[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 88: Spectacle

The day of the main event arrived. As a prestigious event witnessed by everyone in the star sector, the LIT did not hold the competition on a plain grassy field. Instead, every participant was brought to a huge and extensive arena complex.

Ves, Dietrich and Lucky looked out from the window of the shuttle. After passing through innumerable islands, they finally came into view of the LIT's sector-famous arena complex. It encompassed as much space as a major city from the Bright Republic. The complex already prepared five hundred stages. The most formidable fabrication and projection technology the Carnegie Group had developed underpinned the systems of this immense competition stage.

Much like the Republic's Young Tiger Exhibition, the competition in Leemar disdained the use of simulations. They only resorted to using simulations during the qualifiers for expedience. Now that they were about to broadcast the design contest to the public, they had to showcase their power. Everytime the LIT held its open competition, the people from the Coalition and many smaller states got to enjoy thrilling fights between real mechs piloted by real mech pilots.

"It's too bad they don't let outsiders like me pilot on your behalf." Dietrich sighed. He truly wanted to share the stage with Ves and make a name for himself in the duelling stages. "It sure sucks to be a pilot."

"Haha. You mech pilots have your own competitions." Ves responded lightly.

Humanity currently loved all things mechs. Though mech designers received their fair share of admiration, the highly technical environment made it hard for laymen to get excited.

In contrast, mech pilots overshadowed shuttle racers in daring and excitement. Even a small place like the Bright Republic held a hundred of different competitions each year. The Young Tigers Exhibition might be a prestigious event, but the ones where veteran pilots showed off their skills attracted ten times more fans. The celebrity culture around piloting massively overshadowed the attention placed on mech designers.

When they came close, Ves witnessed thousands of shuttles descending from orbit. As a major event, the competition attracted millions of spectators. Most of them merely came because they lived nearby. Most likely, only ten percent truly understood what was going on. The rest just came to see the thrilling mech duels.

Leemar only paid attention to the guests of influence. Many industry insiders attended from afar. Ves even guessed that representatives from some of the major corporations in the Republic would be present today. The competition not only gave the foreign talents a chance to shine, it also brought a lot of powerful men and women together from across the sector. Many deals and trades were made under the table during each event.

"Alright, please disembark and follow me. It's very crowded today so watch your step!" A guide called out once their shuttle landed.

A massive amount of people converged to the arenas. Dietrich and Lucky had to seperate from Ves again. They followed the majority of the crowd to the spectator entrance. As for Ves, he boarded a smaller shuttle that brought him and his fellow designers to a resting area backstage.

Up on the main stages, a grand spectacle unfolded. The show preceding the competition featured music and dances from the most popular entertainers in the employ of the Carnegie Group. In between, different executives entered the stage to introduce various high tech innovations such as a new engine model or a renewal of a popular consumer electronics device.

"The Group never fails to milk the publicity dry." A designer sitting next to him remarked. "Each year they go through the same process."

Ves nodded in agreement. "It's a good way to distract the audience when we're still in the design phase. A pure mech design competition is pretty boring to the average viewer."