The Mech Touch novel Chapter 485

As some of the Vandal scouts approached the vicinity of the bunker, a hatch opened up. The Loquacious Raphael emerged from underneath and returned to the outside world.

Nine honor guard mechs followed in its footsteps.

Four of them consisted of melee bestial mechs. They all looked like robust tigers with an excellent balance between speed and armor. Up close, their jaws could crunch mech limbs while their claws could tear apart armor plating.

The rest of them consisted of ranged mechs of various configurations. All of them were humanoid, and all of them carried an abundant amount of gear.

Over forty mechs stopped at the other end of the path leading up to the bunker. Their surroundings had turned into a complex landscape of craters and collapsed structures, which made it exceedingly complex to navigate. Only the former main street offered somewhat flat terrain.

The Loquacious Raphael stepped forward in a dusty but dazzling display. For some reason, the blue and silver hero mech acquired a white cape that looked dazzling in the midst of ruin. The mech extended out its sword to the approaching Vandal scout mechs.

"Devils!" Lord Javier’s young voice boomed over the broken lands. "Your evil knows no bounds! To bombard my planet from orbit without any hesitation reveals your cruel nature! If this is what your corrupt Republic has taught you, then you deserve to die!"

"What?" Ves asked. What was Lord Javier going on about?

"Lord Javier." Captain Orfan spoke up from her spearman mech. "Cut the nonsense and obediently surrender. You are outnumbered eight-to-one, and that’s only when you count the mechs. Your tunnels are collapsed and your escape routes are blocked. There is no chance for you to make it out alive if you choose to fight. Do the smart thing, and we won’t have to take this any further than we already have."

The Rapheal swung its sword in a theatrical manner. "Surrender? Never! My people have died under my watch! So long as you Vandals are still alive, my mission is not yet done! Prepare yourselves, villains, for I shall cleanse this star system of Brighter filth!"

An analyst in the base suddenly stood up from behind his terminal. "This is bad! Lord Javier is showboating in front of the entire Kingdom!"

Ves looked over and saw a local news portal commenting on a live feed of Lord Javier’s speech.

So the man acted sanctimoniously for a reason! _{ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm}

"Cut the feed! Destroy his recorders!"

"We’re working on it but there’s too much! Some of them are extremely well hidden! Without taking over the entire site, we won’t be able to take them all out!"

The invasion of the Detemen System had always been broadcasted to the news portals on both sides of the war. At the beginning, the Bright Republic pounced on the feeds as a way to boost the morale of their citizens who felt weary at hearing about another loss or stalemate.

Though the Mech Corps always treated the Flagrant Vandals like an abandoned son, now that they grabbed the spotlight, they temporarily changed their stance.

The battle at Detemen II and Detemen IV provided a riveting display of their own side. The people back home relished seeing Vesians getting ground beneath the foot of the Vandals.

As for the Vesians, they had all been juiced up by the initial successes at the outbreak of the war. The quick invasions and the rapid takeover of the border systems gave them an inflated feeling of confidence. The war would go different this time, and victory was already in the bag.

This sudden attack on the heartland of the Kingdom not only disabused them of this notion, it also put the seed of fear into their hearts.

If a formerly safe place like the Detemen System could be raided, what about their own home systems? Many Vesians never believed that their star system would be vulnerable to the Mech Corps. In the previous wars, the Bright Republic almost never struck at the Kingdom, and what few raids they sent almost always struck the Vesian border systems.

Now, the commoners of the Kingdom started to fear that this might change. If the Flagrant Vandals got away, who could tell they wouldn’t pull off the same long-ranged assault again?

Strangely enough, looking at Lord Javier spouting justice against the evil Brighters served to allay some of their apprehensions. With heroes like Lord Javier in charge, the Flagrant Vandals would never go unpunished!

Ves didn’t know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. This spoiled, abusive brat with one of the most awful reputation in the Detemen System portrayed himself as a righteous Vesian. The worst part of it was that almost every news portal in the Kingdom lapped it up.

In fact, they actively promoted him. Lord Javier’s face got plastered all over the Vesia Kingdom’s galactic net, and more and more citizens tuned into the broadcast of the ongoing battle.

Addy walked back to Ves and shook her head. "This is how the media works in the Kingdom. Every major news portal is in the hands of the Duchies or the Royals. They won’t ever spin this battle as a loss."

"Shouldn’t there be a lot more independent news outlets in the Kingdom? It’s very hard to block everything on the galactic net. Besides, there’s also the larger news outlets that serve entire star sectors or larger, like the Rimward Star Herald."

"Hahaha!" Addy laughed. "It’s funny how naive you are something! Don’t put your trust into both. The larger news portals aren’t interested in what they consider to be a minor spat. As for the so-called independent news portals, nobody ever follows them, because what they report doesn’t match with the rosy picture that the government-owned outlets publishes."

That sounded really strange to Ves. The Bright Republic exhibited a much less tightly regulated press environment. Opinions diverged wildly, and it was a challenge to pick the right news portal to believe, but overall the Republic famously touted itself as a state that upheld the torch of human civilization.