the orders given to it before its engine kicked on and sent it off in a banking right turn over the broken terrain. Mach's eye tracked the fighter as it banked away towards the pair of FlashBombs, but then he refocused on the viruses below him. Mach gripped the Magbomb lightly before he made a simple under-hand toss into the hole towards the viruses.

The bomb shattered as it hit the floor of the hole, causing little charges to go off and spreading a semi transparent blue gel over the area, bracketed by the gold rod dynamos. They almost immediately buzzed and sparked, sending a wave of electrical current through the conductive, wire-laced gel. In a flash, the entire area that got "slimed" was hit with a painful pulse of electricity, which would have hopefully brought an end to the BigHats' existance.

Off in the distance, the FighterPlane leveled out as it began its strafing run. Its vulcans made a sharp growling sound as it spewed bullets towards the first flash bomb, kicking up shards of glass and sparks from the bullets fragmenting. The plane then broke hard right, making a sharp turn to get in line with the other FlashBomb. In a similar fashion the FighterPlane brought its guns to bear, hopefully perforating the FlashBombs and fully eliminating all presence of the enemy.

ACTIONS:
1. Strategic Movement: Move to the edge of the remaining glass panels, closer to the BigHats
2. AirRaid2: Summon 100HP FighterPlane
3. Magbomb1: BigHat2A,B (30dmg Elec Blast2 + Stun)
-[FighterPlane: Attack FlashBombA (10dmg x7) and FlashBombB (10dmg x8)]-
4. Dive into hole if FlashBombs aren't destroyed (to shield from flash)
5. Reserved for Dodging
6. Reserved for Dodging

DecoyA: Offline
DecoyB: Offline
Cooldowns

Heavy Shielding: 2 turns remaining
Shit's dead, yo.

BigHat2A: DELETED
BigHat2B: DELETED
Fishy2A: DELETED
Fishy2B: DELETED

FlashBomb A: Defused
FlashBomb B: Defused

Terrain: 80% Glass, 20% Broken

MachMan.EXE: 200 HP [Equip: Vector (Armor) / Counter1 / Reinforced Shield 7/8]
Vector.SP: 110 HP

-- ROGUE BATTLE 01, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

3400z, 34 BugFrags
MachMan's eye swept to the side and watched as the FighterPlane flew past as it fragmented into nothing, then down to the data floating up towards him, carried by a few of Vector's armored plates. He reached out and retrieved the zenny and bugfrags, and they were either absorbed by Vector, or transmitted back into the pet.
Alright, moving on.

He took a step forward and into the hole just as his thrusters started to kick on, and he took another step as if he was walking on an invisible floor before he took off.

((Ready for Battle #2))
Moving further into the network, MachMan stumbled upon a large area that immediately went dark. However, as soon as he approached it, large amounts of light peppered his sight from left and right, revealing the area to be a disco! There were some viruses shakin' it to the beat, too. Well, at least, the ones that could move.

-- ENEMIES --
Twinner A: 150 HP [Holy]
Twinner B: 150 HP [Solar]
ElecMech A: 200 HP [Solar]
ElecMech B: 200 HP [Holy]
CanDevil2 A: 180 HP [Holy]
CanDevil2 B: 180 HP [Holy]

-- OBJECTS --
Disco Ball: 200 HP (Suspended above viruses)
Candle A: 90 HP [Solar]
Candle B: 90 HP [Solar]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 200 HP [Holy]
Vector.SP: 110 HP [Holy]

-- TERRAIN --
100% Disco (Alternating checkerboard style of 50% Holy/50% Solar)

-- ROGUE BATTLE 02, READY? START!! --
Mach began to slow down as he approached the darkened area, so devoid of light that the dark blue plates covering his body started to blend into the shadows; almost nothing to be seen save his glowing crimson eye. He stopped, his feet clicking against the floor as he touched down, and his eye moved from one side to the other, sweeping the area in front of him. With a silent queue, two more glowing eyes appeared at his sides, prompting the rest of his body doubles to materialize next to him. While his decoys activated, he also raised his nearly transparent blue energy shield, and Vector dutifully sent several of his body plates out to further reinforce the shield with orbiting slivers of metal.

It was then the area started to light up, the tiles glowed in a checkerboard pattern, and specks of light scattered about, coming from a large disco-ball somehow suspended over the network floor. Mach's glowing eye nearly instantly constricted from the introduction of the flashing lights, to keep the Navi from being temporarily blinded. Several red arrow-like prompts flashed in Mach's vision, and as his eyes moved in the direction of these arrows, his eyes fell upon several viruses ahead.
Aera, Bubble-V and Blizzard, please.

Aera, watching "overhead" from her command console, was slightly dazzled by the light display, but instinctively complied with Mach's request, sending the two Aqua chips to him with a quick movement of her hand. Mach's buster was already raised before the chip data was uploaded, waiting for the pressurized water bullet to materialize in the chamber of his weapon. He took that moment of downtime to pick out his targets, the fiery CanDevils, and aimed towards an area on the floor where the V-shaped spread of the Bubble-V chip would pelt both viruses with a wave of water.

Aera watched as a red silhouette of Mach's buster flashed before turning green, indicating it was now loaded. As soon as she saw the icon change colors, she heard the *bang* of Mach's buster. There was little to no muzzle flash, allowing Mach to easily see the spiraling, double-helix vapor trail behind the round as it zipped towards the Solar Panel adjacent to the two Holy Panels upon which the CanDevils stood. The round shattered and exploded with a spray of water, hopefully dousing the viruses with its piercing spray.

The flaming viruses would find no mercy from MachMan; his decoys took off, crossing in front of him and advanced mere moments before Mach himself rocketed forward, dashing from side to side, zig-zagging towards the viruses at a blurring pace. In less than a couple seconds, Mach was now in front of them, his eye glowing brightly as his frost-covered hand snapped open and shattered the thin layer of ice that covered his fist. The viruses would have likely seen a pair of dagger-like metal plates floating on either side of his forearm just before a howling torrent of ice and super-cooled data burst forth from his hand.

While Mach was busy inundating his foes with a blizzard, his Decoys, busters drawn, skirted over the disco floor and advanced aggressively upon the viruses. One of his decoys approached one of the cycloptic ElecMechs, "firing" its buster at it as it strafed by. The other engaged the Twinners, trying to split their orbit and weaved between them, busters firing.

Mach's attack soon died off, still leaving a cloud of frosty air in front of him. Regardless, he blasted forward, parting the frigid air in front of him and zipped towards the ElecMechs.
RageClaw.

Aera quickly sent the requested chip to the speeding Navi, prompting the fingers of his right hand to elongate and flatten out, creating a wickedly sharpened set of claws. Mach kept his eye on his target and tried to keep his movements quick and precise, to put him in a path that would pass the virus on his left side. He already knew where his other target was located, and already planned out the degree of rotation for his upcoming maneuver. If all went well, he would turn his upper body to the left just as he's about to pass by, delivering a low, under-handed stab with his claws into the virus. He would then try to hold onto the mech as he started to rotate his entire body to the left, ripping the virus from the ground and over Mach's head, stopping his rotation so he could then hurl the virus towards its counterpart. He hoped to use his own momentum to add to the force of his throw, and deliver a crushing blow to the ElecMechs.

After throwing the virus, a single sliver of Vector's armor whipped from Mach's arm, using the momentum to send itself hurtling towards the standing ElecMech. Mach knew he still had a long way to go, but hopefully his attack would have helped whittle down the competition.


ACTIONS:
1. Heavy Shielding: MachMan.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
-[Reinforce Heavy Shielding (+2 hits)]-
2. Bubble-V: CanDevil2 A, B (80dmg Aqua + Spread-V)
3. Dodge
4. Blizzard: CanDevil2 A,B (100dmg Aqua + Ice Panel Change + Cone Attack)
Vector: Attack CanDevil2 A (35dmg Aqua)
Vector: Attack CanDevil2 B (35dmg Aqua)
5. Strategic Movement: Move into melee range of ElecMechB
6. RageClaw3: ElecMechB to ElecMechA (50dmg + Impact)
Vector: Attack ElecMechA (35dmg Aqua)

DecoyA: Cross in front of MachMan then "attack" ElecMechA
DecoyB: Cross in front of MachMan then "attack" TwinnerA
While MachMan's decoys were successfully distracting the viruses, the navi himself approached the CanDevils with flurry of aqua attacks. The Bubble-V landed on a single virus and successfully doused both of the candles behind them. The Blizzard attack, however, wasn't as successful as it only landed on the other Candevil, leaving both viruses alive and well thanks to the holy panel they stood on. The two Candevils began to spew out fires at the enemy that was in front of them, but it was all ignored thanks to the navi's shield.

After wasting their time dealing with the decoys, the rest of the viruses turned their focus on the real navi. The Twinner's double-shot was met with MachMan's shield, but the tricky electric sphere fired by the ElecMech was a hit, sneaking behind the navi and hitting him with a minor, yet effective electric shock. Fortunately, the ElecMechs were too tired to follow up with their attack...

Oh, and the little Mecha-hurling MachMan performed was a great success!

-- ENEMIES --
Twinner A: 150 HP [Holy]
Twinner B: 150 HP [Solar]
ElecMech A: 115 HP [Solar]
ElecMech B: 150 HP [Holy]
CanDevil2 A: 45 HP [Holy]
CanDevil2 B: 65 HP [Holy]

-- OBJECTS --
Disco Ball: 200 HP (Suspended above viruses)
Candle A: DESTROYED
Candle B: DESTROYED

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 193 HP [Holy] [4-hit Shield] [Stun!]
Vector.SP: 110 HP [Holy]

-- TERRAIN --
85% Disco (Alternating checkerboard style of 50% Holy/50% Solar)
15% Ice
MachMan quickly realized his plan was unraveling as his first few attacks went way off target, and didn't even manage to take down even one of the CanDevils. Even though he did manage to toss an ElecMech into the other, one of them managed to tag him with some ball lightning, causing his motor programs to seize up. Now in the middle of the viruses, he had to pull back and regroup, lest he be torn apart by the viruses that surrounded him. As soon as his programming became responsive, the thrusters on his chest and boots howled as they propelled him up into the air. He skirted away from Disco ball as he retreated, and slipped in behind it to hopefully put the large mirrored orb between the viruses and him.

His decoys remained on the battlefield and darted amongst the viruses. Though they were "attacking" the viruses, it was doubtful the virus wouldn't notice they weren't actually getting hit by anything. MachMan, nearly pressed up against the faceted surface of the disco ball, gave orders to his SPs.
Aera, I'll need a Magnum chip. Vector, try to have some of your blades follow the decoys, and attack the viruses as the decoys do so. Can you do that?
It shall be done, sire.

As soon as Vector acknowledged Mach's request, a pair of small knife-like blades fell from Mach's armored body and silently tumbled through the air before zipping off in different directions to follow the decoys. In the meantime, Aera uploaded the Magnum chip, causing a large triple-barreled cannon to materialize over Mach's right arm. Mach moved back to accommodate the large weapon, and faced the disco ball as it quickly formed. Three high explosive artillery rounds were loaded into each of the three rifled barrels, and the slides slid forward with a metallic clank as they were chambered. Though he didn't have a clear view of the viruses, his enhanced targeting software could identify the viruses through the shimmering disco ball, showing up as green targeting boxes with small text labeling each of the viruses. At the same time, a trio of crosshairs flashed in his vision, and he started to move them over the CanDevils and one of the Twinner viruses.

He could also see a pair of blue markers smoothly gliding along, indicating the locations of his decoys. He could watch the decoys spiral around their targets, acting very aggressive in their attempt to draw fire. Vector's metal plates followed closely behind the decoys, waiting for a chance to strike. One of the decoys raised its buster towards one of the ElecMechs, prompting Vector to launch the sliver of metal straight towards it, hoping to lodge it in the middle of the virus's single lens-like eye. The other decoy engaged one of the Twinners as well, with Vector following up with a similar bladed attack.

Hopefully shielded from enemy fire, Mach carefully locked in his targets, the crosshairs changing shape and glowing red as they stopped over his intended targets. Ready to attack, MachMan raised his massive cannon and pointed it towards the ground, even though the disco ball was in the way.

When he was up there, he also noticed the ball was suspended above the ground, so if the connection point and/or the tether were to be severed, he could literally bring the party crashing down. Mach whipped his left arm towards the tether, his hand and forearm quickly changing into his buster. He took careful aim before firing a single shot, the muzzle flash reflecting off the mirrored surface of the ball. With any luck, the disco ball would have started to fall, revealing the floating MachMan with weapon at the ready. As soon as he got a clear line of fire, he fired the first powerful artillery shell at one of the CanDevils with a loud boom. The recoil was dampened slightly by the entire barrel assembly sliding back upon firing, allowing Mach to reset his aim and fire again, this time at the other CanDevil. The artillery rounds created some rather impressive explosions as they hit, powerful enough to damage the terrain and hopefully knock out some of the viruses.

After firing his third shot at the Twinner, Vector followed up with an attack to the more resilient of the two CanDevils, using a long, spear-like assembly of metal plates that hurtled to the ground and whistled like an arrow. Though Mach was now exposed, he was facing directly towards the viruses, and the chances of them getting behind him was rather low, and hopefully his barrage had taken out at least one of the viruses below.


ACTIONS: -[Passive Accuracy Enhancement, Haste, Decoy x2]-

1. Stun
2. Strategic Movement: Retreat above the large disco ball
3. Charge Magnum
Vector: Attack ElecMechB (35dmg Aqua)
4. Charge Magnum
Vector: Attack TwinnerA (35dmg Aqua)
5. Use buster to destroy the tether keeping the Disco Ball aloft
6. Magnum1: TwinnerA, CanDevil2 A, B (120dmg Fire + Break + Panel Break)
Vector: Attack CanDevil2 B (35dmg Aqua)


DecoyA: Engage ElecMechB, and use Vector's attack to fool the virus into thinking it's actually a threat

DecoyB: Engage TwinnerA, and use Vector's attack to fool the virus into thinking it's actually a threat
The paralyzed MachMan was met with the ElecMech's speedy approach as the virus swung its sword against the navi. Thankfully, the shield was able to deflect all of it and gave MachMan the chance to slip away ontop of the disco ball. The decoys had a lesser effect to the virus this time, as they were able to notice the difference between the real and the fake...after wasting their actions hitting a blank. Vector was able to get free hits thanks to the distraction, and MachMan had plenty of time to prepare his Magnum and for his flashy entrance.

Dropping the disco ball down from the ceiling, it shattered into bits and pieces. It didn't hurt anyone, but it did change the terrain's layout completely as the flashy floors simply returned back to normal! No ball? No Disco!

MachMan's Magnum went full blaze as the two CanDevils were shot down immediately, along with the Twinner virus, but it attracted the rest of the viruses' attention. The last remaining Twinner fired its energy pellet, but it was met with the navi's shield once more. But once again, the ElecMech's sneaky elec-ball seemed to have its way of being attracted to the speedy navi, shocking MachMan once more!

To make things worse, the Twinner that was destroyed by the Magnum rose from the dead, appearing beside its sibling as it stared at the navi with their haunting eyes...

-- ENEMIES --
Twinner A: 150 HP [Revived!]
Twinner B: 150 HP
ElecMech A: 150 HP
ElecMech B: 98 HP
CanDevil2 A: DELETED
CanDevil2 B: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
Disco Ball: SHATTERED
Candle A: DESTROYED
Candle B: DESTROYED

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [1-hit Shield] [Stun!]
Vector.SP: 110 HP

-- TERRAIN --
75% Normal
10% Ice
15% Broken
Mach was starting to get annoyed by the constant stunning he was receiving from those ElecMechs, but he was planning to silence them both soon enough. His vision flickered, but he noticed the viruses didn't seem to pay attention to the decoys below. He deactivated them as his motor programs restarted and he regained control of his limbs.
Aera, send me a TankCannon, SummonBlack, Burner, and BambooSword. Time to finish this.

Aera, who was getting slightly worried by the hits Mach was taking, quickly brushed her fingers over the requested chips, anchoring one to each of her fingers before moving them over the upload area. They disappeared and the battlechip data was transferred to Mach. He raised his right arm as a large smooth-bore cannon materialized over his arm, locking his entire arm in place. The cannon was partially covered by Vector's armored plates, but they started to flake off and orbited Mach's body, replacing the severely weakened energy shield that once protected Mach. Though this cloud of protection wasn't as easy to see through, Mach's enhanced perception allowed him to peer through the armor and see his opponents below.

With the cannon finally formed, complete with a left-facing breech and an angled flash suppressor over the tip of the large barrel. He aimed the hefty weapon towards the ground, right at the center point where the Twinner Viruses orbited. The high-explosive round loaded in the chamber would make quick work of the viruses if they were caught in the explosion, but Mach had a backup if one or both survived. He fired the cannon with a loud boom and a surprisingly faint flash of light, and the barrel jerked back in its housing as a large brass casing ejected from the breech and tumbled towards the ground.

The casing clanged off the ground and bounced several times, ringing in the arrival of something much more dangerous than a shell. In the broken panel ahead of the shell casing, an angular, pitch black shadow rose from the void below. Several glowing red lines traced up its body, and spun together to create an 'eye' in the center of its body, and traced the outline of the wickedly curved blade over its right hand. It looked over at the explosion that rocked the area and the Twinners if they managed to survive. In a blur of movement, the shadow disappeared, only to reappear in front of the Twinners and deliver a wide horizontal slash towards the viruses, tracing a pitch black arc in the air and hopefully slicing the viruses asunder.

As if on cue, the shadow was bathed in an orange-red light dramatically as it slashed, heralding in its kill. However, it was just a coincidence, what actually happened was while the shadow was being summoned and blinked towards the Twinners, Mach's body flashed and disappeared from inside Vector's armor, before quickly materializing between the ElecMechs. The battlechip data, feeding the heat caused by the sheer wind friction from moving so quickly caused the air around MachMan to explode in a billowing pillar of flame. The tower of flame continued to twist like a cyclone, scorching the area for several seconds before it started to die down.

The flames started to flicker out, revealing MachMan inside. His body was untouched by the flames, his orange body suit and blue armor shined brightly in the light, almost as bright as the green-tinged teal energy blade in his right hand. Mach's sapphire blue eyes, trimmed in orange, glared at the ElecMechs that were annoying him throughout the entire battle. It was time to finish them off for good. A faint whistling sound could be heard overhead before a pair of metal shards whipped down towards the ElecMechs, hopefully slashing deep gouges in their armor, and prompting Mach to dash forward, blade at the ready.

The thrusters on his circular wing structures chirped as they sent him rocketing forward. He brought the over his left shoulder as he got closer and then delivered a very wide horizontal slash towards the ElecMechs. The movement he made was not unlike the shadow he summoned, and created a similarly shaped arc of energy in the air as he tried to cleave the viruses in two and finally finish this surprisingly difficult battle.



ACTIONS: -[Passive Accuracy Enhancement, Haste, Decoy x2]-
Vector: Orbital Blade Defense System to MachMan.EXE ((Deactivates Heavy Shielding)) (2-hit Shield)
-[Reinforce OBDS (+2 hits)]-
1. Stunned
2. TankCannon3: Twinner A,B (160dmg Null Blast2)
3. SummonBlack: Twinner A,B (160dmg + Slashing + Wide Attack)
4. SCRAM Boost: Teleport between the ElecMech viruses (Teleport + 2TCD)
5. Burner: MachMan.EXE (130dmg Fire Nova2)
Vector: Attack ElecMech A (35dmg Aqua[/color)
[color=006666]Vector
: Attack ElecMech B (35dmg Aqua[/color)
6. BambooSword: ElecMech A,B (80dmg [color=green]Wood
Slashing + Wide Attack)

DecoyA: Inactive
DecoyB: Inactive
The impressive cannon blast didn't do much to kill the Twinner viruses as they leapt away with much haste. The attack after that did, however, as they failed to realize the Nightmare summoned behind them, and were sliced up! After that, the ElecMechs were similarly flanked by a surprise MachMan explosion, toasting them in a nice fiery cyclone. Vector's attack had already executed them, but Mach wasn't ready to give up being absolutely sure about his kill, and sliced up the remaining parts of the mechs.

-- ENEMIES --
Twinner A: DELETED
Twinner B: DELETED
ElecMech A: DELETED
ElecMech B: DELETED
CanDevil2 A: DELETED
CanDevil2 B: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
Disco Ball: SHATTERED
Candle A: DESTROYED
Candle B: DESTROYED

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [4-hit Shield] [Stun!]
Vector.SP: 110 HP

-- TERRAIN --
75% Normal
10% Ice
15% Broken

-- ROGUE BATTLE 02, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

4800z, 54 BugFrags
With the field finally cleared of all viral activity, MachMan deactivated his sword, and Vector descended down upon him to armor him up once again. As he did so, parts of his armor swept over the field, gathering up bugfrags and zenny that were left over from their former foes.
Thanks for the support, Aera. How's Mazer doing?

Aera turned up the sensitivity of the PET's microphone, enough so she could hear Mazer's faint snoring from his bed. Aera smiled and put the mic on default sensitivity and reported to Mach.
[[i]He's sound asleep. Want to go further?[/i]]
I'm still in good shape, let's continue.

With that, Mach started to float above the ground before leaning forward slightly, sending him gliding forward and deeper into the network.

((Ready for Battle #3))
Going on through the treacherous NetVegas network of surprises, Mach and his trusty armor went to find more viruses to clean up. With the Rogue network being a much more shadowy place than its normal counterpart, Mach soon found himself surrounded by darkness once again. A light source entered his line of sight, which revealed itself to be a pool of lava, surrounded by viruses. In the middle of the lava, a Volcaner stood still, feeding off the lava deposit around it, with a precariously-placed Mystery Data right above it! Two varieties of viruses were circling around it, with some torches around them for illumination. Noticing Mach approaching their location, they turned hostile against him!

-- ENEMIES --
Momogro A: 130 HP
Momogro B: 130 HP
Momogro C: 130 HP
Slimer A: 150 HP
Slimer B: 150 HP
Slimer C: 150 HP
Volcaner: 150 HP [Lava]

-- OBJECTS --
Tiki Torch A: 100 HP
Tiki Torch B: 100 HP
Tiki Torch C: 100 HP
Tiki Torch D: 100 HP

Mystery Data: 35 HP [Above Volcaner]

-- ALLIES -- [Slimer Slowed! -10% Move/Dodge]
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP
Vector.SP: 110 HP

-- TERRAIN --
30% Lava (Surrounding Volcaner)
70% Normal

-- ROGUE BATTLE 03, READY? START!! --
MachMan continued forward into the oddly dreary and dark network, before a single point of light caught his attention. Like a moth to the flame, he approached, but quickly detected the viruses surrounding the glowing lava which emitted the seemingly inviting light. Mach started to sway from side to side, making his path weave through the network as he approached, occasionally letting his armored feet to touch the ground and kick up sparks.
Requesting Boomerang
Right away!

As soon as Aera went quiet, a wickedly curved serrated boomerang materialized in Mach's right hand. Mach's eye glowed brightly, illuminating the segmented slivers of armor covering his body, all the while drawing attention away from the two decoy drones that followed close behind; their holo-projectors were dark as they followed behind their master. Mach angled his upper body to put his left shoulder pointing almost directly forward, and brought his right arm and cocked it back in preparation to throw the boomerang in his hand. With one quick blur of movement, he hurled the boomerang forward, sending it buzzing like an angered hornet towards the viruses surrounding the Volcaner and the Mystery Data. The boomerang's shape caused it to take a circular path, but Mach would not be there to catch it upon it's return.

As soon as he threw the boomerang, Vector could 'see' the areas of Mach's exposed body disappear in a quick flash of light, before almost immediately seeing another flash of cyan straight ahead before he saw Mach's decoys activate and cross in front of the SP before arcing around the viral group in opposite directions. MachMan had rematerialized directly above the Volcaner, and within arms reach of the Mystery Data. He quickly wrapped his left arm around the glowing data, cradling it like a football. His right hand was grasping the trigger assembly of the already spinning vulcan mounted under his forearm. As soon as he took hold of the Mystery Data, his wings flipped to point their thrusters straight down. The wail of the thrusters firing were only heard for a split second before they were drowned out by the roar of his vulcan spewing 30mm armor-piercing shells down at the virus.

Mach quickly rose higher and higher into the air, still raining death down on the viruses, but it felt as if his movements were sluggish, somehow... As he continued to climb and expending his rapidly depleting ammunition, Vector reformed into his default form, save for the 3-foot long blade that protruded from his right arm. He swung the blade in a wide arc in front of him, causing a trio of sharp slivers of metal to shear off and whip towards the gelatinous viruses on the field.

MachMan's vulcan went silent after several seconds, but he was already a good distance above the battlefield. His right arm was still facing the ground, using his own body to shield the Mystery Data, though there wasn't much the viruses could do against a target that far up. It was the perfect opportunity for him to initiate an aerial bombardment, all he needed were weapons to deploy.
Aera, send me a TankCannon and AirRaid, please.

Aera quickly put her middle and index fingers over the two chips and slid them across the battlechip screen towards the upload area, and they disappeared as the data was sent directly to her Navi. Instead of the vulcan disappearing, it merely swung around his arm, resting on top of his forearm before the entire weapon fragmented and reformed in to a single-barreled smooth bore cannon. Mach's orange-tinged eyes glared down at the battlefield, and he quickly identified his target. A targeting display glowed in his field of vision, indicating where he was aiming his cannon, and where the round would go. Like an integrated targeting laser, he could very easily aim his weapon without any sort of physical sights, yet to anyone else it looks like he's just hip-shooting with incredible accuracy. He 'painted' the head of one of the MomoGros, which he was almost directly above, and fired the large cannon with a rumbling boom. A brass shell casing tumbled from the ejection port on the cannon's left side and hurtled to the ground while the cannon itself disappeared.

A smaller, gunship-esque version of the MachFighter loaded up beside MachMan, its small cockpit flashing in acknowledgment of its orders before its single jet engine burned brightly and sent it in a very steep AOE (angle of attack) strafing run. The vulcans integrated into its wings opened up on the 2nd MomoGro, inundating it with bullets and hopefully bringing the virus down even as it was partially protected by its foxhole.


ACTIONS:
1. Boomerang3: Slimer A,B,C (120dmg Wood Group Attack [Arc])
2. SCRAM Boost: Teleport above Mystery Data
3. Grab hold of Mystery Data
4. Rising Barrage: Volcaner (50dmg x4 + Multi-hit + Breaking + Seeking + Impact + Knockback + Movement + BusterLock + 8TCD)
-[Move into High Altitude]-
Vector:Attack Slimer A (35dmg Aqua)
Vector:Attack Slimer B (35dmg Aqua)
Vector:Attack Slimer C (35dmg Aqua)
5. TankCannon: MomoGro A (160dmg Null)
6. AirRaid2: Summon 100HP FighterPlane
FighterPlane: Attack MomoGro B (10dmg x 15 Null)

DecoyA: Circle the viruses clockwise
DecoyB: Circle the viruses counter-clockwise
A deadly boomerang formed itself in Mach's hand as soon as he saw the viruses, which he swung perfectly in the Slimers' direction, nearly bisecting all of them in the process. Shortly after, a roar of gunshots could be heard as Mach blinked over to the Volcaner, executing it before it had a chance to retaliate. Vector took the chance to delete the Slimers as well, whipping three small blades that pierced the jelly viruses like... jelly. Derp.

Anyway, the decoys Mach sent out weren't quite effective, with the Momogro targeting Vector as their primary target instead! Two solid whacks of a shovel scattered Vector's pieces slightly, dealing quite a bit of damage to him. (45x2) Mach summoned up some solid artillery support to retaliate, but the mole viruses were incredibly nimble, popping about on the battlefield and evading most of the attacks.

-- ENEMIES --
Momogro A: 130 HP
Momogro B: 70 HP
Momogro C: 130 HP
Slimer A: DELETED
Slimer B: DELETED
Slimer C: DELETED
Volcaner: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
Tiki Torch A: 100 HP
Tiki Torch B: 100 HP
Tiki Torch C: 100 HP
Tiki Torch D: 100 HP

Mystery Data: 35 HP [MachMan]
AirRaid2: 100 HP [High Alt]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [High Alt]
Vector.SP: 20 HP

-- TERRAIN --
30% Lava (Surrounding Volcaner's former area)
70% Normal
Mach winced as Vector almost immediately was targeted by the Momogro's, bashing him in the back with their shovels. A costly mistake, since Aera was no longer there to help treat their wounds. However, he was able to see how they functioned; they would duck down into their holes and emerge behind their target before striking. With that information, Mach revised his plan.
Aera, send the Counter chip, but re-route to Vector. All I'll need is the Flameline, RiskyHoney, and CannonBall. Vector, attack the weaker Momogro and let it try to strike you once you have the Counter chip active, then armor yourself up as best you can!
It will be done!

Aera touched the Counter chip icon on her screen, pulling up a small pop-up menu, and added a reroute command, so it would transfer through MachMan to Vector, allowing him to use the chip's power. She sent the chip to Mach quickly, before she started to upload the others. Mach pointed his right hand towards Vector, just as a stream of data shot forth from his palm, and phased into Vector's body. It activated as soon as it integrated with the SP, causing the armored plates making up his right arm to become much larger and heavier than before, changing his sleek, blade-like arm into something that looked like a giant mace. Though it looked rather unweildy, Vector didn't notice any sort of difficulty in shifting the weapon around. He looked forward towards the Momogros before flinging a single dagger-like sliver of armor towards the damaged one, hoping to have it dive down into its hole and attempt to strike him again. This time, he was more than ready to counter with a crushing pillar of metal. To further protect himself, more metal plates materialized around him, creating a cloud of shimmering blades around his body. Even if they managed to get past his Mace, their shovels would find themselves parried by the swarm of armor around the SP.

While Vector attempted to bait the virus into attacking him, Mach started to drop out of the sky and zoomed towards the ground. He still cradled the mystery data in his hand, but in the other he held a silver capsule-like object, ringed with glowing red nozzles. As he came in towards the viruses, he tossed the capsule with an underhanded throw, causing the nozzles to light up and send it rolling towards the viruses. The capsule ruptured as soon as it touched down, spraying fuel everywhere, which was ignited and rolled out a burning carpet of flames, hopefully scorching the viruses ahead. However, Mach knew it wouldn't be that easy, and primed his engines. He noticed he wasn't moving as sluggishly as before, and was just waiting for even the slightest noise or vibration, which would have triggered him to dart forward at an alarming speed before turning around to face his attackers.

Still above the battlefield, the miniature MachFighter loitered until commanded by MachMan to dive down and open up with its integrated vulcans on the Momogros as they attempted to attack Mach. With the Navi dashing forward, he would have hopefully been out of the line of fire of the FighterPlane, and allowing it to perforate one of the viruses with a hail of bullets. While the FighterPlane engaged one of the Momogros, Mach raised his other hand towards the second (hopefully attacking) Momogro, his forearm quickly changing into a heavy buster. Loaded inside was a very heavy cannonball, and though it wouldn't be as accurate as a bullet, it had more than enough crushing power to pulverize the virus. He aimed the weapon right between the Virus's eyes and fired the buster with a loud boom and a puff of white smoke. Behind the smoke a honeycomb-like structure started to form over Mach's arm, replacing the buster. The entire thing was buzzing with activity, and housed small yet vicious hornet programs, which would defend their 'nest' at the drop of a hat, or shovel in this case.


ACTIONS:
1. Transfer Counter1 to Vector.SP
Vector: Counter1 ((1-hit I-Field)+(70dmg Counter + Break + Impact)On hit)
Vector: Attack MomogroB (35dmg Aqua)
2. Strategic Movement: Swoop back down to the field
Vector: O.B.D.S. (2-hit shield + 1TCD)
-[Reinforce O.B.D.S. (+2 hits)]-
3. FlameLine2: Momogro A,B,C (120dmg Fire + Ground Attack + Wide Attack)
4. Dodge
FighterPlane: Attack Momogro A (10dmg Null x15)
5. CannonBall: Momogro C (150dmg Null + Break)
6. RiskyHoney1: MachMan.EXE (1-hit Wood Element Shield) + (Reposte(5x10dmg Homing): On Hit)
With Vector now properly prepared for a smacking, he baited one of the Momogro towards him by way of a small dagger-like piece of his armor. Predictably, it dodged away, and went up to him for a counterattack, but received a giant mace in its face before it could do anything! MachMan zoomed down from the sky to assist his ally in need, and sent down some napalm in assistance. The burning fuel nearly melted away one of the mole viruses, but the other managed to get away. The FighterPlane then swooped in, and stole the kill. The remaining mole tried to get at Mach, but the speedy assault caused its shovel to miss by a mile. It would regret its decision dearly when its face would be crushed by the Cannonball.

-- ENEMIES --
Momogro A: DELETED
Momogro B: DELETED
Momogro C: DELETED
Slimer A: DELETED
Slimer B: DELETED
Slimer C: DELETED
Volcaner: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
Tiki Torch A: 100 HP
Tiki Torch B: 100 HP
Tiki Torch C: 100 HP
Tiki Torch D: 100 HP

Mystery Data: 35 HP [MachMan]
AirRaid2: 100 HP [High Alt]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [High Alt]
Vector.SP: 20 HP [4-hit shield]

-- TERRAIN --
30% Lava (Surrounding Volcaner's former area)
70% Normal

-- ROGUE BATTLE 03, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[MetaGel2] Battlechip, 5045z, 51 BugFrags

[Open GMD? Y/N]