It did not surprise Ves in the slightest that the Twin Weapons Tournament selected the team of Ves and Juliet to take part in the opening match of the combat phase! With 1 team receiving a bye due to uneven numbers, that left 35 teams matching up against 35 other teams. The Sensia and the Furia were already being brought to the main area of Spencer Hall. The place looked close to an actual mech arena now. A combination of strong energy defenses and physical defenses should do well to contain the damage that could threaten the spectators. What Ves noticed from the start was that the arena had been separated into two distinct arenas. The first round matches had to be held inside reduced areas that limited the maneuvering space and escape routes of any mechs placed inside. "Cheapskates." Ves muttered under his breath. This change did not favor Ves and Juliet all that much because more mobile mechs tended to fare better when there was more room for them to maneuver around. [The initial matchups have been set. As stated earlier, 1 team has the fortune of receiving a bye. All other teams are expected to fight each other's team.] The announcers continued to chat about different stuff. None of it was reality important to Ves as the man mainly explained apl of the rules in a more accessible manner. Ves mainly wanted to know what sort of mech pilots the tournament organizers had stuck to his Twin Souls. The right pilots could make and break his duo of competition mech designs! "Don't worry, sir. We designed our mechs with many familiar elements that anyone should be able to recognize and master in an instant." "I hope so, Juliet. I hope so…" The information on the matchup soon projected above the middle arena! [Team Larkinson vs Team One!] Ves entered into business mode again. His expression turned impassive as he looked around to spot the right pair. "Ah. So old." The man and woman both looked older than many other mech designers in the tournament. The two exuded a lot of harmony that was typical for married couples. The two had probably been together for many decades or perhaps even a century! This was truly a lifelong commitment, and from the vibe that Ves was able to pick up from them, their love still remained as strong as when they first dated over a century ago! The Larkinson mech designers steadily moved in the direction of Team One. "Ah, if it isn't the illustrious Patriarch Larkinson. Well met. I am Haza Ronan and this is my dearest wife Claire Ronan." The older man greeted Ves without showing any signs of nervousness at all. "I am afraid that my participation in this tournament may come to an early end." Ves curled his lips. "Don't sell yourself short, Mr. Ronan. You have been in the mech industry for such a long time. You should definitely have a lot of tricks up your sleeve. You and your wife look foreign to me. Are you visiting Davute for the duration of the founding ceremony or are you thinking about settling down in this state." Claire Ronan spoke up at this time. "We are travelers for the time being. We have no intention of ending our journey in Davute, especially in light of the massive security break that happened almost a week ago. You should know better than anyone how badly the colonial state has failed its people." "Davute is still being built, one government institution at a time." He said. "This place will become a lot more stable and secure, especially once the upcoming war against Karlach has died down." "That is interesting to hear, but my husband and I shall no longer remain within the borders of the Krakatoa Middle Zone. We are still searching for a suitable home for us to settle in, but Davute is already off our list." "I see." The two sides chatted a bit more about their travels and their vacation destinations. This shared interest successfully broke the ice and allowed Ves to become more acquainted with the elderly couple. "So what are old fogeys like you doing in a mech design tournament for Journeymen?" "We need to keep our design skills fresh somehow." Haza Ronan replied. "My wife and I are both fairly old, and we have not made enough progress to advance to Senior Mech Designer. Tournaments are good places to receive enlightenment. Since the Davute University of Technology has not imposed an age limit, we felt free to sign up and take part in this special exercise." The elderly duo did not sound as if they cared too much about winning the top prize for this tournament. They instead treated the event as a party where they could let loose a bit. Oh well. Their mechs would soon make an appearance. "Look! Team Larkinson has entered the arena!" Ves whipped his head towards one of the two arenas in Spencer Hall. There, standing like confident fighters that were ready to get dirty were the Twin Souls! The reddish coating of the Furia caused the hybrid mech to look even more violent and explosive than before! Although its frame was packed with different weapon systems, it did not look bloated at all. It even looked a little more handsome with its light battle skirt. Ves had actually tried to add a more substantial version of the Battle Skirt System to the Furia, but couldn't fit a bigger one without exceeding the mass limit that he set for himself. He made due with a smaller and flimsier version of the Battle Skirt System that could still play a decent role in blocking initial damage. The Sensia looked a lot less attention-grabbing with its more subdued dark blue coating. It was too much to expect military mech pilots to fall for it, but Ves still hoped that enemies would dismiss the threat of the light skirmisher. Ves briefly grinned but quickly wiped it off in order to preserve his dignity. Soon enough, the mechs of Team One came into view. "Oh?" Juliet jerked as she stood by his side. "You and your wife went for the classic knight and rifle combination. That is difficult to pull off in a competition such as this. They won't move around too much." A short moment passed by as the mechs of the opposing teams received their final checks. Their weapons warmed up while their power reactors switched to more intensive modes. Ves still hadn't learned much about the pilots assigned to his two living mechs, but he would soon find out what they were made of, he supposed. [START!] The mechs of both sides exploded into action! Ves first focused on the mechs designed by Team One. The knight mech and the rifleman mech both looked like they couldn't really run. They were so weighed down by armor and deployables that their only choice was to turtle in place. They did exactly that. The knight mech slammed its thick tower shield onto the arena ground and activated a function that caused it to extend side panels. A strong metal wall had formed in the front! At the same time, the rifleman mech's oddly armored back deployed as well, unveiling a thinner but fairly protective wall that covered its back to a reasonable degree. Then, the rifleman mech started to get ready to open fire! It was not only armed with a kinetic rifle that looked like it could fire both powerful rounds and a rapid series of less powerful projectiles, but the machine also came equipped with a net launcher! In the meantime, the knight mech revealed a lengthy flail which it could use to launch attacks beyond traditional sword fighting range. "Too slow!" Yet before the mechs of Team One could properly lay siege to their opponents, the Sensia and the Furia took action sooner! The Sensia had dashed to the side and started to circle around right from the start. The Furia on the other hand jogged forward at a moderate pace before opening fire with all of the weapons it could bring to bear at this range! A single smoke missile soared from its left launcher and struck the metal wall head-on, releasing a dense cloud of smoke and sensor blocking particles! Although the smoke cloud wouldn't linger in the air for too long, the mechs of Team One still lost a lot of effective sensor coverage! "We can't see them anymore!" "Amplify your sensor strength!" The mechs were too slow! Before they could do anything to mitigate the blocking effect, a torrent of weapons struck the metal wall! A shotgun slug thudded against the front surface. A pair of laser beams struck the shield as well. A jet of hot flames started to strike the metal wall and heat up the surrounding temperature! Even though these attacks did not harm the mechs sheltering behind the wall, the Furia's attacks still exerted a lot of pressure on the turtling mechs! What was even more ridiculous was that the Furia kept extending one of its arms to fire its flamethrower while using its other hand to draw out a throwing axe from its bandolier. The hybrid mech took aim before throwing the spinning axe over the metal wall at a high arc before causing it to land on top of the head of the rifleman mech! "Ah! The head of my rifleman mech is dented!" "Careful! Another axe is on the way!" The relatively static mechs could do little to evade the throwing axes being lobbed in its direction. Though it randomly landed on top of the heads or shoulders of the rifleman mech and the knight mech, they did not really deal that much damage. They were still extremely annoying! The cascade of attacks launched by just a single hybrid mech completely threw the mech pilots assigned to Team One off-balance. Though the military mech pilots of Davute were not that easily distracted and eagerly wanted to retaliate, their own defensive posture did not leave them with many options to strike back. "The hybrid mech is flanking us! Careful!" The coverage of the deployed walls was not perfect. A flurry of attacks from a shotgun, a pair of integrated luminar crystal guns and a flamethrower caused the turtling mechs to be thrown off-balance yet again! If that wasn't enough, an EMP missile along with a fourth throwing axe struck the defending mechs as well! The Furia occupied the attention of the opposing mech pilots so much that they couldn't help but guard themselves more against the powerful hybrid mech. However, doing this was a mistake, because both the knight mech and the rifleman mech inadvertently opened up their rear. Just as a fifth throwing axe struck the chest of the knight mech and almost came close to striking its exposed weak point, the Sensia had finally struck! "Turn around! The light skirmisher is launching its attack!" The knight mech actually responded remarkably quickly. It did not need to turn around in order to swing its lengthy flail backwards. However, the defensive mech was too slow! Before it was halfway in its motion to swing its formidable flail, the light skirmisher had already snuck up to the rear of Team One's rifleman mech and continually stabbed the latter's exposed rear with dozens of rapid dagger strikes! At the same time, the Furia raised its shotgun and fired a solid slug through the gap in the defenses that just so happened to strike the arm of the knight mech that held the flail. This caused the attempted attack onto the Sensia to go slightly off-course! [Wow! The Furia has actually helped its partner mech dodge a serious attack!] By the time the Sensia evaded the flail attack and beat a quick retreat, the rifleman mech collapsed as the arena projected an emergency energy shield to protect the cockpit of the fallen machine. [Team One is down a single mech within the first minute of the match! What an astounding result! The Furia has started off strong while the Sensia has picked the perfect time to assassinate the opposing rifleman mech!]