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Chapter 26: Objective
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The Mech Chapter 27: Absolute Power
In an unspoken agreement, the reinforcements that came with the Caesar Augustus busied themselves with fending off Melinda's allies."That's a nice mech you got there. Shame about the armor though.""It's the Marc Antony, designed by someone I know. It's supposed to be a more affordable alternative to what you're riding."The Caesar Augustus pilot let out a contemptuous snort. "The mere thought of cheapening any of this frame's components is abhorrent. It goes against everything this august mech stands for. You and your friend have no idea how much you sullied its grandeur."Like an unstoppable tide, the Caesar Augustus kept closing the distance as it exchanged laser blasts. Melinda's laser cannons were running hot, but the only thing she managed to achieve was to heat up the top layers of her opponent's shield, causing only a fraction of its mass to melt. Its defensive power was a testament to National Aeromotives' heat-absorption research."It's useless! Face the inevitability!""Yo
The Mech Chapter 28: Preparation
"What happened after that?" Ves asked over the comm as he rested on the couch. Lucky curiously tried to paw Melinda's head projected by the comm."The juggernaut blasted half the walls of the military base apart. It set up a panic in our team. Frankly, the only reason why we lasted so long after the juggernaut entered the field was because its pilot went drunk with power. He destroyed half his team with all the collateral damage he caused."The two spoke about the performance of the Marc Antony, and how Melinda found it to be a good mech despite its many faults. "It doesn't have a good place on the front lines due to its scattered strengths. It's not quite a knight, not quite a striker and its pitiful launchers don't give the mech a lot of long-ranged firepower.""Well, I'm only working with the tools I have. Frankly, if I could replace the mace and shield with something sturdier, I'm sure the mech would perform just as well as the Caesar Augustus.""Sadly, that's not an option if I w
The Mech Chapter 29: Bentheim
The appearance of Ves raised some eyebrows from the pilots and their chaperones."I haven't seen you around in class." One of the men stated as he looked at Ves' collar. "Are you sure you've boarded the right shuttle?"Every potentate wore a small pin on their collar, chest or arm that denoted their status. It was an exclusive privilege to the 3.5% that marked them as special. With it, they enjoyed priority services, had access to VIP sections, and had their safety taken care of first before the rest could take their turn. The entire scheme originated from the New Rubarth Empire, but pretty much every human state other than the Terrans copied the treatment. They also took over the rule that stated that any fraudulent use of such pins invited severe punishment."Security already screened me before letting me in. I'm a participant of the YTE mech design competition.""Mech design?" A young fresh-faced woman dubiously said. "So you're not a pilot."That pretty much killed the conversatio
The Mech Chapter 30: Qualifiers
Chapter 30: QualifiersBentheim hosted the Young Tigers Exhibition in a large, multi-building convention complex built for the purpose. It occupied a gigantic amount of prime real estate that offered plenty of space for the tourists and mech enthusiasts who visited the event. Naturally, the organizers treated the mech pilot competition as the main event. The opening ceremony and the introduction of the star pilots commenced while the qualifiers of the mech design competition occurred in a smaller and much less crowded side building.Before he did anything else, Ves checked his Status and noticed he finally accumulated 300 DP. With this amount, he immediately bought the Jury Rigging II sub-skill, which induced another minor headache for him. It made him get ready for the day a bit later than he thought. Even as he rushed his breakfast, he still had to sort out the strange way the System rearranged his brain."Time's almost up!" Captain Gillian called at the dining room. "Gather at the
The Mech Chapter 4: Behold My Ultimate Move
Engulfed by the satisfaction of a new purchase, Shifter66 hopped into the 2R-E's cockpit. Without even spending time to grow familiar with the modified mech, he entered the arena and initiated a search for an opponent. Shifter66 wanted to dive right into a battle with his new baby.As a fairly new and unskilled pilot, Shifter66 naturally got matched against a pool of similarly low-skilled players. Iron Spirit featured a sophisticated matchmaking system, and the lowest segment was the Bronze League.Every potentate who played Iron Spirit started from the Bronze League. Only by winning a sufficient amount of times would one gain the opportunity to promote to the Silver League, which most mech enthusiasts considered to be the real beginning of the game.That was because the developers enacted a lot of restrictions to the matches taking place in Bronze. Players could only earn a little amount of gold, though they also had few opportunities to lose it due to simplifying repair costs. Match
The Mech Chapter 5: Investment
After Ves finished freaking out, he read the mission description again and understood he missed out on an important detail. The mission demanded that he sell virtual mechs 'of his own creation'. What the phrasing implied was that he wasn't stuck with trying to peddle the ungainly Fantasia 2R-E to a group of idiots.As long as Ves spent the month designing a couple of decent variants and promoting them on the local net, he might reach the sales figure.A hundred sales a month might sound like peanuts to established virtual mech designers, but meeting it remained a hefty challenge to a nobody like Ves."I can't physically build all hundred models by hand." Ves concluded as he formulated a basic plan. "At this tier, pilots don't demand too much from their models. It'll be fine if I outsource the manufacturing to the game."The game made it easy to automate production of any design as long as the owner had fabricated it in the virtual workshop by hand at least once.It came with hefty dow
The Mech Chapter 6: Taking Flight
When Ves uploaded the new Seraphim design on the market, he quickly bought the required materials. Unlike the 2R-E, the Seraphim boasted a much more complex integration of disparate components. A working model demanded that Ves take much better care of the fabrication and assembly of parts. His increased proficiency in working with the 3D printer helped him in printing out parts with less deviation than normal, which further assisted him in making the assembly occur without many problems.commentVes received a nasty fright once he saw the final bill for the frame."I already have to spend 4,400 gold on the raw materials alone. If I let Iron Spirit automate its production, then the final price will at least be doubled."A 1-Star mech that cost 8,800 gold to buy was an absolute luxury in the game. It took an average player months to build up such a fortune.Ves decided to add a credit price to his model. "Since it's a high performing model, I can at least feel justified if I charge rea
The Mech Chapter 7: Queen of the Skies
TheSeventhSnake sat back in his chair, exhausted even though he had been playing a simulation. The desperate dodging, the careful shots, that impulsive dive at the end. The high-intensity action echoed with his heart.He did not even begrudge his loss to CassieTheFox. That final dive had been an attack that would have resulted in a Pyrrhic victory at best. Fighting in a way that killed 1000 men while losing 800 might be fine in Iron Spirit where repairs were cheap and fast. In the real universe, such a reckless action was a good way to find yourself in a coffin or retired to a desk job.[Triceratopssss: THAT WAS AMAZING! :O][TheSeventhSnake: I know. I'm going to pay for it in repairs.][Triceratopssss: Man, you really should have won. That dive was so brilliant, especially the way you contorted your mech at the last moment.][TheSeventhSnake: Nah, I deserve that loss. I was too caught up in the moment to realize the Fantasia's legs couldn't possibly penetrate the shell of an Excelsio
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