Mach/Vector in NetVegas

The viruses' tactics were used against them and subsequently cleared from the battlefield, leaving Mach and Vector on the scorched ground. Vector retracted his floating metal plates to his body, and tried to recompose himself though his data was pretty damaged. Bugfrags started to flow into his body as he walked towards MachMan, while the Navi gathered up zenny data and a new battlechip from the remains of a Slimer virus.

The data disappeared soon after he held it in his hands, and was downloaded to the PET. Aera watched their zenny total swell, and a new chip showed up on her display. She slightly tilted her head curiously and looked at the chip perameters and smiled.
[[i]Ooh, Mach! This one looks powerful![/i]]
Alright, please put it in the chip folder, and I'll try it out next battle.

Aera nodded and started to look at his chip folder, but since it was full, she would have to move one of his current chips into his extra folder.
[[i]Um... what should I switch it out with?[/i]]

Mach furrowed his brow as he thought about it, but there were a few chips he hasn't used very often.
Hm... How about we swap out the Cornshot for it. I haven't used that one in a while, it's a bit weaker than the other chips.
[[i]Okay, I'll swap it out![/i]]

Mach gave Aera a thumbs up, before looking down at the GMD in his other hand. The mystery data managed to survive in his grasp, and hopefully it contained something to reward him for his efforts.
Let's see what's inside.

((Open GMD))
The mystery data revealed itself to contain...

[GMD: BigHammer2]
To his relief, the GMD did not explode, and instead folded away to reveal a battlechip. It was quickly uploaded to the PET, and appeared in front of Aera.
[[i]...wow...[/i]]

Mach wasn't expecting that reaction, and raised an eyebrow as he tried to ascertain the reason for said response.
What? Is there something odd about the battlechip?

Aera started to move the chip on her screen and sent it to the 'upload' area.
[[i]See for yourself, Mach. I think you'll like it.[/i]]

Mach held his hands out, not sure what to expect. A glowing line of data materialized above his hands, like a long handle and prompting him to grasp it. As he did so, the handle's appearance program came online, revealing the handle to be made of dull metal with some sort of wrapping around it for grip. Then Mach watched as a massive, rectangular warhammer head materialized on the right end of the handle. The weapon looked like it weighed a literal ton, but Mach could easily hold the weapon aloft with two hands.
... Wow is right... This thing could have smashed any of the viruses we've faced in a single blow.

Mach twisted the handle in his hands, causing the hammer to rotate before he brought the entire weapon over his head. He tried to swing it quickly, otherwise the weight of the hammer would have caused him to lose his balance or fall backwards. With one smooth swing, the hammer crashed down on the ground in front of him with massive force, causing the ground to jerk violently from the shockwaves from the impact. The hammer almost immediately started to fragment, too bad it wasn't a multi-use chip...

Mach chuckled as he started to float in the air, prompting Vector to do the same.
Now that is a brute force weapon. I bet I'll get plenty of use out of it. Let's find some viruses to test it on!
As you wish, sire.
[[i]Heehee~[/i]]

Mach started to make his way into the network, while Vector swarmed over the Navi's body, armoring him up once more.

((Ready for Battle #4))
A stroll further into the shadows of the NetVegas Rogue network led MachMan to an impressive-looking area, dotted with buildings. Of course, the area was abandoned, due to it being highly infested with viruses and whatnot. One building was so particularly huge, that MachMan didn't notice himself entering it until he saw a few floating chandeliers that illuminated the area.

What he had walked into was a gigantic main hall for a luxury hotel-like area, though obviously uninhabited. The decrepit state of the place was apparent when he saw the broken tiles of the flooring, scattered randomly about, plus spider webbing for effect. Further in, there was more sources of light, but this wasn't something to feel glad about. The light sources turned out to be Haunted Candles, accompanied by similarly spooky mates. Red Shadow viruses lurked in the far corners of the hall, while the Haunted Candles lined the right side of the hallway. Skeletal Skarabs completed the ensemble on the right, making for the perfect haunted hotel setting.

Amusingly, the way they were arranged, it would almost look like they were being welcomed into the hotel. There was even a large circular table in the middle of it, with a special complimentary gift: an open chest with a small green skull inside. What made it interesting was that the skull glowed with a very familiar emerald shine...

-- ENEMIES --
RedDevil A: 160 HP [Far left corner]
RedDevil B: 160 HP [Far right corner]
HauntedCandle2 A: 200 HP [Lined up on left]
HauntedCandle2 B: 200 HP
HauntedCandle2 C: 200 HP
Skarab2 A: 200 HP [Lined up on right]
Skarab2 B: 200 HP
Skarab2 C: 200 HP

-- OBJECTS --
Large Chandelier A: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier B: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier C: 200 HP [Flying]

Large Table: 150 HP [Middle]
Green Skull?: 40 HP [On Table]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP
Vector.SP: 20 HP

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal
20% Cracked
20% Broken

-- ROGUE BATTLE 04, READY? START!! --
Mach slowed down and started to walk cautiously as he found himself in a more urban area of the net. Everything was eerily still, but Mach continued to scan the area slowly as he wandered through the area. Though there were several buildings, the layout of the area was pretty confusing, as he found himself inside a massive building nearly without noticing. The only thing that tipped him off were several chandeliers floating in the air above him. The dimly lit derelict building looked like it used to be some sort of posh, luxurious hotel in its prime, though everything seemed to be worn out and covered in dust and cobwebs.

Mach continued through the building, his glowing red eye darting about and soaking in every detail as he subconsciously created a map of the room.
Hm, spooky. I wonder if Sylk is into places like these.
[[i]I don't think so, she has a great sense of style. Arachne maybe...[/i]]

Mach stopped for a moment, then nodded as he agreed with Aera's reasoning. Though Sylk was themed after a spider, and did have some arachnid tendencies, but she didn't seem to be one who liked old, dusty buildings. He started to continue forward, causing several tones to ping in his ears, and targeting brackets materialized in his vision, most of them centered around some glowing lights.
Good point. Hang on... viral signals ahead.

Vector's armor seemed to flex on Mach's body, angling itself slightly away from the viruses ahead, as if hoping to make himself best suited for having incoming attacks ricochet off the angled surface of his armor. As Mach got closer, he got a better look of the welcoming party ahead. There were a pair of crimson red Shadow-series viruses bracketing a trio of haunted candles on one side, and three skarabs on the other. In the center was a large circular table, and upon it sat an open chest, which contained a glowing green skull. Odd, yet strangely familiar...

Mach raised his energy shields, which were bolstered by several of Vector's body plates as the Navi requested battlechips to deal with these new opponents. Luck would have it he had the perfect chip to take out all of the candles at once, and decided it would be best to eliminate them right off the bat. The others would be more difficult to defeat, but he had the tools needed to reduce them to bits of fragmenting code.
Send me that new MetaGel chip, as well as BambooSword and Counter1. Vector, attack the closest Skarab once I activate the MetaGel.
Yes, sire!

Aera quickly loaded the requested chips to Mach, and the Navi quickly activated one of the rewards from his last battle. Illuminated by the eerie glow of the Candles' light, three gelatinous orbs of slime materialized above them and ballooned out to an impressive size. Without warning, they fell down from the ceiling, hitting the ground with a wet *splut* and hopefully snuffing out all three viruses at once. Vector took the opportunity to fire a trio of sharpened blades out from Mach's chest, which hurtled towards the bleached white Skarab virus closest to the large table.

Mach knew the counterattacks would fly after his first volley, but faced the viruses head on as his saber hilt formed in his hand. He watched the RedDevil viruses especially carefully, waiting for them to make their move, the greenish teal glow of the energy blade burning beside him shone off the polished metal plates covering his body. He knew they were coming, it was just a matter of when. He also knew the Skarabs would attack as well, but hopefully his shield would protect him as he waited for the shadowy viruses to blink out of sight and attack.

As soon as one or both of the RedDevils disappeared, Mach focused intensely on his immediate surroundings, waiting for even the slightest change of lighting or noise to tip him off of the viruses preparing their attacks. As soon as he saw, heard, or felt something, he dropped to the floor and held his blade at the ready. He then pushed off with his right foot as the thrusters on his right wing structure roared, causing him to rotate counter-clockwise very quickly. As he spun around, he started to stand and dragged the blade on a rising, spiraling path around him. Mach made two whole rotations and left a rather impressive spiral-shaped glowing energy trail behind his blade, before the glowing sword retreated into the hilt, and then the hilt itself faded into Mach's fist.

As soon as the blade was deactivated, Mach's decoys materialized at his sides and quickly powered up their holoprojectors to create the pair of Mach clones. They then dashed forward, moving side by side in unison before splitting off to either side in an attempt to draw fire away from Mach. Meanwhile, MachMan's right fist and arm had bulked up to nearly 3 times its normal size, covered from his shoulder to his fingertips in heavy armor. Mach looked down at his massive hand, before clenching it into a fist and swung it back, ready to deliver a crushing punch to anything that attempts to attack.

ACTIONS: -[Passive Accuracy Enhancement, Haste, and Decoy x2]-
1. Heavy Shielding: MachMan.EXE (6-hit shield + 3TCD)
-[Reinforce: Heavy Shielding (+2 Hits)]-
2. MetaGel2: HauntedCandle2 A,B,C (130dmg Aqua + Slow) x3 targets
Vector: Attack Skarab2 A (35dmg Aqua) x3
3. Dodge
4. BambooSword: RedDevil A,B (80dmg Wood Slashing)
5. BambooSword: RedDevil A,B (80dmg Wood Slashing)
6. Counter1: MachMan.EXE (1-Hit I-Field) + (Counter(70dmg Null + Impact + Break): On-Hit)[blocks debuffs]

DecoyA: Move forward before peeling off to the right, parallel to the line of viruses
DecoyB: Move forward before peeling off to the left, parallel to the line of viruses
Putting up his trusty shield, MachMan readied himself for an assault as he launched some Slimer viruses onto the HauntedCandles, snuffing them out in an instant. The Red Devils teleported up in front of and behind Mach, stabbing them with their immaterial bodies. However, he dodged them fairly easily, and countered them with a bunch of slashing and stuff. The Skarabs also joined in the fun, throwing in some whirling bones at him, but were collapsed to pieces when Vector attacked them with a few daggers.

One of the Devils had survived the sword-slicing earlier, and launched an extra attack at him, but he blocked and countered it. Unfortunately, his fist merely went through air; the counterattack was wasted.

-- ENEMIES --
RedDevil A: DELETED
RedDevil B: 80 HP [Far right corner]
HauntedCandle2 A: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 C: DELETED
Skarab2 A: 165 HP [Collapsed] [Lined up on right]
Skarab2 B: 165 HP [Collapsed]
Skarab2 C: 165 HP [Collapsed]

-- OBJECTS --
Large Chandelier A: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier B: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier C: 200 HP [Flying]

Large Table: 150 HP [Middle]
Green Skull?: 40 HP [On Table]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [7-hit shield] [Homing: Skully Bone x3]
Vector.SP: 20 HP

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal
20% Cracked
20% Broken
With only a single virus capable of attacking for now, Mach needed to keep up the pressure. The flying bones from the collapsed Skarabs were still homing in on him, and the RedDevil was likely going to attempt to throw in more hits.
Aera, RageClaw!

Aera selected the requested chip and quickly sent it to MachMan, causing the fingers of his right hand to elongate and flatten out into wickedly sharp, angular claws. With his weapon at the ready, he quickly steeled himself for another assault by the wounded RedDevil. As soon as the shadowy virus was out of sight, instead of ducking Mach leaped into the air and tumbled backwards with the help of his wings. He made a full backflip to hopefully evade the virus's bladed attacks, before he dashed forward to bring his claws to bear. He swung his claws from right to left, drawing a wide arc with his sharpened fingers and hopefully bringing down the virus.

Though he may have deleted the RedDevil, and the Skarabs were immobile, but untargetable piles of bones, Mach was still in danger of getting hit by the virus's previous attacks as they attempted to hone in on him. Mach followed through with his slash, and as soon as his right leg touched the ground again, he kicked off and sent himself rolling to the left in an attempt to shake off the trio of spinning bones. After making a full rotation to the left, his thrusters burned brightly to send him airborne again in another back flip. His feet almost brushed against he chandelier as he flipped past, then did a quick twist as he touched down. As soon as he did so, his thrusters continued to fire and sent him skimming over the dusty floor in a zig-zag pattern back and to the right. Mach needed to bide his time, and he continued to watch the Skarabs, waiting for them to reform and become vulnerable to attack.


ACTIONS: -[Passive Accuracy Enhancement, Haste, and Decoy x2]-
1. Dodge
2. Strategic Movement: Get in melee range of RedDevil B
3. RageClaw3: RedDevil B (100dmg Null Slashing)
4. Dodge
5. Dodge
6. Dodge
Breaking news on Virus TV! Red Devils are being sliced up by furious opposition, flying bones are still useless against the enemy, and The Skeletons are getting their act together after a break period. Nothing can get to the problem fast enough to actually catch it! What will we do?

And that's all for the general news. Back to you, Mach.

-- ENEMIES --
RedDevil A: DELETED
RedDevil B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 A: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 C: DELETED
Skarab2 A: 165 HP [Lined up on right]
Skarab2 B: 165 HP
Skarab2 C: 165 HP

-- OBJECTS --
Large Chandelier A: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier B: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier C: 200 HP [Flying]

Large Table: 150 HP [Middle]
Green Skull?: 40 HP [On Table]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [7-hit shield]
Vector.SP: 20 HP

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal
20% Cracked
20% Broken
Finally, let's finish this up. Aera, send me a Blizzard and ElecPulse chip please.
[[i]Right away![/i]]

Mach skimmed over the floor, kicking up dust as he went, and made his way towards the Skarab viruses ahead. As he did so, he heard the tell-tale crackle of electricity buzzing from his left hand, while his right hand felt chilled and stiff. Thin trails of white mist oozed from his right fist as he advanced, his fist itself was covered in a thin layer of ice, giving it a polished look. His wings angled downward and the thrusters barked with a flash of cyan, sending Mach into the air.

As he started to fly over the Skarabs, he pitched forward so his body was parallel to the ground. As he did so, he brought his arms back, fists clenched tightly before he punched both of them forward and opened his hands. With a howl, a wide cone of blustery, freezing air erupted from his hand. At the same time, several expanding rings of electricity surged from his other hand and seemed to wrap the torrent of cold air in a veil of pulsating electricity. The area that was covered by his attack should have been large enough to catch all three viruses in the blast, and the combination of sub-zero temperatures and ice with electricity should have been enough to take them down.

The attack lasted for only a second or so, and Mach continued his flip over the viruses before touching down and sliding to a stop behind them. He turned, orienting his energy shield towards the viruses to hopefully stop any counterattacks, if they managed to survive the onslaught of ice and electrical current.


ACTIONS: -[Passive Accuracy Enhancement, Haste, and Decoy x2]-
1. Strategic Movement: Flip over Skarab group
2 & 3. Blizzard + ElecPulse: Skarab A,B,C (100dmg Aqua + Ice Terrain Change + Cone attack) + (100dmg Elec + Seeking + Glitch + Cone Attack)
4. Face towards the Skarab group
5. Dodge
6. Dodge
((*loading bump* *bump loaded, initializing*))
MachMan's attempt to finish the battle with one, deadly sweep wasn't a great success. The viruses threw their bones at the flying navi, only to have it blocked off by his shield, but the navi's attack wasn't as powerful as MachMan expected itto be as it broke down the Skarabs into their bony piles rather than deleting them whole...

-- ENEMIES --
RedDevil A: DELETED
RedDevil B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 A: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 C: DELETED
Skarab2 A: 65 HP [Collapsed] [Lined up on right]
Skarab2 B: 65 HP [Collapsed]
Skarab2 C: 65 HP [Collapsed]

-- OBJECTS --
Large Chandelier A: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier B: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier C: 200 HP [Flying]

Large Table: 150 HP [Middle]
Green Skull?: 40 HP [On Table]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [5-hit shield]
Vector.SP: 20 HP

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal
20% Cracked
20% Broken
Unfortunately all that happened was the Skarabs were felled yet again, and were no longer able to be targeted. Mach looked at the three piles of bones, and scratched his head.
Well... I guess we wait. Aera, get the Magnum ready if you don't mind.
Will do!

With really nothing else to do, Mach watched the Skarabs, waiting for them to put themselves back together.
... this feels very weird for some odd reason.
Indeed, it seems almost rude to make us wait.


ACTIONS:
1-6. Twiddle thumbs, possibly hum for a bit.
I'm not even going to bother.

-- ENEMIES --
RedDevil A: DELETED
RedDevil B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 A: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 C: DELETED
Skarab2 A: 65 HP [Lined up on right]
Skarab2 B: 65 HP
Skarab2 C: 65 HP

-- OBJECTS --
Large Chandelier A: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier B: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier C: 200 HP [Flying]

Large Table: 150 HP [Middle]
Green Skull?: 40 HP [On Table]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [5-hit shield]
Vector.SP: 20 HP

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal
20% Cracked
20% Broken
Hm, about time. Send it.

Aera uploaded the chip to MachMan, prompting a large, triple-barreled cannon to materialize over his right arm. The slides were locked in the rear position, but clanked forward and chambered their large-caliber incendiary rounds as he raised his arm and pointed the weapon towards the viruses. It didn't take the Navi very long to identify his targets, considering they were at rather close range and he had been pretty much staring at them for the past 30 seconds.

In a fairly nonchalant fashion, he pointed the weapon towards the leftmost Scarab, and as soon as his targeting pipper landed on its spine-like... spine, Mach fired the large weapon, causing his entire arm to shudder from the recoil. The force of the blast was partially absorbed by the slide being rammed back and ejecting a shell casing, and remained there as he lined up his second shot. With a nearly mechanical precision, he aimed and fired two more times, resulting in two more shell casings being ejected, and two more intense yet compact explosions.
Stay down this time, alright?

If he somehow missed one of his shots, his wings would have promptly swung into position and briefly charged up before blowing away the surprisingly annoying virus with twin beams of crimson plasma.


ACTIONS:
1. Charge Magnum
2. Charge Magnum
3. Magnum: Skarab A, B, C (120dmg Fire + Break + Panel Break)
4. Superior Thrust Laser: Skarab A, B, or C (60dmg x2 Multi-hit + Microburst + 3TCD)
5. Dodge
6. Dodge
Still not going to bother.

Oh, and the green skull shattered, and revealed a shiny, and obviously loaded, green diamond.

-- ENEMIES --
RedDevil A: DELETED
RedDevil B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 A: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 B: DELETED
HauntedCandle2 C: DELETED
Skarab2 A: DELETED
Skarab2 B: DELETED
Skarab2 C: DELETED

-- OBJECTS --
Large Chandelier A: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier B: 200 HP [Flying]
Large Chandelier C: 200 HP [Flying]

Large Table: 150 HP [Middle]
Green Skull?: 40 HP [On Table]

-- ALLIES --
MachMan.EXE: 178 HP [5-hit shield]
Vector.SP: 20 HP

-- TERRAIN --
60% Normal
20% Cracked
20% Broken

-- ROGUE BATTLE 04, VICTORY!! --

-- REWARDS --

[BurnSquare2] Battlechip, 5680z, 78 BugFrags

[Open GMD? Y/N]
Mach smiled as all three viruses were promptly deleted by his onslaught of explosive magnum rounds, leaving behind a bounty of zenny and bugfrags, as well as a new chip. He skirted around the battlefield, gathering up his rewards before sending them up the PET. His focus then shifted to the table, where a GMD now stood in place of the green skull. He reached out and touched the glowing green Mystery Data, attempting to open it.

((Open GMD))
As MachMan touched the crystal, the Mystery Data quickly decrypted itself to reveal...

[GMD: 4000z]
Mach happily picked up the large amount of zenny that emerged from the mystery data, and sent it up to the PET. Aera smiled as she saw the zenny get deposited to their funds. They were getting a pretty good amount, more than enough for a nice little shopping spree, but unfortunately Mazer was still asleep. She pouted as she heard muffled coughs coming from under the covers. Aww... poor guy...

Because of their NetOp's illness, she was now in charge of the general well-being of both Mach and Vector. While the blue and orange navi was only lightly scratched, Vector was pretty damaged, and unfortunately with no way to repair himself.
[[i]Do you guys want to take a breather and relax? I don't want you two to overwork yourselves...[/i]]

Mach paused and responded, noting the somewhat damaged state of Vector.
I could use some repairs as well as Vector; and we could use the break. How about we make a quick pitstop then head over to the NetSquare? Maybe we'll find something interesting over there, or maybe run into a familiar face.
[[i]Alright, I'll log you two out, then re-route to the NetSquare. Stand by... logging out.[/i]]

Vector's protective armor and Mach's body both turned a bright cyan before they both beamed up in a streak of light, up and out of the network.

((Logged Out))