<h4>Chapter 3451: G-Aena League</h4>
"Careful with those mechs! They''re responsible for giving us extrabat carriers if everything goes right. If one of our mech pilots trip during a match because you bumped a crate due to your sloppiness, I will have your head!"
The Larkinson fleet had burst into activity shortly after the Larkinsons signed into their first tournaments. The Gorgoneion alone had be incredibly active as hundreds of packed mechs had to be shipped to the surface of Chance Bay.
To many of thebat-oriented nsmen, their vacations were over. Now that the top had given them a directive topete in tournaments, they all readied themselves to perform in front of crowds!
It soon became clear that the Larkinsons mainly signed up for mechbat and mech design tournaments. The n heavily emphasized both its mech pilots and its mech designers, after all.
Not everyone was allowed to sign up, though. Only the better ones were allowed to go in order to ensure their younger and more inexperienced nsmen didn''t shame the n too much.
To mech pilots, this was especially important because the Larkinson n only nned to use up 2000 mechs at most.
Inpetitions where the contestants had to bring their own mechs, the machines usually got trashed at the end. The amount of churn that would ensue in the following weeks would definitely be exaggerated!
Fortunately, a lot of battle damage was still fixable. The Spirit of Bentheim''s production crews already stood ready to repair or reconstruct any mechs that got wrecked in all of the mechbat tournaments.
Even if the n anticipated that there would be a lot of unrecoverable losses, the repair personnel would still be able to salvage at least some spare parts and recycled materials out of any inoperable machine. These recovered goods could be utilized to repair other heavily-damaged machines, thereby giving them second lives.
In fact, Ves didn''t mind if all 2000 mechs got utterly ruined beyond recognition. While it was sad to see these living mechs go, they would have served their purpose and maybe deliver great results before they died.
Currently, the Larkinson n possessed way too many mechs and not enough carriers. Being able to trade the former for thetter was a great opportunity in his opinion!
The only question was how many mechs the Larkinsons needed to sacrifice in order to obtain a decent carrier. If the ''exchange rate'' was too awful due to the poor performance of the mechs or mech pilots, then the n would definitely bleed!
It was for this reason that the Larkinson Army took this responsibility absolutely seriously. General Verle treated this as a military operation and expected his soldiers to fight as if the lives of everyone on the fleet was at stake.
Given the many dangers of the Red Ocean, this was not an exaggeration!
Since the Larkinsons had to perform at their best, the Living Sentinels mostly sat out the fights.
There was nothing wrong with them, but the Larkinsons simply had too many other mech pilots that were better.
In fact, with a pool of 20,000 mech pilots, the struggle to earn a spot in one of the mechbat tournaments was intense!
Since the Larkinson n prioritized winning rather than other goals such as gaining experience or experimenting with new battle strategies, certain mech legions and individual mech pilots received much more priority than others. The expectations on them were also a lot higher.
Of particr note was the swordsmen and swordswomen of the Larkinson n. The Swordmaidens and the Heavensworders were both excellent duelists and felt right at home in the mech arenas.
They already signed up to many tournaments that featured mixed mech types or only melee mech types. Whether it was solobat, duobat, squadbat or greater, the swordsman mech enthusiasts of the Larkinson n were expected to y leading roles!
In fact, the infantry swordsmen of the Larkinson n also applied to various personbat tournaments in droves. Unlike their mech pilot counterparts, they didn''t have to bring any mechs, so it was much cheaper and more convenient for them to take part in a lot of different martialpetitions.
Many Larkinsons expected decent results from them. While their augmentations might not be able to keep up with those who originated from the more prosperous parts of the old gxy, their training andbat methods were quite excellent, especially if they embraced the Heavensword Association''s gxy-renowned swordsmanship tradition!
Aside from these sword fanatics, other powerful mech legions such as the Avatars of Myth and the Penitent Sisters were expected to step up, particrly in groupbat tournaments.
All seven legionmanders had gathered on a catwalk overlooking one of the busy hangar bays of the Gorgoneion.
Many of them had been hard at work. It was hard to choose the right tournaments and to select the most suitable mech pilots to go on stage.
Commander Case sighed. "It''s a pity that my Living Sentinels are being left out of this excitement."
Commander Melkor patted her shoulder. "You can still represent your mech legion by yourself. There''s also Percival and Trinity."
The Living Sentinels had three expert candidates that could take part in a select few mechbat tournaments. Not only did they sign up for solopetitions, a few of them would even show up in grouppetitions.
"We''ll be relying on you tomand our troops in the big one." Commander Sendra of the Swordmaidens stated. "We cannot afford to falter in the battles we should be best at. If we can''t win against a mech battalion in the arena, how much better will we fare on the battlefield?"
The ''big one'' that the legionmander was referring to was the G-Aena League, arge battalion-level mechbat tournament!
The league that was sponsored by G-Aena Mech Supplies was well-funded and took ce in one of thergest mech arenas on Chance Bay. Millions of live spectators along with billions of virtual ticket holders from all across the old gxy were expected to watch each and every match. There were even expectations that the total number of viewers would surpass 1 trillion for the finals!
This was by far the most important tournament the n took part in, and the 500 mech pilots selected to take part in this spectacle were definitely the best the Larkinson Army had to offer!
Unfortunately, no expert pilots and expert mechs were allowed to fight in the G-Aena League. Thepetition also limited the amount of expert candidates that were allowed to participate.
This was a rule that took into consideration that not every pioneer was able to whip up an expert candidate. A single expert candidate among hundreds of mech pilots wouldn''t be able to make too much of a difference, even though past groupbat tournaments showed that the finalists all had them in their ranks.
Out of all of the expert candidates that the Larkinson Army had to offer, the honor of leading the Larkinsons in the G-Aena League went to Commander Case Ingvar.
Though the other expert candidates were no slouches, Case possessed three distinct advantages.
First, she was the most popr and well-liked expert candidate in the n. Her presence would definitely boost morale and allow the other 499 mech pilots to put up a more tenacious struggle against tougher opponents!
Second, she was a capable and proven battlefieldmander. Even though she belonged to the Living Sentinels, the mech pilots from other legions had no qualms about following hermands.
Third, she was the currently-designated mech pilot of the Quint. This heavily-modified and upgraded Bright Warrior was one of the Larkinson n''s treasured masterwork mechs.
That alone was enough of a reason to put both Case and this precious living mech in the arena.
Still, not everyone wasfortable with putting the Quint at risk in a mech arena. What if the machine got wrecked beyond recovery in a difficult match? The loss of a masterwork mech, particrly one that waspatible with regr mech pilots, would be a disaster for the Larkinson n!
However, Larkinsons had to bring out their best, and they couldn''t afford to leave the Quint on the Gorgoneion.
A lot of pressure and expectation rested on the shoulders of Commander Case.
"I will not let down your trust." She solemnly dered to the other legionmanders. "I cannot promise that we''ll be able to go all the way to the end, but we must definitely bring back enoughbat carriers."
The battalion that she was ted to lead in the G-Aena League consisted of a mix of Avatars, Vandals, Swordmaidens, Penitent Sisters and a smallplement of Ylvainans. This presented them with a rtively bnced lineup that would have a response for many different situations.
Of course, the mechposition also possessed clear weaknesses and shorings. The Larkinson battalion did not excel at defensivebat and could not overpower opponents by relying heavily on rangedbat.
No matter what, the Larkinsons had to go on the attack and drive their mechs right into the faces of their opponents!
"Let''s hope we don''t get matched up against any defensive battalions." Commander Melkor said as he adjusted his visor. "Even if we cane out on top, our mechs will definitely be in poor shape."
If not for the fact that the G-Aena League was willing to repair light or moderately-damaged mechs, it would have been too painful for most groups topete in this huge event!
While the legionmanders continued to discuss their strategies for their uing group matches, a lot of individual Larkinson mech pilots readied themselves to deliver their best performances in numerous smaller-scale asions.
Imon Ingvar and Vincent Ricklin had both gathered in front of one of the smaller mech arenas of Chance Bay.
The New Stars Tournament was a 1 week affair that was meant to showcase thebat prowess of many expert candidates. In order to make sure that enough of them showed up, the tournament organizers set up an attractive prize pool.
Imon and Vincent weren''t the only Larkinson expert candidates who participated in this particrpetition. They just arrived early because they couldn''t wait!
"Ah, this is where I belong!" Vincent spread his arms. "After all of that boring practice and training, I can finally show off my skills in front of an adoring crowd!"
Imon crossed his arms and scoffed at his friend''s attitude. "The n didn''t give you a mech in order to stroke your ego. We''re expected to win and climb up the rankings. Leave all of the showboating after you have won abat carrier for the n."
"Hey man, this is apetitive sport, not an actual battle. Don''t be so serious. If you step into the arena with a different mindset, you''ll just get crushed on all of the expectations that people ce on you. What you should really do is to let go and have fun!"
The two couldn''t agree on this issue, but it didn''t matter. Enough Larkinsons had signed up to the New Stars Tournament that only one of them had to do well enough to deliver a satisfying result.
Both of them shook their hands and wished each other luck before they marched forward.
Once Imon and Vincent stepped inside the arena, they would bepetitors.
Many other notable Larkinson mech pilots entered into other arenas at this time. People such as Dietrich Krotz and Commander Sendra of the Swordmaidens would soon be demonstrating what the Larkinson n was capable of in the Red Ocean!
While all of this went on, a group of Larkinsons arrived at a special venue where another sort of tournament was about tomence.
"We''re here." Ves announced as he held Lucky in his arms. "I missed this feeling."
"Meow."
Alongside his bodyguards, four other Larkinsons followed right behind him. While a lot of other nsmen, most notably the assistant mech designers of the Design Department, had already bought tickets to watch their patriarch in action in the stands, Ves was allowed to bring a handful of his people to the backstage.
He turned around to face the young nsmen.
"I brought you here in order to learn. Pay attention to your conduct and don''t argue with any people. We''re bound to bump into all kinds of strange personalities inside, but no matter what happens, don''t do anything without me. Understood?"
Maikel, Zanthar, Maisie Ann and Rennie all nodded. No matter how freely they behaved aboard the Spirit of Bentheim, they were in apletely different environment now. Even the girls restrained their behavior this time.
"Alright, let''s head inside and start this show!"