Volume 6: Mecha Contest Chapter 314: The Strength of the Ace Pilot
"Valkyrie? The female warrior in charge of Valhalla Temple in Norse mythology who collects the souls of heroes who died in battle?" Layton was slightly stunned, and immediately said, "This is a good name, it sounds very exciting, and the champion should have such a name!"
"Don't dream, you're still the champion..." Chi Hanfeng said coldly, "People like you who have only watched the competition and never participated in it yourself don't have a true understanding of the strength of the contestants... In my opinion, we are very lucky as long as we can enter the semi-finals."
"Hey, Lao Chi, aren't you trying to boost others' morale and destroy your own prestige? How can you talk like that? As a coach, you should encourage the players more..."
"I don't want Valentina to be carried off the field with serious injuries because of her stubbornness..." Chi Hanfeng sighed and turned to Valentina, "Since you can't sleep, why don't you try this machine first?"
"Yeah." Valentina nodded, took off her jacket, and got into the cockpit of the Valkyrie wearing only her underwear.
"This is the latest 'Phoenix Type I' frame launched by the Ye Group... No, this is not Type I. The one that will be officially released after the competition is considered Type I. This frame should be called the Zero." Chi Hanfeng's rough palm gently stroked the outer armor of the Valkyrie, as gentle as if he was caressing the skin of a lover. "This one is considered an engineering prototype. Although there are still many design flaws that have not been resolved, the materials used are much more solid than those of mass-produced products."
Apart from anything else, the full-circle projection cockpit alone is much better than the limited-angle monitoring screen of the old-style body. When the body was started, Valentina felt that her vision was completely synchronized with the mecha, and she did not feel confined in the small cockpit at all.
"Pay attention to the limbs. The Phoenix Skeleton has twenty-two more main movable joints than the old antique like the Striker. Although it is a humanoid mecha, its mobility is not limited to the movements that the human body can make. In addition, the weapon system and the power system no longer use the same energy supply device. You can use the maximum output gear of energy weapons while moving at high speed. The same goes for shields. There is no need to worry about conflicts and coordination issues." Chi Hanfeng kept explaining to Valentina.
Valentina nodded silently, placed her bare feet on the pedals, and reached out to grab the horizontal joysticks on both sides of the seat.
At this moment, a slight electric current suddenly passed through her body. With a slight "beep" sound, a holographic head-up display screen unfolded in front of her. A mechanical arm stretched out from behind the seat and put a pair of goggles emitting faint fluorescent light on Valentina's head.
The goggles were ring-shaped, with a bundle of cables as thick as a fist connected to the back. Valentina tried shaking her head. Although the robotic arms would make corresponding adjustments according to her movements, it still placed slight restrictions on her.
"What is this? Can it be taken away?" she asked out loud.
"The 'Visual Tracking Assist System' is a standard feature of the next-generation aircraft. It can correct and fine-tune your operation specifications based on the focal length of your eyes and eye movements through AI calculations, making the aircraft's movements more coordinated. It also stores a large number of preset actions, which can minimize the pilot's operating burden." said Layton.
Valentina glanced at the fighting dagger hanging on the waist of the machine, and gently pushed the joystick with her right hand. Her fingers were even hovering on the button without falling, and the right arm of the machine had already turned around and grasped the hilt of the dagger.
"I don't like this. Can it be changed to full manual?" Valentina frowned and shook her head slightly.
Although this auxiliary system is very convenient, in her eyes, it will reduce the reliability of the machine - no matter how AI evolves, it is impossible to fully understand human thinking patterns. For novices, this thing can indeed play a very obvious role, but for experts who often perform unconventional operations, this thing is a superfluous existence. Not only can it not be helpful, but it will also interfere with the pilot's own judgment.
"Of course you can turn it off. Just press the orange button with an eye on the top of the cockpit." Layton replied, "Ha... I've heard people say that real masters like to operate manually. Now I've seen it."
The railings on the maintenance stand slowly opened to both sides. The one-eye monitor on Valkyrie's head flashed a red light and she stood up from the base.
"Pay attention to the switching between maneuvering modes. Don't use the high-power leg thrusters indoors, or you'll roast me and Layton!" Chi Hanfeng loudly instructed Valentina as he retreated.
"I'll go prepare the target plane!" Layton just said this and hurried to the hangar - Valentina was not a new recruit who had just come into contact with mechas, she didn't need the basic operating tutorials such as forward, backward, left, right, acceleration and deceleration. If she was to become familiar with this machine as quickly as possible, the only way was to fight.
With the ground shaking slightly, a military green-painted aircraft walked out of the hangar - this was the "Raider III" that Chi Hanfeng had modified before, but it had foam metal armor added to the outside that was specifically used as a target.
"This guy doesn't care at all about waking up the people sleeping upstairs..." Chi Hanfeng shook his head helplessly and entered a series of commands on the console next to him. Thick soundproof walls rose from the ground and enveloped the entire underground workshop.
However, even with the soundproof wall, it is impossible to completely isolate the vibration caused by the mechas stepping on the ground... Not long after, those who were awakened by the vibration came to the underground workshop, but when they saw the two mechas confronting each other, all their complaints disappeared - these people were all retired soldiers, and there was really nothing more exciting than being able to see two steel behemoths fighting each other at such a close distance.
"Just stop there, be gentle and don't collapse the house!" Chi Hanfeng shouted to the two people sitting in the mecha.
"Come on, little girl, let me see the performance of the new skeleton." The right leg of the Striker III took a step back and pressed against the ground, then stretched out its right arm and waved at Valkyrie provocatively.
Valentina did not speak. Instead, it was Chi Hanfeng who was standing in the distance and watching the battle who spoke: "Compared to the performance of the new machine, I think this child's piloting talent will surprise you more."
"Really? I haven't fought with an ace pilot yet. Don't hold back, show off your abilities to the fullest!" There was a tremor in Layton's voice, but it wasn't because of fear, but excitement... the kind of excitement that comes from a mecha enthusiast. He felt his adrenaline surging, and every cell in that part of his body seemed to be restless... Even though Layton knew he would definitely lose, the feeling of having a chance to fight with the best pilot riding the best mecha was simply indescribable.
The engine of the Striker III began to emit a low roar. Before the battle began, Layton had already pushed the output of the mecha to the brink of its upper limit. He drew out the unsharpened training heavy sword behind him and pointed the flattened tip of the sword at the Valkyrie thirty meters away.
The crowd watching was silent, staring intently at the two mechas - although they were all infantrymen and had never driven a mecha, they had heard many stories about ace pilots circulating among the field troops. Any character that could be called an ace had terrifying power that could change the course of a small-scale battle.
But at this time, Chi Hanfeng's face changed and he shouted sternly: "Didn't I tell you to stop when you're done? You pushed the output to the top before you even started. When we fight, aren't you afraid that the power reactor will explode? I modified that machine specifically for Valentina, and there's no safety limit valve at all!"
For ordinary pilots, the power reactor is over-limited, which is an extremely dangerous thing. It is no different from dancing on a tightrope, and there is a risk of self-destruction at any time. But for ace pilots, it is just a common thing to release the limit valve to squeeze the performance of the body to the maximum extent... However, it is precisely for this reason that the exclusive maintenance team of ace pilots can almost be regarded as the group of people who curse the most in the logistics troops every day...
"Don't worry, I won't explode - I admit that I'm far inferior to the ace, but you can't underestimate me like that!" Layton's unconvinced voice came from inside the machine.
"You...Valentina, calm this reckless man down!" Seeing that he couldn't persuade Leighton, Chi Hanfeng simply placed his hope on Valentina.
"clear."
As soon as she finished speaking, Valkyrie turned into an orange stream of light, and in the blink of an eye she crossed the distance of more than 30 meters between the two machines. First, she threw a punch, smashing the head monitor of the Striker III, and at the same time, she pushed up with her knees, causing the entire Striker III to lose balance. Then, she drew out the combat dagger, inserted it into the gap in the armor at the waist of the Striker III, and accurately cut off the main power supply cable on one side.
The Striker III suddenly became a paralyzed disabled person, and during the whole process, Layton had not even completed the action of retracting the heavy sword to block.
"So... so fast!" Layton, who was sitting in the tilted cockpit, said in astonishment. He pulled the joystick on one side hard, trying to fight back with the side of his body that could still move, but his fist had just been swung out when Valkyrie grabbed his wrist, and then the entire forearm of the Striker III was torn off.
"Stop! Stop! I give up! Don't dismantle it! This target machine can still be used, don't rush to send it to the scrap yard--" Layton shouted repeatedly.
"4.6 seconds, you lasted 4.6 seconds... Now you know the difference, right?" Chi Hanfeng walked over, climbed onto the fallen Raider III, and reached out to pull Layton out of the cockpit.
"It's too fast... and there's almost no error in the operation. If I hadn't modified this mecha myself, I would have thought it was a neural link machine..." Layton said with a grin, his head was covered with bruises - he was so excited sat in the mecha without even wearing a helmet...
As for the neural-linked machine mentioned by Layton, it is a gadget that is still in the experimental stage. Just as the literal meaning suggests, it connects the human nervous system and the body, and directly controls the mecha through neural signals - just like the "Blasphemer Mecha" that Ke Lan has ridden.
According to the progress announced by the research institute, a small number of prototypes of this special aircraft may have been equipped to the secret forces on the Ark, but there are definitely still a lot of defects and limitations. There is still a long way to go before it can be equipped for the entire army.
If Ke Lan hadn't thrown the Blasphemer mecha into the abyss, perhaps this "road" could have been shortened instantly. However, in this case, the secret of Experiment No. 1197 would naturally be impossible to conceal. If someone really tried to take advantage of the big lizard, it would very likely bring about a catastrophe for humans...
"Tsk..." Layton rubbed his back and looked at Valkyrie standing next to the attacker. He couldn't help but sigh, "The Ace... is really strong..."
He was very clear about the gap between himself and his opponent, and it had nothing to do with the performance of the mecha. He hadn't even finished blocking the opponent's first punch when the opponent had already performed a series of swift and precise operations. You have to know that she was using a pure manual operating system. If this was converted into the APM value in video games, Valentina's effective operations per minute might have exceeded three hundred times!
Moreover, in these 300 micro-operations, not a single one was redundant or unnecessary, and not a single operation had any mistakes or deviations. What an amazing control ability!
"This little girl... is really a genius..." Leighton held it in for a long time and finally uttered these few words.
"Her talent is indeed amazing." Chi Hanfeng nodded. "Not to mention an amateur pilot like you, even the veterans in the Strangler Squadron who had more than a thousand hours of actual piloting time at that time were often defeated by her... and she was only sixteen years old at that time, and her actual piloting time had not even reached fifty hours."
As he was talking, Chi Hanfeng suddenly sighed: "She had the chance to become a real ace, but unfortunately... Alas, but it's good this way, at least she doesn't have to go to the battlefield anymore... That has never been a good place."
