The Kax Arena

An hour later, Xiao received the summary of her opponents and a general overview of the mechs to be used. The summary mentioned the mech organization involved and some brief bio of the pilots she was facing. A glance of the average performance record gave Xiao some confidence that she still had a chance. If she was facing pilots who were among the best in these matches, nothing within her arsenal could possibly close the gap. After skimming through the bio, she reached the general overview of the two mechs to be used by her opponents.

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Mech Type: Beetle

Mech Weight Class: Light

Left Arm (Structure): 30

Left Torso (Structure): 30

Left Leg (Structure): 60

Center Torso (Structure): 60

Right Leg (Structure): 60

Right Torso (Structure): 30

Right Arm (Structure): 30

Armor Type(s): Armor (Basic), Armor (Improved)

Gyro Type(s): Gyro (Basic), Gyro (Improved)

Engine Core Type(s): Engine Core 10 (Basic)

Cooling Type(s): Cooling (Basic)

Weapon Type(s): Light Machine Gun, Machine Gun, Small Laser, AC2

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They have a beetle mech? These are extremely tough with them boasting higher structure than most other light mechs. Combine that with basic armor or improved armor and they become extremely tough to beat.

Xiao’s eyes eventually landed on the AC2 weapon type. AC stood for autocannon and these weapon types were extremely rare on light mechs. Not only did autocannon require valuable slots which were limited on a light mech but their ammo took up plenty of space. Despite having access to the AC2, beetle mechs were rarely equipped with it as it had very few chances to attack before ammo ran out. While autocannons did impressive damage compared to weapons more common to light mechs, the limited ammo still resulted in minimal damage output.

And the other one is a fly mech.

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Mech Type: Fly

Mech Weight Class: Light

Left Arm (Structure): 20

Left Torso (Structure): 20

Left Leg (Structure): 40

Center Torso (Structure): 40

Right Leg (Structure): 40

Right Torso (Structure): 20

Right Arm (Structure): 20

Armor Type(s): Armor (Basic)

Gyro Type(s): Gyro (Basic)

Engine Core Type(s): Engine Core 20 (Basic), Engine Core 20 (Improved)

Cooling Type(s): Cooling (Basic), Cooling (Improved)

Weapon Type(s): Light Machine Gun, Machine Gun, Small Laser

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The fly mech boasted speed more than toughness. Xiao recognized that, if she faced a beetle mech and a fly mech, it could be challenging. The two mechs could cover each other’s weaknesses, especially when the two pilots had excellent teamwork. Since both pilots came from the same organization, then there was a good chance such was the case.

Sadly, there’s nothing on my co-op pilot. Seems like Vesna couldn’t get any information from their name alone.

When Zavaso agreed to the co-op, the document only listed the match info and the other mech organization name. Beyond that, there was little to work on. To add to the mech organization’s mysteriousness, it seemed to be newly started with no history to speak of. When Xiao inquired on why Zavaso would agree to such a co-op, Vesna stated that their boss wanted a match as soon as possible and this was the opening. They were about to participate in a match her mech organization joined on a whim which frustrated Xiao greatly. To get a good record, pilots needed a mech organization to do its diligence in finding the right matches. First match mattered a lot as it tended to set the momentum and impacted the confidence of the entire team.

I can always hope for beginner’s luck.

Once the shuttle landed, the group was transported to the match site where the ant mech and Wattan were already waiting for them. Xiao spent the rest of the day working with the head mechanic on the mech. They communicated over tweaks on the mech to make the controls more natural for the young woman. They wouldn’t know for certain until Xiao fought in an actual match but any extra preparation could improve their odds.

Wattan is really good at his job! Why would he work for such a new mech organization?

It wasn’t until late into the night did the two of them finish with all the mech configurations. Xiao also learned a lot from Wattan as the head mechanic was familiar with all the parameters, some of which the young woman didn’t even know existed. Knowing that she did everything she could and the importance of rest, Xiao went to bed to get six hours of sleep. When she left, Wattan said that he planned on finalizing a few things before he called it a night. As she made her way to the sleeping quarters, she noticed the lights from the windows of rooms adjacent to hers.

If everyone else is working this hard, I better give it my 110% effort tomorrow.

Xiao fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. On the following day, she ate a big meal before joining the others at the arena mechbay assigned to their team. As promised by the head mechanic, no further tweaks were made on this day. Instead, both Ahote and Tuari were busy stickering the sponsor logos onto the mech. Xiao went straight to the mech cockpit where she checked the notes she made the previous night. Now that the match was almost here, she felt her heart beating quickly. Even though a few deep breaths helped, the young woman hoped that she could keep a cool head once the match began.

“Xiao,” shouted Vesna. “Please poke your head out of the cockpit please!”

Despite this being an odd request, Xiao did so only to notice the camera too late. She called for Vesna to come back but the little girl said she had too many things to take pictures of. Seeing the little girl run away with such a carefree attitude, the weight on Xiao’s shoulder lightened a bit.

Maybe I should be like her and treat it as a learning experience…

The young woman then finished the last inspection of all her controls. No matter what happened in the upcoming match, she had to do her best and have no regrets. As soon as the cockpit doors were closed, the AC within the mech kicked in. She adjusted to a comfortable value before she went over her strategies in her head.

“The match is starting in two minutes,” said Vesna through the headset. “Proceed to the mechbay doors.”

“Understood!”

The ant mech moved slowly and steadily towards the doors. Once the two minutes were up, the door slid open, revealing the arena to Xiao. Not interested in anything flashy, Xiao simply went at a comfortable pace. She had seen matches where pilots had their signature entries but those were reserved to pilots who had made a name for themselves. She couldn’t risk her mech taking damage before the match even started.

“I got visual on the allied mech. It’s also an ant mech. I will be requesting more information on it.”

Xiao waited for a full minute before Vesna informed her of the experimental flamers on the mech.

“Experimental flamers?”

She had heard of the weapons before. Flamers were said to be weapons that did limited damage and added heat to any mechs hit by them. They were basically meant to force mechs to shut down, rendering them helpless to any attacks. Ignoring the feasibility of such a strategy, Xiao was more curious how the allied mech had experimental weapons. Experimental weapons were not only rare but one needed the right connections to get their hands on it. At this stage, she couldn’t help but wonder about the background of both her mech organization and the allied mech organization.

“Yes, that mech has experimental flamers and no other weapons. Their strategy is to shut down enemy mechs and you can simply go in for an easy kill.”

“Getting that close to the fly mech will be no easy feat.”

“That’s why the pilot suggests that we focus on the beetle mech first. A two versus one situation would then guarantee our win.”

“Affirmative!”

Xiao waited for the announcer to go through the motions before she readied herself for combat. At the other side of the arena, the beetle and fly mechs faced them. As soon as she heard the match had begun from Vesna, the fly mech moved at incredible speed towards the allied ant mech. Meanwhile, the beetle mech remained still, as if waiting for Xiao to make her move.

“How’s my ally handling the fly mech?”

“Not very well! The flamers have a short range and the fly mech is too agile.”

“I need to assist my ally then. Otherwise, I cannot hope to win a one versus two.”

“Address the fly mech before the beetle arrives then.”

For the first time in real life, Xiao put an ant mech into a full sprint. The mech interior was shaking but the seat shock absorbers were doing their job.

“Beetle mech is charging but I’d say you have thirty seconds to a minute before it reaches you.”