The Mech Touch

by Stayrr

Humanity has conquered half the galaxy and the Age of Mechs reigns supreme! Ves Larkinson lacked the genetic aptitude to become a famed mech pilot. Fighting against his fate, he studied mech design in order to express his love for mechs as a builder instead of a soldier. When Ves graduated from college, he returned to a new but empty boutique. Left with a small, newly founded mec

2. 27

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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!"

"You talk too much!" Melinda yelled as she abandoned her laser fire for a close-in approach. Like a nimble gorilla she threw her mech forward while juking as much shots as she could. The Marc Antony strained against the sudden turns even as the incoming fire heated up a lot of portions of her mech. It made the Marc Antony seem like a demon from hell, with its dark armor, glowing red spots and the ever-present water vapor leaking from the crest of its head.

"That's a funny gimmick, the Roman helmet design. But I'm afraid you're going to lose it when I HACK OFF YOUR HEAD!"

The Caesar Augustus came into melee range, but despite the pilot's words the Augustus continued to charge forward like a train. Melinda only belatedly dodged to the side, suffering a glancing blow from the Augustus' quick slash.

The two came together again and engaged in a furious exchange of blows interspersed with opportunistic laser blasts. The Augustus' shield was virtually indestructible as Melinda's dual weapons lacked sufficient weight or sharpness. The white sword struck with measured, disciplined strikes that followed a mysterious pattern. It successfully held Melinda at bay.

The pilot of the Caesar Augustus must be an elite. His formal piloting skill overwhelmed her own as he moved the Augustus fluently like it was his own body. From his sword style to his movement pattern, everything the pilot did only put Melinda in a tougher position.

"Give up. I've seen what your mech is made of. You're an inferior copy."

"Shut up." Melinda replied as sweat poured down her face. She tried her best to hang on, but the opponent kept chipping away at the HRF plating that kept her mech protected.

"I can understand why you pilot such garbage. After all, if you don't have the money, you'll never pilot a mech as magnificent as the Caesar Augustus in your lifetime."

"Not everything can be measured with money!" She hissed as she surged forward, risking a deadly stab which she parried with her borrowed sword. Her weapon cracked and broke in half, but it succeeded in taking the wind out of the strike.

Her mace already pounced from above, the heavy rounded end travelling in a straight arc towards the Augustus' head. The enemy pilot hastily raised his shield, bouncing the mace back with a heavy vibration.

"Hah, what will you do now without a sword?"

"This!" Melinda dropped the broken sword and used her wrist to fire a couple of point-blank laser blasts right in the eyes. While most of the head was able to endure the heat, the main sensors and the delicate components buried deeper in the head were not so lucky.

The enemy pilot screamed as he lost his primary vision. He performed a reflexive bash with his shield that pushed the Marc Antony back. She stepped backwards along with the push, and started to slink sideways in order to take advantage of the fact the Augustus now relied on its secondary sensors.

"You think you've blinded me? You're wrong!"

Surprisingly, the Augustus shifted adeptly in Melinda's direction. Perhaps wary of another point blank surprise, the Augustus with its melted head kept its distance while firing its wrist laser. The Marc Antony spent its energy at a fast rate trying to dodge the shots.

"I've been lenient to you so far. I didn't expect you to scorn my face. Very well, let me show you the real power of the first emperor!"

The Augustus dropped its shield, relinquishing much of its defensive advantage over the Marc Antony. Nevertheless, the Augustus moved forward with renewed grace. The enhanced speed alarmed Melinda, and it took all she had to dodge the Augustus' masterful sword stroke. The follow up strikes chipped away at the Marc Antony's exterior, shaving off several portions of its arm and torso armor.

Melinda pushed down her panic and kept composed as she danced around with her mech. As each second passed, she felt her conscious mind grow more intense. The Marc Antony's dark form echoed her every thought, allowing her to avoid the Augustus' swords repeatedly. Even in the instances where she couldn't avoid damage, she exerted her utmost to let the sword strike her mech's best armored sections.

"All you can do is run like a cockroach and jump like a monkey!" The pilot bellowed, frustrated at the continual chase. "That's all a cheap whore riding a cheap imitation like you can do. You'll never be able to match me and my mech's brilliance!"

An irrational spike of fury invaded Melinda's thoughts. All her formal Guard training warned her not to lose her composure. Having spent a lot of time mediating between hotheads piloting multi-ton war machines, she was well aware of the dangers of letting your anger get the better of your decision making.

"The Marc Antony huh? I suppose you're not familiar with Ancient Terran history. You see, way back then, Augustus defeated Marc Antony repeatedly. And now, history will repeat itself. Your cheap joke of a mech will never be as worthy as mine!"

None of her reservations remained.

Indignant at being looked down at, she willingly embraced her anger and howled. The ferocious call stuttered the young pilot's attack, causing him to present an unforgivable gap in his assault. Melinda struck out with her mace with the limits of her mech's capacity, channeling the kinetic energy of her mech's legs, its rotating torso and its entire arm in a single devastating swipe that landed accurately against the Augustus' sword grip.

The fingers crunched as the impact of an entire mech's momentum couldn't be stopped by such delicate limbs. The middle and ring fingers even separated entirely. Despite the critical damage, the Augustus was nimble enough to throw its sword to its other hand. Once the Augustus regained its weapon, the Marc Antony would suffer as it overextended itself severely in its last attack.

Melinda's eyes sharpened as she used the brief moment to do something unorthodox. She engaged the emergency release catches that kept the Marc Antony's shoulder launchers attached to its armor. Using the remnants of her mech's forward momentum, she caused her mech to bodily fling the launchers at the gobsmacked Augustus.

"No matter how much money you have, you can't spend your way to victory." Melinda grinned as she waved goodbye with her mech's free hand.

She activated the overrides that caused all the missiles to explode their payloads at once. Twin suns appeared in their midst, blasting the Marc Antony backwards. The explosion further cracked her mech's armor, but she was able to get it to stay on its feet.

As the smoke and fire cleared, the Caesar Augustus looked much sorrier than before. Its armor surprisingly only sported a few cracks and craters despite suffering two concentrated magazine detonations.

Unfortunately, even if its armor retained much of its effectiveness, the more delicate components underneath suffered worse. The amalgamated explosions radiated the combined shock waves of a full salvo of missiles. Worse, the propellants of the missiles hadn't been expended at all, so they blew up all at once as well, adding an incinerating quality to the explosions that left the bedraggled Augustus half-burning in mechanical agony.

"What, what is this.. I can't move my mech.." The distressed young man said as he kept trying to take control over his mech's twitching limbs. "The Augustus... is..."

"The Augustus is only mortal." Melinda interjected as she guided her mech's foot to crunch the other hand of her opponent's mech into scrap. The Marc Antony ominously leaned over, bringing its menacing and battle-scarred face close to the Augustus' half-smashed and half-burned face. "You're not invincible inside that expensive toy of yours."

"At least I'm able to afford one in the real universe."

"You'll get your ass whipped just the same." Melinda noted, then bashed her mace against the Augustus' torso. The cracks expanded but the armor surprisingly held up against the blunt force trauma she frenziedly inflicted. By the time her mace broke off from the abuse, the enemy pilot's body had long since fallen apart from the excessive shock impacts.

Tossing the useless handle away, Melinda walked over and picked up the fallen mech's virtually pristine sword and shield. "Thanks for letting me borrow this, buddy."

She swept her gaze at the confused melee around her. Though her duel with the Caesar Augustus expended much out of her mech, it lasted only around two minutes. Victory and defeat hadn't been decided yet, but Melinda already pounced at the nearest enemy mech from the flanks. The opponent wasn't able to keep its attention in two directions at once, and lost its lower leg to a cruel slice of Melinda's new sword.

"This weapon's much better than I thought." She pleasingly muttered, though she missed the crunchy feel of her mace.

With Melinda's help, she freed up her preoccupied teammates, leaving them free to help out the others in turn. This caused the scales of battle to tip in their favor rapidly, leading the enemy to a solid rout as their remnants retreated up to the surface.

The Marc Antony raised its appropriated sword, causing the survivors to cheer in victory. Despite not having any advantage in the quality of her mech or her league ranking, she still managed to exude the quality of a leader. Most of the mechs who fought alongside of her were willing to follow her directions.

Please at the deference she enjoyed, Melinda lowered the sword until it pointed towards the exit. "We have a base to wreck. Let's go!"

The group of mechs squeezed out of the exit and finally reached the surface. Most of the defenders were still stuck guarding against outside attackers, but some of them had already been alerted to the intrusion.

"Show me where their control center is located!"

"Six o'clock, the dome by the tower-like structure."

"Alright boys and girls, we've got only one thing left before we can call it a day. To the control center!"

Despite the many mechs that turned around to take care of the threat that popped up in their midst, the invaders had initiative on their side and they only needed a short time to reach the control center. The hard-shelled dome protected it against all kinds of ordnance, but when Melinda crashed the lower edge of her kite shield against the surface, it cracked and started to cave in. Some of the other mechs with melee weapons joined in the fun while the rest fended off the approaching defenders.

"We can't hold out much longer!"

"Keep it up! We just need a little more time!"

The Marc Antony's last three shield attacks succeeded in prying open a hole. A light mech with a flamethrower immediately went to her side and fired off a lethally hot stream of flame that incinerated all of the control center's personnel and computers. Melinda mentally bathed in their screams, feeling gratified that they accomplished their objective.

"Uh, Melinda. You might not celebrate so soon yet. There's a problem."

She snapped out of her funk. "What's up, Janet?"

"Well, you guys managed to destroy the control center, but not before they called in the first wave of their reinforcements. You better look up in the sky."

Her sensors readjusted. She could see a small speck in the sky growing larger. It was an entry pod, allowing mechs to arrive on the surface of a planet with the speed of free fall. The pod grew larger, and larger, and larger, and larger...

"That's not a normal pod."

The pod was way too big to fit a single mech. From the size of it, Melinda estimated the pod could fit in at least eight to twelve medium mechs, which was difficult to fend off.

Only until the pod engaged its boosters to slow down its downward crash did Melinda feel that something was off. Those boosters released so much force that it rattled the entire comm center. It was as if the boosters were working their assess off arresting the fall of something much larger than a bunch of regular mechs.

An earthquake-like impact rattled everyone in the vicinity as the pod finally half-crashed in the middle of the base. The ramp of the pod lowered slowly, taking its time until it fully extended.

That was until a foot the size of a heavy mech kicked the metal ramp away. The rectangular piece of metal screeched as it bounced off the ground only to crash against the base of an antenna.

An apocalyptic mech the size of the Guard Headquarter's main building stepped out of the oversized pod. Each footstep seemed to rumble the footing of the other mechs, leading to a growing unease among the blue team. With its sturdy legs, barreled torso and a pair of weapon-encrusted arms, the metal monstrosity stretched the definition of mech.

"It's a juggernaut." Janet whispered.

In the history of mech development, there was no hard rule that set the size and weight of the mechs to a specific limit. The current modern adoption of the light, medium and heavy classification was more out of convenience than out of any calculated considerations. The doctrines that followed were what really cemented the classifications in place.

A light mech is fast and stays alive by remaining unseen or dodging enemy attacks. They usually act as scouts, saboteurs or flankers. They also make excellent flyers.

A medium mech is nimble on its feet and can withstand a limited amount of damage. They are the jack-of-all-trades in the mech world, able to fulfill any role with their unparalleled flexibility.

A heavy mech doesn't bother dodging, instead choosing to tank all the attacks coming its way. It is regarded as a tank due to the ease it is able to defend a position or break through enemy lines.

An entire industry has sprung up around these three archetypes. The system of developing and licensing interchangeable and modular components came about when different customers demanded they wanted to mount their favorite toys on their favorite mechs. Many advanced components invented these days restricted their use to a single weight class in order to maintain compatibility.

But regardless of this thriving ecosystem of mechs and mech parts, there were always some parties that wanted to take a step forwards for themselves. One such moment happened at the New Rubarth Empire's introduction of the juggernaut to the battlefield.

The juggernaut was a mech that had the ability to contend against a low-flying space ship. Its frame and its countless components weighed as much as a dozen heavy mechs, but was about a hundred to a thousand times more expensive to build. The many technologies that kept such a gargantuan in once piece and prevented it from collapsing under its own weight were very expensive to reproduce. Such a large and heavy mech simply didn't appear to be economical.

That never stopped the New Rubarthans, though. They painstakingly invested in its development and kept the project under wraps for at least an entire mech generation. Only until they refined the design well enough to be able to operate in hostile planetary environments did they release the first juggernaut on the battlefield.

It left behind a massacre back then. The city it fought in suffered so much damage, the New Rubarthans considered the battle could have resulted in less damage if they fired off a couple of illegal tactical nukes.

Right now, the juggernauts were weapons with dubious legal status in human space. Many states hostile to the New Rubarth Empire sought to draft a treaty banning such ultralarge mechs. The devastating they could unleashed rivaled weapons of mass destruction. In actuality, it would be justified if they were categorized as the newest WMD humans have invented.

All of that was of little use to Melinda now, as the juggernaut finally moved. It raised one of its arms that bristled with gun cannons and pointed in the vague direction of blue team's military base.

"Oh shit. Get out Janet!"

"I'm already on it!"

The juggernaut fired, and the entire world turned white.

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"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 want to keep costs and complexity under control." Ves shook his head. "I've anticipated most of the issues you've mentioned, but they're kind of built into the fundamental design of the mech. I'm not aiming to replace the Caesar Augustus. I just want to deliver an affordable variant that can perform well in smaller engagements."

Melinda nodded. "I'm certainly impressed with the mech. I kind of want to replace my patrol mech with it, but I know the pencil pushers in the Guard won't allow such a thing. It doesn't have the endurance."

After the conversation ended, Ves put the finishing touches on his second handmade mech and sent it off to be sold in the market.

"Let's see my progress so far."

[Status]

Name: Ves Larkinson

Profession: Novice Mech Designer

Specializations: None

Design Points: 235

Attributes

Strength: 0.7

Dexterity: 0.7

Endurance: 0.6

Intelligence: 1.2

Creativity: 1

Concentration: 1.2

Neural Aptitude: F

Skills

[Assembly: Apprentice - [3D Printer Proficiency I] [Assembler Proficiency I]

[Business: Apprentice

[Computer Science: Incompetent

[Electrical Engineering: Novice

[Mathematics: Incompetent

[Mechanics: Apprentice - [Jury Rigging I] [Speed Tuning I]

[Metallurgy: Apprentice

[Metaphysics: Incompetent

[Physics: Novice - [Lightweight Armor Optimization I] [Mediumweight Armor Optimization I]

Evaluation: Almost reached the standards of an apprentice mech designer.

His stats hadn't changed much since the last time he viewed it. His concentration had gained 0.1 points again due to his single-minded focus in mastering the Marc Antony. Besides sleeping, eating, bathroom rituals and taking short breaks to reset his mood, he spent all his time fabricating the Marc Antony.

His DP counter remained stubbornly stagnant, further indicating that the sales potential for his Fantasia variants had reached the bottom of the well. Much of his DP came from the two Marc Antony's sold so far. They offered much more for a single sale due to their higher value.

"It doesn't look like my Marc Antony model will catch fire." Ves noted disappointingly. "With only a little more than a week left until the YTE, I won't be able to increase my sub-skills or attributes in any meaningful way."

While he spent a lot of work designing the Marc Antony then mastering its fabrication process, the things he learned provided marginal help at best when joining the contest.

The contest only lasted one day, just long enough for mech designers to showcase their skills without boring the audience to a multi-day engineering fest. The day before the main event, the organizers hosted a qualifying round in order to filter out the eight best contestants.

Both events revolved around designing and putting together a functioning mech out of a bunch of parts and a random stripped-down model. It showcased the mech designer's skill in creating new mechs while skipping out the boring part of fabricating the parts from scratch.

The old Ves without the System probably wouldn't get past the qualifiers. Even with all the additional benefits the System gave him, he might not even be certain he can reach the top 3.

"I shouldn't be obsessed with trying to reach first place. I have to keep my priorities clear. As long as I can find a single customer for my Marc Antony design, I've already won."

The impending interest payment term loomed within a month, which caused Ves to bear immense pressure.

"I stand a much better chance in the contest if I can earn enough DP to buy the Jury Rigging II sub-skill before it starts."

He already experienced the power of Jury Rigging I. The skill energized with his creativity, allowing him to form unorthodox solutions to complicated technical problems. It did not add any new knowledge, but instead improved his ability to combine the knowledge he already learned into something new. An example would be to strip a laser rifle and turn it onto a shoulder mount. Though such a shoddy modification won't work as well as a purpose-built shoulder weapon, it should work well enough in an emergency.

"I should get my workshop ready." Ves reminded himself. If all went well, he should be able to find a customer for his new design. He'd have to get his workshop ready and running by the time he got back from the event.

First he took a look at his 3D printer. As a fairly old, second-hand model, it lacked the most current technology in fabrication. Ves meticulously went through the settings of the printer, and with the help of his improved knowledge in assembly, added presets that helped fabricate certain parts easier and with less errors.

Then, he looked at his inventory. Besides the raw materials required to produce the HRF armor plating, he lacked pretty much everything else required to build up a Marc Antony. Ves took note of the list of raw materials and visited the local site of the Mech Trade Association. The MTA offered many services to anyone looking to build, buy or sell a mech. It conveniently partnered with resource wholesalers that allowed them to sell various raw materials through a convenient market interface.

"Hm, to fabricate the HRF requires about 11 million bright credits in raw materials. To purchase the rest of the materials requires just 7 million credits. The total cost comes at 18 million credits. If I charge 24 million credits for the Marc Antony, I'll recoup my cost and earn just enough profit to meet my next interest payment."

Selling a mech that priced at 24 million credits was much easier than one that demanded more than double the amount. It cost 45 million credits in total to cover the raw materials for the Caesar Augustus. The materials for the Augustus' proprietary armor plating cost 38 million credits alone, and Ves lacked the facilities required to process exotic materials into advanced armor plating.

"These prices look reliable, but it's not entirely reflective of the entire market." Ves noted carefully, remembering what he learned in college about running a business. "I'm sure there's plenty of private agreements between a small group of partners that offers substantially lower prices."

Ves curiously inspected the market prices for the Caesar Augustus and its close variants. The official base model produced by National Aeromotives sold for a whopping 65 million credits. Naturally, as the original manufacturer and with the now mature Jason Kozlowski at the helm, the CA-1 produced by NA was top quality.

The few mech designers that have licensed the Caesar Augustus sold the base model or its close variants for around 55 to 60 million credits. Perhaps they also offered lower prices, though they used private sales channels in order to conduct such business. The MTA's internal market site only listed public offerings, which in the mech business is considered the tip of the iceberg.

"As a tiny mech designer with a one-man business with no reputation, I don't possess the qualifications to seek out deals that are more favorable to me. I can only purchase the materials I require at market prices."

This presented a big problem to Ves. The materials needed to build up the frame, power reactor, engines and everything else amounted to 7 million, which is 2 million more than he owed in his upcoming interest payment. As Ves had no ability to draw another loan, he had no way of purchasing the required materials without receiving an advance payment from a customer.

"That's also going to be a little tricky."

The private mech business used to be pretty chaotic.

Customers sometimes refused to pay up, leaving the manufacturer in the hole. Sometimes the customer paid on time, but used the new mech they acquired to extort the manufacturer into returning the money.

Sometimes, manufacturers also screwed their customers in return. They used sub-standard materials and inferior components to fool their customers into believing they paid for quality when instead they got nothing but a fake.

The establishment of the trans-galactic MTA curtailed most instances of fraud and robbery. Customers looking to buy a reliable mech used the MTA as a middleman. The MTA certified each mech that passed through their hands, and made sure the mech conformed to the submitted and agreed upon design between the seller and buyer.

Mech designers and manufacturers also benefited from the MTA. For the cost of 1% of a mech's sales price, they could take advantage of its many services, such as certification, access to the internal market, to letting them take care of collecting payment from the buyer. It provided a safe platform to do business for many small and medium-sized businesses.

The MTA, though officially a charity, also acted as enforcers. They rigidly enforced the prohibitions on installing weapons of mass destruction onto mechs. Any violators caught with dabbling in forbidden dangers like nukes or viruses would be squashed by the MTA's dreaded 'Compliance Department'. Each so-called compliant officer who worked for the MTA were at least expert pilots, with most captains reaching the standard of ace pilots.

In comparison, Melinda only reached the standard of advanced pilot, which was the minimum skill requirement to receive a piloting position in the Mech Corps.

"If I do my business through the MTA, I won't need to worry about the authenticity of the advance payment. My customers will also receive some assurance from the organisation."

Though Ves had not yet bought anything from the market, he pre-registered his purchase list in order to notify the sellers of those materials that he might buy them soon. It was nothing more than a notification, but the sellers might prepare for the sale by making sure they had the materials in their inventory and could ship them to the Bright Republic.

"The Bright Republic is small, so shipping times aren't so bad as long as I can find each material in the domestic market."

Ves tracked down each material and was relieved there were no problems on that end. With the ultra-fast shipping capabilities of a modern galactic civilization, shipping companies were able to transport all the materials stockpiled in Bentheim to Cloudy Curtain in just two days.

After that, he contacted the MTA to prepare the paperwork for his expected production. Once he signed some standard contracts and agreements with the MTA and the Bright Republic, a representative of the MTA called him in person. The representative invited Ves to go over the legal requirements of producing a mech in the Bright Republic.

"Your production license covers the permission to produce the weapons that come with the Caesar Augustus." A representative from Bentheim explained over the comm. "However, you do not have permission to live-fire these weapons even in tests. Furthermore, you are not allowed to produce your own ordnance. This means you may not produce any missiles even if you have the capability to do so from your license."

"What about the wrist-mounted laser cannons? They're technically operational as soon as they come off the 3D Printer. I just need to plug them to an energy source."

The representative swiped a couple of designs to Ves. "You need to add safeties during the fabrication process that seals the energy weapons. The files I just sent are small presets for your 3D printer. They will automatically incorporate the most optimal safeties to any weapons you produce, but you should always double-check them manually."

"Will do. I have one final question. Could you tell me if my design has any appeal to the market?"

The man from the association smiled. "We are always ready to offer advice to young entrepreneurs. As for your variant, it is highly unusual to offer an economy variant of an extremely advanced frame such as the Caesar Augustus. The Augustus already has a small demand. Since you have replaced its armor in your design, thus taking away the biggest merit of that particular model, I cannot be certain whether any potentate is willing to invest in your new concept. There is no existing demand for this kind of product, so you should diligently work on your marketing in order to create demand."

"Understood. I don't have anymore questions, so goodbye."

"Have a nice day."

In other words, Ves had to market his design from the ground up. He couldn't steal any customers from the pilots interested in the base model because they were unwilling to buy an inferior version when they had the money for the real thing.

Ves should target pilots with less generous bank accounts, but those pilots usually bought dependable front line models, not discounted advanced mechs. These two categories differed significantly in terms of endurance, maintenance cost and overall longevity. Regular front line mechs were built to last.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

For the remainder of the time, Ves kept diligently producing the Marc Antony in his virtual workshop. He accumulated a decent amount of experience in fabricating the most troublesome parts, and with his deep knowledge of the frame and its base model he felt confident he could fabricate a functioning mech with his own equipment.

The days passed quickly. The day of departure arrived. The Bright Republic offered free transportation to Bentheim for all contestants. As a one of many participants to the annual Young Tigers Exhibition, Ves joined the crowd of hopeful pilots at the spaceport while holding Lucky to his chest and leading a floating luggage carrier carrying his clothes and other stuff.

"Man, I don't know why I'm even coming. Only Grant has a shot of reaching the top 10." A young graduate complained.

"What do you know?" A tall and heavyset pilot said with a sneer. "If you manage to reach the top 200, you'll easily be able to land a job at a reputable mercenary corps. I'm not talking about the 5 or 10 man shows, I'm talking about the real deal, like Pritchard's Bannermen or the Red Bishops."

"Seriously? No wonder my uncle wanted me to participate."

"The YTE not only showcases our generation's talent to the Republic, it also acts as a job fair. Plenty of employers are watching the show. If they like a pilot, they don't hesitate to offer a contract. My brother landed a spot with the Crossmen that way."

The idle chatter of the potentates unintentionally revealed many useful things to Ves. Besides the government and the Mech Corps, he could also expect a lot of mercenaries to attend. Their main purpose was to look for fresh blood to replenish their ranks. It was questionable whether they'd be open to buy a new mech. Ves had his work cut out for him in the next couple of days.

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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 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."

"No."

That pretty much killed the conversation. The pilots all turned around and went back to their own discussions.

The blatant disregard hurt Ves a little, but he had grown used to such behavior ever since he turned ten. Before his genetic aptitude was tested, he behaved just as arrogantly as the other potentates. It took a brutal fall from heaven to realize how conceited he actually behaved.

"I was a stupid punk back then. I got what I deserved, but the rest ingrained this dismissive behavior."

It couldn't be helped. Modern society worshiped martial prowess, and a disproportionate attention was placed on mechs. Sometimes it appeared that society revolved around pleasing potentates.

Certainly, placating pilots was important, but the soldiers who bravely enlisted in the other service branches also deserved some honor. Spaceships guarded their borders against capricious aliens while infantrymen occupied territory and cleaned after the messes mechs usually caused when throwing around ordnance.

Nothing could be done about it, though, so Ves took the dismissal without complaint. It wasn't as if he achieved anything of note that justified anything more than an absent glance. Only Lucky attracted some attention, but the mostly female pilots were too preoccupied to get distracted by his cuteness.

The departure time arrived. The shuttle lifted off after everyone was accounted for. The inter-system shuttle ample power to lift off and escape Cloudy Curtain's atmosphere. Like a sparrow taking flight, the shuttle fluently broke the confines of the planet's gravity and followed a pre-programmed flight out to the nearest Lagrange point in the local star system.

Lagrange points provided fast and convenient launch points for FTL. Any shuttle or spaceship capable of travelling faster than light departed from a Lagrange point whenever possible, but were only capable of reaching the edge of a solar system as their destination.

While the possibility exists for highly advanced spaceships to arrive at their destination's Lagrange point, the act was considered near suicidal. It was like threading a needle, except one single mistake could cause the ship to smash itself apart in weird gravitational stresses, leaving the debris to fall into the local sun.

Everyone played it safe, including the transport shuttle. It took only a moment for the shuttle to reach the nearest Lagrange point. It waited in line as other vessels departed first. Once the shuttle came forward, its sleek and narrow form visibly warped into an elongated form before launching into FTL.

The shuttle lurched a little when it entered FTL, but after that the passengers felt nothing else. After hundreds of years of refinement, human FTL technology had earned a track record for safety and reliability.

The flight from Cloudy Curtain's star system to Bentheim only took less than a day due to Bentheim's favorable gravitational position. It made travelling to the economic heart of the Bright Republic convenient. Besides having no one to talk to, Ves enjoyed the flight.

Once the shuttle arrived at the edge of Bentheim's star system, it flew towards one of border outposts Bentheim established to meet incoming vessels. Smaller systems such as Cloudy Curtain normally wouldn't bother with this formality, but a major port like Bentheim necessitated increased security checks.

Many ships formed an orderly line in the space set with beacons. Small patrol ships flew alongside them, scanning their interior for any contraband while determining their origins and destinations. The shuttle from Cloudy Curtain only warranted a brief scan before being let through by the space security forces.

The passenger shuttle nimbly navigated deeper in the system like a fish swimming along a river. It passed by several plodding haulers and and heavily armed warships. It kept its distance from rickety looking mercenary ships and anything else that hinted of danger.

After half a day's flight, they finally approached the planetary orbit of Bentheim. From above, the heavily populated planet looked like a paradise that mixed greenery with high tech urban development. Ever since Bentheim established itself as the premier port of the Republic, the government invested trillions of credits in its ability to accommodate an endless amount of visitors and cargo.

The shuttle landed at a crowded spaceport near the capital city called Dorum. Ves, the pilots and their chaperones were practically booted out of the shuttle. As soon as they stepped out, the shuttle left in order to make way for another passenger shuttle.

Captain Gillian, the lead supervisor of the contestants from Cloudy Curtain, led them to a prepared atmospheric transport that brought them to a hotel near the venue. After leaving the shuttle, they entered the hotel in order to check-in and left behind their luggage.

"Alright pilots, the Young Tigers Exhibition officially starts tomorrow. You're free for the rest of the day, so go play at the local game center or shop until you run out of credits. I only have a few rules that I hope you can follow for your sake."

The captain lifted up a finger. "First, be at the venue at 6:00 local time. If your comms haven't automatically adjusted their internal clocks, do so now. Tardiness is no excuse."

A couple of pilots activated their comms, and some of them had to adjust their settings.

"Second, you'll be tested for any drugs or intoxicants the moment you enter, so for god's sake don't go party in a club and get smashed. More than a handful of contestants find their qualifications revoked after imbibing a suspicious drink. Don't rule out sabotage from your competitors. There's spies and agents everywhere in the city."

This caused a couple of pilots to gulp, though most of them snorted or dismissed the warning as a fantasy. As natives of Cloudy Curtain, the people in power never paid much attention to them. The best pilots of the Republic all graduated from institutions in Bentheim or Rittersberg.

"Third, do NOT get into an altercation with your rivals from other pilots. We're all Brighters here, so don't lower your standing in front of the foreigners. We have guests from all over the star sector here, so keep your roles in mind."

The young men and women appeared to listen attentively, but Ves knew most of it would be thrown right out the window a few seconds later.

"If you break any of these rules, don't expect to participate in the Young Tigers Exhibition. You're grown ups, so bear the consequences of your screw-ups yourself."

With the rest of the late afternoon and evening free, Ves exited the hotel holding Lucky against his chest alongside the other participants. The mechanical cat opened its artificial eyes wide as it beheld the exciting view in front of him. The crowded thoroughfares revealed that even at the outskirts, the capital hosted a lot of guests at this time. Every YTE was a celebration of martial might, so the Bright Republic hosted a couple of other activities to accompany the event. The mech design competition was just one of many additions.

"Let's see. Tomorrow's the qualifiers, the day after that is the main event. Once the YTE ends, I'll have to return to Cloudy Curtain immediately if I want to fabricate and deliver my mech in time."

Ves had very little time left, so even his free time should be spent on improving his chances of doing well in the competition. "Let's visit the mech show rooms."

As the commercial capital of a port system, Dorum featured hundreds of mech museums, mech dealers, and mech workshops. It featured a healthy local ecosystem that made it convenient for many people in the mech business to run a business.

Unfortunately, the rent was prohibitively expensive and the competition was cutthroat. A new entrant with no existing connections to the industry had no chance of establishing a workshop in Dorum, or anywhere else on Bentheim for that matter. Ves chose to setup his workshop in Cloudy Curtain not just because it was his home, but more due to the low taxes and hassle-free regulations.

"Besides, shipping stuff to and from Bentheim from Cloudy Curtain isn't expensive at all. It makes little difference except for the difficulty of attracting customers."

In a major metropolis like Dorum, most avenues and streets featured greenery, art and seating of all kinds. Most transportation traveled far underground or high up in the air, so the bustling city never appeared congested. He entered one of the tunnels, slapped his comm against the scanning block, and waited for a small hovercar to appear before him. A number of passengers including Ves and Lucky entered the car before it closed up and zipped deeper into the heart of the city.

Ves opened his comm and studied the map of the city. He entered a few search parameters and found a listing of mech show rooms open to the public. Narrowing the list down further, he was finally left with three venues that featured the Caesar Augustus. Two places showed off the base model, while the remaining show room hosted a variant.

After arriving downtown, Ves took a smaller underground vehicle in order to bring him to the first venue called Bosworth's, a giant branch of one of the biggest commercial dealers of civilian mechs in the star sector. With the name of the company emblazoned at the front of the stadium-sized show room, it attracted countless of pilots and enthusiasts every day. After paying a small fee at the entrance, Ves entered the interior of the show room and found his way to the section where their Caesar Augustus was hosted.

After several minutes of appreciating the other mechs on display, he finally reached one of Bosworth's prized possession. Ves squeezed through a crowd of hundreds as they admired and took pictures of the tall, majestic mech.

Seeing it in person made the trip worth it to Ves. He built the mech and several of his personally developed variants many times by hand, but eventually he had to admit his only real experience was in a virtual workshop. How could working with digital code compare to working with real metals and real components?

Even from a healthy distance, Ves felt the Caesar Augustus emanate an air of majesty. It was as if the model was an emperor of mechs, and that it was natural for all other mechs to bow before his presence.

"This craftsmanship is good. It's not a standard model by National Aeromotives, that's for sure."

With his deep knowledge of the Caesar Augustus, he noticed a few minute traces that spoke of a different fabrication philosophy than what NA or Jason Kozlowski adhered to. These personal touches brought the base model along a different path to its peak.

"I wonder if the craftsman who worked on this particular model is aware of how he meshed his own thoughts into the model."

With his extensive research on the X-Factor, Ves started to get a rudimentary sixth sense for the phenomenon. He spent plenty of time watching replays of TheSeventhSnake and Melinda in action, so he knew vaguely how the X-Factor was expressed. He tried to identify the vague sensations of emotions the model emanated, however faintly.

"It feels.. the fabricator is old. Experienced. He treated the Augustus as his magnum opus, his best work. He must not have licensed the model himself, but got the opportunity to fabricate it once somehow, perhaps because he got hired for a single job. He relished the chance of being involved with building up an advanced mech, so he treated the work reverently."

The unconscious feeling of worship the old fabricator felt towards the model unintentionally enhanced the end product's awe. Perhaps that was why Bosworth acquired this particular specimen and showed it off in public. It certainly enhanced the chain's prestige.

"This was a worthwhile visit. I see now that there's a slightly different way of regarding the Caesar Augustus."

Ves naturally refused to adopt such a servile philosophy. He believed that men were masters over the machine. No matter how sophisticated the mech, it's still created as a vehicle for a pilot to protect or destroy. Naturally, with his recent studies of the X-Factor, his views had adjusted slightly, but only in the sense that mechs performed best when they were created as similar-minded partners to their pilots. There was no need to go overboard and act as if humans were the slaves in this relationship.

After the fruitful visit, Ves left Bosworth's and walked down a couple of blocks and visited another company's show room. Though smaller, the seller mainly sold premium mechs, so it received even more attention from the public. A long line of visitors waited in front of the store and Ves had to cough up a much higher fee to finally enter the premises. Seeing the magnificent mechs all around him made him feel he was in mech heaven. But since he was short on time, he only threw a glance before reaching his destination.

The Caesar Augustus Ves saw was virtually identical to the first one. Nevertheless, compared to the previous mech which managed to look imperial, this example seemed.. diminished. Perhaps it was due to the different lighting, or the fact that other expensive mechs surrounded it, but the mech that Ves seemed diminished.

"Many people were involved in its construction. The contours and components rigidly adhere to the standards demanded by its design, but that's the only advantage this model has. It's like this model is built by an assembly line."

It was a manner of fabricating that spoke of scale, precision and efficiency. Instead of letting one fabricator make all the components by hand, a factory employed many people who all specialize in fabricating one single component. There would be one guy who makes only sensors, another person who's in charge of armor plating, and so on. This specialization insured they maintained quality while keeping up a decent production pace. One of the worst things that could happen to a large scale manufacturer is the occurrence of faults, so employing specialists or AIs that could take over such a role was key in maintaining consistency.

"It works if all you care about is the technical performance of the mech." Ves commented, feeling regretful that the manufacturer had not brought this mech to its full potential. "I can't say I blame them. You can't measure X-Factor. Even though I learned so much, even the most renowned experts must still not have any means of quantifying the X-Factor."

You couldn't put any value in an attribute that couldn't be seen or heard. Plenty of mechs with a high potential of X-Factor were treated like disposable trash. That was because industry standards favored mass production over individual craftsmanship. Even the mech designers that start a business by themselves let their employees take over the tedious work of fabricating his models when the designer achieved success. They only bothered crafting hand-made versions of their mech to familiarize themselves with the model and fix any production issues that might occur.

After leaving the show room, Ves intended to visit the show room with the customized version of the Augustus. However, after his comm beeped an alert, he knew he had to return to the hotel. The qualifiers for the YTE started tomorrow morning and he had to wake up early in order to make it in time.

"The time for me to prove myself is about to come." He grinned, relishing the chance to showcase his newly acquired abilities in front of a stage.

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Bentheim 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 to the tourists and mech enthusiasts who visited the event. Naturally, the organizers treated 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 lobby of the hotel."

Ves left his gem cat in his hotel room this time. It was not appropriate for him to bring Lucky along as he competed. Not just because pets weren't allowed, but also due to the possibility of cheating.

So he came to the qualifiers alone. Compared to the festive bombast of the main event, the mech designer competition was a subdued event that attracted only a fraction of the crowd. Most of those attending were friends and family of the mech designers. The real crowd would show up tomorrow, when only the eight best competitors came up on stage.

"Ves! Wow man, nice to see you!" A chubby young man with flaring pink hair spotted Ves and came over with a cheerful smile. "Man, we haven't been in touch ever since we graduated. It's like you fell into a black hole."

Ves smiled and bumped his former classmate with his fist. "Hey Carlos. I've been having some trouble at home. Starting your own mech design workshop is harder than it looks."

"You actually went through with it?! Nevermind the hardware, how are you even capable of paying for the licenses?"

"I had a little luck there." Ves proceeded to fill in most of what he did the last two months to his friend.

Carlos Shaw looked at Ves with a mixed expression. "I can't decide whether you're a lucky bastard or not. Only the dumbest grant institutes would give you a production license for the Caesar Augustus."

"Yeah, I'm still wracking my head around trying to reproduce it without getting bankrupt. That's also why I'm here. I have to find a customer for my first mech or else I'm in deep shit."

"I envy your independence. You should see what I do for a living nowadays. My dad got me a connection to the quality control department of a wholesaler here in Bentheim."

Carlos followed the path of many other mech designers who graduated from Rittersberg. They started at the bottom in large corporations. Like many other young graduates, Carlos' current job had nothing to do with mech design in any shape or way. The only thing the job required of him was to test the mechs that the company imported and note which parts were faulty.

Carlos might be an average mech designer, but with the things he learned in college he was an overqualified mech technician. Basically, any mech designer that hadn't studied from one of the renowned universities from at least a second-rate human state could forget about entering the world of real mech design.

The pathetic state of this industry in the Bright Republic was perhaps the biggest reason why it held this competition. The government wanted to stimulate a domestic mech industry, or at least not become too dependent on foreign trans-galactic corporations.

They chit-chatted a little more on what they experienced after graduation. After waiting in line, security confirmed their credentials and allowed them to enter the waiting room for contestants. Already about a hundred young mech designers sat on the comfortable seats or caught up with their friends and acquaintances.

Ves spotted a few more notable classmates, including the top student Patricia Schneider. Her parents worked at mid-level positions at Bosworth's, which might not sound impressive but represented the apex of local influence in the huge corporation. With Patricia's background, she should have been qualified to study at a prestigious university from a second-rate state. Instead, she stayed in the Bright Republic and attended the Rittersberg University of Technology like the other poor and untalented locals.

"How much do you think Patricia's chances are of winning first place?"

"About 20%." Carlos casually estimated. "I heard she somehow managed to catch the attention of a senior mech designer and became his apprentice. No idea who he is, but that's what people are telling me. They're even saying that the mech designer tutored Patricia during her studies in our college."

"No wonder she managed to score full marks in every theoretical test."

"Yeah, thank god she's not as good in practicals, or else she'd wipe the floor of this contest."

Rubbing his chin, Ves turned away from Patricia and looked at a couple of other contestants. A few held up their chests in a more confident posture, very unlike a local student. They practically oozed the same level of superiority as potentates!

"I've spotted at least seven poncies who studied abroad at an elite university." Carlos said, as he was much more familiar with the people he studied with at Rittersberg. "I don't know who most of them are, but I do recognize that bastard Edwin McKinney."

The young man in question stood in front of a gaggle of admirers. His face oozed as much superiority as all the other elites in the room put together.

"What's his background?"

"He attended a university in the New Rubarth Empire. Dunno what's the name, but it's Rubarthan so who cares. Even though it's not one of the elite institutions at Estelon, he still prances about his prestige whenever he can. It's as if he's an enlightened gentleman bringing civilization to us savages."

Though it sounded ugly, the attention was not unwarranted. Even Ves felt the urge to pick Edwin's brains on the latest development in mechs. Studying mech design in a random NRE university was a wholly different concept than studying the same degree in a backwater country like the Bright Republic. Even the cheapest trash mechs the NRE fielded in their mech corps were at least two generations. Advanced technologies that sounded like fantasy to Ves was commonplace in those mighty first-rate states.

Ves felt a little regret he hadn't studied harder in his teenage years. If he worked hard and achieved better results back then, he might have received the opportunity to attend an elite institution in a second or first-rate state.

"We live in different worlds. It's no use associating with him. Better focus on your own career." Ves advised, though the real reason he acted nonchalant was because he could rely on the Mech Designer System to overcome these rivals in the future. It was an advantage he was certain not even the best young mech designers possessed. With its power, he had a real shot at reaching the apex of mech design. All it took was time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Bright Republic's best and brightest!"

An attendant gestured the contestants to exit the waiting room. They arrived in front of a podium with all 150 contestants present. They bowed before a crowd of familiar and unfamiliar faces.

The presenter was a silver-haired man with a robust voice, likely another veteran of the Mech Corps. "As you can see, it would be too extravagant to allocate a personal workshop and quota of parts to each contestants. With the help of the convention center's holographic projectors, we can nevertheless save space and resources by conducting the qualifiers in a virtual reality with unprecedented realism."

A few groans escaped the lips of the contestants. They all wanted to play around with real mech parts and were hopeful this time was different.

"Now, just like last year, we wish to present our young mech designers with the challenge of designing and assembling a functioning mech from preselected parts. It is not a challenge to make a mech work, but it takes skill and talent to create the best mech from sub-optimal parts. Your task is to create a mech that will be tested in a standard 10 kilometer guantlet. Your mechs will all be test piloted by Hans over here,"

Another veteran mech pilot waved his hand from the side.

"-who is a strict professional and will treat any mech the same. Any questions?"

"How much time do we have?"

"Twelve hours from the start of the qualifiers."

"Are there any limits on weight class and weaponry?"

The presenter grinned. "Design any mech you want at your heart's content. We do not place any limits on the design so long it fits the definition of a mech. Do you want to stick four arms on a mech? Fine. Do you want to design a mech with its torso upside down? Go ahead. We specifically enlisted the aid of Hans because he is an all-rounder. He can pilot light, medium and heavy mechs with the same proficiency. He has plenty of experience piloting the most popular animal designs as well. He can kill the same amount of enemies whether he's given a sword or a rifle."

"Is he an AI?"

That elicited a bit of laughter from the people present.

"I can assure you, he is 100% homo sapiens."

That actually reassured Ves. His only advantage over the other contestants was his ability to actualize the X-Factor in a mech. If his finished product gets tested by an artificial intelligence, then he seriously doubted the emotionally lifeless software program would notice the difference.

"Very well, if there are no more questions, then please take your place at the designated areas. If you don't possess a tactile implant, then please where the provided gloves in order to ensure you can move the holographic projections around."

Most mech designers had implanted their bodies with technologies that allowed them to touch holograms as if they were real items. It didn't convey the weight of the objects, but it functioned properly enough for today's purposes.

"On your mark. Get Set. GO!"

The empty spaces in front of each participant shimmered as a miniature pile of holographic parts and mech frames littered their view. It looked like someone took out a random pile of parts from a junkyard and put them in front of everyone. The only thing that separated it from junk was that the parts looked new and unused and that every participant had to work with the same parts. When Ves approached a power reactor and tried to touch it, the component enlarged until it reached its real proportions.

"So that's how they save space here."

It made sense to scale down the unused parts. Otherwise the entire venue ran out of space to hold 150 contestants if they all worked on full scale components. Ves looked around how others fared with the impending challenge. Most looked at the pile of junk and got briefly overwhelmed. Carlos scratched his head as he slowly went over his options. Patricia Schneider immediately chose a fairly standard humanoid internal frame and started sorting through different components to add to her new mech.

As for Edwin McKinney, the young elite chose a bold direction for his mech. He chose to pair a lightweight eagle-shaped mech with a robust flight system. Such a combination would result in a flyer that hovers between the light and medium weight class, which was not a good area to fall into. Ves suspected that Edwin had a few surprises in store.

As for his own design, he took a brief look at the components available. Most of the parts seemed outdated, roughly around two to four generations old. In Iron Spirit, these parts would be considered 3-star or 4-star parts, somewhat advanced for novice mech designers but not to the point of overwhelming them if they stuck to the simpler parts. The standard parts were all within his competence.

Instead of starting to pick the parts he preferred, Ves took a different approach. He studied Hans, the test pilot for his competition design, and thought about the presenter's description of him. If Ves wanted to make it out of the qualifiers, he had to use his strengths, and that meant integrating the X-Factor into his design.

"It's a risk if I go this route. If I let my emotions instead of logic drive my design, then I won't make the most optimal choices. Other mechs will have better specs than mine."

Yet what does it matter if his mech performed worse than other mechs by 5% or so? Only the mechs that performed the best in the gauntlet made it through the qualifiers. No matter how many bells and whistles a designer added to the mech, if Hans didn't use it to its full potential, then it wasn't a good design. The product had to fit the pilot, not the mech designer's preferences.

"What kind of mech does Hans prefer to pilot the most?"

Too bad Ves wasn't allowed to access the galactic net during this competition. He only had the brief story from the presenter to make a guess. What was this pilot's greatest strength?

"Versatility."

Hans could pilot almost every mech in the market. That took a lot of training. This man dedicated much of his piloting career learning how to pilot many different kinds of mechs. He practiced shoring up both his melee and ranged weapon skill until he could use them interchangeably without affecting his battle strength.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but Ves thought a mech like the Marc Antony fit Hans well. The medium mech offered maximum flexibility, allowing Hans to dodge attacks that could be dodged and tank what he could withstand. With a mace and shield, Hans could tear any mech apart except for heavy knights, and with his wrist-mounted laser cannons he could shoot down anyone from mid-range. The lack of endurance wouldn't be much of an issue, considering the mech only had to go through a short but intensive 10 kilometer gauntlet.

"There's no need to seek out a particular extreme. If I have the chance to use my familiarity to my advantage, then I should take it. There's no shame in using a design I know well as a reference. As long as my design can do the job, then Hans will easily pass through the gauntlet."

Ves finally stepped forward and picked a couple of promising but also fitting components. He envisioned the mech he had in mind for a pilot with a broad set of skills.

"First, the mech should be a mediumweight in order to maintain the mech's flexibility. The mech should be a flier, but the wings don't need to be strong. Flight is just a means to an end. Next, it needs a balanced focus on melee and ranged offensive options."

What Ves imagined Hans preferred to pilot was a workhorse model. It shouldn't be too fancy, and it doesn't need all the bells and whistles. The design needed to do the job and nothing more. Through this process of thought, Ves imagined the competition organizers implied much more than what they revealed on the surface.

"They presented us with a pile of parts, some of them more advanced than we ought to know how to handle." Ves shook his head and glanced at his fellow mech designers who seemingly went crazy at the possibilities. "It's actually a subtle trap. If we get carried away with forcing an advanced component into an unsuitable design, then Hans won't be able to perform that well and won't be able to endure in the gauntlet."

Ves felt a little confident in his chances now. While the likes of Patricia and Edwin remained superior contestants, he felt he stood a chance of making it in the bottom of the top 8.

"Let's see if I can recreate the ghetto version of the Marc Antony with these parts."

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Ves started selecting his parts, all the while keeping his intentions honed to a specific image. He wanted to build a versatile workhorse, a mech that doesn't have flashy features but is able to use the tools it has to their fullest effect.

Building a mech started with the internal frame. As the basic skeleton of the mech, it determined the mech's shape, height, and weight capacity. A sturdy mech not only demanded strong armor, but also a robust internal frame that could hold up its weight under pressure.

There were many frames to choose from. Most adopted a standard humanoid shape of two arms, two legs and and upright posture. Some looked like cats, others like birds and reptiles. Each form had its advantages and disadvantages, but generally the humanoid mechs offered great balance as long as its two legs remained intact.

As Ves wanted to design a mech with flight capabilities, he chose to pick a medium frame that was on the lighter side. The frame's construction featured a clever arrangement of gaps, hollows and grooves. It saved a lot of weight while keeping its structural integrity intact as much as possible, though not always succeeding. Nevertheless, the frame held up to stresses as long as it wasn't used to heavily for years.

Fortunately, the contest also automatically supplied the compatible artificial musculature. Though for the best original designs, it was best to form it from scratch, the amount of time it took was immense compared to borrowing an existing design scheme.

Next up Ves considered the contour of the mech and the configuration of the limbs. Humanoid mechs differed widely in size, bulk, thickness and so on. While some designers preferred to complete the internals first before considering the exterior, Ves wanted to do the opposite in order to set his limits beforehand. He already had a purpose in mind for his mech, so it was important he get the outer appearance of the mech done first in order to make it easier for him to visualize his intentions.

"First up, the legs."

As the mech's base, the legs determined the machine's speed, weight limit and stability. Humanoid mechs boasted a wide variety of legs, from ones that specialized in long-distance efficiency to those that came built-in with boosters to facilitate powerful jumps. Ves envisioned a mobile medium mech, so he kept his selection limited to the lighter armored legs. He patiently dug through the pile of junk for a suitable pair of leg design schemes.

"God, these legs are shit." Ves muttered as he dropped the next pair of legs in disgust. Most legs he encountered were either light but frail, or sturdy but too heavy for his tastes. It was as if the organizers didn't want contestants to settle for boring, mediocre legs with the most optimal compromise between armor and speed.

"It's impossible for me to pick a heavy pair of legs if I want my mech to be capable of at least a modicum of flight. I would either have to pick a pair of skinny legs, or..."

As Ves looked at the pile of animal-shaped legs, his newly upgraded jury rigging sub-skill tingled in excitement. Mech components and parts had always been designed to accommodate a certain level of modular compatibility, but Ves had seldom heard of cases where a designer attached animal legs to a humanoid upper body. Such things were possible, but it brought a lot of problems concerning reworking the musculature and making sure the mech's walking and running posture remained balanced.

"These raptor legs look ideal."

He approached the pile and highlighted a pair of fairly robust raptor legs. Raptor shaped mechs usually featured powerful running gaits that provided fairly good speed at a good amount of endurance. However, they were designed in a way that attached them to the sides of the waist instead of the bottom. Trying to mate the legs to the torso of his mech would take a lot of thinking.

"Let's finish the rest of my selection before I figure this out."

The size of the torso determined the maximum size of the engines, power reactor and cockpit. Larger components were generally more powerful, but Ves had to keep the total weight below the total lifting capacity of the legs. Furthermore, certain shapes offered more advantages than others. Lean feminine torsos were light, barrel-shaped torsos offered lots of volume, V-shaped torsos looked incredibly masculine and offered expanded volume at the upper end of a mech.

What Ves ultimately chose was a fairly broad torso out of the available parts. It provided a good amount of space at the bottom side of the mech, allowing for more extensive modifications in order to make it compatible with his raptor legs. While the torso weighed heavier than Ves would have liked, it was still within tolerance.

The arms followed next. Raptor mechs usually chose to work with smaller arms or converted them to weapon mounts. As the unfinished design needed to be capable in both melee and ranged combat, Ves started looking for a fairly robust arms that were capable of mounting wrist-mounted weaponry.

"There's nothing suitable here. The selection is too limited."

Most of the humanoid arms in the junk pile were bare arms. Cheap, sturdy and a form factor that allowed for pilots to synchronize with them to up to 100%, these arms specialized in wielding mech-sized firearms. Some arms also specialized in wielding melee weapons, featuring strengthened musculature and higher gripping strength.

"I think I'm going to have to clunk something together again." Ves concluded as he skipped the unorthodox-shaped arms. He lacked the time to work on fitting both the animal-shaped arms and legs onto a humanoid mech.

He settled with a pair of thicker arms that performed well in melee combat. With some effort, he might be able to attach some sort of ranged weapon to it, though its performance would suffer if he rushed the implementation.

Next up was the head. It was the least important limb of a mech, since all heads pretty much offered the same options except for the lightest and heaviest configurations. Ves toyed with picking a reptilian head, but he discarded it and picked a human one in order to avoid making his mech too flamboyant and ruin its theme. A regular human head did the job just as well.

"Now, the flight system."

What Ves had in mind was a mech that could traverse short distances quickly. The gauntlet only lasted a short time, so the flight system would not need to focus on efficiency and reaching high speeds. Unfortunately, the ideal flight system that Ves wanted were not available. What he saw were mostly large, sweeping wings that provided a great amount of aerial mobility, but also painted giant targets on the mech's back. It wouldn't survive a 10 km gauntlet intact.

He eventually picked a sturdy but large pair of wings designed for medium mechs. Ves preferred it over the others due to its lift-off power and its ability to operate even under heavy damage. He had a use for that last attribute.

"I'll have to finish picking parts first."

For the internals, his design called for prioritizing durability. It had to hold up even when the mech was being banged around a lot. He picked a powerful engine, one that provided lots of power at the cost of horrible energy efficiency. For the power reactor, he went for a slightly under-powered one, but it was the only one that left enough space for the engines within the mech's internal structure.

In order to power the mech sufficiently for the entire gauntlet, Ves added in lots of capacitor energy cells for a quick boost of instant energy. The sensors he chose were some of the most durable ones available, meant for a heavy gorilla mech. They provided no guidance or targeting assistance, but their viewing range was decent and besides their toughness was almost as good as armor.

"That should do it for the basics." Ves thought as he scanned the components again in order to make sure he hadn't missed anything. "I'll look at weapons later."

First, he had to put the basics together. First, he needed to make adjustments to the internal frame in order to accommodate the raptor legs. If Ves wanted to do it perfectly, he'd use the Mech Designer System's many tools to redirect certain mechanical components in order to achieve a sideways attachment. Unfortunately, his comm was disabled, and even if it were not, he'd be stupid to reveal the System.

So he used the basic designer program provided to every contestant and made some crude and drastic changes. He creatively applied his jury rigging skills to clunk something up between the legs and the lower torso. It took a little more time than expected, but by the time he finished the legs appeared to work decently in the simulator, though there was a higher than expected loss in the conversion of motive power.

Still, Ves shrugged off the losses, focusing instead on his gains. As long as his vision of a versatile workhorse mech could be achieved, the sacrifices were worth it. "Though this mech is going to look like a very strange horse once I'm done with its design."

He spent the next two hours carefully integrating the engine, power reactor and cockpit inside the torso. After adding in some other minor components such as the energy cells, he attached the torso to the modified raptor legs. The balance was a little off, but Ves could adjust it later. First he had to finish attaching limbs.

After the troublesome legs, it was a breeze attaching the head to the torso. Ves only made minor adjustments to the bog-standard human head in order to accommodate the gorilla sensors.

The arms took a bit of effort to attach to the torso. Though not as extreme as with the legs, the arms were designed to accommodate a different chest profile, so Ves had to shave off and flatten a few bits in order to clunk the disparate parts together.

The designer provided by the organizers locked a lot of advanced features. However, it did automate a lot of the most tedious and time-consuming work that did not really showcase the strengths of the designers working with it. The software's powerful processors automatically took care of laying down power cables and piping according to industry standard.

What the designers could do after that was spend some time adjusting them in order to optimize their placements. In his case, Ves had to rework major sections of cabling between the waist and the legs. Somehow the standard software got confused when it tried to mate the connections between the two incompatible components.

Only four hours remained after he finished putting together the limbs and the internals. The mech possessed the minimum qualifications to present itself as a complete machine, but it wouldn't survive the gauntlet this bare.

The flight system came up next. Ves wanted his mech to be mobile in order to add to its options, but he didn't want the wings to dominate the mech and burden it excessively. So he straightforwardly cut off major portions of the wings, especially the parts that extended too far from the back. It left the flight system looking clipped.

"I cut over sixty percent of the parts but still managed to retain thirty percent of its thrust."

It was a fairly generous ratio, helped by the fact the manufacturers paid attention to this issue. Most wings that lost so much length only provided enough flight capability to allow the mech a controlled crash. The wings Ves was left with weren't powerful, but they provided a sufficient amount of traversing speed, though he shouldn't expect the wings to let the mech fly high.

Attaching the wings to the torso provided little trouble. Despite the fact that the torso wasn't built for flying, it still possessed all the modular connectors that eased the fusion between the two parts. The flight system looked remarkably compact compared to the larger and heavier torso, but that was the image he was going for. The smaller the wings, the longer they stayed intact.

"It kind of looks like a dragon bred with a human who delivered this mech into the world."

The raptor legs provided the mech with a lot of leg power and mobility while still able to bear a generous amount of weight. Together with the hefty torso and arms, the mech's weight classification was approaching the upper limits of the medium standard, though it was not as bad as the Caesar Augustus and its variants. The wings provided enough thrust for the mech to help it move around as long as its weapon load-out wasn't excessive.

The great thing about the junk pile was that Ves could pick the best weapons from it without worrying about licences and fabrication. He rummaged through the pile and found a fairly thin but serviceable sword. He added a pair of lightweight backup knives before picking up a medium-sized round shield for defense. This took care of the mech's close-quarters combat needs.

The ranged options were bound to be trickier. The mech only had two arms, enough for it to carry the sword and shield. He'd either have to resort to external add-ons, or force the mech to holster its unused weapons on its lower back, which did not offer much space due to the wings.

Ves also wanted the ranged option to be something other than an afterthought. Unfortunately, that was difficult if he wanted a weapon that could pack a punch while simultaneously keep the mech light enough to maintain its mobility. His experience with the Caesar Augustus and the Marc Antony taught him that a pair of mid-powered laser cannons did not kill opponents fast enough, so for a ranged option he also needed a weapon that packed a punch.

This was very difficult to deal with. As the time limit grew closer, Ves felt a little anxiety infect his mood, which he absolutely did not want. He took a small break from tinkering and refreshed his mind by having a small meal and taking care of his bathroom needs. Once he exited the toilets, he regained sufficient calm that he was able to focus on envisioning his desired mech again.

He thought up a bold idea when he took a leak. It would test his jury rigging as well has many of his other skills, but if it worked, the mech could gain a short-term ranged kill capability.

As ballistic weapons weighed too much and missile weapons lasted too short, Ves chose to take a pair of high powered laser rifles as his weapon of choice. The rifles the junk pile offered packed a lot of punch, but were prone to overheating and gobbled up energy like there was no tomorrow.

The first thing he did was strip their stock, optical sight and other useless doodads. Then he took a pile of light armor plating and crafted a rectangular shell around the rifle as protection. He then stuffed as much energy cells as possible within the casing, and linked it all to the rifle as its primary energy source.

He then took a pair of turreted ballistic cannons, cut off their swivels and crudely welded the armored laser cannons onto it. After that, he installed the slightly over-sized pair of boxes onto his new mech's shoulders. The mech had reached its limits in terms of weight, but the shoulder-mounted laser rifles offered substantial firepower at a distance as long as they didn't overheat.

Ves spent the remainder of the time refining the coordination between the different parts. He especially had to recheck the programming of the swivels, and made sure that it acted according to the characteristics of energy weapons instead of ballistic weaponry. As his strange, crude Frankenstein of a mech came into being, he attracted a fair amount of unflattering attention.

"Compared to the elegant lines of Patricia's mech, this boy's work is a total mess."

"I don't know why he even bothers with the runty wings. It's not like the mech's going to fly in the first place with all that weight."

Ves took no notice of the jeers. He knew his mech better than anyone else. The mech would work as advertised, at least for the duration of the gauntlet. Alongside its formation, Ves tried to keep his intent focused on one single concept, and he felt he did a decent job with all the limitations surrounding this contest. He wasn't able to fabricate the parts by hand, and most of them were also designed for mechs fulfilling different purposes. Such a disparate gathering of parts might even nullify the X-Factor entirely.

"I'm taking a big gamble here, but I'm confident I'm not wrong in taking this route."

His strange mech married a humanoid upper form with a pair of raptor legs and some limited flight capabilities, so he named it the Drake. The mech carried his hopes of a victory in the qualifiers, and therefore allow him to come up to the big stage tomorrow where he could gather plenty of attention. Enough to attract a customer, Ves hoped.

"Time is almost up. Please finalize your designs."

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When the presenter finally announced the end of the design phase of the competition, a lot of young men and woman groaned. While Ves was able to finish his mech with a bit of time to spare, other designers lacked the skill to jury rig disparate components together without spending a lot of time making the connection work.

"You gave us too little time!" A young woman complained as tears fell from her stressful face. The mech she worked on only appeared half finished. "Give us more time!"

"Twelve hours is too little!"

"This is unfair!"

"Silence!" The presenter ordered with a bloody air, instantly causing the meek the designers to quail. "The terms of the qualifiers are published beforehand so you should have prepared for this round. Last year's qualifiers also took twelve hours. We're on a tight time table here, and the main round happens tomorrow. We won't postpone the event just so you can put the finishing touches on your work."

When Ves looked around to see the progress of his fellow contestants, he judged about a third of them hadn't finished their designs. Many people tripped up because they spent too much time forcing components designed for different mechs to work together. Such failures proved they didn't possess much knowledge beyond the basics in mech design. It was interesting to see that the organizers place a lot of emphasis on this when holding the qualifiers.

Some other designers lost too much time due to faulty judgement. One heavy mech featured highly advanced engines and power reactor. That was all fine and dandy, but the designer spent way too much time adding a lot of toys to make full use of that capacity. If he kept the twelve-hour limit in mind and kept his choices modest, he could have made it through with his level of skill.

In general, the contestants who left unfinished designs at the end of the period chewed more than they could handle. If they picked simpler, less mechanically complex components out of the pile of junk, then they'd at least leave a functioning mech at the end, showcasing their competence in working under pressure.

"Although I can't say I blame them for being ambitious."

Ves might have been one of these losers if his father hadn't left him the System. If he was participating in the contest and wanted to have a shot at getting past the qualifiers, then he couldn't settle for average among 150 other contestants. The mech had to perform better than almost anyone else's work, so taking risks was unavoidable.

As he looked at the dejected contestants who were forced to give up on the qualifiers due to their incomplete designs, Ves felt a little guilty he cheated his way out of this circumstance. Before the System's arrival, Ves was like any other novice mech designer who graduated from a local university. He possessed basic knowledge but never excelled at anything other than mechanics, and even that impressed no one because he learned outdated techniques that would be laughed at in more advanced states.

His father gave him the System to circumvent years of dedicated study and experience. Why did he deserve to benefit from this miracle when many other of his former classmates were left to wallow in their mediocrity? He wasn't a saint, he never donated to charity, he wasn't even nearly as good in his studies as some of the others.

"There's no point dwelling on these feelings. I'm different from the others. They all made their choices in life when they chose to go down the path of mech designing."

The mech design career path was one that led to fame, riches and prestige. However, it was also a cutthroat business that couldn't fit too many competitors. For every designer that clawed its way to the top, at least hundreds or thousands of others were resigned to lesser jobs like full-time fabrication or maintenance of other people's mechs.

After sending off the losers, the presenter gestured to those who were still in contention. "Please clear the main stage and stand to the side. Our pilot Hans will soon test the bold designs our young talents have whipped up."

A very fancy simulation pod was brought at the very rear of the stage. Hans, fitted out in a skin-tight piloting suit, waved at the audience before entering the pod. The venue darkened and the stage began to light up in a fully realistic projection of a slim but elegant light mech wielding a polearm twice as long. The rest of the environment lighted up after that, showing hints of the urban landscape ahead that represented the testing grounds for all of the mechs.

"First up is a creation by Natalie Montag. Hans will put mech the Lance Star to the test after five minutes of acclimatization. This preparation period applies to all other mechs tested today."

Carlos walked over to Ves and whistled at the polished design in the projection. "Natalie sure worked her magic. She's always been a light mech fanatic."

"She spent too much time polishing the exterior. I'm not sure the internals underneath the armor can withstand heavy duty." Ves judged with a critical eye.

Twelve hours left designers with too little time to create a good mech. Give them a week, and most of the contestants here could roll out designs that performed at least 50-100% better than what they rushed out. Eliminating errors and weak points in the design offered the biggest bump in performance and could be done in two to four days, while constant optimizations allowed the mech to perform a little better over the remainder of the time.

When Hans finished familiarizing himself with the Lance Star, he entered the testing stage.

The presenter offered spectators an overview of the gauntlet. "As everyone knows, testing a mech as fair as possible can be difficult. Many smart people have wracked their overstuffed brains to find a solution before coming up with the gauntlet. They come in different lengths, duration and difficulties, and randomize in configuration with each separate run. That means that Hans will face similar challenges with each mech he pilots without being able to use his last run's experience to help him overcome his current challenges."

Technically, since no run was the same, their difficulties actually diverged in many different ways. If Hans faced smooth sailing up to the end where he get whacked by an overwhelming ambush, he'd be able to score higher than in many other situations.

For example, if he faced constant harassment right at the start, leading to his mech's destruction midway due to his inability to find time to recover. In both gauntlet runs, the amount of mechs and their strength remained the same, but the way they exerted pressure different drastically, leading to different results.

There was no point complaining about it though. Ves knew that the gauntlet was a long-held custom in the mech world, and that its inventors had plenty of time to curb much of its faults.

The Lance Star moved. Its thin and lightweight design spoke of a great retention in motive power. Natalie Montag evidently possessed real skill for getting a mech traverse so smoothly. The machine flitted through the debris-filled streets of the gauntlet like a dancer.

When the Lance Star encountered enemies, Hans piloted the mech as a high speed scout. It dodged aside the attacks sent in its way and avoided traps and entanglement whenever possible. If a mech was able to come up to its front and present an obstacle, the Lance Star only dealt enough damage with its lance and auxiliary pistol to squeeze its way through.

Natalie's mech started stumbling when Hans couldn't avoid a couple of laser beams. The gauntet's computer controlled opponents might not be very smart or skilled, but they possessed overwhelming numbers so it was impossible to keep out of reach no matter how many times Hans dodged.

"Ouch." Carlos winced. "The mech is getting bogged down and surrounded. It doesn't have enough firepower to break through."

The Lance Star only used its polearm as its main weapon. It possessed no ranged weapons at all. Hans had no way to pressure his opponents at a distance. When more and more opponents gathered at range, the Lance Star finally suffered a critical hit in its thinly armored ankle. This practically halved the light mech's mobility, leading to the mech getting hit much more often. It lasted a respectable amount of time and took out a few more mechs in its death throes but the simulation finally ended at its destruction.

The presenter came back in focus as the simulation projected a lot of statistics, such as the distance traversed and how many opponents the mech took out of action. "The Lance Star has reached a distance of seven kilometers, during which it killed five mechs and damaged twenty more. I don't know about you guys, but I think this is a great performance for a mech put together in just twelve hours."

The crowd offered a polite applause. Natalie was too conservative in her design, which led to the Lance Star's one-dimensional performance. Other than its speed and lack of major design flaws, the mech boasted no other advantages.

A heavy mech called the Thunderstorm came up next. It possessed a quadrupedal design, its four heavy legs supporting an incredibly tough and stable firing platform. The mech looked a little strange as the upper body of the mech sported two thick cannons as its arms. The presenter introduced the mech and its designer briefly as everyone waited for the five minutes of preparation to pass.

When Hans stepped out into the streets, the Thunderstorm rolled over the mechs in the vicinity. Its prodigious firepower with its main weapon being two ballistic cannons destroyed every mech if they got hit a couple of times. Though slow and inaccurate against light mechs, the Thunderstorm also incorporated half a dozen laser mounts on its shoulders and back to fend them off.

A substantial volley of missiles fired from a kilometer away. They arced upwards into the sky, following a parabolic trajectory as they rocketed downwards towards the Thunderstorm. Hans hastily turned around and fired his lasers in rapid-fire mode in order to shoot down the missiles, but this left him vulnerable to the other light mechs again who all took advantage of the opening to slip in some damage.

The missiles hadn't delivered too much damage, as the Thunderstorm still had plenty of armor to spare. But as Hans piloted the heavy mech forwards while trying to destroy as many enemies as possible, the missiles continued to pour in from above, each wave leaving behind more explosions and more damage.

The sad thing about the Thunderstorm was that it performed well enough against enemies in reach, but offered no solution to the constant long-ranged missile bombardment. The mech possessed almost no mobility, allowing the missileer to stay out of reach. With no line of sight nor a set of targeting data, Hans couldn't even switch his cannons to artillery mode and fire back lobbing shells. He tried a few times when the combat reached a lull, but it obviously represented nothing more than a gamble with very long odds.

When the Thunderstorm finally got wrecked by all the missiles, the presenter came back on stage and analyzed the statistics. "I am mightily impressed with the Thunderstorm. Hans achieved a whopping thirty kills and damaged twice as many other mechs. While he hasn't moved far from his starting point, his damage scores are more than ample enough to vindicate this mech."

The main goal of the gauntlet was to get the mech to pass through ten kilometers. Regardless of success, a run was scored on damage inflicted and distance reached. This gave both light and heavy mechs an equal chance in reaching a high evaluation.

Yet for every mildly successful run, at least three more failed spectacularly.

One medium mech sported a highly visible gap in its arm connections. The mech's armor couldn't cover up the musculature of the arms, leaving them prone to damage. Even with Hans' best efforts, a couple of missile strikes fouled the connectors pretty quickly, leaving the mech with only barely functioning arms. Suffice to say, the handicapped mech hadn't lasted long at all.

Another mech was designed as a solid, sturdy knight with an excellent sword and shield. However, when Hans put its endurance to the test, a solid cannon shell to the chest disrupted the mech's internals. The knight's sturdy exterior covered up a bevy of flaws, most of them related to sloppy work into putting the internals together. The big hit practically disrupted the engine's connections, leading to a heavy slowdown in the knight's operation. In addition, due to the loss in strength, its sword was unable to strike down opponents.

Someone next to Ves shook his head. "Again, it's a shame we weren't given a lot of time. It's so bullshit."

When Carlos' mech came up to the stage, the young man in question hugged Ves in a show of nervousness.

"Damn it, I hope my baby will do well. This is the first time my creation is tested in public. I hope I won't disappoint my parents."

The mech Carlos spent twelve hours on looked like an ill-fitting mess. With its over sized legs, the humanoid mech seemed confused whether it wanted to be a medium or heavy mech. Carlos evidently faced the same problem as Ves, but solved the problem by going into a different direction.

Though people often disparaged medium-heavy hybrids, the Huntsman Carlos cobbled up performed fairly better than anyone expected. The legs caused the mech to move slower than normal, but it also became incredibly resistant to damage. With a shield in one arm and an awkward sawed off heavy rifle in the other, the mech gunned down plenty of mechs in its way.

However, the lack of melee options dragged the Huntsman down. It was only able to deal with mechs that came close by dropping the rifle and unsheathe its backup knife. This turned the mech into a competent defender, but allowed the rifle mechs in the distance to shoot at the Huntsman with impunity. This envelopment eventually resulted in the Huntsman's death.

The presenter gave the Huntsman an average evaluation. It did not do very well, but at least it hadn't failed outright in the gauntlet. Ves wrapped his arm around Carlos and tried to cheer him up from his dispirited mood.

"You did quite well there. You've proven yourself at the stage that you have the chops to be a mech designer."

"Yeah, but my score is way behind. Nevermind the top 8, I can't even reach the top 32."

"All of the people who score that high are talents." Ves sighed even as he figured he was also one of them. "Don't aim too high. You've got opportunities many of your other colleagues wish they have."

His job working on quality control at a large manufacturer was facilitated through connections from his parents. Carlos already had already stepped one foot in the mech designer industry. After a couple of decades of working up the ladder, Carlos could have the opportunity to join a mech design team and contribute his rich knowledge to the formation of a new design.

"Up next is our lovely Patricia Schneider's Rosaria!"

The announcement attracted everyone's attention. The top graduate of this year's cohort was about to show her fangs.

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The crowd already built up a sense of anticipation for Patricia's grand performance. The young woman in question stood proudly in front of the contestants, certain that her Rosaria could wipe the floor with any other mech tested so far. She attracted attention more than just her prodigal performance. As the unattainable princess of the campus, she attracted admirers wherever she went, able to mesmerize her fellow students with her striking red locks and her enviable figure. Like a crane among chickens, her appearance made everyone else look plain.

The Rosario she crafted out of the pile of junk also looked too good to be true. Despite its undersized legs and arms, Patricia somehow managed to keep the mech's weight under control. The medium mech's main feature was its modified shield. Patricia took a regular kite shield, made it a little thicker and added a lot of spikes and sharp edges to it. She turned the shield into a melee weapon no weaker than a sword.

Its other arm held a flamethrower, which fed off the fuel cells installed on the mech's back. They were cellular, which meant that each fuel cell was detached once it ran out of fuel. It was a good way to keep the mech's weight under control, though it suffered from it at the start. The Rosario offered no other offensive options besides a backup knife and pistol strapped to its back. The mech weighed lighter than most other medium mechs on display so far, especially once its fuel cells ran out.

In contrast, everyone else including Ves just wanted to cram as much in their mechs, so if they chose to go with a mediumweight, it always weighed close to the maximum allowance.

"I bet the Rosario is going to make it to the end."

Carlos laughed at that. "I'd be a fool if I take you on that bet."

"Why not? The Rosario's only armed with a flamethrower and a spiked shield. It's

"Patricia isn't stupid. I think her mech is going to surprise all of us."

When Hans directed the Rosario out of the gates, he immediately came under fire. A small ambush had been set at the start of the gauntlet. A lot of mechs would suffer severe damage with all the incoming laser and cannon fire. Hans utilized the Rosario's remarkable mobility to dodge the initial volleys and moved his shield in front to block what he couldn't avoid. As Hans successfully reached cover, he managed to preserve his undersized and under-armored legs.

"That was close!" Carlos said as he was already sucked into the race. "Do you think Hans is going to turn the tables on them?"

Ves shook his head even before Hans sneaked away. The mech possessed enough mobility to do so without attracting too much attention. Also, so long as the Rosario kept its flamethrower in reserve, the mech kept its heat profile under control, making it difficult to detect out of line of sight.

Hans actually progressed three entire kilometers into the gauntlet without getting caught. It showcased Patricia's unwavering faith in her mech and the pilot in designing a lighter than usual mediumweight mech. The Rosario also possessed unusually long-ranged sensors, whose functioning had been tweaked to detect enemies further at the cost of longevity. Nevertheless, it lasted long enough for the gauntlet.

Only an unusually high concentration of enemy mechs stopped the Rosario from sneaking its way throughout the entire gauntlet. With no other choice, Hans dove into the group of enemies and activated the flamethrower.

A liquid white-hot stream escaped the nozzle of the fiery weapon, spraying the unprepared mechs with a shower of heat. The gaggle of mechs all spread out in terror as their armor melted while their softer components burned. Hans left the lighter mechs behind but gave the medium mechs an extra smack. As for the heavy mechs, unless they were armed with missiles and artillery, he left them behind to waddle in his wake.

"The Rosario's mobility is overwhelming. I'm surprised it holds up under heavy use. How did she do it in only twelve hours?" Carlos wondered.

"She's got a strong grasp of the basics." Ves answered based on his own experience. "As long as you know your stuff, you don't have to spend a lot time wrangling two different components together even if they are slightly incompatible. Don't look at the flashy flamethrower and shield, its the seamless arms and legs that really make it stand out."

Compared to the clunky patch jobs many of the previous mechs showcased, the Rosario looked as if the mech had been worked on for weeks instead of half a day. Hans brilliantly pushed his mech to the limits. As his fuel kept expending, he dropped more and more fuel cells, lightening the load which in turn raised the Rosario's speed. Any mech in its way got burned, and those that held out a little longer got bashed by the Rosario's deadly shield.

"It's starting to accumulate damage." Ves noted. He already expected something like this to happen. The gauntlet had a grueling reputation for a reason.

The light mechs was the Rosario's Achilles heel. These mechs took advantage of the Rosario's lack of long-ranged weaponry and kept out of its range. Their superior speed allowed them to dog the Rosario and keep pelting it with lasers, rockets and ballistics. Though their threat was minimal, the numbers added up to a significant amount over time. Hans couldn't avoid taking more damage.

The gauntlet ended before the light mechs finished the job.

"Give it up to Patricia Schneider! Her Rosario is the first mech to successfully pass the gauntlet!"

The entire crowd including Carlos and Ves gave Patricia a hearty applause. It truly impressed them all for accomplishing this much in only twelve hours of time. The woman basked in the cheers with a modest smile, as if the victory took little effort.

A couple of other contestants followed next. None stood out too much except those made by the elites among the developers. Like Patricia, the designs of their work were sober, featuring not too much toys but using the few they had to their fullest potential. Their designs also focused on maintaining integrity, allowing Hans to push their mechs harder without letting it fall apart around him. Most of the other competitors couldn't even accomplish that much, leading to some embarrassing moments when a leg or an arm fell off. One mech even lost its head after it got hit by a single shell.

After about half the contestant's work had gone up the stage, the presenter announced the end of the testing. "Due to a shortage in time, we will pause the testing and resume it later tomorrow morning. Don't worry, Hans will continue familiarizing with the rest of the mechs tomorrow in order to allow him to run the gauntlet without interruption."

The day had stretched on rather late. Many of the contestants hadn't eaten a proper dinner even. Ves dreaded the interruption as his mech hadn't gone up yet. Carlos came up to him and slapped his back, relishing the chance of comforting Ves instead of the other way around.

"Haha, don't stay up all night. It's going to be okay. I looked at your mech and its a badass design. Nothing will go wrong tomorrow."

Ves exited the venue with all the other contestants. Half of them already shook their heads with resigned expressions, while the other half dealt with the anxiety in a variety of ways. Unlike most of them, Ves possessed a decent amount of confidence in his design, so he didn't stew too long over the wait.

He went back to the hotel and embraced a grouchy Lucky when he entered his room. "Hey there buddy. I hoped you haven't missed me long."

The cat bit his hand a little to let his dissatisfaction known. It quickly perked back up when Ves fed it a mineral he picked up along the way back. Lucky's company distracted Ves from his worries, letting him fall asleep even as Dorum's nightlife grew vibrant at the end of the first half of the Young Tigers Exhibition. Many new young talents had shown off their chops, and the most shining stars among them would compete in the second half of the competition tomorrow.

The next day came with an alarm. Like the previous day, Ves had to wake up early, though he didn't really need to be present during most of the gauntlet runs. Win or lose, Captain Gillian would inform him anyway. Still, Ves left his bed and prepared to leave early as he didn't want to miss anyone's gauntlet run. Just looking at how each contestant used the same circumstances to build wildly different mechs taught him a lot on how to build a design that was out of his comfort zone.

The crowd that came to watch the testing had been reduced by a third. Many contestants who failed had dejectedly bowed out of the competition and left the stage for the real contenders. Ves thought it was a shame, but everyone was different.

Like yesterday, the presenter came back up to the stage while Hans entered the simulation pod at the back. "Thank you for your patience. I hope you had a good night's sleep, because we are starting the show again. First up, give the stage to Edwin McKinney's Sky Ripper!"

While Patricia's Rosario awed the crowd in showcasing the Bright Republic's best, it didn't beat the prestige of graduating from an institution of the New Rubarth Empire. The gigantic super state possessed the best mechs, the best education and the most cutting edge research. Edwin merely stood at the side looking completely unaffected by the glances thrown in his way. It was as if he was beneath such shallow pageantry.

The Sky Ripper used a light and nimble avian design scheme, which different from humanoid mechs in many different ways. Its main divergence is its large, armored wings that integrated flight systems in a deeper level. Overlapping 'feathers' shielded the vulnerable portions of the flight systems without excessively blocking thrust and allowing them to maintain flexibility. The mech could move the wings like arms, allowing the pilot to adjust its course in swift and delicate ways. It turned Avian mechs into the fastest and most maneuverable mechs around.

When Hans brought the Sky Ripper into the gauntlet, he transformed the light mech mech into a king of the sky. The mech flew rapidly in the air, avoiding plenty of ordnance thrown in its way by maneuvering through the fire with its graceful way of manipulating its massive wings.

"There comes the first obstacle."

The gauntlet's reputation for nail-biting arduousness did not exempt flyers. If anyone thought a flying mech would get a free pass by flying really high in the air in order to reach ten kilometers in a minute or two, they were wrong. The gauntlet adjusted to flying mechs with a little cheating by changing most of the light and medium mechs with flight-capable versions. The heavy mechs that remained received no change, as they were quite capable of throwing an incredible amount of ordnance at any flier that was foolish enough to fly around in the open air.

Hans encountered a couple of formation of fliers. He reacted to their appearance by diving low and using the structures as a way to cut their line of sight and interrupt their firing lines. Through a mix of hit-and-run tactics and luring the enemy out of position, the Sky Ripper masterfully decomposed a large group of flyers into a bunch of wrecks and disoriented machines. The Sky Ripper's dominance relied on its impressive flight system, its unparalleled flexibility and its aerial speed dominance over the clunkier light mechs.

When the Sky Ripper went all out, it utilized two devastating ways to tear its opponents apart. First, the beak of the avian mech opened up to reveal a compact cannon. It didn't fire a lot due to the limited ammunition the light mech carried, but every shot made at close range felled a light mech. Its second option to kill were its incredibly sharp talons. Edwin modified them with sharpened armored spikes that allowed each swoop and diving attack to tear straight through the thin armor of flying mechs.

The only mechs that presented a threat to Edwin's masterful implementation of a flyer were the heavy mechs on the ground. While the urban environment posed many problems in firing at the low-flying Hans, they still utilized their indirect fire weapons to great effect, especially missiles. Benefiting from the sensors locks the light mechs maintained on the Sky Ripper, the many missiles honed in on Hans as if a hive of bees got enraged by a bear that stole their honey.

The Sky Ripper responded by spreading its wings and firing rapid-firing lasers at the missiles. Edwin somehow managed to strip most of the housing of laser weapons and mount them on the wings with minimal weight impact. He furthermore linked them to a set of high quality targeting sensors embedded in the thin mech's chest. Hans was able to rely on the auto targeting to shoot down most of the missiles while keeping his attention focused on evading or killing the flyers.

Hans easily reached the end of the gauntlet after suffering only superficial damage.

"The Sky Ripper absolutely smashed the gauntlet!" The presenter went up the stage again and highlighted the eye-popping statistics. "Edwin has produced a virtual masterpiece, easily transforming a couple of parts into a coherent mech that dazzles the mind. Let's give it up for Edwin McKinney everyone!"

Everyone present applauded Edwin, who still looked as if the event meant nothing to him. He easily beat Patricia's records and took absolute first place in the gauntlet runs. Everyone either admired him or wished they could take his place. Sadly Edwin kept his socialization to his circle of sycophants, making it difficult for other admirers to even come close.

Hans took a couple of mediocre mechs out on a spin, this time showing that reaching Edwin and Patricia's level was difficult. Ves thought back on the performance of the two mechs and had to admit they had a much better grasp on the fundamentals than him. It really showed in how well the two integrated the components seamlessly into a whole, while Ves forced his jury rigging skills to forcefully fuse different components.

Ves could claim superiority in only one aspect. He designed his mech with a focus on the X-Factor.

Edwin's avian flier was a technical marvel that astounded the crowd with its high capabilities. However, outside of its great build, Ves felt the mech was a lifeless brick. Edwin invested virtually no emotions in its construction, as if the mech was nothing but dirt underneath his feet. Even Patricia did better than him, as she put a tiny bit of care in her own creation.

He shook his head. The X-Factor might be fine and dandy, but the bottom line was that strength trumped over everything. Who cared if the X-Factor allowed pilots to make the most out of their mech if it was built out of paper.

"On to our next contestant, this bad boy here is the Drake, designed by Ves Larkinson. I love the mix. I'm looking forward to see what Hans can magic up with this beast!"

This was the moment Ves had been waiting for. It was do or die. All Ves could do now was to pray for Hans and hope his mech held together long enough to make it to the end.

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Hans stepped into the gauntlet with a running start. The drake raised eyebrows when it first appeared. Its humanoid form moved around with raptor legs and featured stubby wings on its back for an extra boost. While its rounded shield and good quality sword told everyone that its main role was a knight, the Drake also featured two strange elongated boxes on its shoulders.

"Did you put together your own shoulder mounted lasers? What was wrong with using the readily available ones?" Carlos asked in confusion.

"The ones from the junk pile don't bite hard enough."

"Oh. The shoulder mounts look like they weigh a lot. Is your mech able to handle all of it?"

"That's why I went with the raptor legs in the first place. They are able to maintain their speed better even when carrying a bigger burden."

"Yeah, but they're made for raptor mechs in specific. The balance of your half-humanoid mech must be hell."

"I spent some time adjusting its default modes, and I'm sure Hans can handle the rest."

"That's a lot of trust you're putting in the test pilot."

Indeed he did. While Ves was able to accomplish a lot in twelve hours, he couldn't optimize the balance of the mech completely. He hoped that with Hans experience in piloting all kinds of mechs would come to good use here. And from the look of the Drake's fluent gait, he encountered no insurmountable problems.

The clipped flight system came brilliantly to life. Hans took advantage of its diminished output to put an extra spring in his steps. At certain moments, the Drake moved faster than light mechs even as it weighed as much as the heavier medium mechs. While it wasn't able to avoid detection due to the heat it generated, it was able to outrun a couple of groups.

When the Drake encountered an ambush of two heavy mechs and a smattering of other weight classes, Hans aggressively charged closer despite the disparity in firepower. The large round shield drew most of the firepower, allowing the Drake to come closer enough to make a few quick attacks with his sword that disabled most of the vulnerable weapon mounts on the heavy mechs.

Having taken care of the heavy firepower, Hans darted back and forth and dueled the more mobile mechs at their terms. With the wings acting as jump jets, the Drake was often able to close the distance abruptly with the enemy. While the laser cannons suffered from poor accuracy and tracking, if the Drake came close enough, the damage they caused always slowed down the opponent, softening them up for a lethal sword blow. The Drake progressed forward on a bloody path.

Unfortunately, the constant activation of both its flight system and laser cannons rapidly built up heat while draining the mech's energy. Ves wasn't worried about the energy, as he had packed the Drake with enough energy cells to last the entire gauntlet. Heat was a very different problem, and once the Drake neared its limit, its effectiveness would drop drastically.

Heat accumulation troubled designers ever since the first mechs came into existence. Even after 400 years of mech development, modern mechs still faced the plain old dilemma of balancing power and heat. Newer power reactors outputted higher amounts of energy, while energy cells packed more and more capacity with each new iteration. Heat absorption and heat dissipation technology only barely kept up with the times.

Air was a very poor conductor of heat. This was a good thing for some people, as it meant their coffees and soups wouldn't cool down to room temperature in seconds. For mechs, this presented a big problem, as even the most effective passive radiators could do so much in normal Terran-standard air conditions that so many worlds had terraformed into. It was worse in locations of low air and vacuum conditions like on lifeless moons.

The biggest advancement in heat dissipation happened about three hundred years ago. The first heavy mechs introduced primarily used missile and ballistic weaponry. Their ammunition took a lot of space, but they generated much less heat than pure energy-based weapons like lasers.

A heavy mech built-in with lots of lasers was seen as an unrealistic fantasy by most mech insiders at the time. As long as they kept shooting their lasers for a couple of minutes, their mechs turned so hot you could cook an egg on its surface.

Out comes a mech designer who one day thought while mechs were not so good at dissipating heat into the air, then what about the ground? Their feet always touched the ground. So the mech designer reworked the internals of a mech and basically reinvented the concept of legs not just as a way of moving and a way to support weight, but also as a tool to help mechs transfer heat into the ground. Through incorporating sophisticated heat-conducting alloys, that brilliant mech designer developed revolutionary new legs with widened feet that could actually siphon off heat pretty decently.

Shortly after this bombshell invention got out, other mech developers got into the action. If two legs conducted this amount of heat, what about four legs? The first quadrupedal mechs were born. These so-called animal and centaur mechs looked highly unusual, but having more legs offered many advantages besides increased heat transfer. The introduction of spider mechs followed quickly after, but that was when the whole leg craze peaked. The one man who tried to design a centipede mech failed miserably, and his abomination was quickly forgotten.

Methods to deal with heat had come a long way since then. From the use of evaporating coolants, to the incorporation of replaceable heat sinks, mech designers had more choice in how to handle this problem.

Ves hadn't included any of that in his mech. Worse, as Hans often hopped and glided around, the Drake's feet wasn't touching the ground, thus further limiting its heat dissipation. Hans kept avoiding the heavy mechs with his mobility while cutting down the medium mechs by jumping close and taking them out with his sword and shield. Only the light mechs posed a problem as the laser cannons couldn't be fired too fast in order to avoid overheating the Drake. Worse, the laser fire the Drake received only increased its heat levels.

About 7 kilometers through the gauntlet, Hans decided it was enough and detached the laser mounts and stubby flight system from the Drake. The mech lost a lot of its mobility and ranged options, but at least its heat generation was cut. Through a mix of clever positioning and a lot of running, Hans was able to pilot his lightened Drake through several blockades.

The entire crowd adopted strange expressions when they saw Hans kept surviving ambush after ambush. The Drake often slipped past by the skin of its teeth, its exterior armor and its shield accumulating more and more holes and burn marks. Yet despite the extensive damage, none of them hit anything critical. Hans was somehow able to keep going with the Drake even when the mechs of other contestants would have malfunctioned at this point.

"Damn son, did you really spend just twelve hours on your mech? It's still going strong!"

"I haven't done a thing." Ves helplessly shrugged his shoulders. "I was on the stage just as you. It's not even possible for me to cheat."

"Maybe you got word of the competition format beforehand. This must be why Patricia aced the qualifiers. Did the two of you do some unspeakable actions in order to get an advantage?"

Ves really hadn't cheated. He behaved so scrupulously ever since he arrived at Bentheim that he never once opened the System on his comm. The city was really too crowded, so there were many people of all sorts of affiliations spying on each other. He didn't trust the hotel, the wireless net signals or even the open air to be clear of spying eyes.

Meanwhile, the gauntlet reached the endgame as the finish line was in sight. Hans valiantly squeezed the Drake through many tight spots, though his enemies accumulated at his heels. The light mechs posed a great problem to him as they were impossible to shake off for long. Only through taking creative routes such as crashing through thin structures could Hans stay ahead of the baying wolves.

Its shield blocked so many shots and sword attacks that it collapsed at a critical moment when the Drake defended against a pair of knights. While Hans crippled the left knight, the right mech was able to hack off the undefended shield arm. The Drake explosively retreated in order to buy time for Hans to adjust his mech's posture. He was barely able to escape getting enveloped by hopping inside a large parking complex.

Ves' heart dropped at the crippling blow. While the Drake already made it far into the gauntlet, he wasn't certain it would be enough to pass the qualifier. Besides prodigies like Patricia and Edwin, there were at least 5 other geniuses who graduated from renowned institutions of second-rate states competing.

"Come on, Hans. You can do it." He gripped his fist, hoping that his efforts in incorporating the X-Factor in the Drake could make a difference, even if he hadn't noticed anything so far.

The Drake remained immobile as Hans tried to vent as much heat as possible during the pause. The mech stopped glowing in the dark, and the reduced heat slightly increased all of the mech's parameters. As Hans mentally prepared for the end sprint, a group of light mechs abruptly sniffed him out of the parking lot.

The powerful raptor legs exploded into action. The Drake took the light mechs by surprise by hopping into range, letting the mech ruthlessly cut them down with a couple of quick sword strikes. The Drake bashed aside the falling mechs and ran out into the streets.

Dozens of mechs converged around the Drake. No matter where Hans turned, he always confronted at least four or five mechs. As his maneuvering space got smaller, the enemies achieved more hits. His armor flaked off and his power reactor started to sputter. However, the engines were well protected so they kept running at full tilt while the Drake's powerful raptor legs maintained a steady gait even with half of its armor in tatters.

Hans hacked and slashed at his opposition with unprecedented ferocity. He even started kicking and shoulder bashing the mechs in his way, all to create openings to escape. The amount of mechs that crowded around him grew so large that they started to block each other's efforts.

The Drake, desperate to break through the mob of mechs, sprinted forwards and used its powerful legs to jump. The sudden action practically broke the remainder of the mech's leg armor. The Drake landed awkwardly atop a puzzled mech, crunching it with the weight of a mech's fall. It opened up sufficient space for Hans to slip past and reach the last 100 meters of the gauntlet.

A sniper round cut the unarmored ankle of the Drake, finally felling the mech at the last moment. Everyone let out gasps of appreciation and disappointment. The Drake managed to come so far, outshining almost every other contestant. However, its scores took a big hit if it failed to reach the end of the gauntlet, which was a giant pity.

"Not yet. It's not done yet!" Ves thought as he gripped his fists so tight he squeezed all of the blood out. He kept mentally praying for Hans to pull a miracle. "There's still more you can do with a single leg."

It turned out that the Drake wasn't out of the picture yet. Amazingly, the mech threw away its sword and bent forward. It used its single remaining arm to support the mech's upper body. Hans awkwardly piloted the two-limbed mech forward. Its intact leg hopped forward with powerful force, while the arm kept the mech's forward portion from crashing on the ground. With each misaligned hop, the mech awkwardly neared the finish line even though the arm took more damage from the stresses of carrying so much weight.

The sniper shot again, this time taking off half the Drake's arm. Hans couldn't avoid falling forward, yet he kept fighting defeat by practically crawling his mech forward. Only several meters separated victory from defeat, and even as other mechs fired potshots at the Drake, the crippled mech wriggled its remaining leg in a way that allowed the Drake to slide past the line.

The entire crowd was speechless. Even the presenter looked dumbfounded at the Drake's incredible integrity and Hans' brilliant performance.

"I... contestant Ves Larkinson has designed a magnificent piece of work. The Drake has officially conquered the gauntlet! Congratulations!"

The applause Ves received reached the level of Patricia's. Many contestants and spectators looked at him with a renewed eye. This gratified Ves, though he didn't let the praising contestants coming up to congratulate him get to his head. He participated in this contest in order to make himself known to potential customers. Already Ves started to eye the couple of servicemen and mercenaries in the crowd.

"Hmm, it's not time yet. Let's wait until I officially passed the qualifiers."

Most of the other mechs that went through the gauntlet after that failed to excite the crowd. It trudged on, and besides the contestants whose mechs were on display, Ves was growing bored. He had seen most of the varieties of mechs by now, and many designers failed to think out of the box, resulting in many similar mechs coming out one after another. Well, if Ves hadn't benefited from the System, he'd probably design a similarly crappy mech as well with his once-horrible 0.3 Creativity score.

After a couple of excitements involving the mechs designed by the geniuses, the end results were clear. The presenter enthusiastically announced the 8 lucky designers that could go on to the main stage of the YTE this afternoon.

"-and the sixth place goes to Ves Larkinson!"

"Congrats pal! I already knew you'd win!" Carlos hugged Ves tightly.

Ves kept a small smile on his face as he basked in his first victory. If he couldn't make it this far with the help of the System, he had no reason to be here in the first place. It was a sure thing to pass the qualifiers.

As for the main event, he was not so sure. Both Edwin and Patricia were strong, while the rest of the contestants who studied abroad couldn't be underestimated either. Still, two of them slipped up during the qualifications, causing Hans to fail before he reached the end of the gauntlet with their mechs.

The next phase of the design contest happened in the afternoon while the mech pilot competition ended its semifinals. The start of the design competition would be put on the front stage in front of a live audience of thousands. His face and image would also be projected to the rest of the Bright Republic, which was an unprecedented glory for him as he never really excelled in anything before.

He sighed at the happenings. "No wonder so many of my colleagues chase after fame and fortune. It not only feels great, it's also good for business."

While the crowd started to disperse, Ves already turned on his meager business charm as he walked over a group of idle mercenaries. Hopefully he could generate some interest for his product to these battle-hardened men and women.

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Despite turning on the charm, Ves only managed to generate noncommittal interest for his mech. He expected it to be a challenge, but the soldiers and mercenaries all treated him like a fly. Oh, the potentates were polite about it, but the disdain and dismissal was clear in their eyes. His status as a promising young mech designer who just got through the qualifiers meant nothing to them. He lacked the opportunity to show off the Marc Antony as they brushed him aside after a minute of polite talk.

"My apologies, my department is not in a hurry to procure a new mech."

"Our budget is tight. We don't make a lot of profit per operation. We can barely keep our mechs afloat. I'll look into your products a couple of years later when our current fleet of mechs needs replacements."

"The crew I'm running already trained in a specific configuration of mechs. Introducing a different type of mech will disrupt the balance."

"I'm not specialized in melee combat. A mech that uses a mace and shield is not suitable to an unskilled pilot like me."

The excuses sounded the same no matter where Ves tried to find a customer. As the people left the venue in order to grab a bite or visit the main event in the central stadium, Ves was left with empty hands.

"Hello there Ves."

He turned around to see an unexpected sight. Hans came up and addressed him personally. "Hans! What brings you here?"

"I just want to let you know that out of all the mechs I've piloted today, yours is one of the few who took the comfort of the pilot into account."

Ves raised his eyebrow. This was definitely the X-Factor at work! "I design my mechs with the user in mind. My products are more than the sum of its parts. I put my heart into each of my designs. I've refined my craft by designing and producing many mechs for Iron Spirit, where I've enjoyed a substantial amount of sales. I'm currently trying to branch out my real world business."

That sounded professional enough, right?

The pilot nodded, and looked interested. "I'd like to see more of your work."

"Ah." Ves quickly activated his comm to swipe his virtual sales page to Hans. "My digital storefront is here. Please feel free to browse my wares, though I advise you to look at my Marc Antony variant first. It's based off the Caesar Augustus, but I've reworked it extensively with more affordable armor. This is also the design that I'm offering for sale from my real universe workshop."

"You are able to produce a variant of the Augustus?" Hans sharpened his eyes a bit at that news. "I don't know much about the business, but I do know that the production license alone must cost an incredible sum of money. How could you get a hold of such a premium license?"

"I've been fortunate to attract the attention of some people who took note of my talent in mech design." Ves said as he shamelessly weaved a tale of bullshit in order to cover up the existence of the System. "A renowned Rubarthan grant institution even granted me a couple of production licenses to give my startup a push."

"That is impressive. It is not easy to attract the attention of the Rubarthans."

"Ah, don't misunderstand me. The institution is only based in the New Rubarthan Empire, probably for financial and privacy reasons. The real owners probably have a more modest origin. As for their exact identities, I'm not sure, but with such deep pockets they certainly have clout."

Ves chose to steer the conversation in a risky way. By not-so-subtly talking about the non-existent rich people behind his back, he was weaving an illusion of having the support of a mysterious and powerful backer. While rich people often like to waste their money, they never threw away their wealth to useless people. Ves therefore implied that he possessed a unique talent in mech design that distinguished him from the hundreds of other contestants who took part in the qualifications.

The fact that it was one of the few truths he tried to convey helped sway Hans over. The man rubbed his blond stubble. "You're an interesting fellow. I'll keep my eye on you."

Hans stepped past Ves and exited the building. Ves felt as if his tricks were seen through somehow, but then he shrugged. Whether Hans committed to looking up the Marc Antony in the game was more important.

"Gee, at least give me a solid answer instead of letting me hang."

He left the building and joined Carlos for dinner at one of the many eating venues available. As Ves took a bite out of a meat pie, Carlos enviously gazed at his friend who seemed to be reborn ever since they graduated.

"I feel like you took everyone's luck except Patricia for attracting such a ridiculous grant. C'mon, how many billions of credits does the Caesar Augustus license sell these days?"

Ves shrugged again and again as he denied any wrongdoing. "I really don't have a sugar mommy, let alone a daddy. You know I don't swing that way."

"Pff. Give me a couple of million credits and I'll gladly go down on my knees no matter how old and smelly."

"Ugh, thank you for that image. I still haven't finished my lunch."

When Ves described his difficulties getting his first sale, Carlos shook his head.

"You haven't grown up here in Dorum, so you don't have a good picture of the people who buy mechs. You're expecting too much out of the Mech Corps and the mercenary corps. Forget about selling a private mech to a government mech. They have no decision making power in the spending of their units. They pilot whatever mechs the brass shoves at them. As for their private lives, no serviceman has enough credits hanging around to buy a mech for off-duty use, at least not before they are retired."

"And the mercenaries?" Ves asked, feeling rather grateful Carlos was willing to lay it all down for him. He wasn't a local of Bentheim so his knowledge about the business mainly came from textbooks.

"Their finances are tightly regulated. A good contract can set them up with a couple of millions, but a bad luck streak might wipe out tens or even hundreds of millions of credits off their balance sheet. Sure, they have a large stash of credits in the bank, but that's their plan B, or in the worst case their retirement fund."

From Carlos' words, there was still a small a chance Ves could push his product on them, but it had to be worth spilling their savings. "So I have the best chance if I approached retirees or those close to retirement?"

"That's a decent angle to take. The old guys who retire from active duty can't scratch their itches unless they hop into a real cockpit. The popular simulations such as Iron Spirit is too casual and fake to satisfy their needs. Don't underestimate the pensions they earned in their years of service."

Mech pilots were hard to come by, and their services were important in securing locations and projecting power. They earned a nice share of wealth of whatever it was they were defending of attacking as 'taxes' or 'protection fee'. It was an accepted reality in human space that the fist trumped over laws. Only the fact that the Bright Republic was just a poor, third-rate state kept it from being embroiled in constant wars over territory.

A lot of money exchanged hands whenever mechs took to the field. However, most of it got spent on maintaining the mechs and paying off other expenses.

"I do have an idea." Carlos said as he finished his burrito. "You should try to approach the rich guys, in particular the collectors. They love collecting unusual mechs and admire them for hours in their private mech stables. Some of them aren't even potentates. They just love the feel of owning unique mechs."

Ves thought his chances there were bigger. "That's a good angle, but they're often inapproachable, right?"

"If you're some average hobo, then yeah the security won't let you come close. But what if you're the winner of the Young Tigers Exhibition? Collectors love unearthing gems in the rough. If they can snap up the very first handmade mech of a budding mech designer with bright prospects, they don't care about the piddling millions of credits they have to throw at you. It's peanuts compared to the potential collector's value when you become a household name in the Republic."

This was a tall order for Ves to fulfill. This year's competition was incredibly tough, and even he couldn't guarantee victory against seven other talented geniuses. It all depended on the format of this afternoon's competition.

After finishing their dinners, they walked over to the gigantic stadium at the center of the exhibition. A large crowd of fans cheered as they saw their favorite pilots triumph over their opponents. It took quite a bit of squeezing for Carlos and Ves to reach the crowded entrance. The security portal let both of them pass without issue once they identified themselves as mech designers who participated in the design competition. It was a nice freebie given to them by the organizers. A regular ticket to attend the competition in person reached in the tens of thousands of credits.

The well-planned layout of the interior of the stadium allowed the two young designers to get a glimpse of the excitement all around. Through the clever use of height and depth, the entire venue was transformed into a three-dimensional set of arenas where spectators could sit and watch the matches safely from above. Highly durable protective screens protected the onlookers from incidental projectiles and impacts, though the violence still led to some frightening moments.

The Young Tigers Exhibition introduced the true world of mechs to its visitors. Ves gobbled it all up like a junkie getting his fix. He eagerly approached the nearest arena battle, showcasing a tense sword duel between two nearly identical medium mechs. Both of them had been at it for a while, damaging their shields to such an extent that they were forced to throw it away.

The red mech, piloted by a talent from Bentheim, circled around the purple mech painted in the livery of an academy in Rittersberg. The two core planets of the Bright Republic often competed against each other in any field imaginable, from sports to mech competitions like this. The usual stereotypes were that the people of Rittersberg were polite and stuffy, while Bentheimers were cosmopolitan and greedy. However, when one met the other, they both turned into raving madmen eager to put the other down a notch.

As a native of Cloudy Curtain, Ves had no stake in the match. Even though he studied at Rittersberg, he possessed no sense of belonging of that beautiful but ultimately elitist planet. As for Carlos, he felt a bit torn between rooting for his home planet or the planet where he spent much of his time partying.

"Shit, who's going to win?" Carlos bit his lips.

Neither of them were pilots, nor did they possess the aptitude to become one. Their knowledge on mech fights largely came from entertainment and the occasional classwork in college. Ves only possessed a slight advantage over Carlos due to his Larkinson military family background.

"The Bentheimer is a bit too impatient." Ves judged as he took in the tempo of the match. Both sides looked evenly matched, but his eyes discerned a little bit more due to his studies of the X-Factor. It left him more sensitive to the emotions of the pilots running the mechs. "He thinks he's running out of time. The longer the wait, the more the Rittersburger is accumulating strength. The Bentheimer is trying to find an opening before his opponent erupts."

The blue mech sporting Bentheim's planetary symbol darted forward and poked with his sword. The Rittersberger refused to take the bait, slipping back just out of range. The two mechs continued to circle around as they let the anticipation among the crowd grow.

The purple mech took the blue mech by surprise as it jumped forward. The mech from Bentheim hastily parried the sword slash, only to receive a punch on the mech's face when it tried to retreat. The disruption of the mech's main sensors gave the Rittersberger enough of an opening to stab his sword past its defenses.

As the tip of the sword touched the armor plate just in front of the cockpit, both mechs immediately immobilized. The safeties had engaged, bringing the match to an end in favor of the purple mech.

"That was a good show." Ves commented with appreciation. "The Rittersburger had a great grasp of timing. He struck when the Bentheimer thought he was in for the long haul."

Carlos shook his head as he looked perplexed. "Dunno. The guy from Bentheim should slap himself for letting his opponent get close enough to deliver that punch."

They took the time to spectate the other matches, enjoying the visceral feel of real mechs clashing against each other with the naked eye. Experiencing such mech battles personally was a treat, and Ves improved his understanding of mechs every time he watched the pilots exert their mechs to the utmost.

After having his fill of mech battles, Ves parted with Carlos and reached the backstage area. After a stern search by security, an attendant guided him to a waiting room where the seven other finalists of the mech design competition waited. None of them smiled or took any note of Ves. Only Patricia gave him a second look, and it was more of the likes of recognizing a tiny mouse that scurried underneath her feet now and then. The group hadn't acknowledged him, which suited him fine.

A lull appeared as the sounds of weapons fire and crashing mechs ceased. A couple of attendants exhorted the mech designers to get ready to step onto the main stage.

An announcer introduced the upcoming event. "Citizens of the Republic. I hope you have enjoyed the clashes happening so far. I certainly have! Well, if you think we're holding the quarterfinals next, then be prepared because we have something special to introduce to you this year!"

The projectors behind the announcer lighted up in a collage of mech designers and fabricators working diligently on their mechs.

"A good pilot can't do without a good mech. For every pilot on the field, there are at least ten to twenty people supporting him from behind. It is at the hands of mech designers that a new mech comes to life. We here at the Young Tigers Exhibition wish to do our part in honoring this important profession. Now, let me introduce the eight brightest mech designers of the year!"

The eight of them stepped forward onto the stage. The audience gave them a polite applause. There was modest interest in their appearance, but they'd rather go back to seeing mechs bash their heads against each other.

After a brief bow, the announcer detailed the upcoming contest. "I'm sure it's fascinating to see our budding engineers tinker with machinery, but it can get a little tedious if they go on for days. We've taken your comments to heart about last year's event, and decided to put a new spin on the format this year!"

Uh oh, that didn't sound so good, Ves thought.

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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.

Luckily enough, he shored up just enough of his skills to conduct the repairs within a decent amount of time. The only problem was that he could only work on the most critical parts, and leave the cracks in the armor alone due to lack of time. Heavy mechs demanded a lot more resources and time with regards to maintenance and repair. This was one of the reasons why light and medium mechs significantly outnumbered the heavy mechs in service.

Ves tried to discuss making some modifications to the mech to make it more viable to the limited range arena format.

"No. Absolutely not."

"A sword or a mace really helps out if the enemy gets close."

"Zip it, nerd boy. I don't want to tarnish my Kirby by using him as a caveman."

Helplessly, Ves dropped the topic for now. Charlotte adamantly insisted on maintaining her tactic of pouring overwhelming firepower at the enemy before they could get into range. This worked great against inexperienced opponents, but as her thrashing against Miranda revealed, skilled pilots had answers to this one-pony trick.

"Very well, I'll go work on your mech and get it up to working condition."

He had more ideas, but thought it prudent to keep his mouth shut. He got the measure of Charlotte now and knew he couldn't get a word through her stubborn mouth. It frustrated him a little that the organizers forced him to work with an uncooperative client.

Everything they did in the competition was broadcasted live to the rest of the Republic. If Ves and Charlotte lost at the first round, they'd end up as laughing stocks. Never mind finding a customer for his Marc Antony, all the pilots would simply laugh at him for failing so drastically on stage.

The Kirby took a long of wrangling to get into an optimal position to replace the legs. In his own workshop, such a job took days, of which most of the time was spent on fabricating the huge legs. Fortunately, in the interest of speeding things along, the organizers provided a number of parts along with nearly state-of-the-art fabrication tools. The cost of the 3D printer and assembler was worth at least five times more than the second-hand goods back home in Cloudy Curtain.

"This is the power the government has at hand." Ves thought ruefully as he started to inspect the damaged underside of the Kirby. "Any small mech designer will just get crushed if it tries to compete against the wealth of an entire state."

He shook his head and even slapped both of his cheeks. He needed to get his head in the game and avoid any distraction. "I wonder if I can impart some X-Factor magic with my repairs."

Theory made it possible, but frankly Ves was dubious it could work this time. The organizers already fabricated and supplied most of the parts, which meant he had no opportunity to build up a mech using parts he designed and fabricated on his own in a significant amount. Still, he spent his time refocusing his thoughts in order to keep a narrow intention in mind.

"I want to make the Kirby a worthy partner for Charlotte."

This was the angle he went for. Charlotte obviously already developed affection for her mech and piloted it for an extended time. If he could reinforce that connection in a minute way, it might mean the difference between victory and defeat.

With the help of the loaders, Ves was able to get the mech into a position to remove the useless remains of the upper legs. He turned the assembler machine into disassemble mode, which allowed him to gently pry off the legs and clear the sockets underneath the torso of any remaining debris.

The installation of the new legs went smoothly. He selected a pair of legs identical to the old ones from the limited selection available. He had no reason to change the model of the legs. Attaching them to the Kirby was similar to assembling the legs of a new mech, though there were a couple of differences, the most important was that the internal frame needed to be attached perfectly to the legs. While Ves had done such things many times in Iron Spirit, doing it for real on stage brought about immense pressure.

Still, the legs attached perfectly to the mech in the end. It helped that Ves avoided thinking negative thoughts by adamantly adhering to his intentions. He wanted to seriously repair and tweak the Kirby until it became a great tool of destruction in the hands of Charlotte. Maintaining mental discipline allowed him to work on his mech in a calm fashion, which slightly impressed the spectating crowd.

As the mech designers quietly worked on restoring the functionality of the mechs, the quarter finals of the YTE continued. Only one match took place at a time, which had the effect of drawing most of the spectators away to the main arena. The people who watched the matches only turned around and looked at the mech designers busy in their work as the matches ended and the new one had yet to start.

Hours passed by as Ves diligently used his knowledge in mechanics and what he learned from the System to make repairs. He replaced faulty bolts and other minor parts and tested to see if any of the components needed replacing, as the main sensor did as it sported a hairline crack.

After that, he tackled the fractured heavy armor of the mech. This was a tricky problem. The right thing to do was to replace the damaged armor plates with newly fabricated ones, but that took days. He could either crudely bolt over the cracks with additional plates, which unnecessarily thickened the armor and burdened the mech, or he could fabricate a special armor solution that he could use to fill up the cracks. Both solutions weren't ideal, so he asked for Charlotte's opinion.

"Hah, just fill up the cracks. Don't you dare put more weight on my Kirby. I need my mobility for something special I have planned to get back at that bitch Miranda."

Ves could only follow Charlotte's decision. Personally, he thought that if Charlotte insisted on sticking to her ranged weapon focus, it was better to turn her mech into an armored firing platform. Too bad her obsessive hatred of Miranda gave Charlotte a phobia of turning into a sitting duck again. She wanted Ves to install a couple of knife holsters onto her Kirby, as if she could actually wield them with her heavy mech's sluggish arms. It'd be like a bear trying to play table tennis.

He worked quietly to fulfill the basic needs of the Kirby. After filling in most of the holes and finishing a quick weld to affix the holsters onto the mech's hips, Ves noted he had less than two hours of time to make a single substantial change to the mech. He considered making adjustments to the mech's formidable laser and ballistic weapon loadout, but he hadn't received permission from Charlotte to tweak such a fundamental aspect of her mech.

"I can overload the lasers and intensify the programming on the shells of the Kirby's weapon mounts. It'll wear down the weapons drastically, but it can give the guns a good boost in power even if the competition technicians already neutered their power once."

Naturally, the rules of the competition explicitly forbid reversing the safety measures, but there were many ways of increasing the prowess of a weapon. The problem was if he asked Charlotte for permission, she'd just shoot him down again. Ves felt tempted to just bypass the smoldering woman and let her deal with his work in the arena.

"It's better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission."

Most of his instincts called for going through, to do what was nagging on his mind and therefore increasing the odds of success. But...

"There are billions of people watching this competition. Can I do something this despicable in broad daylight?"

Also, what would Charlotte think of him? He'd be betraying her trust. He constantly focused on his purpose to make the Kirby a good mech for Charlotte. If he wanted to follow this creed in good faith, then he had to keep in mind that what he thought was a good mech might not be what Charlotte preferred. Also, if he dared pull this trick when billions of people were watching the YTE, he might never enjoy a good reputation in the Bright Republic ever again. He had to perform scrupulously proper on stage if he wanted to attract future customers.

Ves eventually firmed up as he stuck to principles. "I'll ask for permission first."

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Charlotte glowered at him. "Are you fucking kidding me? No! I won't sacrifice my Kirby's long-term health for a short-term boost. Only scum do those kinds of things!"

No matter how many times Ves tried to explain it, the pilot kept sticking to her stance. He understood then that to Charlotte, her Kirby's health was more important than even getting one up over the hated Miranda.

"Maybe we've gone off the wrong foot. Let's try this a different way." Ves said in a conciliatory tone. "Tell me more about your Kirby."

"Why'd you wanna know that?" Charlotte looked at him with suspicion.

"We've got two hours of time left and maybe I can make a few tweaks here and there if you'd let me. The only way I can do that is if I know more about the mech and be able to suggest improvements in line with your thoughts."

Though she showed she still had misgivings about it, when it came to her mech, she felt better if she bragged about the Kirby. "I won the top marksmanship prize in the academy tournament. They loaned me the Kirby as the first place prize. It's the best mech I've ever piloted so far. He's an old training mech, but he's got the best specs among the heavies in terms of firepower."

Charlotte went on and on as she gushed about the mech's substantial firepower. She really obsessed over the ability to turn an enemy mech into Swiss cheese before they even reached her. Ves thought the reason why she personalized the Kirby so much wasn't because she considered the mech a person, but that its weapon loadout featured tons more firepower than all the other piddling mechs she practiced with. In her words, those smaller medium and light mechs were pansies.

"I think I see what you want." Ves nodded his head. "Your training mech is a great fire support mech, but Miranda is going to destroy you with her sword again if you go on stage with the same mech. You have to plug your vulnerability to close ranged mechs if you want to stand a chance of winning the cup."

"I don't want you ruining my Kirby."

"No no, I've got something different in mind. I'd like to install some temporary additions to the Kirby. What do you say about bolting more guns to the Kirby's frame?"

The prospect of even more guns exciting Charlotte a bit, and after Ves detailed his plans based on the Kirby's build and the available parts, she enthusiastically gave her approval.

As a Turbofire model, its design had proven itself over the years as a sturdy and reliable way to deliver heavy firepower. It featured a large, stocky bipedal build, allowing it to hide behind hills or structures and fire its weapons over the top without exposing itself excessively. Its main weapons were its two heavy cannons that took the place of the arms. This left the Turbofire with a well-integrated pair of weapons that could easily be fired around corners and over other obstacles. Naturally, this also prevented the mech from wielding external weapons such as rifles or swords.

Though much of the mech was devoted to supporting the two cannons, the mech also featured twin laser shoulder mounts. Each mount carried three medium-powered lasers and normally fired in rapidfire mode in order to take down missiles and light mechs.

The Turbofire design incorporated extra large and extra sophisticated sensors. Their best feature was their strengthened targeting systems, allowing the laser mounts to fire more accurately at fast-moving targets. Charlotte always relied on the autonomous shoulder mounts to take care of rushing mechs.

Unfortunately for her, Miranda knew about this detail and confronted the Kirby with a knight-type mech. The shield was specifically prepared for this arena duel. Hiding behind the reinforced shield, Miranda was able to dodge the heavy cannon shots and shrug off the laser beams long enough to reach Charlotte's rear. As the Kirby lacked any way to turn her weapons around, Miranda had ample opportunity to do all manner of things to the lumbering heavy mech. Even the shoulder mounts couldn't turn around due to their excessive length with the mech's large head in the way.

To plug this gaping weakness in the Turbofire's design, Ves offered to add a small change to the Kirby. He wanted to add a couple of rear-facing weapons on the Kirby's back. With relatively little experience in this area and only less than two hours to accomplish the job, Ves knew it wouldn't look pretty. But right now he needed to impress the crowd and just sticking to safe and boring repairs wouldn't cut it. The Kirby also deserved better.

Mounting weapons on the rear of the mech was a tricky operation. It couldn't be something with a long barrel such as a cannon because the enemy mech could just stand to the side or even cut it off. The weapon should also be limited in weight, or else it could shift the mech's center of gravity too far backwards, making it easy to trip on its back.

"Hm, lasers could do. There's a couple of smaller mounts available. Still, they don't pack enough of a punch."

There was really only one solution. Missiles.

The basic ranged weapons available to mechs consisted of three separate choices.

Laser weapons boasted high accuracy, weighed relatively little and required no physical ammunition. They also slurped energy like a thirsty hog and generated incredible amounts of heat. However, their light speed damage delivery meant that if a mech's sensors were good enough, it could even detonate explosive shells in mid air.

Ballistic weapons, which included solid projectiles as well as explosive shells, often fired through an electromagnetic barrel. This caused them to consume energy and build up heat, but in a much lesser proportion to lasers. They generally delivered a lot more damage at the cost of accuracy and having to carry around ammunition.

Missiles in these days were basically considered self-propelled and self-guided explosive shells. They boasted a substantial amount of firepower and did not require a large and sophisticated weapon platform to launch. The simplest missiles could even be launched from an improvised pipe. They demanded the least in terms of heat, weight and space out of the mechs, but they were also the most troublesome to reload since they took an incredible amount of space.

Still, their ease of delivery made them popular alternatives to ballistic weaponry. These missiles also came in hundreds of different varieties. The most dominant type of missiles were long-ranged missiles, which could travel at long distances and arrive at a target with pinpoint accuracy as long as it was supplemented with decent targeting.

What Ves decided to incorporate in the Kirby's back was something different. Long-ranged missiles were all fine and dandy, but the close-ranged nature meant that much of the propellants in the missiles would never be fully utilized. He decided to go with short-range rockets instead. While they didn't possess enough propellant to travel beyond a kilometer of distance, they used up all of the freed space for extra explosives instead, leading to a bigger boom.

Their relatively low-tech and self-contained natures meant that mounting the launchers carrying the rockets was as simple as welding a metal box to a surface. Ves installed three separate launchers on the Kirby's broad back in a slightly angled, semi-circular arrangement. The middle launcher pointed its rockets straight ahead, while the two launchers to the side angled a bit to the left and right respectively. This eliminated the Kirby's blind spots. Naturally, the actual installation was a bit more complicated than described, but he still managed to hook up the launcher systems to the Kirby's operating system.

"Alright, time's up! The first match of the Fusion Cup will commence in a single-elimination bracket style. Matches will last at most twenty minutes, after which each mech can be serviced until the time they are called up to the stage again. You won't have too much time between matches, so make the best of your time and conduct only the most essential repairs."

The rules of the Fusion Cup posed slightly harsher restrictions compared to the main tournament. In the normal YTE competition, repairs to the mech were always done by a team of professionals. The Fusion Cup placed all responsibility on the mech designer alone. In practice this meant that Ves could only spend a small of time effecting repairs before Charlotte took the Kirby for another match. Therefore, to make it to the finals, Ves had to make the best use out of a very limited window of time, while Charlotte was forced to defeat her opponent while suffering as little damage as possible.

Ves refused to look down on Charlotte's opponents. Five of them achieved a higher ranking in the main tournament, and all of them were well aware of her fighting style by now so they could prepare countermeasures. The only good thing about the Fusion Cup's rules was that the announcer revealed the randomized match ups at the end of the modification period. This prevented Charlotte's immediate opponent from bringing in a mech specialized in taking down heavy gunners.

The announcer revealed the brackets. As expected, the organizers probably nudged a few things here and there in order to make sure that the first and second place teams faced each other at the finals if they won all the matches. Ves wouldn't be dealing with Edwin and his partner just yet. Instead, their first match surprisingly coincided with what he desperately did not want to see.

"Let the first match begin! Charlotte Hoffmeister and Miranda del Rey, please enter the arena!"

A light and heavy mech both entered the stage. Charlotte's Turbofire's footsteps cracked the surface of the arena with each step due to the additional weight. Though the rear-mounted rockets weighed relatively little, that was only the case compared to other weapons. It made Charlotte's mech into an even bigger sitting duck once its ammunition ran out.

Miranda's mech was a statement in elegance. Not unlike the Fantasia, Miranda's training mech looked thin and feminine. With his familiarity with the Fantasia, Ves spotted commonalities that convinced him that Miranda's mech was designed by Kezia Armaments as well. Only this company insisted the most on feminine appearances.

"Say goodbye to winning, because this lady is going to teach you a lesson." Charlotte taunted as they waited for the ready signal.

"Heh." Miranda arrogantly trash talked, not even bothering to keep her conversation private. "I whooped your ass once, I'll whoop it again."

"Oh yeah? Well I got a few surprises ready. I'll spank you and send you back to your mom if you think you can get the drop on me again."

Ves just palmed his face. Why did it seem like he was back in high school? Coincidentally, he looked at Patricia, who looked similarly exasperated. Mech designers possessed cooler minds. They had to in order to endure the mind-numbing texts they had to read. Mech pilots on the other hand favored boldness and intuition. Too much thinking led to hesitation, which was not at all desirable when shells and missiles flew above the pilot's head.

In any case, the signal went green. Miranda's female mech exploded into action, moving rapidly in a zig-zag motion in order to confuse Charlotte's aim. Her mech's highly advanced ECM systems pumped into action. Other auxiliary systems made their presence known as well. One module caused distortions to appear in the naked eye, the result of a special smoke that hindered optical targeting systems and fed them a whole bunch of garbage data.

However, Charlotte showed the audience that she wasn't a heavy gunner specialist for nothing. Without waiting for her targeting systems to punch through Miranda's ECM, she fired her cannons and lasers in a wide spread without fine-tuning her aim. The chaotic spread of laser beams and projectiles failed to hit Miranda, but some of it came close to damaging her just by proximity.

Miranda stopped fooling around and circled her way forward at an oblique angle, always making sure she never closed the distance in a direct path that allowed for easy hits. Despite Charlotte's prodigious firepower, none of her weapons hit. Only when Miranda reached halfway did she suffer minor damage to her mech's legs when an explosive shell detonated a bit too close. It peeled a few layers of armor but nothing more.

"I told you Charlotte, you'll always be beneath me!"

Charlotte appeared to have panicked a little and overloaded her laser mounts. The weapons pushed past their maximum cycles and fired until the launchers overheated. Ves winced as he thought how troublesome it was to repair the launchers. Overheating affected laser weapons a bit more severely than other components due to the high demands of integrity the weapons required. If the focusing elements were a little bit off, then what the barrels spat out wasn't a tight beam, but a wide spread that felt more like a tanning machine than a deadly weapon.

Miranda suffered a number of hits not just due to the increased frequency of shots but also due to the shorter distance. Getting closer meant her profile grew in Charlotte's targeting vision. This increased the heavy mech's chances of hitting the light mech.

However, as Miranda continued to close the distance, the hit rates decreased even as the lasers kept their frantic firing. Her mech's sideways dodging increased the amount of degrees Charlotte had to adjust her aim once the distance between the two narrowed.

It was like the difference between shooting a clay pigeon five meters away and fifty meters away. If the clay pigeon was thrown in the air from a distance, the shooter only needed to shift his weapon a couple of degrees at most to track the projectile. If the clay pigeon flew a lot closer, then the shooter might even be forced to turn his body over a hundred degrees single second.

Heavy mechs notoriously turned their mechs slowly. Even the Turbofire's large but sluggish laser mounts failed to keep up with Miranda's mech.

"Haha, if you think I'm going to fall for your stupid trick, then think again! My partner's not blind and neither am I!"

Miranda's mech struck out with her sword as she kept to the sides of Kirby. Ves was afraid of that. While the Kirby posed a lot of threat at its front and rear arcs, the sides could not be covered by any weapons. Patricia must have recognized what Ves cobbled up and reminded Miranda of the threat to Kirby's rear.

However, just because Ves was afraid of the option didn't mean he or Charlotte anticipated the action. Ves passed on a tactic he learned from the online adventures of his cousin Melinda to his partner, hoping she could utilize it at the right time.

As the sword was about to hit Kirby's arm, Charlotte chose to retaliate by forcefully detaching the nearest laser launcher. The overheated component blocked and foiled Miranda's sword strike, causing the light mech to pause. In the meantime, Charlotte successfully used the time she bought to turn her mech about forty-five degrees, enough for one of her rocket launchers to face the gobsmacked feminine mech.

The launcher disgorged its entire complement of rockets practically right at point-blank range.

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What happened if a launcher spat out its entire complement of rockets at once? Something really fantastic and terrible, depending on who you asked. Miranda immediately became aware of the crisis and proved her chops as a young elite by throwing her sword forward while huddling behind her shield with both of her mech's hands, making sure to crouch to present as small of a profile as possible.

The sword knocked a couple of rockets aside. Due to the safeties built into the warheads, they failed to detonate early due to their close proximity to the launcher. Instead, they flew or fell to the floor largely inert. As for the other rockets, the upper portion harmlessly flew past the crouching mech while the lower portion exploded harshly against the shield. Due to the decrease in lethality among all projectiles, the rockets failed to penetrate the shield, though they did cause quite a few layers to peel off. The force of the explosions also rocked Miranda's mech backwards.

"Hah, I've got more where that came from!" Charlotte taunted as her heavy mech turned another 45 degrees so that her Kirby's back faced her opponent at a straight angle.

"Shi-" Miranda got cut off as another volley of missiles came in her direction.

She tried to do a roll while keeping her shield forward. This successfully let her avoid most of the rocket barrage, though the lower corner of her shield finally fell apart from the few projectiles that managed to hit it with sufficient force.

Before Miranda could celebrate her survival, Charlotte's final launcher disgorged its payload.

"You moth-"

The feminine mech finally escaped the last wave with the skin of its teeth. The few rockets that detonated against its armor managed to crater a portion of the chest.

"It's checkmate for you." Charlotte gloatingly said as she kept turning slowly, allowing her to present her outstretched cannon and laser mount. The weapons at that side spat out a furious salvo that further damaged the bedraggled Miranda and her mech.

"Damnit, if it wasn't for those stupid rockets, I'd have peeled your limbs off by now!"

Ever since Miranda dodged further away in order to escape the rockets, she lost the initiative. Her mech needed time to build up speed, and before she built up her momentum, Charlotte got a prime opportunity to sneak in a lot of damage.

The Kirby sinisterly aimed at the legs, hoping to impair Miranda's mobility. A lucky high explosive cannon shell managed to detonate close to the legs, which stripped off the rest of the armor of the female mech's feet. The force of the small explosion also unbalanced Miranda's gait, causing her to lose crucial speed.

"Alright, I wanted to save this for the finals, but you leave me no choice now! Let me show you what Patricia gifted my mech!"

Uh oh. Ves bit his lip as Miranda finally took the match seriously. He knew that Miranda always kept something in reserve, as a mech designer as renowned as Patricia wouldn't just let her partner go out in a boring stock mech.

The female mech's back armor opened up to reveal a stubby flight system. Ves almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"That fucking Patricia stole my design!"

Patricia not only stole his idea, she improved upon it. She expanded and sloped the back armor in a way that freed up space while not making it obvious a miniature flight system was attached in that location. The amount of engineering it took to create such a hidden surprise boggled Ves' mind. He had to admit that Patricia possessed terrifying competence.

Miranda's mech ceased to care for its damaged legs as the compact flight system allowed it to travel above the floor with sufficient speed. The light mech's ability to dodge improved substantially. After building up sufficient speed, it flew towards the Kirby for a second showdown.

Charlotte gritted her teeth inside the cockpit. Her rear armor was burdened with empty rocket launchers. Though they already released their payloads, they still weighed her down a little bit. In addition, she sacrificed one of her shoulder mounts in order to fend off Miranda. With only one laser mount left, she was sorely pressed to keep off the looming threat.

The match entered another act, and this time even if Miranda had thrown aside her sword, she still possessed enough lethality once she unsheathed her backup knife.

Yet it never came to use, as Charlotte finally achieved a critical hit to the light mech's weapon arm. Miranda managed to swap the knife to her mech's other arm, but the damage it suffered when holding the shield caused the fingers to grip the knife unsteadily. The distraction allowed Charlotte to get in another couple of shots. When her next cannon shell impacted the light mech again, the competition's inbuilt safeties kicked in and turned the projectile inert.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then cheered massively as they experienced an upset. The number two favorite of the Fusion Cup surprisingly lost to the 6th ranked contenders. Charlotte whooped through the microphones even as the people rooting for the other side stood silently, as if still not believing this was happening.

Both pilots exited the cockpits while technicians lifted the damaged mechs back to their workshops. Two pilots and two mech designers met in the middle of the arena to congratulate each other and shake hands.

Smugness overwhelmed Charlotte's grin as she beheld her defeated rival. "It was a good match. I got lucky."

Miranda snorted at that. "They should penalize heavy mechs even more in these bullshit tournaments. Your mech weighs at least three to four times as much as mine."

"Well the rules don't say you can't bring one too. You're welcome to join the heavy club. We got the fattest asses around!"

The defeated pilot just huffed in reply.

As the two pilots talked smack, Ves hesitantly shook hands with Patricia. Her gentle smile and soft, small hand mesmerized him for a moment. Being this close to her amplified the effect of her striking red locks and her lovely dimples.

"You did a really great job with integrating the flight system to the chassis. It's a lot better than welding a couple of boxes to the armor like I did. If my mech partner hadn't achieved a lucky hit at the end, then this contest might end differently."

Patricia shook her head. "Don't belittle yourself. What you chose to augment worked out much better in the end. You chose to plug a gap while I doubled down on Miranda's strength. I don't think either choices are wrong, but as you said, it worked out better for you as the extra firepower was a lot more useful than flight capability in our matchup. To be honest, both Miranda and I expected to fight a medium or light mech. Yours is the only heavy mech in contention."

The two babbled a bit about the design choices they made for their respective mechs. What actually Ves had in mind was trying to facilitate the X-Factor, but that was something of a secret weapon to him. He instead diverted Patricia's attention by pointing out he had a hard time convincing Charlotte of making any changes. She only approved the rockets due to agreeing with her affinity for more weapons.

"Miranda gave me the lead instead." Patricia explained. "As a gifted pilot, she's proficient in piloting many variations of light mechs, so when I proposed to adapt your flying system scheme to her mech, she readily agreed. Now that I think about it, I should have involved my partner more in the shaping of her mech."

The two teams parted after the announcers called in the next contestants. Charlotte and Ves returned to the workshop where the beat-up Kirby rested. While Miranda ultimately inflicted no damage, Charlotte caused enough of it to compensate. The mech's left shoulder was absent a laser mount, and the entire mech still suffered minor internal damage due to overheating.

An overheating mech posed serious problems in terms of repairing them. A mech that ran as hot as an oven all over meant that the damaging heat penetrated to the very deepest interior of the mech. To repair such a mech to maximum readiness, Ves was required to pull the mech apart and go over each component one by one. Thin wires and small components were especially vulnerable to damage from excessive local heat.

"It'll last. It's not the first time I cooked the Kirby. He's built to take a pounding." Charlotte nonchalantly declared as she sank down in a nearby sofa and sipped her energy drink.

Ves sighed in exasperation. "We only have about an hour to two hours before we're called up on the stage again. That's barely enough to refill the rocket launchers and roughly slap another laser mount on the Kirby's empty shoulder. I don't have the time to do the repairs I'm certain this mech needs."

"Then don't. I'll just roll with the punches. If my Kirby's a little slow, it's no big deal. I'm already used to moving at a snail's pace."

Ves really preferred not to hand his chances of winning over to fate. Their stunning upset against Patricia and Miranda attracted some attention from the crowd, but most of them attributed their win to a faulty strategy by their opponents. Winning a match by getting lucky didn't prove his mech designing skills. If Charlotte and Ves somehow manage to scrounge up another win in the next match, they could prove that they possessed real skill.

If Ves sufficiently proved his capabilities, then he'd have a much easier time selling off his own mech. He still kept his ultimate goal in mind. Winning the Fusion Cup was not a life or death matter. It only helped fulfill his other goals.

He got on with the repairs while keeping an eye out for how his competitors were doing. Most of them involved high speed duels or tense battles where both sides clashed their swords against each other. This excited the crowd much more than the one-sided shooting fest Charlotte went through in the previous match.

Refilling the empty rocket launchers took very little effort. It only took a little time because the machines available to Ves could only put in one rocket in its tube at a time. After that Ves dug into the pile of spare parts the competition offered and picked the closest looking equivalent of the Turbofire's standard laser mount.

Removing the damaged remains from Charlotte's emergency dismounting of the shoulder mount was a delicate operation. If Ves screwed up here, the new laser mount wouldn't fit in the standardized socket, which enabled the laser mount to link into the mech's targeting systems and draw power for its rotation. Luckily, the mech appeared to have been built for these kinds of actions, as Ves encountered no bumps into making the socket clean.

After carefully attaching the laser mount, Ves spent some time making sure the mech's processors correctly adjusted its targeting system to the new mount. Different models required different parameters in order to fire accurately. It didn't perform as well as the original model, but for a quick fix it did the job.

Ves swept the moisture from his forehead as he finished the essential repairs. Barring the damage the mech previously suffered before its entry in the Fusion Cup, the Kirby recovered its highest combat state.

In the meantime, a couple of other matches took place in the arena. Mechs sporting different amounts of damage and variation entered the stage and duked it out with their counterparts. What Ves paid the most attention to was the match that decided his next opponent.

The match progressed in a one-sided fashion. A hapless knight who ranked eighth in the previous tournament was forced to use his backup pistol against a skirmisher-type mech. The skirmisher wielded two submachine guns and ran circles around the mech with ruthless patience.

"Looks like that SMG fellow will be my next opponent." Charlotte remarked as she already sized up her next likely opponent. "I hope my armor will be up to the task."

The skirmisher fell under the medium weight class but moved almost like a light mech. Ves checked the names of the participants and learned the skirmisher's pilot was called Alexander Steel. His mech designer was a fellow named Michael Dumont, who studied at a private institution based in a second-rate state.

"This guy looks tricky. Unlike Patricia who merely mastered the basics to the utmost level, Michael is more familiar with new advancements and better techniques. I think Alexander is holding back the full potential of his mech. His current opponent isn't worth exposing his trump card."

Charlotte's easy smile turned into a serious frown. She had reason to worry if Alexander's skirmisher possessed a hidden card. Normally, heavy gunners easily shredded skirmishers solely due to the difference in firepower and armor, but what if the skirmisher changed his weapon loadout?

"The submachine guns work great against knights because they can't catch up to you and don't possess enough firepower to compete at range. But that's obviously not going to work for you, Charlotte."

She nodded at that realization. Unlike her own mech whose weapons were pretty much fixed, Alexander could just put down the SMGs and take a more appropriate weapon into battle, such as a heavy shield or an armor-piercing rifle. This flexibility was an intrinsic advantage all humanoid mechs with functional arms enjoyed.

Ves paid attention to Alexander's mech. With his previous experience in optimizing the armor for the Caesar Augustus and Marc Antony, he recognized the mech battling it out in the arena followed a completely different design philosophy. It looked lean, sleek and aerodynamic, as if it wanted to pursue speed much harder than a light mech. And in a major sense it mostly achieved such a result at the cost of limiting its onboard loadout of weapons. The mech lacked any indications of possessing wrist, shoulder or back-mounted weapon platforms.

By the time Alexander achieved victory over his humiliated opponent, Ves knew he had very little time left to make some last minute changes. Should he improve the Kirby's targeting system? Perhaps add a couple more armor plates to increase its bulk?

He disliked falling into this guessing game. Every decision was plagued with an indeterminate fog. Did a choice lead to riches or ruin?

"Stop procrastinating, Ves. You're not even going on stage, yet you're sweating bullets."

After taking a deep breath, Ves regained much of his composure. "You're right. With the time we have left, I doubt I can make any substantial changes to your loadout. I'm going to work on refining the Kirby."

"I didn't say anything about keeping my Kirby barebones. You've done right by Kirby, and I appreciate it. You mech designer types aren't as stuffy and close-minded as everyone says you guys are. You're cool."

"Uh, thanks. So what's your idea?"

Charlotte recovered her cheer and grinned deviously at him. "Seeing as I'm going to face another speedy type, I'd like you to make the following tweaks…"

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When Ves sent off the newly repaired and modified Kirby, his expression was mixed. The modification Charlotte suggested changed the Kirby in a way that hopefully would come as an unwelcome surprise to Alexander Steel. Michael Dumont must be thinking the same thing. The low-key fourth-ranked mech designer from the qualifications hadn't raised eyebrows like Patricia or Edwin, but he possessed real capabilities to make it this far. The skirmisher's smooth and practically undamaged form was a testament to his repair skills.

The Kirby's heavy, burdened form stepped forward into the arena yet again. Its steps echoed the quiet arena as it beheld its opponent. The medium mech looked as spotless as ever, though it exchanged its twin submachine guns for double kite shields.

"Damn, this is ridiculous." Ves muttered to himself as his eyes widened at the ridiculous loadout.

It wasn't unheard of for mechs to bring double shields to the battlefield. Two shields offered a great amount of protection against ranged damage. Knight type mechs holding a defensive position often made for great defenders for their more vulnerable comrades if they carried two shields for maximum cover. Some savvy manufacturers even got in on the action by selling purpose-built tower shields that weighed like a brick but could withstand incredible punishment.

That was why the notion that Alexander carried a pair of heavy shields for his swift and agile mech sounded ridiculous. Why give up his advantage in mobility to gain an average amount of durability? The shields may prove useful against the Kirby's guns, but their weight turned the skirmisher into a sitting duck, allowing Charlotte to pound Alexander into a pulp before he'd even reach his enemy.

"Could it be that Alexander is carrying another weapon?"

The timer counted down. Plenty of people in the audience took note of this match. Not only did it determine which team entered the finals, it also signified a battle between two unusually modified mechs. The crowd was beginning to come around to the idea behind the Fusion Cup. It not only tested a pilot's judgment and skill, it also involved his partner's craftiness. The mech designer's role might not be as flashy as the pilot's, but his every move affected the battlefield in a way that was no less influential.

Ves feared Michael quite a bit for this reason. The man hid his competence well, for the skirmisher that he fixed up revealed no hints of what lurked beneath its spotless facade.

"Three, two, one, START!"

The match exploded into action as Charlotte fired all her guns without waiting to engage her targeting systems. Her manual aim proved sufficient as pretty much both of its explosive shells detonated squarely against the skirmisher's shields.

Surprisingly, the shield held against the immense assaults. The lasers fired from the Kirby's shoulders merely splashed the shield's surface with ineffectual heat. The second volley of shells from the Kirby's arm cannons failed to deal any substantial damage to the sturdy shields. The skirmisher calmly stepped forward, leaning its posture square against the shields just before Charlotte fired. While the shields contributed much to the Skirmisher's unyielding pace, Alexander's impeccable piloting skill made sure his mech maintained its balance.

"How can this… I don't even…"

Ves tried to parse the sight in front of him. The shields were able to withstand incredible punishment far beyond the materials provided by the organizers should be able to withstand.

"Are they cheating?"

In front of a crowd of millions? Likely not. Such blatant rule breaking threw away all credibility for the Young Tigers Exhibition. Then considering all the state-of-the-art machinery the mech designers had at their disposal, then Michael must have treated an existing pair of shields with a highly advanced composition so far ahead that it must involve some secrets from a second-rate state.

He grimaced at the guess. "The organizers were probably overjoyed when they get to peek over Michaels' shoulders. The technique he used might not be known to the higher ups at the Bright Republic. Perhaps the Bright Republic introduced the Fusion Cup for reasons other than allowing mech designers to gain some fame alongside pilots."

This implied the Republic was desperate to steal new technologies, which was ridiculous. Though it only ranked as a minor star country, it still possessed unimaginable wealth compared to most corporations. The income they made off Bentheim and the budding mech industry there insured they possessed the resources to enhance their tech base.

"There must be something else behind the Fusion Cup. Something I can't see yet."

In any case, nothing Ves figured out could change the situation in the arena. The shielded skirmisher came quite close and only failed to reach the Kirby due to the kinetic force of the explosions pushed it back.

"HARGH! What does it take to crack open your shell?!" Charlotte shouted in frustration as she slowly stepped her mech backwards while continuing to fire her cannons. She kept her laser mounts silent. The lasers inflicted negligible damage to the shields. It hurt her more than the enemy if she kept shooting to the point of overheating.

When the Skirmisher finally came close enough to engage in melee, Alexander patiently waited for another pair of shells to impact his dented but still intact shield. The moment the cannons fired off their payload and loaded another round, the shields dropped and a twin pair of heated knives entered the mech's hands.

"So that's what you were hiding!" Charlotte yelled as she finally reengaged her lasers. At this range, a barrage of shots created a couple of awful burn holes in her opponent's armor. Yet the lasers lacked the punching power to stop or hinder the skirmisher in any way. Mechs often used rapid-fire lasers to deal a great amount of constant damage in an efficient way, but such a narrow focus made them vulnerable to sudden strikes like the one Alexander performed.

The skirmisher jumped in the air and landed both ends of its knives into the Kirby's shoulder mounts, instantly piercing them and rendering the lasers scrap.

Too impatient to wait for her next shells to reload, Charlotte simply based her cannon tubes against the hanging Skirmisher, successfully lodging it off her mech's frame. Unfortunately, the shock dealt some damage to the internal modules of the cannons, causing their reloading process to stop.

Instead, Charlotte engaged her surprise. "See you, sucker!"

One of the three boxy rocket launchers started to flare as the boosters hidden within came to life. This was what Charlotte requested Ves to incorporate. In her opinion, three rocket launchers mounted to her back was a little excessive. She'd rather replace one of them with some boosters angled in such a way that it could help her turn her mech around rapidly.

Most heavy mechs turned like whales on land. Charlotte loved her new rocket launchers, but she was aware her opponents wouldn't obediently stand behind her and let the rockets launch at them with a smile. So she conceived of the creative idea of hollowing out one of the launchers and stuff some acceleration boosters in its place.

As a pilot, she lacked the background to appreciate the challenges involved in such an operation, especially since they were short on time. Nevertheless, his budding jury rigging skill worked full tilt in order to produce a solution that turned the impossible into something that might work.

The operation had to finish swiftly in order to make it in time for this match. In record time, Ves managed to hollow out the launcher, crudely using an advanced cutting and scraping tool to crudely scrape away the internal space. Then, he went to the pile of parts and dug up a pile of small, emergency boosters. Mech designers often mounted these one-use booster units on light or medium mechs to provide a one-time emergency boost or to launch a module outwards. Such boosters weren't designed to support a heavy mech's entire bulk. But if the Kirby borrowed the additional force produced by the boosters to turn faster, then they possessed just enough power to make the trouble worthwhile.

Alexander responded quickly at the sudden turn of events. Before the Kirby could turn around and present its rockets at him, he used his superior speed to keep up with the rotation. The response came a little late. Charlotte already fired her middle launcher as soon as she caught him in her firing arc.

Most of the rockets that launched failed to hit anything and miserably flew away to explode on the ground or against a security screen. A couple of rockets managed to catch the Skirmisher in glancing blows. Their proximity detonations crumpled and damaged the mech's right arm, causing the poorly armed mech to drop a knife. The explosions also caused the skirmisher to lose its balance, an almost fatal consequence for a mech that relied on speed.

"Take another round!" Charlotte yelled with vicious glee as she activated her second and final rocket pod. The rockets flew out uncontrollably in multiple directions, a sign of poor and shoddy installation. Nevertheless, the inherent spread of the rockets helped Charlotte cast her net wider, causing the skirmisher to get hit near its waist, buckling a few armor plates and disturbing the engines that rested nearby.

Right now, both mechs were at an impasse. Charlotte emptied her rockets and lost her lasers. She re-engaged her cannon arms and prayed her mech could reload them as fast as possible. Alexander on the other hand lost an arm and got some damage onto its armor. While he hadn't suffered a fatal hit, his mech was dangerously off-balance and out of position to attempt another attack. He had to get close.

It took a bit of time, but Alexander's mech passed by Charlotte's still-loading weapon tubes. With a lunging stab, he struck the Kirby's head, successfully damaging and disabling its main sensors. The sudden strike caused Charlotte to flinch, but she retained enough sense to kick out with one of the Kirby's heavy leg.

The medium mech's legs took a glancing blow, crunching aside armor and damaging a couple of sensitive knee components. Alexander tried to command his mech to pull out its knife and stab the Kirby again, but his mech lost its balance for just a tiny moment due to the damage.

After switching over to the Kirby's chest-mounted backup sensors, Charlotte aimed again with her freshly reloaded cannon arms. She shot her left cannon as soon as the barrel tracked her opponent. The weapon fired just as the skirmisher's knife sliced into one of the Kirby's armor gaps.

"Shit!"

The explosive shell failed to detonate due to impacting within its minimum safety range. If the shell detonated its explosive payload at full strength, both the target and the Kirby would get hit by the blast radius. The Kirby's ammunition was significantly tuned down for this tournament so the Kirby might have stayed safe, but the safety range remained unimpacted, which led to Charlotte's curse as she realized her mistake.

The knife impacted the gap near the Kirby's left arm joint, which disabled the arm cannon. But before Alexander could pull out the weapon and retreat, Charlotte went berserk and knocked the Kirby's upper torso forward, causing it to fall in Alexander's direction. Still recovering from its previous attack, the skirmisher failed to disengage in time, causing it to get caught into the Kirby's falling momentum.

No one spoke. Even Ves stood with his mouth wide open. Everyone just watched as the skirmisher comically tried to wriggle its remaining limbs underneath the Kirby's prodigious weight. It was like watching a tiny mouse scurry from underneath the paw of a cat. Nothing worked. Charlotte could just keep rocking the Kirby's weight against her opponent to crush it into a pancake.

"The winners are Charlotte Hoffmeister and Ves Larkinson! Their team has successfully advanced into the finals!"

An alarm went up as the referees activated several safeties. Thick robotic arms emerged from underneath the arena floor and lifted up the Kirby with difficulty. The people in charge obviously feared the Kirby might actually crush the thin medium mech's cockpit with its bulk. Ves couldn't blame them. The skirmisher looked as if it sacrificed even the armor around the cockpit to get it to move so fast.

As the pilots exited their cockpits, they all met at the center of the arena to shake each other's hands.

"Congratulations on your win." Alexander haplessly said as he shook Charlotte's hand. "You caught me good with that fall. It would be reckless suicide to pull off such a stunt in a real battlefield, but in a duel situation I guess it worked out very well for you."

Charlotte huffed at the excuse. "If it were up to me, those shells would have shredded your mech. Those safeties are bullshit. My Kirby can take the punishment."

While the two pilots kept exchanging excuses, Ves and Michael Dumont met each other a short distance away.

"Great engineering. I don't know how you made those shields so durable in such a short time."

Michael gave out a sullen smile. "It's just a trick. It can't compare to reaching the final round when you're ranked near the end."

Ves didn't like the mech designer's tone. He maintained his composure though.

"I admit I'm lucky enough to be paired with a good pilot with an uncommon mech. Her heavy mech poses a lot of problems just by carrying so much stuff around. I know it put you in a tough position."

The modesty only soured Michael's expression even further. "If this year's mech design competition hadn't switched to this bullshit Fusion Cup, then you'd be congratulating me. You're right in that you got lucky, punk. Your team beat mine fair and square, but if it came down to a showdown between just you and me, then I'd wipe the floor with you ninety-nine times out of a hundred."

If Ves wasn't aware that quite a number of recorders were pointed in his direction, then he'd give the prick a piece of his mind. Instead, he kept up his smile and straight-up turned his back at Michael, signaling that the conversation was over as far as he was concerned.

"You should gracefully resign now while you can." Michael gave his parting shot. "Don't think you can overcome Edwin McKinney. He gained the qualifications to study in the New Rubarth Empire for a reason. You can't imagine the depth of his knowledge!"

Fair enough. The Kirby looked awfully wrecked, having lots both of its shoulder mounted lasers while getting one of its arm cannons disabled as well. More troubling, the Kirby's abrupt fall at the end of the match left repercussions in the mech's internals. Mechs simply weren't built to fall like that with all their weight shifted into another direction.

The organizers fortunately took their situation into account and gave Ves a generous amount of time to fix up the Kirby as best he could. Shortly after they cleared the arena, the main tournament went back into swing. The quarter-finals and semi-finals took quite a bit of time to complete. Ves and Charlotte were scheduled to battle against Edwin and his partner's team just before the finals of the main event took place.

"I don't know how strong Edwin will be, but even if it's inevitable that we lose, I'm not going down without a fight!"

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When the Kirby entered the workshop, Ves looked grim at the amount of damage it sustained. The fragile shoulder laser mounts were total losses while the knife wound that disabled one of the arm cannons was very hard to fix. In addition, the overheating damage from the first match still plagued the mech's internals in addition to the abrupt fall that certainly knocked a few things loose.

All in all, the Kirby could be fixed in a week. As it was, Ves only had an hour or two at most before the Kirby was scheduled to enter the stage for the last time tonight. He glanced at the arena, where the top favorite of the newly instated Fusion Cup trounced his opponent handedly.

The top pilot of the cup, Christopher Yang, happened to be the number three seed of the Young Tigers Exhibition. Unfortunately for him, he got knocked out in the main tournament by getting matched against the predicted number one mech pilot. Thus, everyone inferred that the YTE offered somewhat of a second chance for him to win an actual prize.

His medium mech sported thick armor and a vicious loadout hated by arena goers everywhere. His wrist-mounted flamethrowers and stubby shotgun-like heat projector turned his mech into the penultimate close-ranged striker. The damage his weapon caused might not be as overpowering as solid projectiles, but they had the nasty property of cooking the enemy inside his cockpit.

In optimal circumstances, the striker tanked everything its opponent threw at them and simply blasted them with constant heat, leading to an inevitable victory when the enemy's machine practically looked like it took a dive inside a volcano.

Such a mech was terrifying already in an arena environment, but Ves cared more about Edwin McKinney. The prodigal son who returned from one of the biggest human superstates, Ves really dreaded what he cooked up. From what he saw so far, the striker moved more fluently than he'd expected of such a well-armored mech, and he spotted no gaps at all in its defenses. Christopher's current opponent managed to test his mech a little bit, but not to the point of actually threatening Christopher's lead due to the damage he sustained in the previous match.

Charlotte grunted at Christopher's indomitable performance. "Christopher's an arrogant son of a bitch, but he has the accomplishments to back it up. He rose up to become one of this year's top graduates due to his own hard work. He overcame poverty and lack of training resources to beat a lot of other mech pilots who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths."

Ves could imagine how tough that was, being from the Larkinson family as well. Pilots in well-off families and organisations enjoyed specialised diets, personal mech simulators in your home and sometimes even private tutors instructing you from the ground up.

"The longer the match goes on, the more advantages Christopher accrues. We'll need to configure the Kirby in a way that will help end the match quickly."

"Tell it to me straight then. How's the arm? Can you fix the knife wound?"

After consulting a high-powered scanner, Ves grimaced at the results. "The knife dug in too deep. That heated knife cut through several essential cables and feeds. I can't fix it without dismantling the entire arm. It's better to dislodge the arm from the shoulder socket and stick another arm in its place."

Obviously, Charlotte disliked the idea very much. The Turbofire sported a very specific set of arm cannons. The spare parts provided by the organizers didn't include a weapon arm of the same model. She'd have to get used to a different weapon or switch over to a fully-fingered humanoid arm.

"What about the shoulder launchers?"

"I can replace them with generic launchers. They don't have to be lasers either. When Alexander wrecked your laser mounts, his knives only penetrated the casing and inner components. They stopped piercing through after that, leaving the modular sockets intact. If you don't care about fast and accurate targeting, I can whip up a new pair of shoulder mounts for you in a rush, but don't expect a good performance."

Charlotte considered her options for a moment. "Do the shoulder mounts first. If you can, mount rockets or something else that packs a heavy punch. As you said, my only chance to win is if I punch Christopher first."

Nodding, Ves immediately went to work, selecting the same pair of rocket launcher mounts that he already mounted on the Kirby's shoulder. Due to the lack of time he hadn't bothered replacing or refilling the back mount that turned into an improvised booster. This should still leave the Kirby with five rocket pods in total, which would wreck any mech at close range if fired upon successively.

Ves worked hard in accomplishing the job in time. Even as the main tournament caused plenty of mechs to get wrecked while crowds of fans shouted the names of their favorite pilots, Ves fully concerned himself with bringing the Kirby back to a semblance of life. He poured as much of his emotions into the work as possible, hoping it could knock the presumptive champions off their thrones.

What resulted from his hour-long frenzied tinkering was a heavy mech with two crude shoulder-mounted rocket launchers affixed to its shoulders. Unlike the stream-lined laser mounts, the boxy, oversized rocket pods weighed the Kirby down significantly more. Together with the pods affixed to its back, the Kirby was dangerously top-heavy in its weight distribution.

"I can't do anything about the balance." Ves warned Charlotte as he moved on to working on replacing the arm. "You'll have to move carefully and never let yourself get tipped over."

"Right. I'll keep that in mind."

The work on the arm proceeded even faster and shoddier than Ves thought. He practically ripped the damaged cannon arm from the Kirby's shoulder socket, rendering it even more damaged, but Ves hardly cared at the moment. He inspected the socket and hastily removed whatever debris remained. Then, he picked up a generic heavy mech arm from the pile of parts and hastily installed it in the empty shoulder cavity.

Even as the semi-finals of the main tournament started to wrap up, Ves hastily connected all the necessary cables without testing them to make sure they properly exchanged information and power to the empty arm. He skipped the fine-tuning and calibration of the arm entirely, which was a big taboo in his profession. An arm that wasn't tuned right felt like a crude prosthetic to a mech pilot. The responsiveness of the arm suffered greatly, but it couldn't be helped. The competition pushed Ves into cutting pretty much every corner he could find.

The announcer already got ready to warm the crowd up as Ves asked Charlotte what weapon she wanted to wield for her new arm.

"And now, get ready for the final round of the Fusion Cup. Who will win the grand prize? Will it be the twin stars of the Bright Republic, the mighty Christopher Yang and the genius Edwin McKinney? Or will the underdogs Charlotte Hoffmeister and Ves Larkinson triumph once again with Lady Luck by their side?"

Granted, Ves could give the announcer a prize for adeptly making the finals sound dead even. Whether the match resulted in a favorable outcome, nobody knew. Ves didn't dare analyze his chances. Instead, he quickly gave the Kirby a heavy tower shield and sent it off to Charlotte.

Both pilots entered their cockpits and entered the arena. After they stood on their designated positions, the security screens came to life, protecting the audience from the violence that was about to ensue.

"Commence!"

Christopher's striker sported the same loadout as the last match, which was an excellent decision on his team's part. Heavy mechs could be tough to peel apart, and a pilot as good as Charlotte wouldn't let an enemy come in close without paying for it, as she had proven in her first two matches.

The first seconds of the match happened to everyone's expectations. Charlotte fired off her sole arm cannon while keeping her tower shield to the side for the moment. The cannon detonated squarely against Christopher's thick chest armor, but only managed to leave a lot of soot and a shallow crater behind. Charlotte waited for her cannon to reload and shot again at the same spot, managing to dig a little deeper.

"Oh, what's this? Christopher is nakedly provoking his opponent! He's not bothering to dodge at all!"

The naked arrogance in Christopher's heart came out in full display. The striker kept striding forward in a slow but constant pace. Each shell that exploded against its chest only managed to deal surface damage to the armor. The internals remained entirely unaffected.

"I've got more in store for you!" Charlotte frustratingly yelled as she launched the rockets from her shoulders.

She actually fired them a bit further than optimal, but perhaps she figured it was better to make her move before Christopher changed his pattern. The inaccurate but powerful rockets flew straight ahead, most hitting nothing but empty air or the arena's security screen. What rockets did hit Christopher's mech spread out their damage, leaving the machine a bit disheveled but still fully intact.

Ves gaped at the sight. It was one thing to treat a shield's armor, but to adjust the entire armor scheme of a mech in just half a day's time boggled the mind. "This goes beyond the competence of a novice mech designer. Edwin's at least a journeyman in the standards of the Bright Republic. Perhaps he's even a master."

This was the first time he truly felt he was a frog in a well. The galaxy possessed limitless wonder and countless treasures. Though it irked him to admit his current capabilities could not even touch Edwin's shadow, he was confident the Mech Designer System could pull him up to the standards of the bigger and wider galaxy in time.

"I wonder how the System is doing. It must be feeling a little cramped and lonely in my comm unit."

Though Bentheim welcomed every visitor with a smile, Ves was under no illusion that much of his actions were monitored. Perhaps he might not warrant personal attention from an actual human, but he was sure there were dozens or hundreds of automated programs tracking him from cameras, microphones and countless other sensors. Only in the safety of his workshop where he meticulously controlled his own workspace did he truly feel safe in activating the System.

"Keeping my System locked in my comm unit is tempting fate. I should try and find a better solution to house the System once this ordeal is over."

In any case, Christopher reached his optimal range. With one arm, he activated his flamethrower, and with the other he fired his stubby heat projector. Waves of visible and invisible heat combined with each other to crash against Charlotte's practically immobile frame. Much of the heat was absorbed by the shield, but due to its shoddy materials its forward facing layers already started to melt.

Christopher fired his weapons constantly from the same position, essentially battering the shield with heat. Charlotte kept up firing her sole cannon, only to slowly peel off the chest armor layer by layer at a snail's pace. It truly impressed the entire crowd how well Christopher's mech withstood the barrage.

Seeing that her shells got dispersed without effort, Charlotte grunted in frustration and tried to charge forward. Unfortunately, the tower shield weighed down the Kirby too much, but even without the burden Christopher widened the distance with ease. It was perverse how Christopher's mech boasted armor almost as good as Charlotte's but with only a fraction of the weight.

The match wound down as the Kirby suffered a slow death. Charlotte's ballistic cannon finally malfunctioned due to the internal damage it accrued by all the heat cooking the mech from the inside. It signalled the end of her chances of ever killing her opponent's mech.

"And we have a winner! The crowning champions of the Fusion Cup are Christopher Yang and Edwin McKinney! Congratulations to Larkinson and Hoffmeister for putting up a valiant struggle. Please give it up for our hometown boy and girl."

Perhaps admitting that this competition's balance was grossly out of whack, the audience clapped appreciatively at Ves and Charlotte's efforts to fight to the very end.

Somehow, Ves felt most of his frustrations fade away. He got over the unfairness of competing against a prodigy who studied at an elite institution and using his advanced knowledge to his advantage.

"Second place is good enough, especially since I never intended to compete to the very top in the first place."

From all the attention placed on him, Ves felt optimistic he could find a customer in the crowd. While Edwin proved his overwhelming dominance in the local mech scene, he was too unapproachable. Everyone could guess he was meant for greater things. As someone who never left the Republic in his entire lifetime, Ves put up a respectable fight, overcoming two opponents with luck and skill. Well, mostly skill. You didn't get to reach the finals if you lacked the qualifications to work as a proper mech designer.

As the two teams met in the middle to shake each other's hands, the organizers set up an impromptu podium nearby. They waited for the announcer to finish his spiel so that they could accept their awards.

"So, can you give me a hint on how you made Christopher's mech so durable?"

The elite mech designer peered his eyes at Ves as if he was an unworthy bug.

"Okay, so you don't want to talk, hehe." Ves awkwardly remarked, and discretely pulled back.

In contrast to his frosty conversation, his partner had an amiable conversation with Christopher. The young man wore a friendly smile as he explained the decisions he took in the battle, not that it required much effort on his part due to the overwhelming superiority of his mech.

The announcer first awarded the third place to the team that lost to Ves and Charlotte in the second round. Though Alexander and Michael's mech had been crushed by the Kirby's incredible weight, the operational capability of the mech remained intact, if a bit battered.

Their opponents for the third place had lost against Christopher's devastating heat armament, which meant pretty much the entire mech was half-fried from the incredible heat. Repairing such damage when it spread out to the entire mech was a nightmare, and Ves didn't begrudge the mech designer for losing. Michael Dumont did a decent job fixing up Alexander's skirmisher to the point where it could wield a rifle.

"And now for the winners of the silver medallion. Please welcome our young talents Ves Larkinson and Charlotte Hoffmeister!"

A much louder applause met the two young graduates as they ascended the podium and accepted the silver medallion from the floating cases in front of them. With smiles plastered to their faces, they both waved cheerfully at the crowd. Ves found it wasn't bad being appreciated for once. The celebration truly affected his mood for the better.

"In addition to receiving a commemorative medal to the first ever Fusion Cup held in the Republic, our two winners will also receive a cash prize of 200,000 credits each, along with preferable treatment akin to veteran status by the Bright Republic."

The cash prize was a nice surprise, but it was a drop in the bucket considering the immense cost of business Ves had to deal with. It also clearly dwarfed the prize money of last year's mech design competition. What surprised him was that the Republic actually handed out preferable treatment to the two of them. Even Charlotte perked up significantly when she heard the words. Normally, only the champions of Young Tigers Exhibition enjoyed preferable treatment.

"Damn, so I can strut around like a veteran now?" She dreamingly asked. Veterans and other notables enjoyed many small benefits as payment for their many years of service. "Hah, everyone of my classmates will have to give me the right of way. I can be among the first passengers to board a transit ship. I even get to pimp my mech if I enter the Mech Corps this year."

Ves cared little for such social courtesies. What he cared about more was that preferable treatment entitled him to looser regulations and more favorable treatment by the government in matters such as applying for permits or the right to manufacture live ammunition. Though Ves wasn't about to run up to Cloudy Curtain's planetary government right now, he kept the details in mind for when he might need to expand his operations in the future.

Naturally, Ves wasn't actually a veteran, having contributed nothing to the Republic's defense. While the special treatment might impress the hicks, the more distinguished people in the audience were hardly impressed.

"Any little bit helps." Ves muttered to himself as he already scanned the audience for a potential customer. "I don't believe no one's impressed by my work."

His real struggle started now. With only half a month left before the bank demanded their 5 million credit interest payment, Ves had to find a market for his mech. The Marc Antony wasn't going to sell by itself.

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As the Fusion Cup came at an end, Ves and Charlotte stood at the side of the arena. Despite their exalted status as second-place winners, hardly anyone paid attention to the two. The climax of the evening was about to start, as the two most talented new mech pilots ascended the main arena.

The greatest show in the Bright Republic practically hammered in that the Fusion Cup was a side event in the end. No matter how impressive their winnings, they could expect to receive only one percent of the attention placed on the finalists of the main tournament.

As Ves was never a mech pilot, he was indifferent to chasing personal fame. He'd rather build up the reputation of his business in a more sustainable way.

"I've got some business to do."

"Oh?" Charlotte raised her eyebrow. "Bailing out on me, are you? I was planning to bring you out to a sweet place that makes the best spare ribs in town."

"I'm kind of in a time crunch. I've started an independent mech design studio and I'm practically buried in debt as a result. I was kind of hoping to canvas the audience and find a market for my product."

"Oh. I see. I heard you nerdy types like to pursue a career at the big companies. It's pretty brave of you to start out on your own."

"We all have different dreams." Ves smiled ruefully. "I know it's a tough road, but I don't regret stepping on it. I'm confident I can make it to the top someday."

"Wow. That's really impressive. Anyway, I won't distract you any further. Let's exchange comm contacts before you go."

After they added each other to their contact lists, they separated. Charlotte headed over to her fellow pilots who congratulated her on her excellent showing. Ves on the other hand made his way past the families and other regular people and headed up to the spectating area reserved for the first-class ticket holders who wanted to enjoy the exhibition without screaming children nearby.

Security let him in without a fuss, a perk for being a participant. Ves walked past an invisible screen that dampened most of the noise from the crowd down below. The dim lightning, luxurious upholstery and the plentiful private viewing rooms gave the first-class area a sense of exclusivity. The people who possessed the qualifications to enter this area all emanated an air of class or martial might. Those present in the public areas all congregated into small groups of close-minded associates as they paid attention to the spectacle unfolding in the central arena.

Ves took a deep breath and made sure the silver medallion he just won was visible on his chest. Then, with a pleasant smile, he approached the nearest group of people who looked like they wouldn't totally shut out others.

A trio of what looked like industrialists and a couple of mid-ranking Mech Corps officers took their eyes away from the tense and slow-paced duel to focus their attention on Ves.

"Ah, you're the second-place winner of that side contest, aren't you? Are you related to the Larkinsons?"

Ves nodded politely at the officer. "My father's been on border patrol for many years, though recently he went missing."

Everyone politely adopted a mourning expression, including Ves. "That's a shame. Those who guard our borders against the aliens are performing the highest duty for our nation."

"I'm still hopeful he'll live." Ves shrugged, but resumed smiling, not wanting to tread down on this topic any further. "In any case, I was hoping to interest you in a new mech variant I've recently developed for my startup business."

One of the businessmen laughed politely. "As a matter of fact, I'm here to do the same thing. I'm a representative of Jackson and Partners. We were just discussing the Mech Corps potential renewal of their oldest 400-unit fleet of scout flyers."

Well, that was awkward. They exchanged a little bit more before Ves was politely sent off like he was a toddler intruding upon adults doing serious business.

He hadn't expected instant success, so his first rejection shouldn't affect him so much. Still, he felt he was being disregarded by the people around him. His youth and lack of track record weighed him down more significantly than he thought.

"We only source our mechs from established suppliers. We signed fixed service contracts with our long-term partners so they can offer the best support for our mech needs."

"I have to admit, for a lastgen mech your Marc Antony variant belongs to the middle-upper tier. Nevertheless, my corps only runs currentgen models. We like getting our hands on the newest toys available in the market, you see. Your Marc Antony is only good for a decade or two at most before it becomes obsolete."

"I collect only the classics and only in their most original form. I have nothing against variants, but the base models are the best."

This suspicion grew stronger as Ves kept approaching different groups of people. Sometimes he got a chance to introduce his product before he was rejected, but most of the time they didn't bother hearing him out. Perhaps most of these people were genuinely unable or unauthorized to purchase a new mech, but for the rest it was simply a lack of confidence in his ability to deliver.

Still, he got close a couple of times. Some retired mech pilots or veteran mercenaries expressed some interest in ordering his mech. Only a few things held them back.

"Our mercenary corps mostly goes out on extended patrols. While the short-term battle performance of your variant is impressive, we can't take it if it fails to keep up on our weeklong patrol routes."

"We're actually in need of plugging a gap in our mech lineup, and if you offered us the original Caesar Augustus I'd be tempted. As it is, while your variant is affordable, even two of your mechs can't fulfill the role of a single well-armored mech."

"Your mech's offensive lineup is a little scattered. It inherits most of the disadvantages of the Caesar Augustus but comes without the base model's excellent armor. I'd rather buy a specialized mech that does one single job perfectly than a machine that purports to cover every area only to fail at most of them."

He noticed that Carlos was off about his prediction that wealthy collectors were more likely to purchase his mechs. These collectors were highly discerning in their choice of mechs. They disdained cheap variants. Instead, they were more likely to chase after vintage base models or highly exclusive variants made with extraordinary materials.

Wealthy mercenaries expressed the most interest in his product so far. They were open to purchasing a functional mech, but poked holes at the Marc Antony's weak points. The detriments outweighed the benefits even with the favorable pricing. Compared to the 65 million credit price tag of an official Augustus, the 24 million credits Ves humbly asked for his product was a steal.

Still, not everyone was willing to accept that bargain bin price point. A flamboyant mercenary who behaved more like a pirate than a legitimate mercenary laughed in Ves' face when he quoted the price.

"Twenty-four million? Twenty-four fucking million?! I'd have to work my ass off for more than five years to earn back such an amount. How about giving me a break? Let's say, hm, twelve million?"

Ves was immune to awkward situations by now. He could maintain his smile even when the universe was ending. "For an advance payment of twelve million credits, I can produce and deliver the mech to you within half a month. You can pay the other half once the MTA certifies my mech."

Seeing that Ves wasn't willing to bargain, the rowdy mercenary turned away. "No thanks. I'm too short on cash."

Even as the final match ended in a rousing last act, Ves still hadn't achieved a single sale. He was beginning to grow a little nervous. This evening was the best and only opportunity he had to approach the rich and the strong. After this unofficial holiday ended, most of them would go back to their offices or mechs. By then, where could he find a buyer for his mech? Should he post an ad on the MTA's internal market and cross his fingers some chump picked up his offer out of the hundreds of thousands of alternative ones?

He began to despair a little. He was so desperate, he'd get on his knees and beg if it increased his chances. The more he interacted with the people around him, the more he realized the mech market was more insular than he thought. The vibrant market the MTA portrayed did not apply to the situation on the ground. The MTA's market communities mostly encompassed entire star sectors. A single third-rate state such as the Bright Republic couldn't support too many producers.

Ves realized that by setting up his mech boutique in Cloudy Curtain, he'd inadvertently isolated himself from his clientele. A quiet environment, lack of competitors and favorable taxes meant nothing if Ves was unable to earn any form of revenue in the coming weeks.

He lacked too many things. Though he had a tenuous connection to the Larkinson family, they wouldn't go out on a limb to subsidize his business nor purchase his first mech. While they saved up a sizeable amount of credits over the years, most of them were reserved for emergencies. Using them to save a failed business was not in the family's collective interests.

Without the support of any substantial influence, Ves was like a boat trapped in the middle of sea. Only a desolate expanse of water surrounded him in each direction. Where could he find an island to gain some respite?

"Hello there Ves."

"Whoa!" Ves almost jumped out of his skin from the abrupt greeting. He turned around to see the test pilot who piloted his mech during the qualifications. "Hans! I didn't expect to see you here."

"I'm an active serviceman as well. Once I finished my duties, I thought I'd drop by and catch up to the finals. Sad to say I came too late. Anyway, what got you so down?"

Ves explained his circumstances and then elaborated on his difficulties in pushing his new design.

"I'm not surprised no one's ever taken you on your offer. Besides the detriments you already mentioned, the most important reason why no one dares to accept an order is due to the untested nature of your design. Pilots like us, we don't trust the spec sheet produced by the MTA. It's been wrong plenty of times before and will continue to do so until they get their asses kicked out of their monopoly in mech management. As I was saying we pilots like to look at the actual performance in the field instead of a bunch of abstract numbers that may have been fudged."

"The numbers are absolutely reliable. I've achieved a small amount of success selling virtual versions of my Marc Antony in Iron Spirit. So far, not a single customer returned to complain about any deviations from their mech's official performance."

"I advise you not to bring up these virtual games." Hans firmly advised. "At our level, no one takes Iron Spirit seriously. The inaccuracy and deviance from actual piloting is is more pronounced at the higher ranks of the game. It takes a lot of effort to adjust to two different environments, so most older mech pilots don't bother maintaining an active presence in Iron Spirit."

"What about you, then? You did a great job piloting my Drake through the gauntlet. Are you interested in a purchase?"

The test pilot shook his head. "I don't earn enough to afford a personal mech, and since I test out new designs as a job, I don't pilot a fixed mech when I'm at work."

Ves received another disappointment. If even a mech pilot as friendly as Hans refused to buy his mech, then his chances of convincing other pilots was practically nil.

"I might know someone who could be persuaded to take a leap at your design." Hans added as he saw the crushed response in the young man. "I'll do you a favor and introduce him to you. Whether you manage to close a deal with him will depend on your own efforts."

"A chance is all I ask for. I'm grateful for any assistance you provide."

Hans leisurely led Ves through the crowd of spectators paying attention to the elaborate award ceremony. The Young Tigers Exhibition was specifically organized by the Republic to glorify young heroes, so a lot of fanfare accompanied the awarding of prizes. Once they arrived at the door of a private room, Hans knocked at it with a peculiar rhythm. A beep sounded out as the lock disengaged.

As they entered the box, Ves saw that almost nobody occupied the chairs and couches. Only the grandest seat supported a person. The man who sat on the chair looked like an old, grey-haired veteran that emanated the same vibe as his grandfather. Even from the entrance, Ves could feel the man was more than just an average veteran.

"Ah, Captain Rodello, nice to see you again. I see you've brought a guest."

"Colonel, this is Ves Larkinson, the runner up of the Fusion Cup. Ves, this is Colonel Ares Huntington."

The retired colonel snorted at that. "So the brat won a medal and a couple of perks. That's not a big deal compared to the young warriors on stage right now."

"He's not a pilot and I'm not here to bring him into your club. I just thought that since you have so much free time on your hands, you might be interested in what Ves is selling."

"Oh?" The colonel took a closer look at Ves, actually taking him seriously this time. "So what is it that demands my attention? It better be good."

Knowing that he arrived at the best opportunity he could ever get this night, Ves adopted a professional tone and explained the capabilities of his mech. Huntington's expression remained carefully neutral as Ves elaborated on all the good and some of the not-so-good points of his mech. Perhaps revealing his own shortcomings wasn't the best idea, but he didn't want to risk getting blamed by the old man if he somehow caught on. Nevertheless, the colonel let him speak until he came at the end where he quoted his price.

"...And so for the total package, with just twenty-four million bright credits, its yours. After paying an advance payment of half the price, I'll get to work on the mech as soon as I get back to my workshop. I'll have it ready for you within two weeks."

Ares grumbled a bit to himself as he stroked his chin. Ves could tell he was wavering, but he couldn't determine what held the old man back from making the jump. Was it the armor? The lack of specialties?

"No." The old man finally replied after several minutes of consideration. "You make for a compelling case, but it's not what I need right now."

Ves was devastated. He got so close to making a sale. Why did Ares turn away from his offer?

The colonel insensitively waved them away. "Captain Rodello, this was a nice distraction, but don't bring anyone irrelevant to me again. The two of you can go bother someone else now. I won't see you out. Goodbye."

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Hans embarrassingly led Ves away from the private room. "Sorry about that. I thought he'd be more respectful."

"I've faced plenty of rejection before. It doesn't bother me to get turned away again." Although he said this, Ves sighed with disappointment. "I'm in an extremely difficult position if I can't find a customer for my mech."

They both stayed silent for a moment before Hans thought up another idea. "Why not enlist the services of a broker?"

"I've already thought of it." He replied. "But I need a large influx of cash within two weeks. If the broker takes his cut, I'm not sure I'm able to pay the bills that are due very soon."

"Oh relax. I know a woman who might cut a deal with you. Anything's negotiable. You should really think about it since brokers know their clients best."

Hans had a point. Many small-scale mech designers often relied on specialized brokers and dealers to manage their sales and customer support. These crafty salespeople spent a lot of effort building up a network of customers and other contacts. They trained their bargaining and negotiation skills to a terrifying level.

To be fair, despite the substantial cut they took with each successful sale, they were an indispensable part of the mech industry. That was why Ves allowed Hans to lead him all the way to the center, where a large crowd of well-dressed men exchanged their opinions about their favorite pilots of today's event.

"Marcella Bollinger! Over here!"

"Oh hey Hans." A pudgy, dark-haired woman greeted the test pilot with a hug. "How's work?"

"Same old, same old. I'm not here to talk about my work. I'd like you to introduce you to an interesting fellow I met today."

The woman raised her eyebrow and took an appraising look at Ves. "You're the Larkinson mech designer, aren't you? My, my, you're quite the big young man now. How's fame treating you?"

"Not well since it isn't of much use in my current situation." Ves shook his head. He found the woman to be more approachable than he thought. "Hans told me that you're a mech broker. It happens that I have a new mech variant that I'd like to sell."

"Ah, so it's business this time, eh?" Marcella's smile turned a little predatory. "On account of Hans, I'll hear you out. Let's bring you somewhere quiet first."

As they entered an empty private room, Marcella took a seat at a couch and patted her side. "Take a seat young man. Don't worry, I don't bite."

Sitting so close to Marcella discomforted Ves. Marcella's stocky frame underneath her prim and formal business suit hinted at a military or mercenary background. Though he couldn't detect the killer vibes from her amiable smile, he was certain that this woman had been through a lot. With his extensive knowledge and experience in mechanics, he sniffed out the presence of prosthetics in her right arm.

"Let's start from the beginning. What kind of business are you taking part in and why do you need my services?"

Ves gave her the same story he told Colonel Ares. Since he couldn't hide things from a broker for long, he also mentioned his debt and interest payment situation. While giving out such sensitive information gave her a lot more negotiating power in any agreement they reached, it would prevent misunderstandings from happening in the beginning. Ves was willing to give up a few percentages of profit if it meant building up a solid relationship based on trust. Any broker recommended by Hans shouldn't be too shady, he hoped.

"Okay, I see." Marcella tapped her manicured finger to her chin. "Lay down the cost structure for me. A mech armored with HRF plating shouldn't carry an extravagant price."

"If I want to build the Marc Antony from the ground up, I need to use up 18 million credits worth of resources. The raw material cost of the HRF amounts to about 11 million, but I already received a stockpile of resources that's more than ample enough to armor a single unit. I can scrounge up the rest for about 7 million from the open market."

"That doesn't sound too bad, but you've left out your taxes, licensing costs, depreciation of your machines, and etc. Your real cost should be at least fifty percent higher."

Ves nodded to show his agreement at her remark. "Those costs aren't relevant to me in the short-term. I don't pay any further costs for my production licenses, and the taxes and other stuff can be taken care of at the end of the year. Right now I'm desperate for a quick infusion of cash so I can meet my impending interest payment on my massive debt."

"That's business for you. At least ninety percent of all mech designers who start their own businesses don't get to make it this far. Production licenses are ridiculously expensive to obtain if you don't have any backing. It's kind of impressive that you received two of them as grants. That puts you in the same starting point as designers with a fully original design in their hands. That alone makes it worthwhile for me to invest in you."

Ves looked hopeful at the positive remark. "So you're willing to work with me?"

"Yup. But don't get too cocky. I'm only in charge of the sales. I sell dozens of mechs each month so I have no time to hold your hands."

"That's all I really need. I can take care of myself, don't worry."

"First, lets talk about accounting. You need to get that in order as soon as you have the time. I saw you got awarded privileged status. Make use of that today and contact your planet's tax office to get preferable rates applied to your business activities asap. Most tax offices tend to waver a bit and put up a couple of road blocks if you aren't an actual veteran. Best get that out of the way first before you're handed a much larger than expected tax at the end of the year."

Ves nodded in understanding. "Cloudy Curtain's in the middle of nowhere so their taxes are already favorable to businesses. If I apply for preferable rates, my tax burden will probably not improve that much compared to doing business here in Bentheim."

"For a startup like you, every credit counts. You don't want to have a dispute with the planetary government this early in your career. If they want to, they can make your life hell."

While Ves was skeptical that such a thing would happen in Cloudy Curtain, he nevertheless took the advice seriously.

"Second, while it might be too early to talk about this, but you really should find a better supplier for your raw material needs. The MTA's internal market is only a bulletin board for resource providers to dump their excess and for mech designers to fill up a gap in their regular shipments of resources. The ready availability of most resources in the market is only made possible by overcharging them by as much as 20%."

"It's not easy for a startup to get suppliers to take you seriously."

"That's why I said it's something to consider later on. The open market should be fine for now, but keep in mind that you're needlessly throwing away about two million credits for each Marc Antony you produce. That debt problem could be history if you solve your wasteful sourcing."

Marcella moved on as such a thorny problem couldn't be solved at this moment. "As for your variant's selling potential, I already have a handful of clients in mind. I'll warn you that without a track record, your new variant won't be able to demand much of a premium. Still, I can work some magic here. It helps that you designed your mech with some flair in mind. It looks almost as impressive as the genuine Caesar Augustus."

"What kind of price are you going to set?"

Marcella smirked at the question. "It's not polite to pry too much into a broker's secret. Suffice to say, you'll earn your dues even after my commission is taken into account."

"I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear, am I right?"

She tapped her fingers on her comm and summoned a standard contract detailing a business relationship between a broker and an independent mech manufacturer. "While I like you and you've got Hans to back you up, that's no reason for me to do charity. I run a business, you know. I have to little pipsqueaks back at home who I need to clothe and feed."

Ves turned on his comm and accepted the transfer. He opened the document and read over the details. His eyes practically popped out when he came across the sales commission Marcella demanded.

"Twenty percent of gross profit! That's-"

"That's a generous amount already if you consider how much work I have to put in to sell a niche lastgen mech with limited application."

"Is there any way you can give me a break? It's a little much."

"While I'm open to negotiation, I'm not budging on the remuneration. I'm also taking into account your sales volume. A small-scale mech boutique like yours won't be able to produce a lot of mechs annually. The scale of your business is really miniscule compared to my biggest clients. A one man show can only take you so far, and that means I'm perfectly justified to demand a bigger piece of your pie."

The huge amount of money Marcella skimmed off the top potentially dwarfed his debt burden.

If Marcella sold his variant at the bottom price of 24 million credits, then he'd earn 7 million credits in gross profit, which was the difference between the sales price and the cost of goods to manufacture the mech. Twenty percent of 7 million credits amounted to 1.4 million credits. If Marcella sold three more mechs, then she'd earn more than the bank.

Hans, who stood quietly against the wall, gave out his opinion. "Twenty percent is harsh, but you can expect Marcella to treat you fairly. Unlike other brokers who represent as much as over a hundred different mech manufacturers, she makes sure to represent your mechs with actual effort."

Nodding, Marcella explained her stance. "You're looking at the costs while neglecting the benefits. Sure, you can approach a public broker who will offer ten or even five percent of gross profits, but what incentive do they have to raise their sales volume? If you sign a contract with me for twenty percent, you can be damn sure that I'll work my ass off to sell as much of your mechs as I can. Right now, you need to have a visible market presence and develop a reputation for your business more than you need to maximize profits."

Ves had to admit that Marcella sounded reasonable. Of course, maybe Hans and Marcella were conspiring together against him and took advantage of his desperation.

"Also, the commission you leave me is nothing compared to what you will get in return. I might not be the biggest name around town, but I have a lot of friends in high places. You'll be paying me for my extensive network that I've invested many millions in building up. A lot of other brokers might sell a hundred mechs a month, but ninety-nine percent of those mechs are bottom of the barrel. You can forget about earning the big bucks if you take your business to the budget brokers."

"The contract also states that you'll be my exclusive broker for ten years. I don't recall this being a standard clause."

"Our business relationship is a two-way street." Marcella pointed out, gesturing her hand to Ves and then to her. "If you are prepared to invest in me, I'll do the same to you. The contract applies for ten years because I don't want to do the hard work helping you build up a name in the market, only for you to bail out on me a couple of years from now and take your business elsewhere. As I said before, this isn't a bad thing. A ten-year exclusivity clause means that your interests align with mine. Think of how big your name will be ten years from now, and think of who can make this all possible."

In other words, helping Marcella was equivalent to helping himself down the road. Ves understood the rationale, even if it left a bad taste in his mouth. What if Marcella neglected his products one day? He had very little recourse to force her to work her ass off if she focused on a shinier product from a competitor.

Marcella's eyes sharpened as she noticed his wavering expression. "I'll sweeten the pot for you. If you sign the contract this night, I'll guarantee you that I'll find a customer no later than twenty-four standard hours from now. I'll even hand you an advance of 7 million credits so you can purchase and take back the raw materials you still need to start building your mech."

"What if you can't find a customer within that time?"

"Then it will take two days." Marcella shrugged nonchalantly. "Trust a lady to know what she's doing."

"And what if it takes more time? Even if I fabricate the Marc Antony and let the MTA certify it within two weeks, if I don't have a buyer to take my product away I'll be in big trouble with the bank. Could you help me out if they come knocking at my door?"

"Sorry Ves, but I already told you that you should take care of your own issues by yourself. I'm only responsible for sales. The advance payment is just a one-time bonus. And frankly, I don't mind seeing you sweat a bit. How else can I be assured you'll have a mech ready for me to sell within two weeks?"

Ves suspected Marcella was fond of using monetary incentives to establish her business relationships.

"This is just the start of our partnership. If you don't trust me to keep my promises and do my job, then it's better if you look elsewhere."

"You have a point." Ves admitted with a resigned sigh. "

They spent an hour hammering out a basic contract. Ves even used some of his prize money to hire a legal expert on very short notice in order to make sure he wasn't being bamboozled. Sure, Marcella already screwed him up front. He only wanted to make sure she didn't screw him from behind at the same time.

After Ves, Marcella and their legal representatives all agreed the contract looked okay, they signed it and sent it off to be notarized. Marcella received the full blueprint of the Marc Antony along with detailed specifications, or at least as much as the simulations could determine. She even demanded the right to manage his Iron Spirit designer account.

"Why would you need something like that?"

"It helps if certain clients get to test drive your mech in the game. Don't misunderstand, they're not stupid or addicted to the game. While it's not an accurate representation, if they feel good about piloting a virtual mech that's about 90% similar to the real thing, they won't care about the 10% Iron Spirit unable to simulate."

"I guess you can also create some good promotional material for my mech."

"A visual example is very effective in generating initial interest in your product. We humans are primarily visual creatures after all. Watching a reasonable facsimile in action is a lot more visceral than extrapolating the performance of your mech from a dry spec sheet."

After they exchanged a few more words, they finally called it a night. Marcella Bollinger left the exhibition center with a new cash cow under her belt, while Ves still felt mixed about the contract he signed. He hardly bargained any additional benefits out of the bulldozer in action. He pretty much got run over during the entire conversation. He even felt it wasn't a bad thing getting taken advantage of. He reasoned that if Marcella wanted milked him dry, she'd have to put in an effort to squeeze a lot of value out of his work.

"Why am I imagining myself as a milk cow?"

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When Ves returned to his hotel room, he faced two things. First, a cranky gem cat angrily yowled at him for neglecting his pet all day. Second, he received a notification from his bank account that Marcella sent him the seven million advance for his material needs.

"Sleep can wait." Ves said to himself as he activated a terminal and visited the Mech Trade Association's online market. He already took note of all the materials he required, so after a meticulous check he put all the items in his shopping list and confirmed his purchase. The seven million bright credits vanished from his account like it never existed.

"At least I paid for express shipping. The goods should arrive by my doorstep by the time I exit from the shuttle."

As he laid down on his bed, he reflected on the tumultuous events he experienced in his trip to Bentheim. In just two days, he put his name on the map by winning second place in a side tournament of the Young Tigers Exhibition. While not as prestigious as the main event, it was nonetheless one of the best prizes a young mech designer could win in the Republic.

Not only that, he enlisted the services of a well-established mech broker. With Marcella Bollinger taking care of selling his products here in Bentheim, Ves could devote his full attention to fabricating his mechs and coming up with new designs. Still, the ripoff twenty percent commission she took out of his gross profit hurt his bottom line. Still, if she could ensure a steady volume of customers, the amount of profit he made over time could be a lot higher than if he wasted time selling the mechs in person.

"Maybe Marcella has a point. If I hire my own people, I can do my own thing and let my employees take care of all the annoying stuff."

Naturally, that was something to consider once his business got up and going. For now, his mech boutique was so small scale that any employee he hired now would just be sitting on his thumbs.

After taking a long and deep sleep, Ves woke up a little late. It barely left him time to shower and pack up his luggage. He was barely able to grab a quick sandwich before Captain Gillian hustled him together with the other contestants to the spaceport.

This time, the crowd of mech pilots regarded him with a different attitude. Some looked impressed by his accomplishments. Others were puzzled why a talent like him settled down in the hinterlands of the Republic.

In any case, Ves knew he'd be stared at like this for quite a while. Of all the graduates who participated in the YTE, only he achieved the best results. The next best pilot only barely managed to scrape into the top fifty.

Ves wanted to focus on his upcoming fabrication project, so he fobbed off most attempts by the mech pilots to spark up a friendship. It wasn't that he appreciated new friends, but he simply didn't have the time.

Just after the shuttle flew up and escaped Bentheim's gravity, he was already pulling up his comm and making a detailed flowchart of his fabrication process. His slapdash way of fabrication might work with Iron Spirit's modern 3D printer and assembler, but his equipment in the real universe faced a lot more constraints. It might take only one wrong setting to ruin a component worth a million credits. So it paid to be prudent.

He also applied for a production license of the festive cloud generator while he was at it. As one of the two only non-native components of the Marc Antony, Ves couldn't produce it with the MTA's approval if he hadn't applied. Fortunately, as the component was more of a joke than anything else, Ves only had to part with a hundred thousand credits to get a 10-year production license for the decorative part. His cash reserves instantly halved.

The space shuttle leisurely fell behind a spacious queue towards their designated Lagrange point. The heavy traffic to and from Bentheim caused these Lagrange points to be congested, though that was only a relative term considering the vastness of space. Still, only a limited amount of ships were able to depart at the same time without disturbing the local spacetime too much, so each ship had to queue up and wait in line.

When their turn finally came, everyone paused what they were doing and prepared for the FTL transition. The shuttle vibrated a little before the green light was given. No problems occurred when the passenger shuttle engaged its FTL drive.

The return trip took longer to arrive back at Cloudy Curtain. Bentheim's favorable gravity currents allowed all ships travelling towards the port system to cut back on their travelling time. It provided no advantages when ships departed the system and travelled to a non-port system. Thus, it took about one-and-a-half very precious days off his timetable when the shuttle finally arrived at the edge of Cloudy Curtain's star system.

The slow, in-system burn from the edge of the system to its interior took up some time as well. Everyone else just relaxed and ate their provided meals, visited the toilets or leaned back their seats in order to take a nap. Only Ves was fidgeting while working on his planning. He went over the same scheme over and over until he forced himself to take a nap.

When the shuttle finally reached the surface, Ves thanked the heavens and disentangled himself from the others as fast as he could. With only a hasty goodbye to Captain Gillian, Ves ordered a priority taxi and zipped back to the outskirts where his workshop beckoned him home.

"Home sweet home." Ves said with relief. Lucky echoed his thoughts as he scurried all the way back to his favorite perch on his couch.

"Let's see if they delivered the goods already."

Ves spent a substantial amount of credits fast-tracking his material goods shipments from Bentheim directly to Cloudy Curtain. When he exited into his backyard and entered the cordoned off area meant for aerial deliveries, he encountered five stacks of freshly containers. As he personally opened each container and confirmed its contents, he smiled for the first time in days.

"I've got everything I need now to begin fabrication."

Marcella even sent him a brief message when he was still on the shuttle. She believed she found a customer for his variant, but the negotiations dragged on. The customer wanted to squeeze as much benefits he could out of his order, so Marcella wanted to slow things down in order to make it appear they weren't willing to go too low.

Glad that the marketing was taken care of, Ves was just about to start fabricating when he forgot about one very important detail.

"I haven't started up the Mech Designer System in almost a week. I wonder what it thinks about what I've experienced. At least it should give me a reward for taking second place in the Fusion Cup, right?"

Though not entirely sure, Ves booted up the program resting peacefully in his comm. With trepidation, he waited as the loading screen filled up and a familiar menu popped up. The System was back in action.

"Hey System. Did you miss me?"

[Welcome User. You have two impending messages waiting for your perusal. Do you wish to display them?]

"Yes. Gimme my rewards." Ves already rubbed his hands thinking of all the goodies the System might reward him for his great performance.

[You have assembled an original mech design out of a selection of pre-prepared components.]

[Design Evaluation: Drake.]

Model name: Drake

Original Manufacturer: Ves Larkinson

Weight Classification: Medium

Recommended Role: Jump Trooper

Armor: B-

Carrying Capacity: C

Aesthetics: C

Endurance: C

Energy Efficiency: E

Flexibility: D

Firepower: B-

Integrity: F

Mobility: B

Spotting: C

X-Factor: E-

Cost efficiency: A

Project involvement: 75%

Original component composition: 0%

Overall evaluation: A shoddy mech compared to genuine models, it nevertheless fulfilled its purpose. Put together out of standard pre-assembled components, the Drake is a remarkably cost efficient if it is produced in a large scale. However, its lacking integrity and energy efficiency prevents this model from outperforming any other budget model.

[You have received 1000 Design Points for completing an original design that has no other equivalent.]

[You have received 100 Design Points for designing a mech with a trace of X-Factor.]

"A thousand points." Besides the welcome package, it was the most generous reward the System had ever given him for a single objective. It also indicated that the System appreciated original designs more than variants. "There isn't anything else?"

[Your design does not fulfill the requirements to earn additional rewards. Please work more diligently in improving the core foundations of your next original design.]

In other words, the System disdained his cheap and trashy design. "You know I only had less than one day to whip up this mech, right? I did a decent job considering I was working with severely outdated parts."

The System acted a if his words were passing clouds and continued on with the updates.

[You have received an event mission. Please check the Missions page for the details.]

[Event Mission]

Mission: Fusion Cup

Difficulty: A-Rank

Prerequisites: Qualify for the Fusion Cup

Description

The Fusion Cup is your first public stage where you can exhibit your talents as a mech designer. Do not cower from the challenges you face, but instead embrace them! A mech designer must be bold under pressure and fearless when performing in public. Crush your rivals and achieve a supreme result by winning first place!

Reward: Variable depending on your final rank.

[Congratulations for partially completing the event mission. A competent mech designer must maintain absolute confidence whilst simultaneously possess the capacity to self-reflect. Never waver in the face of defeat. Face the universe with your back held straight!]

Ves chuckled as he realized the System gave this mission while he had just passed the qualifiers. Then he stopped his laugh when he realized the System kept tabs on him while he hadn't even executed the program in days. How was it able to observe his every movement in such an electronically well-guarded environment?

The System quickly gave him the rewards for the mission he never knew he received before he completed it. Ves treated it like dessert after a sumptuous dinner.

[For winning second place, you have received 500 Design Points.]

"...That's it?"

[Please endeavor to work harder and never let yourself be overshadowed.]

Ves almost broke out with curses. The System sure asked a lot out of him. He only used the system for two-and-a-half months! How much could he improve in so little time? Even with the help of the System, Ves estimated he needed at least two or three years of active use of the System in order to catch up to the likes of Edwin McKinney. If he took into account that Edwin constantly improved as well, it might take five or seven years.

To become a star mech designer, Ves had a long way to go. He not only had to shore up his fundamentals, he also had to build up his business and design market-viable mechs that not only took into account the performance of the mech, but also its cost efficiency. Designing and fabricating the Marc Antony was just the first step. The System already hinted at him that producing an original design was the road to real prosperity.

"Well, to design an original blueprint from the ground up requires a boatload of skills. And to improve my skills, I need DP, lots of DP."

Eager to see how much DP he currently possessed, Ves called up his Status.

[Status]

Name: Ves Larkinson

Profession: Novice Mech Designer

Specializations: None

Design Points: 1632

Attributes

Strength: 0.7

Dexterity: 0.7

Endurance: 0.7

Intelligence: 1.2

Creativity: 1

Concentration: 1.2

Neural Aptitude: F

Skills

[Assembly: Apprentice - [3D Printer Proficiency I] [Assembler Proficiency I]

[Business: Apprentice

[Computer Science: Incompetent

[Electrical Engineering: Novice

[Mathematics: Incompetent

[Mechanics: Apprentice - [Jury Rigging II] [Speed Tuning I]

[Metallurgy: Apprentice

[Metaphysics: Incompetent

[Physics: Novice - [Lightweight Armor Optimization I] [Mediumweight Armor Optimization I]

Evaluation: On the cusp of breaking out of pure stupidity.

The windfall of 1632 DP came as a timely surprise to Ves. With such a large amount of DP, he could complete his purchase of several sub-skill upgrades that he had his eyes on that would help with his first fabrication project in the real universe. What also surprised him was that his endurance increased by 0.1 points.

"Well, it makes sense. I've been working my ass off for several long hours. I've learned to push my limits during the competition."

With a sack of DP in his metaphorical hands, Ves eagerly switched to the System's Skill Tree. A familiar holographic display lit up all around him, showing him thousands of all the possible skills and sub-skill he could acquire.

He regarded the Skill Tree as his most important weapon towards overtaking the likes of Edwin McKinney and Patricia Schneider. No matter how fast they improved, they eventually had to put in the hard work to learn new theories and become proficient in new techniques. All Ves had to do was earn a bunch of DP from designing and selling new mechs and invest them into the Skill Tree.

Aside from the ever-elusive X-Factor, Ves had access to an unprecedented variety of new and exotic skills. Some of the more notable entries even threw his entire conception of mechs upside down.

"Biomechanical fusion, quad-pilot connected neural interfacing, permanent consciousness imprisonment. What are those crazy scientists up to?"

The more he glanced at the names, the more he felt as if the space outside the Bright Republic was a scary place. His sanity might have worsened if the System hadn't blurred the more specialized skills down the skill trees.

For now, Ves had no interest in taking up these exotic skills. Not only wouldn't he be able to explain how he became proficient in these exotic and restricted technologies, he also plainly lacked the luxury to waste his points in needless side projects. If he wanted to close the gap to his rivals, then he had to invest in his foundation skills, no matter how boring they sounded.

"Since I'm getting ready to fabricate the Marc Antony, I should shore up my assembler sub-skills."

He purchased both Assembler Proficiency II and 3D Printer Proficiency II for 400 DP each. After halving his DP reserve, Ves received an influx of new information and knowledge from the depths of his brain. He realized he already knew most of the information coming to the front, he just hadn't realized how important they were and how it connected directly to his performance when utilizing the machines. He learned so many new tricks to improve the quality of his fabrication and how to reduce the occurrence and severity of faults.

The flood of surfaced knowledge fully unfolded within his mind in a way that made it very difficult for him to forget it again. He advanced his proficiencies with the 3D printer and the assembler by at least a year of dedicated practice. This was valuable experience that already came into use as Ves called up his detailed planning of the fabrication process and made some adjustments to his steps. After spending half an hour correcting a lot of tiny details, his confidence of successfully fabricating the Marc Antony without any major defects increased from fifty percent to seventy percent.

"Too bad it's not the 100% certainty that I wish for. My gear is just too bad."

His increased proficiency couldn't overcome the limitations of his cheap, second-hand equipment. Though they cost several hundred million credits in total, Ves regretfully lamented his father hadn't worked a little bit harder in procuring better quality equipment before he disappeared.

"Upgrading my gear is a priority for later, much like everything else on my plate."

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Remembering that Marcella hadn't gotten back to him about a customer, he called up her number.

"Heya Ves. I know what you're calling for. The deal has just been completed." Marcella smirked as she said her next words. "Guess how much credits he threw at me to order your mech?"

"Did you manage to sell it at twenty-four million?"

"Hah! That's chump change. It's much higher!"

"Twenty-five? Twenty-six?"

"Nope." Marcella gestured with her hands to bring up an invoice in the projector. "Look for yourself what magic I achieved."

His eyes practically bulged out as he saw that Marcella's customer ordered his mech for a whopping twenty-eight million credits. The huge price figure amounted to a gross profit of eleven million credits if he delivered his mech in time and in good condition. It certainly raised his faith of Marcella's ability. Perhaps partnering with her was the best decision Ves ever made.

Marcella tapped her fingers onto her desk, snapping him out of his dreams. "Don't get too excited buddy. Running a mech business isn't a casual undertaking. You have to properly plan for your expenses. If you factor in your interest payments, your tax burden, your capital assets depreciation, then you'll find that your net profits is a lot smaller than you thought."

The excitement in his eyes died down. She was right, of course. "Well, my taxes will at least be lightened. The planetary government is already processing my preferable treatment status. I should be able to get my tax rate reduced to fifteen percent."

Such a low tax rate was very favorable to Ves already. If he setup his business in Bentheim, then he'd have to fork out thirty-five percent even with preferable treatment.

"Your expenses and other burdens are lower than most other mech designers, but don't forget your business is a one-man show. Your scale can't compared to most small-to-medium enterprises that have based themselves in Bentheim for years. The industry revolves around a minimum amount of scale production. If you want to improve your mechs, you need better machines, and that means you have to start saving money now."

Ves nodded, understanding the importance of what she said. His 3D printer and assembler were good for a decade, maybe two if he stretched it and installed some upgrades, but eventually he wanted to move up to using more capable machines worth billions of credits.

"I've got so many things to spend my money on." Ves lamented to himself. Earning a couple of billion credits was a pipedream for most people. Even seasoned mech designers often despaired at the costs their businesses demanded.

"In any case, just do your work. I'll be expecting a satisfactory result within ten days if you want to ship your mech to the client in time. Will you be able to make it in that time?"

He nodded with confidence. His planning stretched out the fabrication process to nine days already, which was a lengthy time for an average mech. Considering it was his first time doing it for real, he wanted to slow down and produce each part with meticulous care.

"I'll have the mech delivered to the local branch of the MTA within nine days for inspection if there's no problems. I don't expect any delays, but I doubt I'll get slowed down more than a day at most."

"Good, because a lot is riding on this deal. This is your chance to break into the market, Ves, so nothing can go wrong."

After a bit of lecturing by Marcella, she finally hung up, leaving Ves free to begin his work. He pulled up his sleeves and checked his plans for the last time. Nothing appeared out of place. He had the materials, the equipment and the time he needed to fashion his first mech into existence.

Before he started, he took a deep breath and adjusted his mental state. He didn't want to deliver an average product and call it a day. He wanted to wow the client. And the way to do that is by incorporating something unique only to him into the mech. Even if most of the pilots of his mechs couldn't articulate the X-Factor, it would still help improve their impressions on his work.

He approached the 3D printer with reverence. He loaded up the files of the valiant-looking Marc Antony. From its vapor-generated crest to its adorned and sturdy tower shield, the mech already radiated a sense of valor in its appearance. Its entire purpose of existence was to act as a vanguard, a breaker of blockades and a workhorse that could take a beating for the team. Ves took inspiration of the mockup and immersed himself into bringing this design to life.

"I am not building a mech. I am birthing it to life."

Saying it mattered to Ves. It sounded nonsensical or meaningless, but to someone who took a peek through the door that hid the incredible might of the X-Factor, it was an important distinction that made all the difference in the end product. He was an artisan of mechs, not an industrialist who desired to pump out as many mechs as he wanted. To treat the mech as a living thing instead of a lifeless machine was the first step to realizing the X-Factor.

"Alright, I've got you fixed on my mind."

He tapped the projection to separate the hologram into thousands of individual components. He started with the easiest, but also the most important part: the internal frame.

The internal frame was mechanically simple to produce, but required high consistency in order to make it last for many years. Any hidden faults buried deep within its solid surface could lead to devastating consequences in the battlefield. The MTA posed strict requirements to the integrity of the internal frame, so Ves could absolutely not afford to slack off when fabricating these seemingly simple piece of alloys.

The 3D printer performed up to standard. Ves had already checked and calibrated all of the important machines in his workshop long ago, but it was pleasant to see the machine slowly churn out frame after frame. Ves took particular care when producing the sockets and joints that allowed the frame to move its limbs as natural as a human being. Only a couple of minor deviances emerged in their production, which was a sign the printer's precision was off, a particularly fatal flaw when producing tiny components like processors.

It was a good thing Ves left the entire day for further calibrations. With his enhanced knowledge of the 3D printer's workings, he dug into the advanced programming of the machine and ran a lot of tests and simulations. He narrowed down the source of the problem to a worn-down injector. Ves solved the problem by fabricating a replacement before opening up the machine to replace the component in question.

"There. Now it should work as advertised."

The rest of the internal frame components got produced without a hitch. Since night had already fallen, Ves took a break and took care of his personal needs.

The next day, he devoted his attention to crafting the HRF armor plating. It took three days to process the raw materials into a suitable form if Ves aimed for consistency and precision. While most of the work was tedious and repetitive, he was constantly on guard for any deviations from the norm. A percentage less of a certain metal added to a process might ruin the entire batch.

He refined tons of materials together into different materials, which got processed even further for up to five times. Each step transformed the main alloys from a worthless piece of junk to a less worthless piece of junk. By the time several days had gone past, the mixed materials had already transformed into smooth pieces of shaped plating.

Ves knocked his knuckles against the surface of a thick chest plate. It rang with the delightful tone of a uniform piece of metal. He spent a lot of time fashioning these plates, each into the appropriate form to clad the Marc Antony's outer layer. They still looked greyish brown, the native color of HRF plating. He'd add some color later.

The next two days he produced the other parts of the mech. The most important of which were the power reactor and the engines. His 3D printer had some trouble producing the most unique sections of those components, but Ves was able to stave off any disasters due to his improved skills and his abundant experience in producing them already inside Iron Spirit. He only really paid attention to the challenging components, and produced the easier ones with a little bit more leisure, though he always made sure to double-check their integrity.

"Phew. They all came out okay."

He only replaced a few sections with newly fabricated copies when his checks revealed a couple of hidden faults. Such sub-optimal components wouldn't wreck a mech immediately, but it left the machine vulnerable to a cascade of malfunctions later on. Dealing with it now prevented the MTA from using it as a reason to disqualify his mech during their inspection.

Now that he finished producing all of the parts, he moved on to the assembler. It was the tallest machine by far, reaching as high as any small office building downtown. While the assembler was a single set, the system was actually composed of many different lifters and hefty arms. They allowed a single person or an AI routine to put together a mech without relying on any other manpower.

Modern assemblers formed the basis of today's boutique industries, allowing individual craftsmen to compete against giant mass producers economically. Though mass production always remained as the most cost and resource efficient mode of production, small-scale manufacturers could tailor their individual products much better to their customers. Naturally, the huge trans-galactic corporations hadn't sat still and incorporated assemblers in their own factories in order to offer the same customization capability, but it never really came close.

In any case, Ves owned a run-of-the-mill cheap assembler that wasn't in its prime condition anymore. Like his 3D printer, the assembler showed some signs of use and past repairs. Luckily, the assembler he possessed was not too advanced, so Ves wasn't worried those self-made repairs would screw up the system. His checks also made sure the assembler remained in working condition.

"Damn, six days have gone by already. I only have two days to put my mech together."

He could produce the entire Marc Antony inside Iron Spirit with that much time. Hopefully, once he got more familiar with his equipment, he'd speed up his production process to match his capabilities in the game. For now, slow and steady was the way to go.

From a haphazard pile of components, the mech slowly came to life. Ves started putting together its internal frame, which formed its skeleton. This was the simplest part of the assembly process as the internal frame components were built as puzzle pieces that snapped into place with each other with natural ease.

Once the skeleton was fixed into place, Ves started to add the essential organs to the frame. The engines, power reactor, energy cells, sensors and most importantly the cockpit were put into place one by one. They fit into their assigned places like obedient soldiers falling into parade.

The trickiest segment of the assembly process came when Ves installed the cabling. Though not as difficult as doing it for the Caesar Augustus, he sometimes had to resort to pushing or hammering certain sections in place.

"This is not supposed to happen at all. I guess it was wishful thinking for my 3D printer to produce all of the parts within tolerance."

It might not be a big deal if part A came out of the printer half a millimeter thicker or so. But when parts C, F, J, Y and more all exhibited variations in their dimensions, then they could cause a chain reaction of misalignment when he assembled them all together into one machine. Fortunately for Ves, the deviations were within an acceptable range. Besides some squirming, he managed to fit the components decently together.

"Maybe it's not a bad thing this mech is not a carbon copy of its blueprint. The variations makes it unique. Just like each and every human is different from each other."

Heartless fabricators detested deviations like this, but in the perspective of life, Ves thought it was not a completely bad thing to keep some eccentricities. Naturally, it was one thing to be a little strange, but if you were born full of defects then Ves would never be able to sell the mech.

After making sure the components still worked at peak efficiency, Ves moved on to the final touches. He placed the many pieces of armor in their designated positions. Countless robotic arms picked up pieces of plating and carefully aligned them before placing them together. Special screws and adhesives kept them in place. He also put together the mech's default armament, the mace and heavy tower shield. Assembling the latter was a tiresome ordeal due to the sheer amount of plates stacked into one single whole.

All the components came into place near the end of his two day marathon. Ves sighed in relief as he hit the button to let the painter module of the assembler go to work. He was way too tired to coat and paint the mech's outer layer by himself. Screwing up the coating mattered very little to him anyway.

Once a few hours passed by, the advanced coating dried out rapidly, leaving the dark, intimidating form of a mech Ves had spent many hours imagining its appearance. Having spent more than eight days pouring his heart, focus and even love into its production, Ves felt an unprecedented surge of pride and satisfaction well up deep inside of him. His dreams had come true. He fabricated a mech of his own design with his own two hands. His eyes welled up in tears as he admired the tall and armored mech's domineering contours. He refused to believe no one would remain unaffected when they came close to this mech for the first time.

"Since you're my firstborn son, you deserve a name that fits with your pedigree. I will call you…"

"Phoenix Cry."

Naming the mech was a spur of the moment decision from the upswell of emotions. He broke a taboo by giving it a personal name as a mech designer. Usually, the pilots named their mechs after a period of getting accustomed to each other. He hoped the client wouldn't mind too much and keep the name.

Though the mech was technically complete and fully functional in its operations, Ves wished to gift the mech one additional part. This extra addition was already in the blueprint, but he used a fake to substitute for the real deal. He used the assembler's mobile lift to reach to the mech's chest and opened up its cockpit. Lucky, who had been watching Ves closely during his work these days, also followed him up. Plain curiosity sparkled within his lively eyes.

The fresh and sterile interior of the cockpit unfolded in his sights. With a hop, he entered the cramped area and sat down on its specially-designed synthetic cushioned seat. For a moment, Ves imagined piloting the Phoenix Cry himself. With his head connected to the neural interface, he visualized screens coming to life around him as he piloted the mech through a fierce battle.

He snapped out of it after a minute. "I'm not a potentate. I'm never fated to battle in the frontlines."

The sorrow in his heart threatened to overcome his jubilation, but he managed to keep his negative emotions in check. His lack of piloting aptitude was an old regret.

Instead, he put a hand in his pocket and retrieved a dark red carnelian. The gemstone's subtle gradient alluded to a lifelike drop of blood. It inspired a sense of vitality and passion. He could think of no better gem to crown his first creation. Lucky meowed at the sight of its old excretion, pawing at it with the playfulness of a child stirring around his plate of food.

"Do you recognize it? You crapped this out while you stayed in the hotel. If the cleaning staff hadn't alerted me to its presence, I might have missed this out."

Ves accumulated a nice stockpile of gems, but most of them provided marginal benefits at a very obscure magnitude. The gem Lucky excreted in Bentheim clearly outshined his previous droppings for reasons he wasn't sure. He hadn't fed Lucky with any notable minerals except what the hotel provided as an additional service. Perhaps the crowded, tech-filled environment excited the gem cat.

In any case, the gem's attribute stood out in more than one way, and the color also matched the mech. With a couple of hand-sized tools, Ves extracted the generic red stone in the middle of the dashboard that represented the mech's power button and placed the carnelian in its place, making sure to affix it securely in its fitting. After he finished, Ves leaned back in the chair and admired how the lustrous gem attracted the eye. He inspected it yet again.

[Carnelian of Focus]

Increases the pilot's concentration by 0.1 when installed on a mech.

The attribute was very special. Unlike the other gemstones Lucky dropped, this one improved the attributes of the pilot rather than the mech. How that worked, Ves had no idea, but he knew the value of such a boost. Though not a game changer by any standard, it served to improve the pilot's impression of the Phoenix Cry while also giving him a minor edge which could prove useful in a tough battle.

Furthermore, the gemstone's pilot-focused attribute also allowed Ves to hide its benefits from the MTA. Ves had no good way to explain how a mech was able to move 0.5% faster or could withstand lasers 1% better than the HRF plating was designed to take on. Before Ves could acquire better skills that could camouflage such benefits, Ves found it prudent to stick to subtle gemstones and keep the ones with material benefits for later use.

"Enough dreaming. It's time to ready this mech for sale. First up, I'll have to certify the Phoenix Cry."

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If anyone first heard the words Mech Trade Association, they'd assume it was a nonprofit trade organization. They weren't wrong, but it deeply understates what a massive influence the trans-galactic behemoth exerted in every corner of human space. They regulated the development, licensing, production, sale and disposal of mechs. Pretty much the entire life-cycle of a mech was in their purview, and they sometimes came to blows in order to enforce their self-proclaimed rights.

Even a small, tranquil planet like Cloudy Curtain possessed a local branch of the MTA. As even the Greater United Terran Confederation and the New Rubarth Empire acknowledged the powerful organization's supervisory powers, a small third-rate state like the Bright Republic had nothing to say about the MTA's forceful presence within its borders.

The association founded branches wherever there was a sizable population of people. Lots of people meant that at least a handful of them piloted mechs. If left alone, they could get up to trouble, so the MTA always made it a policy to supervise potentates even if they didn't own a mech.

Frankly, the idea that an organisation outside the control of any government entity was allowed to meddle in the mech industry shouldn't have existed. Countless conspiracy theories flew around in the galactic net that purported to be the truth.

One popular notion suggested that the divisions in human space was all a sham. Every nation, from the lowest third-rate backwater to the grandest first-rate superpower, were actually different branches from the same tree. A so-called Shadow Council ruled humanity from behind the throne, and the MTA was merely its most visible arm.

Another less radical theory suggested that the MTA was not as independent as everyone thought. Instead, it began as a secret joint venture by both the Terrans and the Rubarthans. Despite their intense rivalry towards each other, they shared enough common interests to regulate the mech industry and founded the MTA to bend the military strength of other nations to their will.

The MTA's existence and its stringent enforcement of its principles brought the wild west of the mech trade to its heel. They prevented the incorporation of weapons of mass destruction into the arsenal of mechs. They curbed widespread corporate espionage and gave smaller mech businesses a chance to thrive by encouraging the practice of licensing out non-cutting edge designs. They brought so many benefits that not many people thought badly of the organisation.

What mattered the most to Ves right now was the MTA's strict standards of public mech sales. Any mech traded in an open transaction was required to be certified by the MTA before they received a stamp of approval. Without this approval, a mech designer was deprived of an independent, trustworthy assessment of their product, which meant that basically no one dared to buy his mech.

Naturally, such a practice was voluntary, and companies were free to sell their mechs without involving the MTA if they made their transactions private. This most often happened with nextgen cutting-edge designs between top enterprises and government entities. Ves was too small a player to engage in such a high-level transaction, so he meekly submitted his mech to the MTA for their standard certification.

Bringing Lucky over his shoulder, Ves exited the transit shuttle and landed his feet onto the paved landing pad next to the MTA. He met the local supervisor of Cloudy Curtain's branch of the association at the steps leading up to the complex.

"Ves Larkinson."

"Ryan Baldwin." A dark-skinned man with a robust posture returned his handshake. "Welcome to the MTA. When I heard a designer wanted to submit a newly fabricated mech in our branch, I had to admit we were at a loss for a moment."

Ves chuckled amiably at the remark. "I'm the only mech manufacturer on this planet, right?"

"Yup. The most we do is bust heads and lend a hand against pirates. We hardly have any mech technicians on site that are qualified to certify your mech."

"My apologies for inconveniencing you. Can the certification process still proceed? I'm kind of pressed for time."

"No worries, son. As long as we're not in the middle of nowhere, we always have a senior technician on hand."

They entered the quiet and spacious building complex and went down the halls to a large workshop area. A cranky-looking middle-aged lady in coveralls greeted them with a stinky eye.

"Ves, let me introduce you to Gertrude Samuelson."

The woman in question crossed her arms. "So you're the brat messing up my maintenance schedule. I had a system in place, you know. Now I have to waste precious hours off my schedule in order to knock your little toy around. Well, you better not think it's a done deal, because I'll be doing my best to dig up its flaws!"

He could only smile awkwardly at that. Fortunately, Ves spent an excessive amount of time building up the Phoenix Cry. He was confident his mech could pass all but the most stringent of tests. Those top-level tests would never be applied to a regular commercial mech, so Ves should be in the clear. He hoped.

The three entered the cavernous workshop where a handful of mechs underwent routine maintenance. At the end of the stables rested the Phoenix Cry, freshly transported from his workshop. A couple of junior technicians already crawled around its chassis with several handheld instruments.

"Seeing as you're as young as shit, this must be your first certification, right?"

"Yes, but I'm familiar with the steps."

"Good, then you know that you'll just have to stand there and do squat while I pick apart its flaws." Gertrude stated as she stepped behind a console and activated a thick, mechanical arm.

Ves recognized the device as an advanced sensor that was capable of penetrating through almost any material. The woman gently operated the arm and brought it over to the bottom foot of the mech. The projection in front of her changed into a cutout image of the section along with multiple technical readouts that Ves barely understood.

"Hm, looks fine so far. You haven't screwed up the proportions when you made the HRF armor plating. Lots of newbies trip themselves over when they work with such a highly refined material. A deviance of 0.1% at the start could get amplified by as much as 10% by the time the HRF is off the fabricators."

"I didn't rush the process. I'm confident the rest of my mech is equally as sturdy."

"We'll see about that."

Gertrude diligently scanned over the mech, from bottom to top and back to bottom. She also swiveled the sensor from the sides and the rear of the mech as well, but to no avail. Ves understood enough from the readouts that none of the armor or internal components showed any significant deviations from the blueprint. All of the flaws she detected so far was within tolerance according to the MTA's official guidelines. Only the most nitpicky of technicians would choose to make an issue out of those tiny problems.

To her credit, Getrude said nothing even if her frown grew deeper. "Well, let's see if your internals perform as advertised."

This was an area Ves was less confident in. It was fairly easy to spot damage, but harder to determine if the components he fabricated performed on spec. As the technicians crawled away from the chassis, a young pilot entered the cockpit. Ves, Ryan and Gertrude watched at a healthy distance as the pilot activated the mech.

"The neural interface is starting up without a hitch. No issues encountered so far." The pilot reported, and Getrude confirmed his observations through the readings that scrolled down her terminal.

"Startup finished. The mech is in standby mode. The power reactor is spinning. No leaks detected. Temperature is normal."

"Do you hear any weird noises?"

"It's quiet so far. Want me to engage the engines?"

"Hold up, I still want to test out its power management. Go run some power through the wrist-mounted laser cannons. Charge up its capacitors. Make sure the weapons remain safed before you do that though."

Ves watched on with Lucky as they both witnesses Getrude trying to dig up faults. No matter how much she stressed the power system, she failed to make the mech squeal. Ves increasingly grinned wider as he realized he had nothing to fear in this aspect. His mech was mechanically sound.

Despite spending two hours testing out the internals, the MTA came up empty with regards to things to complain about. The engines purred like a kitten while its sensors were able to capture objects from kilometers away with razor accuracy.

"Let's move on to the active tests." The senior technician grumbled.

The pilot took out the mech outside to a large and spacious range and obstacle course. Both weren't much to look at since the Cloudy Curtain branch only included them as an afterthought. Still, the minimum certification only required some basic tests for the Phoenix Cry.

The first test involved testing the mech's limbs, in particular its articulation. Under the watchful eyes of several hovering sensors, the pilot stretched the limbs of the mech to the maximum angles possible. Nothing broke even when the arms almost bent straight backwards, which was a good sign for Ves. The MTA then tested the mech's carrying capacity by picking up and carrying a variety of weights, which also went without a hitch.

With these tests done, the pilot put the mech through its paces by jogging and then full-on sprinting on a race course. The medium mech pushed to its maximum projected speed and maintained it with only minor difficulties. The pilot then repeated the same track but this time carrying the mace and tower shield. The mech ran a lot slower this time, but the extra weights failed to topple the mech over or cause any other catastrophes.

They then moved on to the trickiest part, the ranged weapons testing. Getrude grinned savagely as she rubbed her palms. While she held little hope in finding fault with the shoulder-mounted missiles, the lasers should be another story. Laser weapons contained plenty of tiny, delicate components, so they were also the weapons most prone to malfunction.

They first tested the missile launchers, but everyone knew it was just a formality. The launchers were fairly low-tech to begin with as most of the advances in missile technology lay in the missiles themselves. The launchers only stored the missiles and kept them from exploding when they got bumped or something. Both the long-range and short-ranged missiles flew from the launchers without a hitch, and detonated against a cratered hill exactly as expected.

The mech then moved on to a range, where it began to test out its wrist-mounted weapons at a variety of power levels. From the lowest setting, the pilot fired the weapon so rapidly that the beams appeared to be stuttering from an unstable power supply. Despite its shaky appearance, the lasers fired with the right amount of power and accuracy.

The pilot then cranked up the power supplied to the cannons. The lasers increased in size and intensity. The beams flickered less but their burn duration increased. The maximum setting practically turned the laser cannons into bringers of doom. Thick beams that looked like flowing suns escaped from the barrel and bore a set of holes right through the targets on the range.

At the end of the round of testing, Gertrude came out of the process with a list full of passed criteria. Without more stringent stress testing, she could not find any other opportunity to disqualify the mech.

The pilot exited from the mech and jumped straight down, relying on the anti-gravity boosters in his mech suit to land as light as a feather. When the pilot reached the trio, he removed his helmet, revealing a face and skin tone almost the same as Ryan's.

"How's the mech?"

"It's an incredible mech, and I'm not talking about first-timers." The pilot enthusiastically replied. "I feel like I'm piloting a giant instead of a machine. The mech responds so smoothly I can't even believe it's possible for mechs to move that way."

Ryan snorted at that. "That's the advanced internals of the mech at work. You've never piloted anything other than standard budget models, so I specifically brought you here to experience this new mech. Even with the difference of a generation, an advanced mech is still in a different league compared to the cheaper currentgen models. You should try to get a chance to pilot the base model. The Caesar Augustus is a real beauty besides its impracticalities."

"So Getrude, do I get your stamp of approval?" Ves asked while the father and son pair talked about the details.

"It's kind of suspicious how this mech held up so well during testing. Did you even produce this mech yourself?" Getrude asked suspiciously.

As if already expecting the question, Ves shook his head and activated his comm. He sent over his logs. "You can look for yourself to see I worked on it with no one else around to assist."

She didn't even look at the logs. If Ves was confident enough to send them over without a problem, then they really hid nothing of note.

"Very well. It is in my professional judgement that your Marc Antony variant mech has broken no rules and met all the criteria our organisation has set for all publically traded mechs. Your mech will be stamped with our seal of approval and you should receive the certificate in your mail in the next hour while I finalize my report."

The resignation in the lady's tone barely registered to Ves. He only felt an incredible amount of satisfaction and relief for surviving this ordeal. Now that the MTA officially certified his mech, no obstacle remained in the long road to selling his first mech.

He immediately brought up his comm and called Marcella. "Good news, M. My mech has just passed the MTA's certification. I'll send you the files as soon as they arrive."

"That's very good news!" Marcella responded with a little more surprise than Ves expected. Perhaps she hadn't been very confident in his first work. "I'll arrange the express shipping on my end. The mech will arrive at Bentheim in one-and-a-half days."

"That's good. Can you transfer the payment over as soon as its there? I feel as if the bank is already looming over my shoulder, ready to repossess all my assets."

"The credit transfer is already pending. As soon as my client receives the mech, the transfer will be approved."

A heavy weight almost lifted off his shoulders. While the bank still gave him nightmares, Ves at least breathed a little easier now that the deal was essentially done.

"So what's next on my plate. Have you found another client for the Marc Antony yet?"

Marcella shook her head. "I've got a lot of other things on my plate, and I like to see if your first sale goes right before I find another buyer. I'd like to keep an eye on your current client for a couple of weeks to see if he has any complaints. If he finds no defects even after weeks of regular use, then I can confidently start pushing your product to my other clients."

"That's… good. Still, after I pay my annual interest payment, I don't have enough capital left to produce another mech. I need another advance payment in order to start producing the next batch."

"That's not a bad thing for you." She said with a smile. "You deserve a holiday, and more importantly, you need some time to get your books in order. I've seen way too many startups get into trouble with the tax office due to improper accounting. Don't rely on a random AI routine downloaded from the galactic net to do your numbers. Do it yourself or hire an accountant to do so."

"Alright, I'll do it myself. My business is tiny and I only have one sale so my books are very thin."

"Secondly, you should shore up your skills. I've seen what you did in Iron Spirit and I'm fairly impressed by the progression of your work. You've clearly improved in the short months since you first started designing mechs. Use some of the extra money you earned to get a bunch of virtual licenses and get to work expanding your repertoire. The only way a mech designer is able to advance is by pumping out new designs. I've never seen a mech designer improve by continuing to fabricate an old design."

Ves nodded in agreement. "I already planned to sharpen my skills in the game when I'm not busy producing a real mech. It's a shame I won't be able to afford any production licenses. The Marc Antony will remain my sole product for quite some while."

"That's okay. You're still in your first year. Just by owning the licenses you already have, your way ahead to almost any other mech designer without any backing. If your product pans out, you can expect plenty of sales from my end, more than enough to pay off your debts and upgrade your assets. That's the power of a good product."

"And what if the market doesn't catch on?"

"Then go back to the drawing board. Don't get too attached to your first design. It's merely your first and most primitive work. If it's not a winner, then improve your skills and design a new mech that fulfills the demands of the market."

"Alright, I've got a good idea on my coming schedule. I'll be waiting for the money."

They said goodbye to each other before terminating the comm. Ves already felt liberating from his concerns. Once he received the money, he could pay off his debt and leave enough of a surplus to leave him swimming in cash. He could do so many things with such an amount of money. Should he go back to Iron Spirit and use the cash to buy some new licenses to play with? How much should he spend? Ves already looked forward to playing with some new toys.

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Ves personally watched on as the shipping company Marcella contracted brought the Phoenix Cry away. The loaders and bots carefully loaded the dark and red coated mech into a sealed and padded mech container. They carried it back to the spaceport and loaded it onto the next transport out to Bentheim.

With that out of the way, Ves returned to his workshop with Lucky. The cat enjoyed the time out, but now appeared to laze away for the rest of the day.

"You're such a lazy bones."

The cat drowsily meowed at him, not really paying attention to his words. Ves scratched the gem cat's chin before sinking down into his couch.

Before Ves got back to work, he wanted to rest a bit and recover from his high-intensity fabrication spree. He found it exhausting to constantly pay attention to his emotional mood when he shaped the Phoenix Cry. While he thought his mech successfully radiated the kind of aura similar to the best mechs he saw in Bentheim, it still remained to be seen if it generated more sales. The X-Factor couldn't be measured after all, so on paper his mech appeared worse than it actually performed.

"I can still do it once in a while, but not if I'm fabricating mechs each and every day." Even with the System, Ves remained a mortal. Unless he spent a shipload of DP on his concentration and endurance attributes, he doubted the exhaustion would go away.

"It's more important to shore up my skills instead of spending them on my attributes."

While Ves recognized that both options had their merits, the skills provided immediate tangible benefits. In this early stage where he was still on the brink of bankruptcy after one bad spell, he needed

"Oh well, I'll think about it tomorrow."

He took the rest of the day off. He avoided all activities pertaining mechs. Considering that he spent most of his life with mechs one way or another, he found it difficult to find something else to do. He ended up watching broadcasts until he slept through the night.

In the meantime, at a mech yard in the outskirts of Dorum, Marcella stood by with another person as they watched a drone drop off a mech container. Both of them looked proper and energetic. While Marcella wore her customary green formal clothes, the man besides her dressed a bit more flamboyantly.

"There it is, Captain Caruthers. Your new mech. The Phoenix Cry, the very first model of its kind in production."

The man grunted with anticipation. "When you told me you were prepared to sell me a mech with my criteria, I couldn't believe it. There's not a lot of advanced mechs available in the local market that's viable at range and up close, especially within my price range."

"The wholesale armor replacement my boy has done to your mech is the reason why it's so affordable. Don't get carried away thinking you're piloting a real Caesar Augustus."

"I'm confident in my skills. I've taken the model out for a spin plenty of times in the simulations. I know how far I can push this mech. As long as I don't hunt after the most notorious pirates, I'll be fine."

"The alternative armor is also cheaper to replace. You won't be breaking the bank with this mech as long as you don't let its core be damaged."

Some of Marcella's drones flew up to unseal the container and check if its contents matched the manifest. When everything checked out, the container opened to reveal a formidable-looking mech. The drones started removing the seals that kept the mech inert and its weapons cold.

"Wow. Playing around with virtual toys is one thing, seeing the real deal is another."

Even Marcella looked impressed. Both of them spent hours pouring over the spec sheet and the simulations of the Marc Antony. While recognizing the model's inherent flaws, they both admired its decent build quality and plethora of options. Marcella saw the potential in Ves with this polished design, so she made sure to get her hooks in early before some other competitor got their claws on him. Despite her good impressions of Ves' first work, she only regarded it as a transient design, something to get the mech designer's business running.

Even Captain Caruthers reserved some of his judgement on his new purchase. His bounty hunting outfit needed a frontliner, but not something that was helpless at range. While durability was important, he valued greater choice in offensive options more as he cross-trained in both melee and ranged weaponry. Finding a model in the market that paid equal attention to both was not difficult, but finding one that could take a beating and not cost a fortune was a challenge. He only settled on the Marc Antony due to a lack of alternatives.

When the pair both came closer, their awe increased. The mech managed to put out a pressure that was not inferior to the hand-built Caesar Augustus that Bosworth's proudly put on display. The dark tones of the mech darkened the bright day somehow. Its gold accents gave the mech a sense of class, while the red highlights along with its dark red tower shield gave it a martial presence. The mech practically exuded battle lust despite its deactivated state.

"I see what everyone means when they say that handmade mechs have their charm. I can see why the mech designer couldn't resist giving it a name. The Phoenix Cry… it's not bad, and it certainly fits."

"The mech designer won second place in this year's YTE. he might be young, but he has already shown he's a cut above the rest. You can't find a design with this much drive from an established mech manufacturer."

The captain whistled in appreciation. The more he looked at the Phoenix Cry, the more he felt he lucked out. "Before we arrived, I found myself doubting whether I should have bought a reliable mass produced model instead, but not anymore. This doesn't look like it came from the hands of a new mech designer."

Marcella brought up the mech's certificate and passed it to her client. "The MTA agrees as well. They put in hardly any complaints, and what they did note is well within limits. The mech designer took his time, but he delivered a solid product."

"I'm itching to take this mech for a spin."

"Be my guest. Here's the keys and codes."

The captain took a lifter that took him up to the cockpit. He pressed a button on his key device that signalled the cockpit's locking mechanism. After receiving a valid signal, the mech's chest parted just enough to allow the cockpit to open up a hatch. The captain squeezed through the tight fit and took a seat with practiced ease.

He admired the cockpit for a moment, still giddy at the thought of owning such an impressive-looking mech. The interior of the cockpit matched the grandeur befitting of a Caesar Augustus, though instead of majestic white the interior was mostly dyed in dark grey and gold. The only splash of red in the cockpit was the prominent button that booted up the mech.

Caruthers hovered a finger over the lustrous gem. He took in the luxury of it all, impressed the designer kept up the luxury even as he charged half the price of the authentic base model. It didn't quite fit, but that hardly mattered to him. It gave him some bragging rights when he showed the mech off to his friends.

The sheen of a gold plate shone just beneath the front console. Caruthers bent down in order to read the engraved words.

CA-1C MARC ANTONY

DESIGNED SOLELY BY VES LARKINSON

HAND-FABRICATED SOLELY BY VES LARKINSON

MADE IN THE BRIGHT REPUBLIC

PRODUCTION #1

The plate added to the handmade feel of the mech. Caruthers chuckled at the sight. He got too used to seeing cheaply stamped plates recycled out of scrap in his previous mechs. The cheap mass-produced mechs he piloted so far all tried to cut whatever corners they could in order to save costs. Forget about gold, sometimes the plates were made out of the cheapest synthetics.

Caruthers stopped fooling around and pressed his fingers softly at the matte but eye-catching gem. The mech hummed as its power reactor and engines came to life. The cockpit's illumination turned to life even as the neural interface engaged a connection with the occupant's brains.

The transition from a human body to a mech's stature should be highly familiar to the bounty hunter. Yet as he felt his mind sink into the mech, he encountered a depth that was deeper than any other machine he connected to before. The Phoenix Cry eagerly sucked in his mental awareness and gave it access to its deepest corners.

A wash of sensations flowed over his mind as he became accustomed to the new perspective. Piloting the mech in the virtual simulations only impressed him mildly. But from how deep and rich he established his connection just now, he became aware that the Phoenix Cry

"It's almost as if I'm connecting with a kindred mind instead of a soulless machine."

He discarded the notion as soon as it popped up. Mechs couldn't think, let alone influence his thoughts. The spec sheet clearly stated the mech hosted no AIs in its memory banks. The neural interface also passed the MTA's stringent tests, so his observations were not clouded by contamination.

Caruthers threw away all superfluous thoughts and finished up the booting process. He then took his mech out of the container.

Each step thundered the ground, enough that Marcella found herself forced back. The mech turned around and took up the mace and shield hanging on a rack. The heavy tower shield felt solid to him. It would serve him well as disposable protective cover.

The mace on the other hand was clearly subpar. Made out of HRF, the only thing the weapon had going for it was its weighty head and its low cost if he broke it. Nevertheless, he decided to replace it with one of his spare swords as soon as possible.

"Marcella, you don't mind me using the yard for a bit, right?" He asked over his comm.

"Feel free to push your mech!"

Caruthers eagerly moved around with his mech. He tested the Phoenix Cry by running and testing out its weapons. The laser cannons worked like a charm, and though he hadn't filled his shoulder launchers with missiles, he was certain nothing could go wrong with them. As for the mace, it functioned fine as a blunt force weapon, but since he was going to discard it anyway, he spent most of his time elsewhere.

What impressed him the most was the shield. Thick, heavy but incredibly solid and durable, wielding the tower shield gave him a sense of valor. He could already imagine himself wielding this shield on the battlefield, charging forward to meet the enemy head-on. While the HRF plating that made up the shield would peel fairly easily, he could easily commission a replacement if necessary.

"This is a mech made with the wallet in mind."

The cost-effectiveness of the Marc Antony made it into one of the cheaper advanced mechs available on the market today. Though the mech's advanced components were decades old, they still performed competitively against the models out today. In any case, the bounty hunting business had a tendency to wreck mechs long before they got too old to remain viable on the battlefield.

The bounty hunter exited the cockpit with a lingering desire to hang around longer. Still, he had some paperwork to go through before he could officially take up ownership of the mech.

"So how is it? Does it meet your expectations?" Marcella asked him with a smile.

"That, and more. The only thing it misses is my coat of arms on its chest."

"I'm sure you will become the envy of your social circle when you show off your new purchase."

"We'll see. I'm itching to test this baby out in the field."

As both sides noted no problems, they went through with the formalities. After signing a bunch of documents, Captain Caruthers officially owned the first mech produced by a young talent. He certainly knew that more than a couple of people might take interest in the mech's performance.

"Let them peek. I'll be sure to bring out the full strength of my Phoenix Cry."

Just as Marcella sent out her approval for the money transfer, Ves sat behind his terminal going over his numbers. His comm beeped loudly, interrupting him from filling out his ledger. He looked his comm and it stated that he received a notification from his bank. He stared at the message for a solid minute.

His account gained about 19 million bright credits from the latest transfer.

"I'm.. I'M RICH!" Ves burst out as he laughed at the sky. "Marcella actually did it! My mech sold for 28 million credits!"

He received an advance of 7 million credits when he contracted Marcella to be his broker, which he spent on buying the raw materials to fabricate his internals. As for the armor, Ves used the stockpile gifted to him by the System for completing the fourth tutorial. This allowed him to skip the 11 million credits required to buy all the goods necessary to refine the HRF armor plating.

His monetary gain therefore amounted to 19 million bright credits this time. For his subsequent productions, he had to put in 18 million credits to fabricate a new mech, which cut down on his profits. No more freebies from the System this time.

In any case, as Ves was already working on his accounting, he inputted his latest earnings and put his balance sheet in order. The mech cost 18 million to produce but sold for 28 million, which amounted to a gross profit of 10 million credits. Marcella skimmed 2 million credits from that figure already, so that left Ves with 19 million credits in cash.

The first thing he did was to transfer away 5 million credits to the bank. With only little more than two days left for the deadline to pass, Ves finally breathed easier once the enormous pressure from the bank disappeared. As soon as the bank returned a message to him that his obligations for the year had been met, he whooped again, waking Lucky from his nap.

"Haha, this is good news Lucky. We're not going to be kicked out on the streets!"

Lucky meowed disinterestedly.

"I'll also be able to afford shinier minerals for you to snack on!"

That caught the gem cat's attention. Lucky immediately jumped from the couch and acted cute by rubbing its body against his legs. After a short hug, Ves went back to his financial statement. Unfortunately, not all of the numbers he got resulted in good news.

From the 14 million credits that remained, Ves lacked the necessary funds required to produce another Marc Antony independently. He still remained dependent on Marcella's services, specifically her ability to demand a downpayment from her buyers to fund the production of their new mechs.

"I hope she won't have too much trouble with this condition."

Furthermore, if Ves wanted to budget his money responsibly, he should reserve some of his cash and put it into his piggy bank for future needs. Considering his looming financial burden, paying back the 350 million credits he owed the bank was a minor priority.

His perspectives already changed after his first transaction. Now that he showed off his ability to run a viable business, the bank should be easing off on him as well. The debt his father took on his behalf was not an entirely bad thing for the bank. They earned an easy amount of interest from his business each year, and as long as Ves didn't screw up, the money loaned was put to good use in the bank's perspective.

Considering that he could earn an average profit of 8 million credits each time Marcella sold his mech, the threat the annual interest payments posed to Ves diminished greatly.

The problem essentially changed from an angry elephant into a harmless mouse. He could squash the mouse whenever he wanted, but it was a bit troublesome to do so and required a bit of effort on his part. Rather than waste his time stomping the floor or setting up traps, he could let the mouse scurry around his pantry and steal a bit of his cheese from time to time.

What Ves was more concerned about was something that plagued every single business in the tech sector.

Planned obsolescence.

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The inevitable advance of science and technology rendered today's machines worthless and turned tomorrow's miracles into everyday goods.

One of humanity's better characteristics was the race's insatiable curiosity of the unknown. Nothing better expressed the rise of humanity better than to track its technological advances. From fire and sticks, the race took a scant blink before it mastered more advanced technologies such as agriculture and forging. A few thousand years after that, humanity escaped the limits of their home planet and spread their presence into the greater galaxy. Each time humanity advanced, it was due to a new scientific breakthrough.

This dynamic process of introducing new technologies to the market was not an entirely positive experience to everyone. To the people involved in the mech industry, many companies might lose all of their customers if they progressed one step slower than other firms.

The earlier years of the mech renaissance was a wild west, with new inventions haphazardly being introduced into the market as soon as they turned economically viable. This led to bizarre situations where there was once just nine years in between one generation to the next. All the businesses that invested heavily in designing and fabricating the mechs of the old generation were left with a huge pile of underperforming junk.

Those who hadn't yet made the jump got lucky and invested in the new technologies, thereby massively gaining an edge over the producers burdened by old ballast. The financial crash that resulted from the imbalance was the largest since humanity spread out into the stars. So much wealth had been lost that some economists calculated that it set the humans back as much as thirty years.

Losses valued in trillions of credits could potentially continue if this chaotic advance was left unchecked. Fortunately for everyone on the supply side of the industry, the MTA's restrictive certification and sales procedures imposed some semblance of order in this process of renewal and destruction. The mech industry now adhered to a semi-fixed schedule of grouping technological advances into generations, each lasting about thirty to fifty years.

Commercial mechs that incorporated modern technologies available to be licensed in the open market were regarded as the era's so-called current generation, or currentgen for short. The generation that preceded it was called the last generation, or lastgen. Generally, the differences in performance between the two was distinct, but not overpowering. As an offhand rule, it took four lastgen mechs to beat three currentgen mechs. This left producers stuck with lastgen designs a period of time to accumulate savings in order to invest in new technologies.

Ves was currently in this boat, except he had much less time to renew his aging assets.

Most analysts plying their opinion in the talk shows warned their audience that the current generation was going to be a short one. As about twenty years had passed since the first currentgen mechs were put on sale, that meant Ves had ten to fifteen years to invest in a new production line.

In practice, his time was shorter as at the last three years, hardly any pilot could be fooled into buying a lastgen mech on the verge of turning obsolete. From now until the generations shifted, the prices of lastgen mechs would continue to decline.

First, he had to come up with a new design. If he chose to produce variants, then he'd have to license a decently good base model, and those often cost a fortune to license. At a minimum Ves expected to fork out a billion credits for a basic currentgen mech. If he wanted anything fancier, then the cost might rise to as much as two to four billion credits.

Then he had to find replacements for his rusty 3D printer and assembler as well. If Ves wanted to fully exercise his growing skills, then he'd have to acquire a more robust assembler system, which amounted to about 300 million credits. He also couldn't leave out the vital 3D printer. Without renewing his old model, it was impossible to fabricate all of the latest gadgets by himself. A small but premium model could set Ves back by 700 million credits at a minimum.

In total, Ves had to accumulate 2 billion credits in savings in order to survive after ten years. It was a daunting amount of money, and anything could happen within that time that could force Ves to lose his savings or force him to spend it on something else.

With such a colossal spending plan, Ves felt the shadow over his shoulder returning with a vengeance. Though it loomed a bit further away, its shadow nonetheless dwarfed the previous worries in his mind when only his interest payment threatened his business. He'd have to churn out hundreds or even thousands of mechs to accumulate such a sum.

"Do I really have to save up 2 billion credits?" Ves asked himself as he scratched his head.

Replacing the 3D printer and the assembler remained a priority. His current equipment limited his options too much. As for the licenses, Ves thought up an alternative.

"I don't necessarily need to license a complete mech design. I already had a taste of designing an original mech when I cobbled up the Drake together out of spare parts in the qualifiers for the Fusion Cup."

If Ves was generous in his description, then mech design was simply a process whereby the designer puzzled different components together. Nowhere did it state that the mech designer had to reinvent the wheel and design all of the parts by himself. With the widespread availability of component licenses in the open market, the only thing a mech designer needed to do was to grab a couple of existing parts and stuff them together into a single frame and voila, a new design emerged from his hands!

The benefits of designing an original blueprint were numerous. First, he saved out on licensing costs. The money Ves coughed up to license a full set of components was as much as a quarter to half the amount required to license a complete design. If Ves picked his parts from the lower-end segment of the market, then his total costs would not amount more than 300 million credits.

"The System will also be happy at me for stepping up to original designs."

This was the second benefit of choosing to go this route. The System considered designing variants of existing models to be a low-class occupation. It only offered grains of DP for each new design and sale of a variant mech.

The System in fact awarded him with 28 DP for his first real mech sale. It seemed the System treated real mech sales differently, chopping off six digits from credit price of the sale to determine the amount of DP Ves earned. It sounded like a minor windfall, but considering that the prices of the items in the Skill Tree and Store increased dramatically to purchase the better stuff, then 28 DP per sale might not sustain him for long.

Ves already drooled at the potential amount of DP he could earn from selling his own designs. "The System can't be that generous, right?"

Original designs also gave Ves an advantage in another way. If the quality of his design surpassed the average of the market, then Ves could potentially enjoy a final benefit. If his mech proved to be a radically popular product, then he could take the opportunity to license out his own design. Needless to say, the amount of money he could potentially earn from such an arrangement was astronomical, and the best thing about it was that he didn't even have to lift a finger.

"If others produce my design through a license, will the sale of their mechs still earn me DP?"

The System unfortunately kept its mouth shut. This left Ves helpless in determining the answer. Still, from the way the System worked so far, Ves guessed it might not be too stingy. It treated virtual mech sales as a source of DP even if Ves left the production to the game operator's servers.

Naturally, all of these possibilities were fanciful daydreams. Ves was nowhere close to designing and fabricating an original design, let alone come up with something that could win awards and attract licensing requests. He had to build up both his monetary reserves and his personal skills before he revisited the issue.

"Alright, at least I've set a long-term goal for myself. In ten years time, I want to replace my equipment and come up with at least one viable original design."

It was a lofty goal that very few mech designers could fulfill if they stepped into his shoes. In order to create a viable or popular design, it needed to outperform the basic currentgen models in the market while possessing a unique feature that Ves could tout as its main selling point.

Take the Caesar Augustus for example. Despite its many detriments, the mech attracted a small but devoted fanbase. The old design achieved this success by relying on its unique points, that being the merging of outstanding defense with flexible offense.

Coming up with a design that performed marginally better than the mainstream models wasn't enough. If Ves wanted to stand out with a design just like Jason Kozlowski had all those years ago, then he had to incorporate something unique only to him in his work.

He had to specialize.

His consideration in this area excluded the X-Factor. Not only was such an elusive concept difficult to perceive, Ves also lacked the means to advance his skills in this area with his Design Points. Rather than throw himself against a wall trying to make something invisible as his selling point, he'd rather focus on improving something that his customer could touch and see.

"The question is, what will my specialization look like?"

Ves already considered this question once before. He chose to focus on developing his ability to design light and medium mechs. But that still included too much possibilities. He risked scattering his focus if he cast too wide a net. He had to narrow down his future aspirations in order to come up with a realistic spending plan for his DP.

Looking at the massive Skill Tree wouldn't help due to the plethora of choices it offered. No, Ves had to decide from his heart. Only by pursuing a path he fully invested into could he take it to the end.

"Let's leave out the options that I won't be pursuing."

First off, he flatly ruled out the exotic developments. He lacked the background to start messing around with building a mech from organic materials or experimenting with juggernauts.

Next, he ruled out heavy mechs. While developing such a hugely expensive mech might offer great returns, the amount of investment required to master all of its systems took too long. Usually teams of mech designers pooled their respective specialties in order to develop a viable heavy mech design.

Now that he was left with the basics, Ves further narrowed down his scope by leaving out weapon systems. The development of lasers, cannons, missiles and sophisticated melee weapons was a discipline in itself. As the technologies behind these weapons were already quite mature, it took an exorbitant amount of effort to squeeze out a few drops of improvement. He risked neglecting his foundational skills if he diverted too much effort in improving his weapons development.

It was better to leave this area to the professionals and rely on licensing. Only an extraordinary genius like the 'Polymath' could keep up with all the developments and even advance the field with her own efforts. People almost couldn't count how many patents Claire Gramza registered. Everyone was convinced she earned more money from licensing out her technology than selling her mechs.

Ves took inspiration from another star designer instead. The Armorer brilliantly carved a spot at the very top by developing the best armor for his mechs. Tons of enthusiastic mech pilots with a bit of money to spare flocked to his products. While his mechs might not excel too much in other areas, the mere fact that a mech designed by Raul Mendoza cut back on casualties by as much as fifty percent was a miracle in itself. Pilots always valued their lives.

"Focusing on just armor might not be good enough."

His starting point was lower than anyone else. To achieve measurable success in the field, he had to develop his skills pretty deeply in order to compete against geniuses who specialized in armor at the start of their education. Ves already had a taste of the immense disparity when he competed against Edwin McKinney in the finals of the Fusion Cup.

Instead, Ves took his idea on another track. Working with the Fantasia models and well as the Caesar Augustus allowed him to glean certain insights into the challenge of balancing protection with speed. His interests ignited when he considered the beautiful way Jason employed the armor on the Augustus. Ves already played around with the armor scheme when he redesigned the mech to be built with the HRF armor plating.

"I think I'd enjoy the process of developing my own armor schemes. Trying to achieve the greatest amount of protection without sacrificing speed is an eternal dilemma every mech designer faced."

Instead of taking the route the Armorer took and try to achieve the absolute best protection, Ves only needed to develop something good enough while allowing the mech to maintain most of its speed. This fit in the quintessential design scheme that underpinned medium mechs, so Ves decidedly left out light mechs in his future plans.

Many designers with a better foundation than Ves have tried to make advanced in both speed and armor. Most of them failed miserably, while the rest eked out mediocre earnings with designs that marginally performed better than the competition. While he could also fall flat, he still possessed one thing many others lacked. The System.

Only up to this moment did he open his Skill Tree. He first glanced at the skills involved with developing medium armor. It was a broad and intricate tree that offered paths that specialized in either weight reduction or maximum protection, along with many other choices such as signals absorption and self-repair alloys. Ves was spoiled for choice.

"Hm, it will scatter my focus a bit if I want to walk down multiple branches of this tree, but the benefits will be remarkable once I build up my basic competencies in my specialization."

The first step in his plan started with producing a more faithful rendition of Caesar Augustus. The Marc Antony might be a good mech for its price, it nonetheless bastardized the original intentions of the mech. If he applied good quality armor instead of the cheap stuff, then he would be able to design more expensive mechs.

"I'll be able to charge a much higher price with my premium designs. The pilots that fall into this segment don't care as much about saving every penny. My profit margins will swell as a result."

Higher profits resulted in higher investment. He'd be able to acquire new licenses and replace his old gear much faster as a result. Ves needed to work briskly in order to stay ahead of the transition into the next generation of mechs.

Ves already formed a bold medium-term plan to make this dream into a reality. He could invest in a dedicated armor fabrication machine.

While the 3D printer was an incredibly advanced piece of technology, it remained a product borne out of compromises. It had to focus its capabilities on producing uniform slabs of armor plating as well as tiny, delicate parts. By acquiring a machine dedicated solely in producing armor, Ves could achieve much better results with much less effort.

At a conservative estimate, such a machine could cost 600 million credits, but that could be halved as the next generation loomed closer. As such specialized machines were usually capable enough to produce most nextgen armor, Ves did not have to worry too much about acquiring something obsolete.

"With a modern armor fabricator, I can modernize the Caesar Augustus and earn some time and money for my next steps."

The complexity of his 10-year plan grew deeper. Though diverting his attention into acquiring an armor fabricator might seem like a needless distraction, as long as it improved his earning potential within the next couple of years, then it could pay off very soon.

After formulating his future direction, Ves quickly finished his financial report. Of the fourteen million credits that remained of his profit, he reserved about eighty percent towards his taxes and the piggy bank. That left him with about 2.8 million credits in readily available cash for him to spend on whatever he liked.

Any future earnings would of course be less extravagant. With an average profit of 8 million credits per sale, he'd have to reserve 6.4 million credits off that sum, leaving him with only 1.6 million credits as play money.

While that might sound like an incredible amount of wealth to a commoner, a mech designer always had more things to spend his money on. The cost of virtual licenses in Iron Spirit ran up pretty fast as the star rating increased.

Furthermore, Ves also had to keep his workshop's safety in mind. The security measures in place paled in comparison to what real manufacturers boasted. He'd cry until his eyes ran dry if some hooligan crashed his mech into his workshop one day.

Ves also considered doing something unimaginable to him when he was still burdened by his debt.

He wanted to hire an employee. Specifically, he wanted to employ a full-time fabricator that supplied the mechs to Marcella.

"But if I do so, how will I hide the System from my new hire?"

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Ves considered hiring a fabricator in order to ease the pressure on his time. If he wanted to advance his skills, he had to kept pumping out designs. If he wanted to earn lots of money, then he had to fabricate lots of mechs for Marcella to sell. He lacked the time to invest in both activities if his sales volume grew to more than three mechs a month.

The only problem with hiring someone was that keeping the System secret might be difficult. As much as the System appeared harmless, it was actually a miraculous invention that straight-up defied the laws of reality as Ves knew it. Such a precious treasure attracted covetous intentions, many of whom had the power to squash him like a bug. Letting the System's existence leak to anyone else was just asking for trouble.

Another problem which concerned Ves was that hiring someone else to do his fabrication would lead to sub-standard products. A full-time fabricator might be a wizard when it came to working with the 3D printer and assembler, but if he was ignorant of the X-Factor then the mechs he made would be devoid of life. Selling cheap products under his name only dragged him down just when he wanted to build up his brand.

As Ves couldn't figure out the solution to this dilemma, he called up Marcella.

"Heya Ves, I'm kind of busy right now, so keep it short."

"I'm having a bit of an issue here." Ves said, then explained his thoughts regarding his potential hire.

Marcella smiled at him as if the problem was trivial. "Well, it's too early to hire a mech technician, so you have plenty of time to think it over. If you want my opinion, why not do both? You can sell the mechs produced by your personnel at the standard price and charge a premium if the client wants a mech handmade by the designer. Just set the price point high enough so you don't get too burdened."

That was actually a great idea. It kept Ves busy without leaving the fabricator with nothing to do. He'd essentially leave the grunt work to his employee and only come out and fabricate in person if the money was worth it. Still, it depended on whether the clients were willing to fork out the extra cash.

"Don't worry about generating sales for your premium variant. I'll take care to pace you with such requests so you don't spend too much time on it. There are always at least some clients who make some requests to modify the design a bit. Sometimes they want the mech to be flashier. Other times they want the mech to bear a customized emblem in its armor pattern. I think the going rate for such customizations is 2 million credits."

Earning an additional two million credits per sale was a generous amount. Naturally he'd charge more if the client requested more drastic changes.

Marcella hung up in order to get back to her work. Before she left, she warned him to expect another prospective sale in about four weeks or so. That was enough time for their first client to provide feedback on the Phoenix Cry's performance in the field.

Ves considered the issue of hiring a fabricator later when he got a good idea of how many sales Marcella achieved. Instead, he turned to a much more interesting activity.

He was ready to go back to designing virtual mechs. He recalled the experience of designing different variants of the Fantasia and the Caesar Augustus and how much experience he gained in applying his growing skills. If Ves wanted to grow to the point of designing a viable original mech, then he'd have to become as good as the seasoned mech producers with a couple of successful designs under their belt.

With 2.8 million credits in his spending account, his scope had widened. Though he could easily login to Iron Spirit's market and purchase a huge amount of 1-star designs, what would be the point? He'd earn only scraps of DP with each successful design and sale.

"Hey System, can I ask you something? Since I can earn 1 DP when I design a 1-star mech and 50 DP when I design a 5-star mech, what are the rewards for designing 2, 3 and 4-star mechs?"

[The base rewards for designing a 2-star mech is 5 Design Points. The rewards go up to 10 Design Points for 3-star mechs. The reward further increases to 25 Design Points for 4-star mechs. Do note that these rewards are lower when selling a mech based on your designs. Please work diligently in improving your designs so that you may work proficiently with more advanced models.]

In other words, the System told him to get off his butt and start designing higher starred mechs.

Though he owned a pair of 5-star virtual licenses, his skills were too insufficient. The Marc Antony generated only a piddling amount of sales, and Ves doubted that would ever change since he hadn't really brought anything unique to the design other than the X-Factor. And even that last feature got diminished when Ves relied on the game server to produce new copies of his mechs.

"I shouldn't bite off more than I can chew. Obsessing over the Caesar Augustus will just warp me into Kozlowski's design philosophy. I should keep an open mind and develop my own principles."

Considering his generous budget, he felt it was a good idea to start upgrading to 2-star designs. To be honest, he could skip a grade and purchase a few ultra-discounted budget 3-star virtual licenses, but he still had plenty of time to reach this grade with a proper reserve of cash. For now, he preferred to make a gradual progression through the generations of mechs. By experiencing each major generational group, Ves could increase his insights into the history of mechs and their major developments.

As soon as he made up his mind, Ves eagerly logged into the game for the first time in weeks. He happily sauntered over to the location in the virtual city where they sold the virtual licenses. As he stepped inside a shop featuring endless 2-star licenses of any kind, Ves felt as if he stepped into a candy store.

The 2-star mechs represented the age where the most viable ideas from the previous generations got refined. The simple division of light, medium and heavy mechs solidified and the designers of the time started to incorporate components that only worked in their weight-class. For example, a laser rifle meant to be wielded by a heavy mech would burden a light mech excessively as both its weight and power draw were too much to handle.

"Since I'm only going to work on medium mechs from now on, I can filter out all the outer crap."

The projection of mechs and components on sale lost much of its clutter.

"That's better."

The crowded view thinned out again when he removed the variants. He wasn't going to produce a variant of a variant, that was just stupid.

Ves started to browse the mech designs first. If he wanted to design a new variant, then the choice of the base model was of utmost importance. The previous times, he got handed out a model from the System. This was the first time he actually had a choice in determining his future direction.

He considered getting his hands on an animal-shaped mechs. The bird and mammal-shaped mechs that started to feature in the 2-star generations incorporated design philosophies that largely extended to today. If he wanted to branch out his mech range to something other than bipedal mechs, then right now was the perfect opportunity to do so.

"Hm, animal mechs are much less popular than their humanoid counterparts. While I don't face as much competition, my clientele also won't be as diverse."

Going by the potential sales he could generate, then Ves was not optimistic in excelling at designing animal mechs. The mech designers who worked with such abnormal mechs usually put their whole careers into optimizing such designs. As someone who only intended to dabble with the unusual designs, he could never make a living out of it by half-assing his efforts.

Thus, Ves filtered out anything other than humanoid mechs, leaving him with plenty of choices but without any distractions.

"What would be the best mech to work on first?"

If he wanted to work on balancing armor and speed, it was best to start with an extreme. Mechs that already featured a pretty good compromise between the two were hard to improve and easy to screw up. He'd rather get his hands on a medium mech that was fast but lightly armored or a mech that was well-armored but slow.

"Since I already worked on the Caesar Augustus, I already have some experience working with heavier mechs."

Ves removed the mechs above a certain tonnage from his display. This finally produced a much more general overview of available designs. He guessed that he had a couple of hundred mechs to choose from, which was daunting but not too overwhelming.

The choice of mechs didn't matter except for price. Most 1-star mech licenses cost about 100,000 credits to acquire. The virtual licenses for 2-star mechs jumped up to an average of 1 million credits already! And the 3-star mech licences could only be acquired if you were prepared to cough up at least 5 million credits.

The prices the game demanded for its virtual licenses reflected the actual value of acquiring them. If a mech designer possessed some talent, he could earn back the money from his designs. The low amount of upfront investment was ideal for impoverished mech designers to earn a decent living with their skills.

As someone who already owned his own workshop and sold an actual mech, Ves wasn't in it for the money. While the extra income might be nice, he was more interested in earning DP. By pricing his designs low, he could ensure a higher volume of sales compared to those who relied on their designs to earn a living.

"Why bother trying to milk some credits in game when I can earn a couple of millions with each mech I sell?"

Discounting mechs worked best when the base price of the model was high. Ves cut out the economy and mainstream models and was left with only the premium mech designs. The prices of these mechs were all fairly high, which made them less popular to the older teenagers and untrained potentates who muddled in the 2-star range.

After browsing through the fifty or so models that were left, Ves stopped narrowing his criteria and instead just looked at the images scrolling past his eyes. His attention caught a glimpse of a reflection. He zoomed in on the mech.

A shiny chrome mech came into view. The Globe-Elstar Corporation's Octagon O-225C. Its reflective surface caught the eye, but not in a good way. Such a metallic surface offered no additional protection against any damage types and only influenced enemies to target the mechs first.

Perhaps aware of this tendency, the original designer of the mech focused on making the mech as agile as possible. Though he cut down on a lot of armor near the joints and other weak points, it made the mech exceptionally limber and could even perform some acrobatic stunts pilots would never even dare on a regular medium mech.

"Interesting. It's going to be fairly tough to upgrade this mech's armor without negatively influencing its range of motion."

The challenge of designing an improved variant of this base model intrigued Ves. While he always focused a bit on speed in his other models, he applied it mainly on movement speed. How fast a mech could get from point A to point B.

Agility was a different concept entirely. It involved combining wide range of motion with fast-moving limb reactions to turn a mech into a dodging champion.

Thinly armored simian mechs often specialized in these kinds of designs. The hunched-over posture and their strengthened arms afforded these ape-like mechs exceptional stability even when they jumped and crawled around forests and complex urban environments.

As for agility-focused humanoid mechs, they relied on sophisticated internals instead of mechanical design in order to stay upright. The Octagon featured the most advanced gyroscope of its generation to maintain its balance even as it dodged left and right. That was the main reason the mech got such a high price tag.

As for its other specs, the mech performed fairly average. Its speed was respectable, but not as good as dedicated sprinters. The armor was nothing to get excited for, but it did the job except when it came to the joints. The Octagon came with a standard loadout of two heated knives and a spear that could also be thrown in an emergency. Most pilots who bought this mech also added in a pistol or a submachine gun in order to turn the mech into a good close-ranged skirmisher.

All in all, the Octagon possessed plenty of character. Ves liked whoever designed this mech, as he was not afraid to break some rules in order to achieve a unique result.

He added the virtual license of this mech to his shopping cart. "That's 650,000 credits down the rain. Now I should add some components to complement this design."

The shiny chrome job defined this base model. While it did not entirely fit with modern aesthetics, Ves preferred to keep its shiny exterior. That didn't mean his choice of replacement armor was restricted. He merely had to add an extra step to his production process by painting his mechs with a reflective coating.

His choice of armor had to meet certain criteria. First, it had to offer more protection at the same amount of weight. Second, it should be effective without stacking too many layers. Some armor systems only worked properly if they surpassed a minimum amount of thickness. The Octagon's main feature was its agility and putting on too much weight negated that advantage.

His search turned up some intriguing results. First up was the Grayson Inc. Flexiplate Alpha Mark III. He found one experimental armor composite that featured a certain amount of flexibility in its plating. It was as bendable as a thick piece of rubber and excelled in absorbing shocks from kinetic impacts. It sounded perfect for developing better armor around vulnerable joints, and was in fact often employed in such a manner.

To complement the other portions of armor, he looked up the Grayson Inc. SquarePlate Mark I, a modular armor system of the same company. These types of armors were often employed on lighter mechs, but the system he looked at was specifically designed for medium mechs. It was a pain to mold such such an armor system on a mech due to the demands it imposed on the positioning of its plating. However, it gave a significant advantage to a mech if well-designed.

Conventional armor plating used form-fitting plates to cover up a mech's internal frame. If implemented well, they offered close to the maximum theoretical amount of protection to that section for its weight and thickness. However, if a piece of plating suffered damage, it may still be adhered to the mech while turning out to be functionally useless. If a mech suffered moderate damage throughout its entire frame, such deadweight only slowed the mech down while leaving its internals vulnerable.

Modular armor systems aimed to counteract this situation by designing their plating around uniform shapes of squares or hexagons. It made the mech look a little angular or bumpy, but offered a great amount of freedom in shedding its damaged layers. The more damage a mech sustained, the more plates it shed thus the less weight it had to haul everywhere. This provided mechs with modular armor a distinct advantage in the later stages of a battle.

Naturally, such a system came with its own tradeoffs, or else it would have been much more popular today. The fixed shapes of its plating were only partially variable in size. The SquarePlate only featured three different sizes. One big plate for chest armor and the like, one medium plate for arms and limbs, and one smaller plate for tricky angles and fingers. Working with these three shapes made any mech variant lose their most optimal armor scheme. That and other factors caused modular armor systems to be able to absorb less damage than their conventional equivalent.

"It has a pretty good performance anyway despite that point." Ves concluded. He hadn't worked with modular armor before, but was highly intrigued by its possibilities. Modular armor was one of the best solutions out today that attempted to marry together armor with speed. If Ves was serious about developing his specialization in this area, then he couldn't avoid working with this nifty invention.

Adding both the FlexiPlate and the SquarePlate to his shopping list increased his bill by 150,000 credits. Ves had enough for one session now. He wanted to exercise is mind right away and was unwilling to consider replacing other components before he learned more about the Octagon mech.

A total of 800,000 credits disappeared from his bank account by the time Ves acquired the three virtual licenses. The difference in costs compared to 1-star mechs daunted any novice mech designer. He was working in a whole other stage now, and the consequences of screwups rose by a significant fraction. Luckily he already possessed real experience working with the equivalent of a 5-star mech, so Ves maintained his confidence.

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Working with modular armor posed unique challenges to the mech designer.

To visualize the problems the designer faced, imagine being handed a square or rectangular piece of paper. If you were told to make a cylinder out of the paper, you could easily bend it in a a way so that one end of the paper touched the other end. What resulted was a pretty good cylinder with a cutout in the same of a circle.

What if instead of a big piece of paper, you got handed some cardboard instead. And not just one piece, but many smaller pieces that you weren't allowed to bend. With a bit of tape, you could approach the shape of a cylinder with square pieces of cardboard, but the cross section wouldn't look as smooth as a circle anymore. It would look like a many-sided shape that only approximated a circle.

The same concept applied to working with modular armor as opposed to conventional armor. Modern 3D printers and armor fabricators could miraculously produce armor plates in virtually any complex shape. It could mold something as thick as an entire chest plate to something as delicate as the armor around a mech's fingers. A lot of this flexibility was lost when working with modular armor. Even the most masterful designs always left out gaps and other inefficiencies.

Having purchased the Octagon medium mech together with the FlexiPlate and the SquarePlate, Ves left the game and loaded the designs into the Mech Designer System. Though Iron Spirit or his own terminal's design interface featured plenty of tools and aids, the System offered the best assistance by far.

If Ves had to guess, the Designer module of the System was at least two hundred years ahead of the most advanced design software on the market. He possessed a devastating advantage against his competitors and he'd be a fool to neglect its many tools.

"Oh wait, before I start designing, its best if I spend all my remaining DP." Ves reminded himself as he remembered he still possessed around 900 DP.

What he found perplexing was that he earned more DP from selling his virtual mechs than his real mechs. The virtual version of his Marc Antony rewarded him with a fixed amount of 25 DP, while the real version was dependent on the total sales volume, which meant an average of 28 DP. However, it was a lot easier to sell a virtual mech than a real mech. Ves foresaw that he would be selling a lot more virtual mechs while his real mech sales volume remained in the double digits.

Did the System burp when it calculated the DP rewards for his virtual mechs? Whatever was the case, Ves eagerly planned to make use of its generosity.

He opened the Skill Tree again with glee. As he could expect an uptick of DP once he put up a couple of new designs for sale, he wasn't stingy with his current reserve. He looked down the list and found a sub-skill he had been eyeing for a while.

[Mediumweight Armor Optimization II: 600 DP

As he bought it, the influx of knowledge he received blacked him out for a moment. This time the knowledge dealt more with details and nuances, which caused Ves to forcefully memorize a whole bag of new tricks. It definitely paid off already, as by the time he woke up he became a lot more confident in working with his new armor licenses.

Curious about his current state, Ves called up his Status again.

[Status]

Name: Ves Larkinson

Profession: Novice Mech Designer

Specializations: None

Design Points: 304

Attributes

Strength: 0.7

Dexterity: 0.7

Endurance: 0.7

Intelligence: 1.2

Creativity: 1

Concentration: 1.2

Neural Aptitude: F

Skills

[Assembly: Apprentice - [3D Printer Proficiency II] [Assembler Proficiency II]

[Business: Apprentice

[Computer Science: Incompetent

[Electrical Engineering: Novice

[Mathematics: Incompetent

[Mechanics: Apprentice - [Jury Rigging II] [Speed Tuning I]

[Metallurgy: Apprentice

[Metaphysics: Incompetent

[Physics: Novice - [Lightweight Armor Optimization I] [Mediumweight Armor Optimization II]

Evaluation: An ugly carp about to leap the retarded dragon gate.

Despite the System's harsh standards, Ves recognized he was approaching the upper limit of a novice mech designer. The System hadn't told him the criteria for promotion, but from his own knowledge of how mech designers were ranked, he'd probably break through if he raised a main skill from Apprentice to Journeyman level.

"It's a bit too early for me to advance my rank." Ves remarked as he still planned to allocate his upcoming DP on other skills. Picking up Speed Tuning II was inexpensive at 400 DP. Apprentice level Physics was a bit more expensive at 1000 DP, but it shored up his foundation nicely and could help him out a lot when designing armor schemes.

After that, he'd have save 2000 DP and pick a main skill to upgrade. Ves leaned towards mechanics as that was his main strength, but considering his recent shift in focus perhaps Physics or Metallurgy might be a better choice.

In any case, Ves could revisit the decision later when he actually had DP to spend.

Ves missed the System's Designer suite. When Ves worked on the mechs in the Young Tigers Exhibition, he was forced to use regular software to design the Drake in the qualifiers. He felt cramped and handicapped and felt certain he made far more mistakes than he ought to. The System's interface provided many more advantages. Perhaps too much.

"I'm getting dependent on the System." Ves admitted to himself in a tone that spoke of no regrets. "I'm short on time and even more lacking in money. I'd rather hug this thick thigh than to crawl in the mud trying to find the exit to hell on my own."

With the manner in which he upgraded his many skills, it wasn't easy for him to forget what the System forced in his mind. If Ves somehow got separated from the System, he still had his upgraded skills to rely on. He'd get the hang of designing mechs without the extra aids.

In any case, Ves shoved away all distractions and focused on his upcoming design. He loaded the quirky mech designed by the Globe-Elstar Corporation and sat back to view its intricate design before doing anything else. He wanted to get into the head of the original designer and figure out why he designed this risky model.

"This mech excels in urban combat. The denser the streets, the better it's able to run circles around its opponent."

Ves looked up the history of the Globe-Elstar Corporation and guessed right. When the company was still in operation, its headquarters was based in one of the Greater United Terran Confederation's major port Systems. Designing a mech suited for urban combat was an acute priority at the time.

Though the historical files was short on details regarding the developers of the Octagon, Ves nonetheless inferred that the mech was a job commissioned directly by the Terrans as part of a broad push to develop new specialized mechs. The Octagon enjoyed limited success but never really caught on. The concept was too radical and few mech pilots accepted the innovation. Agility-focused mechs started to really gain their stride in later generations, in part because the Octagon and a few other models paved the way beforehand.

Ves then looked at the mech's combat footage in both historical recordings and replays from the game. The pilots in the historical recordings piloted the mech conservatively, making calculated risks only after they meticulously positioned themselves.

As for the players who chose this particular 2-star mech to enter the arena, they behaved much more aggressively, leveraging their superior mobility to actively seek out enemies to hunt as long as the map featured complex environmental obstacles.

"The Octagon is a hunter." He concluded after several hours of spectating.

The mech fared better when being jumped on than others, but it excelled when it took the initiative. Pilots who cared about their lives behaved like ambush predators, while pilots who had nothing to lose acted as pursuit predators. The pilots could switch between the two whenever the situation called for a change.

As a pioneering urban combat mech, the Octagon distinguished itself in several ways.

Besides its amazing agility and flexibility, it possessed outstanding endurance. Urban combat was gruelling, and could drag on for weeks if the commanders in the field avoided collateral damage. The mech cleverly incorporated a bevy of fuel type energy cells on its back that fed the mech's robust power reactor that in turn spun the over-engineered engines.

These engines provided plenty of power to the Octagon's limbs with minimal latency. That meant that the usual sluggishness and delays inherent in any other mech movements were minimized to the point of being nonexistent. At the time, that was fairly impressive and not that easy to achieve. However, the experimental engine was also sensitive to shock damage, which made the mech easy to disable if it endured excessive force in its waist area.

"That should be the main reason why this mech hadn't caught on. It kind of negates the point of making a mech for urban combat if it can't last the whole campaign."

The other major downside to the Octagon was that its carrying capacity was light and limited. Balance and weight issues limited the mech from wielding most two-handed weapons. Even a shield affected the mech in a dramatic fashion. This forced the mech to choose from one-handed weapons like knives, pistols and submachine guns.

Laser rifles might provide a viable alternative if it wasn't for one thing. Though certain laser rifle models kept down their weight, the energy these rifles guzzled in a short amount of time surpassed the Octagon's power reactor's output. This highlighted the disadvantage of incorporating fuel injected power reactors. They provided a lot more energy over a longer period, but were incapable of generating high amounts of power at a snapshot.

"The Octagon's weapon loadout is already pretty thin. I have to be careful not to pile on too much weight."

With the information at hand, Ves developed a pretty good picture of the Octagon. Now was the point where he came up with his own vision of the mech.

Ves pictured a ruined city. Smoke rose from the tallest wrecks while fires burned from the hulks of fallen mechs. With streets chock full of debris from vehicles and nearby buildings, the darkened silhouette of the Octagon straggled between two molten piles of slag that used to be a pair of mechs. It scrambled behind a pile of garbage and waited for its pursuers to arrive.

A light skirmisher passed by the Octagon's hiding spot, oblivious of the dangers nearby in its haste. The Octagon jumped forward and thrust its spear at the unprotected back of the skirmisher. The incredible momentum behind the blow shattered through the thin armor and pierced the cockpit.

After brutally pulling out the blooded spear, the Octagon swept sideways as it dodged a couple of rapid ballistic rifle shots. The Octagon spun like a top and used the terrain to its advantage. Though it received plenty of hits, only a couple of square armor plating fell of its frame. Even though the exhausted Octagon's armor looked half-empty with lots of square holes in it, the speed in which it burst through the bullet barrage allowed the nimble mech to stab its spear against the rifle, destroying it with one firm blow.

The rifleman mech didn't panic and let go, drawing a short sword from its hips with its other hand. The Octagon, having put most of its forward momentum in that spear thrust, let go of its weapon as well and entered the rifleman's reach without even withdrawing its own backup weapons.

Instead, in a feat of amazing piloting, it ducked when the sword swiped at it and reached the rifleman's side. With the flank wide open, the rifleman could only allow the Octagon to kick to the side, dealing critical damage to its knee joint. The loss of balance that resulted from the blow left it unable to leverage its sword. This gave the Octagon enough time to retrieve a heated knife who stabbed it in the back.

The two mechs fell, both pilots downed within a minute. The Octagon left the battlefield without a word and dived deeper into the fallen city, hunting and seeking more prey to devour.

Ves emerged from the vision with a bright light in his eyes. With the information he gathered so far, he envisioned an idea how to shape his own variant. His first spin on the Octagon would be an overall enhancement of the base model. He wanted to retain the savage nature of the Octagon and preserve its hunting instincts. While the mech excellent in energy efficiency, its armor could not keep up. Therefore Ves needed to redesign the Octagon's armor scheme and somehow make a comprehensive improvement while not impacting the mech's speed and agility too much.

Ves stripped the Octagon's standard armor and started from scratch. The mech's internals looked skinny and lighter than a normal medium mech. It bordered the weight class of a light mech. With his upgraded Medium Armor Optimization II, Ves developed several prospective armor schemes in which to clad the naked Octagon frame.

If he maximized the number of larger plates, Ves was able to offer a great amount of protection. However, use of too many oversized plates also increased the gaps in the armor as he was forced to make it less form-fitting.

Using smaller plates allowed Ves to conform the armor closer to the internal frame. While this increased the variant's mobility, a bunch of smaller plates plainly offered less overall protection than a single large plate.

He therefore spent roughly a day to draft an armor scheme that fell in between. Using his enhanced skill, he cleverly employed the SquarePlate at subtle angles, never letting a single surface lay completely flat. This introduced a slightly disorienting pattern to the mech. The different angles allowed the mech to ablate incoming damage a little better. However, it risked pooling damage towards the troughs of the armor surface.

To solve this hidden problem, Ves added extra armor underneath the SquarePlate layers. He enhanced critical portions of the square-like wireframe that held the plates together with FlexiPlate. The bendable armor could be formed in such a way to squeeze between any contours, making it trivially easy to design airtight fits that added a layer of protection between the top armor and the internals. The FlexiPlate's amazing shock absorption also gave the new variant more resistance to damage that resulted from employing tight turns and risky falls.

The System's tools helped ease the delicate design work, but since it involved making on-the-spot judgements, Ves had his share of heavy lifting. It took two days to come up with a two-layered structure where thin layers of FlexiPlate cushioned the heavier layers of SquarePlate. It took longer than he thought due to the added challenge in maintaining a single vision for his new variant.

Without enhancing his concentration and endurance, it remained a chore for him to keep his intent sharp. As the X-Factor was his only real specialty so far, Ves could not skip such a small but useful advantage. He wanted to improve his ability to impart the X-Factor in his mechs. What would a mech look like if it achieved an A rating for the X-Factor?

"The galaxy will shift when that happens." Ves jokingly thought. "It would be the birth of a god."

Still, Ves thought it was unlikely for such a fantasy to come to life. Despite being half-convinced that mechs do possess the capability to exhibit signs of life, he doubted it reached the extent imagined in apocalyptic scenarios.

His best result achieved a C- score. The budding designer hoped he could break past his record with his new Octagon variant. After affirming his motivation, Ves dove into his work once more and refined the armor scheme again. The armor he produced so far was a little on the heavy side and he hadn't even designed the fittings for the joints.

Step by step, the shape of a prowler came into existence.

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Ves looked at the fifth iteration of the Octagon's radically redesigned armor scheme. He spent a week to come this far. The main changes he made involved setting plates in certain oblique angles that made it easier to deflect damage instead of taking it head-on. The use of subtle angles and a ribbed pattern made the mech appear as if it wore a crocodile's skin.

Incorporating such an unusual armor scheme came with a major disadvantage. By stacking the armor plates at an angle, Ves needed to incorporate more armor in the same surface area than if he stacked the plates at a flat angle.

It was like using a pack of cards to make a house of cards instead of just placing them side by side. One method maximized the surface area, while the other method increased the density. In order to keep down the Octagon's weight, Ves was required to shave off the amount of SquarePlate armor layers and skimp down on the FlexiPlate.

"After all this work, I don't think the mech's armor has improved very much." Ves sighed. The dramatic improvements he anticipated hadn't come true. Physical limitations simply couldn't be bypassed no matter how many tricks he employed.

"Still, it's impressive enough that its ability to absorb damage is improved by 5% or so without impacting its agility."

It came at a significant cost. The SquarePlate armor that he liberally used was more expensive than the Octagon's stock armor while actually providing a slightly lesser amount of protection. If Ves wasn't insistent on using a modular armor system, he could have made much higher gains with alternative armoring.

Through his work, Ves felt he was missing an ingredient to make his ideas work. An invisible wall stopped his efforts in completely harmonizing the armor with improved protection while avoiding too many speed reductions.

"This is a more complex problem than I thought." He concluded, and admitted that he underestimated the difficulties in conjuring up a magical solution that no one had ever thought about. "I'm too burned out to work any further on this design."

He noticed a difference when he worked on the Octagon. When he worked on his two best products, the Fantasia 2R Seraphim and the CA-C1 Marc Anthony, he worked on them with a great amount of passion to the point of ignoring difficult-to-solve defects in their design.

That was especially the case concerning the Seraphim, which he whipped up in record time very early in his career. If Ves revisited the Seraphim, he might just die from embarrassment from all the faults he left in the design. Yet Ves felt none of his pride for the design diminishing. The Seraphim was a successful product, and a handful of young Bronze League players enjoyed their time with it. The design possessed a spark of life.

Could he say the same for his latest project? Ves estimated if he forcefully grinded out a new variant off the Octagon, he'd end up with a pile of junk. He learned something new today. No matter how much you focus your mind on a single intent, it didn't replace real capability. His skills needed to keep up with the image in his mind.

He revisited the image he kept in his mind. He wanted to design a hunter, a predator of the streets, one that could match the range of motion of apes while being able to fight like a human. He eluded all pursuit and instead chose to pursue his enemies. None could survive a blow they couldn't see coming.

"It's missing a stealth option." Ves realized, then scratched his head.

The 2-star generation of mechs offered more mature options for stealth, but they still had their flaws. It cost a lot of credits to purchase a license that was only effective in a very small range. He couldn't justify the expenditure in a pure cost to benefit judgement.

"But my feelings say it needs this option."

The original Octagon made due without stealth. In highly urbanized environments, metal was everywhere, from the structures to the vehicles and even the pipes running underneath the streets. All these obstacles severely hindered certain sensors but not all of them. If an Octagon managed its heat and footsteps well, it could sneak up behind its prey or let them pass its hiding spot without detection.

"It's too slow though." Ves noticed the hole in such a tactic. "There's no way the Octagon can jump on an alert opponent."

In real life situations, mech pilots never knew how many opponents were on the battlefield. That wasn't the case with arena-style matches, as the game always gave a team an equal amount of opponents. With such information in hand, the pilots would never let their guard down if they haven't killed the expected number of adversaries.

"There's no way I am getting out of this without buying a stealth module."

Ves let out a resigned sigh and followed his instincts. It kept nagging at him to plug this hole. He exited the Designer and turned to his desk terminal. He booted up Iron Spirit and visited the 2-star section of the market. He skipped all of the other goodies in his sight and focused solely on the stealth components.

When it came to hiding mechs from the senses of others, the market offered many options. None of them were perfect but all of them cost a fortune.

The particle ejector was the cheapest option. It worked by throwing a bunch of specialized particles in the air and let it spread wide in other to overwhelm his opponents with false readings. Specialized anchoring incorporated in the minute particles allowed them to hover in the air for an extended amount of time.

The problem with such an approach was that it did not distinguish between friend or foe. You were likely to blind yourself and your allies if you pumped a lot of junk in the air. It also pretty much announced to the enemy that you lurked nearby and wished to come close and jump at them. Furthermore, the particles followed the wind and could be blown away easily in certain situations despite their anchoring.

Another option involved employing active sensor countermeasures such as ECM. They came in many flavors and sometimes could do a lot of things at once. They could pump out noise that disabled certain long-ranged sensors. They could project a fake mech a distance away or they could produce many identical mechs in a small area to make it seem a single mech came in a big group.

Ves wasn't entirely unfamiliar with ECM systems. He used such a thing before in the Seraphim and the Phantasm and it supplemented the evasion of those mechs. It could benefit the Octagon as well as this model relied heavily on evasion when under fire.

ECM came with its own downsides though. The more powerful modules slurped plenty of energy, could not fool all types of sensors and the act of turning it on full blast already radiated signals that could alert an unsuspecting opponent. It also couldn't fool exotic sensors such as those that measured ground vibration. Lastly, the enemy pilot could simply cease relying on his machine and used his human senses to observe the battlefield.

The last type of stealth measure was the use of specialized coating or armor. By cladding the mech with an outer layer that suppressed signals from bouncing back to the opponent's sensors, it could quietly sneak around without getting detected by the enemy.

However, same as the other options, such a trick was unable to suppress other signals such as sound and vibration. Opting for stealth coating or armor also meant missing out on more damage resistant options. For example, a popular add-on mech pilots like to buy was a special reflective coating that slightly negated incoming damage from lasers.

The three options of chaff, ECM and stealth coating represented the limited progress of stealth technology at the time. More sophisticated solutions started to pop up in the following decades, but Ves had no access to them due to their higher star ratings.

"The Octagon isn't a saboteur, even though it can work as one."

There was an important distinction in role. Saboteurs generally avoided seeking out conflicts and operated mainly behind enemy lines to attack critical infrastructure nodes. The Octagon on the other hand specialized in pure combat in dense, complex environments. What it needed was an aid to help it kill its enemies better, not a way to elude detection entirely.

"Seems like the particle ejector is the most appropriate out of the bunch."

The particle ejector might be limited in the amount of particles a single mech could carry, but the ejector was relatively low-tech and could be mounted pretty much anywhere. Besides the payload canisters, it weighed very little and drew very little energy as well, allowing for minimal disruption to the performance of the mech. Much like missile launchers, the real technology was in its payload and not its launching method. The particles one could launch varied in their density, longevity, wind sensitivity and more.

Out of all the choices Ves had available, he picked a module that didn't last very long but was highly effective in a larger area. His spending account shrank by 300,000 credits once he acquired the famed Relix Systems Valhalla Particle Ejection Module 1st Edition. Many other virtual mechs who sought out battlefield disruption methods chose the same particle ejectors. Its features were taylor-made for short duration but high intensity arena matches.

With a new goodie in hand, Ves read the manual and familiarized himself as best he could with the new technology. The main issue he faced was to decide where to mount it and how many canisters he added to the mech.

"At least the good thing about the canisters is that they can be ejected once they're used up, much like the modular armor."

Ves decided to be generous and added four refills alongside the canister in the ejector's chambers. While such an amount was excessive for 1v1s, the pilot could always change his loadout beforehand in the lobby or discard the canisters at the start of the match.

He went to work adding the ejector and canisters to the back of the mech. Adding them there disrupted the balance of the mech but preserved its full range of motion. Still, Ves found the addition to be troublesome. It was like adding a backpack to an athlete. No matter how little stuff was put in the pack, it still dragged down the person's peak performance.

"Wait a minute. The particle ejector isn't very complicated. Why do I even need to make a fixed attachment?"

There was nothing stopping him from improvising an external shell around the module. The component drew little power and only required a single data cable to communicate with the mech's processors.

Using the Designer, Ves rapidly constructed a cage that held the projector and four additional canisters. He then added a couple of fixtures that attached the cage to the back of the mech who carried the contraption.

He then turned back to his unfinished mech and modified the back to accommodate these fixtures. It was a little tricky designing slots that allowed mechs to attach and detach something from behind, but the Octagon's impressive range of motion for its arm helped make it viable. It actually took a day of tweaking to refine the design.

After accomplishing all that work, Ves smiled at his work. The variant's capabilities had increased without negatively impacting its mobility. If the mech was on the hunt, it could engage its particle ejector beforehand and detach it from its back once it did its job. After stowing it in a corner, the mech could fight to its heart's content. It could return to re-attach the particle ejector if it successfully survived the battle.

"The only problem emerges if the mech is attacked from behind."

In order to accommodate the attaching system, Ves was forced to poke some holes in the rear armor. While not very large, these gaps provided enemy sharpshooters a small chance to disable the modified Octagon in one shot depending on its damage type and caliber.

Everything had its tradeoffs. Ves chose to go down this path because it fit his variant's hunter mentality. "Let's add to the flair."

As Ves had incorporated the Festive Cloud Generator in pretty much all his mechs, the new Octagon was no exception. He added a high capacity version of the module to the particle ejector cage. Ves set its color profile to be a psychedelic mish mash of bright colors, though he also added in the usual white, grey or black presets to its settings so that pilots could pick whatever they preferred.

Ves programmed the Cloud Generator to go off just as the particle ejector launched its own payload. The colorful mist and the disruptive particles would then mix together and drown the local area with both sensor dampening particles and disorienting rainbow mist.

Naturally, mechs possessed alternative sensor modes to make the latter useless, but it was a nice psychological trick to force enemies to switch anyway. He even tweaked the Octagon's viewing mode to switch automatically once it activated the particle ejector.

"Hm, the Octagon's sensors aren't very exceptional either."

The main problem with throwing crap in the air was that it affected everyone indiscriminately, including the Octagon. With the level of technology back then, Ves had no good solutions to mitigate this problem. Incorporating high-powered sensors not only drew more energy than he was comfortable with, they also acted as a lighthouse in the middle of the dark, practically exposing the mech's location.

"It's up to the pilot to make the best out of the equipment. I can't do anything else to help."

Ves refined the mech's armor scheme once again in order to properly accommodate the cage on its back. With its spear and knives, the mech looked more menacing than the base model. He spent two more days on refining its angles and perfecting its balance so that the mech wouldn't lean too forward or backwards whether it carried the cage or not. After a final polishment, the variant came near to its final form.

The last step involved adding the coating. Ves chose to mimic the base model and gave the mech in a highly reflective chrome exterior. Such a choice made the mech difficult to hide from optical sensors, but it might provide an interesting appearance when it fought in the middle of its particle cloud.

Once he fully completed his design, Ves gave the mech a name. "Let's call you the Mist Prowler. Well System, how did I do?"

[Design Evaluation: Mist Prowler.]

Variant name: O-225CM Mist Prowler

Base model: Octagon O-225C

Original Manufacturer: Globe-Elstar Corporation

Weight Classification: Medium-Light

Recommended Role: Guerilla Fighter

Armor: C

Carrying Capacity: E-

Aesthetics: B

Endurance: B

Energy Efficiency: A

Flexibility: A

Firepower: F

Integrity: C

Mobility: B

Spotting: D

X-Factor: E

Deviance: 37%

Performance improvement: 14%

Cost efficiency: -50%

Overall evaluation: The Mist Prowler is a reimagining of the base model that performs slightly better at a much higher cost. The mech features a redesigned armor scheme that has marginally improved its damage absorption capacity but provides increased mobility in battles of attrition. The added particle ejection system gives the mech an advantage in shorter battles if the pilot is skilled enough to make the best out of the opportunity.

[You have received 75 Design Points for completing an original design with a performance improvement of over 10%.]

[You have received 100 Design Points for designing a mech with a trace of X-Factor.]

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