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by Tim Bence
So here we were back again at RAF
Newton for filming of Robot Wars. The difference was that this time
we had some expectations attached to us, we came as the seeded robot
for our heat. That seemed all well and good but we knew that we had
been thrown into a heat with two very nasty spinners, Supernova and
Shredder. Then there was the fact that the first time Storm II would
drive since all the changes was when we left the bullpen for the
very first time. Not the best combination of circumstances, but time
had forced our hand, and this was how it was going to be.
The Melee
Now is the time that the nerves start to strike, as Meral and I wait
up in the control booth as Ed drives Storm II out into the arena,
this was our testing. Having looked at our opponents for this first
round melee they all have spinning weapons, time to see if our 12mm
Titanium armour really is all we hoped for. Rhino and Mayhem were
unknown quantities, but I wasn’t so worried about them. Supernova on
the other hand I had seen pulling robots to pieces in qualifying,
then again if anything could survive that disk it was going to be
Storm II.
Activate is called and battle commences, Supernova goes straight for
Mayhem’s exposed wheels whilst Ed chases after Rhino. A few shoves
around the arena for Rhino and he is limping badly, Mayhem having
long since stopped moving. Supernova however seems to be struggling
too, the disk is going but they seem to have lost drive control, it
was at this moment that our positioning could not have been better.
With the stationary Supernova facing Sir Killalot, Ed swept around
and pushed Supernova headlong disk first straight at Sir K, now that
is what the audience likes to see, tracks hanging off and wheels
missing Sir K is now limping worse than Rhino. A few more shoves on
a clearly immobile Supernova before Refbot counts them out leaves a
resounding success for Storm II as Ed pirouettes in the middle of
the arena.
Shortly after the melee we had Jayne and the pit crew arrive at our
pit table for a quick piece to camera about our killing of Killalot.
A good piece of light-hearted banter between Jayne, Meral and myself
with Ed turning up at the perfect moment to have the finger pointed
at as the bad guy who was driving, just a shame it never made it to
TV.
Round Two
Having successfully completed testing in the melee it was time to
see just what Storm II could do. I had taken over the controls from
Ed for this fight and the nerves were back again as I drive into the
arena for the first time. This being the first time I had ever
driven Storm II since the changes didn’t help matters, but then
again the first time I ever drove Storm II was our semi-final fight
for the New Blood Championship. Also in my favour this time is that
I know I have Meral with me in the control booth to support me, her
help and assistance not only whilst at the controls but also later
when working on the robot were invaluable to me and without her,
things could have been very different.
Trax is the opponent and they have been frantically putting spikes
on the tracks for extra grip before the fight. Having seen their
ground clearance at the front I suspected they would get underneath
our scoop which was worrying me a little, so my tactical plan was to
use our speed advantage to get around the sides.
We are counted down and off I go, and to my surprise I can get under
the front of Trax, their last minute spike additions had raised
their ground clearance and I had none of the problems I was
anticipating. Getting them on the front scoop I decided to show the
world just how fast Storm II can go, and that’s is with another
robot on the front or without! Ed had understandably been cautious
with full throttle on our new speed controllers in the first fight,
but now it was time to crank it up a bit. Shove after shove bounced
them off the arena walls and into the CPZ’s where they got some
attention from Psycho’s hammer. We were clearly on top, so I went to
press the pit release to try and finish it in style, and finished
the pit release button off in the process! With Trax slipping around
like it was on ice skates I came close to pushing them in, but it
wasn’t worth taking too big a risk at this point, with a certain
judges decision if it went the distance. Sure enough, with very
little deliberation the judges give the fight to us.
Heat Final
So to the final, and by now the nerves have gone, having got past
our first fight, and then my first drive I was beginning to relax.
Steel Avenger were our opponents, Ed was at the controls, at stake a
place in the series semi-final. Ground clearance was not going to be
a problem for us as there was plenty to exploit on Steel Avenger,
also we felt confident enough that the 6mm Ti would protect the
insides of Storm II from their axe. The plan would be to push them
around for a while, maybe feed the house robots and then pit them.
Things didn’t quite go to plan though, after early exchanges where
the Steel Avenger axe got stuck in the arena floor and a few shoves
from Storm II we were able to get a full arena run with Steel
Avenger on the front. As the full speed slam hit the wall hard just
inside the CPZ we couldn’t believe it as Steel Avenger bounces off
the sidewall and sails over the far wall and out of the arena. The
flick from the lifter didn’t even connect; it was the sheer force of
the impact. Ed, Meral and I all just jumped up and down in a strange
mixture of joy and disbelief. We were just stunned by how the had
fight ended, and ecstatic that we are through to the semi-finals.
We had achieved our aim to make it through what on paper looked a
very tough heat, and so it was on to the semi-finals…
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