Out of several possibilities his competitor could choose to go with, Dumont chose to go with the classic design duel. When two ch designers had a beef, they let the strengths of their chs do the talking.
In truth, Ves had brainstord several ways that Dumont could retaliate against him with his team. They ca up with possibilities, such as price dumping, regulatory harassnt, industrial sabotage and more.
A design duel had been well within specifications. The only snag was that Dumont conditioned his challenge by setting forth his first production model. Considering the brisk sales of his Havalax design, his first ch already accumulated an enormous amount of value.
More than risking a huge chunk of potential cash, the duel also put their reputation at stake. Nobody among the crowd could say whether one design was superior over the other. Both the Havalax and the Blackbeak designs had their own rits. So would argue that they didn’t even compete in the sa space.
Yet the prospect of a rivalry at play triumphed over logic. A few bystanders already started to egg Ves on. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
The pressure mounted on Ves to accept the duel.
"I already reserved an arena, so you don’t have to go to the trouble of arranging a venue." Dumont added. "Five days from now, there’s an open ti slot in the match between the Dorum Velvet Fists and the Haston Grease Monkeys. We’ll get to prove the worth of our designs in front of a full crowd of ch fans!"
It must have cost him quite a bit of money to arrange such a highly-valued slot. Ves mulled over the offer for any traps. The ch arena shouldn’t be able to get away with any tricks, but who could tell if they did?
"I’ll only accept if there’s official MTA representation."
Dumont waved his hand dismissively. "Fine!"
Requesting the presence of an agent of the MTA didn’t co cheap, but it insured that nothing funny went on. If Dumont or the arena operators tried to cheat in any way, then the MTA would co down hard on their heads.
As the challenger, Dumont was obliged to pay for it all, which saved Ves a lot of trouble since his company’s liquidity didn’t look all that great. Ves also had the privilege of setting so additional conditions such as the duel environnt and the pilot criteria.
Ves chose to go with the most advantageous circumstances for himself. "I want the dueling ground to consist of rocky terrain with plenty of line-of-sight breaks."
His Blackbeak excelled in dragging out the fight while the Havalax sought to end the duel as quickly as possible. By making the terrain as difficult as possible, the pilot of the Blackbeak would be able to extend the pursuit.
"Fine, but don’t think you can run away all match. I don’t think the public will appreciate a ch that can only stand a chance by acting like a coward!"
"As for who will drive our chs, let’s set the bar to advanced pilots no older than thirty years old."
"Agreed."
Advanced pilots could be found everywhere. If Ves didn’t set such a condition, Dumont might have been able to persuade a rare expert pilot to fight in his stead. He set a relatively low age limit in order to prevent him from finding so grizzled war veteran who could pull of dozens of tricks in quick succession.
By posing all these limits, Ves made the duel more dependent on the machine rather than the person. He had faith in the quality of his Blackbeak and strongly believed in its performance despite the naysayers.
They hashed a few conditions before Dumont left in a confident whirl. He already accomplished his purpose, so there was no need to stick around anymore.
The impending design duel spoiled the rest of the press conference. Ves noticed that most of the reporters briefly notified their editors about the sudden challenge. The spell of had been broken, and nothing could pull them back into his trap.
Ves decided to wrap up his press conference.
"Thank you for attending, and I will see you five days from now at the arena!"
Word spread quickly. The duel between two young promising Apprentice ch Designers should be one of the more exciting events that took place next week.
The constant hype surrounding their rivalry didn’t peak the interest of every ch fanatic, but it definitely raised their profiles. Both the Havalax and the Blackbeak received a surge of free publicity.
Many publications that had snubbed the invitation to attend the Blackbeak’s unveiling must be feeling green with regret right now.
News portals such as The Republican ch published bold-faced headlines accompanied with high-quality footage of the confrontation between the two designers. Even if they went a bit too far with their creative editing, the dramatized retelling of that day served to put their designs to the forefront of the news.
"We’ve already sold out our first production run!" Gavin exclaid as he t Ves at a private dining hall in a hotel next morning. "Our buyers are practically knocking down Marcella’s doors right now. We had to limit our sales to one copy per custor. Demand is through the roof!"
"The free publicity is nice, but it’s only a temporary phenonon." Ves pointed out while eating his breakfast. "Whoever admits defeat in the upcoming duel will see their demand crater overnight. No one wants to buy a ch associated with failure."
The worst thing about the duel was that the format favored the Havalax. The raw specs didn’t lie and the Blackbeak’s advance in endurance would never be able to co into play in a duel that only lasted thirty minutes at most.
In hindsight, the Blackbeak made for a very poor dueling ch, while the Havalax practically thrived in these circumstances.
"Do we have a pilot lined up?"
"I have soone in mind." Ves leisurely replied as he moved on to drinking his cup of tea. "There’s a reason why I set the age limit to thirty."
The door to the dining hall slid open to allow the entry of a familiar face.
"Good morning Ves!"
"linda! Good to see you again. I didn’t want to call you up for this, but I really need your help."
linda Larkinson took a seat at the table and poured herself so tea. She dressed casually this ti, but her powerful movents and predatory expression couldn’t hide the fact that she was a ch pilot. "Who’s this?"
"That’s Gavin, he’s in charge of marketing. We were just discussing so business before you arrived."
"Your ch business must be doing well." She remarked. "You’re practically the talk of the town! Ticket prices for the match between the Velvet Fists and the Grease Monkeys have tripled overnight. Even the VIP rooms are fully booked!"
The ch duel attracted a lot of interest due to hype. Most people probably didn’t know too much about Ves or Dumont. They just wanted to witness a historic rivalry between two similarly talented ch designers.
Ves started to compose himself. "About that. linda, out of all the cousins I know who are here in the Bentheim region, you’re the only one who’s proficient in piloting knights. I’d like to ask you to be my champion for the upcoming duel."
The entire room plunged into silence. Even Gavin almost spurted out his coffee. He expected Ves to tap a professional ch athlete, or so kind of elite academy graduate.
"Why ?"
"Because I trust you. Because you’re a Larkinson. Because you’re both."
He didn’t need to say anything more. As a Larkinson himself, he knew how much the family prized their potentates. Every Larkinson with the aptitude to beco a ch pilot had received a vigorous amount of training from the start. The family ensured that every Larkinson began their piloting careers with a solid foundation along with a couple of fully developed specialties.
For example, Raella excelled in piloting skirmishers and light chs, while lkor turned into a killing machine if he piloted a rifleman. Besides hard work, much of what they accomplished could be attributed to the training they received from the family.
linda looked dead-serious now as she weighed the offer carefully. "I’m not too sure about this. Sure, I know a thing or two about knights, but I’m more of an all-rounder than a dedicated knight pilot. Law enforcent chs are a whole different beast, you know!"
Ves still rembered the ch she piloted when she rescued him from an assassination attempt. Her law enforcent ch consisted of an aerial hybrid knight that exchanged a sword for a fluid projector.
"It’s not a bad thing if you’re not a pure knight pilot. The Blackbeak is an offensive knight, so it performs at its best if you take advantage of its mobility. It’s still a knight, but it’s got several things in common with more agile knights like skirmisher chs."
No matter who he approached, Ves still wanted to persuade linda to take up his cause. She was family, and family was ant to stick together.
"This is a lot to take in, you know." linda breathed deeply. "I’m not a stranger of duels, but the stakes are awfully high. How much money is at stake?"
Ves gestured to Gavin, who supplied the latest estimate. "The first production model alone can be worth as much as 300 million credits if you manage to win. Collectors are willing to throw money at any ch that carries such a great piece of history!"
"Sheesh, Ves! You’re sticking into a ch worth 300 million? Why not deposit a few billion credits in my cockpit while you’re at it!"
"Actually, Miss linda, the outco of the duel has far-ranging effects on the demand of the Blackbeak model. If we win, we can expect strong sales to deliver additional revenue the tune of two or three billion credits over the next year. If we lose, we’ll be lucky if we can get the production line running at all..."
All of this piled more weight onto linda’s shoulders. She had never been made responsible over so much potential gains and losses in her life. Her face turned numb at the dizzying amount of money being bandied amount.
"My salary is only around 200,000 credits a year. I really don’t know, Ves. I’m a decent pilot when I’m on assignnt for the Planetary Guard, but I’ve never perford in front of the entire Republic. Do you know how many fans are tuning in to the match between the Fists and the Monkeys? That’s one of the most popular dueling teams in the Republic! And I’m going to be showing off my skills in their half-ti break!"
Obviously, linda couldn’t handle the pressure like a seasoned ch athlete. Ves wished that Raella hadn’t wandered off with Dietrich, because he could sure use so help in reassuring his cousin.
"Competing in public is not that scary when you’re good. I know you’re good. Think about it as an opportunity to wave the flag for the family. Show the Republic what a Larkinson can do! If you win the match, you’ll not only help sell more chs, but you’ll also boost the careers of every Larkinson in active duty!"
When Ves joined the family’s Steering Committee and attended their annual eting, he learned that one of the family’s priorities was supporting the careers of their younger ch pilots.
Many of his nephews and nieces joined the ch Corps with dreams of making it big. It took a lot of money and effort to distinguish themselves from the other talents in their units.
"Consider this as well." Ves continued. "The Larkinson Estate owns twenty-five percent of my company. A win will directly boost my company’s earnings, to the point where the family will potentially earn billions of credits in dividends down the line. Think of what the family can do with all of that money. We can increase the pensions for the widowers and provide better training for the young."
Not every Larkinson prioritized giving back to the family, but linda showed signs that she was receptive to the idea. She owed a lot to the family.
" I’m even willing to give you a fair share of what we gained. Have you ever thought about moving into a glitzy penthouse in the middle of downtown Dorum? I can pay for all of that."
This ti, linda didn’t hesitate any longer. "Okay, deal! I’ll do it! I’ll pilot your damn ch in front of a circus! Just get that penthouse!"
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