Chapter 727: Juggernaut vs Bastion
A few moments ago, the courtyard of the Mech Division Hangar had been cleared as everyone wanted to see the battle.
Several engineers, guards, and staff were now crowding along the outer walls or watching from the upper gantries.
Word had spread quickly: Captain Garren, the battle-hardened mech pilot of New Genesis Shelter, had challenged the Commanderâs authority in open combat.
Only a few, like Chief Rhona, understood the gravity of the situationânot because Garren was a threat, but because he didnât yet know who he was picking a fight with.
âI wonder how Commander will fare against himâŠâ Rhona muttered. Although Garren wasnât their Ace Pilot, he was still an incredible close combat specialist.
The crowd was filled with anticipation as Garren stepped into the training field.
Only Shane was unaware that he would actually be dueling someone instead of just training his Mech Piloting Skills.
Nonetheless, Shane immediately accepted the situation and accepted the duelâŠ
The battle quickly began, and as expected, Garren immediately showed his incredible Control Skills, hoping to overwhelm his opponent.
However, Shane remained calm and counterattacked calmly with his turret.
Soon, Garren charged with Kinetic Fist⊠the gauntletâs shockwave hissed like compressed thunder.
Whom~
Shane dodged effortlessly, sliding sideways and responding with a palm strike to Garrenâs ribsâlight, but it sent a concussive Energy Pulse through the manâs body, staggering him back a step.
Seeing such Skills, from a ânewbieâpilot, Garren smiled. It was time to get seriousâŠ
His Juggernaut surged forward, its heavy frame starting to move faster as Garren gripped the twin control rods inside the cockpit.
âYou seem confident,â he muttered. âLetâs see if this greenhorn can take thisâŠâ
Twin rotary cannons activated, unleashing a cascade of tracer rounds that lit up the airâŠ
But the Bastion didnât flinch.
Inside the cockpit, Shaneâs eyes flicked calmly across his HUD. He engaged Bulwark Stance. Massive anchors slammed into the arena floor as the Bastionâs core braced itself.
âDeploying BarrierâŠâ Shane whispered as he went into defense once again.
An energy dome shimmered to life in front of him, dispersing the hail of bullets like rain against tempered glass.
He didnât receive any damage at all.
The twin auto-tracking sentries on Bastionâs pauldrons also locked on, returning fire in controlled, precise bursts.
Garren swerved, raising Juggernautâs kinetic shield and charging forward behind it.
The two Mech Frames clashed.
Boom!
A massive impact echoed through the arena as Juggernautâs shield smashed into Bastionâs barrier.
Everyone felt the shockwave that followed as they excitedly watched the heated battle of machines.
The sheer pressure cracked the ground beneath them.
However, Garren didnât stop⊠He activated the pile bunker on Juggernautâs left arm and thrust.
But Shane anticipated it.
âSidestep, 3 degrees east. Parry angle 27ââ
âWait⊠Cloud, let me handle thisâŠâ
Shane immediately said as he realized that Cloud was slowly taking over, or perhaps, guiding him completely on his battle.
Although it was normal to use an AI Assistant in the other Apocalypse, it would be unfair for Garren to do that.
He also wanted to test his Piloting Skills. He didnât really mind if he lost or not. What was important was to increase his Sync Rate!
Bastion then turned, deflecting the pile bunkerâs devastating thrust with its integrated shield plating and responding with a precise elbow strike that sent Juggernaut staggering backward.
Using guns in such a close range could be dangerous to him as well, after all.
Garren grinned as he realized that his opponent was tough. Still, it wasnât at the level where he would be defeated.
âYouâre not half-bad,â he growled, flipping a red switch.
âBut letâs see how long you can dance.â
The Juggernautâs systems flaredâŠ
Rampage Mode: Engaged.
Hydraulic limbs overclocked.
The Mechâs movements became more efficient. Garren launched several attacksâhammer punches, bunker thrusts, shoulder chargesâeach one carrying the force to level a bunker wall.
Bastion Mech braced and took some of the attacks but Shane countered.
Inside his cockpit, Shane focusedâŠ
He realized that his opponent was indeed a great pilot. Still, his years of piloting Mech Frames started to come back to himâŠ
As he continued to defend, his readouts warned him of stress points. Their shields cracking, servo joints overheating, but Shaneâs Mech wasnât built for speed anyway⊠He was built to outlast.
âLetâs deploy sentry turrets⊠Full coverage. Engage point-defenseâŠâ
Suddenly, sentry guns emerged from his pauldrons, spinning and laying down suppressive fire. Juggernaut started evadingâuntil one burst caught its shoulder joint, forcing a stagger.
Shane then took this chanceâŠ
Bastion moved in. It was not fast, but he was unstoppable, like a walking wall of death.
He grabbed Juggernautâs extended arm, twisted, and slammed it downward into the arena floor.
CRACK.
Garren cursed. One rotary cannon failed to function from feedback damage. But he wasnât done. Garren still activated the last charge on his pile bunker, aiming directly at Bastionâs cockpit core.
Even if Shane was hit, he wouldnât die. The cockpit was protected with several enhancements and other Elven Magic. The most it could do was to create some malfunction and force the Mech to shut down and use all its energy to protect the pilot.
However, Shane didnât let that happen. Similar to Garrenâs move, he flipped a switchâŠ
âOverride: Root Lock.â
Bastionâs legs slammed deeper into the ground.
The entire Mech Frame braced as the pile bunker hitâand held. The impact cracked armor, dented plating, but it didnât pierce.
Then Shane countered with a shield bash to Juggernautâs torso, followed by a sword slash powered by hydraulic boosters.
Bang!
The blade passed through the air, severing Juggernautâs weapon arm in a burst of sparks.
The engineers were shocked as they didnât realize that Shane would really go so far to do this⊠It was not easy to repair Mechs after all.
Thankfully, Shane had at least cut it cleanly in the part that could be easily replaced.
Anyway, Shane wasnât worried about that as he saw the Juggernaut fall to one knee.
Breathing heavily, sweat trickling down his brow, Garren looked at his console. Systems offline. Weapon gone. Damage threshold critical.
It was already enough for the Combat Training Mode to stop the battle.
He laughed breathlessly, a mixture of disbelief and grudging respect.
âWho⊠who the hell are you?â Garren asked through the external audio.