The Mech Touch

In the initial test, the scale model of the Mars Project displayed absolute superiority against a full-sized regular mech.

The Redaxe had been unable to penetrate the scale model's deceptively thin armor. What is even more absurd was that the axeman mech failed to displace the scale model despite all of the force and weight exerting on a machine that was 50 times smaller.

The Crosser expert mech pilots were still stuck with trying to make sense of how that could be possible.

Even Venerable Linda Cross who was able to alter the force of her blows could not wrap her mind around an expert mech that could negate so much incoming force.

Ves had already moved on, though. Though the brief bout between the Redaxe and the scale model generated a lot of interesting data points that were just waiting to be analyzed, it was not the main show.

This was because the recently-completed C-Man had entered the testing chamber.

"Reginald won't be able to bully a weaker mech this time." Ves smirked. "While Venerable Vincent is not as strong as Patriarch Reginald, the difference in scale should more than even up the odds."

Despite Vincent's bravado, the Larkinson expert pilot did not underestimate his current opponent.

As funny as it looked to confront an expert mech that was so small that the C-Man looked like a juggernaut in comparison, the resonance strengths of their respective expert pilots were too far apart!

Vincent's resonance strength was still measured in the single digits while Reginald's resonance strength was already nearing the absolute limit that expert pilots could reach!

As the two disproportionately-sized machines squared off against each other, their pilots already began to clash their domains against each other.

Neither side wished to take a step back in this invisible confrontation. Both Vincent and Reginald concentrated their willpower and tried to resonate with their machines as much as possible!

The golden corona surrounding the C-Man was larger but more diffused. The red corona surrounding the scale model was smaller but more concentrated.

The physical characteristics of both machines had a profound influence on how much they were able to channel the strength of their pilots.

While Patriarch Reginald was undoubtedly a stronger expert pilot, the remote connection along with the limited size of the scale model severely weakened the resonance he could achieve.

It was like trying to transmit a signal through an area with heavy interference while relying on a low-tech communication device. The circumstances were so adverse that Patriarch Reginald simply couldn't perform at his best!

"The question now is whether those factors are enough to curtail his ability to win this little bout."

This was an extremely lop-sided matchup. No one could make a solid prediction on who would win.

Would a weak expert pilot paired with a formidable expert mech be able to show that size mattered, or would a strong expert pilot paired with a miniature mech be able to prove that the qualities of the controller mattered more?

Ves and the others were extremely curious to see which one would gain the advantage this time!

"It's starting!"

Upon receiving a silent signal, both mechs began to move against each other at once!

This time, the miniature Mars Model did not straightforwardly resort to its tiny axe in order to overpower its opponent in a melee duel.

The C-Man excelled in melee combat, so Reginald recognized that it was always a better idea to soften up his opponent from a safer distance!

Thus, as soon as the Mars Project jumped into the air and flew backwards, the expert hybrid mech made use of the ARCEUS System to fire a torrent of transphasic positron beams that also happened to be empowered by true resonance!

All of these conditions ensured that the energy beams inflicted a devastating amount of damage against the C-Man's resonance shield.

"Damn, how powerful is the full version of the Mars Project?!" Vincent shouted as he became distressed by how much more difficult it became to maintain his resonance shield. "These energy beams are supposed to be tiny!"

Although the miniature implementation of the ARCEUS System was not straightforwardly 50 times weaker, the tiny integrated weapon systems were undoubtedly unable to inflict as much damage as their full-sized cousins.

Even so, the concentrated beams pressured the much larger machine to such an extent that Venerable Vincent was completely jarred!

"This is nonsense! How can those tiny guns possibly deal so much damage?! It's as if I'm being attacked by a regiment of artillery mechs!"

Although Vincent was exaggerating to a certain extent, the C-Man's resonance shield was truly losing integrity at a distressing rate.

The only way for him to stop this decline was to go on the offensive and get into point-blank range of the scale model.

However, despite the fairly limited size of the shielded testing chamber, the scale model constantly remained ahead of the larger mech as it circled around the fighting space.

The C-Man was barely able to get closer to the scale model!

"Damn, what have those mech designers done with the Mars Project's flight system? It's so powerful!"

The scale model's flight system might be smaller, but the rest of its construction was smaller and lighter as well!

This produced a circumstance where the scale model did not actually lose that much speed.

Dozens of seconds passed as the Mars Project unscrupulously fired its formidable arsenal of integrated energy weapons at the pursuing machine.

Soon enough, the C-Man's resonance shield broke as the combined power of the scale model's true resonance as well as its transphasic properties proved to be too much!

Many observers felt mixed when they saw this happen.

What broke this time was not a regular energy shield. It was a genuine resonance shield that was generated by an expert pilot and and expert mech.

While it was true that Vincent's resonance strength was not that impressive at this time, the ease in which a machine that resembled a toy could strip the most important defenses of an expert mech was appalling!

"If this is what our patriarch can do with a mini mech that he is piloting from a distance, how much more powerful will he be when he pilots the real thing?" Venerable Florence Cross wondered.

Venerable Linda Cross on the other hand grew happy at the sight.

"Do you see why our clan invested so much time, effort and resources into developing the Mars Project? This is but a hint of the true power that our clan is about to obtain."

If any of them had any doubts about the stupendous amount of funding and resources put into this extravagant design project, the individuals completely cleared them away!

Ves paid attention to other factors while the high-intensity duel continued to unfold before his eyes.

He had worked on the ARCEUS System for so long that he was highly familiar with the properties of both its full-sized and its down-sized version.

He knew that if the scale model was already capable of stripping the C-Man's resonance shield in so little time, the full version of the Mars Project could easily do the same to ten times as many expert mechs!

No low or mid-tier expert mech could survive getting attacked by the Mars Project for long! The ranged threat posed by this powerful machine exceeded that of the Amaranto!

Even high-tier expert mechs such as the dwarven Gatecrasher or the Planat Clan's Erin Tear would fall into a heavy disadvantage as their defenses wore out a lot faster than that of Venerable Reginald's new battle partner!

Ves returned his focus to the ongoing engagement. The C-Man may have lost its resonance shield, but its innovative TESMAS was currently energized in order to provide transphasic defenses to the beleaguered expert brawler mech.

While the other expert pilots looked surprised at how well the C-Man's smart armor system was holding up against the persistent ranged attacks of the scale model, Ves did not look surprised in the slightest.

As a transphasic defensive system, TESMAS possessed the right means to negate or at least mitigate the transphasic properties of the incoming energy beams.

"This confirms that the best way to fend off a transphasic attack is to rely on a transphasic means of defense." Ves murmured to himself

While TESMAS was not as phasewater-intensive as the Mars Project's Abasis Armor, with 5 kilograms of phasewater the smart armor was more than capable of neutralizing the most troublesome part about the ARCEUS System's energy attacks.

When Venerable Vincent noticed how the physical armor of his expert mech was holding up against the puny positron beams, he became a lot more optimistic about this fight!

"Haha! That's right! My TESMAS is better than my resonance shield! I can take whatever you can dish out as long as I have enough juice!"

Although the C-Man was consuming a large amount of energy in order to keep its TESMAS in its energized state, the defensive boost was so profound that Vincent fully regained his confidence!

The C-Man seemed to fly a little faster than before after that. It was as if Vincent's eagerness to close the distance literally caused his expert mech to fly faster for no reason!

As such, the distance between the two mismatched machines had closed to a point where the C-Man could finally pose a significant threat against the scale model.

"Take my stretchy fists!" Vincent roared!

A pair of arms launched forward and stretched so that they became increasingly longer and thinner.

Even though the fists grew smaller in the end, they were still more than large enough to land a pair of heavy blows on the scale model!

Bang! Bang!

The miniature version of the Mars Project remained unaffected due to its resonance shield, but its tiny scale meant that this protective cover quickly deteriorated after suffering another set of blows!

Soon enough, Patriarch Reginald was unable to count on this layer of projection.

"You're mine now!" Vincent crowed as his C-Man launched another pair of stretchy fists at the scale model.

Clang! Clang!

However, as soon as the smart metal fists smacked against the miniature mech's exterior, they bounced away as if they had hit an unbreakable wall.

"Huh?"

When the C-Man launched another set of attacks, the same result happened without any deviations.

The Abasis Armor was much stronger than TESMAS!

Even if the former was shrunk by 50 times this time, the fists formed out of the latter could not immediately overpower the scale model!

Venerable Vincent wasn't happy with this result, but that didn't mean he gave up. He knew that any form of defense would succumb as long as he continued his offensive.

"Take this, then!"

The C-Man continually stretched its arms in order to punch at a higher frequency.

While the scale model had never stopped firing back with its ARCEUS System, it was clear that its progress was not so great after bumping into the protective properties of TESMAS.

Patriarch Reginald decided that it was time to switch gears.

The scale model ceased to fire its powerful arsenal of transphasic energy weapons and readied its miniature axe and shotgun. The miniature mech subsequently proceeded to turn around so that it could get as close to the C-Man as possible!

Vincent grinned at the sight. "Welcome to papa, Reginald. You're mine as soon as you enter my range!"

He quickly commanded his C-Man to retract its stretchy limbs and prepare to fight a buzzing fly.

Yet before the expert brawler mech could launch a jab at the incoming scale model, the opposing machine let loose with a shotgun that fired a special transphasic slug that happened to slam into the head of the C-man!

"Ahhh!" Venerable Vincent cried out in pain as the simple attack actually cracked the non-TESMAS plating of the head of the C-Man!

The scale model's shotgun fired repeatedly at the C-Man at different components from different angles. Even though the shots weren't particularly large or heavy, their transphasic properties dealt surprisingly effective damage against the C-Man's TESMAS, thereby rapidly weakening the integrity of Venerable Vincent's armor coverage.

Even as the miniature Mars Project softened up the expert brawler mech at just outside the latter's optimal range, Patriarch Reginald also commanded his expert mech to swoop forward and land a nasty axe blow against the C-Man's vulnerabilities.

In contrast, Vincent's lack of skill relative to his experienced opponent meant that his tactics always failed while his opponent's moves consistently outplayed his own.

"This isn't fair!" The Larkinson expert mech pilot complained. "How am I supposed to compete against you when you are twice as old?"