The Power of Nine: A Mecha LitRPG Adventure (Overdrive Book 2)
Page 13
- Statistics -
Melee: C-tier
Shooting: C-tier
Speed: D-tier
Maneuverability: D-tier
Defense: D-tier
Cohesion: B-tier
- Weapons -
Mana Gatherer Dome [x2]
Mana Dispersal Finger [x10]
Minesweeper Unit [x1]
Beam Combat Knife [x1]
Wrist-Mounted Pistol [x1]
Grenade [x2]
- Abilities -
Thunderbolt
Static Freeze
Storm Surge
The Minesweeper had extremely poor synergy with Spell Titans. The gangly machines were built for offensive power. The frames were glass cannons, meaning that pilots had to choose between either mobility or defense during their customizations.
The Minesweeper provided neither.
It was only the power of the unit's innate abilities—Thunderbolt, Static Freeze, and Storm Surge—that kept the Melee and Shooting statistics from the dreaded D-tier.
Felix drummed his fingers together then replaced both the pistol and beam knife with a submachine gun. The weapon raised his Shooting ability to a B, but his Melee fell to a D.
He turned to Julian and grinned.
"I'll leave the frontlines to you. Keep me safe on this one!"
"Of course!"
These days, Felix and Julian didn't get to play nearly as much as they wanted to, but back in high school, their teamwork had been a force to behold.
It was like they subconsciously already knew what each other wanted—and they probably did, seeing how many hours they'd played together. Because of Julian's skill in melee combat, Felix felt comfortable eschewing close-ranged weapons.
Felix turned to Tyler and Emma.
"Alright—I'm going to need you guys to carry me through this mission. What roles do you guys play?"
"I usually use a sniper. I can also play a traditional mass-fire role."
"You should snipe this round. I've heard the legends from Julian. I want to see it for myself!"
Emma pumped her fist. Although she was an outstanding mass-fire player, she hated spraying out attacks. She found it crude.
Fortunately, a skilled sniper was an invaluable boon for this sort of survival mission.
The Overdrive Corporation's servers had difficulty with loading many sophisticated artificial intelligences into the game at once. Running missions like March of Grunts, where the opponents just charged in a straight line, was easy.
Yet for more complicated maps like the Fortresses, the Overdrive Corporation had intelligently compensated by creating the Officer System. In effect, they loaded the central "control" AI into a single unit and designated them as the in-game officer. Just like in real life, killing the officer temporarily sowed chaos in the line of enemy units until a new one was appointed. It was actually just to give the system time to recover, but the in-universe explanation was pretty good!
The officer was clearly labeled for beginner games but at an advanced battle—like the Fortresses—there were usually only subtle clues. Perhaps a machine would subtly turn in a particular direction. Maybe they'd rally around a specific unit when caught off guard.
Emma's machine floated in front of her after she locked in. Her Mech was the same sky blue as Felix's. As the creator of the SPG Caster, Emma had set the mass-production colors to be the same as her own. In exchange for her design, the Overdrive Corporation paid her a weekly Credit stipend.
- General Data -
Pilot: Emma
Machine: SPG-01 Caster—Emma Custom
Class: Spell Titan
Sub-class: Artillery
Designation: Grunt Unit
- Statistics -
Melee: C-tier
Shooting: S-tier
Speed: C-tier
Maneuverability: C-tier
Defense: C-tier
Cohesion: B-tier
- Weapons -
Mana Gatherer Spike [x2]
Mana Dispersal Finger [x10]
Boom Staff (Full Custom) [x1]
- Abilities -
Thunderbolt
Static Freeze
Storm Surge
Emma's Boom Staff was the most beautiful weapon Julian had ever seen. The meticulously crafted Full Custom was a mix of a magician's staff and a sniper rifle. Azure sapphires glistened along the sleek sky blue barrel. The weapon's sheer strength—especially when connected to the Mana Gatherer Spikes—made the SPG Caster as dangerous as any Ace unit.
Julian knew very well how powerful a strategy it was to dedicate your team to supporting Emma.
It was another example of how the Ace wasn't always the star player. Brandon's teams had always relied on him carrying them with his Patchwork models.
"Alright, so you're going to play the Ace, right Julian?"
He shook his head.
"Not this time. I think using an Ace-level mass-fire unit is our best bet. I'm confident I can hold down the fort using a Grunt."
Julian activated his SPG Caster and selected the orange and gold machine's armaments with a few rapid keystrokes. The Mech was an altered version of the tankier unit he'd used against DISTINCTIONMAN.
It was one of his most selected options playing alongside Emma and Tyler. The heavyset machine had no long-ranged weapons despite Julian's recent practice with them. He didn't need to shoot when he had both Emma and Tyler's legendary Cerberus Roar.
- General Data -
Pilot: Julian
Machine: SPG-01 Caster—Julian Custom
Class: Spell Titan
Sub-class: Support
Designation: Grunt Unit
- Statistics -
Melee: S-tier
Shooting: D-tier
Speed: C-tier
Maneuverability: C-tier
Defense: A-tier
Cohesion: A-tier
- Weapons -
Mana Gatherer Dome [x2]
Mana Dispersal Finger [x10]
Mine-Laying Shield [x1]
Triple Laminated Broadsword (Full Custom) [x1]
- Abilities -
Thunderbolt
Static Freeze
Storm Surge
Although Julian loved nothing more than dashing through the front lines with his blade, his team would be best served with a slower and more reliable unit to defend Emma and Felix's vulnerable Mechs. He didn't need to move quickly. He needed to hold his ground.
By switching away from one mine-laying shield and both pistols, he made room for a high-quality broadsword. Solid broadswords were an excellent option for budget builders. The heavy weapon lacked the powerful cutting properties of beam swords, but the enormous piece of metal inflicted comparable damage by simply crushing armor with raw weight. It was the perfect option for keeping enemies off of Emma and Felix.
Even better, the weapon was a cost-reduced Full Custom. Typically, such a high-quality blade would only be accessible to Ace level units. By reinforcing the metal himself onto a cheaper base blade, Julian cheapened it enough to fit under the 10,000 Credit cap.
Felix nodded with appreciation.
"Nice—I like it!"
It was a significant change from the highly-mobile attackers Julian had once blindly insisted on playing. The Starlight R was a fantastic Mech, but they'd struggle if he used it on this map. It simply wasn't Credit efficient to assign the melee role to your Ace.
Felix turned to Tyler.
"I guess you're using the Roar then?"
"Yeah!"
The machine flashed above him. True to its name, the three big cats—a lion, a tiger, and a liger, let out a proud cry as soon as he selected it.
- General Data -
Pilot: TylerFord21
Machine: Liger Soul—Cerberus Roar
Class: Paragon
Sub-class: Wild
Designation: Ace Unit
- Statistics -
Melee: S-tier
Shooting: A-tier
&nbs
p; Speed: B-tier
Maneuverability: B-tier
Defense: S-tier
Cohesion: S-tier
- Weapons -
Pride's Sword (Full Custom) [x1]
Pride's Composite Rifle (Full Custom) [x1]
Cerberus Roar Cannon (Full Custom) [x1]
Tiger Roar Cannon (Full Custom) [x1]
Lion Roar Cannon (Full Custom) [x1]
- Abilities -
Liquid State Eternium
Pride's Roar
Cerberus Soul Roar
With their machines selected, all they had to do was wait for the mission to begin.
When the countdown finished, the four friends found themselves inside their Mech's cockpits. The four units stood beneath a loose defensive structure on the top of the building.
They had both a favorable position and rough fortifications, but the other side had raw numbers.
The long trail of smoke indicated a whole army was rapidly approaching their position.
"Alright. Let's do this."
16
"Alright. Emma and Tyler need to take the lead for the first stage."
Julian's bulky bodyguard unit was best suited for close-range brawls. It was an invaluable addition to their team for later portions of the mission, but it was largely useless for now. Ideally, Tyler and Emma would gun down most of their opponents from the top of the stage.
If all went well, Julian shouldn't have a role to play until the underground infiltration.
Emma frowned.
"Shouldn't you at least lay down your mines?"
Julian shook his head.
"No, not on the first wave."
Felix nodded.
"There's four separate stages for this mission. The first is the easiest, so we don't want to use our mines yet."
"Oh, got it. So it's like March of Grunts."
Julian and Emma spent a lot of time grinding on the March of Grunts stage to get parts for the Forever Fortress.
"Yeah, it's similar. The only difference is that we can actually win the mission."
Julian winced at Felix's last sentence.
He still didn't know how he was going to beat Liefield's altered March of Grunts. The prize at the end of this mission better be truly spectacular. Clearing a Fortress Mission, even Watcher's First Fortress, was hard enough. Adding a Minesweeper challenge on top of it was totally unprecedented.
Bright red letters flashed across their visors.
THIRTY SECONDS UNTIL THE FIRST WAVE. PREPARATION TIME COMING TO A CLOSE.
Felix glanced at his friend's notes for a moment longer then turned back to Julian.
"Unfortunately, there's not a lot of information here. They didn't get too far. It sounds like it's pretty similar to the base mission, just more difficult. If that's the case, our best bet is for you to use your mines on either the second or third level. The second one is just a harder version of the first. You just need to eliminate all enemies. The third stage is the underground wave attack."
"Roger that."
It'd been a long time since he'd played on the First Fortress, but Julian still remembered how tough it'd been to fight through the endless underground assault. It'd taken him, Felix, Edwin, and their fourth friend Doug at least half a dozen attempts. He'd slammed his Mech's sword into so many enemies that his arm got sore from jerking the controls back and forth.
If Julian managed to save his mines until the third stage, he'd have a much easier time holding down the underground tunnel. Thinning out the enemies would give him invaluable breathing time.
"Take the latch for now."
"Yep."
Julian's close-combat oriented SPG Caster stood on standby beside the hatch to the lower floors. If their opponents made it past Tyler and Emma's gunfire, Julian could meet them in the underground tunnel. Ideally, no enemies would reach the tunnel, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, the central location of the latch meant that Julian would be in position to defend anyone on the rooftop.
Felix turned to Tyler and Emma, confidently pointing out positions for them to take. Felix was a natural leader. Despite his almost exaggeratedly nerdy appearance, his quick wit and constant encouragement made him a man everyone loved following.
"Emma, do you mind taking the corners?"
Felix gestured at his unfortunately bulky unit.
"I think it might be best if I took the cover."
Ordinarily, the sniper unit would hide beneath the steel structure at the front of the rooftop. It provided exceptional defensive capability and a perfect view. Unfortunately, the added difficulty of bringing the bulky Minesweeper unit was already starting to show itself.
Felix's fragile machine needed the cover. If they lost the Minesweeper, they did this for nothing.
"Yeah, that's fine."
Julian smiled at her.
"Just focus on shooting. If anything comes at you, I'll get in the way."
Instead of playing an ideal sniping role, she'd be skirting back and forth along the corner of the building. Even for a long-ranged virtuoso like Emma, it was hard to stay focused when you had to continually watch for attacks. Julian would try to make her job as easy as possible.
"Tyler. Take the spot at the top of the bunker. The Roar should be able to tank most of the attacks on the first stage."
The shooting angle on top of the bunker was even better than the one inside, but only certain machines could take advantage of it. The well-armored Roar was safe to abuse the high vantage point and rain an endless amount of hellfire on the unsuspecting grouped-up opponents.
"Tyler—try not to use Liquid State Eternium until you absolutely need to. Ideally, we would save your Liquid State Eternium for the fourth round, which is ace to ace combat."
If Tyler used Liquid State Eternium, he'd melt the entire first wave in moments, but that would be a big mistake. Liquid State Eternium had an operation time of only about seven minutes. It was best to save the Overdrive boost for the later rounds.
"Got it."
"Alright. Last thing. Let's try to get off from this one with both specials ready for the next wave."
The highly offensive Spell Titans excelled at boss fights, but you had to be very careful using them against an army of opponents. Unlike the other Overdrive Mech types, the Spell Titans fought using a distinct spell system inspired by wizards in traditional role-playing games.
The Mechs operated using Mana Gathering Spikes, which charged up spell power for devastating special attacks. Because the SPG-01 Caster was a Grunt unit, it only had access to two medium-quality spikes with mediocre gathering rates and maximum charge amounts.
The domes held one charge each, and it took about five minutes for them to replenish their mana stores. Technically, it meant they could use eight specials per wave, but their best bet was to stick to six or fewer. Having access to both powerful attacks at the beginning of the second round would give them more flexibility.
MISSION START
"Oh, ho ho! What do we have here!"
The arrogant voice cut through the silent battlefield as the massive raiding party drew closer and closer. There was a loose story associated with every Fortress mission—this one was about an aristocratic general's revenge after you killed his arrogant son.
"Why, if my eyes aren't deceiving me, that's a secret base! Let's take it! Father will be awfully pleased!"
The designers had done a great job. Sometimes, it almost seemed like you were battling a real pilot. The Fortress could even detect the tone of your voice and formulate an appropriate response.
If you sounded like you were mocking him, Zane, the general's son, would express anger. If you seemed frustrated, he'd taunt you even further.
Of course, it was also possible to get the characters to say something completely out-of-context by using a particular tone of voice.
For instance, you could make fun of Zane in an admiring voice and get him to thank you. Julian and Felix thought bugging out the AI was super funny.
Julian was about to make a joke like that for old time's sake, but then he paused.
He was worried Emma might think it was lame.
Instead, he zoomed in on the enemy forces. Unfortunately, Julian couldn't pull up a single status screen.
Only Aces merited full reports—all these machines, even Zane's Mech—topped out as mini-bosses. Mini-bosses were special Mechs with a Credit cap of 30,000, the halfway point between an Ace and a Grunt. They were only in the game for Fortress Masters—mini-boss Mechs couldn't be used in competitive play.
Just like with Grunts, their hidden status screens made things tricky. Fortress mini-bosses frequently used secret weapons and a wide variety of gimmicky abilities.
Command Unit
Pilot: Zane, the General's Son
Overall Ranking: A
Specialization: Melee
Lieutenant Unit
Pilot: Sarah, Zane's Lieutenant
Overall Ranking: A
Specialization: Ranged
Rifler (x10)
Pilot: Rifleman Grunt
Overall Ranking: C
Specialization: Ranged
Spearman (x5)
Pilot: Spearman Grunt
Overall Ranking: C
Specialization: Melee
That was a lot of enemies. The Minesweeper version was significantly harder than the original.
A single C-tier Mech was feeble when it came to competitive four-on-four battles, but fifteen C-tier units were a different story. In addition to their most prominent weapons, the riflemen-types wielded short swords, and the spearmen carried pistols. However, they lacked any defensive armaments. Of their seventeen enemies, only Sarah—whose storyline revolved around her being Zane's cautious caretaker—carried a shield.
It was a nice world-building touch to reflect Zane's arrogance. He armed his men for offense only.