[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 97: Worn Down

The second duel commenced. Cadet Lovejoy became accustomed to the anomalous sensations and brushed them off as inconsequential ghosts. Instead, he focused his attention on the state of his mech.

His mouth curled out. "I like my designer more and more. My armor is back to its shiny state."

His Sword Dancer gripped its sword in anticipation of the next fight. Lovejoy hoped his opposition had more bite this time. The last duel was too disgraceful for him to feel any pride.

The darkness receded, revealing a normal suburban environment. Small houses and municipal parks dotted the arena. The obstacles were tall enough to hinder a mech but short enough to avoid blocking their view. It was a tricky environment that favored ranged weapons.

"Over there!" He said as he zeroed in on his opposition. It turned out to be a light harasser, a mech that specialized in running rings around melee mechs like his Sword Dancer. "Damn, this one's a challenge."

The only thing hopeful about his second duel was that the light mech sustained a lot of damage. Even after receiving some repairs, it still suffered moderate damage to its torso where an artillery shell must have exploded.

"I can use that to my advantage."

Lovejoy moved the sword back to its place and retrieved the flimsy little laser pistol again. He felt a little depressed that he couldn't showcase his swordsmanship and instead had to rely on his pitiful backup weapon. Still, against a mech that moved faster than him, he'd be a fool to chase the enemy.

The light harasser responded first by firing its light laser rifle at him. The firing rate of the weapon was high, but the power behind each laser beam was lackluster. Even if the Sword Dancer received hits, it did not affect its integrity at all due to the strength of its compressed armor.

Ignoring the intermittent damage for now, the Sword Dancer closed the distance. While the light harasser tried to maintain the distance, the complex environment did not always make that possible.

While any mech possessed sufficient force to crash through any residential home, such an act slowed it down while also incur some minor damage. For a fragile mech that prized its mobility, that was unacceptable.

"Get back here you chicken!" Lovejoy yelled over the comm as he started firing his pistol.

While its power paled in comparison to the rifle in the harasser's hands, the light mech's armor could not withstand too many hits. Lovejoy carefully paced his shots in order to avoid overheating the pistol. He aimed specifically at the light mech's damaged torso in order to exacerbate its internal damage.

Thus, the two mechs engaged in a lengthy shootout. The rate of fire slowed down for both mechs once their weapons overheated. The laser rifle held an advantage in that aspect as the larger weapon dispersed its heat much better. The Sword Dancer started to accumulate a lot more damage than its opponent.

"Man, this is why I hate light mechs." Lovejoy complained and let loose a few more curses when a lucky laser beam shot a portion of his mech's damaged leg.

The light mech noticed that the Sword Dancer's legs were slimmer than normal and therefore focused much of his firepower there. The devastating hit damaged some internals which abruptly reduced the speed of Lovejoy's mech.

"C'mon! How is that discount laser rifle able to get past my armor!"

The tables turned a minute later. Though the Sword Dancer's legs started to get chewed up, the pistol finally achieved a promising result. The latest low-powered beam that escaped the pistol managed to penetrate the scorched section of the light mech's torso. All of the successive hits to that area paid off.