The Mech Touch novel Chapter 838

When the subject of the alarming increase in the rate of breakdowns came up in the next staff meeting, everyone became alarmed.

"Is this true?!"

"How can we still contest if our mechs don’t work anymore?"

"We can send our armed Vandals and Swordmaidens in on foot!"

"You daft idiot! With what weapons?! Our comms, combat armor and firearms won’t work anymore! What are we going to fight with?! Our fists?!"

"The Swordmaidens will likely take to that environment like fish in water." Someone joked half-seriously. "Just think about it. Half of their individual combat prowess is tied to their genetic modifications and their razor-sharp swords. The breakdown effect won’t affect their combat effectiveness at all!"

That put the Vandals to thought. If no one came up with a solution that counteracted the breakdown effect, then the Swordmaidens would likely reign supreme within a hundred kilometers of the Starlight Megalodon!

No technology!

No mechs!

No firearms!

Every rival force would be forced back to square one!

While that may please Lydia’s Swordmaidens immensely, what about the Vandals? Almost none of their ranks boasted any genetic freaks. While Ves may be a rare exception, without commando training he’d be worse than useless in such a perilous deployment.

"As much as the Swordmaidens are capable in a battle on foot, don’t forget that they have to depend on gravitic backpacks just like us." Ves pointed out. "Or else, how can they possibly traverse and fight under six times the gravity of Old Earth? They’d barely be able to stand upright as it is, let alone walk!"

Right now, the entire reason why everyone wore hazard suits, piloting suits and combat armor all the time was because they could carry a gravitic backpack around at all times! If not for this modular accessory, if the antigrav fields around the camp broke down for whatever reason, they wouldn’t instantly get crushed!

While that hadn’t happened as of yet, as they slowly marched closer to the Starlight Megalodon, the breakdown effect slowly became much more pervasive, affecting any and all components within range.

Even the gadgets that Ves worked hard to develop previously suffered from the same risk.

Therefore, neither Ves or anyone else in the meeting wanted to give in to the circumstances. They really needed to find a solution for the breakdown effect!

"The ancient cities may have a solution." Chief Dakkon said. "When we visited Mulak and observed Samar with our spy drones, it has become clear that they developed a means to keep the gravity there at standard levels. How do they do that? Our current speculation is that they managed to do so through non-technological means, but what if they still retained a way to keep their antigrav modules functional? The ancient cities also make use of a power source somehow. We never really close to them to find out what those power sources look like and how they function."

The chief engineer pointed out a possible solution for them all. If they could enter an ancient city and study their old, durable devices, they might be able to solve the breakdown effect!

If the ancient cities didn’t make use of mechanical technology and instead used something organic, then that was fine as well, because at least they’d be able to arm their infantrymen with organic antigrav modules or something.

Captain Byrd took this course of action seriously. "There’s one more ancient city in the way before there won’t be any in our route. If we decide we wish to engage with an ancient city, then now is the time to decide."

"The ancient cities are dangerous, ma’am!" A logistics officer said. "They’re filled with superstitious savages and sacred gods that don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth! We’re bound to have a repeat of what happened at Samar if we approach them recklessly!"

Many Vandals agreed with that sentiment. The sacred gods that ruled over the city and the surrounding territory might take affront at the foreigners and go on the attack!

However, Captain Orfan saw an opportunity there. "Is it really so bad if the sacred gods go on the offensive? We’d have a valid excuse to defeat and capture them like we did with Qilanxo! If we can’t use any mechs near the Starlight Megalodon, what about our tamed sacred gods? As long as we ride on a couple exobeasts, it would be the same as if we deployed mechs in an infantry battle!"

This sounded extremely attractive! Also, it sounded like something their rival forces might do as well!

"Remember that we aren’t the only ones who have to deal with the breakdown effect. What if the pirates and Vesians who we know are on the surface are faced with the same problems? I bet you they’ll turn on the natives and capture their powerful sacred gods for their own uses. They’re the strongest weapon we can bring at the center of the crash site!"

More and more people argued in favor of approaching an ancient city. Either they could establish peaceful relations and trade for the things they wanted, or if negotiations failed they could simply take what they wanted by force in true Vandal style!

However, Captain Byrd and a couple of other conservative Vandals who felt burned when Pairixan came close to wiping out the Vandals deeply feared another confrontation with the city dwellers.

"Taking on an ancient city is no trivial issue. The reigning sacred god is always a powerhouse with the strength to suppress an entire region!"

"We still have Qilanxo!" Captain Orfan pointed out. "The big girl can act as our diplomat and interpreter! If the city folk see her first, they won’t think have a strong as a reaction than if we present them with our mechs!"

The natives had never seen any mechs in their lives and always tended to see the worst in them. Rather than show up with something completely foreign on this planet, why not adopt some of the local customs and aesthetics, if only to present a familiar sight?