Mech Pilot

Eran and the others cheered while Genevieve tried to make Sy spill the beans. With every second he resisted, her curiosity doubled in size.

In the end, he relented but reserved it for another day.

Dylan and Theon bid their goodbyes and headed to the waiting bay. The first ship bound for Pyr Prime would arrive in ten hours and they would have to process their papers while waiting. With the mercenaries' blockade lifted, interplanetary transport resumed.

Soon, Sy led the rest to the gaming center. The girls were brimming with curiosity to the amount of people they encountered on the way. They kept their questions for now.

Upon entering the gaming center, Tiff was all over them, describing an attractive woman, gesturing with her hands the shape of the stranger's voluptuous body. She was certain that the woman was suspicious individual.

"Ah... do you have to be too detailed when describing her? It's in my head now." Eran complained, shaking his head.

The blonde glared at the handsome scion's direction.

"What else did she ask?" Sy questioned.

"She did not ask for any direction and just thanked me for showing her the tournament. But I think she's a spy. I know it." Tiff assured, trusting her gut instinct.

"Beautiful woman. Dark-brown skin. Foreigner." Eran mused in deep thought. After a second, he leaned on the counter and concluded, "I think I might ask for her number if we ever had a fateful encounter."

Tiff stomped the handsome man's foot in great fury, causing him to hop away on one leg.

"Fascinating," Sy caressed his chin, showing keen interest, "I might have a very fruitful chat with her."

A furious growl escaped the blonde's lips, she was about to charge the other handsome man, but stopped when Genevieve and the girls entered. She stuttered, "Y-You.."

"Oh," Sy noticed the newcomers and introduced them, "These are my.. the girls. Jinae, silver hair. Nasena, gold hair. Vii, black hair."

"Genevieve, light-blue hair." The Runerie added with a smile.

Tiff has not yet recovered from seeing the Runerie, but her eyes sparkled while looking at the little girls.

"I brought them here to visit my virtual workshop. They don't have an account yet--"

"I'll handle that." Tiff cut Sy off, and then hurriedly herded the girls inside her counter, as if someone would snatch them away from her.

With the juveniles out of the way, Sy approached the Runerie, "I thought you have some business with the mayor?"

Genevieve shrugged, "I can delay my visit for a few hours. I heard that you want to participate in mech combat simulations. Something like that I cannot miss. I will spectate and give you some vital pointers."

"Alright then." Sy turned while hiding his reluctance on someone watching him clumsily handling a mech, giving the girls and Tiff a sideway glance.

The three girls don't have any papers yet. He might have to visit Logria's administrative department one day. Emma might be able to help him forge a biodata for them. Provided that he bypass her questions of how they arrived in the Union and without an existing birth papers at that.

As he and Eran left the girls in search for a gaming pod, they discussed their approach one last time.

"Remember, it's the Famling T-4. A medium mech. One of the original series of the Union and had been successfully pitted against the Imperator III of the Empire. Although, not as versatile, it's a stable mech with competent ground capability." Eran reminded.

"Also, we will only enter 20 v 20 match and above. Anything lower and people would be camping. It's better to have more players since most would be force to team up together. We can't afford to play hide and seek with them."

With that, they climbed up inside two adjacent pods and entered Steel Arena.

The familiar sensation of Sy's consciousness being absorbed into the virtual reality emerged. Soon, he found himself standing inside his workshop. Looking around, he did not find the aviators. They were probably in a match or not in the game.

Sweeping his gaze around, the two Stragglers eventually entered his vision and he couldn't help but smile. He resisted the temptation to enter their cockpits and perform some tests.

A moment later, notifications appeared in his vision. It seemed that the people visiting his workshop had increased dramatically. There was also the question as to how Mina learned about the Straggler.

[Gold: 8,201,410]

He rubbed his hands stifling a smile. Within the span of one week, The Strongest Pistoleer, the SSS Rank Pistoleer, as well as the automated assembly line had made over 4 million gold.

'Gold well spent.'

Without wasting anymore seconds, he entered the market and searched for the Famling. The mech was priced at 30,000 Gold, and there was also a list above it displaying its ancestors from T-1 to T-3. It showed how the Union was faithful to their medium mechs.

The T-3 was on the same tier as the Imperator III, vastly inferior due to its less compatibility with components. As such, the T-4 was designed as a redemption to its former series.

In a hurry, Sy bought the mech, and then assigned it to his personal stable. In an instance he was transported to a dimly lit compound while facing the silhouette of a mech. It was half the height of the Straggler S1-2.

3rd Gens were smaller in size compared to the 1st gens or even the 2nd gens for cost-effectiveness as well as space reservation when in transport ship. Massive wars were initiated during its era and factions were more inclined to quantity over quality. It was only when they obtained advance and bigger transport ships from the greater factions did mechs once again gain mass starting from the 4th gens.

The T-4 was over a hundred feet high, and Sy could vividly outline something inscribed on the mech's chest. It was the Union's insignia. And on its shoulders was 'GT'.

It sported a grey hue, and carried a standard ground rifle for its tier. Two knives were hidden in the compartments of its thighs. The head had two eyes, and an antennae protruded from its back.

Sy resisted the urge to customize it and rode a hover platform toward its cockpit. He entered using a sliding hatch, before securing it behind him.

The cockpit was austere complimenting its military use. It was not excessive nor deficit. Everything had a purpose. Although, some innovation could be implemented on its outdated interface.

Sy sat on the cold looking seat, trying to make himself familiar while searching some comfort around it. He had already read its manuals and started to navigate its control panel. Seeing that nothing was out of place, he activated the game interface and chose to enter the training ground.

In a few seconds, he and the mech disappeared from the stable, and was transported to a huge expanse.

He did not believe Eran that the training ground was a futile place to acquaint himself with the mech. Since he was bringing the scion along to share the burden of embarrassment, he was sure that the Losac also had mischief in mind.

Those thoughts were erased from his mind as the live feed on the mech's main interface displayed patches of broad leaf grasses stretching into the horizon - coating the rolling hills in yellow-green.

Since he was viewing it using the two eyes of the Famling, he felt like he was a giant looking down at a beautiful scenery. Out there, in the plains, a lone tree stood.

"A nice change of scenery." He said with a soft smile. The red desert had been all that he could see in Logria. There was not even a single pleasing thing about it.

He confidently activated the Neuro-link and...

...the mech plopped down on the ground like a stone statue plowing the field of greenery.

"Crap!" Sy cursed as he struggled to make the Famling move.

With his zero neural affinity, his brain did not receive any feedback from the computer system, but he could still transmit orders to the Neuro-link. He would have to rely on his vision to quickly assess the current situation of the mech.

In the game, one did not need an aptitude to pilot a mech. However, Sy could still use the Neuro-link without frying his brain in the real world. As such, there was no need for the game to make modifications to his natural functions.

After calming his agitated state, the Famling finally pushed itself up into a notable erect position. For Sy, it was like he was in a body devoid of any senses. He needed to rely on his sight to determine whether his commands were being executed. Furthermore, there was a delay to the neural relay. About 0.3 seconds in his calculation. If other pilots learned of his powerful brain neural transmission, they would have probably had their jaw hanging loose.

Sy began to explore the exotic land with great enthusiasm.