Mission: Jungle Chase

Voulge landed on the the Netfrican network in a beam of crimson light, immediately searching for the said Netpolice officers to debrief him on the mission. "You seem excited." said Marius as he looked down on his PET screen. "You as well." What both had said to each other was very much true, they were finally taking the first step into returning to the police force they yearned. If things go well, it wouldn't be long before they return to their lives as lawful enforcers.

Ignis and Licht, on the other hand, seemed rather uninterested in the mission as they simply floated around in the air idly...

-MISSION READY!-
Sand whipped across Voulge's face, obscuring some of his vision, but he could make out what looked like an old-style saloon of sorts in front of him. Navis were rushing back and forth between what seemed to be stables, and the revving of engines resounded through the air with the added noise of police sirens.

"Excuse me! You! Over there! Hurry up!" an angry feminine voice beckoned to Voulge, gesturing him over to the stables. He hurried over, not wanting to waste time on what seemed like a pretty important mission.

"Ok ok! You check out, get in here!" the female navi, adorned head-to-toe in cowgirl gear, barked, pushing Voulge into one stable.

A blast of air almost toppled him over. Turning to see what the cause was, Voulge was faced with a noble leather-colored warhorse. It's shiny black mane and eyes kept Voulge in awe as the cowgirl navi pushed him around to the warhorse's side.

"Right right! This 'ere's Major Sandstream, he's a pretty good Support Program the guys at Research built to test out differen' forms of speed. Been wit' tha force for a while," the cowgirl commented, introducing the warhorse to Voulge.

"We must hasten our departure. The radio has been reporting crooks close to the smaller establishments," Sandstream grumbled, speaking not with his mouth, but reverberating through Voulge's mind.

"Yeah yeah, jus' tha saddle righ'?" the cowgirl navi sighed, scratching her head irritably. "I'm Pitch, yer mission operator fer now. The radio'll keep you on what's up and happenin'. Go on, git!" Pitch barked at Voulge, the stable door opening.

"Yes yes, hurry young warrior, we musn't lose any of them," Sandstream bellowed, lowering himself a bit so Voulge could saddle properly.

The radio buzzed with information as he gained his bearings. There were some locations he could pick out.

-TARGETS- (Choose one)
Southwest
North-northwest
Far East
South-southeast

It's go time.
Before getting to know the exact situation of the mission, Voulge was being pushed around by Pitch and met with the warhorse that began to speak directly into his head. "...Then lets be on our way." The spearman simply decided to follow with the Pitch's order without questions, saddling on top of Sandstream with one quick leap. "We will mobilize towards the east...Ignis, Licht!"

The two SPs flew towards the navi and landed on each of Voulge's shoulder, readying themselves for the speedy travels on top of the horse. "Ohmanohman, you have no idea how pumped I am for this! I get to ride on this tinhead like he's some animal!...Oh, and this horse, yeah, whatever." As usual, Voulge ignored whatever Ignis had to say and wrapped his left hand around the rein while drawing his spear out with his right hand. "It's been a while since I last rode a horse, but please, don't hold yourself back, Sandstream." With a gentle kick against the SP's side, Voulge rode forward to his destination.

-Destination: Far East-
"Holding myself back is a disgrace to the job," Sandstream snorted, breaking into full speed toward the Far East.

----

For about 5 minutes, Voulge could see nothing but sand dunes upon sand dunes upon sand dunes. This sandstorm was pretty nasty too, but it looked like Sandstream has had worse days.

Voulge soon picked up the sound of police sirens and engines roaring, Sandstream guided them up the top of one dune for a better look.

It took him a while, but the spearman spotted the source of the noise. There were a set of three NetPolice motorcycles, a red one being in the lead, chasing a modified western horse carriage of sorts, with two giant spinning wheels instead of horses though.

A Heelnavi punched open the top of the horse carriage and lay down some machinegun fire at the NetPolice forces, detaining one of them, the motorcycle swerving off track and exploding, forcing one of them to EJO.

"HUEHUEHUE, you suckers'll never catch-a-me!" a very Italian sounding navi called out from the side of the horse carriage. He looked sort of like a pasta-chef.

"Shut yer trap," the navi on the red motorcyle growled, tapping the side of his bike, which opened up small weapon pods and blasted missiles at the carriage.

"Whoa-ho!" The chef navi yelped, retreating his head back into the carriage as a priestly looking navi came up top, pushing the Heelnavi to the side, before casting a barrier around the carriage.

"Tch. They're prepared after all," the red motorcycle navi growled, starting to slowly accelerate.

But enough watching. Let's get to it.

-TARGETS-
Carriage: 200 HP [Barrier???]
ItaChef: ??? HP
HeelNavi: 200 HP
Priest?: 200 HP
Driver: ??? HP [Seems heavily guarded]
Unidentified TargetA: ???
Unidentified TargetB: ???

-Terrain-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-
RedNP: 250 HP
Motorcycle: 80 HP [Hardbody][20 HP Barrier]
NPChaser: 180 HP
Motorcycle: 50 HP

-YOU-[2 actions until you reach firing distance, 4 actions for melee]
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 120 HP

-CHASE 1-
-GO-

-RULES OF ENGAGEMENT-
-Sandstream has 6 actions with 2 Passive Movements
-You may prompt Sandstream to perform normal SP actions besides chasing such as Attack, Defend, or use a Signature Attack. Just list it for which action you want it, or else he will just pursue the target with full power.
-If you fall off Sandstream, you will need to take 2 actions to recover.
-If you fall off three times or Sandstream is defeated, your mission will fail. This is only if you hit the sand though.
-Have fun
"Fuck yeah, looks like things are getting started!"

Voulge, along with his SPs on his shoulder, slid down the dune as he rode ontop of Sandstream and immediately began to chase behind the Netpolices. The navi was surprised by how fast the warhorse was, easily catching up to the speeding bikes in mere seconds. "Voulge.EXE. I was sent by Pitch, most likely as your backup." said Voulge as he turned towards the red Netpolice navi. "Can you give me a quick debrief?" As much as the spearman wanted to jump into the action and deal with the rampaging navis, he needed to know as much as he could about the current situation. Unnecessary civilian casualties were the last thing he wanted for his first mission...

* Phalanx Aspis [2-hit Shield]
* Tempero Flamma [Strengthen [50]]
* Sandstream: Passive movement towards Carriage
* Sandstream: Passive movement towards Carriage
1. Talk to RedNP

-TURN SPLICE-
"Formula.RPM. That guy over there is... Well I'm sure he'll introduce himself eventually," Formula shrugged, greeting Voulge curtly. "We need to capture the chef dude, one of the higher ups in the ring, make sure he doesn't EJO. Basically blow up the carriage," Formula commented, revving more of his motorcycle's engines.

"...You can just call me Bill," the other NetPolice Navi responded solemnly, wiping his eyes before focusing on his mission.

"Also there's a settlement detected 30 miles (6 turns) ahead. If he gets in there we're gonna be in some serious shit," Formula cursed.

"Anyway let's bring 'em down."

-TARGETS-
Carriage: 200 HP [Barrier???]
ItaChef: ??? HP
HeelNavi: 200 HP
Priest?: 200 HP
Driver: ??? HP [Seems heavily guarded]
Unidentified TargetA: ???
Unidentified TargetB: ???

-Terrain-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-[2 actions until melee range]
RedNP: 250 HP
Motorcycle: 80 HP [Hardbody][20 HP Barrier]
NPChaser: 180 HP
Motorcycle: 50 HP
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP [2-hit Shield][Strengthen 50](5 actions left)
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 120 HP
"Understood."

Formula's quick explanation was more than enough for Voulge as the spearman immediately set out to attack the rampaging Carriage. "Good...Looks like nothing here is really going to hold us back." said Marius as he had already lined up the battlechips he intended to use. "We're going all out, right here right now. Any questions?" Ignis and Licht was fired up for the mission as they jumped up and down from the navi's shoulder. "C'mon c'mon, Let's get things moving, yeah?!" Voulge, with a grin on his face, pointed his spear forward as he tightened his grip over the rein.

"None! Let's go!"

Immediately, Voulge's emblem shined in a blue light as he changed into his SplashCross, allowing him to become stronger, sturdier, and faster than he was before. On top of his strengthened mode, Marius had prepared something else as he inserted the first chip into the PET. "Shadow, slot in!" A cloud of inky black smoke appeared few feet in front of Voulge and the others as they ran through it with their break-neck speed. The spearman's body changed the moment he was out of the cloud, tinted in darker colors and became partially transparent. The SPs, on the other hand, were completely unaffected.

"Hey! No fucking fair! Why are you giving this guy the near-invincible defense and not us? Are we not valuable to you at all, huh?!" Ignis had put up a good argument as Voulge looked down at his shield, seeing no point of having it as he was in his shadowy state. "Take this." The navi plucked the shield off his arm and placed it on top of Sandstream's mane, causing it to transform into a durable steel armor that covered the SP's head and the frontal side of his body. His own well being was important, but it would be for nothing if his ride broke down in the middle of the chase. "Hey! What the fuck, man!?"

The operator continued on and slotted two chips, explaining his strategy as he prepared for what was to come. "Here's your own personal back up. These fellows won't have trouble catching up with you, so don't worry about it and focus on your target!" In a blink of an eye, the Lock-On and the AirRaid viruses appeared above Voulge, flying as they kept up with the navi and SandStream's speed. "Your first priority is to disable the Carriage. Formula specifically instructed us to capture the...Chef, but stopping them is the first step."

Voulge's spear was enveloped in a veil of wind thanks to the AirStorm battlechip, slowly collecting the sands from the grounds as it was powering it self up. "Closer, Sandstream!" With the crack of the rein, Sandstream approached behind the carriage while keeping enough distance away to be safe from close-ranged attacks. "Ready!" As the spearman pointed his spear forward, the flying objects prepared their guns, the SPs prepared their own attacks as floating flames began to lit up all around, and the wind from the Lancea began to gather

"ATTACK!"

The AirRaid and the Lock-On unleashed a barrage of bullets down onto the carriage, but the navi knew that it wasn't enough to bring down the barrier that protected the carriage. "Shooooow-Timeeeeeeee!" Gathering all the floating flames that surrounded Voulge, Ignis created a pair of flame missiles shaped like a giant fist. "Bombs away!" Ignis launched both missile at the Carriage at once, leaving a trail of smoke as it was it intended to ram straight through the barrier and destroy the Carriage in a one-two punch. Voulge raised his spear to lay down his wind-powered attack, but he halted for a moment as he lowered the weapon down.

"Evasive maneuver!"

Lowering his body, the spearman began to control the warhorse so that it would dodge whatever that might have come at him, skillfully moving through the tough sand terrains as if it was a straight plain of grass. He wasn't sure if all those attacks were enough to bring down the carriage, but he needed to access the situation before he could continue his own attack...

-TURN SPLICE OVER-
2. Activate SplashCross [+[color=blue]20[/color] to Aqua Chips / +40 Max HP / +1 Action]
3. Shadow2 [Shadow / 2 Turns] {S}
4. Transfer 2-hit Shield to SandStream
5. Lock-On2 [15x6 / Lockon Per Hit / Omnishoe / Mobile / 80 HP] {A} @ Carriage
6. AirRaid [10x10 / 50+Impact (Tackle) / 3 Turns / 100 HP] {A} @ Carriage
SandStream: Move towards Carriage
Ignis: FireHit2 [90+[color=red]25[/color] (x2 Exploit Defense) / Impact / Double] {A} @ Carriage
Ignis: FireHit2 [90+[color=red]25[/color] (x2 Exploit Defense) / Impact / Double] {A} @ Carriage
SandStream: Dodge (x2)
-TURN SPLICE 2-

Cooldown:
Shadow: 2 Turns
AirRaid: 3 Turns
Voulge changed into the Cross of his bestest friend in the whole cyberworld, donning the appearance of a spear-fisher of sorts, maybe. Who paid this narrator anyway? No one? At any rate, his abilities certainly got a boost.

Despite this, Voulge decided to act a bit more defensively, incorporating the Shadow Chip and redirecting his Shields to Sandstream. Formula and the other NetPolice agent fired quick buster shots at the barrier, weakening it bit by bit as Ignis took it down with giant fists of flame. Formula whistled.

"Well that's settled. Whitewebs go," Formula smirked, tossing a grenade at the Priest as he feebly tried producing more protection, but was suddenly strung up by the Whiteweb net.

"Tch, useless. Try this on for size!" The Heelnavi growled, taking aim at the other Netpolice vehicle and firing off a bazooka shot.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Ironshield!" Bill cried, his vehicle seeming a bit more sturdy, taking the missile head on.

Voulge's summoned objects ripped the priest full of holes while the Heelnavi was able to duck down and avoid it. The AirRaid rammed into the carriage, seeming to nearly throw the driver off. A navi in a sweater and a beanie popped up and threw a bomb at the Airraid, deleting it instantly, before the other Heelnavi popped back up, attacking with Machinegun fire. Sandstream nimbly worked his way around the shots and so did the other officers.

Voulge seemed to have something left to do...

-TARGETS-
Carriage: 150 HP
ItaChef: ??? HP
HeelNavi: 180 HP
Priest?: EJO'D
Driver: ??? HP [Seems heavily guarded]
Gangster: 180 HP
Unidentified TargetB: ???

-Terrain-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-[2 actions until melee range]
RedNP: 250 HP
Motorcycle: 80 HP [Hardbody][20 HP Barrier]
NPChaser: 180 HP
Motorcycle: 50 HP [1 hit shield]
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP (Shadow 0/2)[Strengthen 50](1 action left)
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 120 HP [2-hit Shield]
Lock-On2: 80 HP
Airraid: DELETED
The barrier that protected the carriage was destroyed and Ignis even managed to take down the Priest that placed it in the first place, putting a definite advantage for the chasing Netpolices. Though the carriage was still running along with minimum damage, Voulge had already foreseen this situation when he held himself back. Rather than taking out the carriage in its most vulnerable state, the spearman had something else in mind before anything else. "Licht." said the navi as he turned his head towards the green SP resting on his shoulder. "Do you think you can do me a favor?" Voulge began to whisper something into Licht, causing the SP to work up in excitement as he began to jump up and down on Voulge's shoulder.

Licht began to generate orbs of winds as his mode of attack and focused on the Gangster navi that was peering out from the side of the carriage. "Attack!" In an instant, Licht launched all of his wind orbs straight at the Gangster, each one of them exploding with a powerful blast of wind that was enough to leave gaping holes on the sand. "Smart choice...You're trying to knock that navi out so that you'll have less to deal with when you take out the carriage." said Marius as he was impressed with Voulge's tactical choice. As his last resort, Licht sent out a single, concentrated blow of wind towards the unfortunate navi, hoping that it would be the final push it was needed in order to completely blow he navi away.

"Okay, that's enough. Focus on the carriage!"

Ignis, with little bit of perk left in him, decided to take the lead as he conjured up tiny fireballs. "I seriously doubt you can do ANYTHING without my help, tinhead!" The navi nodded his head as he couldn't refuge the "generous" help from Ignis, pointing his hand forward to let the SP have a go at it. "That's right! You damn well better let me go first!" The hot-headed SP fired a handful of small, yet destructive fireballs at the carriage, also having the Heelnavi within the line of fire. The attack was far from enough to break the rampaging vehicle, but that was when Voulge came into play.

"Gather!"

Holding his Lancea high above his head, the wind that covered the spear began to suck up the sands even more as it became stronger by each passing moments.
Voulge let go of Sandstream's rein and held the spear with both hands as he positioned it behind him, having a good balance on the war horse despite the speed that he was traveling in. "Halt, in the name of the Netpolice!" As his grip over the Lancea tightened, the spearman finally took a swing and unleashed the pented up wind right at the carriage. The destructive wind took shape into three separate sand whirlwinds, and each one of them wasn't going to stop till it shredded everything in its path.

Regaining his control over Sandstream, Voulge steered away from harm in case any more of the criminals began to attack him and the SPs again...

Licht: Attack [25 / Knockback] (x3) @ Gangster
* Licht: Gust Knockback Gangster
Ignis: Attack [50 / Spread] @ Carriage / HeelNavi
7. AirStorm2 [60 x 3 ([b]x2 Terrain Advantage[/b]) / Variable Targeting / Pull3] {B} @ Carriage [Pull x3 @ Carriage to slow it down]
SandStream: Dodge (x3)

Cooldown:
Shadow: 2 Turns
The Gangster was promptly knocked off by Licht's flurry of wind attacks, getting left behind in the dust. Formula, Bill, and Ignis attacked the Carriage as Voulge tried to slow it down with the AirStorm.

"No a-halting for-a-me!" The Chef cried out, opening the window and throwing a large fork at Sandstream, who crashed into it, denting the armor Voulge had provided.

"Hyah!" The driver called out, the Carriage speeding up to get away from Voulge's Airstorm, seeming to fix itself in the hurry as well.

-TARGETS-
Carriage: 70 HP
ItaChef: ??? HP
HeelNavi: 130 HP
Priest?: EJO'D
Driver: ??? HP [Seems heavily guarded]
Gangster: 105 HP (Off-Road)
Unidentified TargetB: ???

-Terrain-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-[1 action until melee range]
RedNP: 250 HP
Motorcycle: 80 HP [Hardbody][20 HP Barrier]
NPChaser: 180 HP
Motorcycle: 50 HP [1 hit shield]
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP (Shadow 1/2)[Strengthen 50]
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 120 HP [1-hit Shield]
Lock-On2: 80 HP
Airraid: DELETED
The chase was leaning towards Voulge's favor. The carriage was heavily damaged, two of the enemy navis were taken care of, and they were still far away from reaching the destination. However, the spearman didn't feel as satisfied with the results, most likely due to a certain SP...

"TAKE THAT~TAKE THAT~TAKE THAT~" Ignis was in high spirits, jumping up and down on top of Voulge's shoulder. "Tell me, tinhead. Why is it that most of my attacks hit the target, but none of yours did? Oh, oh, oh, I know! Because I have skills and you're a LOS-" All of a sudden, Voulge's hand reached over and grabbed Ignis as his grip progressively became stronger. "Owowowowow! S-stop! I-I get it, shit happens, the world doesn't revolve around you, luck runs out! Just stop, I think my body is cracking!" The navi loosened his grip, but still held Ignis by his hand as he pulled the SP to his front. "Then I'll be relying on your skills, Ignis."

The Lock-On satellite above began to rev its gun and Ignis was getting ready to show his skills, but Voulge waited for the battlechips from his operator. "The carriage is still quiet far from reaching its destination, but we're not even going to let them get half-way there." said Marius as he drew two chips out of the folder. "And we won't even give them a chance to dodge it. Arrow2, slot in!" The Lancea's spearhead began to spark with electricity, causing it to glow in a bright golden shine.

With two quick swings, the electric currents discharged into the air and instantly formed into two Elebee viruses, hovering beside the Lock-On satellite. "Attack!!" As soon as Voulge pointed his spear forward, everything was unleashed upon the carriage with no mercy. The Lock-on fired its machine gun with lethal precision, Ignis launched his fireballs without a care in the world, and Voulge's Elebees zipped straight towards the carriage with its stinger ready in front!

Satisfied with the attack, the spearman tightened his grip over Sandstream's rein and prepared for evasive maneuver. "Tell me, Sandstream." Voulge calmly questioned the mounted SP. "Can you tell me what is going on exactly?"

* Tempero Flamma [Strengthen [50]]
* Lock-On2 [15x6 / Lockon Per Hit / Omnishoe / Mobile / 80 HP] {A} @ Carriage
Ignis: Attack [50 / Spread] @ Carriage / HeelNavi
Ignis: Attack [50 / Spread] @ Carriage / HeelNavi
* Ignis: Gatling Attack [50 / Spread] @ Carriage / HeelNavi
1. Arrow2 [130 / Homing] {B} @ Carriage
2. Arrow2 [130 / Homing] {B} @ Carriage
SandStream: Dodge (x3)
-TURN SPLICE-
"Mama-mia! We need to go faster!" the Chef navi cried, complaining to the driver.

"It's motorcycles versus Horse Carriages, I think we were screwed from the start," the Driver grumbled as the Carriage was blasted apart by Voulge's attacks, sending the occupant navis flying every which way.

"Oh noooooo!" the Chef cried, landing in the sand a few feet away. The Heelnavi grimaced and jacked out. The Driver seemed to disappear with the Carriage, and the other occupant was...

...A mummy? Well it was a navi covered completely in bandages but Voulge guessed it was mummy themed. It seemed pretty irrelevant considering they were all about to be captured.

"Good work. I'll clean up here, go help the others," Formula called to Voulge, as he and Bill rounded up the fallen navis.

"Tch, and-a I would've-a gotten-away with it-a too!" the Chef whined.

It seems the situation was under control here, but there were still more areas to cover.

An audio link from Pitch brought Voulge to the urgency of the situation.

"Hey! Hurry your ass to another location! We found some other stragglers that were trying to wait until the big guys escaped so your options are pretty expanded now!" Pitch barked.

"There's no time to waste, I'll brief you some more while we travel to the next location," Sandstream commented, readying himself.

-TARGETS- [CAPTURED]
Carriage: DELETED
ItaChef: CAPTURED
HeelNavi: ESCAPED
Priest?: EJO'D
Driver: ESCAPED
Gangster: CAPTURED
Mummy: CAPTURED

-Terrain-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-
RedNP: 250 HP
Motorcycle: 80 HP
NPChaser: 180 HP
Motorcycle: 50 HP
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 120 HP

-VICTORY-
Get: 1200z, 28 Bugfrags

-NEXT LOCATIONS-
Southwest
North-northwest
South
North
West-north
"Whaaaat. Do they seriously expect us to take care of EVERYTHING for them? If I knew that the NP was this incompetent, I would've rather taken the Mafia's side..." said Ignis as he was nagging about continuing the mission. "...Although, see how the Mafias are bunch of rag-tag navis from a chef to a mummie, I rather not."

Voulge decided to take the closest destination from where he was and began to ride north, leaving him in the dark as to what he was doing so far...

-Destination: North-
Sandstream reared to the North and set off, galloping furiously on top of the sand, starting to explain the situation.

"Firstly, your partner is ill-informed. The group we are chasing down are not part of the NetMafia, but are a thorn in the side of proper network justice in any case. They are not the Neo-Shogunuate either for that matter. Their specialty is illegal navi customization and slavery... if you could call it that. They customize navis to work without operators but do... terrible things to them," Sandstream let out a low growl at this point.

"They call themselves. The Cartel." If that was supposed to be ominous, Sandstream made no indication of it.

"Our Investigations department got a lead on where many of the leaders of this organization were meeting. This is our chance to stop their actions once and for all, or at least cripple quite a lot of their operations," Sandstream chuckled, plodding on.

----

In due time, Voulge spotted a familiar scene. Though he imagined this set of targets were more well-prepared. This time the pursued vehicle was an Armored Car, probably harder to take down directly than the carriage Voulge blew up the last time. Unlike last time, it didn't seem like any of the navis wanted to reveal themselves, though Voulge could hear banging at the back of the truck and some muffled shouts.

Pursuing the vehicle were two standard chasers, but at the front rode a tanned female navi, auburn hair tied into a ponytail, covered in heavy armor from neck to toe that was colored red with silver lining. Her steed seemed to be a horse made completely out of volcanic rock. A desperate expression lined her face as the banging on the back of the Armored Car became louder.

....Any way you looked at it, there was probably a hostage situation here.

-TARGET-
Armored Car: ???? HP
Tiresx4: ??? HP
Driver: ??? HP
CartelNaviA: ??? HP
Hostage?: ??? HP
OtherCartelNavisx?: ???

-TERRAIN-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-
ArmoredGirl: 300 HP [50 HP Casing]
VolcanicSteed: 200 HP
NPChaserA: 180 HP
MotorcycleA: 50 HP
NPChaserB: 180 HP
MotorcycleB: 50 HP
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 120 HP

-CHASE 2-
-GREEN LIGHT-
"Well, excuse me, Mr. I'm-better-than-you. That girl who got us on you didn't even tell us anything, so blame her!" Ignis retorted back to Sandstream. Voulge, on the other hand, remained silent after hearing more about the mission. "Voulge, anything wrong?" said Marius, noticing that something was off about his navi. "No, for the first time in a long time...I'm rather excited." After joining the NetPolice, Voulge finally felt like he was back to being the officer of the law, able to do his part to the good of the net-society. As over-the-top as this mission was, taking down a criminal organization as his first mission, the spearman was ready to jump into action.

After arriving at their destination, Voulge and the others found another chase scene, similar to the one the navi had just taken care of...except for the modern armored car. "Careful, don't be too rash with this situation." said Marius, immediately grasping the hostage situation from a glance. "If we're going to make a move, we better make it quick and precise. Approach the car and prepare yourselves." The spearman nodded his head as he rode closer to the chasing NetPolices, relying himself onto his operator's decisions.

"Voulge.EXE. I'm here as your backup." said Voulge as he rode next to the ponytail navi. "I'll take it from here." Calm and collected, the navi approached the armored car with enough distance like he did with the carriage. Voulge swung his spear over the air, causing the sands beneath to rise up and cover Sandstream and Voulge in whole. When it subsided, Sandstream was equipped with the same armor from before and the spearman was at his inky-black Shadow state.

Marius had prepared three chips while his navi was arming himself, slipping it into the PET one by one as it loaded into Voulge. "The car is much more durable than the outdated carriage we just took care of." The operator explained as he surveyed the Cartel. "Then we gotta slow them down somehow so that they'll be easier targets. We're going to shoot for the tires and we're gonna do it all at once." The three chips, SummonBlack and two Arrows, finished loading into Voulge's system and the navi immediately proceeded with the attack.

Voulge sheathed his spear onto his back and pulled out three throwing daggers from within his brigandine, infusing each of them with the battlechip's power. One dagger's blade turned pitch black from the SummonBlack while the other two's blade turned bright yellow with electricity from the Arrows. The navi divided the daggers to the black and the yellow, holding the separated colors on each hands as he relied on Sandstream's steady riding. "Get ready on three..." Taking a big breath of the sandy air, Voulge closed his eyes even though he was just behind the enemy vehicle, calm as ever.

"H-hey! You're forgetting about us! We don't have fancy defenses to protect our selves!...H-hey!" Ignis began to panic, spinning sporadically as he had no where else to run. But Licht knew his part and stayed calm, carefully waiting to match Voulge's timing with his attack. "...Argh, I fucking hate you for this! You're leaving me no choice!" The red SP yielded and also prepared for his part, which was simply to attack anything he was directed towards.

"One..."

Beginning the countdown, Voulge gripped onto the daggers tight and slowly opened his eyes.

"Two..."

Ignis and Licht generated their attacks, covering the navi in a layer of fire and wind bullets as they were ready to fire at any given moment...

"Three!!"

Licht made the first move and chucked a whole panel of sand at the armored car, while Voulge threw the black dagger straight into the empty panel. The navi proceeded to throw the remaining two daggers towards the right side of the armored car, waiting for the chips to do their work. "Go!" The yellow daggers began to move on its own through the air on Voulge's command, specifically tracing the armored car's tires as if the daggers had a mind of its own. At the same time, a black apparition rose up from the broken hole where the dagger was dropped and it instantly passed Voulge and Sandstream to matched up to the armored car's left side.

The two-pronged attack happened in a blink of an eye as the black apparition attempted to slash both of the car's left tires with its long blade while the daggers tried to puncture the tire. "Ignis! Licht!" Voulge took the spear back into his hands and aimed its tip at the armored car's back tires, prompting the SPs to unleash all of their attacks at once.

"One more thing before we go on. Lock-On, slot in!" Just as Voulge and Sandstream decided to fall back and take on evasive maneuvers, the satellite virus appeared above and began to fire on the back tires again with its strangely accurate machine gun. With all these attacks at once, Marius and Voulge hoped that it wouldn't give the Cartel any chance to properly retaliate before its too late. Though at the back of Voulge's mind, he would've liked to approach the situation in a less drastic measure in fear of the hostage's well being, the time was running out and he couldn't let them get away.

* Phalanx Aspis [2-hit Shield]
* Tempero Flamma [Strengthen [50]]
1. Transfer shield to Sandstream
2. Shadow2 [Shadow / 2 Turns] {S}
* SandStream: Approach Armored Car
Licht: PanelShot [100 / Terrain / 5% Broken] {B} @ Armored Car
3. SummonBlack2 [200 / Wide / Slash / Requires Broken or Missing Terrain] {A} @ Front left tire / Back left tire
4. Arrow2 [130+[b]25[/b] / Homing] {B} @ Front right tire
5. Arrow2 [130+[b]25[/b] / Homing] {B} @ Back right tire
Ignis: Attack [50 / Spread] @ Back left tire / Back right tire (x3)
* Ignis: Gatling Attack [50 / Spread] @ Back left tire / Back right tire
Licht: Attack [25 / Knockback] @ Back right tire (x3)
6. Lock-On2 [15x6 / Lockon Per Hit / Omnishoe / Mobile / 80 HP] {A} @ Back left tire (x3) / Back right tire (x3)
SandStream: Dodge (x6)

Cooldown:
Shadow: 2 Turns
"Hm. I'm not surprised given the urgency of the situation," Sandstream snorted in response to Ignis' offhanded comment before letting out a loud neigh as the group got in line with the Armored Car.

As Voulge introduced himself, the ponytail navi nodded back, sweat riding down her neck. "Uh, cool. I'm Brimstone. I'm uh.... not exactly part of you guys but one of my friends is in there so nice working with you?" Brimstone introduced herself, putting on a wry grin as she pointed toward the Armored Vehicle.

"This sucks," one of the Chasers grumbled, revving up his engines. "Can barely put a dent in the thing."

"Can't get too close to it either," the other one sighed. "Got some nasty tricks up its sleeve."

Voulge took these words into consideration as he fortified his defenses, leading Brimstone to emit a low whistle.

"Not my kind of thing, but whatever works," Brimstone chuckled, riding forward.

Licht shot a blast of sand at the Armored Car.... but while Voulge and Marius expected a hole to appear, the sand covered itself over! Marius quickly decided that slotting in the SummonBlack chip would do no good and kept it for later usage if needed.

Whoever was in the vehicle must've noticed Voulge, because a series of caltrops dispensed from underneath the car, lining the road and damaging the chaser's steeds! Not to mention slowing them down!

"Nrgh! How shameful! My apologies!" Sandstream growled, his pace slowing dramatically.

Voulge decided it was the best time to launch his all-out attack, shooting two electric arrows at the seemingly undefended tires, before metal coating started covering the targeted wheels! Ignis and Licht joined in the barrage, peppering the wheels with shots as fast as they could. Brimstone joined in the assault, firing powerful looking crossbow bolts at the back wheels.... One of which finally shattered!

"Yes!" Brimstone grinned, as the Netpolice chasers rolled their eyes.

The Armored Car screeched to a halt, settling on the sand with the driver side facing the group.

For a moment, nothing happened.

There was a terrible sounding groan as the car turned so its head faced forward and chainguns came out of the side and tops of the car while a missile was launched from underneath right at the group as they chainguns started firing.

The pursuers scattered.... and the NP Chasers weren't so lucky. One got blown sky high from the missile and the other one wasn't fast enough to avoid the continuous fire.

"Damn!" Brimstone swore, jumping off her horse and rolling into the sand as she avoided the Car's attack, dismissing her steed with a snap of her fingers as a tall wall erected itself in front of her and Voulge, taking the shots for the moment.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh? What should we do?" Brimstone inquired, hoping her wall would last a few more seconds.

-TARGET-
Armored Car: 590 HP [Ironbody](Rapid Fire!)
TireA: DISABLED
Tiresx3: Semi-Working
ChainGunsx4: 5 HP
Driver: ??? HP
CartelNaviA: ??? HP
Hostage?: ??? HP
OtherCartelNavisx?: ???

-TERRAIN-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-
Brimstone.EXE: 300 HP [50 HP Casing]
VolcanicSteed: DISMISSED
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP (Shadow 0/2)[SummonBlack2 returned]
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 70 HP [1-hit shield]
Lock-On2: 60 HP
NPChaserA-B: DEFEATED?
Brick Wall: 80 HP
Though Voulge and Marius' plans to stop the armored car was a success, the retaliation from the Cartel was inevitable as the chain gun ripped through one of the Netpolice navi. The spearman peered through the corner of the erected wall, sizing up the state of the armored car before he turned back to Brimstone. "You can leave it to me. We'll get rid of the obstacle." said Voulge with confidence in his voice.

He stared at Ignis, Licht, and the floating Satellite virus that also hid behind the wall, pointing his thumb behind his back towards the car. "The chain guns need to be dealt with. I'm counting on you." Without any further explanation, Voulge slipped out of the wall and began his mad dash straight towards the car. Whether it was from the cockiness that came from his near-invincible Shadow, or his unswayed determination to save the hostage, the navi did not stop his charge as he prepared his Lancea. "Lend me your power, mother earth!" Sands began to rise from the hot desert dunes and gathered around the Lancea in a swirling stream, forming the shape of a two-pronged spear as huge as the armored car it was intended to destroy.

"And let this power punish the wrongdoers!"

The navi charged right into the armored car head on with his gigantic spear, causing the ground to shake from the impact and the make-shift sand spear to disperse in a cloud of sand. "Now!" Voulge yelled through the veiling sands.

"Alright, lets get to work, fellas!" Hoping that Voulge would divert most of the gun's attentions, the three brave helpers seized the chance and slipped out from the wall to prepared for their attacks. "Yo, Whiney. You can just sit around for this, let me show you how real SPs deal with situations like this!" Ignis and Licht fired off their fireballs and whirlwinds at the chaingun while the Satellite unleashed a flurry of pinpoint-accurate gunfire. Confident that their attacks succeeded, the three helpers decided to wait and see the result of their attacks.

"...No, not yet." When the sands subsided, the armored car was still intact, whether or not it suffered through Voulge's Terra Telum attack. "Just one more push, Voulge. BigHammer, slot in!" Marius was already on the job as he slipped in the powerful chip, causing the Lancea to change into a large halberd. With a devastating side swing, Voulge intended to break through the Armored car's exterior to reveal all the navis inside. However, that it self would've put the hostage into an unwanted situation. As soon as he finished attacking, the spearman quickly backed away from the car and waited to see how everything would unfold...

* Tempero Flamma [Strengthen [50]]
SandStream: Dodge (x6)
1. Terra Telum [1st Stage: Movement x3 | 2nd Stage: 200 + Break + Impact + Phasing | 8TCD]
- Movement (x2) towards Armored Car
- Attack Armored Car
* Lock-On2 [15x6 / Lockon Per Hit / Omnishoe / Mobile / 80 HP] {A} @ Chainguns
Ignis: Attack [50 / Spread] @ Chainguns
Licht: Attack [25 / Knockback] @ Chainguns
Ignis & Licht: Dodge (x2)
2. BigHammer [160 / Impact / [b]Break[/b] / Melee] {B} @ Armored Car
- Movement (x1) back behind Brick Wall
-Turn Splice-

Cooldown:
Shadow: 1 Turns
"Okay, I'll leave it to you then," Brimstone grinned, giving Voulge a wink and playful shove on the shoulder despite the gunfire and the fact that Voulge wasn't exactly corporeal at the moment.

Taking said state to his advantage, Voulge charged the Armored Car, whose bullets had no effect on him, forcing the bullets to stop raining as the Cartel navis resolved that wasting ammunition was futile. Two navis jumped out of the car as Voulge split through the entire vehicle with one hit, the Lock-On effectively dealing with the Chainguns with the help of Ignis and Licht.

The two navis who jumped out grunted, whipping out knives simultaneously as they charged Voulge...

Only for both of them to be kicked in the head by burly, tanned half-naked men. Distracted, the Cartel Navis could not stop Voulge from completely wrecking the Armored Car, revealing four more Cartel Navis surrounding a golden bathtub.

The two navis assaulting Voulge were quickly taken out as Brimstone came into the fray, stopping at his side.

"Ofuro!" Brimstone cried out, a figure in the bathtub slowly coming to... her senses.

"Brimstone!" The resident in the bathtub responded, a clearly... not dressed female with fair skin and long, pearl white hair rising up as far as she could with the collar chained to her neck by the Cartel no doubt. The remaining navis quivered as they pointed guns at Ofuro.

"D-Don't move! Or we'll shoot!" one of them, assuming a leader position, despite shaking in his boots, threatened. Though the nervousness of all the navis made them even more dangerous perhaps.

"Ngggh..." Brimstone grumbled, gnashing her teeth unhealthily.

-TARGET-
Armored Car: DESTROYED
TireA: DISABLED
Tiresx3: Rolling rolling rolling
ChainGunsx4: BOOM
Driver: EJO'D
CartelNaviA: EJO'D
Ofuro.EXE: 250 HP (HOSTAGE)
CartelNaviB: 150 HP
CartelNaviC: 150 HP
CartelNaviD: 150 HP
CartelNaviE: 150 HP

-TERRAIN-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-
Brimstone.EXE: 300 HP [50 HP Casing]
ServantA: 50 HP
ServantB: 50 HP
VolcanicSteed: DISMISSED
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP (Shadow 1/2)[50 Strengthen][4 actions left]
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 70 HP [1-hit shield]
Lock-On2: 60 HP
"Not looking good...But this was expected." Marius closely watched the four cartel navis holding up the...strange hostage, thinking through possible options. Voulge peeked over the corner of the brick wall once more, realizing that the situation hasn't improved after the armored car were dealt with. "An acquaintance of yours?" the spearman asked Brimstone, but the look on her face was more than enough to answer Voulge's question. "...Any plans, Marius?"

Marius leaned his chin against his hand, analyzing the situation as an ex-cop. "If that Ofuro is important to Brimstone, I guess we would have to ask her how she wants to deal with it...On the other hand, they seem too unstable to listen to reason." He pulled out a handful of chips and edged it to the insert port of the PET. "This is my personal take, but I would take them out before things get out of hand. You know what to do." Even though Voulge wanted a peaceful way of approaching the situation, Marius did have his points. He tightly held onto the Lancea and nodded his head, signaling his operator that he would go with his plan.

"Then I would like to request something that would at least protect Ofuro from any unwanted resistance." said the spearman as he peeked towards Ofuro once more. "Alright then...Sending the chips!" Inserting the three chips he had on hand into the PET, plus one more for his navi's request, Marius watched as the battle began to unfold. A red orb appeared on Voulge's hand and he did not hesitate to throw it towards Ofuro's general direction. The orb miraculously dipped into the bathtub and expanded to create a thick barrier for the hostage.

"Voulge, now!" Marius yelled.

Voulge moved out from the brick wall, along with Licht, and swung his chip-imbued spear through the sand. The slash kick up the sands and blew it straight through the Cartel navis and Ofuro, covering them in a make-shift sandstorm.
"Licht, on me!" The green crystal continued to blow the winds to conceal and blind the cartel navis while Voulge continued on with his own attack. He stabbed the spear into the sands and a totem virus rose up from the ground, letting out its deep, husky laughter before breathing fire into the sandstorm and, hopefully, onto the cartel navis.

"One more! Lock them in place!"

Yet another virus rose out from the ground, the timpany virus to be specific, and began to blow out horrible screech that was loud enough to blow off the sandstorm. Voulge couldn't help but to cover his ears, but he firmly placed his eyes on Ofuro and wondered how everything had gone so far...

-Turn Splice End-
3. Transfer FlameScale [5 HP Casing / Fire Elem. Stonebody / Self Slow / Low Mobility / Status Guard] {S} @ Ofuro
4. AirStorm2 [60 x 3 / Variable Targeting / Pull3] {B} @ Sand to create diversion
* Licht: Gust @ Sand
5. Totem2 [140+[color=red]15[/color]+Spread 2 /or/ 70 Heal / Changes When Hit / 3 Turns / 100 HP / Reduced Accuracy] {B|S} @ CartelNavi B/C/D
6. Timpany [Hold / To-All-Clause (Enemies) / 1 Turn / 50 HP] {S}

Cooldown:
Shadow: 1 Turns
Voulge sprung into action, throwing the Flamescales data to Ofuro, who fumbled a bit before activating the data, giving her skin a more draconic appearance. The Cartel Navis panicked as they loaded their arms, but Voulge and Licht quickly blew up a Sandstorm around the area, blinding the navis. Ofuro placed her hands on her collar in the meanwhile, seeming to do something to try and crack it off.

"Here's my chance!" Brimstone smirked, covering her head with a knight's helm of the same material as the rest of her black and red armor before the entire material became a bit bulkier. She disappeared in an instant, reappearing behind Ofuro and destroying the chains to the collar.

"Why you...!" One Cartel Navi shouted, firing at Ofuro, who dove into her bath, avoiding the gunfire as Brimstone just took it on.

As Voulge set up his Totem, he could see Brimstone fighting all four navis in the sandstorm, before the enemies came flying out toward Voulge, landing crippled and in a heap. The Totem decided to burn them to a crisp.

As the sandstorm subsided, Voulge could see Brimstone carrying Ofuro's bath over one shoulder, the latter devoid of any collar, walking out slowly before stopping in front of him and setting the tub down.

"Gotta thank you for that, Voulge. I owe you one," Brimstone grinned, her helmet discarded. She raised an eyebrow at the remaining Cartel Navi before shrugging. "Well, I'm sure they'll round him up eventually. I'll stay here until they do," Brimstone sighed. "Boy is it hot! Need a little wardrobe change," In a flash, what remained of her armor was a makeshift tube-top, arm-length gloves, shorts, and sandals, displaying much of her tanned skin and physique. She winked playfully at Voulge. "I'll be on the lookout for you~ Later~"

"Ohohoho~ I thank you by gracing you with my words, Voulge! Until we meet again~" Ofuro cackled, as if she wasn't the victim of a hostage situation just recently.

Voulge's radio started up again. It was Pitch again.

"There's still more to do lover boy! There's three situations still needing to be resolved! Go help one of them out!" Pitch grumbled. What was with that nickname anyway?

-TARGET-
Armored Car: DESTROYED
TireA: DISABLED
Tiresx3: Rolling rolling rolling
ChainGunsx4: BOOM
Driver: EJO'D
CartelNaviA: EJO'D
CartelNaviB: EJO'D
CartelNaviC: EJO'D
CartelNaviD: EJO'D
CartelNaviE: 1 HP (Knocked out)

-TERRAIN-
100% Sand

-CHASERS-
Brimstone.EXE: 300 HP
Ofuro.EXE: 250 HP
Voulge.EXE: 300 HP
Ignis.SP: 140 HP
Licht.SP: 100 HP
Sandstream.SP: 70 HP

-VICTORY-
Get: 1600z, 78 Bugfrags
FXP: 4 with Formula
5 with Brimstone
3 with Ofuro

-REMAINING DESTINATIONS-
Northwest
West
Far South