MTLNOVEL Chapter 23: Vol. 2 Chapter 21 - LIT Open-Design Competition (1)
/After the opening ceremony ended, Dean Edith Marshall, started listing the rules for the events, the competition will use to cull 99.8% of the 50'000 competitors, competing in the mech-design competition, at the LIT, the Leemar Institute of Technology today./
/The qualifying rounds, will take place over the next three-days, sifting the chaff from the wheat, so to say. The qualifiers turned out to pretty much be nothing but different exams, one would commonly find at any university or institute where mech's and the development of said mech's is taught at./
/With Ves' designer-system, he has just as much of an advantage as the second-raters, who have benefited from genetic-boosting treatments since birth./
/After Ves passed the qualifying rounds, his first mech-designer opponent, was a Carnegie-Group native, Floyd Lee. Who Ves of course, triumphed against in the mech-designer duel. Earning Ves, his very first mech-designer mech-battle, in the seventy-third Open-Design Mech-Designer competition at the LIT./
/For the third round of the qualifiers, the competitors were placed into groups of ten, to compete against each other. Ves ended up teamed up, with one designer in particular, Cynthia Barakovski a top-hundred place finisher in the last Junior Rimward Games, whom has ties with B&F Integrated, a company that is a heavy-industry manufacturer based in the Coalition./
/Ves' team of mech-designers inevitably received the victory, in their match against another group of ten mech-designers. With Ves standing out and carrying the team, after a slight-altercation with the princess of B&F Integrated, Cynthia Barakovski./
/The princess, helping the team with her superior expertise in metallurgy and mechanical-physics. Ves helping the team, using his overall knowledge rewarded to him by the system, and from his reading and studying of different books on different subjects about mech-designing./
/With the end of the third-round of the competition, the qualifying-rounds were completed. Uhtred, Lucky and Dietrich left to find accommodations, whilst Ves received an invite to a banquet for all the qualifying-competitors, in the mech-designing competition./
/Ves met the fellow Bright-Republican mech-designer Patricia Schneider, at the mech-designer banquet. Them both, being one of the few competitors, to be from third-rate galactic-states./
/Ves also received his invitation to the Clifford-Society, the most exclusive club for mech-designers, owned and operated by the Carnegie-Group. That gives him access to entire digital-virtual world, where he can acquire different knowledge, goods or services, and also where he can sell his own personal knowledge, goods or services./
/The society of mech-designers, use their own virtual-currency, members can earn by completing missions, or by receiving titles like Knights, who receive monthly Stipends due to their nobility./
/On the next morning, after the qualifying-rounds were completed, Lucky, Dietrich, and Uhtred, found their same seats from the day before. As they took their seats, an executive from the Carnegie-Group, prepared to give a speech by standing center-stage, holding a microphone and made a clearing his throat noise./
/Location: Leemar-II, Open-Design competition-venue/
/povMC/
"Five-hundred young and very promising, mech-designers will compete in our free-for-all round. The designers will be given access to our Quick-Forge instant-fabrication systems, the faster the designers complete their mech's, the better allocated pilot they will receive, to pilot their mech in our competition." The Carnegie-Group executive, said to crowd or audience in attendance at the event. Kicking-Off the start of the Main-Event, of the Open-Design competition at the LIT.
"Fucking shit! They are giving spaceships, and not outdated ones, as prizes for this competition…" I told Dietrich, as I read the pamphlet, I was given when I entered the coliseum.
The pamphlet contained all sorts of information, pertaining to the competition, and the institution it is taking place at.
"Yeah, I should have been a designer…" Dietrich lamented, making me cringe a little, at the thought of Ves wanting to be a pilot, and being denied that right due to his genetic-defect, found when we were only ten-years old, crushing my twin-brother as he was only a child, at the time.
/As the match started, Ves decided he wanted a better pilot, to pilot his mech during the competition. He decided to try his best to finish a mech, within three-hours, with minimal flaws and still have a functional-mech, whilst being completed quickly enough, to receive a top-pilot rather than an average one./
/Ves chose to design a light-mech, that he wanted to make into a fleet-footed reliable and trustworthy steed, for whatever mech-pilot Ves is paired with, for the competition. He chose to envision the mech as a Unicorn, during his pre-fabrication ritual he does in hopes of increasing the X-Factor, for his mech's when he designs them./
/Most of the Crowd, payed their attention towards one, Cris Adrian, a top-graduate of the Leemar Institute of Technology, whom is already tied in relations to the Carnegie-Group. The crowd also payed their attention, to Cris Adrian's self-declared evil-nemises, Mortimer Presutti. A mech-designer who has clawed his way up into the world, being born and growing up in the slums-area, on a planet in the edge of the Coalition's sphere of influence. A true rag-to-riches story, that one has lived, he is not just determined but also very talented in his own right./
/The announcer, for the event, also mentioned Cynthia Barakovski, who was a partner in Ves' team during the qualifiers. She decided to build a light-mech as well, after speaking of Cynthia, the Announcer finally noticed Ves Larkinson, and decided to shed a little light, on the unknown-competitor to share with the crowd/
/povAnnouncer/
"Who is the foreigner, working so fast, over there? Hand me his file, quickly now." I told my assistant, as I noticed a competitor I do not possess the knowledge of knowing anything about him.
"Here it is sir, it says, his name is Ves Larkinson, from Bright-Republic a third-rate state. He studied and graduated from an average third-rate university, on a third-rate planet. The two things of note here says, Ves has an independent mech-design and fabrication workshop, and he has also received production-license of ten-years in duration, to a couple different mechs and their parts." Said my assistant, as she handed me the file, whilst telling me what it said.
"Look here everyone! This is a potential dark-horse, a mech-designer from a third-rate state who studied mech-design with average grades, at an average third-rate university. Ves Larkinson is his name, he owns a mech-boutique that has already fabricated and sold his very own variant-designs of the National-Aeromotives, 'Caesar Augustus the 'CA-1. Let's see what he is creating for us, shall we?" I hook these peasants, like fish to a baited hook, as I say my latest speech and introduction for the event, nailing it, with a perfect-landing.
After I cut the power to the mic, I couldn't help but ask my friend and co-worker, who is my co-announcer for this event, Cotton Pepper. "I told you, I've been perfecting my craft, did that introduction not get you hard? Or what? I know it got me erect…"