The Mech Touch novel Chapter 585

The terms proposed by Avid Serpent revealed that she only possessed a shallow understanding of the Flagrant Vandals. Someone who knew the Vandals intimately wouldn't put so many limitations on how much strength they could utilize to prepare for the upcoming mech duel.

An ordinary mech regiment employed up to a hundred high-ranked mech designers. Though most of them might only consist of talented Apprentices, perhaps a dozen Journeyman and a couple of Seniors sat at the top.

This was a terrifying concentration of mech design strength.

An average medium state-wide mech manufacturer only employed a couple of talented Apprentices or a single average Journeyman.

A large sector-wide mech manufacturer on the other hand may only employ up to fifty mech designers spread into various teams. Only the larger mech manufacturers employed Seniors. The smaller ones usually made do with Journeymen as their lead designers.

So from an outside perspective, employing several Seniors and more than a dozen Journeymen as well as a hundred Apprentices was massive overkill.

"That's exactly the point." Ves had learned after witnessing several different mech regiments in battle.

The two that stood out the most were the two premier mech regiments of the Mech Legion. Both the Calico Dancer Bats and the Frosty Meteors showed indomitable strength. In their battles against the Flagrant Vandals, despite showing up with a fraction of the numbers of the Flagrant Vandals, both Vesian units proved that they could punch above their weight.

Part of it was their centuries-long martial tradition. These famous names had been founded centuries ago, and they evolved from nothing into the elite step-by-step in their own unique style of fighting. This elevated their mech pilots into true soldiers that clearly surpassed the standard of an average mercenary.

Another part of their strength came from a straightforward expression of wealth and capability. Their mechs utilized many expensive materials that only the government could provide. The duchies weren't parsimonious with regard to their elite regiments. This wealth also allowed them to employ all of those high-ranking mech designers.

The Flagrant Vandals lacked that kind of accumulation. Their status within the Mech Corps was awkward, but this was only known from within and by a small circle of outsiders. To the public, the Flagrant Vandals appeared to be a genuine if eccentric extension of the Bright Republic's military.

This was why Ves felt a little bit more reassured about this challenge. At the moment Avid Serpent issued her challenge, she didn't appear to act as an agent of the Vesians. If the Vesian mech pilot had been an insider, then she wouldn't have been so hasty in ruling out assistance from Journeymen and Senior Mech Designers. She also wouldn't have prohibited external material assistance, though in this area the disparity was smaller.

In short, the terms of the mech duel sought to minimize the influence of outside factors and turn the occasion into a contest of individual strength. If the Reinaldan arena operators hadn't brought out a damaged spearman mech, the mech duel might have commenced right away!

"Avid Serpent has made a big mistake."

Ves knew his strength and considered himself to be highly placed among Apprentices. With his great foundation and his advantages from his Masteries, even after being separated from the System he still possessed capabilities beyond the average Apprentice.

"I don't know who Avid Serpent will turn to for help." He reminded himself.

Each side could employ any single mech designer they wished to enhance their dueling mechs. Both Avid Serpent and Captain Orfan had the right to pick out any Apprentice Mech Designer and a number of mech technicians to assist. They could draw on the underground arena's mech workshops to perform their work and draw upon a limited number of resources from their stockpiles or junkyard.

It was already set in stone that Ves and a number of mech technicians from the Vandals would work on Orfan's spearman mech. Regarding their own side, Ves had no question about their own strength.

As for the kind of help that Avid Serpent could expect, the Flagrant Vandals hadn't been able to find out as of yet. Several agents affiliated with the Bright Republic kept an eye on where Avid Serpent currently resided. They spotted many prominent Vesians entering her room.

Because the mech duel involved the honor of the Vesia Kingdom, there was no question that Avid Serpent could have her pick of Vesian talents. While the Kingdom had a tenuous relationship with the Reinald Republic, officially they were at peace with each other. The Reinaldans didn't prohibit any Vesian visitors, and many did in fact paid a visit to the Harkensen System.

Right now, Ves, Chief Haine, Captain Orfan and a gaggle of mech technicians traveled to the underground arena. Even in the morning, the fighting venue already opened its doors, though only a fourth of the seats were occupied at this time.

"Captain Orfan! Please come this way!" An arena manager called from the side.

The entourage followed the manager to an elevator that brought the Vandals to the lower levels. Once the elevator reached the right floor, they stepped out and walked through a wide mech-sized corridor.

The manager briefly introduced this floor. "This is our workshop area. It consists of thirty halls, each of which has enough space and equipment to service any third-class mech."

"What about second-class mechs?" Ves asked.

"Our apologies, but the variety of mechs that duelists bring to our venue mostly consist of lower-end mechs. There has never been a case where a mech pilot from the Coalition entered the dueling ground with an expensive second-class mech. Mech pilots from second-rate states generally disdain our class of establishments."

The manager spoke those words without any resentment or animosity because it was the bare truth. Having a second-class mech compete in this local underground arena was like putting a warhorse into a pigsty. The disparity was too big, and the consequences of damaging a second-class mech and its mech pilot was dreadful.

"I see." Ves nodded. "Will we have access to a complete suite of mech manufacturing equipment, or do we have to make due with the bare essentials?"

"It's the latter, unfortunately. Compressed armor is too expensive for both our organization and our mech athletes to maintain on a regular basis. It also unnecessarily prolongs the duels, turning them into hitting matches where the side that hits a little harder will win the match."

The underground arena didn't prohibit the use of compressed armor, but the owner of the mechs needed to bear the full cost of repairs by themselves without any assistance from the operators. This could turn out to be very expensive if the mech incurred a lot of damage.