Deadly Aviators

"Unprofessional of you openly embarrassing the mayor, Eran." Emma said, her voice sharp.

Eran took his mask off, revealing a handsome face, already hinted by his killer smiles on the tournament. He leisurely sat on his designated chair and shrugged, "It's subtle enough. I didn't go overboard, big sis."

Emma stood up and faced the projected screen behind her - an interview with the mayor of Patter had began.

[I believe the central government is responding quickly to the needs of my people. The new underground facilities should protect us from any storm that comes our way.]

"A puppet. A man who does nothing for the good of his society, but only to serve himself." Eran remarked with a chuckle. His big sister left no comment, and just silently watched.

"You have a knack for reading people. How would you describe Sy Verdin?" She finally spoke.

"And you are the most intelligent woman I ever saw, sis. Our big brother has both but he's way too obedient to father." Eran retorted, before answering, "What can I say, the most intelligent people are always the most intimidating."

There was a moment of silence. Eran became uncomfortable and uttered, "It's good that you're back with your old self, sis."

"So, you agree of how the family treated me?" Although Emma's voice was calm, her brother felt the sharp blades behind it.

"Of course, not. I was never part of it. I respect your decision, and will never question it. What I always wanted is to be part of something big. You're cooking something here, sis. I want in." Eran explained.

Emma chuckled. Eran would always be her little brother, easily intimidated by her. She instructed, "I want to delay the implementation of these underground facilities. Let's start with something small. Something that will not catch the eyes of the big players in Pyr Prime. Maybe an engineering student coming up with a better design."

-----

"Two days just go bzzt.." Sy lazily muttered. He had taken a bath and was ready to go out. He finished Nasena's design yesterday and directly went to sleep. He checked his gauntlet for new messages.

[Niel: Sy, I sent your tournament footage to the UMA and registered you as my apprentice. They agreed to send a representative to assess you.]

A pleased smile appeared on Sy's face with his landlord's effort to make him legitimate in the mech business.

There were other messages, but they were spams from Tiff. Well, he's on his way to her gaming center, and she's free to pester him when he got there.

He went down to the first floor, checking some of the unoccupied apartments before he proceeded to the garage, and took out the hover bike into the heart of the city.

The goggles and mask stayed on his face so his journey to the gaming center won't be a hassle as he became famous in Logria within a single night. He was suddenly a hero and everyone was asking for his home address.

In the gaming center, Tiff couldn't hide her smiles when he entered. Feeling awkward, he pointed and said, "I'm gonna go take a po--"

The blonde suddenly pulled him into her counter, "You must give your very first fan an autograph."

Sy couldn't help but chuckle at her. He signed a poster featuring his picture - taken from the tournament, and joked, "You happy now?".

"Off you go!" Tiff faked a dismissive face, before laughing.

Upon finding an empty virtual pod, Sy climbed in and entered Steel Arena.

"60,000 Gold. Not bad." Sy smiled while accessing the interface to his assembly line. He saw that Kerby and Hanz' group were the only ones who came for repairs in the log. The aviator bots were on hibernation mode and would come online when a customer arrive.

This would be a good environment to design the third material in his Human Generator. Furthermore, he could waste more time in the virtual reality with the time deviation.

Wasting no time, he chose the Human Generator function and started designing his third flawless material, naming her Vii. No sooner did he get immersed in his new work just like the other two. Designing a woman the way you wanted was pure bliss, especially for a perfectionist like him.

As he molded Vii's deadly hips, ballooning in a flawless curve, his lips parted as he reveled in the supernatural image for a few seconds before continuing to her long legs, correcting every fault in its composition, and making it a most pleasurable sight.

Half way through, he abandoned his illicit work when a person entered the hallway of his workshop. It was a man with arms crossed on his back and wearing an industrial suit.

This man started to observe the two Straggler S1-2 as soon as he noticed them on the corner. With a raised brow, he went for a closer inspection.

"How can I help?" Sy greeted after standing beside the man.

"Just checking out my neighbors. My workshop is just a few blocks away." The man answered, and pointed, "Looks like a Straggler S1, but when you get closer, it's entirely different."

The man turned his head toward Sy, before returning his gaze at the two collosal mechs.

"I'm Sy." The young Pioneer extended a hand for a handshake which the other man immediately took.

"Garin."

Garin was a 3rd Grade Mech Specialist and in his mid forties. In his experience, the younger man probably did not have the money to fund the construction of a decent mech and decided to make some modifications on the First Gen, hoping that it would sell for a small profit. He was right.

"Do they work?" Garin asked the younger man in curiousity.

"Yes. But I disabled some functions because I'm allowing them for free test drives to entertain pilots while waiting for their repairs." Sy answered, feeling a reminiscence while looking at the two Straggler S1-2. Who would have thought that one of these could sell 25,000,000 U-Credits.

"Good idea." Garin nodded. He chuckled, "Perhaps, I should do it on my workshop as well."

Suddenly, almost a dozen of mechs flew down on the workshop. Eleven Mathilda 800s to be precise. Sy noticed that they were not damaged in some way, and did not need any repairs.

On the other hand, Garin's eyes widened when the young pilots exited and greeted the younger man beside him. He was sure that they were high level aviators as the Mathilda 800 was a 4th Gen. The customers he had on his workshop only played around the 2nd Gens and the early 3rd Gens.

"I don't think you need repairs, Kerby!" Sy shouted.

"Hahaha. Sorry! We only came for the free test drives." Kerby had a pained look on his face as he did not have any other reason. His face suddenly tensed as he realized something, "Hold down Mig! It's my turn now! Don't let that f*cker get in the cockpit!"

Seeing the chaotic action between the young pilots, Garin excused himself and exited the workshop. An aging man like himself had no business with the wrestling match between the vigorous youths.

When Kerby and Hanz entered the cockpits of the two Straggler S1-2s, the mechs began to stumble backward before regaining their balance. Sy instantly realized that they were trying to master the Partial Full-Dive. Since these noisy aviators were here, he might as well prepare the history lessons that he had composed for them. Soon, a new interface in the workshop was erected, attracting some of the pilots.

Sy retreated on a corner and continued to design Vii. After two hours, he gave up after being distracted by Kerby and Hanz screaming on top of their lungs when their Straggler fell down. This time, however, there was a different scenery. The other aviators were sitting on the floor while watching a documentary.

A chuckle escaped the young Pioneer, pleased with the young pilots taking interest in history. They started complaining when there was no more to watch. Well, since these aviators finally had a grasp of what a cavalry was, it's time to adapt their tactics into their flying mechs. He personally went to the interface and began teaching them. Kerby and Hanz were defeated by their curiosity, exiting the Stragglers, before joining their entranced fellow aviators.

First lesson was the charge itself. It must be done in groups for a devastating effect. They should keep moving, and avoid being stalled by enemies. After that, regroup then charge again.

The second lesson was not to charge mindlessly to a determined, organized and prepared enemy. Thus came the third lesson. Since flying mechs could act like horse archers, which nomads used long ago to dominate the battlefield, they should try to weaken a group of enemies, pelt them incessantly from a distant, and when they were worn down and demoralized, regroup and charge. This tactic should be suitable for Hanz' group as they were more agile in the air.

Since heavy cavalry relied on shock and mass, Sy thought of making a medium type flying mech, fully armoured - ready to tank incoming projectiles, and deliver a decisive blow in battle.