The Mech Touch novel Chapter 36

The announcer let the anticipation build up a little before detailing the mech design competition. "As you know, many talented pilots have the opportunity to show off their skill on stage. Where there are winners, there are also losers. Mech warfare can be a cruel business, but what if some of our pilots have a second chance? Are you willing to see them compete in a separate bracket?"

Most of the crowd cheered enthusiastically. Many pilots competing today lost their chances to reach the quarter finals. Many fans hoped their underdogs could shine on the stage once again.

"We’ve come up with the Fusion Cup! Eight eliminated pilots with the best scores will receive the opportunity to work together with these eight fine ladies and gentlemen on the stage! It will be the first competition in this side of human space where both pilot and designer compete jointly for the top and win the prestigious cup!"

A two-toned tournament cup appeared on the stage. It was gold on one side, and silver on the other side. A small partition in between showed that both halves of the cup could be put together or remain separate.

The projection behind the announcer highlighted two lists of names. One set contained the names of the pilots, and on the other the names of the designers.

A lot of people looked confused, but that didn’t diminish their enthusiasm. Ves tried to maintain his easy smile to present an image that there was nothing wrong. However, inside his mind he was already churning his brain on the competition format.

"So what are they competing on? Well, for the pilot, it remains the same. Just enter the cockpit and wallop their opponent on stage! The key is what kind of mech they are piloting. We wouldn’t involve the designers if they have nothing to do! So can you guess what kind of role they can play in the short six hours that they have until the matches start?"

Six hours was way too short to create a mech from actual parts. Ves thought the competition might happen in a virtual space, which would be a shame as he’d miss out valuable experience in building up a real mech.

"The pilots won’t be changing the mechs they last piloted. Only the most critically damaged components such as the difficult to replace engines have been replaced. This allows the mech designer to repair and tune up the mech using the various tools and resources available, courtesy to the Mech Corps. You will be able to see with your own two eyes how pilots and designers can work together to reinvent their mechs like phoenixes rising from their ashes!"

Thousands of cheers and applause thundered the stadium as the crowd lapped up the new concept. However, Ves looked a little troubled. He was used to depending on himself. Now he had to work together to repair and modify another pilot’s mech. What if their opinions clashed?

"The fortunes of the designer and the pilot are tied together. Winning for both the pilot and designer will depend on which mech reaches first place in combat. If the designer does a bad job, then the pilot can do nothing even if he puts 200% in his piloting. On the other hand, if the pilot is having a bad day, then it doesn’t matter if the mech turned into a juggernaut."

A couple of boos sounded out from those remarks.

"What? You think it’s unfair? Well, so what? The real world isn’t fair! However, we’ve made efforts to match the two groups of people based on their previous performances. The top scoring pilot will be matched with the top-scoring designer from their qualifiers. The second-best pilot is partnered with the second-best designer and so on. Though their starting points are the same, what the pairs accomplish together is still up in the air."

The eight pilots participating in the Fusion Cup took their turn to take the stage. The pilots were directed to the partners who took over responsibility over their mechs.

As the sixth-scoring mech designer, Ves got paired with a native of Bentheim called Charlotte Hoffmeister. The fiery dirty blond-haired woman was built like a leopard, and seemed to regard him that way as well with the narrowed eyes scanning his skinny form. He felt as if the young woman dismissed him as a threat.

"Hi. I’m Ves Larkinson."

The woman’s phoenix eyes narrowed at his introduction. "You don’t look like a Larkinson."

"Not everyone in my family is a potentate." Ves helplessly shrugged.

"Whatever. Just fix up my Kirby and don’t mess things up. Larkinson or not, I’ll string you by the balls if you cost me my revenge."

After prying a bit more information from the taciturn woman, Ves learned that Charlotte suffered a humiliating loss against her rival Miranda del Rey, who is now the second-ranked pilot in the competition. She wanted to take advantage of her second chance on the stage to give her rival a comeuppance.

"Damnit, that’s Patricia’s partner." Ves grumbled. The second-best pilot paired with the second-best mech designer made for a very formidable pair of opponents. "I’ll have to put in all my effort and more something special if I want to make it that far."

Everyone went to the improvised workshops that the organizers put up in the unused side arenas. The wrecked mechs the pilots used already rested on a lifting platform.

When Ves saw Charlotte’s Kirby, his heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach.

"Your Kirby is.. a heavy mech."

"Yup." The woman smiled with obvious affection. "It’s the best damn partner a girl could ask for. He’s been my buddy since my final year in the academy."

The Kirby was in actual fact a Raisling Inc. Turbofire RTF-581. The Turbofire was built around the concept of overwhelming mid-range firepower. At the time, it was an excellent fire support mech that provided a powerful amount of suppressive firepower in the battlefield. It was not a mech suitable for arena duels.

The organizers knew this, and came up with a long list of demands ever since the first few YTEs resulted in severe injuries. The firepower of all projectile weapons were reduced substantially. In return, melee attacks also got reduced in power by lowering the mech’s arm power. Naturally, the latter could be circumvented by putting the weight of the entire mech in the blow.

This also resulted in melee dominating over ranged weapons in the tournament, which Ves supposed was the intention of the organizers. Too much firepower strained the protective screen that kept the spectators safe from the explosions.

In any case, Ves had to get this lumbering, bipedal gun platform in working condition in just six hours. This might not sound like a problem, but when he saw what Miranda del Ray did to it, he practically despaired. The Turbofire’s legs both suffered amputations, which led to the scrapping of both whole legs. In addition, the rest of the mech’s surface sported nefariously thin sword marks, which made it easy to exploit the damaged sections.

"This is going to take a lot of work to fix up." Ves said grimly.

"Zip it, nerd boy. I don’t want to tarnish my Kirby by using him as a caveman." _{ƒreewebηoveℓ.com}