NOVPUBMecha, no ordinary mecha. That blazing orange core, emanating tremendously surging heat, constantly scoured the icy night sky, like a scalding branding iron dropped into the snow, evaporating the frozen world.
Although they were both called mecha, such a machine and the stony steel creations on the ground were fundamentally different, merely the nuclear reactor burning in its chest was enough to light up the entire night sky. If it were to completely explode, annihilating this ruined city would be no problem, because it itself was a functioning nuclear fusion reactor.
A true Seventh Rank mecha could shuttle through space, its sturdy frame could move through nuclear explosion shockwaves, as long as it wasn’t a nuclear bomb exploding in close proximity, that sturdy armor could withstand the external shock and damage.
The special high-rank patterns inscribed on its body allowed the mecha to obtain Transcendent Profession-like special abilities, and could also vastly amplify the pilot’s own abilities, like an external body connected directly to the nerves, easy to control as one’s own limbs. Its own nuclear reactor could also make the effects of Magic Power even more effectively exerted, resulting in an exponential increase in combat power.
Such a powerful war machine naturally had extremely high demands for its pilot. Firstly, Seventh Rank mecha and above were no longer just machines, one might even say they were a sort of living creature, requiring a Transcendent with a matching Branding and inscribed patterns to pilot it. Moreover, to bear that powerful neural network and the amplification device, the pilot’s consciousness and spirit had to be exceptionally tenacious, not to mention the mecha’s high-speed flight exceeding dozens of times the speed of sound, imposing extreme demands on the pilot’s body. Otherwise, the acceleration generated by the far supersonic flight and sharp turns in space would be enough to crush the pilot inside into broken flesh and blood.
A well-tuned mecha equipped with a suitable pilot would become a killing star on the battlefield, the nightmare of space carriers, an elusive target for battleships to focus and aim at, a reaper walking on the edge of danger, an object of worship and fear for countless people.
However, this red mecha before us was not the Seventh Rank mecha known to everyone. It was still only of the Sixth Rank, an incomplete Sixth Rank at that. Even though it also had a nuclear reactor, barely maintaining its own body from melting and safeguarding the pilot within consumed most of its energy and design space.
"After all, it’s a lagging and failed design." When the descendant of that pilot brought the design blueprints refined over two generations to the military industrial departments of the Federation, that was the response they received.
Seven years after the pilot arrived at Jade Skirt, the war had a major turn. The new Sigh Dragon Class battleships gained more and more advantages in combat against the enemies, their powerful main cannons capable of piercing through the hulls of over 95% of contemporary starships. Without the cover of large starships, scattered mecha were just like fish in a pond, ultimately unable to escape being surrounded and annihilated.
The civil war saw the dawn of a new era with the commissioning of the new battleships, and as a result, the Four-leaf Crystal Star Domain garnered the highest level of attention. Countless military industrial groups moved in, began to expand their production lines, and produced one ship after another for the front lines.
By the time the enemy managed to replicate starships with similar combat capabilities, the tide of the age had already turned. The internal structure was crumbling, unable to quickly consolidate resources, the Conservative Faction, unable to let go of private prejudices and interests, never managed to mass-produce the new battleships. This led to the war situation deteriorating step by step, and more and more Conservative Faction forces began to waver, starting to contemplate the possibility of future defeat. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
In the fifty-first year after the civil war began, this long-lasting war that spanned generations finally came to an end. The remaining small regions of the Conservative Faction announced their surrender. Giant corporations that sided with the Conservative Faction were stripped one by one of patents, confiscated of a large amount of assets, and their remaining entities were dismembered into multiple small and medium enterprises, slowly fading into history.
The war was over, and the historical mission of the Four-leaf Crystal Star Domain slowly came to an end. The densely distributed military industrial groups were redeployed by the Federal Central Council to other star domains for balance, and the large-scale concentrated industrial production during the war, which had no regard for caution, caused dramatic and irreversible deterioration of the climate on the planets.
History does not always greet us with touching and perfect endings, just like those in legendary tales.
Although the pilot arrived at this planet with grand ambitions that he could hardly contain, he was just a soldier, a semi-retired one at that, and lacked the funds for experimentation and research and development. His progress and concepts fell far behind those of the top military-industrial laboratories of his time. Giant corporations within those military-industrial complexes gathered top geniuses from all over the Star Domains, with countless members contributing ideas and planning strategies for research and development, with the entire Federal Military’s database as a reference.
Even though he had a wealth of experience, having survived death numerous times, and had the will, he was still swept aside by such grand waves of the era.
The new model of the "Fentie Series" was delayed in finalization, and the funds in his hands were dwindling. With the onset of peacetime, the Federation began to gradually reduce the number of military personnel, utilizing this opportunity to absorb many of his former comrades and brothers-in-arms into this enterprise, transitioning to gain the finances needed to continue.
They upheld the military’s style, being disciplined and efficient, and soon, this enterprise, too, got back on track after the war, becoming one of the well-known enterprises in the northern Star Domain.
"To commemorate the long and cruel war of bygone days and not to forget our original aspirations, let’s name it ’Fentie,’" the middle-aged Salin spoke from the podium to his companions, and then unveiled the curtain to reveal the huge pattern logo behind, like a city gate. The grey steel burned incessantly, melting ordinary chunks of iron and rubble into true resilient steel.
"One day, our ’Fentie Mech Armor’ will rise into the sky again, announcing that all our efforts and sacrifices have not been in vain, and it will ultimately triumph." Such an image was fixed in an old, worn photograph, weathered by time, until generations passed, and the dream grew ever distant.
"But today, we finally did it." The crimson mech soared towards the apex of the night sky, the aged voice murmuring from within the cockpit.
Since his youth, when he took over the family business and learned of the history and the past of his ancestors, he vowed to restart the mech parked deep underground and fly it into the sky.
Time took away his robust body and his full-hearted robustness, leaving only an aged and panting form, enclosed in the violently roaring mech, like a flickering candle flame, about to be extinguished.
Perhaps he knew in his heart that the sky was unreachable. Four hundred years hadn’t made them stronger; instead, they had grown weaker, watching as his wartime comrades and buddies fell one by one.
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The origins of "Black Hammer Heavy Industries" bore a striking similarity to "Fentie Energy." Its founders were also veterans of the fifty-year conflict, who had once dreamed of the future alongside the founders of Fentie, cooperated with each other, and weathered many tough years together. If not for the pressures of the era and the environment, they might have been close brotherly industrial groups, with complementary industries and joint partnerships.
However, even if he knew he could never return to that sky, to that splendid era, he did not wish to die quietly in the underground ruins.
"Life should be like a bird, flying toward the mountain peak, toward that expanse of sky, so naturally, so defiantly."
The surging orange flames, like wings, lifted the heavy steel body, charging towards the icy full moon in the sky. The edges of the mech, visible in the glow of fire, were fierce and aggressive, with the remaining scratches and marks speaking of a dream unfulfilled for hundreds of years.
