The Mech Touch

While Ves and Gloriana were enjoying their time at the Masterwork Gallery, many other Larkinsons went on to play and work as well.

Chance Bay offered something for everyone as long as they had money. While there was not much to do for people with empty bank accounts, no Larkinson was short of money.

Although ordinary clansmen didn't earn any high salaries, they didn't really have an opportunity to spend that much while they lived aboard the Larkinson fleet.

There was no land for them to invest in real estate. Many daily necessities such as food, clothing and education were already provided by the clan by default.

Aside from the galactic net, Twilight City was the biggest money sink, and only a handful of clansmen had already squandered all of their cash. The overwhelming majority still had a lot of money piled up in their bank accounts which they could finally spend on offerings that were only available in the Red Ocean!

Vincent and Raella attended a series of matches at Fortas Major Arena, one of the largest and most professional mech arenas of Vulit XIV-B!

Both of them had become completely taken by the spectacle!

A crowd of millions of spectators roared their jubilation, anger and disappointment at the same time, yet despite all of the noise, none of it was overwhelming.

The main reason for that was because the arena encompassed an enormous volume!

Fortas Major centered around a single, massive space that measured 10 kilometers by 10 kilometers by 1 kilometer turned into an enclosed, shielded environment that could simulate all kinds of landbound, spaceborn and even aquatic environments!

There was so much space that the ticket holders could move their floating seats in any position they wanted in a wide area around the combat zone.

Those that wanted to group up did so by the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. Others who wanted to have a lot of room for themselves flew apart from everyone else.

The height and movement range of every floating seat was adjustable depending on the type of ticket bought by the occupant.

The most expensive tickets came paired with a host of benefits.

They allowed the ticket holder to fully unlock the speed of the seats, allowing them to zip from one angle to another angle in a matter of seconds.

They allowed the ticket holders to emerge from the side and float above the combat zone.

They also provided access to a large amount of combat telemetry. Mech designers and other knowledgeable people could figure out a lot of technical and tactical details from studying this data.

However, the most valuable benefit was the ability to simulate the cockpit and even the interfacing experience of one of the combatants!

Mech pilots flocked to this feature the most, as they could derive valuable lessons from how some of the best professional mech athletes and daring volunteers in Chance Bay accomplished their victories!

"I've been to a few mech arenas, but this is by far the largest and most overblown arena match I've witnessed in person!" Raella excitedly shouted.

Vincent, who sat next to her, nodded with gusto. "The clan patriarch would probably blow his head off at the thought of pitting so many landbound mechs against each other!"

The main match of the day centered around an enormous setpiece battle between two mech battalions numbering at 500 mechs per side.

Each of them fought a brutal, urban struggle as the battlefield had been changed into a simulated city, complete with trees, office buildings and shuttles.

The mech battalions generally received word of the battlefield environment in advance and were allowed to field a varied mix of mech models according to their own ideas.

Of course, Fortas Major Arena set hard limits on both the mechs and mech pilots of the participants.

The mech battalions couldn't field any first-class mechs or machines that were too far from the norm of a typical second-class mech.

They weren't allowed to assign any expert pilots or expert candidates to their mechs.

The total tonnage of all of their mechs could not exceed a maximum threshold. This was mainly used to prevent one side from spending a lot of money to field a whole heavy mech battalion so that they could win by brute force.

Most importantly, The overall performance of every mech had to be equalized in advance to present a fairer struggle between the two sides.

Second-class mechs were very varied in terms of combat power, tech level and so on. The machines designed to operate in the galactic rim of the old galaxy were generally weaker than that of the galactic heartland. Those from the galactic heartland also tended to fall short of those from the galactic center.

While there were arena matches where mechs with different power levels weren't equalized, the current setpiece battle was more about skill teamwork than technological prowess, so the machines couldn't diverge too much in terms of performance.

Neither Vincent nor Raella comprehended the tech and calculations behind this complicated procedure, but as mech pilots they could instinctively see that neither side possessed a significant advantage in terms of performance.

This made the match more exciting despite the vastly different origins between the two sides!

From the start of the battle, the mech battalions chose to adopt different strategies.

One side favored a slower, more centralized and more defensive approach. A force makeup that largely consisted of landbound mechs with a focus on knight mechs and rifleman mechs advanced straight into the center of the city district before setting up fortifications with the help of auxiliary construction mechs.

While the light skirmishers and aerial mechs of both sides had already begun to clash against each other, the defensive battalion already began to deconstruct the surrounding urban structures so that they could erect a hasty fortification with local materials in a matter of minutes!

"Those construction mechs are actually quite impressive!" Vincent admiringly said.

In his former career as a rebel, he fought plenty of rough and messy battles on land. He knew the importance of commanding and controlling the terrain.

The ability to enter a foreign city and build an extensive fortress in the field by taking advantage of local resources was a powerful capability!

While the short duration of this arena match limited how extensively these construction bots could transform the environment, they pursued extreme speed as they piled up materials after materials into rough walls and bunkers.

"I could see the Living Sentinels adopting this strategy in the field one day. It certainly fits their style." Raella said with an intrigued expression. "I'll refer this match to Commander Casella Ingvar so she can watch the footage."

"I don't know, babe. Aren't we supposed to be sticking to battles in space?"

"We're in the Red Ocean now, Vincent. A lot of valuable resources and other stuff are located on planets. Are we just going to give up on all of that bounty? I think not. Our clan will begin to fight battles on land sooner than later. Though many of our space-capable mechs can moonlight as aerial mechs, sometimes they're not heavy and sturdy enough for the job."

The Larkinson Clan fought in space so many times that many clansmen slowly forgot what it took to win a battle on solid ground.

"Well, let's hope that Ves and the other clan leaders don't neglect this issue." Vincent said as he focused his attention back on the enormous arena match.

The couple didn't have the money to purchase the most expensive tickets. Both of them were already content with being able to witness the battle from the sides at various elevations.

Compared to the defensive mech battalion, the opposition mech battalion did not think about digging in. It adopted a more offensive posture by fielding a mech roster that heavily emphasized melee mechs.

"They're clearly set up to launch an assault." Raella commented. "Their commander is being too careful, though. Their mechs are still stationed in the periphery of the battlefield. The longer they dawdle there, the more their opponents build up their fortifications."

"It's not their fault, though. The defenders deployed more light mechs that are successfully preventing the enemy scouts from gathering crucial clues. The thing about assaults is that you have to launch them at the right moment at the right time. You don't want them to stab in the wrong direction."

That caution was understandable but it was the wrong decision this time.

Still, the commander of the assault battalion began to develop suspicions. The opposition expended too much effort in stopping scout mechs from scoping out their targets.

When he ordered a mech regiment to bulldoze through the opposition of light and aerial mechs, the truth finally became clear.

"Advance!"

The assault battalion had to move quickly in order to prevent the defending side from accruing an even greater advantage!

This was where the real fight began.

Explosions rippled throughout the massive urban battlefield as ranged mechs and artillery mechs from both sides tried to eliminate each other.

The defensive battalion possessed an advantage in this aspect. It fielded more artillery mechs which were armed with weapons capable of indirect fire. This meant that their cannons and missiles weren't hindered by the urban sprawl as they could be launched at a high angle only to fall down on top of enemy positions!

This presented the assault battalion with immediate difficulties as they encountered heavy shelling!

In response, the attackers brought forth their own auxiliary mechs, which mostly specialized in electronic warfare. They not only deployed arrays that erected heavy jamming fields, but also fired smoke grenades that threw up so much interference in the surrounding air that most sensors became scrambled!

Of course, the arena spectators still enjoyed a completely clear view. The arena utilized much more powerful tech to ensure the audience wouldn't be looking at a smoke cloud all day.

The defensive side did not have access to that tech, though. Their landbound and aerial light skirmishers were no longer able to transmit accurate targeting data to their artillery buddies.

The only way for them to do their jobs was to get close and overpower the interference through brute force!

Many of the light mechs and aerial mechs belonging to the defending side pushed forward. They entered the interfering smoke clouds and took considerable risks to perform their duty.

The attackers heavily punished them now that they had become a lot more vulnerable!

This pattern continued for a few minutes as the assault battalion continued to endure heavy but more inaccurate bombardment.

Even if the explosions didn't hit any mechs, they still cratered the surrounding terrain.

Any mech that fell in battle during this time became surrounded by strong energy fields. Many different safety measures ensured that the mech pilots would always be able to leave the arena alive.

Nonetheless, the battle had already turned tragic as the assault battalion lost fifteen percent of their number in order to get close.

Once the attackers reached the improvised fortification, the real battle had begun!

A grand melee ensued as mechs fired back at the advancing melee mechs.

The attackers dealt with the fortification in different ways.

Some attempted to circle around and put pressure on the rear.

Some launched head-on attacks and focused on breaching the walls before breaking through.

The lighter assault mechs that either possessed flight or jumping capabilities hopped over the obstacles in order to cause disruption from within.

It became clear that the defensive walls weren't actually that good at stopping enemy mechs due to the hasty preparations and limitations of the construction materials.

Nonetheless, it was still a chore to deal with them, and they blocked enough ranged attacks to make the rifleman mechs of the attacking side less effective.

Eventually, the defenders managed to make good enough use of their fortifications to whittle down the assault battalions.

Though the latter's melee mechs were hard to deal with up close, all of the walls in their way broke up their formation and prevented them from employing their most preferred tactical maneuvers.

Both Vincent and Raella kept reliving the most exciting moments of the massive arena match as the battlefield was being reset. All of the wreckage was being moved underground.

Meanwhile, the arena grounds morphed into a low-gravity moon environment that was about to play host to a smaller duel.

It turned out that the entire ground terrain consisted of extremely strong nanomachines. This allowed the arena to easily melt and rearrange all of the structures and terrain features into a different simulated battlefield!

As the pair of Larkinsons waited for the next battle to start, Vincent suddenly came up with an interesting suggestion.

"Hey, do you think it's a good idea for us to fight in a setpiece battle like this?" He asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you noticed that the two mech battalions weren't professional mech athletes? I just read up on them and it turns out that they're part of different pioneering fleets. Any pioneer can volunteer their combat units to take part in matches like these!"

That did sound interesting, but when Raella thought of all of the mechs that wrecked during the battle, she became a lot less enthusiastic about Vincent's suggestion.

"It's too costly. Ves would never agree to take part in such a wasteful spectacle." She replied.

"You can win prizes! Look, the top contestants can even obtain brand new carrier vessels if they score high enough!"

"What?!"

That certainly caught Raella's attention!