To: Chips & Candy
From: M. Patrovski (M.Patrovski@psaom.org)
Subject: Chip Trade Event
Message:

It's been a while since we've been in the spooky holiday spirit, but there was one fun little prank that stands out from a while back. Vector was new to the team and understandably unfamiliar with the festivities. Aera was still fairly new to the team as well, but she was really quick in the uptake and her excitement for nearly everything had her eager to dive into the holiday spirit with both feet.

So one day, after talking with Mach, they came up with the idea of pulling a prank on Vector. While he was "hibernating," they applied a temporary decal layer to his frame, and a mirror program placed directly in front of him. It took them a little while, but once he woke back up, he was greeted with the sight of him decked out in a new skeleton paint job! It looked pretty spooky because of his already skeletal-esque form, and the bone white contrasted well with his dark blue color scheme and his single glowing red eye.

Vector's pretty stoic, but he almost immediately whipped out a blade and was ready to attack his reflection! Thankfully nothing got diced and he seemed to grow a fondness for his new look, so we had a good laugh while introducing him to the holiday. Good times...

Attached chip: CrossGunDamage: 140 + Spread 4
Accuracy: A
Description: A gun whose shot penetrates enemies to hit up to four enemies diagonally from it, as if forming a X shape.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: A

Oh my! That sounds hilarious, hehe! Good thing no-one got hurt though!
-Prose

I think Mach could use some Netiday spirit, maybe doing something nice for folks could take his mind off things... sign us up!
-Mazer Patrovski, operator for MachMan.EXE

--WARNING-- Major revamp due to Mach's reliance on Passives --WARNING--

Sig Attacks: (Pool: 2100/2120) [PE #51]Max Cap: 420 (630 nerfed)

--OLD--
Heavy Shielding: 5-hit Shield + 3TCD (100pts)
Auto-Injectors: (Heal 135 + 5TCD) (180pts)
SCRAM Boost: Teleport +2TCD (80pts)
Blitz Assault: Teleport + Stun(Nova2) + 4TCD (140pts)
Scrambler Missiles: ((Confusion x 2) x 2 Targets) then (Blind x 2 Targets) + BusterLock + 11TCD (360pts +80Nerf)
Auto-Cage Gyros: [Passive] Status Cure (120pts)
Overclocking:(x2) [Passive] Dodge (160pts)
Enhanced Perception: [Passive] Accuracy Enhancement (160pts)
Anti-Gravity Engines: [Passive] Haste (160pts)
Force Multiplier: [Passive] Spawn 2 Machman Decoys (160pts)

-Shrike-
SCRAM Boost: Teleport + 2TCD (80pts)
Optic Blast: 80dmg Fire + Break + Blind + 4TCD (160pts)
Divert Power: Dodge + Sig Chill + 2TCD (80pts)


--New--
Heavy Shielding: 6-hit Shield + 3TCD (120pts)
Auto-Injectors: (Heal 150 + 5TCD) (200pts)
SCRAM Boost: Teleport +2TCD (80pts)
Blitz Assault: Teleport + Glitch + Stun(Nova2) + 4TCD (160pts)
Scrambler Missiles: ((Confusion x 2) x 2 Targets) then (Blind x 2 Targets) + BusterLock + 11TCD (360pts +80Nerf)

Surgical Strafe: After calibrating his targeting system, Mach swoops in for a precision bombardment of the enemy's position.
(Accuracy Enhancement + Buster Shotx2 + Movement +3TD) (120pts)

MachMan Missile Massacre: Mach unleashes a salvo of twenty-five missiles towards a single enemy, then lines up for another shot.
(Buster Shotx5 + Take Aim +4TCD) (160pts)

Reload: Mach utilizes the brief pause in his assault to dodge enemy fire and reload, so he can go back in "guns blazing."
(Dodge + Sig Chill + 2TCD) (80pts) x2

Decoy Squadron: A quartet of holo drones are jettisoned from Mach's frame, that then take the shape of their master
((Decoy x4)x2 turns + Dodge +5TCD) (200pts)


-Shrike-
SCRAM Boost: Teleport + 2TCD (80pts)
Optic Blast: 80dmg Fire + Break + Blind + 4TCD (160pts)
Divert Power: Dodge + Sig Chill + 2TCD (80pts)

Dazzle Ray: Shrike sweeps two targets with a rapidly shifting, multi-frequency beam to "dazzle" and confuse the enemy, but the effect is neither damaging nor permanent.
(Confusion x2 Targets + 4TCD) (160pts)

Terrain Denial: The ocular SP utilizes its searing glare like a thermal lance to carve into the battlefield with blazing heat, leaving behind a long scar of glowing, bubbling lava.
(Large-Area Terrain Effect [Lava] + Strengthen 40 +2TCD) (80pts)

New Total: 2120/2120

My nominations:
MeleeMan - obvious reasons
RedRidingHood - winner of the Net Tournament

Other possible contenders:
TennisMan - first to get a BeastOut
SplashMan - first successful UnderNet exploration
Broadside - because mecha

Mach's furious assault was ultimately successful, with the added bonus of removing the reinforcements as their master laid slain (in two, rapidly derezzing pieces). With the sounds of torn metal, explosions, and searing flames finally gone, the torn battlefield was quiet again, save for the sputtering growl of Shrike's bullet-riddled engines.

The squat SP's wobbling descent was punctuated with a dull thud when the program clattered to the ground. Its large, mechanical eye briefly struggled to move in the soot-dusted ground, then shakily panned to its Navi's much more gradual and controlled landing. "R-Radar Cl-ear. Damage Cri-i-i-i-itical," the SP dutifully reported in its monotone, androgynous voice.

Though Mach couldn't physically see the debris field of scattered zenny, bugfrags, and battlechip data, his sensors allowed him to at least "detect" their presence around him. He could also, from the HP read-out, tell his SP was in no shape to continue, or even help gather up the spoils. ["Good work, Shrike. I'm bringing you back for repairs, stand by,"] Mazer's now rarely-heard voice came in through both Program's internal comms. A second later, the heavily-damaged SP disappeared in a flash of cyan light, leaving Mach alone in the clearing, surrounded by ominous-looking woods.

Seemingly undeterred, the Navi silently got to work. It took a few minutes, but when all was said and done he'd collected a sizeable amount of zenny, bugfrags, and two fairly impressive battlechips; a good haul, and a decent place to call it quits... for now. With his SP out for repairs for a while, Mach decided to utilize a seldom-used subchip. After selecting the subchip, a green wireframe (obviously unseen by Mach) materialized in the air about a meter in front of him. The wireframe eventually formed the shape of a long rectangle, standing vertically, with a slightly curled bit protruding from the top, like a bit of string, then disappeared with a little chime indicating the BookMark subchip had been successfully "placed."

Mazer minimized Shrike's repair window upon hearing the chime, and saw a little message scroll across the top of his screen. ["Good call, let's take a break,"] Mazer remarked, and let Shrike's repair program run on its own, as now he didn't have a tight deadline. ["If you want, I can send you by the shops on your way back,"] he continued with a suggestion. The Navi stood up straight as the last of the collected data disappeared from the download, then replied with a brief "Sure."

A few seconds later, Mach was enveloped in a cyan glow, then rocketed straight up as a beam of light and disappeared.

((Used: BookMark))
((To InternetCity))

MachMan: Speed Upgrade 1-3 (30000z, -6 levels)
Shrike: Speed+V1,V2 (300 Bugfrags, -10 levels)
KaijuMan: Speed Upgrade 1 (5000z, -2 levels)
HangMan: Speed Upgrade 1 (5000z, -2 levels)

While the Broadcast Bot commented on the "bird" that faced it, Shrike got to work on further thinning the field of its comrades. Its cycloptic gaze focused on the minigun-wielding program, then shot a searing glare in its direction with a flash of red from its glowing mechanical pupil. The air was briefly lanced with a crimson ray of heat, which lasted little more than a second.

Mach also kept up the assault; he lunged towards the speaking camera bot with his clawed left hand splayed open. Mach's right hand was still laying in a crumpled heap near where the war hammer had exploded against the floor, so he had little more than a torn stump at the end of his right arm. That "disability" seemed to do little to affect his ability as he whipped his left arm and hand forward in a climbing diagonal swipe through the program's position, attempting to cleave into the program's surprisingly stalwart armor a second time.

" FlameLine3Damage: 170 + Ground Attack + Wide Attack
Accuracy: B
Description: A wall of fire erupts from the ground, burning up to 3 targets.
Duration: Once
Element: Fire
Trader Rank: B, StepCrossDamage: 120 + Slashing + X-Range Attack + Teleport
Accuracy: S for primary target, B for additional targets.
Description: The user warps in front of an enemy, then quickly performs two sword slashes to create an X shape. Can hit up to 5 targets with good RP. Rare
Duration: Once.
Element: Null
Special: Teleport: When RP Quality is excellent, this attack also counts as a free dodge.
Trader Rank: B, HawkCut3Damage: 50 + Consecutive Strike + Slashing x 3 hits
Accuracy: B
Description: Performs a flashy 3-hit sword strike. Gets stronger with each hit, but it's very easy for the timing to be thrown off and fail.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Consecutive Strike: This attack's power increases by 10 with each consecutive successful hit. This stacks with other HawkCut series chips, including DeltaRayEdge. This chip immediately ends upon missing, and the power boost is reset to 0.
Trader Rank: B, and AuraHead3Damage: 150 + Break + Line Attack3 + Aura Boost
Accuracy: B / C / D
Description: Launches a Megallian Aura Head that smashes through up to 3 targets/objects in a straight line. Accuracy decreases with each hit.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Aura Boost: +20 Attack Damage when user of this chip is protected by a Barrier. +50 Attack Damage when user of this chip is protected by an Aura.
Trader Rank: B" Mach commanded with a grunt after he recovered from the clawed swipe, then tapped his throttles to jet himself near and around the camera-laden program. His movements were slightly erratic in hopes of making himself harder to hit, but had enough force to propel him a significant distance if his foe tried to fall back to a better position or turn tail and run. With the assist of his thrust vectoring paddles, control surfaces, and various vents, he tried his best to keep the Bot within arm's length, at least long enough for him to strike.

He punched his left arm forward and drove his open left hand palm-first towards his foe. Though his prosthetic arms were longer than his original limbs, he'd had plenty of time with them to become used to his extended reach, and had the added bonus of looking almost akin to the long, slender leg and talons of a bird of prey. He continued to use his engines and control surfaces to assist in his own aim, as his strategy was riding on the success of this attack. He tried to clasp his sharpened fingers around any limb he could grab, or dig his claws in like five simplistic can openers. If Mach had a choice, he'd go for the neck.

If he managed to snare the bot in his claw, he wasted no time to give his foe the temporary extra title of "projectile." He 'looked' to his left using his onboard sensors to confirm the bit-user hadn't moved from its impromptu foxhole, then slammed his left throttle forward. The engine roared and spewed a cone of flame before whipping his body, arm, and snared enemy in a clockwise rotation in the air. Mach's goal was to gain enough momentum to only require one full rotation before hurling the broadcast bot towards its huddled ally. He snapped his hand open as quickly as he could to ensure a "clean" throw, but he really just wanted the program to land in the vicinity of its comrade.

Regardless of the foe's status and position, Shrike followed up by engaging as well with its immolating glare. Its large eye had little trouble tracking the target, then tightened its iris as its pupil changed from green to red. A split second later, a perfectly straight line from Shrike (and hopefully ending at the Broadcast Bot) of glowing red light and heat flickered in the air. The beam briefly pulsed as Shrike devoted more time and power into the attack, and attempted to carve into the program with the beam of heat.

Meanwhile, Mach's first chip had been uploaded by Mazer, and his right arm rapidly began to take shape of the manifestation of said chip. A more astute observer would also notice Mach's discarded hand fragmented and disappeared as well, as part of the reformatting of the limb. It quickly took the form of a single, long barrel with four cylindrical fixtures splayed outwards at the "breech" of the weapon. Said cylinders suddenly began to glow a vibrant orange and become hot to the touch, but then seemed to drain into the barrel.

Mach aimed the weapon towards his primary target, whom he hoped was still near its subterranian comrade. He still fired the weapon either way; a single rocket burst forth from the barrel of the weapon and streaked down towards the ground, leaving behind a white trail of smoke from its solid fuel motor. The rocket impacted the ground with an initially anticlimactic *thud*, but immediately afterwards the ground seemed to crack like a pane of glass, but instead of dark fissures or holes, the cracks were glowing in a rapidly intensifying orange light. A split-second later, a vast swath of ground erupted in a jagged wall of flame and heat, bathing a significant portion of the battlefield in fire.

Mach didn't pause to admire his fiery handiwork, he instead abandoned his firing position in the air by cartwheeling to his right. He anticipated the explosion of flame wouldn't keep the enemy from firing back, pun not intended, so he had no intention of being caught unaware. The wall of flame died down and disappeared rather quickly, then Mach himself disappeared even faster.

He reappeared directly behind the main camera program, and his left hand had reformatted to its default manipulator, but was then clutching the rectangular hilt of his energy sword. Though it initially appeared as if his arm just appeared to slightly blur, as if it went out of focus, the sudden appearance of two bright, intersecting cyan crescents in the air through the target's position showed Mach actually delivered an incredibly fast pair of slashes as soon as he appeared.

Though the initial assault was impressive to see, Mach wasn't finished; he continued to press on, using his engines to keep his prey in range. He continued to wield his energy sword and swung the thin cyan blade straight up in a vertical, rising slash aimed up the camera bot's mechanical spine. As soon as his arm brought the weapon pointing directly above his head, he then traced a semi-circle above and to the left of his head to "turn" the blade in the air while keeping as much momentum as possible. With that, was able to smoothly swing his arm down and to the right, whipping a diving diagonal slash with the energy blade. After delivering the second slash, his right engine barked and coughed flame to abruptly stop Mach's upper torso at the end of the swing.

If his two swings managed to hit, he then added a bit of flair by switching off the beam emitter in the hilt. The blade disappeared in a whisp of cyan energy as he twirled the hilt in his fingers, then clamped his grip down with the hilt now facing upside down. He then flicked the emitter back on as he drove the bottom of his fist up and forward, aiming towards the underside of the target's chest in one last attempt to skewer the program on his blade.

Mach then let go of the sword, keeping it active and hopefully embedded in the camera program, and "stood" upright to face his target. Then the large, bust statue-like form of a Megalian materialized directly ahead of the angular, armored Navi. The violet and tan virus's eyes and mouth were initially just dark pits of shadow, but a second later they flickered and burned with cyan light as its expression shifted to a silent battle cry. The virus's head launched forward like a cannonball, aimed towards the Broadcast Bot. It attempted to deliver a crushing, ballistic headbutt in the hopes of smashing through its armor, or possibly more.

After the chaos wrought by the angular Navi, the veil had lifted, and all pretense dropped. Mach's enemy became clear, even amongst two minor wingmen. The Navi felt a fleeting, sick pleasure in permanently disrupting the broadcast of this hostile collective, with an equally strong desire to cut the entire feed for good. Upon completing is upward spiral, he demanded a "full house" of battlechips; " Counter2Damage: (1-Hit I-Field) + (Counter(110 + Impact + Break): On-Hit)
Accuracy: S Block, A Return
Description: Defends against one attack, teleports to enemy, and strikes with Gutpunch. Impacting. Breaking.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: I-Field is pierced by Impact, Counter is negated by Impact.
Special: Status Guard: This chip blocks debuffs.
Trader Rank: C, MoonRay1Damage: 80 + Lunar Drain
Accuracy: A
Description: Fires a ray of lunar energy at an enemy.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Lunar Drain: Removes the target's outermost defense layer, even if it wouldn't normally be removed by this attack. Nullifies any counterattacks from that defense. Still triggers other defenses' counterattacks, if applicable.
Trader Rank: D, DashAttack2Damage: 120 + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement
Accuracy: C
Description: The user charges forward at a great speed to ram a line of enemies. Hits a maximum of 5 enemies before the momentum is lost.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Direction of travel may be altered with chip, terrain, and sig use.
Trader Rank: C, BigHammer2Damage: 220 + Impact + Break
Accuracy: B
Description: Summons a giant metal hammer to utterly crush one enemy that stands before you.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Trader Rank: C, DashAttack1Damage: 90 + Impact + LineAttack(5) + Movement
Accuracy: C
Description: The user charges forward at a great speed to ram a line of enemies. Hits a maximum of 5 enemies before the momentum is lost.
Duration: Once
Element: Null
Special: Direction of travel may be altered with chip, terrain, and sig use.
Trader Rank: D, RageClaw3Damage: 100 + Slashing (Attack) OR 50 + Impacting (Throw)
Accuracy: B / B then B
Description: Creates an impressive bear claw. Can be used to slash or throw enemies or objects.
Duration: Until Overridden/Broken. Breaks automatically after 6 uses.
Element: Null
Special: Throw: The wielder must first grab the target to be thrown, then the target is thrown in the direction/area indicated. A second check is made if against another object/enemy. Throw deals damage to both thrown object/enemy and the second object/enemy. Damage occurs at point of collision with the ground/wall/ceiling/etc. or an object/enemy, not during initial grab attempt. Objects deal their max HP in damage (instead of the chip's damage) if they hit an object/enemy, then break. If they miss, the object just takes the chip's damage. This chip has a variety of uses.
Trader Rank: B."

As soon as the first chip was frantically uploaded by the moderately fatigued Mazer, Mazer's left arm briefly became a storm of data; its flurries eventually formed into a highly bulked-up arm to an even larger forearm and fist. Said fist was cocked and ready to deliver a crushing haymaker at the enemy, and remained at the ready position throughout the assault to come.

The dulled yellow limb was in stark contrast to the rest of his dark, angular frame, but it appeared its bulk did little to hinder the aerobatic Navi's nimbleness in the air; in fact, Mach used the weight to his advantage. He hurled the limb up and over his body as he rolled hard to the right. Normally the Navi would simply rotate around his roll axis, an imaginary line piercing through his chest from the tip of his fuselage-shaped chest armor to the midpoint between his massive engine nacelle, performing a quick "aileron roll." Instead, the heavy left arm caused his entire body be slightly dragged behind; as he rolled, the centerpoint of his body traced a near perfect circle in the air: a true "barrel roll."

While its master maneuvered to avoid fire from any of the three remaining hostiles on the field, Shrike moved to even the teams. The SP's large eye smoothly and silently gimballed back and stopped with a direct, cycloptic glare towards the small satellite behind. Shrike's mechanical iris tightened and its then pin-point pupil changed from a vibrant green to a foreboding red. Less than a moment later, a single ray of air started to ripple from the extreme heat, then actually begin to slowly combust, tracing a perfectly straight beam across the field. The heat laser continued to burn for several seconds, much longer than normal, as Shrike attempted to keep the Satellite's own optic and cannon in its proverbial crosshairs throughout the attack. A few seconds later, the beam finally dissipated into a thin, fleeting trail of embers. Shrike's pupil changed back to green, and the camera shutter-esque iris, now trimmed in red from the heat, eased open.

With the second chip uploaded, Mach moved to unleash a beam of his own. However, instead of a crimson beam of heat, Mach's entire frame seemed to flicker as if reflecting off an unseen moon. The pale reflection seemed to move across his frame from back to front, till it eventually concentrated itself at the tip of his nosecone-inspired chest armor. A split second later, a pale white beam blasted forth from his fuselage without making so much as a sound. The ghastly, powerful beam sliced through the air towards the lone Broadcast Bot, with the aim to deliver a surprisingly harsh moonlight treatment that pierces barrier or armor as if it were made only of shadow.

The eerily quiet beam didn't last long, but its existence was punctuated by the shrill whine of turbines spinning up, followed by the deep, frenzied roar of afterburners lighting up. The beam barely had the chance to dissipate before Mach barreled behind, "riding" twin twenty-foot cones of orange and bright indigo flame. Though the bone-white beam would even briefly white out a normal navi's vision, his handicap temporarily became a gift; he could still plainly perceive the enemy ahead, though he couldn't tell what shape or even how many limbs the program had, let alone the color.

Regardless, Mach moved to brutalize his enemy with a rapidly super-sonic tackle. The air over his leading edges struggled to get out of the way in time, forming a very thin but almost steel-durable veil of hyper-compressed air like an impossibly light and flexible battering ram. If he somehow got aimed in a wrong direction, his broad ruddervators and even his legs twisted and contorted in the air to slam his vector to an intercept course. Previously unseen unless focused on, two dark objects that seemed to have shorn off his frame began to take shape, specifically into a pair of perfect copies of the Navi that left them behind.

The holographic clones careened forward, twisting and crossing paths as they made a beeline towards the beam-crashing Broadcast Bot. Upon reaching the foe, they swarmed around the progam like a pair of wasps looking and prodding for a weakness to exploit. Meanwhile, just as Mach believed he was about to reach his target, a long, handle-like cylinder started to form against the palm of his mechanical right hand. This flurry of rapidly-forming data remained anchored to his hand even as he passed through the bot's position, and the thoroughly violent maneuver to follow.

Without warning, his left engine nacelle slammed into full thrust reversers, causing the ring of vents to open and produce small spines of flame akin to a gas stove spiked with nitrous oxide. This sudden reversal on one side caused his frame to whip around just as the massive head of the hammer began to form, and its full weight came to bear. His right arm strained to remain attached to his body as it maintained its deathgrip on the warhammer while Mach's body twisted in the air to again face the enemy at close range. The thrust vectoring paddles of his right engine frenetically tilted the large flame cone to push his right shoulder down, making his body's spin to whip the hammer up and over in the hopes of bringing the hammer directly down upon the bot's camera-laden head.

The swing was so fast, the flattened edges of the hammer's face caused vapor trails to trace its near-perfect semi-circular path in the air, and so violent that after the swing, the hammer broke free and hurtled to the ground, with his mechanical hand still gripping the blunt weapon's long handle. The hammer impacted the ground with an explosion of rapidly fragmenting data before disappearing without a trace. Undeterred by his own hand being wrenched off by the attack, the Navi jetted backwards for half a second at full power, full thrust reversers to avoid a possible melee counter, then closed the reversers to send the Navi careening towards the bot for a second time. A cone of white vapor flashed in the air around him just prior to the Navi breaking the sound barrier, and continued to barrel towards the program in his relentless assault.

After hopefully delivering a second, albeit less powerful tackle due to a lack of room to accelerate, Mach again changed his course to put his crosshairs back on his target. Thankfully for his limbs, he had no more warhammers to produce, and instead threw himself into a hair-pin turn to reverse course. The Navi audibly groaned from the rapid increase in positive G, but now he couldn't even perceive the "tunnel vision" one would see when beginning to black out.

If his left arm hadn't yet delivered a crushing counter by this point, the bulky limb rapidly began to fragment and reformat; the data fragments swarmed over and around his fingers for a second or two, then disappeared to reveal the curved, sharpened talons that took their place. He opened his hand and let it trail slightly behind with claws splayed outwards, so he could attempt to rake said claws over the program's hull with one quick, savage swipe.