Atta was pacign the gustav that Mark was currently driving. Atta was 'glad' that the cronos match would not happen as fighitng a sniper in a dense forest was a great way to get defeated really quickly. He and Mark's Saber Tiger were not really meant for dense forest, open terrain where they could use their agility to their fullest. The fact that the Chornos cup was a trick was a bit annoying, but it had done its purpose he supposed. Many teams had been prepared for the Chronos Cup and were now participating in the Royal Cup. Atta was looking forward to the battles, win or lose, although with only 2 members, Team Silverhammer’s chances of winning were not that great, especially given that both zoid were great melee fighters and they had a lack of long range firepower.

Mark frowned as he piloted the gustav in the open field. There were a few small hills, as well and mostly just grasses around with small shrubs and once in a while a tree or so. The royal cup would be difficult, and he was certain they would b e facing better balanced teams and he shuddered to think what a team with aerial zoids would do to them. Mark’s nervousness grew as they approached the site where the ZBC had emailed them to go. They had gotten lucky with getting Atta by the officials, given that since they had assumed that it was a sponsored tournament and not a royal cup, the precautions they had taken might not be adequate, but they had managed to get by somehow.

Calling a halt by a small hill with a single medium height tree growing on it, Mark stopped the Gustav, got out and headed to his Saber Tiger, getting in and powering it up. Once he had gotten clear of the Gustav and trailers and in formation with Atta, Mark radioed the ZBC that Team Silverhammer was in position and ready for the first round to begin.

"Attention: Team Silverhammer. This is Captain Hartman of the Republican Air Corp." Gunny's face appeared on the zoids' communication panels. He was a clean-cut pilot, wearing the elegantly grand dress uniform. "I am assigned to this region as the coordinator. You have closed within five hundred meters of the nearest Team. Do you have any objections to beginning the battle now?"

Mark grinned a bit,hearing Atta's confirmation that he had no objections to battling. Mark replied to Captain Hartman's message, his comfortable well worn piltoign lcothes/uniform contrasting with Hartman's neat appearance, "I hread you, Captain Hartman. This is Mark Zwei of Team Silverhammer. We have no objections to battling now. What are the rules for this battle?"

That said, Mark preparred himself for the upcoming match, preparring to activate his sensory unit while Atta readied his weapons and defenses. The difficult part woudl be not only to win, but to be able tofight aand win again after this fight.

Judgeman 1776 rocketed down, landing in the middle of the field. It deployed and took chage of the situation. "Hear ye, hear ye! This be the battle between the Republican Team Silverhammer and the Imperial Team Rageaholics! All contestants will relay their respective information and prepare for honorable battle!"

Rageaholic had but one member. They needed only one.

• Clarice Ogreman, Class B pilot, Iron Kong w/ DV-001 Combat Package

Mark gulped, a bit intimaded by their opponent, an Iron Kong. An iron Kong that had the combat package. Best thing would be to stay out of its reach. As Mark transmitted the info, Atta called him. "Best bet, wolf tactic. circle out of reach then shoot in back."
Acting Captain : Mark Zwei, Class D pilot, Saber Tiger, no mods
Atta Boy, Class D pilot, Shield Liger, CP-01 Heavy Beam cannons,

((Why, yes, you're going first as well.))

"Hear ye! For this battle shall be of the 0982 battlemode, the participants starting five hundred paces apart, and all lobserback intruders shall be driven back for the sake of our liberty! Git 'er done!"

Atta quickly brought the newly acquired CP-01 heavy beam cannons to bear on the opposing Iron Kong, activating the cannons once they faced the Gorilla, sending twin bolts of particles straight at the Kong in an attempt to not only damage the Kong, but to also buy some time for Mark to encircle the Kong. Once the heavy beam cannons had fired, Atta lowered them to the side, deploying the AMD turret from its place in his back and heading off to the Iron Kong’s left, heading off at a slower pace of 150 kph.
Atta knew he had to play it right, he had to be close enough to keep the attention of the Kong while Atta headed to the back while at the same time staying out of reach of the Iron Kong’s grip. The AMD cannons fired at the Kong, using their turret ability to hammer the Kong while Atta engaged in a maneuver to keep himself out of the Kong’s reach, darting in and pulling back, sometimes getting as close as 80 meters to the Kong before pulling back out. The 3-cbarreled shock cannon fired when it was aligned and ready to fire and the now side deployed beam cannons were discharged whenever they too had a good chance of nailing the Kong.


Mark understood what Atta had meant, but it still bothered him. Despite knowing it would help out greatly here, Mark still regarded the strategy a bit unfair and unclean. Mark brought his Saber Tiger to its top speed,, and headed out in a wide arc that would bring him around and hopefully behind the Iron Kong.
‘My turn and my way.’ Once behind, Mark implemented his own tactic instead of Atta’s more sound plan. Mark rushed in at the Iron Kong, all available guns blazing at the Iron Kong’s legs, hoping to take one out at least. At 75 meters, Mark ceased firing with all weapons and opened up with 3-barreled shock cannon to soften up the armor before charging in with laser sabers and the Saber Tiger’s claws to attack the Iron Kong.

The Kong closed in, charging towards Mark Zwei's Saber Tiger. Ignoring the Shield Liger's assault on its flanks, it closed in on the charging Tiger. It swept an arm underneath the Tiger, then snapped up and back. The Saber flew, landing on the ground, bouncing, landing again, and skidding to a halt.
Mr. Chimpy came back to do it again. It bounded towards the Saber Tiger, drawing the big mace. It clearly wanted to make with the killmaim.
Mark was gonna have none of that. His Tiger rolled, pouncing once again on the Iron Kong. It reflexively raised an arm in defense. The Tiger wrapped itself around the arm, dragging it to the ground and chewing it pretty good.
Mark didn't see the mace coming down. But Atta saw the mace coming back up into the sheath on the back, leaving a mostly-flattened Saber Tiger behind.

Rank Adjustment:
Mark Zwei - +1 Loss
Clarice - +1 Win

Mark released the controls as the damage to his zoid registered. He forced himself to relax, although furious at how quickly he had been taken out.
"Great. Hopefully Atta can take out this medieval monkey by himself."

'Team mate down. Iron Kong not significantly damaged. Optimal tactic: One, prevent further harm to team mate, second, keep out of range of enemy's melee weapons, three, focus fire on enemy legs.'
Atta's programming ran through the events that had happened, and reacted with a strategy to address the new complication. Atta raced forward towards the kong, firing his heavy beam cannons directly at the kong’s legs. When he got within 100 meters of the long, Atta swerved aside and ran past the kong to gain some distance before turning around and repeating his attack run.

The monkey took the shot to the leg with a howl, then whipped the mace out of its backpack.
The pilot grinned.
As Atta was coming about for the second attack run, Clarice was spinning about, building up momentum with his mace. The Kong leaned back, bracing against the increasing speed, then suddenly let the mace go. It whipped out, hurling like a cannonball to bounce off the ground and hit the Liger in the flank, totally throwing its aim off. The Liger's left legs sheared off, the whole body warping from the shock of the indirect hit.
"Hear ye, hear ye! The His Majesty's Rageaholics have struck a shattering blow against Silverhammer, leaving them broken, battered, and out of this Tournament!"
As Judgeman 1776 packed up to leave, he transmitted the data to the pilots.
Total Rank Adjustment:
Silverhammer - +1 Loss
Mark Zwei - +1 Loss
Atta Boy - +1 Loss
Rageaholics - +1 Win
Clarice Ogreman - +1 Win

Both Zoids have overhaul repairs, the costs of which the ZBC will cover. The pilots have earned the Participation prize.