[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 216: Jarle

[MissMisstep: Jarle, what do you think is better when it comes to mech duels, a win with severe battle damage or a loss without scratch?]

"A win! You've got to win all the way! If you're already starting to think about repair bills when you're duelling another team, you've already given up." Jarle emphatically said. "The only way to earn enough credits to keep your mechs in tip top shape is to keep on winning!"

In truth, even a top-tier team like the Velvet Fists couldn't afford to wreck their mechs in every match. Each duelling season tested the skill and judgement of each team. Some knew when to give up early and saved up on repairs, while others kept on fighting past the point of no return and faced exponentially greater costs.

Explaining all of that took a lot of nuance that belied his public image as a daredevil. With his handsome face and his half-shaved blond hair, Jarle presented himself as the ultimate thrill seeker who constantly risked it all and won.

His bold but slighty dim person also helped mask his deviously tricky fighting style.

[ZevHarper: Will we be seeing you in action this summer?]

Jarle nodded inside his virtual cockpit. "I'll be appearing in a couple of rallies organised by the Mech Corps. Be sure to check the schedule in my profile page!"

Even as he responded to his many viewers, his DarkSpear silently crept through the rocky cliffs and hills of a desolate moonscape.

His mech's high powered stealth systems ran at quarter strength right now. It did nothing to prevent a mech from seeing his DarkSpear if it had a direct line of sight, but it was sufficient to dampen his other emissions as long as Jarle stayed behind cover.

Finding the right place to hide happened to be one of his specialties. Under his expert control, he slowly crept behind the highly advanced swordsman mech that kept a wary eye towards its surroundings.

In 1v1 duels like this, if your opponent never showed up, he probably prepared an ambush. As a fellow Diamond League player, the enemy pilot didn't let down his guard. An extremely complicated dance emerged as a result where both sides tried to maneuver in their most optimal positions.

The DarkSpear held a decisive advantage over the swordsman mech. The latter excelled in open duels, and did not include any sophisticated sensor arrays capable of detecting stealthed opponents.

However, even if the swordsman mech only possessed a standard set of sensors, their overall quality ensured they'd be able to detect any approaching assassin mechs once it reached a distance of fifty to a hundred meters or so. That gave the pilot enough reaction time to set up a guard.

As long as his swordsman mech withstood the first blow, his advantage only grew.

With soft and measured steps, the DarkSpear slowly closed the distance to the swordsman mech. Jarle moved practically in sync with his mech. He became completely immersed in the act to the point where he stopped paying attention to the questions of his viewers.

He was on the hunt.

The enemy pilot had a brain, as he chose the most open area on the battlefield. A wide stretch of moon plains provided precious few opportunities to conceal an approach.

Jarle estimated the DarkSpear's power and heat reserves and noted that he had less capacity in the latter. It didn't matter too much as his estimates placed his mech's capacity within range of his targeted distance.

He flicked the switch that activated the full-powered stealth suite. The DarkSpear shimmered out of existence, and a low oppressive dampening field minimized its other emissions.