[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 26: Objective

Now that Melinda got out of the high of super-realistic combat, she remembered why she stepped into the simulator in the first place.

"This mech... the specs aren't bad. It's a pity about the armor. It doesn't hold up in a large melee. The shield's also far too heavy for the scant amount of protection its offering."

Still, when she saw how few gold she had to spent to repair her mech and replace her shield, she smiled. The total amount she lost paled in comparison to the amount of gold she earned from performing well in that last match. She even received the coveted MVP award. The game really went all-out in retaining its older customer base with these tricks.

Janet whistled her appreciation as she read the score list. "Damn Melly, you went to town on them. You've personally disabled four mechs."

"Yeah and pretty much wrecked my entire mech in the process. At least I won't cry about the repair bill."

"You wanna go for another match?"

"Yeah. I need to get familiar with this mech. My little cousin did a good job with this machine."

"That's for sure. If your new mech is fully equipped with the HRF, then he has my respect. Half the red team fired potshots at you and you still made it through the end. I didn't know you were so gutsy for leading the charge."

"I got caught up in the moment, I guess."

She didn't know what made her enjoy piloting the Marc Antony so much. For a 5-star mech, its specs were mediocre and it clearly tried to do too many things at once. Yet when she hopped into its cockpit, she felt as if she embodied a war god ready to wipe out heretics. Its dark paint scheme and blazing red shield brought out the urge to go on the offensive.

"Janet, do you think the game's become more realistic? I hardly noticed I was playing in a simulator."

"Duh, that's because you're playing with the Planetary Guard's best simulator pods. They simulate movement and impacts with ship-grade artificial gravity."

"Hmm, maybe that was it. The simulator pods from the game center don't go that far in providing the most realistic experience."

The simulation pods of the Guard might not be the best in the galaxy, but they still provided excellent training opportunities.

The two queued together in another Wartorn Instance. This one was the map of the day, a 200v200 featuring a massive battleground with multiple objectives to capture or destroy. Matches could last up to two hours if both sides were evenly matched.

The matchmaking took a few minutes to gather enough players. Once it finished matching players, their team entered another lobby. This time Melinda ignored the posturing and smack talk between her more dominant team members. Trying to assert leadership of a group of 50 pilots was barely doable, but it almost couldn't be done with 200 unless you were famous.

"Let's stay on the defensive this time. I want this mech to last a little longer this time."

"How about the forward depot? We can refill our ammo and energy cells there if we need any, which you sorely do if I recall your mech's energy expenditure."

As the match started, the mass of mechs left the giant hangar and entered an urban combat environment. Modeled after an old Terran historically preserved city, most of the structures were only a couple of stories high. Enough to cover mechs at ground level, but not enough to provide significant protection if enemies shot at them from the air.

All 200 mechs in their team split up as they attended to their chosen objectives. Some players intended to assault a remote location, while others planned to defend a spot to the last mech. Melinda and Janet were joined by a gaggle of random mechs as they reached a small forward depot that represented one of the secondary objectives in the game.