The Mech Touch

The Quizlam desperation attack most definitely spelled the end of all of their aerial light skirmishers, but the price was worth it as long as they could destroy all of the Transcendent Punishers!

The heavy artillery mechs had long turned into one of the most hated and detested machines in the eyes of the Quizlam mech pilots.

Against almost every opponent they fought against, they indulged in their ability to harass and torment their targets with little concern for retaliation.

While there were enemies that possessed sufficiently advanced and powerful detection measures, the Larkinsons clearly didn't employ any of that technology.

Even if they did, the Quizlam still had ways to reduce the effectiveness of many detection measures. This kind of fight was their home ground.

The Transcendent Punishers on the other hand detected the position of the Quizlam mechs through completely different principles!

There was no familiar tech for the Quizlams to fight against. All of their solutions were rendered ineffective against the mysterious method used to expose their hidden positions.

This was why the Quizlam Battalion went against its nature and launched a suicidal, all-out strike!

It was not common for the Quizlams to resort to such measures. They were accustomed to building up advantages on the battlefield before they slowly collected another win. In no way did they ever prefer to fight hard and tough battles like neanderthals.

To be driven up to this point showed how much the Larkinsons had driven the Quizlams up the wall!

As the smoke finally settled, the results of the suicidal assassination strikes finally became clear.

None of the Quizlam light skirmishers survived.

The Transcendent Punishers didn't look much better off either.

Many Larkinson mech pilots became dismayed as they saw that the violent explosions had ruined the Transcendent Punishers they had been tasked with protecting.

Many of the heavy frames of the artillery mechs collapsed onto the ground as their legs could no longer keep their torso aloft.

The detonations that tore through the relatively thinner rear armor of the Transcendent Punishers dealt the most effective damage. All of that heavy plating was unable to resist all of the powerful forces.

The Transcendent Punishers that got attacked by multiple Quizlam light skirmishers incurred the most damage. In some cases, large sections of their ruined frames were torn apart from the explosions!

"My mech is still operational!"

Yet much to the relief of the Larkinsons, not every Quizlam mech fulfilled its mission!

The Ylvainan artillery mechs were partially designed to engage in artillery duels against their enemy counterparts. This meant that their frontal armor was much thicker and more able to resist the sort of heavy impacts that enemy artillery mechs unleashed.

"How many Transcendent Punishers are still operational?"

"Four… maybe five! Two of them are rendered immobile while all of them have suffered varying degrees of armor breaches. They're vulnerable to follow-up attacks, commander."

"Then do your best to guard them and prevent the remaining Quizlams from aggravating their injuries."

Additional Larkinson mechs converged on the surviving Transcendent Punishers. Even though this was an excessive measure, the sheer amount of physical obstacles surrounding the precious machines successfully prevented the remaining Quizlam ranged mechs from finishing the job!

Now that the Quizlam Battalion had sacrificed so many mechs, the Larkinsons were no longer under as much pressure as before.

Commander Casella felt a little pained after seeing how many Transcendent Punishers meet their end, but she comforted herself with the fact that none of them were blown to pieces.

"The downed machines can still be restored."

It would take a lot of work as the mechs needed to be disassembled almost entirely in order to replace every damaged component, but one day the Transcendent Punishers would rise again!

The rest of the battle unfolded with little suspense. The Quizlam had less than 200 mechs left while the Larkinsons still retained most of their battle strength!

Sure, they were down a lot of Transcendent Punishers, but they still had enough left to perform triangulation on all of the enemy positions!

The mechs of the Swordmaidens and the Avatars of Myth completely surrounded the surviving heavy artillery mechs. Their protective formations were so dense and exaggerated that not a single hidden mech could squeeze through!

All of this protection left the Flagrant Vandals and the Penitent Sisters free to pursue their prey. Their Valkyrie Redeemer and Ferocious Piranha mechs only needed to wait until they received the right data in order for them to hunt down the fragile Quizlam mechs!

Seeing that their remaining ranged mechs were being picked apart one by one, the Quizlam's desperately gathered them together in order to repel the Vandals and Sisters with massed firepower, but that just made it easier for the Larkinsons to mop them all up at once!

"Hahaha! Who do you think you are?! You're nowhere close to the Ginetzys when it comes to intercepting our mechs!"

The final stand of the Quizlam Battalion ended in disgrace for the masters of electronic warfare. Even if they brought twice as much ranged mechs, the charging Larkinson mechs would have still been able to crush them! They just had to spend a little more time and lose a bit more mechs in that case.

Fortunately for the Larkinsons, the Quizlam Battalion was a spent force at this stage. Their ranged mechs were all sitting ducks against direct assaults and they could no longer call upon any melee mechs to fend off all of the Valkyrie Redeemers and Ferocious Piranhas.

The audience had become completely convinced of the Larkinson Battalion's victory. Though the Quizlam had managed to land at least a single punch against their opponents, the match had utterly showcased how dramatically they collapsed when their advantages no longer existed.

The Larkinsons were quite happy in the end. Not only did their battalion become the undisputed winner of Group A, they also preserved most of their mechs in the final match of the round.

Furthermore, they developed a new and easy method to counter other enemies like the Quizlam Battalion!

All of the arena battles fought by the Larkinsons taught the clan how to deal against a myriad of opponents that they might face in the future. It was better to be confronted with the unusual tech and strategies that human forces employed in a safe and controlled environment than be confronted by them in the wild!

"It's over, now." Commander Casella smiled as she observed her men celebrating their guaranteed advance into the second round!

The G-Aena League soon confirmed the results. Since the Larkinson Battalion was the only one in Group A to win all of its matches, there was no reason to stop them from entering the second round.

Only a tiny incident occurred when the Quizlam Battalion disputed this verdict and brought forward allegations of cheating. The Quizlams claimed that the Larkinsons broke the rules by utilizing mechs that contained additional detection systems.

Inspectors briefly arrived and inspected the wrecked and damaged Transcendent Punishers but didn't find any extra components that weren't supposed to be present.

In fact, the tournament organizers had fully kept track of every single mech inside the premises of the Fortas Major Arena. Nothing could be hidden from their absurdly effective monitoring system. How could they not know that the Transcendent Punishers were exactly the same as when they were initially checked and given seals of approval?

While it was undeniable that the Larkinson heavy artillery mechs possessed extra capabilities that were disproportionately effective, it did not break the rules.

Perhaps future tournaments might look into adjusting them, but for now the Larkinsons were fielding mechs that were roughly as strong and valuable as those deployed by the other battalions.

That meant there were no grounds to the complaint!

"The decision stands. The Larkinson Battalion shall advance to the second round."

Although this dispute didn't go public, there were plenty of knowledgeable mech insiders who realized that the Larkinson mechs were more effective than normal. Their technical performance was relatively plain given their construction, but their 'glows' and other capabilities made a lot of observers think.

The Larkinson Battalion had to wait a couple of days for Group B, C and D to present their own winners. Once the first round concluded, the semifinals would begin soon enough.

In the meantime, the Larkinsons took advantage of the spare time available to analyze their possible opponents and refine their battle methods based off the lessons they learned in the previous matches.

"The likely winners of the other groups such as the Zpoeze Battalion aren't as easy to exploit as the Quizlam Battalion." Director Raella told Commander Casella during one of their free days. "In fact, the first round is meant to filter out these mech forces that have clear weaknesses that are not that difficult to exploit. Whoever emerges from the other three groups are not only strong, but adaptable."

"We shall just have to defeat them up front, then."

"Indeed. That will be costly, though. The good news is that we only have to fight two more matches. If we can win our next round, then we'll have at least 20 combat carriers in the bag no matter whether we win or lose the finals."

Casella frowned at the trueblood Larkinson's words. "You're talking as if we don't have much of a chance to win the finals, Raella."

"Hey, I don't want to set your expectations too high. The Zpoeze Battalion are the well-deserved favorites to win the tournament. I've taken a look at their match history and I can't imagine the pussies will falter against their last opponent. You better pray to Ylvaine that we don't fight them in the second round."

The Sentinel Commander had to admit that the Zpoeze Battalion indeed deserved to be feared. Their mechs might not be extravagant for this tournament, but they were powerful and difficult to deal with in their own way.

What really caused the Zpoezers to stand out was their mech pilots!

Even though they were restricted to fielding mostly regular mech pilots, each of them were highly augmented and extremely skilled. Their training was on another level and that showed in both their superior coordination and their stronger individual battle prowess.

"Let's wait until we know who we need to beat in order to advance to the third and final round."

When the winner of Group D was finally settled, the tournament finally entered a more exciting phase!

[What an exciting day! After several days of thrilling battles and moments of excitement, we have finally determined the matchups for the second round!]

Before the announcer unveiled the schedule for the next two days, he first reiterated the four battalions that had managed to rise above their former competitors.

[Rising up from Group A is the fresh and thundering Larkinson Battalion! Having risen from the edge of the old galaxy, this upstart has already shown they have the capital to compete in the Red Ocean. Their living mechs with their unusual glows are nothing that we have ever seen before. The G-Aena League is grateful for the variety they bring to our competition. You never know what to expect from their unfathomable mechs!]

The Larkinsons might not have made the strongest impression, but their mechs had already attracted a lot of fans.

[The Aventine Herman Battalion has managed to fight its way through Group B. Although the Aventiners only have 2 wins under their name, they have dealt with strong opposition in every match. With their military background, they are certainly the toughest opponents to fight against in a frontal battle.]

The Aventiners were not as exciting as the Larkinsons, but their mechs and mech pilots were extremely solid.

[I don't think I need to say anything further about the Zpoeze Battalion. The rest of Group C served as window dressing for the only centrist battalion. Let us hope that their subsequent opponent will put more resistance against the Zpoezers.]

The Zpoeze Battalion did not actually attract that many cheers. They were faintly painted as the villains in the narrative of the G-Aena League. It didn't help that their mech pilots were stoic, quiet and utterly unsociable. Sometimes, people had the illusion that the Zpoezers had more in common with aliens rather than humans!

[Finally, we have the outspoken Glory of Urthina Battalion. Although they have also suffered a loss, their two victories were so dominant that the tie-breaker rules clearly put the Urthinans ahead of the other battalions in Group D. As the elites fighting on behalf of the Church of Urthina, these faith warriors have shown more courage and fervor in battle than any other mech pilot!]

The Glory of Urthina Battalion was made out of religious nuts. The fanatic mech pilots not only dressed and acted strangely, they also expressed intense devotion towards their goddess.

[Without any further ado, here are the matchups for the semifinals!]

[LARKINSON BATTALION VS GLORY OF URTHINA BATTALION]

[AVENTINE HERMAN BATTALION VS ZPOEZE BATTALION]

Cheers immediately erupted among the Larkinsons!

"Yes!"

"Thank Ylvaine!"

"It's been a while since we've beaten up some cultists."

"We won't face the pussies until we reach the finals!"

Of the three possible opponents for the second round, the Glory of Urthina Battalion was one of the more manageable opponents!

While the Urthinans weren't weak, at least they had shown that they could still be defeated!