The Mech Touch

Madness erupted around the battlefield!

The emergence of a brand new ace pilot for the Gauge Dynasty completely boosted the faith and confidence of the mech pilots of the Sundered Phalanx.

The Medallion Guards especially became ecstatic after one of their long-time heroes finally attained the dream that everyone in their profession wished to attain!

Not only that, but the appearance of a new ace pilot could completely turn the tide against the attackers!

With an extra asset on the battlefield that could temporarily exert almost as much strength as a genuine ace mech, there was a lot that Saint Rebecca Andus and her Shockshell could do, from destroying enemy expert mechs with ease to wiping out entire mech regiments within minutes!

Unfortunately for the Fridayman soldiers, their newfound jubilation and confidence quickly crashed when the Amaranto unleashed its strongest possible attack, disabling the Shockshell to such an extent that it was no longer able to accommodate the new Saintʼs immense power!

Ves dropped to his chair as he became a lot more exhausted. Blinky had quickly left the Amaranto and returned to his mind.

The Star Cat looked tired and dimmed as the cat imparted a serious quantity of Worclaw energy to the masterwork expert mech.

The Amarantoʼs superattack was a trump card that Ves would have preferred to save until later.

Ves would have preferred to save it up in case Saint Jeremiah Gauge and his Neo Amadeus showed up and fought a hard battle against Patriarch Reginald Cross and the Mars.

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If the battle between the two did not go as smoothly as he wished, then he could have employed the Amaranto to fire its most powerful shot at the Neo Amadeus at a critical moment!

”Damn, what a waste.”

If Venerable Orfan and Venerable Dise adopted a better approach and stuck to the plan from the beginning, then maybe Rebecca Andus wouldnʼt have been so desperate to seek greater strength.

There was no point in admonishing the two expert pilots at the moment.

Right now, madness had erupted on the battlefield!

The fall of three expert mechs in quick succession had significantly disrupted the center of the battlefield!

The attacking side still maintained a decent amount of cohesion. The Hexer mech units that previously fought against the Medallion Guards had directed all of their efforts towards destroying the crippled but not broken Shellshock that was carrying the Gauge Dynastyʼs latest ace pilot.

The strategic importance of denying the Fridaymen another ace pilot was extremely crucial!

The strength of Saint Rebecca Andus once she settled into her new life phase and obtained a proper ace mech was horrendously high!

Her existence could readily change the balance of power between the Friday Colonies and the Hex Federation!

As such, it should not be a surprise that a huge number of Hexer mech pilots no longer obeyed their previous instructions and wordlessly combined their efforts to slaughter the new ace pilot when she was at her most vulnerable point!

”Donʼt let the Fridaymen evacuate the new Fridayman Saint from the battlefield!” General Alisky Victrix issued a general directive to all of her mech units. ”The future of the Hex Federation is at stake. An enormous disaster might befall our colonial state if Saint Rebecca Andus stays alive.”

Her words hardly made a difference as killing enemy high-ranking mech pilots was already engraved in the bones of the participants of the Komodo War.

”Weʼre not killing the Medallion Guards fast enough! Where is our fire support?! We need more artillery to blast open their wall of mechs!”

A large proportion of Hexer melee and ranged mech units unscrupulously assaulted the Medallion Guard mechs with everything they had at their disposal.

In turn, the Fridaymen mech units did their best to provide cover for the damaged Shellshock that was being dragged away at great speed.

”Madness!”

Ves had already grown shocked when Rebecca Andus managed to win the lottery and break through during this battle.

He became shocked yet again when he saw how both the Fridaymen and Hexers threw aside every rational thought in their minds and gave in to extreme emotional impulses.

Few mech pilots who were in a position to intervene followed any sensible orders anymore. They no longer adhered to any formations and completely disregarded rules such as maintaining a healthy distance between their mechs.

Though the Larkinson Clan did not get caught up in this madness, Ves quickly realized that it was a terrible idea to leave a powerful enemy alive.

”I canʼt allow her to get away.”

Aside from trying to nip an extremely dangerous threat in the bud, Ves also had other reasons to neutralize Saint Rebecca.

Ves looked at the projected feeds and quickly concluded that the current measures were not enough to kill Saint Rebecca.

The Medallion Guards Mech Division might not field any modern heartland-level mechs, but their inherently large and tough machines offered enough protection to resist the huge amount of attacks that the Hexers were throwing in their direction.

Even though all of the concentrated firepower were knocking down the Medallion Guards in rapid succession, there were still thousands more machines that were ready to do their part to save their new halfgodʼs life!

If that wasnʼt enough, more Fridayman mechs were pouring in from elsewhere. These mech units did not hesitate to stop their efforts to hold back the attacking mechs in order to provide the Medallion Guards with much-needed backup.

Though all of the movements had made the defensive lines of the Sundered Phalanx a lot more vulnerable than before, Ves wasnʼt in the mood to celebrate.

”Reginald!” Ves opened a communication channel to the Cross Patriarch. ”When are you taking action? Saint Rebecca Andus is too powerful of an enemy to keep alive.”

The most powerful mech pilot of the Golden Skull Alliance sneered. ”Itʼs too late. There is no glory and honor to be found in attacking Rebecca Andus when she is infirm and lacking access to a working mech. There is only value in defeating her when she is in a proper fighting state.”

Ves wanted to spit out blood when he heard this response.

”What are you talking about?! Glory and honor is worthless in the face of survival.”

”GLORY AND HONOR IS EVERYTHING!” Reginald furiously insisted with all of his will! ”It is through worthy deeds that we put our stamp on history and live on after our glorious deaths on the battlefield. A non-combatant like you would never understand!”

???

Ves looked utterly confused. ”What does this have to do with your refusal to pick off Saint Rebecca Andus? Donʼt tell me that her Shellshock is out of range or that there are too many mechs in the way. I personally worked to integrate the ARCEUS System into your Mars. You should easily be able to snipe an inoperable expert mech under these circumstances.”

”That may be true, but I would rather vanquish over Rebecca when the deed is worthy enough. There is a large difference between occupying a half-broken expert mech or an ace mech at peak condition. I will not tarnish my honor and reputation among fellow ace pilots by butchering one of our own under cowardly circumstances.”

The manʼs egoistic answers frustrated Ves. Patriarch Reginald always insisted on doing things his way, but that had never been as big of a problem as today!

The Cross Patriarchʼs selfish decision could easily lead to the deaths of many friends and family if Saint Rebecca Andus ever recovers and launches a revenge attack!

”Besides, even if I take action, it wonʼt work.” Reginald added.

”What do you mean by that?” Ves asked.

”I can sense Jeremiah Gauge is on guard.” The Cross Patriarch clarified. ”Heʼs not too far away. No matter what I do, the enemy ace pilot will not allow me to intervene. If I make a move, he will block my move. Then we will commence our promised duel.”

”Isnʼt it worth it to make an attempt?” Ves questioned. ”Your Mars has a great advantage in ranged combat while the Neo Amadeus is presumably not as good at intervening from a distance.”

Patriarch Reginald glowered. ”As I have already said, you donʼt understand. Even if I am able to end the life of Rebecca Andus by one reason or another, I will be entering into my first duel against another ace pilot in disgrace. My honor as a warrior will be tarnished, which will prevent me from fighting against my real opponent at my best. Meanwhile, Jeremiah Gauge will occupy the high ground. He will be fighting in the name of justice, righteousness and retribution. This disparity is enough to affect the outcome of our duel.”

The manʼs attitude towards Saint Jeremiah Gauge had noticeably become more respectful. Apparently, Reginald changed his tune now that the unseen enemy ace pilot had come close enough for the two to get a read on each other.

Ves furrowed his brows. If he was in the place of Patriarch Reginald, then he would pay no attention at all to notions such as honor, glory, justice, righteousness and other artificial human concepts.

Who cared about all of this superfluous crap when his own lives and the lives of his people were at stake?! Honor and glory should never come at the expense of survival!

…Then again, Ves wasnʼt one of the few incredible warriors that had the strength, discipline, talent and fortune to become one of the few living halfgods in human society.

Ves gained an even deeper understanding of Patriarch Reginald Cross as a person from this conversation. This guy was even harder to deal with than expected. He truly stuck to his principle that attaining glory and honor was a higher priority than preserving his own life!

Knowing how stubborn high-ranking mech pilots could be, Ves no longer quibbled with Patriarch Reginald. Knowing when to give up and retreat was an essential skill to a leader.

”You go do your thing, then.” Ves sighed in exasperation. ”I will be fine with anything you decide as long as you can defeat or at least stall Saint Jeremiah Gauge.”

Patriarch Reginald grinned in obvious anticipation. ”You donʼt need to be concerned about that. I can tell he is a tough opponent, but that makes our upcoming duel all the more significant. My clan will sing the tale of my first fight as an ace pilot for centuries to come!”

His role was so essential that Ves really couldnʼt do anything but ensure that Patriarch Reginald had his way in anything.

It made Ves feel incredibly frustrated because he disliked the necessity of relying on a loose cannon.

He closed the communication channel and turned to General Verle instead.

”What can we do to ensure that Saint Rebecca Andus will die?” Ves immediately asked.

”Why would we want to kill her, sir?”

”Um, pardon?”

”There is no particular reason for us to prioritize her demise, Ves. Let me rephrase that. The benefit of keeping her alive is greater than if we pay a heavy price to kill her under heavy protection.”

”...I am not following you. Explain to me what you have in mind.”

General Verle sighed. ”Look at the Sundered Phalanx right now. Their center line has already turned into a mess. The mech divisions deployed adjacent to the Medallion Guards have all been sucked into the vortex that is the Shockshell. The Fridayman mech pilots are putting so much effort into escorting their new ace pilot safely off the battlefield that they have introduced enormous flaws in their defensive arrangements. Look at our Hexer allies. Their mech units are already taking enormous advantage of this by shredding the exposed Sundered Phalanx mech units with much greater ease than before! While it is true that the Hexers are mainly trying to target Saint Rebeccaʼs life, they are still earning a profit even if they miss out on the main prize.”

Now that Verle mentioned it, the sudden offensives by the Hexers did not look as reckless and disorganized as before. Their mech units might be scrambling to eliminate Saint Rebecca, but all of their attacks were taking out a punishing amount of Fridayman mechs while suffering few losses in return!

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