58 M1 - Term: 1 to 2 - Break (1/2)
Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142
House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero
M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null
Term: 2, Round: (holiday)
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”We soo need to enter one of these Daedo,” Barran repeated for the third time. ”You build it, and I will pilot.”
Daedo shook his head, ”Build your own. If I build a Mech, I want to pilot.” As the day wore on the cadets became restless, they would rather be competing than watching.
At first, the cadets were enthralled with melee combat. They thought it was amazing. The Mechs fighting styles were as varied as the Mechs themselves. The most effective seemed to mimic mixed martial combat to a degree. There were three types of matches, where one Mech was far superior in strength, speed and or fighting strategy. Another where at least one Mech had a war of attrition strategy and the two combatants ended up trading blow for blow. And the last was where one Mech broke down because of overheating, poor piloting or it just wasn't built very well.
After six hours of watching mechs beat each other to a standstill, they were itching to get to the expo.
”The best so far are Smack Ninja and Dude Where's My Mech,” Picard announced after the twenty-fifth bout.
”Hmm,” Barran joined in, ”I dunno, Kick Start was awesome with his ball-like abdomen and spinning kicks, nothing else like it. And he won in like five seconds. So we really didn't get to see all of his potential.”
”Kick Start was fine when he got into range, but he moved slowly,” Picard argued. ”Smack Ninja would have toasted him.”
”Oh yeah?” Barran said loudly, ”I'll fight like Kick Start, and you fight like Smack Ninja, and we'll see who wins!”
”Pfft,” Picard replied, ”You will have to mimic him properly, or it doesn't count.”
”Or you could just wait for the elimination rounds tonight and tomorrow,” Vannier offered. ”They are both in the top half so should meet…,” she checked the brackets, ”in the quarters.”
”Bah,” Barran proclaimed, ”Smack Ninja will never make it that far!”
”If that happens then you win,” Picard said and held out her hand for a shake.
”You're on!” Barran shook vigorously.
The whole conversation gave Daedo an idea. After seeing so many different structures, so many different ideas he was struggling to think where to start for a mech design. Old Dawg was an old model, an old design compared to what they saw today.
”I have an idea,” Daedo announced.
”What?” Axelzero and Mace said at the same time.
Daedo pointed at Picard then Barran, ”We make them fight freeform and mocap all their movements. A hundred hours of fighting.”
”Sounds great,” Barran joined in. ”Why?”
”The best fighters today, and yesterday, used martial combat moves,” Daedo observed then asked, ”Why were martial movements the most effective?” Martial movements were movements based on traditional martial arts which when the mixed to enhance their effectiveness. Whether it was Sanda, Wing Chun or Aikido.
Some mechs mimicked animals, from a gorilla to a kangaroo. These were crushed by martial mechs. While animals had specific biology which made them powerful, mechs adhered to the same rules. There was no advantage in strength or speed. And only humans had spent hundreds of years perfecting martial arts.
”Because,” Picard responded, ”they have been developed over centuries, if not millennia.”
Daedo nodded. ”The are reasons why we wouldn't build a mech to mimic these movements in a traditional sense. But, there is no reason why we shouldn't test it.”
”What are the reasons not to?” Mace asked.
”Most humans can only bend their elbow one way, or torso twist to a maximum angle. A mech does not have these restrictions so we shouldn't limit our thinking to just these movements. But if we can build a mech to carry out these movements in a more efficient manner, it's going to be much better than inventing all new movements. And the second reason is this is just melee combat. Our Mechs can use guns.”
”Then why bother with melee combat at all? Let's just put missiles and massive railguns on the suckers,” Barran added.
Daedo shook his head, ”What happens when you run out of missiles? Or the mech is overheating? Or in a situation where engaging in melee gives you a tactical advantage?”
”Surely we can carry enough missiles, especially when adding railguns, or assault cannons to take down eight opponent Mechs,” Barran said.
”Barran, we won't always be only facing seven or eight enemy Mechs,” Daedo replied.
Barran scratched his head, trying to think of a competition where they faced more opponents. Was it some sort of wave survival test? Or the Inter-Academy melee. He wondered.
Picard punched him in the arm gently and whispered, ”if we are in a real war dufus.” Before she turned back to Daedo, ”Anyway I am in. You will need me to ensure the moves are on point. Barran uses brute strength or speed to get out of trouble too often.”
It was exactly what Daedo was thinking. Picard would be his puppeteer, while Barran was there to push her to her limit.
Vannier stood, stretched and asked, ”Expo?” She received a resounding yes from all the cadets. They had had enough of sitting and watching when they would rather be in the action themselves.
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The Munich Convention Centre (MCC) was hosting the Mecha, and Military Expo was within walking distance of the tournament. They were all part of Munich's hub of entertainment infrastructure.
The expo was so large it took up trade hall one through to five. The twenty metre high ceilings easily housed a twelve-metre mech from Svarski which took pride of place at the entrance. It shone like a mecha from an Alvion VR story. It was predominately white with patches of blue and red. Like most modern mechs, it had no imitation human head. The pilot's cabin was in the top of the torso which had the most armour and was the heart of the mech.
Below the pilot's cabin would be the reactor. The pilot was basically sitting on top of a multi-megawatt cold fusion reactor. It was not unduly unsafe, no matter where you were if the reactor blew you were toast. It was more likely for the lithium plasma to kill a pilot than a cold fusion reactor. Even Daedo's exos were full of lithium plasma. It was the most efficient energy storage material available as well as being instrumental in power delivery.
”Now that is a sight,” Vannier announced while the squad stood and gazed in awe at the Svarski Mech. Svarski was always vying with Huawei and DaVinci for top honours not only in the Tier one Academy league but also for the number one corporation and private mech military in the world.
”The big boys are here,” Barran said in admiration.
The squad gained free entry simply by showing their identification which showed they were Academy cadets.
”Perks of being rich. You don't have to pay,” Picard said cynically.
”Don't be like that,” Barran responded with a dramatic pose, ”I can't help it if I am rich and handsome, I was born this way.” Unsurprisingly he received a scoff and a thump from Picard, which he was too slow to dodge.
It was mid-afternoon, on the Saturday, and it was fortunate the expo was open until late, it would take them a day to see everything. And if they stopped for long periods at a particular stand, the time needed would quickly turn into days. The expo closed Sunday night at midnight.
One of the first standouts amongst the exhibits was the Marais Industry stand. The cadets didn't recognise anyone, certainly Cillian as CTO would not be working at a trade show. As with most stands it had one of their premier products on display, with display bots showing anything else you wanted to look at. As the squad approached the main display changed to an exo carrier. Ten seaters with the capability of carrying soldiers in exo gear or storing the exos in easy access racks along each side.
”Do they have our rental data?” Axelzero asked.
”They must, the bastards. This is a company that knows what it's doing Daedo,” Barran proclaimed.
Daedo asked the screen, ”how much?”
A message appeared, ”Academy cadet discount, 3,300 bitcreds.”
”That's cheap!” Barran exclaimed.
”We rent the hovervan which carries the bins and us for a bitcred a month,” Axelzero said sternly.
”Yeah, but it doesn't go offroad, have VTOL jumpjets, and is capable of absorbing an autocannon blast,” Barran retorted.
”No thanks,” Daedo said and when Barran looked upset. ”Not yet.”
”I bet I can get one free with Marais sponsorship,” Barran flourished at the vehicle on the screen.
”Depends on what that sponsorship costs us,” Vannier rebuffed Barran.
”Can't hurt to ask,” Daedo showed Barran support, nodding to the relatively tall blond haired cadet.
Barran smiled and nodded back, ”Done, I'll find out.”
The cadets made it to the end of the first aisle, and a different type of stand drew their attention.
”Euro Professional Mech League, wow, they have a stand,” Picard said.