Blaine looked up at the Whale King as it took off, leaving Team Vagrant isolated in their starting location. They were hundreds of miles from the nearest town, with only their Gustav to support them. Then he surveyed the area around them.

They seemed to be in a clearing in a forest that had recently faced a bushfire. A lot of the area was scoured clear, and everything was covered in sooty ash. There were occasional stumps jutting out of the ground, and charred logs too, in some places. Even less frequently was a burnt tree still standing upright. Off to Blaine's right, near where Matthew was unloading his shiny new Dark Horn, there was a creekbed, with a mere trickle of water running along it. This creekbed was clear and flat, but on the other side of the creekbed was some less damaged forest, and a rapidly-rising cliffface stood just behind the Gustav. The cliff was marked and pocked with boulders as big as Zoids, and there seemed to be a narrow path leading up to the top. Overall, it seemed like a pretty unique battlefield, at least in Blaine's mind.

"Interesting place. What do you think boss? Which Zoids?" John asked cheerfully. Blaine backhanded him roughly, rather peeved about the cost of getting John's Gun Sniper out of impound.

"We'll wait until the other team shows up, okay?"

"Attention Team Vagrant. This is Tim Johanneson, your friendly neighborhood sector coordinator." His voice was cheery, and his face on the Gustav's communications panel was ruddy and youthful. "Y'all are about half a klick to the south of the nearest Team. Want for me to hail 'em an' get this fight started up?"

Blaine pressed the reply button as John looked on with interest.

"Roger that. We'd love to. Who're we fighting?" asked Blaine casual as John pulled out a notebook, ready to start planning strategies.

"Team Dreadnut. They're locals. I'll talk t' the winners when y'all're done." Tim clicked out as he transmitted the order for the Judge to go. The other teams in the sector were clamoring for his attention.

The Judge Capsule rocketed down, landing and deploying. "This battle is between the Imperial Team Vagrant and the Athenian Team Dreadnut. All participants will halt in place as they relay their necessary data."

• Captain: John Glover, Class C, Shield Liger, SS-06 Firestorm Salvo Unit x2 and XP-02 Fokker Device modifications
• Yvette Johnson, Class C, Cannon Tortoise, TW-01 Ontos and CP-05 Heavy Beam Cannon modifications

Blaine looked over the data as John scribbled some notes. John then tapped Blaine on the shoulder, ready to compose a strategy. As he talked to Blaine, Blaine calmly ordered Natalie and Matthew to their Zoids.

Pilot 1: Matthew Galloway, Class E
Dark Horn with CP-03 Beam Gatling Unit and CP-12 Attack Booster Unit

Pilot 2: Natalie Frazier, Class E
Lightning Saix with ZM-28 Darkreign Unit

Pilot 3: John Simmons, Class E
Heavy Armour Gun Sniper with CP-13 Wild Weasel Unit

((You get to go first.))

"The Battlemode is zero niner niner two. The area within three klicks's been designated off-limits, unless you're one of those cheap-ass poachers who's waiting for a Team to finish with a battle and pick on them immediately afterwards.
"Yeah, I see you. Punk. Get the Hell outta 'ere."
It was Judgeman 0042. Everybody's favorite psychotic Judgeman.
"So, as I was saying, make with the killmaim."

As the Judge declared the killmaimfest open season, Matthew lurched forward with his Dark Horn, trotting across the terrain at 110 km/h. During that time, he was bringing his weapons to bear on the Zoid he thought was the more threatening. That's right little Cannon Tortoise, I mean you.

The entire back mount pivots to face the Cannon Tortoise, no matter where the damn Zoid moves. The CP-03s both kick into action, firing for a full three seconds with the both of them, aiming along the base of the Heavy Beam Cannon, hoping to deal it enough to cause it to malfunction. At the same time, the missiles in all three pods come to lock onto the Shield Liger, and all 11 fly out and arc towards the Shield Liger.

Matt breaks firing the CP-03s for a scant second to let the Dark Horn rest, before kicking the right one back into action, this time aming to reduce some anchors to scrap metal, in case the Tortoise decides to fire the HBC.

------------------

The Lightning Saix moves into action, dashing towards the Shield Liger at a speed that fluctuates between 210 and 260 km/h, to make it harder to hit, whilst bringing the Darkreign Pulse Laser Cannons to bear on the left forward knee, which is woefully underarmoured. The entire time, the Saix is using it's great maneuverability to dodge rfom side to side, to throw off any fire. Once that is done, Natalie fires three pulse bursts of high-level UV beams into that open point throughout the remaining time. As this is happening, the Saix literally peppers the Shield Liger with fire from the Laser Vulcan Gun mounted on it's forehead.

--------------

John grimaced as he watched the other two Zoids move into action. Well, they could do that, but he had other things to do...

Flicking the switches to activate the multi-blade antennae and sink the Strike Anchor Claws into the ground, John also toggles the switch to raise the Targetting Rectennae, which beings to get a lock on both enemy Zoids. As this is happening, John pivots his Gunsniper at the waist as much as he can without damaging it, to fire the Beam Machineguns on the wrist at the Cannon Tortoise's nearest leg. At the same time, several small screens fold out of the canopy, and two missiles rocket out of the fly-by-wire pods, trailing thing strands of fiber optic cable behind them. They flash towards the Cannon Tortoise, and John twists and turns the joysticks, swooping the missiles up, before slamming them back down to swoop straight down the barrel of the Heavy Beam Cannon and blow it up from inside. Although most of his attention is on piloting the missiles, he divides just enough of his attention to fire off four of the Wild Weasel Unit missiles at each Zoid, aiming for the nearest leg of each.

Standing there, a stalwart defender, the Shield Liger raises its shield and pops up the AMD Repeaters. Firing on the Gunny, his zoid prevents any spiffy tricks like popping a missile down the Tortoise's HBC. Suffering fire from all three zoids, its shield goes down about four seconds into the round. Its fore section has suffered extensive damage, when all of the sudden it dashes off, facing the Lightning Saix.
The Cannon Tortoise hits the Dark Horn like the fist of an angry god. The beam cannon fires out, immolating the Horn as the sturdy zoid tries to escape the blast. A mortar round catches it in the midsection, followed by a volley from the Ontos. The beam cannon's lance suddenly penetrates, washing through the Horn's chassis and scorching it like only unadulterated divine wrath can.
The Firestar Salvo Pods discharging at the Saix are of little note next to this awe-inspiring display of destructive power. The missiles came in like a swarm of angry bees, forcing Nat to pull some pretty impressive dodging maneuvers. They still hit, rattling the zoid in rapid succession. The indicators displayed the Lightning Beam Cannon as disabled.

Rank Adjustment:
Stationary Horn - +1 Loss
Stationary Artillery Piece - +1 Win

The Dark Horn and Red Horn are not artillery pieces like the Gordos and Cannon Tortoise, people. They stand and shoot, they get shot. Sometimes they meet divine wrath when they stand still.

Natalie swore as the Lightning Saix shuddered and shook from the rain of missiles, and bit her lip when she saw the Pulse Laser Cannons had been disabled. That didn't really leave her very many options, considering that the only other weapon the Saix possessed was a small Laser Vulcan. She flicked on the team frequency and called for help in desperation.

"Daddy! John! What do I do? My Pulse Lasers are disabled! I'm not used to piloting this damn thing!" shouted Natlaie angrily. However, her anger was nothing compared to the hurricane taking place inside the Horn's cockpit.

"-CKER! DIE BITCH!!!" screamed Matthew, pushing forward the control sticks. He was breathing heavily, his eyes narrowed and squinty. When the Zoid didn't move, Matt let out another frustrated scream and slammed his fists down on the control display, causing sparks to shoot out. He fell quite for a moment, and then...

"BLOODY MOTHERFU- I HATE YOU, YOU LOUSY BASTARDS!" screamed Matt at the top of his voice, in an apoplectic rage. However, the rage wasn't directed at the Cannon Tortoise and his backup. It was directed at his own team and more specifically, the Zoid Matthew was sitting in. He reached down and began to kick and punch various areas of the cockpit as hard as he could, denting and breaking metal and smashing viewscreens. His psychiatrist had wanted him to release his stress by taking it out on Zoids, and he was doing just that. Probably not in the way that his psychiatrist had hoped, but that was beside the point.

"Jesus Christ Almighty..." breathed John as he heard Matt's screaming fit over the team frequency. His Gun Sniper twisted slightly to look at the downed and ruined Horn, and he was caught by surprise when Natalie blurted out her question. Apparently she'd missed most of that tirade.

"What? Oh... oh... um... think, John, think... Athenian League! Swap out for Blaine! Cap'n, you up for it?" he asked Blaine, who was sitting in the Sniper, waiting and watching. Currently he was in dismay. This was their first big showing and they were falling apart. Half their firepower had just been ruined, and even worse, the pilot of that half seemed to be in a raging frenzy.

"Fine. Whatever. I'm ready and waiting," called Blaine, as his Gun Sniper stepped off the Gustav and waited to swap out with his daughter.

(Bah. Running towards a stationary target in a straight line is the same as standing still for everything save indirect fire.)

The Shield Liger stands there, glad for the respite as the other team's zoids switch out. The Cannon Tortoise also holds its fire, in the gentlemanly comraderie that some old-fashioned zoid pilots share.

(No status changes. The Gunny is now on the field - state its stuff, and then attack again.)

Captain Blaine Fraizer, Class D
Replacing Matthew Galloway
Gun Sniper, w/ AD-02 Melanoma Unit

"Alright John, what have we got? Think fast, kid," growled Blaine not unkindly as his lithe and nimble Gun Sniper headed for the cliff, widing its way up it, using the booster jets and the Anchor Talons to climb up easily and settle into Longshot Mode at the top, trying to avoid being noticed.

John moved his Gun Sniper slightly, checking damage readouts. He was mostly okay. As he angled his Gun Sniper towards the Shield Liger, a thought occured to him.

"I know! The Heavy Beam Cannon draws tremendous amounts of energy. That Cannon Tortoise will be moving slower than molasses for a little while. I'm going to target that. Nat, go for the Shield Liger. The shield isn't functional any more, so engage it in melee combat. You're going to have to rely on the Saix's agility to avoid the incoming fire!"

With the Targetting Rectennae still raissed and locked onto both targets, John checked how many missiles he still had. 54 of his normal WWU missiles, and 14 of his Fly-By Wire rockets. John continues to turn his Gunny towards the stronger of the two targets, the Cannon Tortoise. He brings the Heavy Gunny to bear on the Cannon Tortoise and aligns all the guns on the Wild Weasel Unit so that they are pointing at one thing, The Mortar Barrel of the Cannon Tortoise. For a full two seconds, the firepower of the Wild Weasel Unit's beam cannons rains upon the Cannon Tortoise's mortar cannon, hoping to ruin it completely, or even better, detonate something prematurely. As this is happening, John releases two Fly-By-Wire rockets towards the Shield Liger, chasing it down. Since the Cannon Tortoise is really slow at the moment, John focuses more on controlling the rockets, only giving minimal attention to making sure the Wild Weasel Unit is still trained on the Cannon Tortoise.

After the two seconds, the Gunny moves rather ponderously to the right, as John is still trying to control the Fly-By-Wire rockets. They rip towards the Shield Liger, and swing around as they aim for a highly vulnerable section on the Zoid. They hurtle towards the left front leg, attempting to destroy the heavily damaged limb.

As this is happening, Nat runs in an erratic dodging line towards the Shield Liger, firing upon it with the juiced up Darkreign Vulcan Gun on the head. The fire is fucused mainly on the front legs. Once they close to melee range, the Saix leaps at the Liger, extending its claws and charging them with energy. Of course, such a light Zoid jumping a Liger wouldn't normally work, but Nat is aiming to land on the back and claw it to pieces. The remaineder of the round is general closerange killmaiming with the Laser Fangs, Laser Claws and point blank shots from the Dark Reign Vulcan Gun.

John saw the Gunsniper running back, and the Saix coming for him. He smiled grimly, ignoring the fleeing Gunny - long-range gunfights were Yvette's job - lining his Liger up with the Saix. The two felines closed in on each other while the Gunny Heavy Armor started trading fire with the Cannon Tortoise - the Tortoise shot back with its Ontos set.
Nat had this sinking feeling just a second before the zoids collided. Two zoids going about the same speed, only one is a heck of a lot heavier -
The Shield Liger slammed into the Saix, catching it across the chest with a forepaw. The two zoids spun, the Liger straining against the forces trying to pull its arm off, and then they slowed to a stop.
The Liger had just removed the Saix's agility.
On the snap-back the Liger leapt atop the Saix. Nat gunned it, narrowly avoiding having a Liger atop it. Instead, John caught the Saix by the rump. The smaller feline wrapped around, catching the Liger's shoulders with its own claws as they rolled in the dirt.
It was at this point, where Nat was demonstrating the feline fetal position as the bear-like Liger had its way with her, that the Gunsnipers took their whacks at the big cat.
In the seconds beforehand, the Gunny Heavy Armor had unleashed a barrage of missiles into the Cannon Tortoise's armor, as well as several rounds from its beam cannons. Despite a return volley from the Ontos, the Tortoise was clearly taking the most damage of the two. Its armor was unusually brittle, almost stony. Granted, it still had more than the Gunny, but it was still taking noticeably more damage than it should have.
And yet, despite all the damage dealt to the CP-05 overshadowing it, the little turtle was still quite alive. At least, clear up until a one-in-a-million shot ricocheted off the inside of the mortar's barrel and bounced into the armor chamber.
The Tortoise actually lifted off the ground with that blast. Safety overrides saw the head - and cockpit - launching a good twenty meters away. The Tortoise's shell landed on the ground, and several parts just fell off. Smoke curled up from inside.
While the Melanoma-equipped Gunny was not yet in position, the PC John turned his sights to the NPC John's Liger. The relatively stationary target took the beam cannon volleys and a handful of the fly-by-wire missiles -- John simply couldn't handle any more than three -- before slumping down, almost crushing Nat's zoid underneath it.

"And with a victory best described as Phyrric - or standard for this psychotic pseudo-sport - Team Vagrant is the first winner of this round of the Royal Cup!" Judgeman 0042 dropped a flipper. "Dustoff teams will be by shortly to retrieve the Dreadnut assets. Up, up and away!" The Capsule closed up and blasted off, leaving the two Teams unsupervised on the fields and Dreadnut rather at Vagrant's mercy.

(Rank Adjustment:
Vagrant's John - +2 Wins
Dreadnut's John - +1 Loss)

"Hell yeah!" crowed John as the victory announcement rumbled across the battlefield. His Gun Sniper moved around in little circles, the closest approximation John could do to a jig whilst in a top-heavy death machine.

Natalie also gave a small cheer from inside the cockpit of her Saix, which was still trapped underneath the now-defunct Liger. With some careful shifting she eventually shrugged the bigger cat off and congratulated both pilots for the battle.

Blaine unanchored his Gun SNiper and began to pick his way down towards the Gustav. A single "Good job" had been issued to every pilot on the field.

As they loaded up their Zoids and trundled on, John took a chance to connect the normal Pulse Laser Cannons back up to the Saix, whilst Blaine went about trying to repair some of the more minor damage to the Zoids. Both of them completely ignored the Dark Horn. It would have to wait until one of the proper repair stations before it returned to action.

((As a note, John's Heavy Gunny only used 2 rockets that entire turn, not the three you stated, and no missiles at all. I had to conserve missiles for the next battle, so none were fired at the Cannon Tortoise. Just the WWU and the Beam Gatling Guns.))