Data File: Robos - Customization
Custom Robos are as unique as their commanders, utilizing a variety of shapes, attributes, and armaments. Most often, a robo will be armed with a gun-type weapon in the right hand, a light bomb launcher in the left, and an explosive pod launcher on the back. Additionally, a robo's feet can be customized independently of the rest of the chassis for combat on various surfaces, to complement strategies, or to counter opponents.
Each robo is classified by model, and robos in each model category share similar base attributes, but slightly differ in details. Robo commanders can modify standard robo shells to their own design, making each robo unique. Colors, patterns, and emblems can be easily added or changed, while armor modifications and even built-in weapons can be added with a little more difficulty. Body customizations are typically handled by programmers at robo "garages" as they have come to be called.
Weapons are added to robos in a simpler fashion. Robos come with standard weapons equipped, but new weapons can be copied to the robo's memory from computer chips with the weapon already encoded. Some upgrades or coding updates can be added in this way as well. Commanders select weapons for an upcoming battle in a pre-battle phase of their dive.
Chapter 3: True Power Revelation
The Metal Ape struggled to escape the Ultimatum's surprisingly powerful grip before the shotgun could be fired, but it was seemingly unbreakable. The Defender above fired several sniper shots at the hand holding the shotgun, but was only able to make it sway a little. At the range it was from the Metal Ape, it would not make a difference. The Defender saw the only option he had and took it.
The Ultimatum was just about to fire when he was hit by something heavy from above, which turned out to be the Defender dropping directly down onto him. His grip on the Metal Ape finally broke just as the shotgun fired, hitting nothing, and the Ultimatum and Defender tumbled to the ground together. The Defender put a Sniper shot into the Ultimatum's neck armor as they landed, but the shiny linked plating between the chestpiece and the head deflected the shot at an angle into the ground.
The Ultimatum threw the Defender off of him to the side and rolled to its knees, pointing the shotgun in its direction, only to be slammed from the side by the Metal Ape and knocked off balance. The Metal Ape threw a high punch with his incredibly solid fist, which the Ultimatum deflected upward and returned with a shoulder strike and upward punch to knock the Metal Ape back under a tall building that was barely standing on four corners of a first floor whose walls had been blown out all sides.
The Metal Ape recovered, significant damage dealt to his chest and torso, indicated by multiple deep dents. The Ultimatum took a few steps towards him in follow up, but stopped. The Metal Ape looked around at the building he was under and saw an opportunity. He made a glance to the side where the Defender was returning, and they seemed to have a moment of understanding between them. The Defender halted his forward motion, and instead moved outwards and around the Ultimatum, avoiding his line of sight. All the Metal Ape needed was for the Ultimatum to get closer.
He encouraged him with a triple-stream burst from his Suppressor, knowing the Ultimatum could not return fire with his shorter range weapon at that distance, and hoped the Ultimatum didn't see what the two of them saw. The Ultimatum put up an arm to protect its face, but otherwise took the shots with minimal apparent damage.
And then he took the bait. He made a rapid lunge and joined the Metal Ape under the precariously supported building. As soon as he saw the motion, the Metal Ape rolled back and away towards one of the corner foundations, managing to avoid a shotgun blast that grazed over top of him. With a single motion, he swung a fist through the free-standing corner to smash cleanly through it, and with the other hand, he fired his wall bomb at the adjacent corner, blasting it to pieces as well.
At the same time, the Defender fired his Delta bomb launcher, deploying three bombs in a triangular pattern. One went straight for the Ultimatum, hitting him for minimal damage on impact, but the other two spread perfectly to take out the final two corner supports for the building. All four supports gave way at once, causing the building to collapse straight downward, directly on top of the Ultimatum.
The Metal Ape barely had time to escape the collapsing wreckage, but the timing of the foundations getting knocked out was good enough that most of the wreckage fell straight down, crushing the Ultimatum under it. Limping, he rejoined the Defender on the street as they both gazed at the wreckage in disbelief that a robo so powerful could be created. They had never fought anything like it.
From the wreckage, though, they heard something stir. There was a deep rumble, and some of the rubble moved as the pile of metal and brick shook. Another rumble, louder this time.
"There's no way..." the Metal Ape started in disbelief, just before a large chunk of the debris was lifted and thrown aside and the Ultimatum could be seen digging its way out of the wreckage, still fully intact. The armor was scuffed all over, browned with rust and dirt, but there was no significant damage visible.
The Ultimatum stood tall after throwing the rest of the debris on top of him aside, still holding his robo shotgun in his hand. In his other, a yellow glow formed into another weapon and took shape as a robo stun weapon. He then dashed at the two robos who were frozen in disbelief. The Defender hopped up and away in time, but the Metal Ape was far slower and unable to dodge as the Ultimatum dashed forward and planted the stun gun in its throat and activated it, causing the Metal Ape to seize up. The Ultimatum followed with a close-range shotgun blast to the gut, blasting a hole out the back of his target's already weakened armor. The Metal Ape gave one last fizzle and deactivated, falling limply to the ground.
The Defender opened fire from midair with everything he had, though at this point he was out of ideas. The Ultimatum had survived close range shots, overwhelming firepower, and even a building collapsing upon it, and was not even close to being destroyed. At least by keeping distance, he would be able to outrange the Ultimatum's short range weapons.
But that plan was torn asunder as well as the Ultimatum's shotgun glowed yellow, reshaped, and took the form of a different weapon. The next thing the Defender knew, it was using every bit of acrobatics it could muster to avoid a flurry of energy bolts. Due to the distance, only a few made contact, but the Defender's vision started blurring more and more with every shot and he became disoriented. The Ultimatum was using a Suppressor gun. The Defender attempted a return shot from his sniper gun, but he could barely see where he was aiming. He landed heavily without even knowing where the ground was, then the blur started to fade and he regained his vision.
He made a dash away from the Ultimatum, but a wide yellow pillar of energy appeared in front of him, which he identified as the result of a wall bomb being placed in his path. The Defender was knocked back as his momentum carried him into the wall of energy, but he landed on his feet, hopping up high to keep his distance from the Ultimatum. Unfortunately, he jumped right into two Float pods that were circling over him, and he was forced back to the ground. Another flurry of energy bolts flew towards him, which he rolled to avoid with only partial success.
With his vision blurred again, all the Defender could do was fire blindly. The Ultimatum had no trouble clearing the remainder of the distance between them, grabbing and disarming the Defender, and then quite literally ribbing the robo in two with an impressive display of strength.
The holoseum faded and shut down as the battle ended and perception returned to reality, back in the science facility. Power was still out, and the only source of light came from the faint glow of the robo cubes as they powered down gradually. As is typical in the aftermath of a robo battle, the losing parties (in this case, the three guards) fell to their backs, unconscious. Strike replaced his night-vision mask on his head, and he and his men stepped out of the vault. In both directions down the hallway, flashlights approached from multiple guards moving to box them in.
Strike turned to one of his men, "How much time do we have?"
He responded, "Only a few minutes. Not enough for another fight."
Strike clipped his new robo to his belt, "Then let's get out of here."
At that moment, even the flashlights went out, and the room was totally dark. The guards communicated to each other from both ends of the hall, and in the dark were able to find each other in the middle, but there was nobody else. In the darkness, Strike and his men had vanished.
In the security control center, the manual lockdown sequence was nearly complete.
"Turn the level to manual, then start the release of the hydraulic pressure. Once the gauge reads 200, the door should begin to close." The officer in charge of securing the lockdown relayed instructions to the perimeter guards on how to close each of the unique lockdown doors. All but two had been completely secured.
The reply to his commands came back, "220… 210… 200.. Door 11 is closing, I can see it moving now."
"Once it closes, turn the lever back to 'Secure', and the locks will hold it in place. Door 12, report status. You're the last one."
The radio was silent briefly before a response came, "Having trouble with the pull mechanism. It's not moving."
The officer thought a moment before realizing, "Oh wait… you need to release the pressure pins at the base before you can pull it out. Giving each a counter-clockwise twist should cause them to release on their own, then you can pull the main out."
"Got it, releasing the pins now."
Another security officer interrupted, "Sorry to bother you, but the blackout area is moving."
The officer looked up from his radio, "What do you mean?"
"Lights on one side of the dark zone are coming on, but they are turning off on the other side. It's moving towards the southeast end of the perimeter."
He stood up to return to the main security room, "Southeast is the only door still open, how do they know?" The facility map was up on the main viewer, though it was the only system that was still operational. A black area on the map showed where the power outage was in effect, and sure enough, the area was moving directly towards the last lockdown door.
The radio came back to life, "Okay, I've got the main cylinder pulled out as far as it will go, what next?"
Everyone held their breath, unable to do anything else to assist while the officer resumed directing, "Twist the cylinder ninety degrees clockwise and push it back in. It won't move easily, so put some muscle behind it. Make it fast though, you don't have much time."
Another pause. The tension in the air was tangible as everyone in the room paid attention. "... It's turning…"
"Once it stops, push it back in and hold, then the door should start to close. Push all the pins in and twist clockwise to secure it." The blackout zone on the map drew closer to the perimeter, and the radio was silent. After a few moments of waiting, the officer spoke into the radio again, "Running out of time, report."
But there was no response. "Report! Is the door closing?" Still no response. The blackout area had touched the perimeter and moving faster. "If you are still there, you need to get that door closed now!" But there was nothing. As the midpoint of the blackout zone reached the outer wall, it grew smaller and smaller. Meanwhile the indicator on the screen continually reported that the door remained unsecured. As the last of the dark zone vanished, all of the computer systems in the room came back to life and operated as normal. The automated lockdown system finally took hold, and the last door closed.
For the next several hours, the security staff searched the facility, but all indications were that Strike and his whole team had gotten away clean. The Ultimatum was lost.