The Mech Touch novel Chapter 463

Against the fury of so many missiles bearing down on her, the Stubby Growler simply ceased to exist. Fragments of the former ship slung in every direction, and the final missile blast even cracked open the command center’s containment shell, flinging the crash balls loose and out into space.

Some of the white balls hit other debris. They either bounced in another direction or cracked apart, which spilled its occupants. Those that strayed too close from residual blasts, extreme radioactive materials and flinging shrapnel could count their prayers.

One crash ball happened to escape largely unscathed. Ves curled himself up in a fetal position inside his ball and kept his eyes on the HUD projected by his helmet.

He didn’t have the time to feel sorry about the Stubby Growler and the handful of other combat carriers that got hit. The final explosions launched his crash ball with a hefty push. It flew away away far too fast for anyone to retrieve it amid the chaotic aftermath of the missile impacts!

The takedown of the carriers which held the established leaders of the Vandal detachment threw the survivors into temporary confusion. Protocols quickly came into being and the surviving mech officer with the highest seniority quickly asserted his authority.

"Damage control teams, assist the damaged carriers! Rescue teams, go out and recover our men! Mechs, replenish ammunition and cool down, we need you up and running in case the Vesians send a follow-up attack!"

A second response such as launching mechs or another wave of missiles was unlikely. The Vesians likely blew their entire reserves at that single instant in order to maximize their kill potential. So far, despite the costs, they definitely scored ahead of the Flagrant Vandals.

"How much losses have we sustained so far?"

"Reporting, two combat carriers lost, including Major Verle’s Stubby Growler. Three more carriers sustained heavy damage. Eleven only suffered negligible damage. Casualties are estimated to be around seven-thousand Vandals, spread disproportionately among the lost and heavily damaged carriers."

"Our logistical ships?"

"No damage reported other than scratches from incidental impacts against floating debris. They’re safe and sound."

A small load lifted off their chests. Losing those combat carriers hurt a lot and set the Vandals back enormously, but with the logistical ships intact they could still carry the survivors home.

The newly-elevated commanding officer stared out at the projection that showed the chaotic Vandal ships converging back together. "The Vesians had their fun. Now it’s our turn to dish back the hurt."

All of this happened far away from Ves. As rescue mechs and shuttles flew out to help those nearest to their positions, the crash balls and loose-flying hazard suits kept spreading out in every direction with rapid speed.

Each and every one of them suffered a violent push that flung them far too much for the rescue teams to reach them quickly. They might have been able to make it to them if they flew towards them at their best speed, but the mechs and shuttles priorities recovering the nearest survivors.

For most, who got rescued first didn’t matter too much. However, a small portion of hazard suits and crash balls had been thrown in the direction of Detemen IV. The planet exerted a light but ever-present gravity that still drew on the approaching objects.

Some would sheer past and bend their trajectories. Others would slingshot away at a sharper angle like how a stone attached to a string could be launched away by employing Detemen IV’s gravity as centrifugal force.

As for a small portion of unlucky survivors, they traveled almost straight towards Detemen IV at such an angle that it would be impossible for them to skate past.

Basically, they were on course for planetary entry, wrapped in shells that might or might not survive the incredible amounts of heat generated from the friction of their breach into the atmosphere.

Inside one particular crash ball, Ves tried to stretch his body but couldn’t do anything due to the strong padding that surrounded his hazard suit. With hardly any room to move, Ves focused his full attention to the head-up display projected by his helmet. It interfaced with the electronics in the crash ball, allowing him a glimpse of what happened outside.

Its basic systems managed to determine that there was a really big planet in its path. It even managed to call up a pre-installed map of the planet, and trace out the crash ball’s approximate trajectory.

If nothing changed, the ball would likely crash in the middle of an ocean.

"That’s not good. I’ll either be left alone for weeks or be taken prisoner by the Vesians."

With the Vandals unlikely to rescue him before his crash ball started its descent, Ves intended to rely on his own. He couldn’t do anything in the middle of the ocean.

He needed to change course.

"Crash ball! Set destination to Neron City!"

[ADJUSTING COURSE.]

Tiny boosters affixed to the exterior of the crash ball spurted out tiny jets. This caused it to spin and alter its trajectory. Ves saw that it adopted a shallower angle in order to arc its ultimate end point away from the ocean and closer to the capital city of Detemen IV.

[COURSE CHANGE COMPLETED. RESERVE FUEL: 27 PERCENT REMAINING.]

The crash seat even allowed Ves to finetune his landing point, though the crash ball didn’t make any guarantees. Ves only took a moment to select a mech workshop district in the outskirts of Neron City.

As a mech designer, Ves fared best when surrounded by mechs or other machines. Though it was extremely risky to mix with the local Vesians in one of the most densely-populated cities of Detemen IV, it beat landing in complete wilderness.

"Without anyone watching my back, I only have my skills and my Amastendira to rely on."

While he could have gone for the much more massive manufacturing complexes located nearby, Ves thought it would be too risky to sneak inside those places. From what Ves had gathered during his stint at the Stubby Growler’s command center, most of those complexes still enjoyed protection from their company forces.

And since these prosperous manufacturing complexes attracted a lot of attention, any place that fell would be overrun with rioters and robbers. That was not the kind of people that Ves wanted to mix with. He merely wanted to scrounge some machines together in order to protect himself long enough for the Flagrant Vandals forces on the ground could pick him up.

The crash ball started to encounter an increasing amount of air. As a terraformed planet, Detemen IV contained nearly the exact same atmosphere as Old Earth. Therefore, the crash began to be slowed down by drag but also started heating up because of that.