Queen of Irigia
Early the next morning, Janae led Inian to the castle located at the center of the city. Janae originally was meant to meet with an advisor today to show them the new ideas for mechas, but that changed when Inian came into town.
Shadows covered Inian and Janae as the castle stood far above their heights. The guards only had simple rifles.
"Why don't they have any exosuits? Aren't they the final defense for the ruler here?" Inian asked.
Janae responded, "they are, but exosuits are almost non-existant here in Irigia. The queen believes that if an enemy were to get past their mechas, then Irigia has already fallen. The guards here are more for show and to stop thieves and harassers from coming in."
Inian nodded, "alright, then."
The pair waited outside the gate for about half an hour; then, a massive burly man walked out of the gate. He was bald and looked like he had been prison since birth.
"Hello, Janae! It's so nice to see you!" The man said. He had a higher voice than expected and picked up Janae in a bearhug.
"Nice to see you too, Burt!" Janae replied between breaths as her lungs tried gasping for air. Burt put down Janae and went over to Inian.
He looked him up and down then held out a hand, "welcome friend, my name is Burt. What's yours?"
Inian responded with a handshake, "my name is Inian. I'm Janae's friend."
Burt smiled, "a friend of Janae is a friend of mine! Now to business, you have mecha ideas for me?"
Janae stepped forward, "Actually Burt, we are here for a different reason. We need the queen of Irigia to join hands with the Predo Dynasty and follow Inian in a war against the Empire."
Burt stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing, "Oooooh that's a good one Janae! For real, though, do you have the plans for me?"
Janae nodded to Inian as the signal. Inian clasped his hands together, then separated them. Streaks of lightning bounced between his hands and fingertips.
Burt watched with awe as the lightning grew and grew until Inian put his hands back together, making it disappear.
Burt muttered, "uh, well, uh, I can see you were serious. I'll see what I can do."
He disappeared into the massive castle only to return 20 minutes later. "You both can follow me."
Janae and Inian followed him into the castle. Inian was shocked by how intricate this castle was. Steam machines and gears whirred around beside the walking paths. There were several rooms where genius mechanics were working on different devices and tools.
An explosion happened not too far behind them, and Inian looked back to see one man running out of a room and coughing. Black soot covered his body, but he was holding his arms up like he just won a race. "I did it! Finally!!" The man cried.
Burt laughed, "it's about time he did!"
They continued following Burt until they reached an open archway. There was no door, but just a simple drape covering the entryway.
They walked through it and came upon a small room with a simple table in the center, and several steel chairs sitting around it.
In the middle was the queen. She layers upon layers of muscle lined her body. Her hair stuck to her head as she was drenched in sweat. She was wearing a pair of overalls, and that was stained black and covered in oil.
Her advisors looked similar and crowded around her as she was explaining a blueprint laid out in front of her.
She looked up and saw Inian, Janae, and Burt walk in.
"So you must be the one Burt was talking about," the Queen said as she nodded towards Inian.
Inian nodded, "yes, your highness. It is of dire importance, but I ask that your nation lend me support against the Empire. I need to make an alliance between myself, Irigia, and the Predo Dynasty. I'm not arrogant when I say that I have the power to match a smaller nation."
Inian reached out his hand, "will you help me against the Empire?"
The Queen watched him with focused eyes, then laughed a bellowing laugh.
"You must be joking. Irigia is a strong nation, and we have always been strong enough to deter the Empire. They wouldn't dare attack us."
Inian shook his head, "maybe in the past they wouldn't have, but things have changed. Someone new is in charge, and they are expanding their military by crazy amounts. You already don't stand a chance against the Empire, but soon they will be strong enough to overrun Irigia completely."
The Queen scoffed, "don't underestimate us. I do know that there is a new Emporer, but unless you prove to me that you are worthy enough to follow, then you can count Irigia out."
Janae stepped forward, "then how about this: I choose to follow Inian because he has proved himself to me, but if I can prove myself to you, then you should follow him."
The Queen raised an eyebrow and Janae continued, "A battle of mechanics should decide. Myself against your best."
The Queen smirked, "the best you say? Then I will face you in this battle of mechanics."
Everyone in the room gasped and whispered, "the Queen will fight?"
"I haven't seen this in ages."
"Poor girl doesn't know what she's getting into."
"My bet's on the Queen."
Burt leaned in towards Inian, "the Queen has never lost a battle of mechanics. She is the best one in our whole country."
Inian's heart dropped, "oh."
Janae still stood proudly in front of the whispering crowd.
One advisor stood forward, "these are the rules for the battle of mechanics, you will each have two full days to make a mecha of any tier. You will both be in the castle with the same materials. You are allowed to ask for more if need be. After those two days, you will pilot your mechas by yourself and battle against the opponent. Minor injuries are okay, but killing or major injuries are prohibited. Do you both agree to these terms?"
Queen Irigia and Janae both said yes simultaneously.
The advisor continued, "you have one hour to prepare then, after that, the time begins."
Inian watched as Janae boldly walked away, leaving the Queen smirking and going to prepare herself.
Inian followed Janae out, "why'd you do that? Did you know the Queen is the best in the nation?"
Janae kept walking, "I did. I've learned a lot about Irigia while staying here, and something the people respect more than anything else is the skills you show as a mechanic. You have absolutely zero skill, no offense, but I have become quite good. If you want the people to follow you wholeheartedly, then I need to win this competition against the Queen."
She turned a corner into her room, where several workers were bringing in materials for her to use.
Inian sighed and brought her a large plate of food.
Janae gulped down the food and drinks before the competition. She wouldn't have much time to eat or sleep, so eating now was a good idea.
Inian patted her shoulder, "I believe in you Janae, good luck."
She smiled, then cracked her knuckles. An advisor came into the room, "your time begins...now Janae. You have 48 hours to complete your project."
Janae began running around, gathering the tools and materials she needed. No movement was wasted with her, and she was even multitasking several projects at once.
A mid-tier monster core had been given to them to use as the core for their project and Janae wanted her design to center around that.
She was madly dashing around and putting together cogs and pieces of machinery.
Inian was not allowed to help, so he left the room to let her be.
He peaked into the Queen's room and saw her doing the same thing, except her designs looked a bit different.
Inian's heart pounded, and he was incredibly nervous that the decision of whether or not Irigia would follow him rested on this one competition.
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
The Queen and Janae were both outside in the courtyard. They looked dead exhausted. Dark spots dotted under each of their eyes, and they were both yawning.
The Queen spoke, "HA! Prepare to...*YAWN*...greet defeat, Janae!
Janae remarked, "I think you have that backward, your highness! Today is the day I win!"
Inian and Burt stood off to the side with the advisor who was refereeing the match.
Janae's and Queen Irigia's mechas were wheeled out into the courtyards, both covered with a tarp.
With a flourish, the tarps were removed to reveal their mechas.
Janae's mecha had a humanoid figure to it, with four arms instead of 2, and it had shoulder-mounted grappling hooks. Lethal weapons were not allowed in the match.
Queen Irigia's mecha walked on four legs and had some wings on the back. A couple of pincers mounted its shoulders. It reminded Inian of the monster with the poison he fought a while back.
The advisor raised his arm, "mount your mechas now!" He shouted.
The two mounted their mechas and started them up. They each moved smoothly and without any issues.
The advisor looked at each of them to make sure they were ready, then swung his arm down, "BEGIN!"
Janae moved first and fired one grappling cannon at the Queen's front leg. The Queen lifted her leg and stomped on it, holding it in place.
She then moved one of her pincers forward towards Janae, to try and crush the machine's limbs.
Janae couldn't move the mecha while the grappling hook was stuck under the Queen's leg, so she roared in anger and disengaged the hook.
She jumped back, just out of reach of the pincer, then slid to the side to grab the pincer's arm. She used the mecha's four limbs to twist it and break it off.
Queen Irigia growled and jumped into the air. The wings on the back weren't strong or fast enough to make it fly, but it allowed her mecha to hover over the ground for a bit.
She rushed the mecha at Janae's and rammed it head-on.
The air blew out of Janae, and she moaned from the bruising.
The Queen's other pincer acted fast and ripped off one of Janae's four limbs. Janae responded by taking one of the queen's legs with her arms.
The queen took off the other arm on the same side and began laughing, "Whatcha gonna do now Janae? Your arms can't reach my pincer now."
Janae smirked, "that's what you think."
She fired the other grappling hook, she aimed it perfectly, taking off the Queen's last pincer.
The Queen's mouth opened in shock, and that continued when her mecha was flipped over.
Janae twisted her mecha to be on top of the Queen's then used her remaining arms to rip off the Queen's other leg on the same side as the first.
This attack made the Queen's mecha immobile.
The Queen was breathing heavily, "you...win."
Janae got out of her mecha and stood proudly for a moment while Inian clapped wildly from the side. Burt was clapping a bit too, he wanted to clap more, but didn't want to offend the queen.
Janae went and hugged Inian, "congrats Inian, Irigia now follows you."
Inian smiled, "no, they follow you."
He gave her a bear hug, happy that they have succeeded in getting the first nation on their side.