'Let's see.' Gregory had already searched Vulcan444 and spied the profile with condemning eyes as the thought of his cousin Genevieve falling for this man had occured to him.
'No mechs in his garage. Hmm.. He has a workshop and haven't named it yet.' He planned his next move carefully. The first option was to get into a mech battle and enter the workshop of Vulcan444 for repairs. And perhaps.. intentionally accumulate too much damage that the mech would be irreparable. By then, he would have the reason to mock the man for his inability.
The second was to just directly enter the workshop and ask for personal customizations. Face to face, he would be able to size up Vulcan444 personally, and see what he can do.
Yet he discovered something else. Vulcan444 was selling a mech. His first option was already sound, but his curiosity got the better of him. He checked the mech.
'Straggler S1-2?'
Before long, he was gaping at the statistics of the mech. The database of the game system did not have any record of the mech's components. Normally, he would have known as he was just promoted to the 4th Gen. 2nd Tier, and the 1st Tier had been a rigourous training ground for him where he had tried many different mechs and customized them to compliment his own tactics. Plenty of aviators trash talking, and heavy mechs(mega) in that division.
Gregory was even more curious now. He searched the original version and scratched his head when he saw a piece of can.
'How come it jumped three generations when it's only a variant?'
'Hm.' He leaned back on the cockpit of his 4th Gen. 2nd Tier Mech; The Grim Titan. The plan was to get into a mech battle and now, he was torn between curiousity and his manly ego.
With the mysterious background of the Straggler S1-2, a young man like Gregory would typically want to know more. He had been diligently training to become an ace pilot, studying and researching all about the art of piloting mechs and the most efficient components and modules to supplement his combat ability. He was already a knowledgeable young man, and knew what he wanted. But now, an alien seemed to tickle his sense of adventure.
After some time, he grinned and finally made a decision. "I'm going to buy this mech."
Gregory was not the typical kind - going out partying and socializing with peers of his own age. He was more inclined to improving his own personal skills. And indeed, he was more capable than any other young men.
As such, he had not wasted his monthly allowances to useless things, and he had saved a lot in his bank account. After all, his Gold had been reduced to a measly 400 after buying the Grim Titan a few days ago.
[Straggler S1-2
Confirm payment of 25,000,000 U-Credits?]
The young man hesitated for a bit. It was the first time he was spending his money, and this was a lot. After a sigh, he confirmed the payment, and shuddered involuntarily as a new toy appeared in his garage. He immediately got up and exited the Grim Titan's cockpit, hopping on to the hover platform and turned in anticipation - his eyes widening in an instant.
The Straggler S1-2 was tall! Even taller by a head than his Grim Titan which was a Heavy Mech. The 1st Gen. Mechs were actually humongous in size as people long time ago, regarded that 'bigger is always better!' It was only during the 2nd Gen. when the first mech with integrated neuro-link had been designed that the size of mechs shrunk as the lighter versions were introduced.
Gregory did not rushed inside the cockpit of the Straggler S1-2, but took his time to admire his well spent money - he assumed. The crude armour platings, as well as the helmet, which only had one opening - a horizontal slit on which the mech's eyes were located. With the mech being slim and not as bulky as the Grim Titan, it almost gave the impression that it was a human geared up in a primitive gear.
"Alright. Let's see what you can do." The young man controlled the hover platform to where he thought the cockpit was located - on the upper torso. However, he found out that it was on the lower torso so he adjusted his ride downwards.
'Damn! This mech is just too weird!'
The cockpit automatically ejected after sensing his presence, revealing a different interface than what he was used to.
"Cool!" Gregory swept his gaze around as he sat. Lights spontaneously flared, and dozens of holographic panels appeared.
"Haha! I haven't activated the reactor yet!" The young man, as if he had just found a rare treasure and trying to understand its significance, looked around.
"So, what's next?"
[Initiate Partial Full-Dive]
"Full-Dive? Isn't that Neuro-link?" Gregory thought for a moment, before deciding to slightly tap a hand on the panel.
He tensed up as he felt like he was flung into FTL bare naked and suddenly came to a halt.
"What was that!? WHOOOOOO!" Screaming inside the cockpit, Gregory exploded at the new experience. He soon realized that he felt like he was encased by something. His vision was obstructed and can only see through a slit. Raising an arm, he saw the Straggler S1-2's hand, flexing its finger on his command.
The computer system of the Straggler S1-2 started feeding his brain with countless data.
"HAHAHA! WHOA! WHOA!" Unfamiliar with the Neuro-link - as if being almost completely transported into a new body, the Straggler S1-2 stumbled backwards unable to maintain its balance.
"I'm not yet used to Full-Dive so I'm going to switch to Half-Dive." Gregory's perception returned to the cockpit. Although he could tell that the reaction time was totally slower than when in Full-Dive.
"You're watching Genevieve sis, right? I don't recognize many of the mech's functions!" He said and entered a match without thinking.
Back in the real world, Genevieve raised a brow while spectating her cousin on a projected screen. It was the first time she saw Gregory become reckless. He had not yet explored the other functions of the mech and yet entered a match.
She was resting a cheek on a fist with a bored look on her face. The iconic light-blue hair of the Runerie family, adorn her head - freely draping down. A beautiful woman supplemented by a pleasing appearance - contradicting her profession.
The ace pilot had already made some effort to identify the Straggler S1-2 but found nothing. She could only rely on her intuition and experience with mechs to assess it.
First, she noticed its lackluster armour made up with Hybrid Titanium. She could be merciful by saying that this alloy could still compete with the 3rd Gen. Weaponry, but the 4th Gen. was a totally different playground.
So, she assumed that the mech would compensate for it with firepower. Again, she could not identify the Straggler S1-2's arsenal. The only thing she could distinguish was the Buster Twin Cannons which was somehow different than the original or its following series. Even if these cannons can pack a punch, it's not enough.
"We shall soon see.." She muttered with a silent voice.
Meanwhile, Gregory entered a 10 vs 10 match. The Straggler S1-2 was then transported into a desert with rocky terrains.
"Where are my team mates?" He looked around and noticed he was alone. At his back was a hanging stone cliff.
A breeze disturbed the sands, causing a mild hindrance of vision. Nonetheless, the scanners beep, locking into multiple silhouettes in the distance. Gregory was quick to asses this, realizing that he had long range sensors.
"Let's try this."
[Engage Twin Cannons]
The Buster Twin Cannons deployed and started tracking one of the silhouettes flying in the horizon.
"This is a powerful Targeting System!" Gregory exclaimed. Flyers had powerful ECMs making them almost invincible from projectiles when not manually aiming. However, his cannons were perfectly tracing the flying mechs, added the fact that they were a few kilometres away from his position.
Suddenly, Gregory remembered the toxicity of this division. It will only be a matter of time before these aviators started spouting nonsense.
[Pam! Pam! Paaaam! Rabbit has no hole to hide and the HAwk.. will swoop down!]
[Dismember its flesh, and devour its innards first!]
[Gauge its eyes, a pleasurable meal!]
When the mocking voices died down from the open channel, Gregory could only shake his head. He could tell that these guys were very experienced, the way they leisurely flew toward him - knowing that their ECMs would disrupt any Aim Assists. Even with manual aiming, their sensors could easily warn them about incoming projectiles and could reflexively evade it with their mobile mechs in the air.
He also knew that these aviators could have rose up to the next tier but chose to stay in this division which was dominated by flying mechs as they wanted to bully other players with their fully upgraded mechs. Already well versed with their machines, they could also outplay opponents with equal standing. With that, they could save up more gold for the next tier.
As the Targeting System displayed that the possibility of hitting these flying mechs was low due to the distance, Gregory patiently waited for them as they flew toward his direction. Timing was of the essence in order to take one down, as their sensors had not yet detected his Targeting System already locked onto one.
As they got nearer - their images becoming clearer on the screen, he became itchy after the long wait and fired.
Ba-Bang!
The twin cannons roared as they fired at the same time.
"I got impatient!" Gregory grimaced as the high explosive shells barely missed one of the flying mechs by a few inches as two massive explosions erupted in the horizon. It's destructive wake alarming the airborne machines.
The roused aviators maneuvered their mechs in the air in a random pattern - one that Gregory had already predicted once they discovered that their ECM could not contend with his Targeting System.
'Judging by the blast radius, those twin guns are as powerful as the first buster even though they're smaller. With that size, I can assume that its fire rate is faster.' Genevieve correctly foretold, as Gregory fired another barrage about ten seconds later - thrice faster than the first version of the cannon.
Bo-Boom!
Another dual explosions created a huge crater on the desert.
"F*ck this guy! I can't shake off his lock on me!" One of the aviators cursed, desperately weaving in the air as it once again barely dodged the twin cannons the second time.
"Maybe your ECM is offline!" Another suggested.
"F*ck you! I hope he direct his targeting system on you. Let's see if your ECM is offline by then!"
"Shut it you two! That guy is nuts! He's trying to hit us with those big cannons!"
"Trying to hit 'me'! Not 'us'!"
As the stressed aviator tried his best to evade, an ominous feeling came to him as no other shots were fired. He screamed in their private channel, "Shiiit! He's taking his time! Go while his distracted with me!!"
There was no need for him to tell his teammates what to do as they were already rushing toward the lone mech. The truth was that he was overwhelmed with the thought of his flying mech exploding into bits. Although, the game system would minimize the damage in order for the mech to be reparable, he had not yet contributed much in the battle - like assists in destroying enemy mechs or dealing the final blow. He would have to pay for the repairs without any gold rewards. A huge blow to his sanity.
The charging mechs closed the distance in no time. Within the 500 meters mark, they all armed their beam rifles as they were in its effective range and directed their wrath into the lone mech.
However, something went wrong!
"F*ck! My aim assist is faulty!"
"I can't move my crosshair properly!"
"What kind of countermeasure is this?"
They switched to manual aiming and unleashed a barrage of energy blasts but all missed by a large margin as they were zigzagging in the air while advancing - afraid that the lone mech would direct its attention to them.
"Tell Konig!" One who had more tactical awareness, commanded in the comms.
[Konig! Konig!]
"What? I'm already in position"
A lone medium mech, far out from the reach of the ensuing battle, awed its energy rifle. Crouching, it activated the bipod of its sniper and started aiming.
[Use manual aiming. This mech has a weird ECM!]
Konig sniffed. Even though he was confident with the fearsome Double A Targeting System developed by the Gestalt Co., he heeded the advice and switched to manual aiming - assured with his own skill.
Flexing his fingers before lightly pressing on the trigger, he calculated while aiming at the tactical scope hanging in his mech's cockpit. As his crosshair steadied at the center of the lone mech's torso, he squeezed.
PYUB!
A highly concentrated blast of energy exited the medium mech's rifle. Konig looked up to his screen. He fired that perfectly. Now, he only had to wait for an explosion or the lone mech going limp. Afterall, his sensors suggested that the lone mech's armour was made up of Hybrid Titanium. There's no way it could withstand a single fire from his sniper!
Detecting the high energy density projectile, the aviators smiled.
'I haven't yet saw the Straggler S1-2 in its full performance. Too bad.' Genevieve thought, seeing that Gregory was too preoccupied into bringing down one of the flying mechs. Her cousin wasn't even aware of the destructive energy blast coming his way until the last millisecond. 'At least, you will get to enter Vulcan444's workshop for repairs.'
Unbeknownst to them, even Gregory, the computer system of the Straggler S1-2 had already alerted the Microtape designated to the Deflector Array on the mech's torso. The module powered up to match the incoming hostile energy projectile and activated as a distortion field expanded and intercepted the energy blast, dissipating it into harmless particles in the air.
All were shocked.
A wide grin appeared on Gregory's face. He also initially thought that it was game over for him, but now, he was brimming with confidence. He took advantage of the dumbstruck aviators, aiming at the one he had been preying since the start.
As the Targeting System displayed a red lock on the screen, Gregory shouted in the comms, "Die!"
Ba-Bang!
"You son of---" The aviator screamed in last defiance before his flying mech was struck by both high explosive shells, and engulfing it complete in a massive explosion. Only a few debris manage to flew away, indicating that the flying mech had once existed.
The other aviators regained their composure after seeing their fellow's brutal destruction. Still in confusion, they sought to find enlightenment on each other.
"I thought only current gens has shielding!?" One frantically maneuvered his mech, but still found the courage to move forward. After all, it was the most sound decision. If they run away, they'd be shot down one by one. The only option was to fight.
"We can win this!" Another tried to encourage them.
"We can concentrate our fire and damage its shielding module. Its armour is Hybrid Titanium. Our energy rifles can easily penetrate it!"
With that, the aviators began their new offensive. Two would distract it while the other two would try to flank it on both sides.
Konig discharged another concentrated energy blast from his sniper, only to be swatted by the Distortion Field once again. "F*CK! What is that mech?"
On the other hand, Gregory was having a hard time aiming at the aviators as they used their superior team work to confuse him. After the second beam from the sniper was successfully intercepted, he glanced at his remaining power.
[Power: 84%]
He had not yet moved the mech, and there was already energy consumption. Gregory accurately guess that the shield consumed energy in order to deploy. Just as he was thinking his next move, he noticed something and turned his attention back at the panel.
[Power: 85%]
[Power: 86%]
[Power: 87%]
"What?" He started laughing after realizing that his mech had a regenerative reactor, "I could just sit here and they could do nothing to harm me!"
However, when the first aviator performed a strafing run through his side, firing its energy weapons rapidly, Gregory found his power depleting faster than he anticipated as the shield deployed to protect his mech.
[Power: 74%]
"Crap!"
Instinctively, he ran.
The spectators were once again shocked as the Straggler S1-2 sprinted with surprising agility and speed - almost that of a medium mech despite its massive proportion.
Gregory had not repositioned himself to a better position for one reason. If he had gone to the top of the cliff, the flying mechs could surround him easily as it was an open ground. On the base of the cliff, however, he could use it to protect one of his flanks. As such, he ran around it with the aviators in pursuit. They could not find a good angle to harass him as his twin cannons were still tracking them and they were left with little options to make an initiative.