[The Lancernaut… has fallen!]
[Only the Killer Kitty is left, but how can this machine possibly win a confrontation against a light skirmisher. So far, its relatively weak laser attacks have only managed to scorch the armor of the Sensia. As long as Team Larkinson's light skirmisher catches up to Team Danilov's remaining intact machine, this match is over.]
[Please do not forget the central the of this tournant. The chs that each team is instructed to design and build must complent each other in battle. Team Larkinson has made a sincere attempt at doing so by making both of its chs effective enough in combat to land the killing blows. Team Danilov on the other hand has opted to allocate the majority of its ti and resources into designing the Lancernaut. Although the centaur ch has indeed lived up to its promises and crushed its opponents in the previous three rounds, it is too much to expect it to fight against two chs at the sa ti.]
[I agree. Teamwork is stronger than individual excellence. Barring outliers such as high-ranking chs, it is always better to field several weaker chs than a single stronger one. The forr may suffer more losses, but the latter is unlikely to survive the confrontation. ch combat is as much a numbers ga as it is a quality ga. ch designers cannot rashly enter a ch design tournant that is centered around teamwork and duo combat and subsequently focus on designing just a single good ch.]
Team Danilov's strategy had its limits. Jas Danilov and his sidekick Laurence Tsukai had both spent an inordinate amount of ti on designing and building the Lancernaut.
The results of their efforts were obvious as the ch was tougher, heavier and more robust than many of the other chs in the competition.
However, everything had a price. The fra of a centaur ch was several tis larger than a dium ch, and that ant it took a lot more ti to design and fabricate.
The consequence was that the two ch designers barely had any ti left to fabricate a relatively weak and basic tiger gun ch!
As the only ch of Team Danilov that remained in the field, the Killer Kitty did not give up despite the fall of its 'big brother'!
Seeing that it was too difficult for the tiger ch to utilize its laser guns to land a solid hit on a fast and agile light skirmisher, the ch had decisively turned its weapons against the crippled and immobilized Furia!
Team Danilov must at least down a single opposing ch in order to be able to leave this tournant with dignity.
However, would the ch pilots fighting on behalf of Team Larkinson allow that to happen?
Absolutely not!
The Furia had already begun to fire its single remaining luminar crystal laser weapon at the distant tiger ch.
Unlike the centaur ch that had already fallen, the Killer Kitty turned out to be quite a fast and agile beast ch.
Its ability to perform lateral movents and just to the sides was much better owing to its much lighter fra. Its weapons loadout may be unimpressive, but that was also the main reason why the Killer Kitty had managed to stay out of the reach of the Sensia all of this ti!
Unfortunately, its attacks were ineffective. It might be able to kill finish off the Furia if there was no interference, but the Sensia did its utmost to interfere and get in the way!
This ti, another weakness of its relatively weak design beca exposed.
The Killer Kitty was only able to launch attacks at targets that were almost directly in front of its facing!
Team Danilov had hastily mounted two laser guns onto the sides of its feline body in order to satisfy the 'ranged ch' requirent and called it a day.
If not for this weird tournant rule, Jas Danilov and Laurence Tsukai would have probably opted to settle for a more traditional tiger lee ch.
As it was, the Killer Kitty only managed to land attacks onto the Furia's kneeling fra for a short amount of ti before the Sensia ca close enough to force it away!
"I won't let you kill off the Furia!"
The Sensia continued to chase after the Killer Kitty while making sure that the tiger ch could never turn its guns towards the Furia for long.
While it was impossible to prevent the fast and agile tiger ch from firing its energy weapons at the Furia entirely, the hybrid ch simply hunkered down and made sure to guard its weak points as best as possible.
The match eventually ca to an end after the Killer Kitty ran around and launched attacks until it had emptied its energy reserves.
The Sensia hadn't even needed to sink a single dagger into the tiger ch's fra!
[Team Larkinson has won again!]
[As expected.]
[What do you an, 'as expected'?! The Lancernaut almost crushed the chs of Team Larkinson! Just look at the state of the Furia! It is so badly damaged that it is doubtful whether Ves Larkinson and his partner are able to repair its leg and arm in ti to fight in the next and most crucial round.]
[That is an interesting question. The delay between the rounds has shrunk considerably now. I believe that Team Larkinson only has ti to repair the foot and a portion of the damaged torso. They can forget about restoring the arm. There simply isn't enough ti.]
[I wonder whether the chs of the other teams that have made it this far will be in a worse or better state.]
The comntators continued to exchange their views as the next matches of the fourth round unfolded one by one. More and more machines suffered serious damage as the design capabilities of the teams that made it this far were by no ans weak!
anwhile, Ves and Juliet quickly raced down to the workshop to do their utmost to fix up their chs.
They had already exchanged their plans and views in private and knew exactly how they wanted to proceed with this crucial repair job.
"Blinky!"
Mrow!
The companion spirit had rested more than enough to support its design network again.
Both Ves and Juliet entered into a familiar state of knowing and mutual understanding.
Ves automatically approached the Furia and began to operate the bots and assembly machines to rip away the ruined or heavily damaged parts that needed to be replaced.
Juliet on the other hand was closely operating the superfab in order to churn out all of the replacent parts that were necessary to restore the combat effectiveness of their hybrid ch!
Neither of the two paused or slowed down in their work. Conversation was not necessary at all in order to communicate what they wanted from each other.
This allowed them to work a lot more efficiently than normal. Tasks that normally took 10 minutes to complete could be done in 4 minutes or less due to removing so much friction!
As the first batch of replacent parts arrived, Ves imdiately went to work with fixing up the legs again.
The footing of a landbound ch was the foundation of the entire machine. A bad foot could easily spell disaster as the inability to reposition rapidly or maintain its balance under difficult conditions could easily cause the Furia to trip and fall!
Ves and Juliet therefore decided to do their best to restore foot to its original form despite how much ti it took to complete this job.
"Torso and arms next!"
This was a more serious and demanding job. The Lancernaut's charge had struck the shoulder that connected the arm to the torso. This caused a lot of damage onto the torso which absolutely needed to be fixed!
Ves first concentrated on restoring the functionality of the integrated luminar crystal weapon in the chest area on the affected side.
The core chanisms of the weapon thankfully remained intact, but Ves had to rip out a lot of broken channels and circuitry and replace it with newer components.
This took a lot of ti! Ves was actually feeling a lot of pressure because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to complete his repair plan in ti!
Fortunately, no complications occurred. Ves not only managed to restore full functionality to the luminar crystal weapon, but also fixed a lot of structural parts that prevented this damaged section from worsening the state of the hybrid ch.
"Replacent arm left!"
There was not a lot of ti left anymore, so Ves and Juliet had already agreed to take the most expedient action.
It was far too troubleso and ti-consuming to restore the arm complete with a wrist-mounted flathrower once again, so the pair of Larkinson ch designers didn't even bother with this solution.
Instead, Juliet had fabricated a large ballistic rifle that could easily be attached against the empty shoulder of the Furia!
"I guess our hybrid ch has partially degenerated into a frontline ch." Ves quipped.
This was the most efficient decision that they could make. Ballistic weapons were quite weak but they were extrely simple and low-tech. Modifying it so that it could be mounted on the side like a replacent arm was also a trivial matter to a Journeyman.
Once Juliet completed all of the fabrication tasks, she joined Ves in assembling all of the loose parts.
The final result was a Furia that had been reborn, if only reluctantly!
"What do you think, Bobby?" Ves asked the pilot who had the pleasure of piloting this uneven ch.
"I… will try to make the best of its restored capabilities." Bobby said.
"That is good to hear." Ves smiled as he patted the military ch pilot in the back. "Rember that the foot is fully restored. We put a lot of effort into ensuring that the Furia can take full advantage of its mobility. As for the new ballistic weapon hardpoint, it should allow your ch to pose a light to moderate threat towards other machines at greater distances. Try and maintain distance as the Furia's ability to fend off lee attackers has weakened considerably. This is also one of the reasons why we did not decide to mount another flathrower or shotgun in the empty shoulder socket. The shortcomings are too great."
"Understood. Is there anything else I should know about the Furia, sir?"
"Don't ignore the connection between you and Lizzie who is piloting the Sensia. Both of you are piloting a pair of living chs. There were monts in the previous fight where the two of you could have cooperated better with each other. Focus on that. The two of you have yet to discover the full potential of your living machines."
That was rather vague advice. Bobby barely knew what he was dealing with and he had no clear idea on how to foster a greater connection with Lizzie.
Once the break ti was over, the surviving few teams erged once again.
Ves imdiately frowned when he observed the remaining competition. "Oh. I forgot that there was 1 bye. This is awkward."
[Let introduce the remaining teams that have preserved their chance to win the championship of the Twin Weapons Tournant.]
[Team Larkinson needs no further introductions.]
Ves smirked and briefly bowed at his audience.
[Team Clive is our ultimate hotown representative.]
A pair of ch designers who bore the emblem of the Clive Consortium on their suits greeted the public with PR-friendly smiles.
[Last but not least, Team Reemus has co out of nowhere and defied many expectations.]
The ch designers of Team Reemus were travelers who had no connection to Davute. Hardly anyone cheered for them, but plenty of people respected their accomplishnts.
[Now, who among the top 3 shall be crowned the victors of this tournant?]
Since there were 3 teams left after a long day of running many different matches, there was only ti to hold a single round to determine the final standings.
How would the tournant structure the final round?
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