"How did they find out?!" A bedraggled-looking pirate commander complained as he tried to pilot his impressive-looking mech out of the secret entrance. "I shouldn't have accepted that blasted deal!"

Though the pirate looked worse for wear, that was because he hastily entered his mech in order to escape the sprawling pirate base built into the depths of one of the many floating planetoids of the Nyxian Gap.

Just an hour before, the pirate commander didn't look as scared as now.

Known to the cutthroat pirate community as Commander Nicolas Vortan and the leader of Vortan's Blades, he made a name for himself due to his excellent dueling skills!

Before he took over his current pirate organization, he risked his life for fame and riches by dueling others to the death for the entertainment of the depraved scum of the Gap!

In his prime, he became known as the Heart Striker! He gained this dreaded moniker for his penchant to stab his mech's incredibly hardy dueling sword through the cockpits of his opponent's mechs!

Though the hard living in the Gap and his aging caused him to lose some of his excellent reflexes, Commander Vortan was still a force to be reckoned with. This was especially the case when he usurped the leadership of a sizable pirate organization in charge of an entire pirate base!

Frederick City was one of the many semi-obscure but highly-frequented pirate hideouts of the Nyxian Gap.

Situated deep enough in the anomalous space of the Gap to avoid Peacekeeper retaliation, it was also close enough to the border to civilized space to make the base a welcome stopping point for many pirates looking to raid the Sentinel Kingdom!

Having fought and dealt with the Sentinels for so long, Vortan's Blades forged an increasing amount of ties with certain allies among their supposed enemies.

The nobles of the Sentinel Kingdom and the pirate leaders of the Nyxian Gap were not as diametrically opposed to each other as the public was led to believe.

These secret partnerships resulted in a lot of profit to Vortan's Blades. The Nyxian Gap may be fairly blessed with rare exotics, but the pirates and other scum who reside in them weren't able to gain any other essential goods! Even criminals couldn't escape the need for trade to keep their mechs and ships in working condition!

For several years, Frederick City expanded and grew into an increasingly more active pirate base with the help of all the deals that Vortan Blades had cut with some of its hidden Sentinel partners.

Though the nobles never revealed their identities, Commander Vortan didn't care so long as the goods kept flowing!

"Haha! I'm finally out!" He laughed.

His brilliant-looking swordsman mech finally darted out of the tunnel. A lightless, crater-encrusted landscape greeted his mech. Complicated, radioactive rock formation surrounded the clearing his Devosh entered.

"My ride is just ahead!"

Like any pirate commander, Vortan had long prepared an escape route for himself. In fact, the attackers of his base managed to find and block three of his routes, but he had at least seven more to choose from! He only selected this route because it was the fastest way out of the chaos that engulfed his base!

"You'll pay for that, you bastards!"

Though the pirate commander was glad he managed to preserve his life and custom mech, he lost almost everything. Vortan's Blades existed no more.

The invaders were never supposed to sneak so many mechs in his base!

Commander Vortan put all of the blame on the security leaders he entrusted to keep Frederick City safe. If not for their failures, he still would have been able to lord over others!

"First, I'll take revenge. Next, I'll rebuild Frederick Base! I won't let this setback drag me down!"

He was not an average pirate! He used to be one the most skilled of the Nyxian Gap! He led a pirate organization that ran an entire base!

Yet just before his Devosh reached the hole where he stashed his escape vessel, his swordsman mech slowed down and halted.

A mech stood in its way.

"Nicolas Vortan. I knew you would take this route. I've been awaiting your arrival." The opposite mech broadcasted.

"You." Vortan hissed! "You! It's you! Why did you attack my base?!"

He was both angry and afraid! He was filled with rage due to all of the losses he suffered. He was gripped with fear as he recognized his famous opponent!

A reddish-brown tiger mech slowly stepped forward on its four legs as its form comfortably traversed the reduced gravity of the planetoid.

A large, thick tiger tail playfully swayed back and forth as the snarling head and shining red eyes of the mech pinned the Devosh in place!

"The blood of billions of innocents stains your hands. Entire cities have succumbed to the crimes perpetrated by your men!"

"Why the hell do you attack us, then?! We're just the ones who accepted the job. You should go after the masterminds instead!"

"That's the problem, Commander Vortan. I can't track the ones responsible for plotting the heinous attacks. That's why I am knocking on your doors instead. Now, please answer this question. Who gave you those Spyre Helixes? Where did they come from?!"

"I don't know! The only contact who I got in touch with was some snobby noble prick called Finlay! You know how careful those Sentinel houses are with making deals with pirates. They never expose their true identities, especially to scum like us! That's all I know, I swear!"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" The tiger mech pilot bellowed! "I have interrogated hundreds of craven pirate leaders like you. I can smell a lie from a light-year away! You know more about your business partner than you claim!"

Commander Vortan grimaced. "I'm not afraid of you, Dark Cleaver. Your Oblivion Hand may have caught my boys by surprise, but I don't see you goons anywhere close! Did you come alone?"

The Devil Tiger nodded its huge and menacing head. "As a former duelist, I figured you deserve the courtesy of fighting one last match. Come. Let us test our battle prowess against each other!"

"Are you serious?"

"I am the Dark Cleaver. I never break my word."

"Then.. it's your funeral!"

Even though Commander Vortan hadn't dueled anyone in years, he still kept up his skills and participated in several large battles!

He didn't halt any longer. With a wordless battle cry, Commander Vortan entered his best battle condition! He drove his Devosh straight towards the infamous mech of the Black Cleaver with its sword raised above its head!

The swordsman mech closed in on the tiger mech incredibly rapidly! The Devosh was not only a mech that Commander Vortan poured a huge amount of money and resources in developing, but it was also highly adapted to the 0.76 g of the lifeless planetoid!

Compact boosters built into the back, arms and legs of the mechs flared into life as they pushed the graceful swordsman mech forward with incredible momentum!

This was one of the secret weapons of his custom mech! Commander Vortan managed to surprise his opponents time and time again by the rapid advance of his mech!

Barely a second passed before his mech reached the tiger mech. Borrowing the momentum of its advance, the Devosh rapidly reoriented its grip so that its famed sword pointed its tip straight at the throat of the hostile tiger mech!

Its chopping stance had just been a feint! The famed Heart Striker intended to stab the tiger mech from the start!

An angry roar rang through their private comm channel. The mech sidestepped out of the attack, but not in time to escape a scratch onto its head armor!

Though Commander Vortan wanted to exult over his successful hit, he felt through the Devosh's systems that its sword failed to penetrate as far as he expected!

"Your Devil Tiger is just as tough as in the rumors." The pirate commander muttered as his Devosh turned around to sustain the offensive! "I'll just have to break you down piece by piece if that's the case!"

Though the Devosh went all out in unleashing a punishing combo, the Devil Tiger was no slouch! It lifted its unusually strong paw and blocked the sword strikes with its immensely hard claws!

The Dark Cleaver was a wily opponent and one who keenly utilized the properties of the tiger mech to his advantage!

The Devil Tiger moved swiftly and managed to repel most attacks even as the Devosh sped up. Commander Vortan became increasingly more worried about the lack of progress he made in damaging the enemy mech!

The Devosh briefly darted back to pause its assault.

"It looks like I have to go all out. I'll show you the true power of my Devosh!"

Several lights began to illuminate the Devosh at certain sections. Soon enough, an illuminating purple glow began to form around the mech as it began to excite a lot of energy!

"HAHAHA!" Commander Vortan laughed as he got caught up in the rush of power of his fully-unlocked mech! "I never revealed the full power of my Devosh until now. Though you've put up a decent fight, we were never playing on the same level to begin with! Though strong, your Oblivion Hand can never match the flow of resources passing through Frederick City! I obtained some of the best exotics the Nyxian Gap can provide and used them to build a mech that transcends this standard!"

When the mech attacked next, its speed had doubled! It's acceleration was off the charts and its attacks landed with greater force than before!

The tiger mech sustained more than a few scratches this time! Its resilient armor plating actually exhibited deep cuts as a strange force field covered the Devosh's sword!

"False resonance!" The Dark Cleaver uttered with surprise!

"Yes! Not all of the resonating exotics can be found in the Nyxian Gap, but I managed to trade much of it from my noble trading partners! That's an advantage that a nomad like you can never match! I'm going to chop your mech up until I'm left with tiger meat!"

His initial success only fueled his momentum! Commander Vortan showcased why he almost never lost in the dueling ring as his mech never let up the pressure as it built up its attacks so that the tiger mech would be unable to fend off its killer strikes!

Cut after cut formed in the bestial mech's armor as it appeared incapable of fully resisting against the might of false resonance! Though immensely draining, the Devosh carried lots of high-quality energy cells that could sustain its special state for at least ten more minutes!

Just as Commander Vortan was about to land his coup-de-grace, the unbalanced tiger mech began to glow on its own!

With just a single paw strike, the Devil Tiger managed to bat aside the Devosh's next attack!

The swordsman mech's momentum broke as Commander Vortan awkwardly tried to prevent his mech from tipping over!

"What? What is this strength?"

When he directed his attention to the Devil Tiger, his eyes practically widened into balloons.

The tiger mech glowed red and brown in the same fashion as his own mech! No, it was different! The glow around the tiger mech was a lot more condensed!

Realization struck Commander Vortan. He didn't need to direct his attention to the resonance sensors to know that the Devil Tiger was a lot more formidable than he thought.

The glowing Devil Tiger began to radiate a field that put the Devosh and Commander Vortan under significant pressure! The swordsman mech began to groan a bit as some of its parts worked less smoothly than before.

This strange reaction confirmed Commander Vortan's greatest fears!

"Since when did you break through?"

"A few months ago."

The Devil Tiger wasn't standing still. Even as it continued to swish its tail, the metal debris that the Devosh had managed to carve out of the armor of the tiger mech began to fly back to the mech and fill up its gaps!

The mech was self-repairing!

"Congratulations.. for becoming an expert pilot." Commander Vortan morsely said. "I suppose your Devil Tiger is also an expert mech."

"Not.. exactly, but close enough. It's still an ongoing project."

This turn of events had completely extinguished the pirate commander's battle spirit. As impressive as his Devosh performed, it was just custom mech. The most it could do was imitate resonance. It could never stand up to the genuine article!

"Why this charade? Why give me the illusion of victory?"

"I just want to give you the fight that you deserve." Ryncol Larkinson answered. "Regardless of your crimes, I respect your martial skills. Experiencing your famed swordsmanship first hand has been worth it. Now, will you surrender?"

The Devosh stood frozen a time before dropping its sword. "I.. surrender."

The Devil Tiger was too strong!

Important author announcement: to celebrate the release of The Mech Touch's 2000th chapter (in privilege), I have started a new contest! Read the Author's Notes!