The Mech Touch

The design phase had concluded!

After a quiet period of three whole days, the mech designer teams all worked day and night to develop their competition mechs.

Each of them designed different melee mechs that fully conformed to all of the rules and limitations of the Wild Brawl Bowl.

Despite the relatively low budget and average resources at their disposal, the mech designer teams each stretched their design capabilities as best they could to make their melee mechs more pronounced.

Differences in background, education, career progression and ideology resulted in 32 different mechs.

When they were all moved in a single long row, everyone could make basic comparisons between them. There were plenty of similarities and differences between all of the mechs, and both the commentators and spectators eagerly discussed the points that stood out in their eyes.

[There are 20 humanoid mechs and 12 bestial mechs this time. The proportion of bestial mechs is somewhat higher on average considering the overall degree of popularity of the former.]

[This is the Wild Brawl Bowl! The humanoid mech frame possesses numerous advantages in melee combat, but the combat prowess of bestial mechs should not be underestimated!]

[Humanoid mechs conform greatly to the human physique.] A commentator explained to a less informed audience. [This allows mech pilots to transfer their personal combat skills to their mechs when interfacing with them. The use of weapons adds a lot of flexibility to a relatively weak base form. An extremely skilled fighter could easily defeat a superior mech by relying solely on excellent weapon handling.]

[All of that sounds great, but the effectiveness of humanoid mechs scales greatly with the strength and skill level of their mech pilots. If they are all piloted by elites who have attended the best academies of their respective states, then it is definitely worth it to pair them up with humanoid mechs, but what if they aren't available?]

[What do you mean by that?]

[Remember that many of the mech designer teams with older mech designers had to make do with second-string or third-string mech pilots. It is risky to rely on their skills to outfight their betters in a direct duel. I think it was a smart choice for the older teams to settle for bestial mech pilots. Even if these Wild Fighters are ranker lower, bestial mechs have a greater fault tolerance and is not as reliant on finesse and skill to overpower their opponents. Simple brute force is sufficient to defeat their opponents!]

War machines such as tiger mechs did not possess the flexibility and range of motion as swordsman mechs. Yet these bestial mechs didn't need to rely on these sophisticated attributes!

Bestial mechs were often constructed in a way that allowed them to make great use of their momentum to add a lot of force to their simple but brutal attacks. Blocking was only partially effective and the only way to truly negate their attacks was to dodge aside!

As long as a mech pilot overcame the initial hurdle of learning how to pilot a non-humanoid mech, they could rapidly increase their battle effectiveness as there were only a limited amount of moves they needed to master!

The appearance of all of these melee mechs made Ves more vigilant towards the teams behind them. The choice of designing bestial mechs was quite deliberate. Their reliance on mass and force to overpower opponents was quite a nightmare for mechs that could not easily deal with their aggression.

The swordsman mech that Ves and Ketis had designed was not that good at avoiding their charges, but their work could still defeat them in a straight battle by leveraging its bulk and physical might in a skillful manner.

[Which mech interests you the most at the moment?]

[The Zenomon Gamma definitely stands out from the other 31 mechs. The latter are all designed by duos that possessed different and mostly complementary specialties. The Zenomon Gamma developed by Miss Janessa Pellier and Miss Tifi Coslone is the only mech that possesses only a single pronounced advantage. The physical might of this axeman mech is quite immense. Its movements might not be fast, but one solid hack from its greataxe is enough to split most of its competitors into separate halves!]

[Does that make Team Destiny into a strong championship contender?]

[I would not go that just yet. Its chances will mostly depend on the opponents it will face in the fighting phase. If it encounters one of the few light mechs with blazing fast mobility, then the Zenomon Gamma's tournament run will come to an end. If this greataxe-wielding mech is matched with anything slower, then it will easily hold an advantage!]

The axe wielded by the Zenomon Gamma was a monstrous weapon. It was large and heavy enough to split shields and sunder armor in a single blow, but it wasn't as unwieldy as a great hammer. When piloted by a skilled mech pilot, the Zenomon Gamma could easily exert an enormous amount of pressure against most opponents!

"How do you think our Heart of Victor will fare against the Zenomon Gamma?" Ves quietly asked his design partner.

Ketis made a scoffing noise. "You are badly underestimating our swordsman mech if you think it is threatened by the Zenomon Gamma. That greataxe is dangerous, I admit, but just like greatswords, it takes a skilled mech pilot to make the best of them. Mr. Lyain Kepper may not be that more skilled than the enemy mech pilot, but when he steps inside the cockpit of our swordsman mech, he won't be fighting alone."

That was true. Everyone who piloted a living mech could always rely on their partner to lend a hand. It was just that not many mechs were capable of providing as much assistance as purpose-built machines like the Heart of Victor!

[Speaking of slow and heavy mechs, Team Hammerfall has made an even stronger mech! The Fallen Retribution wields a hammer that is significantly heavier than the greataxe of the Zenomon Gamma. If Team Hammerfall's dwarven mech isn't so strong and stable, it wouldn't have been able to swing this hammer, let alone hold it in a solid grip!]

The pair of dwarven mech designers designed a dwarven mech that reminded Ves a lot of the Forgehammer mech regiment that the Larkinson Army once fought against.

Though the Iron Crusher model fielded by the Vulcanites was a spaceborn mech, the Fallen Retribution was fully landbound, and that made it a lot more convenient for the competition mech to exert its power!

Although it looked as if the Fallen Retribution was too slow and lumbering to repel faster mechs, Ves didn't think the Crenstin couple were that simple. They had to have implemented a way for the dwarven hammerman mech to fend off attacks from the rear.

When Ves studied the mech a little closer, he observed a few clues that made him increase his evaluation of the formidable dwarven mech.

[Team Youngbuck has managed to design quite a strong swordsman mech. Their Rayvin is armed with an impressively-designed plasma sword that does not not have to rely on physical force to cut through armor. With the temperatures this plasma sword can reach, it can burn through every obstacle as long as it is able to concentrate its attacks!]

[That is easier said than done. No enemy mech pilot will cooperate with the enemy. As long as the opponent of this plasma-wielding mech can drag the battle out, the Rayvin will rapidly lose its energy and become a sitting duck!]

[Before it runs out of juice, the Rayvin will definitely be one of the strongest mechs in the first minutes of a match. Unlike the prior two competition mechs, the Rayvin is one of the few mechs that possesses both strong offense and high mobility while still possessing decent defenses. It is the definite mech to beat in the early stages of a mech duel.]

Ves was surprised that a fellow competitor dared to design such an energy-hungry weapon system given the relatively limited resources at their disposal. However, he quickly recalled that Olivander Peese of Team Youngbuck excelled in energy swords. He should have come prepared and must have made deliberate choices about how he implemented this plasma weapon system.

Overall, Ves was quite familiar with Team Youngbuck's strategy. The Pontifical Lance he designed in the last tournament followed the same concept but with a different mech type.

[As long as the Rayvin can leverage its momentary advantages to fell or at least cripple its opponent, it can easily achieve a lot of success. However, the Rayvin is only half as scary once its plasma sword loses power. Even the worst mech in the lineup can defeat a Rayvin that can only rely on its residual power to resist its opposition!]

Aside from admiring all of the humanoid mechs, the commentators also directed enough attention on the bestial mechs.

[Out of all of the bestial mechs in the competition, Team Blackspot's tiger mech or should I say panther mech is the most special.]

[I'm surprised that Team Blackspot has the guts to design a stealth mech. Then again, one of its two mech designers specializes in stealth systems. He must have a lot of confidence in the stealth and assassination capabilities of his Shadowclaw.]

The Shadowclaw was a black-coated feline mech that was slim, agile and surprisingly quiet. It incorporated a lot of design elements that expressly dampened its emissions and made the mech as hard to detect as possible!

[The existence of the Shadowclaw will test its opponents on whether they have invested enough in their sensor systems. Usually, detection capabilities are an afterthought in arena battles, but this time they are extremely relevant to the unlucky teams who are matched up against Team Blackspot. I can already loosely state that at least 70 percent of the mechs in the competition do not possess the sensors that allow them to detect the Shadowclaw in advance!]

That turned Team Blackspot into an unexpected dark horse in this tournament! The possibility that a mech could get pounced from an unexpected angle without any forewarning was an extremely grave threat!

Although the Shadowclaw's stealth systems prevented it from mounting any substantial form of armor, it didn't have to worry about getting hit if none of the other melee mechs knew where to swing their weapons!

[Another interesting bestial mech is the Parnast designed by Team Caper. It's one of the most advanced mechs of this cohort and can utilize its limbs in a surprising manner.]

[This octopus-like mech can easily turn into a nightmare to any mech as long as it is able to grapple and hold on to its target. If employed in the right way, the Parnast can neutralize the attack power of the enemy mech!]

[The Parnast has to be able to latch onto the enemy mech, though. A sufficient fast and agile mech can torment it while evading any grappling attempts. I doubt this octopus mech possesses any combat effectiveness against targets that have eluded its grasp.]

[There are plenty of mechs that are not too fast. The Parnast has a viable chance of winning several rounds if it encounters the right opponents.]

As the commentators kept pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of every mech, they finally turned to the swordsman mech that had already received a lot of appreciation from the audience.

[The Heart of Victor is a beautiful machine. I can hardly believe it was put together in just three days. Patriarch Ves Larkinson and Swordmaster Ketis Larkinson have exceeded my expectations. Though their mech design is rather basic, it is considerably more refined and smooth than the works of other teams. The reliability and resilience of this swordsman mech will undoubtedly be high as a consequence!]

[I hate to burst your bubble, but the design's simplicity means it has a lower ceiling. How will the Heart of Victor fare against stronger mechs? Without any apparent special solutions, it will hold no advantage in duels where every little detail matters.]

[Who says that the Heart of Victor is too basic? Just feel it. I can sense its battle lust from this distance. I have never experienced this from any other mech. In addition, the chainsword alone is something special. Did you all forget that Ketis has spilled her own blood to enhance this weapon?]

Everyone wondered what Ketis' little blood ritual had accomplished. No one knew whether this was a purely symbolic gesture or whether her blood truly made the Heart of Victor stronger.

They would soon be able to find out, as the first round of matches was scheduled to begin shortly!