Ravens of Eternity

246 Mechageddon Finals, Pt “Welcome to the Final Round of this year’s Mechageddon 9000!” the announcer cried out.

As in the previous weeks, his outfit was incredibly wild and out there. But now that it was the absolute last match of the entire tournament, he went all out. This time, his suit was evershifting and partially holographic.

It shimmered in the space around him, and made him seem as though he was larger than himself. And as he spoke, the outfit itself gradually changed shape and color and design multiple times, even while he gesticulated wildly.

“On this cycle,” said the announcer, “we’re going to watch the battle of a lifetime! In one corner, we have five time Mechageddon champions... the Silver Lance Dragoons!”

Cheers erupted from the stands for the team. They were hands-down the clear favorites. Not only had they won the past five years, but they had been competing for the better part of a decade. In all that time, they went from the plucky underdogs and became the undisputed top dogs.

And fans absolutely loved every moment of their climb. The Dragoons were now at the absolute peak of their game, and were practically unstoppable.

Once the cheering died down somewhat, the announcer continued.

“And in the other corner, we’ve got the incredibly skilled newcomers – the Conspiracy of Ravens! Although polls are showing that the Dragoons are going to make a sweep this year – their odds are 71% in their favor – people are still excited to see what the Ravens are capable of.”

The crowd erupted in cheering as well, but not anywhere near the veracity and fervor they had for the Dragoons. Clearly, the Ravens were well liked, but most believed they couldn’t win.

.....

Still, the spectators celebrated that they had gotten that far – second place was still a huge deal! More than that, they couldn’t wait to see how long they would last against the indomitable Dragoons. They figured they would put up an unbelievable defense against them, and craved the spectacle of it.

“Now, let’s see where this cycle’s battlespace will be,” said the announcer.

The choice wheel materialized right behind him again, only this time it was split into exactly three spaces. There was a silhouetted icon inside of each one – a maze as seen from the top, a bunker that had been blasted open, and a walker drone being assembled.

The announcer waggled his fingers at the wheel, and it began to spin with incredible speed. It clicked and clacked loudly as it spun round and round, and as it slowed down, so too did the clicks and clacks.

It eventually stopped at the pie slice with the silhouette of a drone, which elicited many ooh’s and aah’s from the audience.

“The Drone Autofactorium!” said the announcer. What an amazing battlespace! Like all of the others in the finals, the Drone Autofactorium has its own unique ruleset for victory. The only way for the teams to win the championship is to follow those rules. Let’s take a look!”

The announcer’s antigrav platform immediately sped off towards the Drone Factorium battlespace, and the hovering spectator stands followed right behind.

They all came to a large stretch of land a few thousand meters in diameter, where a relatively large and spacious base was situated. There were multiple reinforced and armored buildings inside the base, almost all which were arranged in clusters.

The buildings themselves were incredibly varied in size, shape, and function. Some were large enough to provide ample cover for the mecha, while others were low enough that they could trip the mecha up.

If the pilots were that careless, anyway.

And even though the base had a number of buildings, there was plenty of space in between each one – certainly plenty for the mecha to move around and fight in. Not only that, but there were multiple security stations, drone walkers, and turrets scattered everywhere.

The whole thing was encircled by 10 meter high walls that had two openings opposite at each end of it. It wasn’t really designed to keep anything in or out, but was simply a marker of the battlespace itself. Any actions that occurred outside of those walls didn’t count towards achieving victory.

The announcer snapped his fingers, and a vast overlay fell on top of the battlespace. Everyone in the stands wowed as the overlay split it up into ten separate zones, each one color-coded and labeled to match its actual function

The ten different zones were: Administration, Living & Social, Communications, Security, Data, Depot, Hangar, Assembly, Maintenance, & Energy.

More than that, each zone was assigned numbers. Energy had the largest number with 50, while Administration and Living & Social each had the least with 10. Half of them were listed with 20s, and only two of them had 30s.

“The rules are pretty simple,” began the announcer, “teams have to spend 100 seconds – a full minute – taking over each of the zones. All they have to do is occupy the zone itself.”

While he spoke, the colors on the overlay faded to a dull gray. One of them blinked blue for a number of seconds, then remained solid.

“Of course, the zone’s countdown is halted if both teams are on it, and control is contentested,” he continued. “It resumes when the attacking force is repelled, or starts anew if the defending force is removed from the zone.”

The blue zone blinked red for a few seconds, then remained a solid red.

“Buildings within the zones can be destroyed, of course. Especially if the fighting around them becomes truly fierce. And if most or all of the buildings in the zone are destroyed, the entire zone is removed from play. This means their points no longer count.”

The red zone’s color slid downward as though it was a health meter and became completely blacked out. As the color slid further to the bottom, its point value also disappeared, except for the zero.

“And that’s not the only way for the teams to get or lose points in the Drone Autofactorium. Simulated personnel oversee the base, and are counted as civilians. Causing civilian casualties inflicts a penalty of 1 for every 10 people killed. Shielding them or preventing damage to them awards 1 for every 10 saved.”

The map faded back into a gray color, and sections in each zone quickly filled with a number of person-shaped icons. They were lined up in even rows and columns and had a number to indicate how many people were actually in the zone itself.

Underneath them were drone-shaped icons in a similar layout, and their numbers roughly equaled the civilian count.

“Of course, neutralizing security also contributes points. Teams are awarded 1 point for every 20 drones or turrets neutralized. Keep in mind however, that this is a drone assembly base, and they are constantly churned out. This means that both teams will be dealing with drones constantly. That said, only a maximum of 50 points can be gained by neutralizing security elements.”

The entire overlay then dissolved away, and a large holographic 2000 appeared in the air above the announcer’s head. It could easily be seen by every spectator in the stands.

“The round lasts exactly 20 minutes,” finished up the announcer. “The team with the most points at the end wins the tournament! ...And the time starts now!”

The holographic 2000 immediately began counting down, second by second.

~

Both teams entered into the Autofactorium through the open gates from opposite ends. They all tore through any drones and turrets in their way with relative ease.

The walker drones themselves were relatively small – only 5 meters high. They were honestly little more than walking gun platforms and were more of a nuisance to mecha than real threats. Their guns were relatively small – 80mm.

Any single one would easily bounce off mecha armor, of course. But hundreds at a time would certainly pose an issue. So it was best that they thinned their numbers from the get-go, even while they sped towards their targeted zones.

The Dragoons skated through Administration as quickly and as carefully as they could. They wrecked any drones in their way with relative ease, and invaded the adjacent zone – Maintenance.

It was one of the two that was worth 30 points. But that wasn’t why they wanted to capture it.

All of them were painted in a greyish silver, which gave them a sense of authority. It was as though they were all wearing well-used suits of medieval armor.

At the head of the team was a highly-tuned, relatively powerful, and well-armored mecha.

–

Pilot: Mad Monk

Role: Flanker

Loadout:

Terra Nach Mar “Charlatan” Skirmisher Frame [A]

Ragnarok Armaments “Sledgefist” Spiked Cestus [B] x2

Ragnarok Armaments Heavy Repeater SM [B]

–

Mad Monk’s Charlatan had a sleek frame, but was heavily armored. Similar to Kali’s Rakshasa, his arms had an extra layer of armor. On top of that, his arms terminated in thick and wide spikes that were clearly designed to severely dent armor rather than penetrate it.

“Need a report on the Ravens’ movements,” he said.

“Scanning now,” replied one of his teammates.

–

Pilot: Silvermoon

Role: Advanced Reconaissance

Loadout: Hrothgar Tyr “Dark Elf” Covert Operations Chassis [A]

Federal Shipyards “Wasphive” Needle Rifle [B]

Federal Shipyards “Beehive” Rocket Pod SM [B]

Universal Mechanics “Omniscope” Ultimate Sensor Package SM [A]

–

Silvermoon’s Dark Elf was similar to Raijin’s Tsunami – it was slim and light, though it stood slightly taller at 18 meters. It too had incredibly minimized sensor readings and was practically invisible when he was near any of his teammates.

On his shoulder was an incredibly complex sensor suite that was able to detect changes to their immediate surroundings to the micrometer.

And although it could certainly detect each of the Ravens, it had problems resolving their exact locations. Silvermoon was certain that Raijin’s EWar suite had been custom-coded and maximized beyond belief.

Certainly, he did the same with his own Omniscope. If he had left it stock, he was certain there was no way he would have detected their positions.

“Their team has split in two,” he said. “Team one appears to be the Varulv and the Rakshasa. They’re headed towards Communications. Team two is the Tsunami and the Phantom. Both of their signatures are incredibly minimal.”

“Can you tell where they’re headed?” asked Mad Monk.

“Just barely, but enough. Looks like they’re headed towards Data.”

“Send me at those two,” said a third pilot. “I’ll smash ’em both, easy as pie. Win would be as good as ours.”

–

Pilot: Big Dorf

Role: Heavy Defense

Loadout:

Primal Machinations “Silverback” Ultraheavy Siege Chassis [A]

Myrmidon Technology “Ajax” Resonance Glaive [A]

Myrmidon Technology “Caesar” Heavy Scutum Shield [A]

–

Big Dorf’s Silverback was an imposing beast. It seemed as though it was as wide as it was tall, but it was simply extremely heavily armored. On top of that he wielded an incredibly thick shield that somehow covered most of his body.

.....

How the mecha even moved seemed impossible, but its thrusters seemed to manage just fine.

“No,” said Mad Monk. “We stick to the plan. We take a few control points, then go straight for their heavy hitters. Without them, they won’t be able to take any points we hold.”

“They’d still have their sniper,” Big Dorf countered. “That one alone could peck us to bits from across the battlesplace.”

“Only if I eat it first,” said the final pilot. “She can’t shoot you if she can’t even target you.”

–

Pilot: Jester

Role: Electronic Warfare

Hermes Aerospace “Kestrel” Light Assault Suit [A]

Universal Mechanics “Snapdragon” Coil Pistol [B]

Universal Mechanics Reinforced Buckler [C]

Hermes Aerospace “Skymirror” EWar Suite (SM) [A]

–

Jester’s Kestrel was similar to Dark Elf – it was slim and light. But it also stood at a standard height, and had slightly beefier armor in comparison. Certainly nothing like the Silverback, but it allowed him to hold his own in a fight.

“Oh, and by the way,” he continued, “they’ve got the same EWar potential as we do. So if we can see them, you can be sure they can see us. And I don’t doubt, even for a second, that they’ve been tuned up to an optimal degree.”

“Sounds like they’ve got a great support team behind them,” said Silvermoon.

“Doubt they’re better than ours,” countered Big Dorf. “I mean, we’ve got the literal best in the biz.”

“I wouldn’t look down on them,” said Mad Monk. “They got this far in their first ever competition. Everyone in their team is clearly top notch, and absolutely can’t be underestimated. That said, now that they’re split, it’ll be harder for them to support each other. They just made this fight that much easier for us.”