An immense amount of people watched the final moments of the ace mech duel.
Many of them knew what was at stake. If one or the other ace mech remained operational at the end of the fight, then they could instantly dominate the rest of the ongoing battle taking place below with just a fraction of their remaining power!
It was not unusual to see a pair of closely matched ace mechs to end their duels in a draw.
If a lot of interests were at stake and if the survival of the ace mech was deemed essential to a state or organization, then there may be times where the ace pilot voluntarily withdrew from the battle before the worst had happened.
This did not happen today.
Patriarch Reginald Cross had stepped onto the battlefield with the determination to stake everything on this fight.
There was only victory or death in his mind.