What's Junk? (The Mech Touch)

[Simonbob]

Basically the mech designs combined wrestling and luchador history into some sort of story-driven mech battles. The designs alone were absolutely spectacular visually. They weren't actually that practical mind you, but that wasn't the point. Bolt found himself liking it, and Lilly loved it. They both loved it enough to contact the organizers and speak with them briefly.

A bit of back and forth, and all of the sudden both Bolt and Lilly had VIP access in exchange for a few favors and being involved in one of their plotlines. It was just a bit hilarious really, which was a welcome change from the irritation of their latest problems. Lilly didn't even mind she didn't get to pilot!

Click to shrink...

I'm just thinking about all those poor spies and killers, chasing them through World Wide Meching, while a bunch of friendly mercs wander off with their plot.


Sad.

 

[Artemis_Fowl_2nd]

I wonder at the level of security bundled with being a mech luchador side character. Imagine some poor spy having to infiltrate the ring, ridiculous costumes and everything

 

[TheDerangedOne]

Basically the mech designs combined wrestling and luchador history into some sort of story-driven mech battles. The designs alone were absolutely spectacular visually. They weren't actually that practical mind you, but that wasn't the point. Bolt found himself liking it, and Lilly loved it. They both loved it enough to contact the organizers and speak with them briefly.

Click to shrink...

I keep thinking "Mecha ¡Mucha Lucha!" but then I keep getting side tracked on how they'd manage to pull off The Pulverizing Pinball. ... which depends entirely on how easy it is to make the pilot cockpit a launchable gyroscope stabilized ball.
... Granted there's far easier 'signature moves' from the show than Rikochet's ... Actually looking the show back up, Beuna Girl's signature move is literally turning into a bulldozer.

 

[Khettien]

I wonder at the level of security bundled with being a mech luchador side character. Imagine some poor spy having to infiltrate the ring, ridiculous costumes and everything

Click to shrink...

NGL, I don't care for 'professional wrestling' but I'd at least try to read a story like that.

 

[Negation]

I'm surprised racing mechs aren't a thing.

 

[Simonbob]

I'm surprised racing mechs aren't a thing.

Click to shrink...

They are.

Not much use on a junk planet, though.

 

[Pollyamorous]

Amazing, they really just pushed the responsibility onto everyone else. The mom could have set up a giant quest for her daughter to go on, but the ones who'll find her are just some random grunts she's never heard of that her daughter's husband hired to do the quest for them.

 

[Negation]

Debt isn't a quest, its a liability just like toxic relatives.

 

[lost star]

Mars Silver was called an arena planet in the brochures. It was truthfully an exaggeration. No planet was just one thing. Like all major inhabitations a good portion of it was just civilians living their life. The arenas were just what made the planet more than a footnote. It prided itself on them, and had regular broadcasts and entertainment events. The mech industry was therefore naturally thriving.

Well, it was thriving for the natives. As a Third Rate designer, Bolt wouldn't normally even get a look. He was 'trash' in other words, not even worth the time of an interview on the face of it. Honestly he didn't blame the locals at all. Normally he wouldn't care at all.

Lilly cared though, and she'd had a fair bit of fun arranging things on their way there. An expert's word carried more than anything he could do initially, and once they gotten the people involved past the initial reactions they'd managed to negotiate a lot of things. The requests were admittedly more than a little strange. Bolt found them amusing though. This was showbusiness after all.

"So, ya want Dowry fer a few days, and me to make a mech." Bolt repeated the request over the video call.

The manager nodded. "Yes, it's perfect for our next arc! You both are perfect! Our malevolent Sinistra Six is triumphant, and our newest hero will be rising up to fight her! We'll be using Dowry as the introductory for him, and then a mech designed by you for the next few matches. We're thinking anti-hero, but really I want you to go wild here and his career is too new to be really settled."

The designer nodded slowly. "If yer sure. Dowry is an expert mech though. Your guy won't be able to handle her even if he's trained for second rate."

He got a chuckle before the other man replied. "No, it's actually perfect. Lilly already agreed for a few adjustments to make it usable for him, and part of the initial arc is him being more than a bit foolhardy. He gets in this Third Rate expert mech thinking he's hot stuff, then gets his ass beat."

"And then I make him a mech for just him?" Bolt concluded the story arc.

"Correct! We all believe that'd be a spectacular show." The arena man confirmed with a wide smile. "Convey my thanks to Lilly for her patience and forbearance with all of this. I know some experts get rather attached to their mech. Also, congratulations on the child, I hope you both enjoy your stay and our VIP accommodations, having you participate in our plotlines is far beyond what most people do."

"You did just speak with her, but I'm sure some more praise wouldn't hurt her and we are mostly in this to have fun." Bolt responded and continued. "But I'll be sure to retune Dowry for your new guy. I have to warn you that he's not going to have it easy even then. Dowry isn't as bad as Morning Star performance wise, but she still need some special handling."

"Oh that is more than fine. Part of the script requires fumbling and that adds to the authenticity." The manager waved it off. "We'll also be sure not to damage it too much and repairs will be completely on us."

"Repairs will be feeding the mech and having Lilly activate the repairs actually." Bolt mused out loud.

That got a blink from the man before he grinned widely. "Oh, that's absolutely fantastic. We'll have to get it on camera!"

"All right then." Bolt nodded. "With all of that arranged, you want me to make a mech. What's this new hero's style?"

Those words made the manager sober up. "I'll forward you his training data. Fair warning, in character he's a rising star. Out of character he's good at dramatic fights but more on the moderate scale. All our good pilots are in the war. His only real request is you make it the mech flashy. Run the appearance by our PR teams. I actually don't anticipate issues though. Go for Vermillion, go for Dowry, but go for something that stands out. Really that's why we're taking the risk, if you'll pardon my bluntness. Your style more than anything else is what sold us."

"You've reviewed my designs?" Bolt asked with mild surprise.

"Oh yes. That's part of why Lilly convinced us. Your Morning Star for instance is absolutely gorgeous and if the woman could pilot I'd have her use that even if it's Third Rate. Like I said, your artistic sense is, if you'll pardon me for gushing, perfect for us."

The compliment was obvious flattery, but the man did seem to believe some of it. Bolt nodded and then ended the call after a few more pleasantries. Once he was finished he looked through the information he'd been sent.

His customer in this case was a man named Harry. His stage name was Allday, pending another name depending on how his character developed. His training data indicated a solidly mediocre pilot with a fairly wide variety of mechs he was decent with. Really the best thing about him was his picture. The man was handsome in a way that likely made a lot of people swoon.

Bolt could guess that there'd be a fair bit of pushback from most designers here. Herald was not someone you'd usually design a custom mech for. He was ultimately an actor, and not a rich nor famous one at that. The mech he'd have to have was going to be a mech made for an arena. The fights there weren't precisely fake, but each battle had a lot of arrangements beforehand to blunt the risk. Designers made mechs to fight and kill, not for plays. He personally found it an interesting challenge.

The tricky part here was that Allday did not have a set preference. This wasn't because he was good at everything, but more that he was too new to piloting to have developed habits. Even digging into his training data didn't notate a particular strength or weakness. He was just a thoroughly average pilot with an above average appearance. What sort of mech worked here?

His only thought was something flashy.

It was his best idea here. For want of a better option, Bolt decided to go with pure showy. If he couldn't find something that a pilot was good at, he'd design for the environment. This would be a showman mech. Large shoulders, valiant helm, highly prominent and colorful armor. It was a knight on the tournament field.

Once he had that idea in mind the rest followed fairly quickly. As a rule of thumb, Third Rate mechs did one thing well. Second Rates could do multiple things. You usually wanted to do two to three. This budding mech was going to be fairly focused once he was done. The armor was good, the speed was good, and it was meant to be more of a brawler, which was on the heavier side of medium.

This was where the focus was. Bolt specifically focused on the mech closing in and being able to grab and lift other mechs. That required a lot of bracing and internal infrastructure to support that sort of action. Mechs were neither light, nor would they sit there and allow it. The hands and really the entire mech had to all be reinforced, and the outside parts were highly armored. Bolt managed to do most of it fairly easily, but it gave the mech a fair bit of bulk.

It also had eyebeams, because that was both flashy and funny. That would require some careful wiring, but Bolt didn't need to be good on the sensors and the like. This wasn't a mech that would need to find people through jamming and a fog. If that happened then it'd be in a script and be accounted for.

Bolt also added a cape of sorts to the back in lieu of any further adjustments. There was a sort of Second Rate device that did a sort of light-wave structure that was very lovely when properly set and adjusted. It doubled as a sort of obscurement if done correctly. It wouldn't conceal the mech, but used at the right time it could be useful for some seriously dramatic scenes.

Yet with all of that something felt like it was missing. Bolt scanned through the design and then focused on the hands again. A good arena mech needed something special as a finisher.

Bolt had to scroll through the weapons available for quite a bit before he found something appropriate. Called a thermal injector, it was basically something that imparted heat on touch. It was mostly used in hammers and the like, and wasn't particularly famous or useful. It added damage to something that already did a lot of it and wasn't usually worth the added complexity.

Here he had room. Bolt added to the hands, altering them to look more like solid gauntlets. He then took the thermal shocks and adjusted them so that they'd store up the power for one good trigger. This was the 'finishing move' and it needed to be spectacular and just a bit impractical. He added some light bands around the wrist. As it charged up the light would illuminate. Then when it was charged the mech would punch and the target would 'explode' so to speak if the punch hit. Technically the heat would hit their internals and cause interior parts to react depending on how vulnerable it was to heat. Bolt was going to do some special spiritual power there, with some added safety just in case. He'd have to play it by ear when constructing the mech.

As a finishing touch Bolt placed an order for a lot of crystal from the crystal planet that he'd just visited. The stuff was useless as anything more than a decoration. but that was perfect! This mech was going to be gorgeous!

 

[Negation]

Called a thermal injector, it was basically something that imparted heat on touch. It was mostly used in hammers and the like, and wasn't particularly famous or useful. It added damage to something that already did a lot of it and wasn't usually worth the added complexity.

Click to shrink...

View: https://youtu.be/DiBF3RDY8gU

...so Lily is playing Master Asia here?

 

[Tavarokk]

Radiant Wave Surger?

 

[Luker number 5]

I would watch the hell out of a show about mech wrestling. The call back to G Gundam is perfect.

 

[RandolphWill]

So a gem knight from yugioh i imagine

 

[Simonbob]

Well, they're having fun.

I hope everybody enjoys the show! Including the spies.

 

[lost star]

If there was one word that governed him now, it was Kayfabe. It was word that carried a specific meaning that had endured to the present day. It was how their art worked, and how they made a living. It was a mask and discipline in itself. Harold was new to the word, but he'd been taught extensively on what to do when you started. So he did not hesitate once he donned the mask. (The mask in this case was little more than a little bit of cloth around the eyes, but it was both traditional and helped get into character.)

That was why he could get into Dowry and start up the mech without qualms. The technically criminal and very foolish action made sense in character. Allday inhaled as the mech started up and began his lines.

"This is it! This is how I'll have revenge on Sinestra Six!" He proclaimed and nearly fumbled everything immediately as Dowry's systems came online.

Nothing from his training could have prepared him for this. Even forewarned as he was, Allday nearly passed out from the feedback. It wasn't because the connection was bad or overwhelming either. It'd been adjusted just for this scene. It was because when he connected to the mech and something on the other side touched him back. The hungry and deadly presence stared at him like a predator would stare at prey before disappearing. That one moment nearly unmanned him.

"Good look." The hidden speaker in his ear praised quietly and brought his attention back to his situation. "Now, the battle area is ready. Forward and left. Next lines are up."

Allday grinned with teeth towards the camera as he recovered and tried to discount the sensation. "Such power!" He followed the lines scrolling through his vision implant and stepped forward.

He almost stumbled right there due to an entirely different reason. Dowry was an expert mech. Any pilot could tell you they were built differently. Not everyone would be able to tell you exactly why. Dowry's entire being was balanced to lunge and move in an instant. It was akin to walking with barely leashed springs strapped to every limb. Even prepared and coached for this Allday was barely able to move the mech properly. Any sort of thought that this mech would be easy to pilot because it was a Third Rate mech was gone already. He was going to have to devote most of his attention to just walking and keeping the mask on.

The next few minutes blurred as he barely balanced his lines and keeping the mech upright. Declarations, conversations, more acting, more Kayfabe. All leading up to a match in the arena versus two mechs. This was normal and part of the script, but Allday was more focused on piloting Dowry and not making a fool of himself than paying explicit attention to the details. He never wanted to pilot an expert mech again after this. Especially because that presence was still there, and amused at his suffering.

Just a bit more though. He had to sell this fight and then he could return the mech. Which was the hardest part.

People knew fake mech fights. It was trivially easy to tell if a fight was completely staged. There was therefore a very careful balance between reality and artificial movements with every arena fight. The shots were reduced, the blades blunted, but it was all still very dangerous. That was really the point. Everyone knew there was acting, but the fights were as close to real as they could get safely. The careful blend of danger and drama made people tune in to every event, and buy tickets to the live showings.

Here Allday was against two mechs for this match. This was for safety reasons more than anything else. They didn't want to total Dowry by accident, and this made the fight more controllable more than less. Allday just had to try his best and the other two combatants would try to guide things along towards the best destination. His plan was mostly to claw at them using the extra arm length and probably fall after a few passes due to the lack of ranged weapons.

Dowry had other plans. All of the sudden he wasn't fighting the mech to move so much as trying to restrain it. It charged forward before he could plan his initial movement in a sudden and impossibly fast lunge. For a few seconds it was an unleashed monster rather than a mech.

"Holy SHIT!" The man piloting Dowry's victim shouted out and barely managed to keep in character. "What sort of monster did you steal!?" He shouted out as he intercepted the pounce with a free hand and then screamed as Dowry bit out a chunk of his shoulder.

"This is the power of an expert! A glorious might, all in my hands!" Allday shouted out and ripped at anything he could with the horrifically sharp claws.

Parts flew through the air. Dowry almost seemed to laugh as it loomed over the wounded enemy, reveling in the fear practically wafting off him. For a moment Allday was his stolen mech. He shifted forward to finish the job without another thought. Then a sword slammed into his side and he was forcefully reminded that it was a two versus one.

"You're letting yourself be consumed." The stabbing mech spoke. "Stop it now before it's too late."

Allday hissed and grabbed at the sword. Dowry raged and it bled into his voice. "No, never! I refuse to fall here!" He pulled himself onto the sword in an attempt to get at the opponent. "You are both just a stepping stone!"

"Fool." The sword shifted.

Dowry hissed as several internal parts caught fire. For a moment Allstar panicked and thought that meant something was critically broken, but realized quickly it was mostly just venting air from a few internal fires that were quickly stopping. His opponent had hit the perfect 'killing blow.' Dowry could still function, but the damage was just enough that no one would be able to tell if he just took the fall now. He'd have to praise the man when the camera was out.

"Noo, don't stop on me. I will have my revenge!" Allstar shouted out and then hit the shutdown command to kill the reactor and force stop the mech. He could have sworn that the mech almost laughed at him before it went dark.

With that his part in the scene was done. The cockpit went black as the lights shut off and the camera doing the main recording clicked off with an audible click that denoted it was off. Harry took a few deep breaths and wiped away the sweat on his forehead as he took off the mask and downed a bottle of water. That had been far more intense than he'd expected.

"Good work on the fight." The director stated after a few minutes. "I think we may have underestimated how terrifying that mech is."

"You don't know the half of it. Third Rate or not, I wouldn't want to fight this thing in Venerable Lilly's hands." Harry said quietly.

"I damned near pissed myself." The man he'd bitten commented. "We laughed when we saw the footage, but I'm not laughing now. Seriously, did you need to bite?!"

"It felt right at the time." Harry almost apologized with a trace of embarrassment.

"That scene's going to be replayed for the next month at least so be proud of it." The director almost ordered before he continued. "Now, you're going to be out of piloting for the next week while we build up your persona. There might be some extra work involved if you're up for it."

Harry closed his eyes and evaluated his energy levels. "Define what you need."

Say what you will about the job. This wasn't the best arena on the planet. Nor was it the most popular. They made a steady business and had a dedicated following. It also had some very good, enthusiastic, and generally component people in contrast to the more cut throat places. So Harry could be sure this was a good opportunity to further his brand.

"Bolt has offered to have you attend his creation of your next mech. We aren't sure if we'll use the scenes from it, and we'll likely need to redub everything, but there is potential there. This makes it your call." The director said.

"We still need to do the prison scene and a scene with Venerable Lilly right?" Harry asked back.

"They're on your schedule. This will be after that in the broadcasts and should hopefully define your ascent more."

"If it's just me watching the mech be built then I should be able to handle the added work." Harry eventually concluded. It was going to be a lot of work. Mech construction took time and he had precious little of it at the moment.

 

[Golgotha]

Seriously, how much money do these shows make that they can hire the design and construction of quick order custom mechs?!?