Josh truly won the Fey Fianna in a prize raffle.
Before he signed up for this suicidal defense mission, he worked for one of the many rcenary organizations that had emigrated to the Red Ocean.
The pay was good, and he was able to sponsor his daughter's education and augntations with his inco, but it did not leave him with enough capital to afford his own ch.
In truth, most ch pilots did not develop a great yearning to buy their own ch. It was nice if they had one, but owning one ca with a lot of additional costs and responsibilities.
Although experienced ch pilots of Josh Ketter's skill level earned a lot better than average, this inco was far from being able to purchase a decent ch, especially one that was fresh from the factory!
Even if Josh had an inheritance or sothing, the economic burden of owning his own ch did not end at that point.
Every ch needed to be certified on a regular basis. They needed regular maintenance by ch technicians who knew what they were doing. Repairs could also get exceedingly expensive if the machine ever suffered any serious harm.
An entire infrastructure had to be ford around an independent ch. While there were many services available on developed planets and space stations that allowed independent ch pilots to forgo the need of building up an entire crew, the cost of relying on third parties often exceeded the profit that could be earned from solo rcenary contracts!
In fact, the best way for rcenaries to take advantage of owning a personal ch was to negotiate a deal with an existing rcenary outfit.
All of that was beyond Josh Ketter. As a ch pilot who graduated from the ch academy and served as an ordinary soldier in various ch organizations, he did not learn how to set up an independent business, manage his own crew or maintain a positive balance sheet.
He never even set out to buy his own ch. What would he do with it anyway?
That was why he beca completely dumbfounded when he heard when he won an actual ch in a raffle.
The raffle was part of a promotion from a ch magazine that he subscribed to for a long ti.
The virtual publication regularly held these raffles, and it was quite easy for readers to sign up. They rely had to check a few boxes before pressing the confirm button.
Josh had been reading this magazine for over 15 years. He signed up for every raffle with the attitude of not missing any opportunity, but he never won any prizes during these years.
He did not even receive a plushy for his efforts!
After realizing that these sweepstakes were no different from the lotteries where the chances of winning anything were infinitely close to zero, Josh no longer held any expectation for them anymore.
He did not stop signing up for the raffles that appeared on the projected pages from ti to ti, but he beca so dismissive of them that the act of checking the boxes and pressing the confirm button beca a subconscious instinct.
[CONGRATULATIONS MR KETTER! YOU HAVE WON THE GRAND PRIZE OF THE RAFFLE INCLUDED IN ISSUE #6136! PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS AND OTHER CONDITIONS SO THAT WE MAY DELIVER YOUR VERY OWN FEY FIANNA, COURTESY OF THE LIVING CH CORPORATION!]
When he received the announcent one day, Josh still could not believe that he had won the raffle, and managed to obtain the greatest prize worth 3 MTA credits!
It truly did not sink in until the ch actually got delivered to a warehouse close to his ho at the ti!
He even thought about selling the Fey Fianna as he had always been accustod to using company chs. The money he could earn from selling a second-hand but completely unused ch could easily fund his daughter's tuition and other expenses for many years!
Yet from the mont he visited the warehouse in person and took a close look at his new possession, he instantly discarded his plans to get rid of the machine.
"So this is a living ch."
LMC chs had beco well-known for making unforgettable first impressions. They outright manipulated the minds of anyone who went close to them, and sohow the Red Assocation still permitted the so-called living chs to do so despite the potential for abuse.
In any case, once Josh started to try out the Fey Fianna for himself, he couldn't help but fall in love with the popular drone ch.
"No wonder all of those ch pilots beca fans of this model. This ch is so easy to pilot!"
The Fey Fianna at the start had not yet grown smart enough to speak to Josh, but the living machine could already convey its feelings and emotions through the man-machine connection.
Josh changed his plans. He decided to stick with this machine.
If he obtained this fantastic ch a few years ago, he probably would have tried to make it work by signing a contract with a rcenary outfit.
However, tis had changed, and Josh was not a young ch pilot anymore.
He fought against alien raiding fleets enough tis to comprehend that red humanity had not yet fought against the real war machine of the native alien civilizations.
When the dreaded offensive finally erupted, human civilization would suffer a huge amount of damage that would cause a lot of collapses and breakdowns!
Even if red humanity managed to block the assault, the damage to human society would be so great that the lives of the people at the bottom of the pyramid was about to beco a lot worse!
This was why Josh Ketter decided to sign his life away by volunteering for this exceedingly dangerous mission.
He wanted to fight to keep his daughter safe. Already, his decision allowed his girl to transfer to a much safer and more developed colony in the rear of human space.
Being able to provide his ch saved the defenders a bit of effort and also allowed him to negotiate additional compensation.
What Josh found important was that his Fey Fianna was better than most of the second-class chs stationed in this dood star system.
Perhaps it didn't matter too much as the native aliens would eventually kill all human ch pilots regardless of the quality of their chs, Josh still wanted to go down swinging if possible.
There was only one big problem with utilizing the Fey Fianna as his combat ch.
Josh specialized in lee combat.
He was not a particularly talented or skillful ch cadet back during his academy days. His advisors told him that he needed to choose his specialization early if he wanted to keep up with his training.
This was why he only completed the bare minimum of ranged combat courses before he happily focused his efforts on becoming a qualified knight ch and spearman ch pilot.
Josh never lacked for opportunities to pilot lee chs since then. He steadily developed and polished his fighting skills, and also beca competent in piloting swordsman chs.
He never held any desire to improve his marksmanship. A number of his company chs had occasionally been equipped with ranged secondary weapons, but he never made use of them in his 30-year career.
This left him in an awkward position as the Fey Fianna was heavily slanted towards ranged combat!
The most effective offensive fey were all mounted with ranged weapons. Josh was not able to land his shots when wielding an ordinary rifle. He had even less of a chance of hitting anything when trying to aim with his fey!
It seed like the Fey Fianna was profoundly unsuitable to a lee ch specialist like Josh.
Though he thought about exchanging his Fey Fianna for a good lee ch, the problem was that the infamously slow LMC had yet to add a modern second-class spaceborn lee ch model to its product catalog!
There were plenty of rumors that claid that the LMC was working on it, but it had yet to release a good lee ch model that conford to the standards of the Hyper Generation.
The thought of swapping the Fey Fianna for a lee ch produced by another ch company never entered his mind.
Once Josh experienced the comfort and pleasure of piloting a living ch, he refused to go back to steering those lifeless lumps of tal!
If he was about to fight one last battle before he perished, he wanted to enjoy the experience to the fullest!
Fortunately, the ch technicians working in the orbital space fortress offered Josh a convenient solution.
"We can modify it into a lee ch configuration." The chief technician gruffly told Josh. "We normally have to wait for a ch designer to co and work out the modifications for us to implent, but you're in luck. The Standard Edition of the Fey Fianna is such a popular ch model that plenty of ch designers have already developed many different variants and modification kits. We can obtain one of the off-the-shelf schematics and begin the modification work right away."
Josh was no stranger to aftermarket modifications to chs, but he gazed skeptically at his relatively skinny Fey Fianna.
Without the fey mounted on the back, the ch did not look like it possessed the physical power and structural strength to be able to hack at enemies at point-blank range!
The chief technician grimaced. "We are short on personnel here for obvious reasons. We don't have the ti or manpower to spare for a complete overhaul. We should look at the catalog for one of the less radical modification kits. We won't be able to turn your Fey Fianna into a real lee ch, but once we are done, it should get close enough that the limitations are not too crippling. You can even rely on the fey to compensate for most of the shortcomings."
"It looks like the Fey Fianna needs a complete redesign in order to beco a good lee ch."
The chief technician grimaced. "We are short on personnel here for obvious reasons. We don't have the ti or manpower to spare for a complete overhaul. We should look at the catalog for one of the less radical modification kits. We won't be able to turn your Fey Fianna into a real lee ch, but once we are done, it should get close enough that the limitations are not too crippling. You can even rely on the fey to compensate for most of the shortcomings."
Josh Ketter beca impressed by this plan. "How much will it cost?"
"Nothing. We are short on personnel, and our budget is not endless, but we still have enough spare materials on hand. We'll cover the expenses. This will be an interesting distraction for us. If we are about to die soon, then I at least want to work on at least one of the LMC's famous living chs."
The two proceeded to sit down behind a desk terminal and browse through an extensive product catalog.
Josh eventually settled for a spear-wielding variant.
The modification kit was fairly small and did not require a lot of work to apply to the Fey Fianna.
Much of the modification work went into the arms and the upper shoulders. The arms needed to beco a lot thicker and stronger.
The limbs lost the precision and fine control that enabled them to land accurate shots with a rifle as a consequence.
In exchange, the heavier arms were able to maintain a much more solid grip on a two-handed spear and thrust it forward with decent power!
"This won't be a full spearman ch." The chief technician warned the pilot and owner of the modified Fey Fianna. "The limitations of the arms and torso structures make it so that your ch is only truly good at stabbing. It is very slow at swinging a polearm in wide sweeping horizontal or vertical motions. The ch cannot respond fast enough to block any incoming swings of other lee weapons."
"I can live with that." Josh said. "The native aliens don't make use of anything resembling lee chs. A simple stab is enough for to kill any alien fighter craft within my reach."
"You're right. Let warn you that this modification kit has only barely turned your Fey Fianna into a spearman ch. Do not mistake it for a lancer ch. High impact charges are not recomnded unless you want to damage the arms and lose your only weapon."
"Noted."
"Now let us finalize your selection of fey."
User Comments
0 comments from readers