The Mech Touch novel Chapter 198

Jaded Serpent’s personal steed appeared to be a pure swordsman mech. Even Ves got fooled by its appearance and dazzling performance that he never expected it to pop up miniature flame spitters.

While the nefarious burning liquids stuck on the Cathrec, Captain Kaine quickly pulled back her mech and made a radical decision. She rolled the Cathrec onto the ground, managing to brush aside most of the flames in the process.

She proved her skill with that move. Her mech rolled across the ground for three revolutions without putting too much of the mech’s weight onto anything that couldn’t bear the momentary pressure.

Many lesser pilots failed to control their mechs as good as she did and broke the arms or even the heads of their mechs. The Cathrec’s armor system gained a large amount of ugly burn marks on its surface. It showcased its lack of strength against heat damage, of which nobody on the expedition expected to face on the ground.

"You’re mine now!" Jaded Serpent roared and drove his mech into a punishing offensive that forced the Cathrec into straits. The flurry of blows prevented the white mech from regaining its balance.

Ves wondered when Commander Tregis released the refurbished Kaius.

"Not yet." D’Amato said, shaking his head. "The pirates still have too much fight in them. The Kaius is best used when they run out of steam. The goal is to shatter the exhausted pirates into pieces so that they can’t form an effective raiding force anymore."

Such a strategy required a lot of patience and sacrifice. Even now, many mercenary mechs started falling under the weight of numbers. Fortunately, most of their pilots managed to escape death by ejecting their cockpits.

Even as they fell, the defenders stopped the pirate mechs in their tracks. Half of the pirate mechs consisted of cheap frontline mechs with no heads and weapon barrels for arms. Their deficient armor made them sitting ducks for the railgun wielding defenders, who took them out with two or three carefully aimed projectiles.

Ves noticed that the pirate mechs weren’t using proper tactics. None of them adhered to the loose formation determined at the start and simply tried to swarm the damaged walls with fanatic glee. It reminded him of the first space battle between the expeditionary fleet and the harassing pirate fleet.

"The pilots of the pirate mechs look like they’re drugged and brainwashed."

"It’s difficult to scrounge willing cannon fodder. Pirates can be some of the biggest cowards in the galaxy. They value their lives above loyalty and brotherhood."

The Dragons of the Void certainly proved their ruthlessness by discarding so many lives and mechs. With the mech pilots fighting without regard for their lives, their ferocity steadily overpowered the beleaguered defenders even with their technological superiority.

In these fraught circumstances, one mercenary group took up the warbanner and fought back with twice the grit. As one of House Kaine’s mercenary partners, Adila’s Chosen had never really showed off their capabilities. Unlike George’s Cavalry and the Stray Phantoms which often saw action, the religious group largely remained in reserve.

Their mechs consisted of sturdy medium mechs that might not be fast, but could take hit or two. They boldly wielded heavy flails that bashed aside the lighter mechs in a single blow.

Ves became impressed by the way they wielded the flails. The spiked alloy ball at the end of the chain always managed to pierce through a critical portion of the mech being struck.

The mechs of Adila’s Chosen momentarily stabilized the faltering lines, though their impact proved limited as they couldn’t cover the entire wall. The defenders didn’t have much of a reserve besides the Chosen.

"Captain Kaine is still holding on!"

The Cathrec managed to bait its opponent. It parried the last sword strike of the dragon mech and thrust before Jaded Serpent fully recovered.

The spear glanced past one of the swordsman mech’s thigh, piercing aside the armor plating with contemptuous ease before dealing shallow but effective internal damage. The dragon mech’s mobility suffered a minor loss that proved extremely debilitating in the closely matched duel.

Captain Kaine’s Destroyer Weapon showcased its full potential as she used it as a naked threat against Jaded Serpent’s sword. The pirate commander clearly wished to avoid the dreaded spear and made sure to leave his sword away from the spear’s path.

"How did she get her hands on a Destroyer Weapon?" Ves asked.

"Captain Kaine followed a training course in an institute affiliated with the Terrans." One of the idle scientists replied. "I heard she acquitted herself well enough to win some awards. The Destroyer Weapon is a custom design that’s made for her mech."

"She’s very lucky to gain such a renowned weapon."

"That she is. You can see how she’s regaining the initiative. Even some flames can’t stop her resolve."

Many people considered the Greater Terran United Confedation to be a stagnant first-rate superstate that clung to its old ways. They gradually let the New Rubarth Empire overtake them in terms of research and development.

The fairly recent invention of Destroyer Weapons put them back on the map. These special powered weapons used up a lot of energy, but converted almost all of that potential into a field that acted as a molecular disbonder.

Most materials became as fragile as paper when struck by a molecular disbonder. Even many kinds of compressed armor had to give way to the strange new technology.

The Destroyer Weapons quickly gained a reputation for being the ultimate melee weapons and dominated the Terran mech scene.

Unfortunately, the Terrans couldn’t enjoy their moment of superiority for long. Their archrivals from the New Rubarth Empire came up with several special alloys that proved to be immune to the effects of a molecular disbonder.

Still, these alloys made use of extremely rare exotics that had only been found in the core regions of the galaxy. Out here in the galactic rim, many prospectors tried to find the valuable materials, but never encountered a trace of it so far. This turned the few Destroyer Weapons that made their way to frontier into the perfect tools to bully the local mechs.