Captain Alazar Ipsich’s verdict was very clear! He spoke with such certainty and conviction that no one doubted that he was telling any falsehoods.
The entire audience remained silent as they processed the rcenary captain’s words.
Many already speculated that Captain Ipsich would favor the sword-wielding Bright Warrior over the Epsilon Mosar. After all, he won a glorious victory with the forr but lost handedly when he was forced to pilot the latter.
It didn’t help that he piloted the Bright Warrior when the Larkinson ch was fresh and in its best condition.
By the ti he piloted the Epsilon Mosar three days later, Dr. Navarro was only able to redy a limited amount of issues. Aside from its odd tentacle legs, Epsilon Mosar didn’t have any property that conveyed an advantage to the half-fixed bioch!
All of these factors ant that Captain Ipsich experienced a biased perspective on both chs. If he was assigned to pilot the Epsilon Mosar first, his opinion might have differed, although it may very well not if the Bright Warrior lost in the initial bout.
While these circ.u.mstances did not sound fair to Dr. Navarro, there were other ch pilots who possessed the opposite perspective, so it all balanced out in the end, at least in theory.
Of course, no one expected them to issue a completely impartial judgent. Aside from their nationality and their personal biases, their wins and losses most certainly colored their opinions.
This was what the Lifers were truly worried about. If the matches ended at a score of 5-5, then there were as many ch pilots who gained a positive experience with a given ch as those who gained a negative experience.
Neither ch designer enjoyed an inherent advantage in this case!
Yet because the final score was 7-3, the citizens of the LRA were deeply fearful of what the ch pilots might say. What if their positive experiences with Ves’ chs clouded their judgent? What if the rush of victory was so overpowering that the ch pilots forgot about the charm of biochs?
Recency bias also played a factor. If a ch pilot won both matches with different chs, the individual might favor the latter because the mories of piloting it were more fresh.
What was important to note in this context was that the first phase ended with a score of 3-2 in favor of Ves, while the second phase produced a score of 4-1 in favor of the sa ch designer!
This effectively ant that eight ch pilots experienced Ves’ chs in a good light while only two ch pilots went through the opposite.
All of this happened within an hour from this mont!
The audience’s worst fears seed to be turning into a reality from the mont they heard Captain Ipsich’s judgent. The Lifer who possessed a wealth of experience in piloting biochs did not just lean towards the living chs designed by Ves, but he practically threw himself into this direction!
The man looked so enthused about LMC chs that he ca across as a religious convert! Perhaps he might be one step away from kneeling in front of Ves. Such a sight would have dealt a heavy blow to the reputation of the LRA’s bioch industry!
Master Cline maintained a stoic face. It was clear that he already expected this response. Not only was he aware of all of the factors that Ves just considered, but he was also familiar with what LMC chs did to ch pilots.
Out of every other kind of classical ch, the chs designed by Ves were so of the best when it ca to providing a fantastic user experience!
While this did not directly make the chs stronger, they were certainly more well-received by their users!
Captain Ipsich’s case happened to be one of the most extre cases where everything fell into place for Ves. It would have surprised many critics if the rcenary captain voiced his support for a ch he defeated during the first phase and lost with it in the second phase!
"Mada Kelly Gidon, you are next. Please voice your opinions without any reservations. Each of us deserves to know the truth."
What Master Cline did not ntion was what would happen if anyone was caught lying. In fact, there was no way for anyone to speak any falsehoods under these circ.u.mstances because second-class lie detectors were scarily effective.
The LRA excelled in many aspects of biotechnology, and one of those areas happened to be human augntation. Their understanding of human physiology and so on was so high that they probably developed the best lie detectors in the entire star cl.u.s.ter!
Even if Master Cline and the conservative faction wanted to pervert the results, the five Masters belonging to the other factions wouldn’t let that happen!
Ves briefly turned his head. He noted that Master Brixton of the combinants was paying very careful attention to the proceedings. The glowing pupils signified that the old but ambitious cyberch designer wasn’t even hiding the fact that he was employing his most advanced thods to check whether the ch pilots were being influenced in any way!
"I struggled to make a choice. As you know, I piloted the Epsilon Mosar first. Even though I lost with the ch, I don’t believe it is the fault of the bioch at all. It’s not the easiest ch to get into considering that it is optimized for dual-wielding, which I do not excel at. Other than that, it is a fine bioch. As for the Bright Warrior, all I can say is that piloting it is a new adventure. While I did enjoy piloting it and winning with it, I think the novelty of piloting sothing different has caused to think more positively about it than I should. If I try to detach myself from that glowing halo, I think I’m more inclined to go with what I am familiar with. To , biochs are my bread and butter and they continue to be dear to my heart."
The audience all seed to sigh in relief at the sa ti.
Dr. Navarro wasn’t getting steamrolled!
Even though Kelly Gidon’s experiences with Dr. Navarro’s biochs weren’t positive, the Bright Warrior failed to overco her inherent love of biochs!
The Lifers all saw hope. If Gidon was able to rember her love for biochs, then so could the other ch pilots!
Perhaps the win-loss record was not as pivotal as everyone thought.
Ves grimaced a bit. He took this outco as a personal failure. He was so convinced by the attraction of his chs that he was certain that he could have won over soone like Gidon!
Besides that, Gidon’s reasoning made it clear that she didn’t strictly answer the central question. She adopted a different interpretation of the issue and rely told the audience which ch she liked more without any deep consideration of whether biochs felt more alive.
If Ves directly challenged her on this point, she might have issued a different answer.
He refrained from doing so. He was confident he had won over a lot more ch pilots. He just hoped the rest wouldn’t misinterpret the question as well!
"Mr. Trip Oxxon. Please step forward and issue your verdict."
The youngest ch pilot of the bunch responded. He looked stiffer and more formal than the others. His relative inexperience in these settings caused him to grow very nervous all of a sudden.
It was one thing to pilot a ch in front of the entire star sector. As a ch pilot, he was trained to excel at it. Yet addressing trillions of people in a public broadcast was another matter!
"Uhm, In my first match, I rode the knight ch version of the Bright Warrior to defeat." Oxxon slowly began. "In my second match, I achieved the only victory of this phase with the help of the Dragonscale Warrior. While I did not get to pilot the forr at its best, I’ve witnessed enough to form an opinion about it. I can’t say which one is better because both chs have their rits. However, if I had to choose which one is more alive, I think that the Bright Warrior is really sothing special. It supported from behind throughout the first match, and I never really felt as if the fight was dood until my ch could no longer keep up. I never experienced that from any bioch and I think this quality alone is remarkable enough for to vote for Mr. Larkinson!"
Ves received his second endors.e.m.e.nt! Even though Oxxon’s argunts sounded a bit weird, it was undeniable that he had beco another fan of LMC chs!
The crowd grew a little rowdy. Dr. Navarro failed to sustain his montum from earlier. With Ves ahead by one vote, it beca harder for the bioch designer to overtake his opponent!
Zenon Dia Bavros spoke up next. As Oxxon’s opponent, his experiences were opposite.
"The Dragonscale Warrior is a great ch. I love its scale-regenerating ability. I lost when I piloted the Bright Warrior. While the ch makes feel great, it’s an illusion. What does it matter if I feel good if my ch is still behind in performance? I would rather pilot a ch that brings solid benefits to the table! To , the chs that are more alive are biochs because my chances of surviving are greater if I pilot sothing more powerful!"
What kind of crappy argunt was that?! Ves couldn’t believe that Bavros would utilize such twisted logic in order to hand over a victory to Dr. Navarro. The worst part about all of this was that it appeared that Bavros genuinely believed in what he said!
While Ves had his misgivings, the rest of the audience didn’t see any problems with Bavros’ answers. The score evened up again!
Rez Killigan stepped up next. He looked much more presentable than the prior two ch pilots due to his military bearing.
"Just as Mr. Bavros has said, results matter. Performance matters. I had a great ti with the Ferocious Piranha. This ch is so strong and special that it’s a ga changer for light chs. Piloting it made feel as if I was cheating while fighting against it caused to feel as if I was going through a nightmare. I don’t have anything good to say about the Faerie Stinger. The Ferocious Piranha is the best out of the two chs. No question."
The military scout didn’t even ntion which one was more alive to him, but if he was forced to give an answer, he would probably favor the Ferocious Piranha.
It couldn’t be helped!
The Ferocious Piranha fared so well that the Faerie Stinger didn’t have a chance to show what it could do at its best!
Katarina Volsemar quickly followed suit. "I agree with Mr. Killigan. The Ferocious Piranha is sothing else. I don’t think the Faerie Stinger is bad. I piloted it first, so I know that its performance is quite good. It’s just that the Ferocious Piranha causes to disregard everything I favor about the bioch because they can’t do anything against ’glows’. I feel as if if the Faerie Stinger was more alive, it would have been able to protect against the Ferocious Piranha’s distracting effect. Since it didn’t, I’ll just vote for Mr. Larkinson."
Ves gained two votes at once! This was a serious turn of events that prompted a shocked reaction from the crowd.
Even though it was true that the Ferocious Piranha perford well, the two ch pilots who experienced it showed no hesitation in favoring it! The light ch was truly sothing special if it could win over two military specialists at once!
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