"Why is he holding back?" Ves asked.
"His mech is very one-dimensional. Besides his mini-torpedoes, he doesn't have any other ranged options. The only way he can avoid a loss is if he keeps moving. He has to find the right angle and moment to charge in order to maximize his success for a collision."
The match turned into a standoff as the Juggernaut refrained from going in. Ves couldn't imagine how much pressure the duelists faced.
"He's moving!"
The Juggernaut finally chose to move, turning his circling trajectory into a straight path towards the octopus mech. As the hammerhead bore down on its target, it initiated its short-range boosters at full strength, closing the gap at such a speed that the Red Kraken only had seconds to respond.
He juked his octopus mech upwards at just the right time to dodge the charge!
Just as Ves thought the hammerhead mech would miss its target and collide against the edge of the dome, the Juggernaut made a split-second move. The hammerhead mech cut off most of its forward jets and activated the auxiliary boosters attached to the bottom side of its frame. In addition, a large fin-shaped spike slid out from its upper frame!
The Juggernaut turned his mech's forward charge into an uppercut strike that savaged the octopus mech from below, slicing away two of its tentacles in that single pass!
The crowd went wild! Even Raella whooped at the move. "Kudos to the mech designer of that Sea Dragon mech!"
Even Ves admired the modifications put into the mech. Mech designers in the employ of a competitive dueling team often changed the designs of their mechs to keep them fresh.
A lazy team risked an awful loss if they used the exact same mechs for all of its matches. Their opponents could easily analyze the weak points of their designs and practice fighting against them in countless simulations.
Still, the Juggernaut lost his momentum after making such a drastic change of course. Before he could move his mech away, the Red Kraken pounced at the stalling hammerhead mech.
His octopus mech engaged his own short-ranged boosters and moved to envelop the hammerhead mech with its six remaining tentacles.
"Ohh! What a misplay by the Juggernaut! He failed to move away in time. Now his mech has become entangled!
Even as the hammerhead mech cranked up its engines, the octopus mech solidified its grip on its raging prey. Its six tentacles managed to clasp the hammerhead mech tightly before it could force its way out of the trap.
Saws, spikes and other cutting implements emerged from the tentacles and started to rail against the armor of the Juggernaut's mech. Even with its thick, shock-absorbing armor, the ceaseless grind from the Kraken started weakening its weak points.
After a solid minute of thrashing, the Kraken cut its way through the side armor! The water pressure enlarged the breach and crushed the internals in that compartment. The hammerhead mech lost ten percent of its power!
Even as the Kraken continued to exploit more weak points, the Juggernaut gave up on disentangling the tentacles. Instead, his hammerhead mech engaged its short-ranged boosters for the last time, propelling both entangled mechs against the surface of the dome!
Crack!
The main torso of the octopus mech collided against the dome head-first! Even after such a shock, the Red Kraken still continued to cut apart his prey, managing to cut open another compartment!
Both of the duellists raced against time. Would the Red Kraken disable the Juggernaut fast enough before his opponent bashed his octopus mech into pieces?
The duel turned violent as both mechs suffered continuous damage.
CRACK!
In the end, the octopus mech succumbed to its wounds. Its tentacles started to lose their strength and the vital central torso suffered critical damage to its power reactor. The Red Kraken quickly conceded before the damage reached his cockpit.
"The Red Kraken transmitted his surrender! The first round goes to the Sea Dragons!"
As the spectators stood up to cheer for their teams, Ves sank back in his seat and shook his head. The hammerhead mech had been built like a tank so it could take a lot more abuse. The Red Kraken should have let go instead of holding on so stubbornly.
"It's a bad matchup for the Red Kraken." Raella noted a little glumly. Her adopted team lost the first round, after all. "Of all the opponents he could duel, he faced off against the heaviest aquatic mech."
In a best-of-five, the Myrmidons already fell behind! They couldn't afford another loss if they hoped to obtain the prestigious Sea Crown!