[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 265: Duel of the Firsts

She knew it was a bad idea. Yet her obligation to her family and her friendship with Ves urged her to step up and make the Republic remember the glory of the Larkinsons.

The amount of people flocking to the arena made her falter a bit. Melinda had never been shy, but that didn't mean she felt eager to embarrass herself in front of a crowd of half-a-million spectators. If that wasn't bad enough, the entire match would be broadcasted to billions of viewers watching at home.

One misstep and she would never live it down for the rest of her life.

"Is this what mech athletes have to go through?"

She found poor comfort in her cousin, who kept blabbing on about the strengths and weaknesses of the Havalax. As if she cared about those details.

The only thing she needed to know was that the Havalax possessed a lot of strength but couldn't keep it up. She merely had to outlast it with her Blackkbeak, which unfortunately struggled to match up to the Havalax's power.

Strangely enough, every time she interfaced with the Blackbeak, her doubts and worries faded away like they never existed. It was as if she was a little girl who returned to the embrace of her father.

The mech enveloped her mind and elevated it into an invisible network at the heart of the mech she controlled. Melinda had never had the pleasure of piloting a mech that treated her like a queen. Most other mechs she came in touch with treated her intrusion like an unwanted house guest.

"It's as if these mechs aren't made to be controlled by someone else."

It sounded crazy to hold such an outlandish opinion. Yet the difference became stark when she began to grow accustomed to the Blackbeak's welcoming embrace. Her nephew's mech simply possessed some kind of charm that revolutionized her piloting experience.

"Are all mechs that are worth 300 million credits like this, or is it just me?"

She felt regretful that she had to bid the Blackbeak farewell after the duel. She had warmed up to the first production model, and wished she was as loaded as her cousin. "I should have asked for this mech instead of a penthouse."

The floor suddenly started to lift the Blackbeak onto the arena. Melinda cut short her musings and shifted her focus back to her mech. She tested out the movements of her mech, finding the Blackbeak to be as responsive as a second skin. Nothing appeared to be broken. Ves made sure that her mech was in its best state possible.

Once her mech arrived at the center of the arena, Melinda didn't even flinch at all of the yelling and name-calling. The crowd meant nothing to the Blackbeak, so Melinda followed suit and tuned them out.

Her console chirped as her mech received a private communications request from the mech opposite to hers. Melinda shook out of her mantra and opened the channel.

"Miss Larkinson. It's a pleasure to meet you." Captain Vicar greeted her with his annoyingly attractive voice. "It's a shame to meet as opponents instead of colleagues. I have a lot of respect for the Bentheim Planetary Guard. It must have been hard to keep our planet in line."

"Not as hard as taking the fight to the BLM." Melinda coolly replied. She tried not to let her fangirl instincts get the better of her. "Did you participate in one of the assaults?"

"I did. The rebels put up a poor fight in one of their asteroid bases. For a movement that pretends to be strong enough to fight off the Republic, they sure didn't last very long when pressed into a corner. But anyway, I didn't open this channel to talk about old times. I just wanted to apologize to you."

"For what?"

"For beating your mech into a pulp!"

The countdown to the duel reached zero. The Havalax stormed forward at a rapid pace, catching Melinda off-guard. Her short flight backwards didn't prevent Captain Vicar from reaching her mech before she could get away.