The Mech Touch novel Chapter 239

Despite the disparity in value between the two mechs, the outcome of the match was still in doubt.

Jackknife Jake’s bladed fish mech possessed superior speed and agility over the larger sea dragon-shaped mech. He showcased his strengths at the very start of the final round by darting along the flanks of his opponent’s mech.

While the Sea King possessed the advantage of power and endurance, he wouldn’t be able to leverage them properly if he couldn’t get a grip on his opponent. The King knew this and didn’t bother to chase after his opponent. He drifted in place and retaliated whenever Jake got close.

"How many weapons are stuffed inside that mech?" Raella asked with surprise as the sea dragon mech showed off its arsenal. "That’s like five or six weapon systems already!"

Ves had also noticed its diverse array of weapon hardpoints. "It’s like a hybrid mech in a sense. It possesses both short and long-ranged options."

The sea dragon-shaped mech’s main armament consisted of its sharp and sturdy claws and teeth. Jake respected their threat to his mech and always tried to attack the Sea King from the rear.

A variety of weapon systems dotted around the frame of the sea dragon. Much like the octagon mech that appeared before, the sea dragon mech hid the exact placement of those systems underneath identical scale-like armor plating.

The sea dragon fired spikes, torpedoes, harpoons and all other assorted weaponry at the approaching fish mech. Its ammunition seemed limitless as it attempted to constrain Jackknife Jake with suppressive fire.

The bladed fish mech incurred a decent amount of scratches from the barrage. Jake chose to dodge the harpoons even if his mech had to eat a face full of spikes. In return, his mech got close enough to rake through the sea dragon mech’s sides.

"Both of them are not holding back! Jackknife Jake is throwing all caution to the wind, knowing that he won’t be able to last long enough against the Sea King’s superior range advantage!"

"The Sea King must not be feeling so well. His mech’s agility pales in comparison to the killing machine in the hands of Jackknife Jake. Look at how he’s tearing a boatload of armor plates with every pass!"

Jackknife Jake dished out a good amount of damage, but Ves could obviously tell his mech degraded faster than the sea dragon mech. As a speed-focused mech, its armor would always fall behind to a mech that aimed for balance.

More perversely, the Sea King obviously splurged a lot on the armor system of his mech. The scale-like plating took a lot of force to dislodge or cut through. Each time Jackknife Jake made a pass, his mech lost momentum, something which the Sea King eagerly pounced upon. The balance of favor started to tilt against the Myrmidon team captain.

A huge lance emerged from the mouth of the fish mech. Jackknife Jake abruptly ceased dancing around the sea dragon mech in favor of a direct approach.

The Sea King had obviously been off-guard, but a pilot of his caliber didn’t remain stunned for long. The dragon mech opened up its own jaws and ejected a large orb that it had kept hidden all this time.

The lance hit the orb head-on and exploded. Like a mine, it detonated with a furious shockwave that impacted the fish mech at virtually point-blank range.

Just as everyone thought that had been the end of the Myrmidons, Jackknife Jake emerged from the murky waters with a battered but functional mech! Another lance replaced the broken one that detonated the orb, allowing Jake to continue his rush towards the Sea Dragon.

This time, the Sea King had been truly caught off-guard, to the point where his mech instinctively fended off the lance with its claws. The lance pierced right through its left claw and pushed on to impale the upper torso. Jackknife Jake quickly detached the lance before squirreling away, leaving the weapon pinned in his opponent’s mech.

"How did Jackknife Jake survive that mine?! Quick, rerun that segment!"

The entire audience turned to the closest projection to see a slow-motion replay of the last encounter. Moments before the first lance pierced the mine, Jackknife Jake detached the lance and abruptly engaged his mech’s reverse boosters, cutting off its forward momentum and allowing it to escape the brunt of the blast.

"What a fast reaction! Jake chose to overload his reverse boosters at a critical moment! Even if they’re fried, they’ve done their job!"

The lance embedded in the sea dragon mech affected its mobility in a serious way. The Sea King’s mech experienced a lot of problems when it tried to transfer enough power to the thrusters placed along its frame.

The Sea King went mad this time. "I’ll crush you like a bug, Jake!"

The sea dragon mech showed off its full capabilities as its jaw ejected dozens of mines. They floated around the Sea King’s mech like an omnidirectional guard. Cables shot out from tiny openings, connecting the orbs to each other like a net.

The nets then started to chase after the fish mech. Jackknife Jake had to abort his hit-and-run attacks in face of this new weapon. While the nets didn’t move very fast, their expansive reach and coverage fully constrained his mobility.

Having ejected all of the mines in its stores, the sea dragon mech then revealed another weapon from its gaping jaws. The cone-shaped barrel turned out to be a sonic cannon as it started to emit continuous sound waves towards the dancing fish mech.

Like a wide-area flamethrower, the sonic weapon’s range fell off quickly. Nevertheless, the mech piloted by Jackknife Jake already started to fall apart. The Myrmidon team captain had to make a difficult choice. Either he braved the storm and risk annihilation, or he could keep his distance and bet that the sea dragon mech ran out of power first.

Mech pilots tended to favor aggression over inaction, so Jake decided to make one more play.

"Why is he going in? His mech doesn’t have much left." Ves noted with puzzlement.

From what he could determine, the Sea King piloted a ridiculous aquatic mech. The mine net alone countered every possible move that Jake could make.

"He’ll be letting down his team and his fans if he gives up at this point." Raella explained. As a former amateur mech athlete, she had a keen understanding of what went on in his mind. "Even if he has to put his life on the line, he owes it to his supporters to continue the fight."

The damaged fish mech dramatically charged towards the sea dragon mech. The Sea King overloaded his sonic cannon, but the weapon merely tickled the fish mech.