[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 104: Fire in Your Veins

An instructor once taught him an important lesson. "If you're losing the game, then flip the board."

He lost sight of his way. His mech was not meant to poke the Handshake like a skittish kitten. Such a tactic only resulted in a gradual defeat.

Once Lovejoy adjusted his perspective, his mood improved. He pushed away his fear of losing. He wanted to win instead of trying to avoid defeat.

"There's no choice but to go all-in. If her spear hits my mech, then so be it as long as my sword can dish out the hurt."

He slowly polished his aggression until it almost boiled over in his mind. His mech subtly amplified his thoughts. Both of their intents aligned.

Even Xandra sensed a change. The battered and beaten mech in front of her halted its declining tendency. She upped the pressure in order to interrupt whatever Lovejoy had in mind.

Instead of blocking the next spear thrust, the Executioner boldly let it scratch the sides of his lower torso. The engine buckled for a bit, but the mech quickly regained its energy. The wounded mech continued to push forward and struck down its sword with a devastating overhand chop.

Caught off-guard, Xandra acted decisively. Her mech let go of the spear and hopped away, causing the sword to miss its mark. Despite escaping the damage, she felt no better. Without a spear, her mech lost much of its reach and leverage.

As for Lovejoy, his mech's performance grew even more unsteady. Besides his power reactor, he also had to keep an eye on his engines. Thankfully, the spear did not penetrate deep enough to affect its core functionality.

With a slow grip, the Executioner pulled out the spear and held it above its shoulder.

Meanwhile, having lost its principal weapon, the Handshake retreated from the Executioner and raced towards its fallen railgun. Just as it reached the weapon, it slowed down in order to pick up the large but fragile weapon. Even if the Executioner wanted to stop the Handshake, it was too late.

That was what Xandra thought until the Executioner threw the shortened spear at her mech. The Handshake had just started to reach down and could not reorient itself in time.

The thrown spear knocked its shoulder but failed to penetrate through its armor. Though the Handshake avoided critical damage, the impact threw it off-balance and caused its hand to miss the railgun.

Lovejoy already pushed his mech forward after it hurled the spear. By the time his mech came close, the Handshake belatedly picked up its weapon and charged its capacitors.

Xandra knew she couldn't wait for a full charge. Just as the Executioner chopped towards her mech, she fired her railgun when it only charged up to thirty-nine percent.

The slug accurately hit the damaged mech's power reactor, causing the mech to experience an emergency shutdown.

Before his mech lost its power, Lovejoy channeled all of the mech's remaining energy in a single, heaven-shaking chop. Propelled by the mech's forward momentum, the weight of the sword finally crashed into the Handshake's head and sliced down its neck. The massive sword carved up lots of systems and interfered with the mech's control systems.

For a moment, both mechs stood still.

Xandra's mech recovered first. The damage it suffered was severe, but fell short of killing it. Unfortunately, the sword remained stuck in its upper torso.

Instead of trying to move away and aggravate its wounds, the Handshake raised its railgun. The mech pressed the barrel against its disabled opponent's torso and charged up the weapon.