The Mech Touch novel Chapter 624

"Sir!" A mech captain called. "Is it wise to ally with Lydia’s Swordmaidens? They’re anything but innocent maidens. They’re a bunch of bloodthirsty alpha females! They make their living by robbing and pillaging other ships!"

Any outfit labelled with the moniker of pirates inevitably carried a rotten reputation. Different from criminal gangs, they often went to further extremes, robbing and killing in the spacelanes without restraint.

In general, the most awful pirate gangs never dared to show up in civilized space, because the MTA routinely hunted them down whenever they revealed their presence.

"That’s a valid concern." Major Verle responded calmly. "While the record of Lydia’s Swordmaidens isn’t spotless, it’s not much worse than ours. The Swordmaidens prey upon treasure hunters and neutral starships in the frontier. While it is anything but an honest business, their victims mostly have themselves to blame for entering lawless space."

That mollified the Vandals a bit. There was a difference between pirates that attacked ships and outposts in civilized space and pirates that mixed up in frontier space. Though the line was often blurred between the two, the fact that the Swordmaidens had been allowed to berth in the Harkensen System meant they hadn’t crossed the bottom line of the MTA or the Reinald Republic.

The captain remained stubborn, however. "I still think it’s a bad idea, sir. People are already talking bad about us. Once we mix up with pirates, we’ll be proving them right."

"Who cares about our rep?!" Captain Rosa Orfan retorted. "We’ve been painted as borderline pirates for decades. While pretending to be heroes for a month feels good, it should hardly matter to us. Deep down, we’re scoundrels, and I’m proud of that!"

"Hear hear!"

"Agree!"

The majority of the Vandals happened to agree with her, if only because she commanded the most prestige among the mech captains. Though a lot of Vandals missed the benefits that came with being regarded as heroes, it wasn’t as if their current low was anything different from before.

"The Flagrant Vandals have never taken reputation into account when we decide our actions." Major Verle finally settled the debate. "We follow orders and we fight for the Republic. What other people say about us is ineffectual noise. Talk won’t win any wars. Only through battle can we affect a positive change."

Ves had to hand it to the major. The man sounded like a bona fide loyalist of the Republic. Whether he really meant it or not remained to be seen, but for now the Vandal officers didn’t appear to be fostering any other thoughts.

"Now, regardless of how bad it may seem like, allying ourselves with Lydia’s Swordmaidens will prove crucial in our next major operation, which will likely take place in the frontier. This is their home turf, and they possess some of the most detailed star charts among the local frontier outfits."

The men did not take the news that they would be heading further and further away from the Republic very well.

"What does the frontier have to do with our mission?"

"That’s classified. Suffice to say, this will be our last major mission for the foreseeable time. As long as we complete this mission, headquarters has promised us we can take it easy for the remainder of the war."

That set off a storm of speculation. If the Mech Corps delivered their promises, that basically meant that the Flagrant Vandals would not be expected to complete arduous missions or fight any pitched battles. The Vandals loved it if they could spend the rest of the war on cushy missions such as patrolling the rear or garrisoning a sleepy little star system.

Of course, none of the Vandals were fools. The Mech Corps basically ignored them for decades. Why would they be so generous all of a sudden?

The most peculiar part about this briefing was that none of the Vandals showed too much curiosity of what lay ahead. Many of them were accustomed to living by the day. Long-term strategies was not their forte by any means. This happened to make it easier to keep upcoming operations secret.

The only thing the Vandals fixated on was returning home and the promise of being reassigned to the rear. The Vandals truly needed it as they had to replenish their ranks of mech pilots.

The meeting quickly ended after the Vandals got around to the notion of allying with Lydia’s Swordmaidens. This would not be an incidental teamup, but a deeper cooperation where both sides fought alongside each other for months.

A few people got called to Major Verle’s stateroom, including Ves. He waited patiently as Verle held individual talks with key Vandals such as Captain Orfan. Once Ves received his turn, he entered the stateroom.

The compartment hadn’t received any new decorations since his last visit. It reflected their hectic schedule and their inability to rest.

"Mr. Larkinson, take a seat."

Once Ves sat, he waited for the man to speak. Inside, he hoped that the major would finally open up on what they were really aiming for, but realistically this was unlikely to happen.

"How long have you been with us?"

The question threw him off-guard. "More than half a year. It won’t be long before I’ve been with this mech regiment for a year, sir."