What's Junk? (The Mech Touch)

[Negation]

It was. Mech level weaponry was by necessity heavy and had mild to moderate difficulty hitting man-sized targets. Normally that was completely irrelevant. A mech shot would typically annihilate even an armored human if it just got within the general area. Five Scroll minions were different. They were either tiny fast targets or large things that didn't obey physical laws. The variance in possible targets made it so that this mech would need a variety of weapons.

Click to shrink...

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/GAT-01A2R_105_Slaughter_Dagger

12.5mm Anti-infantry Gun
One in each foot, these six-barreled guns are used to shoot down enemy soldiers on the ground and are powerful enough to cause severe damage to an area covered with humans. They are installed to avoid the criticism that mobile suit weapons are overkill against infantry

Nothing can possibly go wrong.

 

[Simonbob]

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/GAT-01A2R_105_Slaughter_Dagger

12.5mm Anti-infantry Gun
One in each foot, these six-barreled guns are used to shoot down enemy soldiers on the ground and are powerful enough to cause severe damage to an area covered with humans. They are installed to avoid the criticism that mobile suit weapons are overkill against infantry

Nothing can possibly go wrong.

Click to shrink...

It's a mech designed to kill demonic cultivators, and they're both small and tough(To a mech, that it.)

Any standard anti infantry weapon isn't powerful enough.

So, they'll just have to put silver/wooden rounds into them! Anti Evil, all around!

 

[Xicree]

A mech LITERALLY Made to STOMP out evil.

 

[Gilar]

For some reason i imagine the end result to look like V2 from Ultrakill.

 

[lost star]

They'd gone with First Trumpet as the mech name. It was a name that held several meanings. The most obvious and official one that Ves and Bolt were going with was that it was the First mech of a small line that one or both of them would work on in the future. As a Second Rate mech it wasn't something that could kill FSC or even really turn the tides against the things both designers found abhorrent immediately. It would serve as a foundation for the future, and theoretically inspire others. The spirit backing it was more important as well. Once they'd gotten enough data it's use could be expanded over the years.

Future prospects mostly hinged on the initial models doing well though, so the two designers had decided to hand craft the first mech. Once it was done they'd have it go through some basic testing and Ves could head home. The plan was to revise it a few times before selling it in the sector.

"You're insane." Ves noted as they started the building process.

"Huh?" Bolt asked back.

"That's a three person life you're doing solo." The man said, waving at the bar Bolt was holding.

"Ah. Well, there's advantages to being strong." Bolt answered with a nod and got to work.

"I suppose it's your spine to ruin!"

Small jokes aside, this was one place where the designer's thoughts converged. Building mechs was just as important as designing them. Every designer had to understand the process and get their hands on it.

"Thinking I'm going to have this done regularly by my students." Bolt mused as they slowly arranged the mech parts for assembly.

"Oh? I suppose as a Senior you are expected to have students." Ves replied with a small nod. "Thinking this needs to be aligned slightly differently?" He tapped at one of the screws.

"Might be. Note it and sim it quickly." Bolt said and continued. "I do. It's surprisingly fulfilling. Gonna be picking up a few more from my family here too soon. They're about done with the educational part."

"I do have a student." The other designer said as he manipulated several cranes into the proper areas. "I'm proud of her, so I do understand the sentiment."

"Did you teach her spiritual techniques?" Bolt asked idly.

"Somewhat. I will be giving her the first draft of that book we're collaborating on." Ves nodded as he continued. "I have been neglecting that aspect, and your book gives me the best opportunity to help with that!"

Conversation continued in that line. Most casual topics to pass the time. Both designers knew focusing on creating the mech got better quality, but they also were more than happy to stay in the moment. They were colleagues in this instance. That might change in the future, but for now they were dedicated to this mech and the purpose behind it.

Assembling things were different with a spirit, Bolt found. It was extremely subtle, but he could feel it. The thing hovering at the edges of reality. It wasn't friendly, nor was it unfriendly. It was simply there and watching. It did also bring up a potential problem that Bolt needed to address early.

The Heart System went in as soon as possible and then Bolt began to fiddle with the programs that helped coordinate the spiritual construction of the mech. There needed to be a proper, obscured connection here for it to work right. Which was truthfully more than a little difficult. The channels they'd put in the design helped give it a decent focus thankfully.

"I did think compatibility might become an issue. I'm glad you're addressing it now." Ves said while Bolt looked at it.

"Gonna need yer input ta finish it off tho'." The other designer brought up a few commands. "Go ahead and wiggle these awhile." He paused and waved a hand.

With a chuckle Ves did so with his eyes closed. The settings he was adjusting had no physical component. The closest analog would be frequency, but even that was not quite it. It was the layer between the mech and the spirit. Bolt needed it both synched properly and fortified enough that sabotage wasn't possible. Fortunately, this was something that humanity had long since dealt with. Encryption techniques weren't quite unbreakable in this day and age, but Bolt could make them close to impossible to break. If the spirit was able to touch the programming and understand how to alter the encryption keys, it would be impossible.

"I'll need something like this for the future." Ves said while tapping at the controls once more to finish the alignment.

"Don't wanna do that yerself?" Bolt asked with a raised eyebrow.

"In this I will trust you." The other man answered with a nod. "We're both mech designers trying to make the best mech possible."

"Then I'll be sure to have a package made for you." Bolt agreed easily with a nod of his own.

Once the mech was synched with the spirit the construction started up again. It was one of the easiest constructions Bolt had truthfully. Ves wasn't as good as him at making a mech, but he was still above every other person he'd worked with. Their combined intuition made it so that sometimes they didn't even need to speak to one another. Sometimes Ves anticipated him, sometimes he anticipated Ves.

Piece by piece the mech came together and Bolt frowned. He and the other designer exchanged a look and slowed down. They could both feel it. There was an alignment of energy and physical form. It was familiar. It just needed a bit of help.

Their next few minutes were checking the very fine details. Screws were put at optimal tightness, parts shaved off by just a hair. A little bit of shifting here and there. Nothing on itself was significant. Taken together it wasn't much. Some of it was just a sign of dedication and care.

Very, very slowly the last bits came in. Bolt and Ves held their breath as reality started to shift in ways only they could perceive. It was almost there.

A little bit of paint was the end. White and Gold. The mech's cockpit closed and the first checks started. As the machine gave it's ok, it shifted. Parts adjusted just slightly. The mech's shape became more refined. Another Mastery had been created.

"Well, we were going to sell it anyway." Bolt mused.

Ves tapped at his shoulder. "Data."

"Yes it was all recorded." The designer said with a chuckle. "And yes you'll get it."

Really this one wasn't a surprise. The way everything had lined up made it almost inevitable, and he had more than a few hints about how to make this more consistent now. Bolt figured in a few decades he'd be able to make these at will! Which yes, he knew was a sign of Star Designer potential.

Bolt exhaled. "This is going to give me so much more trouble." He grumbled.

"The price of fame and fortune." Ves nodded seriously. "It is a heavy burden."

Sadly, Ves wasn't even joking that much in this case.

 

[lost star]

The MTA didn't publicly state what they did with masterwork mechs. They simply purchased them when they occurred at a markup just short of mind-boggling. A singular Third Rate masterwork was enough to make a family rich for life, and the price only increased as you went up in tiers. With that sort of money people tended to just consider it akin to winning the lottery. Some people tried to investigate why the MTA made them a priority, but every study had been quite inconclusive, and the MTA got a little bit irritated if people tried to keep the mechs to themselves. Rumor had it that the MTA were simply mech fanatics. Masterworks were considered the most perfected version of that mech.

Most of the conspiracy theorists would be surprised to know that the fanaticism was actually a factor. It was one of three. The first factor was that the MTA loved mechs. The second was that masterworks made one more likely to become an expert. The third factor was that they gave pilots a small benefit against specific exotic effects the Komodo Sector was calling Glows.

Truthfully most MTA pilots in the know had a love-hate relationship with masterworks. They knew about the additional benefits. They also knew that being assigned to one of them meant you were in the group unofficially known as the Grey Team.

"Watch the fucking tar!" Captain Sinclair snarled out as he boosted his mech through the air and into the battlefield.

The masterwork command mech shifted and bounced off a ruined building, narrowly avoiding the tar in question. Another fellow wasn't so lucky, just touching it. The 'tar' gripped at his mech and began to crawl up the side in an unsettling manner. Sinclair used his hand-laser to shoot it off, ignoring the damage he did to the armor. Better dinged than letting that monstrosity get near the cockpit. He still heard the screaming from the last poor bastard that let that happen.

"Captain, status?" Command asked the man.

"Situation normal, all fucked up." The man snapped back. "Cultists have detonated something in the city that's left some sort of bioweapon that targets people. Seems another torture device." God he hated Grey Team.

"Roger that. Routing new asset." The command team replied back.

Captain Sinclair snorted as he flicked off the comm. "Routing new asset." That meant something new was being experimented with here, of course.

Several enemy mechs rose up out of the rubble. Drenched in the black tar-like substance, Sinclair really didn't want to guess what was going on with the internals. They were Second Rate at least, which meant he was on even terms. (The MTA had First Rates on call, but this was a Second Rate area with Second Rate mechs. You couldn't ascend without some challenge.)

A few shots towards the tar made Sinclair judge that it had hardened. He really hoped that the pilots were just alive and freaky. The alternative was dead and still screaming. He'd seen both.

Further contemplation was cut off by the new asset connecting to his comms. Sinclair raised his eyebrows at the speed. Not quite flying, but it was coming in fast. He couldn't say he disapproved of that, and it made the call make a bit more sense. If this new asset was built for quick reinforcement it made sense to route it rather than deploy it with the initial team.

He ordered his team back and away from the buildings as it came in. The enemy lurched and several fired. To his mild distress the fire left flecks of tar on the shots it hit. One zinged off his armor and he pressed his still hot laser weapon to it to burn it off. He didn't want to know what traces would do.

Then the asset was there and falling in. Sinclair cursed immediately. Had they not heard about the tar?!

The explosion of fire as it landed made the man blink. So they had. That was an interesting introduction. The mech's specs hit his implant. First Trumpet, a possible counter weapon towards incidents like this. Sinclair kept his opinions about that quiet. Those experimental mechs usually didn't work well.

"ABOMINATIONS!!!" The shout on loudspeaker made the captain groan just a bit.

He knew that voice. The pilot was a singular survival of another similar event. He ran on hate. He woke up wanting to kill these things. Good pilot, great potential, but so single focused that it was hard to work with him.

To his mild surprise the things cringed away from the shout. Sinclair shifted his mech and bounced into a better viewpoint. Some of the tar was moving away from the mech too. How and why was that happening? He almost missed how the new mech shifted and stabbed one of the lurching mechs before moving to the other one. He didn't miss how the victim lit up like a flashlight and then fell from that singular hit.

"Did they finally make a counter mech that works against this shit?" Sinclair had to ask before flicking to a direct channel as he watched the mech still. "You still with me soldier?"

"I am Captain." The man sounded oddly calm as his spear tapped at several points on the ground. Each tap cleared out the tar it touched. "Utterly enraged, but I will follow orders. These people did not deserve this end."

"No, they didn't." Sinclair grunted out. God Grey Missions wore at you. One or two more and he'd rotate out. It was always some horrific shit in a ruined city.

"Captain, possible perpetrator! We got a big thing being piloted by a talker!" One of the other men called out.

"Ranting talking or actual informational talking?" Sinclair asked back.

"The first. Standard 'I have the power and you are all fuel' rant."

Of course. This was distressingly common. "All men, we have the possible culprit. Standard mad-man, you know the drill. Expect-" And there went the Trumpet. "Heavy armor, high mobility, and possible physical enhancement on the pilot, if there is one." The monsters who did this sometimes merged into some large abomination.

This one looked like the latter. The men were doing a good job fighting it. The knight was in front taking the attention while the others were circling. Sinclair didn't like how much the tar was creeping up on the mechs though.

A blast of fire as the Trumpet landed cleared some of it. The way the mech almost screamed made the rest vibrate as if it was afraid. The abomination shifted to face the new mech immediately, spraying out more tar that slapped against the white armor, and then slid off as if terrified.

"You." The man in the Trumpet breathed out onto open mic.

Sinclair would not be shy to admit that the tone made him shiver just a bit. That wasn't just rage. It was something more than that.

"I see the lives you've stolen for that false power." The First Trumpet continued as it shifted around a tar projectile with a boost and then darted forward. "I see your cowardice." The mech stabbed and the spear flared with light so bright his camera had to dim it.

The abomination screamed and every single bit of tar moved towards it. It grew even as it staggered back and the spear strike flared with white light. More shots rained into it as it smacked the First Trumpet with a fist suddenly half it's size. The mech went flying, but the damage was little. It rattled off a few shots with its handgun and readied its spear again.

In reply the abomination tried to move away. Sinclairs team didn't even need to be told. The now clean knight rammed his shield into the side of the creature and it staggered. The others rained down all their shots. With the increased size they couldn't really miss, but the damage wasn't particularly large. It was very distracting though.

First Trumpet crackled. Willpower flared. "More words are worthless on trash!" The boosters flared and it flew up into the air readying the spear.

"Of course he ascends now." Captain Sinclair muttered with half a laugh.

As the spear dropped the beast screamed. It tried to block, but just a touch annihilated large portions of the tar-like substance that it was made of. For a moment Sinclair could swear he saw something impossible. Then the thing was nothing but ash and parts of metal.

"May your victims rest in peace." The Pilot of the First Trumpet said.

Ok, they'd found a counter to some of this cultist shit. Sinclair had to admit that he'd take the barely controllable pilots if this was the result. If they made more cultists scream he'd take an entire team of them.

 

[Athain]

Well, I am going to say that this mech is working pretty good.

 

[john doe 777]

A little clunky and weird releases. You ok author bro? This chapter was off

 

[lost star]

A little clunky and weird releases. You ok author bro? This chapter was off

Click to shrink...

I typically write it all in the morning and review it like 2 or 3 times. I did a single pass here. The two releases was just because I didn't do the previous chapter yesterday by accident.

As is, I'm in a bit of a downslump, but that's normal for me and long projects.

 

[john doe 777]

I typically write it all in the morning and review it like 2 or 3 times. I did a single pass here. The two releases was just because I didn't do the previous chapter yesterday by accident.

As is, I'm in a bit of a downslump, but that's normal for me and long projects.

Click to shrink...

Sorry about that. The flow of the chapter was just off so I noticed. I hope you feel better soon. Have a nice November.

 

[lost star]

Sorry about that. The flow of the chapter was just off so I noticed. I hope you feel better soon. Have a nice November.

Click to shrink...

It's not really that I'm feeling bad, it's more that there comes a point in time that you hate your own work and don't wanna write anymore. I get it when the fic goes past a certain point. It's something I know about as a write and am at peace with. Not my first long fic, won't be my last hopefully.

 

[Thomisannoyed]

It's not really that I'm feeling bad, it's more that there comes a point in time that you hate your own work and don't wanna write anymore. I get it when the fic goes past a certain point. It's something I know about as a write and am at peace with. Not my first long fic, won't be my last hopefully.

Click to shrink...

You think so? I think the bit before the competition and trying to off load the debt went a bit overlong, but past that point I think it's been great?