The Mech Touch novel Chapter 674

Ves figured out a fundamental rule in the galaxy. The further away from the galactic center, the lower the average intelligence quotient of the people he met.

Certainly, exceptions to the rule existed. Great leaders and driven individuals such as his uncle Ark, his grandfather Benjamin, Colonel Lowenfield and every Senior and Master Mech Designer he met soared from the muck and mud.

But these exceptions only emerged from one out of a million or one out of a billion people. Such low odds condemned the vast majority of the galaxy to the vagaries of the stupid.

No matter which mech pilots fired those laser cannon beam that almost separated Pier 34 from the main superstructure of the Independent Harbor, Ves had no doubt that the threat could have come from any of their comrades fighting in space.

What was their fight all about, anyway? It practically made no sense to Ves! The Castle Breakers would be idiotic to force a fight with the Omen of Misfortune in the vicinity of Mancroft Station! Just those errant laser cannon beams alone made them persona non grata to the Bosey Clan!

The gains, whatever they were after, could never match the enormous losses they were about to suffer!

"That’s not true, is it?" He rhetorically asked himself as his light combat armor clung for dear life on the free floating pier that had just detonated itself away from the main superstructure. The pier even threw into a light spin that it couldn’t compensate for because it hadn’t incorporated any boosters! "I can think of one object to gain that is worth fighting for! It may even be an enormous enticement for the Swordmaidens and the Vandals!"

What else could there be than an encrypted data chip from the Starlight Megalodon!

Even if the Flagrant Swordmaidens gathered a sufficient amount of data chips to figure out the route to the derelict capital ship, there was no harm in securing more, if only to deny their competitors the chance to follow the same route!

"Ugh, no wonder Mancroft went to hell in a handbasket. It’s possible that there are six pawns in this star system!"

He mentally tallied them up. The Flagrant Vandals. Lydia’s Swordmaidens. The Caged. The Red Tongs. The Castle Breakers. The Omen of Misfortune.

None of them sounded weak, though the Flagrant Vandals had the edge in numbers, quality and martial tradition. Yet even then, sheer numbers could easily overwhelm them. Attracting the ire of hundreds of the smaller pirate outfits that congregated at Mancroft at this time would certainly lead to an assured loss.

"The Vandals aren’t the top dogs here. They’ve never been the top dogs whether they are in civilized space or in the frontier."

The older and more established mech regiments in civilized space could easily trounce the Vandals, while the big pirate blocs were enemies the Vandals could not afford to provoke. These complicated circumstances meant that the Vandals shouldn’t easily get entangled into random fights.

However, if the Castle Breakers were after an encrypted data chip, then that almost guaranteed an intervention by the Vandals.

"If that’s the case, this battle might have a ripple effect. If the Omen of Misfortune can drag in some friends, why not the Castle Breakers?"

The latter pirate gang might have been an independent outfit, but if there was one thing he had learned from Ketis, it was that no independent outfit survived without friends. With the stupid cultural expectation that you backed up your friends if they fell into a spot of trouble and called for help, this battle might very well drag in half-a-dozen outfits more!

This certainly explained why his comm blared out messages sent from the Vandals through their internal network.

Lydia’s Swordmaidens answered the call to battle on behalf of the Omen of Misfortune!

The Flagrant Vandals followed their obligation to back up the Swordmaidens and indirectly lend a hand to the Omen of Misfortune!

The Caged and the Red Tongs both joined the side of the Castle Breakers!

A random collection of names representing small, single-ship or double-ship outfits joined the side of the Castle Breakers or the Omen of Misfortune.

The Boseys and everyone else tried to stay as far from this pissing match as possible! They already had their hands full in trying to subdue the unrest and regain all of their crew. They had no time nor desire to join a battle that didn’t concern them at all!

The Vandals sent another message to his comm.

[TAKE CAUTION AROUND THE MEMBERS OF THE OUTFITS OPPOSING THE FLAGRANT VANDALS! IF POSSIBLE, TAKE THEM OUT BEFORE THEY TAKE YOU OUT! THE FLAGRANT VANDALS ARE CURRENTLY ENEMIES OF THE CASTLE BREAKERS, THE CAGED, THE RED TONGS,...]

Ves cursed, because weapons fire already flew over his head a few seconds earlier! A small group of pirates in red heavy combat armor had magged themself to the deck further down the pier and spotted the conspicuous Vandals first. Like the idiots they were, they opened fire on Ves and his escorts without considering their relative strengths.

Big mistake!

"Open fire!"

"Wait! They’re the Red Tongs!" Ketis shouted over the command channel. "If we fire at them, we’ll be

"I don’t think they care, Ketis! I’d rather survive this day than risk a puncture in my armor suit! Lieutenant, keep firing! Disable them if you can, but kill them if you have to!"

In a fight like this, holding back was a sin. One benefit of the heavy exoskeleton suits of the Vandal security officers was that its strong legs provided solid and stable magnetic footing. They could even walk upside down in a metal corridor under standard gravity if needed!

Thus, the security officers were virtually unhindered by the free floating pier and its slight uncontrolled spin. They fired their heavy guns at the armored Red Tongs, who numbered around twelve. The durability of their heavy combat armor matched Ketis’ combat armor, but that didn’t count for much as the heavy firepower overwhelmed them quickly enough.

The numbers advantage of the Red Tongs didn’t account for much in the end! The quality difference between heavy combat armor and exoskeleton armor was too vast!

The only complications the Vandal security officers faced was that they needed to protect their VIPs. They positioned their sturdy bodies around the prone forms of Ves and Ketis and made sure to block any angle that could get at the two mech designers from the Vandals and the Swordmaidens.