MSSY1:Tesla Cannon

<System: Confirmed. Tesla Cannon located. Activating recall device. >

You focus on continuing to avoid your opponent's machine gun fire as the cannon materializes. Your AI automatically moves the left arm of your robot so that when the shoulder-mounted weapon appears you're primed and ready to fire.

<System: Attention. Missile lock-on detected. >

You cease moving as your opponent lowers his arm and stops firing. You can see the missile pod mounted on his back adjusting itself and moving to rest on his shoulder with the deadly end pointing toward you.

At the same time a flash signals that your Tesla Cannon is ready. Your machine holds a grip with a trigger near the front of the long, complex-looking weapon. Electricity surges through the inside, as well as on the outside as it rolls from the front of the gun where there is no barrel, just a large metal ball, to the back of the weapon on your shoulder. Out of the back of the weapon stretches a long tesla coil that has bolts of lightning jumping around, to your machine, and to the ground.

Thankfully these jumpers are relatively harmless due to the insulation around your cockpit and other key systems.

Insulation, you hope, your opponent doesn't have.

Both you and your opponent stare each other down for a few seconds. In the end, you fire first.

A large surge of electricity builds up near the back of your gun, then is pulled through the weapon and out the ball at the end sending a gigantic lightning bolt straight for your opponent. At the last possible second he launches a trio of missiles that fly straight up into the air.

The blast from your tesla cannon hits him dead-on just after the missiles have flown to safety. Electricity surges across his robot as it collapses over backwards. You can see its' shield flickering on and off, and you wish you could take advantage of his vulnerability but you have missiles to worry about!

You turn and start moving.

"Track em'!" you shout to the machine.

<System: Warning. Energy reserves down to 25%. >

"The missiles! Track the missiles!" you say as you can hear them screech through the sky toward you. The missile lock warning is still on your screen.

<System: Missile trajectory calculated. Time to impact 8 seconds. 7... 6... >

You reach up and flick a trio of switches to arm chaff interference. You press your thumb onto the button, and continue trying to lose the missiles unassisted.

<System: 5... 4... 3... >

You jam down on the button for the chaff and hear several pops as small panels on your machine's shoulders blow out to launch the chaff into the air. Everything shakes as a missile detonates, then a second right above you. Smoke clouds your view as shrapnel rains down on you.

"The third one! Where is it!?"

<System: Unknown. Sensors dis- >

You are thrown, hard, against the left side of your cockpit as the missile strikes the side of your robot. You barely manage to keep your ten tons of metal from falling over.

<System: Shields down to 40%. >

It takes you longer than you'd like to recover. By the time you do, and look over to your opponent, his systems have recovered and he is pulling himself to his feet.

<System: Enemy is heavily damaged. >

Before you can even think about firing the Tesla Cannon again, it vanishes.

<System: Recall device m- >

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just need something to finish this quickl-"

<System: Recall device is having difficulty locking on to ordinance, only defensive devices. Offensive capabilities unavailable. >

That is just lovely.

You think over your defensive options, recalling two possibilities.