The Mech Touch novel Chapter 487

Reinforcements from both sides tried to reach the ensuing battle that could very well decide the fate of Detemen IV. Every member of the household guards knew that Count Loqer valued Lord Javier above all else. If it wasn’t for the traditions that tied down his power, he would have allocated much more troops to guard his only offspring.

The consequences of failure was unimaginable. In the strong hierarchical culture of the Vesians, mech pilots under the service of a House carried a lot of responsibility. Failure to safeguard the lives of their charges often led to imprisonment or execution to those who failed to do their duties.

Yet as much as they tried to reinforce their liege, the battles they fought in the previous days had sapped much of their strength. Even now, many Vandal mechs spread out in Neron City tried to drag on their heels and force them to stop.

"Rescue the Lord!"

"Rescue the Lord!"

Many of the Vesian mechs that survived up to now consisted of second-line and law enforcement units. They weren’t equipped for a full-scale war and their mech pilots found it hard to match the skill of the Vandal mechs that harried their footsteps.

Aerial mechs also started to emerge in the skies. With the exposure of most anti-air turrets in Neron City, the Vandal forces made good progress into clearing them all out. Much of the hidden turrets that remained belonged to mercenaries and other private forces. They would never dare to fire them at the Vandals for fear of attracting their wrath.

This basically led to a wild battle in the skies where the Vandal Aerial forces continued to harass the Vesian forces spread out in the city. Sometimes, aerial mechs from both sides clashed high up in the air, though the Vandals slowly managed to gain an edge due to their better skill.

As for the underground rebel base, a lot of rebels stayed behind to support their comrades. The Detemen League held numerous strategic positions in Neron City and assisted the Vandals in slowing down the enemy from reinforcing Lord Javier.

"It’s getting increasingly harder to stop the household troops." Addy said. "They are too persistent in trying to reach their Lord. Our auxiliary troops aren’t meant to battle mechs head-on, and your Vandals are too spread out to slow down larger concentrations of mechs."

"Do the best you can." Ves replied. "The battle at the former recycling plant won’t end so soon."

"Can’t you do anything to help?"

"I’ve already relayed my analyses on the mechs piloted by Lord Javier and his honor guard. I can’t determine much more than that because these are very polished mechs."

Ves felt a bit useless at this stage. He only managed to figure out the basic specs and some tentative weak points for each mech model. None of them were easy to deal with, and only the rifleman mechs could be taken out quickly if they became exposed to concentrated fire.

The real threat came from the tiger mechs and the Loquacious Raphael. The former proved to be an adept prowler in the ruins. They took full advantage of their ability to navigate the ruinous terrain in order to flank the Vandals.

As for the Raphael, the hero mech proved its valiance with each mech or hovertank it managed to fell. However, this time it met its match when Captain Orfan tried to run interference on its rampage.

"The righteous won’t be stopped! Twin Star Slash!"

The Vandal spearman mech deftly blocked the predictable sequence of slashes with its spear and sent out a counter-attack right after. The Raphael quickly brandished its rifle and fired another shell to force Captain Orfan back.

"Why don’t you look into the mirror to find a villain!" She yelled out as she went back on the offensive. Her spearman mech stabbed forth in a flurry of blows that forced the Raphael to back off. "A monster to his own people doesn’t deserve to take on the mantle of a hero!"

Lord Javier wordlessly growled back. His eloquence deteriorated over the course of their impromptu duel. The captain was twice as hard to deal with compared to his previous opponents. Despite not carrying a shield, Captain Orfan abused the reach of her spear to interrupt his powerful combo attacks.

"You won’t take me down that easily! Twin Star Helix!" He yelled as his mech unleashed one of its signature attacks.

Its rotating sword clanged against the shaft of the spear and got pushed to the side. The Raphael had to fire another shell in order to stop the spearman mech from following through.

On and on the two mechs tried to gain the advantage. While Captain Orfan possessed just as much skill, she also benefited from a much richer battle experience than her opponent. She employed her rich bag of tricks to unsettle Javier and throw him off balance.

Sadly, none of her attacks managed to deal more than a scratch on the Raphael. While it was clearly geared towards offense, its excellent armor system enabled Lord Javier to take risks he ordinarily couldn’t afford to take. It withstood many blows that would have crippled many other mechs.

Ves studied the performance of the armor system in detail. The more he witnessed its incredible resilience, the more he felt he was out of his depth. "I’m not familiar with this type of armor. It’s too effective!"

"Is the Raphael invincible?" Addy asked in a worried tone.

"No mech is invincible. Not even the machines piloted by god pilots can make this kind of claim. There’s definitely a way to dismantle its armor. We just have to figure it out."

Ves always kept an eye on the Raphael since the start of the battle. Ves studied its armor carefully and noted that it did particularly well against all types of damage, fom lasers to bladed weapons. The armor system appeared capable of resisting all conventional damage types without compromising anything.

Yet Ves still clung to the belief that its amazing performance hinged on a secret or two. Once he figured it out, Lord Javier wouldn’t be so cocky anymore.

"It’s too difficult." He whispered. He stared hard at the Raphael and attempted to connect to it in the imaginary realm. He never attempted such an act before, but he was grasping at straws at this point.

Surprisingly, distance mattered surprisingly little when it came to such probes. It was enough to look at the Raphael from a projection. The powerful and vivid depiction of its duel against Captain Orfan’s mech allowed Ves to pinpoint its location with perfect accuracy. Just as his mental probe brushed against the Raphael, something happened.