Another test run. (Mod Locked by Grim)

Broadside and Tankman exchanged fire as they charged one another. Broadside took several heavy machine gun rounds that embedded themselves in his torso armor plating, while blasting TankMan with a return wall of steel projectiles from his shoulder cannon. The two of them maneuvered, each in the opposite direction, to circle around the other and avoid a collision. Broadside managed this by rotating the caterpillars, altering his stance to maintain balance, and angling the vectored thrust of his boosters to not only circle around the imaginary point of collision, but also remain facing TankMan while still moving in roughly the same direction as before.

As the two Navis passed one another, Broadside bowed his head to 'gaze down upon' his somewhat smaller opponent. While gesture was completely unnecessary as he could have 'seen' the smaller Navi with the rest of his sensor suite, he wanted a more detailed visual record of the other combatant in-action. As he scanned the opponent and decided upon a course of action, he contacted Jared over their private communication line, via his link to the PET and silently made his request... Jared, I am going to attempt to draw this opponent into melee range. I will require both the BigHammer1 and Sword battlechips.

----

Jared, upon seeing the message on his screen, reached around to the chip case he wore on his belt that he'd cobbled together to hold 30 of his battlechips ready for quick use. He quickly popped the BigHammer1, his other MagBolt1, and the newly purchased GutPunch from their spring loaded slots, brought them up, and started slotting them in 3 of the 6 chip slots on the side of the PET. He pressed the [Send] key with his thumb, and then grabbed pocketed the used chips. "We don't have the Sword anymore, so I'm sending you a GutPunch and a Magbolt instead."

----

Meanwhile, Broadside began braking his backward motion slightly while he scanned the area for patches of Metal Terrain. He spotted a couple of panels off to one side, marked the location on the internal map he'd generated earlier, and arced his course around to the far side of them. He took another round of scans, processed the data, and calculated the effects of a Magbolt1's magnetic pull on Navi targets. He then used that data, together with his speed and the location of the metal panels in relation to himself and TankMan, to come up with a battle strategy that would both get him into attack range and have a chance to deal some very heavy damage when he got there.

Perhaps even critical damage, if I time it right.

Broadside surged forward with the renewed strength of his booster thrust. As he barreled towards TankMan, he brought his shield around before himself, and fortified it with the BigHammer1. He then triggered the MagBolt1, causing the Shield to glow with a powerful electromagnetic charge, and began pulling at TankMan with strong magnetic force, trying to drag the Navi onto the Metal Panels. As he drew closer, Broadside channeled the GutPunch into his Gigas Arm, and moved it in behind the weaponized shield. As he entered attack range, Broadside punched the back of the shield, causing it to swing out and up with enough combined force to turn solid stone into powder.

What it could do to a Navi didn't bear thinking on....


----Summary----
1: Move into position to attack TankMan, with a Metal Panel between them (Tactical Movement)
--- Add-Break (Magbolt1)
2: Charge Tower Shield with Magbolt1 (110 Elec + Stun + Magnetic Pull)
--- Try to draw Tankman onto Metal
3: Brace Shield, and imbue with BigHammer1 (160 Null + Break + Impact)
4: Shield Bash with GutPunch (70 Null + Impact + Knockback)

((Note: Actions 2, 3, and 4 occur as one attack: Shield Bash
Total Damage: 340 on Normal Panels, 450 on Metal.))


--Sigs--
Missile Barrage L (2 TCD)
Missile Barrage R (2 TCD)
As Broadside starts to move in towards Tankman, Sergeant Heininger's voice comes into Tankman's earpiece.

[Tankman, take him down now! Area Grab chip uploaded!]

Yes sir!

Tankman blurs into thin air as Broadside passes through him. Broadside stops, surprised by his bulky opponent's sudden boost of speed. He tries to scan the immediate area for Tankman, and finds his foe: directly behind him! Tankman swings his torso forward, striking Broadside's shoulder.

Superior...

Broadside turns as he falls on his back with a deep thud, kicking up dust from the torn terrain. Tankman kicks in two heavy boosters in his pack, propelling him almost 20 feet in the air. His body arches back as he turns his 150mm cannon downwards and plummets back to the floor. As Tankman is a few feet above the floor, the thrusts his cannon down, striking Broadside and punching a large dent in his chest armor. Tankman's two massive caterpillar tread feet hit the metal floor with a loud clang.

...Cannon CRUSH!!!

Tankman discharges his cannon, sending a depleted uranium shell into Broadside's chest at point-blank range. The flash of the explosion blankets the immediate area in a flash of white. The light fades slightly and is immediately replaced by a pillar of smoke. Suddenly, a swath of smoke is blown away as Broadside, saved from deletion by his Undershirt Navicust Program, swings his massive shield towards Tankman with a dizzying hook. Broadside's energized shield strikes Tankman's cannon, discharging a massive amount of electricity and kinetic power into Tankman's body. Bolts of blue electricity arc from his cannon to his extremities and to the metal floor below.

Tankman gives out a strained roar and arches back as the incredibly powerful current runs through his body. The electricity eventually dissipates into the ground and Tankman slumps to the floor. Amazingly, his data wasn't completely deleted by the super-powered shield bash. Broadside wasn't the only Navi equipped with an UnderShirt NaviCust program. Tankman falls forward, but places his hands down to brace his fall. Now on his hands and knees, Tankman stares at the floor. He is absolutely dumbfounded that this Navi could survive his strongest attack and counter with a devastating blow of his own.

I surrender...

VICTORY!

TankMan.EXE: 1HP

Terrain: 25% Normal, 30% Metal, 20% Cracked, 25% Missing

Broadside.EXE 1HP Warning! Health Critically Low!
Rewards: 1000z

A "Heal 300" energy orb appeared! Use on: [Broadside.EXE] or [Tankman.EXE]

Broadside stepped back from TankMan after executing his attack. His tower shield swung around on its arm and back into its usual place at his side. A large hole had been blasted into his torso armor by TankMan's attack, the damage reaching as far as the old data module that had once been his 'core module'. There was nothing in it now, however...

"Target neutralized. Disengaging combat form protocols." Broadside announced just before his form melted into a mass of light. He reversed the form-shift process from earlier, reverting to the form of a slightly tall Guard Navi in white armor, with an incongruously black armored left arm resting in a cloth sling. His Guard Rifle rested upon his back, within easy reach of his right arm if needed. However, it would remain where it was, as the battle was already over.

Curiously, his WhiteGuard form did not show any signs of the massive damage his Mecha form's frame had received.

"Are you alright?" Jared asked, not crediting Broadside's outward apperence as true to his status.

"My combat form protocols are critically damaged, and in need of repair. Hack Protection integrity is critical. However, my standard form protocols are untouched and fully functioning."

"That's good to hear. You have performed excellently today, Broadside." Jared said, obviously pleased. We can continue on for as long as you feel comfortable doing so. he added.

"Though I am fully capable of continued net navigation in standard mode, I request recall for system recovery and downtime to process the battle data I've collected." Broadside said as he picked up the recovery sphere, and tossed it at TankMan. "Today's netbattle has given me quite a bit to process."
Broadside tossed the recovery data, and it rolled to a stop underneath Tankman's chest. The orb cracks and the restorative data leaked out and up into Tankman's body. Tankman sighs as his body is repaired and restored to about a 5th of his premium state, but quite enough to allow full restoration of his movement and other basic functions.

Thank you, Broadside. You were quite somethin' out there.

He stands up and extends his hand towards Broadside.

I apologize for my unprofessional behavior from before. I'm still a little shaken up from your impressive display of firepower. I seriously underestimated you.
Broadside reached out and shook TankMan's hand, then began speaking in what was (for him) a friendly manner... but still depressingly resembled an analysis report in actual delivery. "Don't be. Circumstances were in my favor during this battle. Unlike yourself, I entered combat expecting to face a high-spec opponent. I was not disappointed in the slightest."

That almost sounded friendly. Are you feeling well? a stray thought mused in the back of his mind.

Broadside ignored the mental barb, and continued speaking as he settled into what Jared had dubbed 'the at-ease stance'. "Prior to our encounter, I observed large scale damage to the network that could not have been caused by ordinary viruses. The same holds true for what remained of a defeated DOSA class virus. By the time you began firing upon me, I was already alert and expecting some form of attack. That this attack was being launched from ranges in excess of triple my standard combat envelope, coupled with the observed damage, provided ample motivation to prepare for an all-out heavy weapons assault in advance. The terrain was also in my favor."

Broadside paused for a brief moment as he got the impression of extreme amusement from somewhere.... He didn't let it show, however, and continued speaking: "Had this encounter occurred without the benefit of prior intel gathering and preparation on my part, your obviously superior combat capability would have resulted in an overwhelming advantage." After a short pause, he added "In truth, this netbattle ended in a draw." in a tone that suggested he'd said all he was going to on the subject.

That's more words than I think I've ever heard him string together at one time. Jared thought to himself as his Navi finished speaking.
As Broadside shakes Tankman's hand, a green glow emanates from Tankman's hand. The glow travels through Broadside's hand and disappears into his body as the powerful repair program restored Broadside's programming and re-energized his body.

Consider it thanks for not reducing me to a cloud of data and using that heal orb.

Sergeant Heininger's face pops up in a window behind Tankman.

[Your combat abilities are incredible! Have you ever considered joining the National Guard or the Reserves?]
Broadside shook his head. "Negative. I am forbidden from taking oaths or performing actions that may conflict with the mission I was created to carry out. However..." He paused, and looked back and forth between Tankman and and his Operator "...I am also programmed to assist police, military, and government officials in any capacity that does not conflict with my mission."

"It's true...." Jared grinned in memory. "Mr. Stolid over here actually signed us both up for a Net Police raid on a darkchip processing facility a few months back, then told me about it after we were committed to do it. Bearing that in mind..." Jared sighed. "...I'd better give you my contact information so you can get in touch with us later. Else, I'll find out the hard way that he's signed up for something else outrageous after he's gone and done it."

Jared paused to send a text message over to Heininger's screen with his E-mail address.

"Besides, I think he enjoyed this battle with TankMan quite a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd want an eventual rematch."

"Affirmative." Broadside said in his usual neutral tone.
[I see. Here is my email address, if you want a rematch.]

Sergeant Heininger sends a text message to Jared containing his contact information.

[Well, we still have several hours of free time left. Are you interested in some tandem busting?]
"Sorry. I'll have to decline, actually. I've got to log off and get ready to meet with some of the technicians at Sci-Lab." Jared replied. "I'm here on behalf of NAXA to troubleshoot some of the software for the new equipment they're about to ship to Netopia. Thanks for the offer though. Broadside, jack-out."

"Acknowledged. Broadside.EXE, logging out." Broadside replied. He then came to attention, and threw TankMan a salute as his form dissolved into a mass of light, and shot into the sky.

((Jack-Out))
Tankman snaps to attention, and returns the salute as Broadside begins to jack out. Broadside beams away and Tankman drops his salute. He then turns away, kicks on his treads and drives off, leaving a trail of dust in his path.