What's Junk? (The Mech Touch)

[lost star]

Dai had taken it upon himself to inform them about the contest's last part. The young man had a lot to say. None of it good.

"You'd think that being low stakes would mean that it'd be free of politics, but no. It's actually worse." The man told Bolt and Lilly as they watched the mechs position themselves on screen. "Our current golden boy is from a very prominent family. High class, rich, and influential. He's..."

"Smart." Wu finished when it became obvious Dai couldn't finish the sentence.

"Allegedly. I'm pretty sure he got enhanced somehow. He's as creative as a brick." Dai shook his head and leaned back in his seat. "Not that the local designs are that creative anyway."

"Staff users are very prominent, and there is a lot of innovation in that area." Ando commented but inclined his head towards Dai. "But I'd agree with the budding weapon specialist about his area of study."

The young designer flushed a bit and scratched at his cheek. "Yeah, moving on. This entire contest is a bit of a travesty. Points and a flat arena let them game the system without actually cheating. What's worse is that people typically eat it up." He gestured to the screen.

On screen two of mechs not of his design fought. They were staffmen, so that meant that they were trading blows with staves. It probably was interesting to people very used to the weapons.

"Hmm. The one on the left is hesitating too much and the one on the right isn't working with the hitch on the leg." Lilly muttered.

"Looks like a faulty knee?" Ando asked the group.

Bolt frowned. "Could be that or a muscle tie. It's too inconsistent to be sure."

"I'd say no one could be that stupid, but if you weren't extremely good at building we might have had to cut corners like that ourselves." Dai gave his own opinion.

"Who will win?" Wu asked Lilly directly.

The young woman's eyes scanned the mechs. "Righty will if he decides to get more aggressive. Lefty's caution will have him retreat and cede enough that the mech's quirks will provide enough openings."

"That takes a bit of fun out of watching." Dai complained good naturedly before chuckling and facing the large man. "Though, I suppose we should address something. You do know how absurdly talented you are right Bolt?"

"Hmm?" Bolt looked away from the screen in a bit of confusion.

He knew he was smart, but he'd always assumed his education was crippling enough that this didn't matter. Dai seemed serious, and so did the others. Lilly seemed both amused and proud and snuggled into his side as she waited for explanations.

"Your face makes me want to punch you and I know it's not your fault." Dai groaned loudly. "Why am I the one that has to bring this up!?" Wu patted him on the shoulder and then gave him a push. "Fine fine."

The young designer got to his feet and stepped in front of the screen. He did some pacing as he visibly tried to think before throwing up his hands. Only then did he begin.

"All right. You're new to designing in a team. You probably haven't had any peers then. I'll go down the list. Your grasp of the fundamentals is beyond all of us. Only specialists touch the computer system. I've never seen some of the tricks you used for the wiring and damage control. The armor was absolutely insane." Dai paused and gestured at Ando.

The black haired designer nodded. "I refined it, but yes, you anticipated most of my tricks."

"Your booster work was passible." Wu chimed in.

"Yeah, passible to someone trying to specialize in it." Dai waved his arms wildly. "You're matching graduates who are trying to specialize, and I get the impression we haven't even seen your specialization yet! To top it all off, your manufacturing and repair skills are frankly beyond us. What I'm saying is, you're just as absurd as your fiancé, and she completely broke the evaluation they were using for this contest! Plus you're younger than us!!!" Panting the young man staggered over to his chair and flopped into it. His face was a picture perfect expression of frustration.

"I-" Bolt was stopped from saying anything as Lilly reached up and grabbed his chin.

"No, no. No modesty. We're a pair hon." The girl moved his chin. "Say thank you."

Smiling a bit at the absurdity Bolt repeated. "Thank you."

"Adorable." Wu cooed out and Bolt flushed.

"Hahaha. I talk dirty to him every day and only that gets an actual reaction!" Lilly giggled at his reaction.

"It is adorable. Oh, our match is up now!" Ando said as he returned his attention to the screen.

"Yeah." Dai flopped further down his seat.

It started off relatively simple. The two combatants faced one another across the arena. As the mech holding the shotgun raised it, Lilly immediately began to groan and hold her face in her hands. The designers stared at her, and then at the match with a sinking feeling. Then start began and the staffman charged. The shotgun went off and completely, utterly missed.

"What is his malfunction?!" Dai exploded.

What followed next was a bit of a travesty really. Bolt winced as their mech took more than a few blows before the staff mech overextended and the shotgun got dead center. The explosive shot took out a significant part of the upper chassis, and the match was immediately called due to pilot safety. Bolt winced at the score.

"I don't like that." He muttered.

"Unless he plays perfect on the next match, we've lost." Ando said with a heavy sigh. "Did we get a poor pilot?"

"More a moron that can't aim a shotgun with aim assist at charging range." Lilly said, still covering her face. "They chose the mechs right?"

"They did, and no they wouldn't throw a match by accident. Sometimes you just get a bad pilot." Dai muttered.

Some part of him wondered if he should do something. The rest of him looked at how pointless this was and decided that it wasn't worth the effort. Lilly seemed angrier than he was at the moment.

"Assuming we lose then. Does that hurt you?" Bolt asked his companions.

They shifted uneasily and exchanged glances. Ando eventually spoke for them. "Some. We're graduating from college shortly. Having a poor showing here makes things harder."

"Not impossible." Dai was quick to clarify as turned his attention to the next match between two of their competators. "We have other opportunities, but doing well here is the difference between an apartment in a good part of town and the slums for me."

Bolt nodded slowly. The match after his looked like a slog. He could see how it would be more interesting than what his design had done to the audience at least. He paused a moment and looked down at Lilly, who was vibrating with emotion at the moment, with one hand slowly inching towards a nearby wrench. Very carefully he reached out and pushed it away.

The young woman noticed a few moments later after her hand finally reached for it. "Hey, I need that!" She turned towards her fiancé with a wounded expression as she noticed what he had done.

"No, you're not attacking anyone today. It isn't that big a deal." Bolt firmly stated as he picked up the wrench and held it away from the lunging girl.

Lilly growled and climbed him in response. Behind him the other designers looked torn between amused and alarmed. Bolt himself was pretty sure she wouldn't actually hurt the pilot, but he figured it'd be best to keep that from even being implied. Her waving the wrench around threatening would be a bit of a problem.

A few seconds of comedy later the girl had instead claimed a seat on his lap and was giving him a massive pout. Bolt considered that a win so he turned back to his companions, who looked bemused. He wondered how it looked to them before he mentally shrugged. Then something occurred to him. He could make things better for his fellows at least.

"In about four months and change there's another contest. It likely has less stacking, and involves Lilly as our pilot. You up for it?" He asked.

Dai stared at him. "You mean the Expert's Cup don't you? That's the only one in that time. The one that involves getting a personal duel with Venerable Goku and a crapton of money as a reward?"

"That does sound about right?" Bolt pulled out his comm to look at it. "Yeah, expert's cup. Seems fun and would have been just a date with Lilly, but I don't think she'll mind."

"I like watching you design, but I like winning more." Lilly commented from the side. "Plus ya'll aren't bad people, so if it'll help then do it."

"We'll take the offer." Dai answered before the others did, looking both eager and grateful. "I guarantee you won't be disappointed!"

Bolt felt quite pleased with this. Not only did it help someone, it got him more experience with working with others! It also helped them too, which was nice.

After that, the next match was far less painful. Admittedly the pilot did do better that time. Bolt and the others had tweaked the aiming a bit after repairs, which seemed to help. They managed to get a solid second, which wasn't the best showing in the world, but was also not considered a failure. It was an accomplishment that his teammates could point to for credit in the near future.

 

[lost star]

"Hello and welcome to the Hundred Worlds Cup! I'm your your host Kimi, cohosting with Lady Galena. Pleasure to meet you, virtually." Kimi smiled widely at the other woman.

Galena gave a small nod. "It is a pleasure, despite the enmity of our nations."

The two girls were a study in different cultures. Kimi had a Chinese dress and her black hair was dressed in buns. Galena had a Victorian dress, complete with ruffles, and an elaborate braid. Virtual hosting allowed for some pretty elaborate setups, but simple was usually better for these events.

Kimi waved a hand dismissively. "Don't bring real life into my fantasy!" She scolded with a mock frown. "We're here to play Iron Spirit! And what a game today! Ten v Ten, with an unusual and new versus a tried and true!"

"Indeed. On Red side is the Howling Howlers. A Vesian team made up of a rather standard mix of shieldmen, spearmen, and riflemen. It is a classic setup with your typical Vesia twist. All of them have missiles, with their heavies being almost all missiles. Called the Exploding Porcupine in game, it's a brutal composition to approach." Galena brought up the composition showing of all the mechs.

"For those not in the know, the format for this has a limit on stars. Every team can have thirty, with five stars as the limit. We don't want some brilliant pilot in a seven star trouncing everyone! It also makes this a bit more accessible, since not everyone really cares for to level up their rank." Kimi explained to the audience.

"Thank you for that explanation. But I notice you haven't introduced your team yet." Galena noted with a slight tilt of her head.

Kimi laughed. "Of course. On blue team we have our new and spooky, the unconventional, the Undead Legion!" She flicked a hand and a new screen showed up. "It's a new fad that started on my very planet and one that has just begun to reach out. Some people are a big fan of horror apparently." The stats of the mechs showed up.

"I notice most of them are from one designer." Galena observed and then looked disturbed. "Ug, and such unsightly things." She mimed retching.

"They have some interesting synergy together. It's actually not that different than the Porcupine build and variations. We're currently calling it the Misty Murder build, and building into the theme and concept is actually very fun." Kimi explained before she gestured down to the map. "You can see it starting already."

"Ah yes, the mist, in which there is murder." The co-host stated dryly. "I'm quite glad we can see through it, otherwise this would be a boring match." With a gesture the mist became transparent and they could see through everything.

"Yep. Thank you devs for allowing fun to trump realism in some areas! Now we all know about sensor jammers. This one is all water with some additives to give it a kick, produced by several mechs in the formation, including the big one there." Kimi pointed to a squat, bloated looking thing trundling along the center of the formation. "And yes, he does look like a walking corpse. It's an undead legion you know?"

"I do not believe the Howlers are particularly familiar with that strategy, but you know what they'll do anyway." The Vesian host noted.

Kimi nodded with a few bounces and as predicted the Howlers opened by throwing several large volleys into the mist approaching them. Which actually just destroyed the big bloated thing that was emitting the majority of the mist. Even in death it served, exploded with an eruption of cloudy vapor.

"The newest build uses these Bloaters for team matches. They're deliberately sacrificial." Kimi explained with glee as it happened. "So, those missiles were mostly wasted on a one star!"

"Not the first time this happened." Galena growled out with displeasure. "We always have more."

"Yep! With the destruction of the Bloater, all it's gathered up mist is released! You can see it approaching in. Spoooky!" Below them the mist billowed in towards the Howler's formation.

"I'll notice that there was only one of those unsightly things." The other girl commented with narrowed eyes as they crossed off one mech on the list of combatants.

"Yep! You know as well as I that you don't want many sacrificial mechs. One stars aren't good, but they're still useful."

Galena nodded in return. "Like our riflemen there." She pointed to the riflemen in question. The Howlers had brought five of them, and were using them to fire out into the mist in warding shots. One stars meant to distract was a time honored tradition in this format. "They're in their classic formation now, ready to repel attackers with a deadly barrage!"

"It's a good strategy, but I'm sorry to say the Howlers aren't going to enjoy turtling up like that." Kimi informed the audience with a wide smile.

"For the audience's information, the Ugly Legion has a jamming mech as their one four star. You can see it in the center of the Legion's formation now, and also observe that it placed an object in the Bloater's destroyed body. Those are small jamming towers." Galena filled in the viewers as the mist continued to flow into the formation. "They also positioned themselves so that the artificial wind is blowing their mist into the formation. This has blinded and deafened the Howlers."

"Yeah, the strategy has come a long way since the beginning and it's conception. I have videos on it if you like. We've only had it for about two months so it still needs a lot of refinement." Kimi contributed happily.

"It likely won't catch on outside the game for those wondering. Modern sensors can get through the mist's obscurement with greater ease as the part that allows this is quite old and has not been updated in years at this point." Galena finished. "And I believe that's your cue, because it looks like the Vile Legion is making a move."

"This is why you don't fort up against this comp." Kimi said in a soft sing song tone.

On screen the two five stars from the Legion spread out around their opponents almost unseen. Some were spotted here and there, but the obscurement and jamming made the volleys of missiles and other weapons sporadic and uncoordinated. The shots from the Undertaker caused further disorganization. Each splatter of goo caused their joints to stiffen and added more obscuring mist. Eventually the Legion judged the time right and the two Berserkers charged in, smashing into the shield wall and causing absolute chaos.

Galena winced at the carnage. "A five star lancer? With the mist and the cover from the four star, it's devious." She gave a golf clap. "You are sacrificing them for that though."

"That's the beauty of it." Kimi explained. "They aren't. Bloody Berserkers do two things. Ram the enemy, and soak damage. They're hard to classify, but I'd set them as heavy offensive knights. I'd pay special attention to the punishment they're taking here."

A veritable rain of missiles came down on the berserkers since they were the obvious target, and far from killing them, that just seemed to make them angry. Worse for the Howling Howlers, it let the other team mates attack from the outskirts. Several of the front line were pulled out or off their feet by hooks from the mist, and this opened up the formation just enough for the skirmishers to hit the missile heavies doing most of the damage.

"The hooks are the Drowned Men. They're really good at picking off lone targets and they're also the ones keeping the mist active with the death of the Bloater." The hostess from Serene Temples pointed out. "As you can see they've pulled the formation apart enough that the skirmishers can get to the heavies."

"And when that happens they're basically dead." The other hostess sighed. "Much as I adore my fellows, this was not a good showing."

"You might be a bit hard on them." Kimi responded with generosity and pointed out several places where the mechs had been dropped or crippled by the wide volleys the heavies had thrown out. "As you can see here and here they've managed a fair bit. That missile fetish does help."

"It is not a fetish. Everyone likes explosions!" Galena snapped back. "We're not like you and your fascination with using big sticks to compensate for little ones."

Kimi gasped in mock offense as the battle drew to a close and the two girls began to snipe back and forth to provide further entertainment. The final score had the drowned legion win with one Bloody Berserker alive, their Undertaker, and a pair of Drowned Men. Despite the mockery the frequent use of missiles did make any fights with Vesian forces far more even than most teams liked.

 

[lost star]

There came a time when you had nothing to do. When actually doing something was counterproductive. Bolt was in one of those times. After the contest he'd resolved to do two things. Brush up on his studies, and forget completely about comparing himself with others. That he was ahead of the locals just meant that his future prospects were brighter. He had the ability to advance. He would not allow something like pride to cloud that progress.

Even with that resolve he had a small issue. There was only so much studying one could do. He also didn't necessarily want to do that until the next contest.

Another person would probably have tried to form contacts or something like that. Bolt spent time with Lilly and tried to define what needed to be fixed in his designs. The Bloody Berserker was pretty rough, but all the designs needed some work. He'd done them fast and for fun more than because he'd assumed they'd be good.

Since he had an abundance of game money for some reason, he'd decided to set a few long term goals to achieve before he left. Those goals were to make a one to five version of all his mechs. This meant a lot of part researching and adjusting things, but he felt as if it would help him practice. He also added a subgoal of making a 'perfected' five star mech over the next few months.

It wasn't the most typical way of learning as a mech designer, but Bolt wasn't a typical designer!

He did spend a bit of in game money to purchase a few designs by other designers though. According to his new designer friends, there was a list of mechs in Iron Spirit that were considered good lessons. Bolt obviously couldn't afford them all, but one or two of them were certainly useful.

One for instance was the Sunshine T23. It was considered one of the best mechs of it's time for lasers, which seemed relevant. As a three star it was ancient, but it had been apparently one of the original laser mechs, and was actually mentioned regularly in riflemen design.

Bolt could see why after purchasing and building one. The thing was not efficient. It had more than a few flaws. It's legs were as generic as they got for instance. It did however have some very delicate care done to the arms. They were meant to be as stable as possible, and completely forwent any sort of impact resistance. Which made sense. Lasers didn't really have kickback.

The rifle for the laser itself was mildly interesting to take apart too. There was a lot of heat handling in it. The Sunshine had boosted of one of the fastest and most accurate rates of fire in it's era and it was trivial to see why just looking over the rifle. It was almost a pity that the flaws had eventually killed the line. The rate of fire combined with the poor energy storage at the time made it last maybe one or two battles before it needed to recharge.

That was admittedly a consistent battle in mech design, and why Bolt had tended to favor melee weapons. Replacing ammo and recharging effected mechs at all levels. It was a surprisingly insidious problem too, because it didn't show up in arenas and a lot of battles. Logistics nowadays let most mechs repair and refuel after one battle, so they frequently didn't run into endurance issues until wars or they were deployed into the field away from mobile bases. Bolt had grown up where refuel and resupply was a luxury. It was something he always had in the back of his mind.

He was pondering logistics as he did the busywork of notating all of his designs when he heard a ringing. For a moment he didn't even realize what was going on. Then he realized his comm was connected to his simulation pod, and which mean someone was physically calling him. A bit of fumbling through the interface and he found a very familiar number.

"Pa?" The young man asked in confusion.

"Hey boyo! Bet ya didn't think that your old man could contact you like this didn't ya. Well guess what? The MTA decided that they ain't gonna deal with shoddy communication and stupidity and installed a comm tower in their new base." His father sounded very entertained.

Historically their planet had been a bit of a dead zone. Everything on it was considered a military target really. When one of the nations came in, they very frequently bombed the every loving shit out of whatever they could see. This made communication unit to unit, or in the case of the Wrench Rats, only through hidden relays.

If the MTA had a base and a comm tower now, that issue was fixed. No one would dare target that area. They'd still have to worry about people tracking personal comms, but that was an old hat. This meant they could actually connect up with the galactic network without painting a dangerous target on themselves.

"Holy shit that's big news." Bolt breathed out.

"Even bigger than you'd think. Fixed one big ol hurdle for your Pa and Ma. We're startin' up a business. Wrench Rat's Repair and Refurbish! We take yer old mechs, give em a spit shine and then return them good as new!" Pa sounded absolutely entertained.

"That brings up so many questions." The young mech designer muttered as his confusion started to increase. Who were their customers going to be?!

"Listen boyo. I know yer all tied up in things and worried about a lot. Let your Pa and Ma handle some of it. We got some clients already, and the MTA is hoverin' and taking it's sweet time to complete things so we got the best cover you could ever think of. When yer back things will get rough, but we'll be able to do more than just help ya build by then." His father said softly.

A small weight that he hadn't even been aware of lifted from his shoulders and Bolt took a breath. "That helps some."

"Good ta know. Now another thing. I hear you've been makin' a few waves in some little game." Pa continued with a small laugh. "See about getting a few designs ready for a printer. Polish em up real nice and we could probably sell a few here and there. Lord knows we have the space and tools ta do that now. If ya want, authorize me ta negotiate on yer behalf and I can even lease out a few designs if there's some bites."

"Excuse me? How'd ya hear about that, and how the hell are they somethin' we could sell?!" Bolt shot back.

"I don't think ya realize how gossipy some MTA guys can be. I can't say those mechs would be worth much, but negotiating is what I do aside from buildin'. I'm sure I could net some cheese here and there. I promise not ta skimp on the quality, and we could get a right proper business going if ya keep being brilliant." Pa paused. "Course I'll also keep records and ask fer yer approval fer big deals first. We both trust one another, but we both know Rat history ain't always kind."

The young man didn't want to consider it, but yes, that was something he needed to keep in mind. Backstabs and betrayal happened. He expected none of that from his family, but that did not mean he didn't need to be aware of things. There could even be accidental problems. Preemptively getting it in writing was good sense.

"Send me the details." Bolt finally ordered before smiling into his comm. "How's the rest of the family?"

"Doing great. Little Gadget is turning out to be just as smart as you, and we can actually get her lessons. Yer ma charmed one of the officials into showing her where the best online lessons are. Bit costly, but we managed to get the full works for her." Pa sounded both happy and proud to state that. "Still gotta worry about the whole college thing, but that's years away. Can get her and the other rug rats a good base!"

"That's great." Bolt had been forced to scrounge up everything. Hearing that his sister didn't have to do the same was a weight off his shoulders.

Knowing about that did galvanize Bolt though. He shifted his mental priorities to trying to make five star mechs out of all his current designs, and refining Berserker. They'd still be considered outdated, but that was almost a bonus. They'd be affordable to merc outfits and the like.

Lilly ended up having to drag him out of the simulation pod later, to his mild embarrassment.