The Mech Touch novel Chapter 833

It several days of preparation to put the pieces into place. Not only did the exobiologists require some time to synthesize the most attractive bait, the mechs and transports assigned to join the attack and secure the gains in the event of a victory also required time to reach the prospective battle site.

Throughout their maneuvers, the Flagrant Swordmaidens took an exceeding amount of care in keeping their presence a secret. All of the scout mechs keeping an eye on the large tribe followed them from behind in order to avoid revealing their presence through the footsteps that they helplessly left behind.

They also tried to position themselves downwind whenever possible so that the wild gods with their sensitive noses wouldn’t be able to sniff out the presence of large metallic objects. While it was likely that the wild gods would mistake a metallic smell with the blessed people and the sacred gods, it would nonetheless raise their guard and make it that much harder to pull off an ambush.

During the start of the preparations, one unanticipated variable popped up.

When Qilanxo heard that the Flagrant Swordmaidens prepared to assault a large dwarf tribe, she wanted in on the action!

"Aren’t you supposed to be recovering your health?" Ves asked dubiously.

Qilanxo roared several times with a mix of eagerness and indignation.

From what Ves gathered from her roars, he didn’t think she’d need to make use of her powers. She wanted to confront the wild gods in a good ol’ physical brawl!

"I’m sorry, Qilanxo, but that sounds far too risky to us. We have our own methods of combat. You of all sacred gods know how powerful we can be with our ranged weaponry."

Qilanxo released another angry roar. She didn’t take no for an answer!

"We really can’t let you enter the battlefield. Our mechs and fast transports move much faster than you with their antigrav fields active. If we ever need to retreat, someone as slow as you would be left behind!"

None of these issues concerned Qilanxo. Through hell or high water, she wanted to see the wild gods and smash their faces in! The hatred between the sacred gods and the tribal wild gods was so irreconcilable that they would always try to eliminate each other if found!

At some point, Qilanxo even threatened to take off on her own in the direction of the wildling tribe, to Ves had no choice but to ask permission to Captain Byrd to bring Qilanxo along.

To his surprise, she didn’t seem opposed to the idea. "Do you believe that Qilanxo will become friendlier to us if we let her participate?"

This question put Ves aback. "Maybe. Maybe not. She’s mainly driven by her hatred of the tribal wild gods. Our opinions don’t matter to her. I think that some of her old habits as a sacred god worshipped by every blessed god in Samar has cropped up again. It may be a good idea to remind her who is in charge."

"Oh, that is definitely in the cards. I’ll allow her to get close, but not so that she can have a slugging match against the wild gods." Captain Byrd smirked. "If plan A or plan B succeeds, then there is no need for her to demonstrate her prowess."

If the wild gods turned out to be more formidable than they expected, then Captain Byrd had no compulsions about Qilanxo’s participation. Her intervention might be of significant help.

And if the plans cooked up by the Vandals succeeded, then Qilanxo would be able to witness first-hand how powerful they could be, thereby suppressing any ill intentions she might have harbored during her time in captivity.

Ves already understood these underlying reasons, so the call quickly ended without discussing these matters.

He turned back to Qilanxo and arranged her move ahead of time.

She moved slower than a fast transport but faster than a heavy transport. That left her in an awkward position, but that only meant that the execution of the plan only needed to be postponed by an additional day in order to allow the sacred god to come into range.

Four days later, all of the pieces fell into place. Ves had the option of staying behind with the convoy, but he opted to board one of the fast transports following on the heels of Qilanxo.

As for Captain Orfan and Lieutenant Dise, both rode atop Qilanxo’s back. The beast rider project already designed secure carriages that integrated antigrav modules and many other systems.

As they both rode atop Qilanxo’s back, they made sure the sacred god kept walking in the right direction.

The journey ended when they reached around twenty kilometers away from the wildling tribe. At that point, lots of mechs spread out and took positions around the unsuspecting dwarf tribe.

However, only plan B called for sending them into action. Before the Flagrant Swordmaidens sprung their ambush, they first employed plan A.

"Why do I feel like we’re acting like creepy old men trying to lure a little kid with candy?" A Vandal said as he monitored the live feed of a trio of light mechs. All of them carried what amounted to giant candy bars.

This was not the hasty creation the exobiologists cooked up more than two months earlier. With time and advancements on their side, they refined the latest versions of the candy bars to an unprecedented degree.

Not only did the exobiologists synthesize the candy bars in an extremely nutritious form, they also enhanced their aroma to make them irresistible to the god species!

Not only that, but the substances the exobiologists laced the candy bars with should be able to affect the formidable biology of the wild gods when ingested!

Still, despite the promising signs of this plan, many Vandals but especially the Swordmaidens expressed skepticism and disdain at this course of action.

To the latter, the underhanded means of attempting to defeat the wildling tribe by poisoning was dishonorable.

While the wildling tribe may not be very sophisticated, as a warrior society they deserved to be fought in open combat! Only then would the Swordmaidens derive a sense of accomplishment to their victory!

To which the Vandals replied with a dismissive attitude. To the unconventional Vandals, any trick was okay so long as it worked. To avoid the enemy’s strength and target their weaknesses had always been the favored mode of combat to their mech regiment!

This clash in values threatened to strain the relationship between the two forces. Only when Commander Lydia reined in her Swordmaidens did the tensions stall. As much as she instilled her Swordmaidens with a warrior spirit, she recognized that they couldn’t be too indulgent during their campaign in the Aeon Corona System.

The live feed of the three light mechs eventually showed them halting in place. After the mech pilots checked the coordinates, they all threw their payloads a fair distance away before taking off.

The Vandals cast the bait!

"Now we wait for the fish to bite."