Chapter 5551 The First Challenge Match Master Aulaus Kreshnik gave Ves a decent amount of well-meaning advice. Though not all of his tips were new to Ves, the man provided a valuable high-level perspective on the Rubarthan mech market. "The Rubarthan Pact should normally be ruled by a single central administration under the Star Emperor, but since the Great Severing has largely cut us off from the old galaxy, we have entered into a new and much less stable circumstance." The ruler of the New Rubarth Empire maintained such a strong grip on Rubarthan society that his absence led to severe disruptions among his former subjects in the Red Ocean! "So how has that affected the mech industry and the mech market of the Rubarthan Pact?" "There are far too many changes for me to explain in a single sitting." Master Kreshnik replied in a light tone. "Our central government previously maintained a competitive balance in our mech market. No single mech company is allowed to become too dominant. Every mech company is supposed to have a 'fair' chance to market their products to every Rubarthan. Now, that is becoming increasingly more difficult. The Rubarthan Pact is split up into multiple principalities, and each of them have begun to adopt their own rules and policies in the absence of a central authority." That sounded interesting. "I heard that the Smokestack Prince has gathered a lot of allies." "He has. Out of all of the direct descendants of the Star Emperor, the Smokestack Prince is the one that has the greatest chance of unifying our economy and industry. I may not like all of his proposals, but his attainments in these fields are undeniable." "Yet you have chosen to make an exit from the Rubarthan mech market and come down to our playing field instead." "It is much easier to compete in the second-class mech market." Master Kreshnik admitted with a smile. "Small design teams are fully capable of designing mature products that can easily earn modest amounts of profits. The chances of failure are small so long as our mech designs are good enough. The requirements to design a second-class mech is a fraction of a first-class multipurpose mech. The former is much simpler and contains less high-tech parts than the latter. I almost cannot believe how extensively this simplification cuts down on all of the work and other requirements." Designing a second-class mech must be akin to playing a game in easy mode to the likes of Master Kreshnik. Nonetheless, second-class mechs had their own characteristics that superior mech designers often overlooked. When Ves studied the defensive rifleman mechs that had just completed their final inspections, he could pick up dozens of little elements that a native second-class mech designer would never add to his works. Master Kreshnik evidently designed the Nelerath Mark I as if it was a dumbed down version of a first-class mech. The greatest sign that this was the case was the fact that its mech frame contained well-hidden ports that contained an unknown quantity of small modules. Even if Master Kreshnik tried his best to hold himself back, he just couldn't help himself. The Fey Fianna was not a simple mech either, but Ves and his fellow collaborators had done their best to cut down on the bloat and focus on maximizing its primary functions. This was the most appropriate strategy for mechs at this price level. Master Kreshnik had to know that as well, but he had chosen to add a lot of bloat to his mech design anyway. The additional mass and thickness helped to make that possible, but it remained to be seen if the additional complexity translated into actual results. Both mech designers suspended their discussion once they had received word from the inspectors that their mechs passed all of the tests. The Fey Fiannas and the Nelerat Mark I's proceeded to move to the opposite ends of the main arena. Since the enormous venue was roughly shaped like a hippodrome, it was possible to simulate battles where ranged mechs could fight against their adversaries at more realistic distances. Neither Ves nor Master Kreshnik had any objections to starting the match at maximum distance. The Nelerat Mark I clearly preferred to put as much range between itself and its adversaries as possible. That did not mean it was unable to fend off attackers at closer ranges. As a machine designed to counter fast and agile phasefighters, the Nelerat Mark I was able to track fast-moving enemies so long as it was not burdened by too much armor. The Fey Fianna was a bit more flexible, but it was pretty adequate in fighting at longer ranges as well. Precision was not its forte due to obvious reasons. It was much easier for the ranged weapon fey to consistently land hits against bulkier targets with low mobility. As the countdown started, many people started to go quiet as they waited for the opening of the first challenge match. "START!" The two sides immediately went into action! The Nelerat Mark I's attracted the most attention in the beginning. The four defensive rifleman mechs did not open fire right away. Instead, they quickly deployed the modular external armor plating on the arena floor. It did not take much time to set them up as they automatically linked up with each other. The quantity of mechs mattered a lot. More mechs translated into more construction materials. The four mechs were able to form a cozy little fortress where they barely managed to squeeze inside with enough room to orient their gauss rifles in multiple directions. Ves could clearly see that the bulky external armor plating could be used to form a defensive sphere in space. The fact that this battle took place in planetary conditions meant that the Nelerat Mark I could take advantage of the ground as a virtually impregnable layer of armor. They did so by thickening and reinforcing the other sides of their makeshift fortress. The fortification resembled a mountain, one that the Nelerat Mark I's did little to dissuade. P&T had even coated the external armor plates with a brown shade that turned white at the top! This design characteristic was not just cosmetic, but helped to reinforce everyone's impression that it was as solid as a mountain. When a considerably power energy vortex managed to form inside this supposed mountain fortification, Ves reacted with mild shock. "How many earth hypers did you stuff into that external armor?" "You would be surprised." Master Kreshnik finally grinned for the first time. "According to current trends, it has become customary to devote 0.5 to 15 percent of the mass of a mech part to supporting hyper materials. It is rare to raise this proportion any further as any further gains derived from hyper technology will be overshadowed by the strong reduction in the base performance of the affected parts. However, this rule of thumb only applies to the mech frame itself." "The deployable armor plating isn't as important to the Nelerat Mark I." Ves quickly concluded. "It is designed to help your rifleman mechs withstand punishment, but it doesn't really matter if you cut back on its toughest alloys. By adding a lot of earth hypers in their place, you can boost the performance of every mech system that relies on Earth-attributed E energy for enhancements!" This had great implications for the Nelerat Mark I. Even if its fortification got smashed to pieces, so long as the debris remained in the vicinity, they could still strengthen the concentration of earth energy in the immediate environment! This not only increased the defensive coefficient of all of the armor, but also enabled the gauss rifles to strike much harder than normal! In short, the Nelerat Mark I's offensive and defensive parameters received an enormous boost at the cost of sacrificing all of its mobility. If a situation ever arose where that lack of mobility turned into a giant weakness, then the Nelerat Mark I always had the option of leaving the mountain and fly free as a liberated mech. This was one of the many reasons Master Kreshnik did not turn the Nelerat Mark I into a heavier but slower cannoneer mech or a heavy artillery mech. Once the four Nelerat Mark I dug into their fortification, they began to place their rifles into special slides that not only served as additional anchor points, but also enabled the rifleman mechs to quickly and smoothly change their firing angles to track fast-moving targets at closer distances. It was an elaborate and complicated contraption that somehow came together in a technologically brilliant fashion. It enabled the rifleman mechs to fire their weapons at most angles without getting in the way of each other inside their relatively cramped fortification! If Gloriana was here, she would probably kneel and express her open admiration for this mechanical marvel! It became clear that P&T under the leadership of Master Kreshnik did not waste all of the months spent on designing and perfecting the Nelerat Mark l! Eight earth gauss rifles soon began to open fire at the three Fey Fiannas and their accompanying fey on the other side of the long arena. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The caliber of the rifles was not large. In fact, they leaned on the smaller side. This granted the defensive rifleman mechs numerous advantages. Their weapons were smaller and easier to handle. They could be fired at a faster rate. They could carry a lot more gauss rounds with them, which meant that it would take much longer for them to run out of ammunition! Of course, the downside to all of this was that each shot inflicted significantly less kinetic damage than usual, but that was only the case if the weapons existed in isolation. What was different this time was the high concentration of earth energy in the mountain-shaped fortification! The weapons as well as the rounds were all impregnated with earth hypers. Each of them received substantial boosts from the more favorable environment. Once the rifles opened fire, their rounds became saturated with earth energies. This significantly altered their characteristics and caused them to strike at their targets with considerably greater impact force than normal! The Fey Fiannas that had begun to perform evasive maneuvers almost flinched when the solid projectiles slammed against the water energy shields generated by their energy shield feys. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Not only did the projectiles strike the energy shields hard, but they also arrived at an alarmingly fast pace! It became abundantly clear that the Nelerat Mark I's did not hold back. They sought to concentrate their fire on one of the three Fey Fiannas and seek to overwhelm its defenses with the force of an avalanche! The Standard Fey Fiannas on the other hand had already started to fight back. The three drone mechs were all equipped with 2 fire luminar crystal fey and 2 water energy shield fey each. This was a relatively simple and balanced fey composition that directly strengthened the firepower and the damage tolerance of the Fey Fiannas. The mix of fey gave the Fey Fiannas the capital to enter into a ranged slugging match against the Nelerat Mark I's. Though the latter clearly enjoyed an advantage in this scenario, the Fey Fiannas were able to weather the storm, at least for the time being. With two energy shield fey as well as the drone mech's native energy shield, the mech was not as weak as it appeared. Yet its energy shields were beginning to destabilize at an alarming rate due to the repeated gauss rounds chipping away at the defenses. The attacks of the Fey Fiannas did not yield the desired results either. Before the fire energy beams managed to strike the surface of the fortification, the attack became blocked by the earth-attributed energy shields of the Nelerat Mark I's! The Fey Fiannas weren't the only mechs in the field that enjoyed multiple layers of protection!