The Suit-Maker

I got up as the enemy Battlesuit disappeared into nothingness but the Steambot was sluggish. Just as I was trying to find the reason for it, the opposing team recovered their wits. Bullets flew and I came under heavy a.s.sault. My Steambot was tough but it was getting damage. Unfortunately there was little I could do about it. It was moving sluggishly after the jump and for a moment I fear I may had damaged something important. Then I noticed the heat warning icon. Just one jump cause such a heat buildup? I quickly vented the heat and to my shock, white air filled the area around me.

"Holy gears! You gave your Steambot a smokescreen? Ingenious!"

It was the player in the Maid of Orléans again but this time I didn"t mind his comment. I just shared in his amazement. Even though I didn"t plan it, I immediately understood what happened. Pointing the exhaust downwards meant that the air released by the vents would surround me after hitting the ground, creating an unexpected but welcomed smokescreen. It was…my screen turned red! I suffered damaged and as the white air around my Steambot dispersed, I saw the reason.

It was a Brazilian clockwork suit known as The San Paulo Scorpion. An ambush suit, the suit turned the operator into a man-sized scorpion with two pincers to hold the enemy in place while it"s deadly tail deal heavy close-range damage to the enemy. The enemy player obviously know how to use the Scorpion as he had used the smokescreen to get close and grab hold of my Steambot"s arms with his pincers. I didn"t even see his first strike. I tried to power out of the hold but was unable to do so. The Steambot may be strong but the Scorpion"s pincers were by no means weak. I watch in horror as the tail swung back. The tip of the tail pierced deep into the Steambot and my screen flashed red again.

"s.h.i.t!"

I try to overpower the Scorpion but was again unsuccessful. The tail withdrew once again and swung back. I had to do something. I wasn"t going to just stand idly. In desperation, I slammed the jump pedal and the Steambot jumped straight up! Still deep in it"s hold, the Scorpion flew up with me. The enemy operator released the pincers.

"Oh no you don"t!"

I grabbed one of the Scorpion"s pincers with my left hand and as we fell, I swung the Scorpion hard into the ground. Another wave of dust rose, this one fully dispersing my smokescreen. Once again, the heat warning icon flared but this time I ignored it. An overhead swing of my axe-hand made the Scorpion disappear.

"Logger450 Kill OscarB3"

Another kill! I vent the heat and the smokescreen appeared once again. This time, I didn"t let my guard down and waited. Unfortunately, the enemy team didn"t attack. No enemy entered my smokescreen.

"Fuelmind083 Kill Creedclocker"

"Labidstriker50 Kill Foxmaxis99"

"Steamstorm71 Kill Fuelmind083"

The action continued around me even after the slow dispersing of my smokescreen. Taking stock of what happened to the Scorpion, the enemy team must have decided against getting too close to my Steamboat. A few enemies took potshots at me but they were generally staying away from me. I was dissatisfied.

With two kills, I accomplished my mission of showcasing my Steambot but I was sure I could do more. Unfortunately, the rest of the match pa.s.sed me by as players on both sides continued to fall. Then I saw my chance. The Maid of Orléans was chasing a Battlesuit with some sort of jumping ability and while the enemy was in mid-air, I launched the X-S Cable. The punch didn"t land perfectly but it did enough to knock the jumping suit to the ground. The Maid of Orléans player saw his chance and unloaded both his pistols. Joan Waterson never designed any special weaponry for her Battlesuit and I suspect the pistols were specially designed by someone else.

"Steamstorm71 Kill Jubarracuda"

"Match End. Blue Team Wins!"

The battlefield slowing disappeared and I reappeared in the town center. I looked up and as I expected, the airship was no longer there. The public raid was over. I was about to ask a pa.s.sing player about the results of the raid when a strange message popped in front of me.

"Logger, this is Steamstorm. Is your Steambot for sale? Where"s your store?"

I could have answer immediately but I hesitated. I remember the need to make my Steambot unique and different from the other variants out there and decided to do something different. I switched back to my Dive shop page and did the necessary changes. I took a final look before saving and then made my reply.

"I named it "The Jumpbot". I don"t have a store in LoW but you can find it on my Dive store page, "The Fat Tinkerer". I"m sending you the link."