Scene #2811: WMAT CQ1 Sagat vs. Taylor Scott

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Sagat	Sagat has spent a lot of time honing his technique while waiting for his first WMAT qualifier match; he's been a fairly regular sight in the gym, although he's confined his efforts to regular workouts rather than looking for sparring matches. Everybody at the WMAT is certain to get their share of actual fights as the tournament progresses ... and Sagat, for one, is looking forward to his own matches, even though the brackets won't be finalized until after the qualifiers. In the meantime, he has qualifiers scheduled against a Digimon biker with shotguns and other moves, plus a giant-robot pilot. The latter match is just about to begin, and Sagat is already standing in the Gizard Wastelands, arms folded across his scarred chest, and waiting for Taylor Scott and whatever machine is about to get wrecked at the fists, etc. of the Emperor of Muay Thai.
Taylor Scott	There was a flicker in the distance as something came roaring through the desert canyon, the echo of the engines could be heard bouncing through and around the massive crags. Soon the thirty two foot machine could be seen coming into view, moving at least around 300-400 MPH across the rocky stand with those thrusters on full burn along its backside. As it came in closer, the machine started to slow down, before coming to a jogging run across the rocky ground and then moving to a walk, before coming to a stop. The machine had boxy curves, like a muscle car and that red optical sensors seem to flicker gently as the head unit slowly lowered itself to look at Sagat. There was a hiss from the thrusters as they huffed out some air to cool themselves down and a machine gun type weapon easily seen on the right hand. >>"Good Afternoon, Sagat right?"<< The voice booms out from the Armored Core. >>"It's an honor to have the chance to fight you. They say you have one hell of a mean punch."<< Taylor sounds pretty calm, though inside the cockpit he is grinning like a school kid. This is /so/ exciting! >>"You ready to do this?"<<
Sagat	Sagat rolls his shoulders slightly before unfolding his arms and shifting into his ready stance, taking a moment to look over the Armored Core. It's pushing five times his height, and looks relatively solidly built; it's clearly pretty fast with those thrusters, and the rifle in its hand would be reasonably imposing even if it were scaled down for a human to wield. And yet the Muay Thai fighter doesn't even look remotely intimidated. In fact, he's smiling a bit as he brings his monocular gaze back up to meet the Core's optics. "You're in the right place," he rumbles, "and facing the right opponent. But I think you're going to regret bringing a giant robot into this tournament." He starts walking forward, gradually picking up speed. "Because as long as you're hiding inside that walking turret," Sagat finishes, his voice rising to a roar, "I don't have to hold back for fear of hurting you!!!" That said, Sagat is holding back just a bit as he charges at the Core's right leg and lashes out with a punch. Sure, he can punch a car into so much scrap metal without any protection other than his usual fist and ankle wraps, but there's no point in smashing his fist on the robot only to find out this thing's armor is denser than his bones.
Taylor Scott	Sagat goes to charge and Taylor laughs softly, >>"What can I say, I like bringing the big guns to a fight."<< As the martial artist goes to punch the Armored Core's side thrusters pop on and suddenly to move it side away from the attack for its leg, before hopping around to the other leg. For someone like Sagat it is easy to read what the Armored Core was doing, it was shifting its weight to come around for a full on roundhouse kick. Which may hurt, but the motion was being controlled; Greatly controlled. It was very obvious that Taylor may actually be fearful of hurting the guy and was going out of his way to be sure his Armored Core wouldn't do this. This is maybe the curse of being new to the Multiverse, you haven't learned the power of combat auras and that people around here was far sturdier than you could ever give them credit for in your own world. Just like Taylor hasn't learned that if he was not in his Armored Core-- he could be folded over like a pretzel by everyone out here, but he has that general feeling and thus, the Armored Core.
Sagat	And while Sagat has been in the Multiverse for a while, he keeps underestimating opponents. For instance: he didn't know the Armored Core had sideways thrusters like that, nor that it had the agility to actually swing around and kick at a human-sized opponent. He has plenty of time to face the incoming strike and bring his arms up to absorb the impact, though - and it might work; to an extent, it does. But the laws of physics are cold and unforgiving. While the AC's kick doesn't shatter his blocking arms, all of that momentum being imparted has to go SOMEwhere - and Sagat winds up flying back several meters with a loud grunt, hitting the ground and rolling to a halt. "Sturdier than I thought," the big guy remarks as he gets back to his feet, smirking. "Faster as well ... I'm still surprised they let you enter a tank on legs like that thing, but no matter. I've fought literal machines of war before, yours is no different. A challenge, to be sure - but far from insurmountable!!" He charges once again, this time zig-zagging in an effort to throw off his opponent's targeting and tracking; rather than going for the knee again, he actually leaps up, and tries to grab onto the leg before swinging around to the back of the knee - and with a yell resembling a kiai, he smashes at the inside of the elbow joint with his knee. Joints have to bend; the side that bends should be more less armored, and therefore, more vulnerable.
Taylor Scott	Taylor watches how the impact effects Sagat and whistles softly. "That was a thing, hey Computer-- you recording this?" :: "Affirmative, all data is being recorded and will be accessible after the match.":: "Good." The Armored Core lands around and takes a step back before it shrugs gently. >>"They said the people here can handle it, trust me-- that was news to me too. In my world, it's suicide to take on an Armored Core on foot, unless you're a Frightener, but they got training for that and even they are cautious."<< When Sagat does start to move, it really puts the test on the Armored Core's radar systems to keep up, including the FCS. Smaller targets have been always a pain and the speed this man moves at was impressive. >>"I also say you won't have any problems anyways, you are a fast devil!"<< Taylor does try to steer the Armored Core around to avoid giving Sagat that chance, but fails to do so as the elbow slams into the Armored Core's knee. It almost acts like a human reaction as it goes down on that knee from the heavy impact, but recovers with a roll and some thruster assistance, sand being kicked up in the air. Where a human may see trouble seeing with all that sand, the Armored Core doesn't and what Sagat may hear from Taylor was his only warning, >>"FORE!"<< Then comes the punt kick as he goes to use the Armored Core's foot to punt Sagat up in the air...
Sagat	"HRGK - !!" Again, physics. Sagat is thrown off of the AC's leg long enough that Taylor is able to punt him into the air; a lesser man than Sagat would probably have gotten a bunch of broken ribs out of the impact, and even Sagat isn't sure he didn't just crack a couple. On the other hand, there's no additional twinge of pain when he hits the ground again and rolls to a stop. It occurs to him, though, that maybe he should take this fight more seriously. "So what are these 'Frighteners'?" Sagat calls out, getting back to his feet and - actually standing his ground now, not closing the distance again. "Some kind of elite infantry? I suppose they would have to be ..." He frowns, bringing his hands up in front of him and gathering up his inner energies. "I doubt they'd be capable of such as this, though ---" "TIGER!!!" His hands close into fists as he thrusts his arms forward, and his chi emerges from his knuckles, focused into a visible concussive wave. He's further away from the Armored Core than he'd prefer to be before launching a Tiger Shot at it, but while the projectile loses some of its impact, it's still intact enough to pack a decent (if modest) punch when it gets there. Rather than focusing on the legs, too, he's aiming this one high - up at the machine's torso, although there may not be anything especially vulnerable on the front of the torso.
Taylor Scott	Taylor raises an eyebrow behind his helm as he listens to what Sagat has to say, including one of the screens zooming in on him. Then he watches the man perform something that is out of the comics, movies, and video games to him. "What the...?!" As the Chi blast is fired, Taylor stomps on the pedal and pulls on the controls to avoid whatever that projectile is, gritting his teeth in the process as the G-forces load up in the cockpit. On the outside the Armored Core is quick thrusting to the side and sliding its foot around to avoid the rapid incoming energy blast, that may as well be more magic than science in Taylor's mind. It skims across the Armored Core's chest, causing the armor to heat up for just that split moment. >>"Okay. /THAT/ was different."<< The Armored Core suddenly slides around one of the large pillars, >>"But if you want to play ranged, we can play ranged."<< As Gabriel makes itself seen again, one of the grenade launchers rises up, connecting in the center before impacting down on the shoulder. "Computer, alter grenade to explode before impact. Let's try to catch him in the shockwave." :: "Understood, calculating..." :: There was a KATHUMP As the grenade loads, before a flicker of light could be seen from the barrel, followed by an exploding shell with a loud KATHOOM that echoed the landscape. That grenade was heading right for Sagat, only difference is-- it explodes far before it ever makes an impact, washing the area over with sand, stone, and the shockwave from the explosion.
Sagat	Well. If Sagat hadn't already decided he needed to take this match more seriously, getting toasted by the shockwave from a grenade would certainly have made the necessary argument. He actually looks somewhat the worse for wear for the exposion, too - not so much scorched, but 'abraded' and scraped bloody by some of the harsher impacts of grenade-blown sand and gravel, plus harboring a few fresh bruises from bits of terrain that stayed intact to hit him. But you wouldn't know how badly hurt he is from the way he abruptly just starts charging straight at the Armored Core. His one visible eye all but gleams with a fresh-kindled fury - because it's not just pragmatism about a tournament fight that's driving him now. Sagat's pride has been jabbed, too. He said he's fought literal machines of war before, and it hasn't always been in a tournament setting. Like hell he's going to let a machine beat him when the tournament hasn't even completely started yet. With a roar of rage, he lays into the Armored Core's other leg - the one he didn't start pounding at before - and he strikes ferociously, three hits in rapid succession, aiming for the servos or hydraulics or whatever makes the leg MOVE, if he can spot those. Otherwise, he's just making dents and holes in the leg armor - and TRYING to expose the machinery which he knows he needs to target.
Taylor Scott	When Sagat explodes with energy, Taylor's eyes go wide, "Ah hell." is all he can get out as he tries to quickly move to the side out of the rage of the fist warrior. Taylor knows when things are about to get crazy and this /was/ about to get crazy! As the Armored Core tries to huff it away and the Grenade Launcher goes down, Sagat is already on the Armored Core. The alerts flash on the side monitor indicating the damage, the computer working to compensate for the issue, and Sagat gets a chance to find out first hand, and fist, that the Armored Core's armor plating is doubled. It has an external armor, which he is working through and he may find an internal armor as well. These things were designed to take a beating and keep on moving, just as Taylor had advertised before on global radio. However, the damage was done and now there was a weak point there, even as the Armored Core is at last able to break away from the fists of fury by swing the leg around to such an extent that the G-forces may do the rest. If that wasn't enough, as the Armored Core recovers, it actually bursts down some machine gun fire between them to cause the rocky ground to bounce upward and force Sagat to back off a bit as Taylor attempts to figure out how to play keep that leg away from the fighter. >>"Not bad! I'm really impressed you guys can actually do this out here. I mean, I read about it, but to witness this first hand is pretty amazing!"<< He still hasn't explained about the Frighteners; At least not yet.
Sagat	Between centrifugal force and a burst from the machine gun, Sagat is indeed dislodged and sent flying - but he gets his feet on the ground faster this time, braking his 'flight' and coming to a halt before he can get back out of anything resembling his fighting range. "What's the common phrase?" Sagat growls as he closes in once again. "Oh, right. 'You ain't seen nothing yet!' TIGER KNEE!!!" He hasn't used the Tiger Knee against an opponent this much bigger than himself in a while; he would have to stop and remember who the last one WAS, in fact - maybe Genghis Rex? - but it doesn't really matter that much. Here and now, he launches himself from the ground into a high leap, knee-first, trying to drive his own knee into the AC's thigh and rupture the armor, or at least create an exploitable weakness in said armor. That's one of the unavoidable weaknesses of every fighter in the Multiverse: if your legs are disabled and you depend on them to move, you're in trouble. And Sagat, his body and mind hardened and honed by years of the most grueling training and conditioning on Earth, has nothing against crippling an opponent if that's what it takes. It's an option he excludes from most fights against humans and near-humans, but like he said at the start of the fight, he feels no need to hold back against a machine. Those can be repaired more easily than a human body can heal, after all.
Taylor Scott	Sagat roars out 'Tiger Knee' and Taylor already saw what the chi version did when it skimmed over, so he rather not see what /this/ attack can do. As the martial artist reaches up and goes to hit the thigh of the Armored Core, the machine is on the move again. Proving that Taylor has no plans to let Gabriel just be a stationary target after Sagat's show of what his fists could do. The knee does skim across the armor, denting it slightly as the Armored Core pulls away. Taylor inside is gritting his teeth as he rotates the Armored Core around to spot Sagat still in the air on his way back down. >>"I don't know /how/ you do what you do, but I think you even win over the Frighteners are on foot, hell-- any of our military. So maybe it's a good thing I /am/ in this machine."<< Before Sagat could land the Armored Core actually crouches down low and twists its body around, the backfist of the left hand is coming right for the man and apparently plans to slam into him, sending him probably right into one of the rock faces, or into the ground. It was perhaps the first careless move Taylor was making out of either fear or just forgetting himself.
Sagat	Sure enough, Sagat goes flying into the wall of the canyon from the force of the giant robot's backhand, and hits hard enough to get embedded in it. That REALLY hurt ... and this time he's pretty sure at least one or two ribs did give way. Not like he's going to let that stop him. Sagat doesn't even try to pry himself loose just yet; being embedded in the rock is an advantage as far as the height difference between himself and Taylor's AC are concerned. He does pull his arms loose from the rock, though, bringing his hands together in front of him with a low growl, chi starting to crackle between his palms - "TIGER CANNON!!!" The chi blast that rips towards the Armored Core makes the earlier Tiger Shot look like a popgun's cork, and it does NOT dissipate as quickly as the basic Tiger Shot did. IT may not be explosive or particularly armor-piercing, but it's a technique that has served to resolve quite a few of Sagat's battles - and it should help to even the odds between him and the AC and its pilot.
Taylor Scott	The Armored Core looks at where Sagat has been lodged and Taylor winces a little, though that wince quickly becomes an 'oh shit' moment as Sagat blasts out a chi cannon shot right at his Armored Core. Taylor moves with reflex and the Armored Core follows suit, it raises up its left arm to take the blunt of the attack. The Tiger Cannon slams into the Armored Core's arm, the impact force tears apart the external armor and part of the internal armor, including busting up the laser weapon. There are a few sparks after that attack, but the arm is slowly lowered. >>"I think one turn deserves another, right?"<< Taylor asks Sagat with a soft chuckle. The two grenade launchers this time are activated, both of them slamming down on the shoulders as the Armored Core widens its stance. The heel seems to 'hook' into the ground as making ready for a far greater force to be generated on the machine. "Computer, like before. Let's teach him that he should have dislodged himself from his perch." :: "Understood, however, by calculation there is a high risk that the ledge could crumble down on top of him and it is against the rules..." :: "I know the rules," Taylor says prepping the weapons. "You just make sure you time those explosives, I'll make sure that doesn't happen." :: "Acknowledged. Calculating..." :: The Grenades like before can be seen loading up and soon both of them fire at the same time. The sound is like a thundering clap in the Canyon and it rings loudly across the arena. Both shots soar right for Sagat and then explode way before it ever hits him. The shockwave is intense from two explosive forces. It not only comes in at intense speed, but enough force to blast apart the wall he was wedged in. It isn't shortly after that, several missiles are fired from the shoulder unit to help break up those rocks, which may cause him to be caught in a new source of a shockwave and perhaps blasted /away/ from the debris. Can he ride the current?
Sagat	No. No, he can't. On the plus side, the explosions provide enough destructive force to blast Sagat the rest of the way loose from the rock face; however, that doesn't do his body any favors apart from 'blasting him loose'. And there's no sign of the Muay Thai martial artist coming charging back out of the fireballs and the ensuing smoke, either. In fact ... there's very little sign of him, period. At least not until the smoke clears. Then you can see him just fine - crouched on one knee, his body heaving as he fights to catch his breath; one hand is actively pressed to his side, although at least there's no signs of blood seeping from underneath that hand. The blood that is visible is coming from at number of smaller cuts and abrasions all over his body - some from the grenade earlier, but mostly fresh. Honestly, this is probably the point where a smart fighter would admit he's not going to catch up ... but while Sagat is hardly an idiot, his pride is still spiking and will not let him admit defeat that easily. The leg that he isn't actually kneeling with abruptly pushes off against the ground, and while Sagat stumbles a little as he's getting up to speed, he DOES break into a full-out run, ducking and jinking at random just in case Taylor tries to intercept him with bullets or more missiles or anything else for that matter. And rather than going for the legs? He's going for the feet - or more accurately, for the ankles themselves, where the legs have to be articulated to angle the foot properly when placing it on a solid, load-bearing surface. Human fighters have to worry a lot about their ankles; why should an oversized, overarmed, overstuffed machine be any different? A flurry of blows ensues - punch, stomp-kick, elbow strike, another stomping kick, all in rapid succession.
Taylor Scott	Taylor tries to get his Armored Core out of the range of the fighter as he curses to himself, "Shit! How much can this guy /take/?!" :: "That is unknown curr--" :: "That wasn't for you to answer!" Taylor barks out as he hears the warning and knows this about to get bad. "Computer! Compensate! Now!" :: "Attempting to Compensate..." :: Sagat's punches, elbow jabs, and the general flurry of hits starts to tear away at the ankle and actually does cause the Armored Core to /tilt/ from the weight being messed up on the ankle. The machine is quick to hop around however to place weight on the other leg and eventually get the one foot out of the target range of the aggressive human. Sagat will be pleased, however, that ankle is leaking fluid and its sparking a bit, even as the Armored Core tries to adjust and limps a little. >> "You guys are like freakin' little superheroes." << Taylor remarks with a nervous chuckle. >> "This is unbelievable!" << And he sounds honest about that and fully taken off guard by how much damage Sagat is able to punish the Armored Core. Yet the victory does not last long, because the missile pod opens up, as Taylor has the Armored Core lock onto targets up around Sagat. Then, with several explosive pops, the missiles fly and they go to explode all around the Martial Artist. >> "A first real fight with the Multiverse, a first chance to really get a true test that isn't simulated or controlled... Hahaha... You are fucking amazing." <<
Sagat	Oh look, more explosions. And they're going off pretty much all around Sagat this time, so there's no direction to dodge in, and no direction in which defending will be of particular help. If Taylor Scott hadn't been taking so much care NOT to do deadly damage with his weapons, that would have been a lot messier, and probably have hurt a lot more - if only briefly. As it is, when the explosions finally fade, an even more battered-looking Sagat just sighs, raises his arms ... and lets them fall to his sides. "Your victory," he growls at the Armored Core and its pilot. "Enjoy it. I'll have to step up my game against Beelzebumon to confront you again before next year."
Taylor Scott	Sagat yields to the Armored Core and Taylor powers down some of the systems to switch it out of combat mode. Taylor relaxes a bit in his seat, before he hrms and then actually unbuckles himself. "Computer, open hatch." :: "Understood." :: There was a hiss as the hatch unlocks itself and then a man in a pilot suit with a helm steps out, before using a cable to descend down the Armored Core. Taylor didn't have to do this, no, but he /wanted/ to do this. Sagat deserved it really and he was a man that didn't have fear looking another man in the eyes. Including a man that was this impressive. Once his combat boots touched the ground, Taylor reached up to remove his helm. There was a band around his head where the MT device was sitting, but he scratched his blonde hair as he walked up to Sagat,"You seriously are amazing, it was an honor," He then extends out his gloved hand to the man, "And a privilege to face you." "Besides," He motions to his Armored Core with his head, "You did one hell of a number on my mech."
Sagat	"Not enough of one, clearly," Sagat rumbles - but he does accept and return the offered handshake. He doesn't even succumb to the brief impulse to do something like try to crush the bones in Taylor's hand while he's shaking; it's a firm grip but not a painful one. (Sagat is well aware of his own strength, and equally aware of his own temper. Both of those facts let him keep good control over them.) "... I appreciate the match," the Emperor of Muay Thai adds after a couple of moments' worth of that handshake, probably right around when they're parting hands again. "It's useful to know that I need to keep training - and you are far more gentlemanly as an opponent than some people I've faced, in tournaments or otherwise. I still disagree with depending on machines to fight for you," he admits with a faint smirk, "but I can't deny that they present a worthy challenge. Sometimes."
Taylor Scott	"Hey, if you ever want to let lose some muscle on other Armored Cores, I'd be more than glad to set you up." Taylor says with a gentle smirk. "Our boys in the Ravens and Frighteners could get some education with some hand on experience to what they may have to deal with in the Multiverse, the better off they be." The Corporate owner then chuckles, "And, you get a chance to beat the hell out of some mechs of different builds for your own personal training." Taylor shifts his weight slightly. "But I do wish you best of luck in your next match and when we meet up again, I look forward to that rematch." The young man then goes to step away and start to make his way back to his Armored Core. "Take care, Sagat and see you around!"
Sagat	Sagat nods once, almost more of a brief bow of the head than a simple acknowledgement. "I'll consider it." He starts walking off - preferably towards the medics' station, or whatever amounts to it. He DOES need their attention in some form ...