The Mech Touch

Almost everyone reacted with shock at this explosive outcome!

Many people still hadn't gotten caught up by the fact that the Fey Fianna managed to gain the upper hand in the final stage of the battle.

In a situation where the drone mechs suffered clear elemental disadvantages and was unable to inflict enough burst damage to overcome the fast-charging energy shields for long, a lot of people assumed that the Fey Fianna would suffer a slow and ignoble defeat.

What happened was pretty much the opposite to their expectations!

Whether the decision made by the mech pilots of the Nelerat Mark I had been a mistake or not, from the moment the defensive rifleman mechs crossed the length of the massive arena, they had made themselves vulnerable to a surprise fey rush!

Yes, a fey rush!

No one expected the fey to have the power to physically overpower and push down other mechs.

Such a tactic had never taken place before, at least to the spectators who managed to witness this unique and remarkable occurrence!

The spurs of other drone mechs were normally a lot smaller than the fey, and lacked the thrust power to perform this kind of feat.

This did not apply to the fey, which were not only larger than almost every other spur, but possessed a relatively high thrust-to-weight ratio!

After all, the fey needed to accelerate fast enough to perform agile maneuvers and keep up with frequent changes on the battlefield.

A single fey did not have the strength to overpower a mech, but what about 12 fey?

It didn't matter if these fey were never designed to entrap mechs with their physical forms!

As long as they worked together in unison, they could physically overpower any mech so long as they were not too strong!

It just so happened that the Nelerat Mark I's were neither physically powerful nor possessed a lot of thrust power.

The local gravity of Bortele III also became a hindrance to the defensive rifleman mech.

While the Nelerat Mark I was designed to carry around a lot of excess armor, its mobility clearly took a massive hit when carrying such a great burden.

This was also an important reason why the 4 Nelerat Mark I's built their temporary fortification right away. None of the machines wanted to straighten their flight systems just to deploy their external armor plates at another location.

In any case, as soon as the first Nelerat Mark I succumbed to this surprise tactic, the match had already been decided.

The remaining three Nelerats did not pose enough of a threat to take down the three Fey Fiannas quickly, even if the latter had sent away their feys.

The adaptive modular armor systems of the drone mechs had done their jobs admirably. The mechs may have been losing modular armor plates left and right, but so long as there was a decent supply of them, they could last long enough to protect the absolutely vital weak points!

The results became abundantly clear. The Fey Fiannas completely abandoned their previous combat approach and turned into berserkers that fearlessly charged the defensive rifleman mechs that had little to no ability to defend themselves at close range.

Even though the Nelerat Mark I possessed many good qualities, the realities of second-class mech design meant that Master Kreshnik was unable to make them competent in melee combat with the design budget that he had set.

The audience cheered at the courage shown by the Fey Fiannas. They became amazed at how the fey were able to suppress the Nelerats one by one.

When the Fey Fiannas finally struck down the final Nelerat without losing a single mech or fey, even the most critical observer could not deny that the latest product of the LMC had won a clear and decisive victory!

An unconventional win, but one that did not violate the terms of the challenge match!

Master Aulaus Kreshnik's failed to control his expression for a few seconds. He looked as if he could not accept that his Nelerats had actually lost in such an absurd fashion.

He could accept that his Nelerats would lose by getting outgunned by all of the fey.

He could not accept that his proud rifleman mechs lost by getting pressed onto the ground by a swarm of fey!

Ves looked completely different from his older rival. The grin on his face made it look as if he had just witnessed a well-laid plan coming together.

Master Kreshnik finally turned to Ves with a look that made it clear that he found it hard to accept this unexpected reality.

He never expected that his mechs would make fools of themselves when he issued his challenge!

If he knew that the Fey Fiannas could fight like scoundrels, he would have tried to market his incomplete mech design in a more traditional fashion!

The older man eventually made a wry smile and stretched out his hand. "Good fight. Your mechs have performed... admirably. Your Fey Fiannas deserve this victory."

Ves smiled back as he accepted the gesture and shook hands with the Master Mech Designer.

"Thank you, Master. Your mechs are quite impressive as well. Their ability to fight a battle of attrition is exceptional. I wish I had access to the tech that you have managed to stuff inside the Nelerats. The ability to fill up gaps in the armor and rely on energy shields that keep returning to full capacity is useful in many situations."

Master Kreshnik's mood lightened a bit after Ves praised his characteristic energy shields.

"If you wish to make use of my fast-regenation energy shields in your future mech designs, you are welcome to call me. We can always come to an arrangement."

"Perhaps I will take you up on your offer."

Not likely. Fast-regeneration energy shields were primarily useful in battles between small craft and so on. The predominant trend at the moment was battles between human mechs and alien warships. Many people would much prefer to gain a more powerful defensive barrier that might only be relevant once per fight.

As the referees officially confirmed that the Fey Fianna had won the challenge match in a fair and legitimate fashion, Ves felt relieved.

No matter how the remaining challenge matches unfolded, Ves could at least point to a single victory to prove that his Fey Fianna line was not weak.

"Did you plan this tactic in advance?" Master Kreshnik asked as couldn't hold in his curiosity.

"It is one of multiple contingency plans." Ves responded. "There are multiple ways for the battle to unfold. If your Nelerats chose to stay in place, my Fey Fiannas probably would have moved closer on their own initiative. There's no way that my mechs should allow your Nelerats to keep buffering a lot of damage with the help of their fast-regenerating energy shields."

Master Kreshnik shrugged. "My Nelerats relied so much on their energy shields that they expended a large amount of energy in the process. It is not out of the realm of possibility for my mechs to run out of energy first."

"I know, but I don't know how many energy cells you have put inside your defensive rifleman mech, and I am not familiar with their individual qualities either. My Fey Fiannas could not afford to bet on the uncertain possibility that they could actually win a battle of attrition against mechs that already excel on this front. It is just better to bite the bullet and charge forward in order to take advantage of their superior combat performance at close range."

"And use all of those fey to physically bully my Nelerats?"

Ves chuckled at that. "How could my mech pilots possibly resist? None of my Fey Fiannas are eager to chase after fleeing rifleman mechs. Even if your Nelerats are not as fast, the difference in mobility is not too great, which means that your products can stay out of knife stabbing range for quite a while. That will give your other rifleman mechs a lot of time to take potshots at my mechs."

Anyone listening to his explanation would think that using a lot of fey to mob the Nelerats was the most logical course of action to take.

The Fey were faster, more maneuverable and just powerful enough to press down the defensive rifleman mechs if they all worked together.

Even though Master Kreshnik was able to follow Ves' logic, he still felt this entire situation had turned into a farce!

"I think your Nelerats have impressed plenty of people." Ves told his challenger. "They dominated most of the match. So many potential customers have witnessed their excellence in defensive warfare and attrition warfare that I wouldn't be surprised if they have made inquiries at your mech company. Your work isn't to blame for the loss. If our mechs were fighting against each other in an unrestricted space environment, then your Nelerats would have been able to move much more freely in battle."

That eased Kreshnik's frustrations.

Ves was right. The limitations of Phoca Arena prevented the Nelerats from using their mobility and their advantage in ranged combat to the fullest.

Of course, the same could be said for the Fey Fiannas as well.

None of that was relevant at the moment. Both sides agreed to hold the challenge match in Phoca Arena under normal conditions. It was only natural for them to prep their mechs to fight in a way that best matched the conditions at hand.

Whether deliberately or not, the relative passiveness of the Fey Fiannas during most of the fight had given the Nelerats ample time to showcase their strengths.

Master Kreshnik and his mech company did not really lose out at all. The mark of defeat might stain the Nelerat Mark I to an extent, but the huge increase in publicity and brand awareness more than made up for this demerit!

His powerful mind was already hard at work. He planned to rush his mech design to completion based on the final 'tests' of his prototype mechs. At the same time, Pritchard & Terse should get ready to mass produce a lot of copies of the finalized version of his proud new mech design!

The Master Mech Designer shook hands with Ves one final time.

"Very good. You are a more interesting mech designer than I thought. I hope I will meet you again in the future. I will leave you to face your remaining challenges. Good luck with them. I hope your Fey Fianna model will overcome the other works. I do not want to see an outcome where my Nelerat Mark I is the only product that has lost against your work."

"Hehehehe. You don't need to worry about that. My Fey Fiannas have plenty of fight left in them. They have surprises that they have yet to reveal during the last fight."

"Oh? Your Fey Fiannas were holding back? I do not know whether to feel glad or insulted."

Ves shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

Master Kreshnik finally floated away after a few more minutes of chatting.

As Ves waited for his next challenger, he still thought back on the previous match.

The fight had been incredibly fulfilling for Ves. He was proud to see his products succeed in a difficult circumstance, and he was even more glad to see that so many viewers genuinely appreciated the Fey Fianna.

His mechs existed to be used in battle. They were not toys or display models. They were not tech demos that solely existed to show off fanciful new technological applications.

They existed to fight, and they fulfilled their primary purpose in a beautiful fashion today.

"The next match is going to be different."

Ves wasn't sure what he was thinking when he accepted a challenge from a mech designer who presented a melee mech, but now that he had reached this point, he could do little else but root for his living mechs.