The Mech Touch

Whenever the expert pilots of the expeditionary fleet sought to polish their skills, they challenged each other in practice bouts.

While none of these fights were safe, expert pilots generally possessed a high degree of control over their own power exertion.

As long as they fought to practice their skills rather than beat each other into submission, these high-energy sparring sessions generally did not compromise the integrity of the expert mechs beyond the usual signs of wear and tear.

This was an acceptable price to pay in order to provide the expert pilots of the Golden Skull Alliance more realistic combat experience.

Today, the members of the Golden Skull Alliance enjoyed multiple good shows as the strongest mechs in the fleet displayed their capabilities.

The Dark Zephyr exhibited both its speed and its elusiveness.

The Minerva demonstrated its grasp over the battlefield.

The First Sword proved its unparalleled control.

The Blade Chaser showed off a hint of the unlocked potential of its expert pilot.

The Shield of Samar exercised its relatively new gravity control.

The Amphis reminded everyone that older expert mechs were powerful as well.

The performance of every expert mech inspired a lot of confidence in the spectators. This was because the expert pilots controlling the machines showed several signs of improvement.

They grew in strength and skill. They became more adept at responding to different threats. They also unveiled new techniques that took greater advantage of their talents and the special features of their expert mechs.

However, the practice bout that everyone had been waiting for had yet to start!

The participating expert mechs had only just deployed in space after the two expert space knights had their turn.

"Who do you think will win this time?"

"It's hard to say. This is a lopsided fight from the beginning. This is a three-against-one fight."

"Yeah. The outnumbered expert mech will definitely win."

"Are you kidding? Have some faith in our expert mechs, man! They're not regular machines. Not only are they all alive, two out of three of them are masterworks! Our expert mechs are already strong in a duel. Think of what they can do when they fight alongside each other. The combination of their powers and abilities will definitely shake their next opponent!"

"I'm not too sure about that…"

Plenty of observers got into an argument about who would win the much-anticipated confrontation. It was as if they were discussing a high-profile arena match rather than a simple sparring session!

The people in the fleet even started to bet on the matches.

Which side would win?

Which expert mech would get taken out of the fight first?

Which mech would show the most distinctive abilities?

A lot of officers and leaders became exasperated as their people spent more time on calculating their bets than their routine duties!

It couldn't be helped. A handful of the greatest mechs of the Golden Skull Alliance were about to square off against each other. A bout with this combination of expert mechs had never occurred before!

The Larkinson expert mechs flew out first.

"The Amaranto!"

Although Venerable Davia Stark was just a guest pilot who had always made it clear that she was not a part of the clan, it was undeniable that she played a key role in past battles.

While multiple expert ranged mechs had emerged since then, the Amaranto had always retained the crown as the most precise and deadly long-ranged combat unit in the fleet.

"The Everchanger!"

Venerable Joshua and his expert mech had gradually showcased what they were capable of when paired together. Both of them were so versatile that they had taken part in numerous different initiatives.

People often considered the Everchanger as the expert mech that best represented the Larkinsons. Its lively aura along with its excellent embrace of multiple glows had cemented its place as the standard bearer of its clan!

Compared to the enthusiasm directed towards the two masterwork expert mechs, the third machine to emerge in space attracted less attention.

"That's the Riot."

As one of the few non-masterwork expert mechs in the Larkinson Clan, the expert spearman mech never attracted as much admiration or appreciation.

Even among its peers, Venerable Rosa Orfan's personal machine was distinctly underwhelming.

The Dark Zephyr stood out due to its dazzling mobility and odd prime abilities while the First Sword displayed a lot more combat power than usual due to the excellent skill of its expert pilot.

In comparison, the Riot never displayed any flashy performance.

Venerable Orfan's skill was great relative to ordinary mech pilots, but it was nothing special when compared to the likes of Venerable Dise.

The Riot was designed to be a tenacious mech, but its defenses couldn't come close to matching that of the Shield of Samar.

Its mobility and offensive characteristics were relatively average, but that made the Riot even more invisible when standing alongside its more extreme and specialized peers.

The relatively 'balanced' Riot couldn't even match the versatility of the Everchanger.

With all of these factors, it was no surprise that the Riot became the underdog among its peers.

As the Riot followed after the Amaranto and the Everchanger, its expert pilot did not show any signs of discouragement.

"This is my moment." She whispered to her expert mech. "We have both improved after we fought against the dwarves. The performance we've shown back then is no longer reflective of our current strength. Let's show these doubters that we can hold our own in the Larkinson Clan!"

Pure fighting intent welled up in her mind as she became eager to challenge herself against her upcoming opponent!

"You too, Qilanxo! Let's prove to Jannzi that you can do more than put up shields!"

One of the more unusual traits about the Riot was that it was being watched over by an unexpected design spirit.

Spearman mechs were usually offensive in nature so it seemed like a mistake to pair the Riot with the most defensive design spirit available.

Venerable Orfan intended to prove that the Riot and all of its facets were just right!

She simply failed to make the most out of her expert mech's features in previous engagements.

As the Larkinson expert mechs reached their position in space, everyone waited for the sole opposition to arrive.

"He's coming!"

A powerful expert mech shot out of one of the hangar bays of the Hemmington Cross!

The expert mech soared towards the rendez-vous point with greater speed than was typical for medium expert mechs!

The mech became more formidable as it accelerated. No one in its way would be able to remain calm if they were tasked with confronting this powerful machine.

The Bolvos Rage was the only high-tier expert mech in the Golden Skull Alliance!

When paired with an expert pilot that had gotten stuck in the bottleneck to ace pilot, the expert hybrid mech was a killing machine beyond comparison!

The Crosser expert mech stopped in front the three Larkinson expert mechs. Its presence quickly pressed against the combined auras of its upcoming opponents.

Patriarch Reginald Cross cracked his neck as he studied the mechs he was about to fight. He had to admit that each of these 'living' mechs possessed a lot more charm and personality than the ones in his own clan.

He felt more justified in requesting the cooperation of the Larkinsons to develop his next expert mech.

After a long period of waiting, his future expert mech was finally being developed. It would not take long before he would have to retire his trusty and dependable Bolvos Rage.

"You have done good, my mech." Reginald affectionately said. "Let us hope you can hold out for your last months in service."

There was still a chance that the expeditionary fleet might get embroiled in other battles, so Patriarch Reginald wanted to make sure his piloting skills remained sharp in case he needed to get serious.

"Come on, Larkinsons! Show me what you have learned since your last fight! Make it difficult for me. The more strength you display, the more I will be able to enjoy this session!"

The Bolvos Rage glowed red as its powerful expert pilot became stimulated!

His formidable force of will quickly resonated with the expert hybrid mech, causing an extremely strong resonance shield to appear.

Not only that, but his rising battle intent directly pressed upon the battle wills of his three opponents!

Venerable Joshua and Venerable Orfan grimaced as they found it hard to maintain their composure in the face of such a strong warrior.

"It's almost like confronting Saint Yila Mayorka!"

There was a huge gap in strength between Patriarch Reginald Cross and an actual ace pilot, but it was already impressive for the former to acquire a shadow of the latter!

Patriarch Reginald's willpower was so thick, strong and developed that it had almost grown solid as far as the Larkinson expert mechs were concerned!

Only Venerable Stark was able to keep her cool in the face of this overwhelming threat. She possessed a fearless attitude in the face of larger and more overwhelming threats.

How could she ever hope to challenge the Big Two and all of those alien empires if she allowed herself to get intimidated by their might?

She disregarded Patriarch Reginald's intimidating power and moved her Amaranto backwards.

"I am moving into position!"

Her expert mech did not belong at the front! The Amaranto did not have the benefit of incorporating Unending alloy nor enjoyed the luxury of a more expensive and high-end armor system like the one that protected the Minerva.

It was by far the most fragile expert mech in the expeditionary fleet. Though Patriarch Ves already promised to address this shortcoming in a future revision, it would still a lot of time before the Amaranto gained a lot of toughness.

Until then, Venerable Stark had to pay careful attention to incoming attacks and make sure her expert mech had its resonance shield up at all times.

The Everchanger and the Riot also prepared for battle.

Venerable Orfan was able to regain her composure fairly quickly due to her challenging mindset and her veteran mindset.

Venerable Joshua took the longest to shake himself out of daze. He had been more affected by Patriarch Reginald's hostile posture than he should, and this was definitely a problem that he intended to address once he got back!

"Joshua, keep your distance for now." Venerable Orfan said. "Let me block Reginald's way first. You should try to circle around and harass his rear whenever possible."

This was a decent plan but only if the Riot could block the Bolvos Rage.

"Are you sure, Rosa?"

The former Flagrant Vandal officer smirked. "I'm a big girl, Joshua. I can handle myself. The Bolvos Rage isn't a pure melee machine anyway."

"Okay. Good luck, then."

Once the Everchanger opened distance and flew around, the Riot and the Bolvos Rage only paused a few seconds before they both converged on each other!

The Crosser expert mech had already opened fire with its integrated energy weapons, but the Riot's blue resonance shield unexpectedly endured the heavy barrage quite well!

"It will take more than that to break my defenses!"

When the two expert mechs finally struck with their melee weapons, the Riot actually gained the upper hand this time!

Even though the Riot's comprehensive performance was worse, it was a dedicated melee mech that had the advantage of greater reach!

Before the Bolvos Rage managed to inflict damage, the Riot's spear stabbed first and struck with greater momentum than normal!

Combined with the fact that the two expert mechs charged against each other, the physical force of this blow was not light!

The Bolvos Rage's advance had already stagnated, causing its axe strike to deal less damage than it should.

This was quite good as it allowed the Riot's recently-stressed resonance shield to regain cohesion!

The two mechs subsequently proceeded to clash against each other.

Although Patriarch Reginald wanted to take out the Amaranto and the Everchanger first, he recognized that he wouldn't be able to get to them as long as this stubborn expert spearman mech kept nipping at its heels!

"I will force you back first!"