What's Junk? (The Mech Touch)

[Negation]

The place is Cold Grave. The 7 Sins System was born here. Grave Knight Mk 1.

 

[lost star]

The mech's name was Morning Star.

She was absolutely gorgeous. Every part of her was a work of art. Her wings glittered. Her armor had elaborate patterns that complimented every line of our body. The helmet looked almost like it had a crown. She was slim and graceful, and even had heels for some silly reason. She looked like a mech made for fashion. Not an expert's mech. Only the gauntlets hinted at something else. Large and clawed, they each had six spike-like daggers attached to the outside. It felt fitting. It turned her from a pretty ornament to a lethal weapon.

Lilly loved all the mechs Bolt made, but this one felt special in a way. She felt... Complete was the best word for it. Warm yes, but also warm with purpose. This one had a enough of a presence that everyone could tell she was special. There was an aura there that demanded acknowledgement. Dowry would always hold a special place in her heart. She had to admit this one might be better in more circumstances.

"Few things since I didn't have time for through documentation." Bolt said with a long yawn and a bleary look at his wife. "Her movement is going to be tricky. She's meant to shift at will and the wings make her top heavy. If the wings get hit by small hits they'll regenerate small damage over about half a second. I put some of Dowry's nanomachines in the wing bases to facilitate that. They'll be able to repair machine gun hits and the like. Bigger hits will cause damage that needs ta be repaired like normal. Use the Jade Slip in the cockpit to get a feel of the systems. I put my impressions in there."

Lilly nodded seriously as she examined the mech with a critical eye. "Is that armor fragile? Looks fancy."

Bolt yawned again and staggered slightly. "No." He shook his head as he let his wife support him a bit, which nearly crushed her because of how large he was, but she'd deal with it. "The patterns are just fer electricity and heat transfer. That's the most efficient way of doing it. Expect them to light up slightly when in use, but they're just an added layer of energy defense. It's armor and will work as such. Expensive ta repair but meant to be damaged."

"It's only been a day. How are you so wiped out?!" Lilly demanded with worry at his condition.

The designer gave a light laugh. "I pushed too hard." He groaned at the motion and held his head. "Also, I need sleep. Think I had a thing sorta like what happened to you when you broke through."

Lilly nodded slowly and got a pair of men to manhandle the man to bed. She then grabbed one of the service ladders and ascended to the cockpit of her mech. This was the first real activation. It was time to see how she ran, and what Bolt had made. Was it a lady or a monster?

The mech started with an almost pulling sensation. Lilly connected to it and felt something like a grab. One that she easily fended off with a raised eyebrow. For a moment she could feel the mech staring at her somehow. They she reached out a hand to grab at a control and she could feel the mech reach back with less force and more care.

"Opinionated little thing aren't you?" Lilly murmured to her ride while accepting the mental handshake.

Morning Star was more alive than anything else she'd ever piloted. It wasn't bad. Just different enough to be noticeable. Once she'd connected properly the mech's insistence settled down and became quiet. It was soothing now, complete. The connection was like with Dowry but more intense. Not bad. Just intense.

Taking a step out of the construction cradle showed another quirk. Her balance was on a knives edge. Each step demanded precision and effort. The reason why was pretty obvious. Stability had been sacrificed in favor of the ability to shift her footing in an instant. Lilly could quick step and dance if she needed. It was like the Shrine Maiden but even more extreme. This was a design that only an expert could bring to it's full potential. This was a fine trade off in her opinion. Not every mech had to be easy to use. For something specifically for her, it was perfect.

Function checks were next. Give the wings a flap. Wiggle arms, then fingers. Head could move as needed. Then the weapon. Lilly started up one of the gauntlets and felt the charge in them. Then ordered the auto-diagnostic to report. All green naturally, but it reported properly. After all of that she turned and examined the cockpit.

There as he'd said was a Jade Slip. It was different than the alien ones. Those were little crystals. This was a metal lined block with green in the center of it. More durable, more human. Lilly didn't even need to touch it. It was already linked to the mech's system. She just needed to mentally link through her helmet.

One thing immediately made her chuckle. "Really? Lust?" She gave a giggle. Naming specific functions after the seven deadly sins was very amusing. "Could someone put a disposable generator out in front of me?" She asked over the open comms once she'd gone through the specifications. She very much appreciated the lack of reading needed using this system.

While that was happening Lilly sauntered around to get a feel of the mech's movement. Graceful. Sexy almost. A few quick flares of the booster let her know she could almost float through the air. Not quite, but very close. Bolt had honed the grace and dexterity of this mech to an absurd degree. It was almost a heavy in armor and a solidly medium in speed, but she doubted any mech could match how easily it could shift position.

Once the generator was in front of her Lilly activated Greed and flinched from the sudden and unexpected weight. All systems caused a certain mental load on the pilot. This one was hefty. Nothing she couldn't handle, but it had not been expected. The effect on the target was small for the effort as well. She could see little lightning shocks coming from the generator. That was about it. Mildly disappointing visually.

"How's the draw on generator?" Lilly asked the techs watching.

"We're noticing a small load." The tech responded. "It fluctuates from ten to twenty percent."

That wasn't horrible, but she wasn't sure it was worth the mental effort she was expending. The expert frowned. "Damage?"

"Some. I don't want to send a tech to physically check. We're all feeling a bit of a... Well pressure. Also I don't like those electrical surges." The tech sounded hesitant as he relayed the observation.

"Hmmm." Lilly hummed out and mentally shifted the 'settings' on Greed to designate friendlies. "Does that help?"

"No more pressure." The tech said with audible confusion.

"Ok, I hate to do this, but get two zombies in here. Send my apologies to the pilots." The girl ordered as she started to make mental calculations about what she was seeing.

This was faster than getting the generator. Two of the zombies walked in from guard duty and Lilly could immediately both feel and tell when they entered range of Greed. They flinched slightly and small electrical arcs sparked from their mechs. Furthermore her energy consumption was shifting from the generator and energy cells to just the Greed system. Extrapolating, if she had enough enemies in range she could essentially run off their power instead of her own.

"What sort of monster did you make?" Lilly asked breathlessly off channel before mentally tagging the people as friendly. "Check those mechs for damage and report."

Greed had serious potential just based off that. Sure it wouldn't kill, but if she got Morning Star into a crowd her endurance would be functionally unlimited. That sort of endurance was absolutely worth the trouble. The damage report from the mechs also indicated trace electrical damage to everything as well. Lilly could see her bringing down small armies without touching them with just this. It'd take forever but it'd be possible.

Lilly paused. She should probably test the weapons before she made her final conclusion. Right now this was just promising theory. With a mental switch she gestured with one hand. Six daggers flew out with a small blast of electricity and embedded themselves in a nearby plate they'd setup for weapon testing. Lilly raised an eyebrow. Not bad. Her mech made a pulling motion and the daggers returned, ripping themselves out of the metal and neatly clipping back onto the outside of the gauntlets with a blur.

Truthfully it wasn't spectacular. Deadly, unpredictable, and dangerous, but decidedly low for an experts offensive weapon. If there was a flaw it was there. The daggers moved slow enough for an expert to react to. Lilly, as an expert could easily mow down people with this configuration, but that was utterly identical to all other experts. It was a niggling issue in an otherwise fairly impressive design. She'd have to speak with Bolt about applying the resonance materials there later.

"When combined with the rest this is pretty good still." Lilly evaluated.

All together she rated it as an impressive defensive mech that made sensible trade offs in performance. The attack was relatively efficient for a weapon at least. Perfect for grinding down opponents if used properly with the rest of the systems. Lilly would have to take this girl into combat to really get a feel for her, but that was fine. So far she liked the mech. It wasn't instant love. This mech had the potential to impress her. She wasn't yet.

She'd reserve conclusions until they'd gotten into a serious fight.

 

[Golgotha]

Was there a trick to the knives I've forgotten already, or is it just outright a weakness in design?

 

[lost star]

Was there a trick to the knives I've forgotten already, or is it just outright a weakness in design?

Click to shrink...

There's a trick, but it's unintentional on Bolts end and a weakness. He's far from perfect.

 

[Sceptic]

she doubted any mech could match how easily it could shit position.

Click to shrink...

A result of excremental improvements?

 

[Rockow]

A result of excremental improvements?

Click to shrink...

Incrimental not excremental, no one wants excrement anywhere near anything important

Edit: Damn it, forgot to read what you were quoting mb. Nah you're right that is excremental.