The Mech Touch novel Chapter 111

The star system was as quiet as a haunted house. Nothing popped up from the gas giants, asteroid fields and the other junk that orbited quietly through space. Besides the fallen base, the Barracuda detected no other signs of human habitation. Even if no threats had popped up, the ship still travelled cautiously, keeping its defenses on standby.

"The name of the game is caution." Ves explained to Dietrich as he tweaked the Harrier mech with the tools the Barracuda had in stock. "I don’t want to step into a trap. I’d rather retreat and miss out on an opportunity than go in recklessly and gamble our lives."

Dietrich checked his own gear. While the Barracuda lacked an armory, the pilot brought his own gear. His main job was to pilot the Harrier, so he prepared to loan his spare pistol to Ves.

The light ballistic pistol fired smart projectiles that automatically changed their profile depending on what they encountered.

In the case of encountering armor, the bullet entered penetration mode, allowing it to punch through obstacles.

When facing flesh, the bullet entered fragmentation mode, which ensured unarmored targets suffered massive damage.

While the pistol was adaptable, its magazines only carried fifteen rounds. Dietrich customized the pistol and its bullets for accuracy. Due to his excellent marksmanship, he disabled the automatic tracking system that helped shooters aim on target. Before handing over the pistol, he reactivated the system so an amateur like Ves could actually hit something.

The Barracuda finally entered the barren planet’s orbit after a day of travel. After a round of focused scanning, the ship found no imminent threats.

Though risky, Ves decided to let the Barracuda descend a kilometer away from the base. The ship smoothly sank into the ultrathin atmosphere of the planet and used her powerful thrusters and antigrav modules to moderate her descent. A ship as light as a corvette had no trouble entering or exiting the gravity well of an average planet.

Once the Barracuda extended her landing struts and landed on a somewhat level surface, the ship extended her powerful short-ranged sensors. A small hatch opened up and released a couple of tiny observation bots that spread out in a widening circle.

Ves stood on the bridge and studied the data gathered by the ship’s extensive scanning. The topography of the map filled out in even greater detail. The map even showed what was buried underneath.

"There’s no traces of traps nearby. It’s safe to step out."

The Harrier stepped out of the Barracuda’s cargo bay and engaged its flight module. The mech carefully lifted up in the air and patrolled the surroundings in a vigilant stance. Its ballistic rifle pointed at various rocks and other suspicious terrain features.

After ten minutes of elaborate scanning, a handful of observation bots finally approached the base. From its makeup, the scarred and ruined structure built along a cliff only served as the entrance to an underground complex. The bots carefully scanned the exterior before plunging into the gaping maw of the base.

In the meantime, both Ves and the Harrier approached the entrance of the base. Ves rode a small floating platform to the site with a curious Lucky clinging atop his shoulder. Bringing in anything else risked getting traced or hacked.

He already broke convention by employing observation bots. Ves prepared a crude standalone receiver that could interpret the data transmitted by the bots without exposing any other system. While it was not a foolproof method, it should delay any lingering defense mechanisms left behind.

The observation bots took their sweet time in mapping out the underground corridors. A lot of miscellaneous debris was strewn about. Many armored doors had been forced open. None of the scans detected any bodies or equipment. Only traces remained that told a story of a desperate defense.

Dietrich grew grim as he read the data from his cockpit. "The defenders went down fighting. If they are mercenaries, then they shouldn’t have fought to the last man. This is strange."

"Perhaps you guessed wrong. The defenders might have disguised themselves as mercenaries."

"It could be that the people who hired these mercs compelled them to fight. It’s not unusual for a shady corporation to keep their families as hostages."

Whatever the truth, the only way to find out was to step inside. Ves recalled the observation bots and sent them back to the ship. The Barracuda automatically corralled them into patrols. With their escape route secured, a mech and a suited human stepped inside the darkness.

The Harrier activated its powerful searchlights, illuminating the immediate area. Ves held a pistol in one hand and a hand-sized multiscanner in the other. The little device worked hard to make sense out of the cleaned-up battle site.

"My scanner estimates that up to seventy-five to ninety mechs exchanged fire from the traces left by the battle."

"The attackers came with the strength of an entire mech regiment. That’s about fifty to sixty mechs. The defenders should have an equivalent strength. If they were caught with their pants down, then only those on shift were ready to respond."

As the pair entered the tunnel, they reached a broken elevator shaft. With the Harrier’s flight system and Ves’ floating platform, they cautiously descended to the floor below. Outside the wide, mech-sized corridors, they encountered several gaping caverns.

Even without the scanner, Ves could tell the space functioned as a warehouse. "The spaces are divided into two sections. My guess is that incoming goods are stored in the left cavern while the finished products are stored in the right cavern."

"Too bad that everything’s gone. The raiders haven’t even let off the loading equipment."

All the signs pointed out that the base functioned as a production facility. This ignited their enthusiasm. Ves sniffed a chance to salvage valuable production equipment. Dietrich hoped the attackers missed out on a few stashes that he could sell for a fortune.

Lucky proved to be of use when Ves let the mechanical cat roam the emptied caverns. It managed to find scraps of ores and metals. None of the traces were exotic, so Ves quickly lost his interest.

They exited the warehouse section and floated down to the second underground floor. The grey reinforced metal walls made way for a warmer green tint.

"From the looks of it, the barracks and mech stables are on this floor."

They encountered empty beds, ruined leisure rooms and half-destroyed mech stables. The fighting here had been hard, but the defenders were already doomed. The Harrier carefully shoved some of the debris aside while Ves poked around the mech stables.

The scavengers left a lot of gear behind. Tools like wrenches, cutters and various batteries were strewn about. Ves picked up a cutter and inserted a spare battery. The tool lit up with a flare of focused heat and light.

"This thing’s only worth a couple of thousand credits." Ves said and turned off the cutter before tossing it away. "Nothing here is worth our time."

The real valuables should be the mechs and any spare parts. Whoever emptied out the stables had done a thorough job.

Despite the desolation, Ves wasn’t about to give up. He constantly stretched out his multiscanner and began to search the areas where the mech technicians stored their gear. Lucky sniffed around as well and quickly meowed in excitement.

"What’s up, buddy? Did you find anything?"

The cat scratched at his paws against a typical metal floor panel. Ves deep-scanned the location with his multiscanner. The machine found signs of a hidden compartment.

"What have you found, Ves?"

"There should be something valuable underneath."

After a few minutes of fumbling, Ves failed to find any triggers.

"Do you want me to pry it open?"

"No. We don’t want to ruin what’s inside. If my guess is right, we could be looking at a small fortune. Let me handle it."

He picked up another random plasma cutter and proceeded to cut a hole in the floor. The last time he operated a full-powered plasma cutter was back when he studied at Rittersberg. He held the cutter with care and made sure he followed all of the safety guidelines he could still dredge up from his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was to splash his legs with heated plasma.

A couple of minutes later, he finished cutting a man-sized hole. He carefully shut off the plasma cutter and removed its battery. With the help of a magnetizing tool, he lifted the metal cutout and placed it to the side.