The Mech Touch novel Chapter 881

A fatalistic mood overtook the Flagrant Vandals and Lydia’s Swordmaidens. Both of them knew that the Vesians wouldn’t spare any of them even if they laid down their weapons and surrendered. The only way they could survive was to eke out a victory.

Therefore, even if everyone’s morale was awful, they burned with the willingness to battle. They wanted to chop as much Vesian mechs as possible to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat!

Lydia’s Swordmaidens possessed firm wills that would never be shaken so easily. They faced worse odds and managed to overturn the situation around. As long as they fought to their heart’s content, what was there for them to regret?!

At the very least, the Swordmaidens would still live on without Commander Lydia and the landbound forces. While Lydia’s Swordmaidens may no longer be called by that name upon the death of their founder, their sisters would still be able to rise up from the ashes.

Therefore, the Swordmaidens trapped on the surface needed to fight as hard as they could so they would not dishonor their names!

"Victory in battle! Glory in defeat!"

"The Swordmaidens shall live forever!"

"Death is not the end! Death is nothing to be afraid of! If death comes for us, then let us laugh in its face!"

The war cries thundering throughout the Swordmaiden side of the camp practically bowled over the Vandals. They could feel the grit and determination of the female warriors and couldn’t help but be inspired by their unity and determination.

This was how mech pilots ought to behave!

The Vandals didn’t want to let themselves be shown up by a bunch of frontier pirates. While fear still wracked their minds, they tried their best to push it back. If they must die, then they wanted to go kicking and screaming!

It was only when their backs were pressed against the wall that the Vandals truly acted with the demeanor of soldiers. The Vesians might have thought they managed to sap their wills, but instead they stoked them into a raging wildfire!

Even if the Vesians won in the end, they must absolutely suffer every step of the way!

Ves met with Captain Byrd, Chief Dakkon and Dr. Tillman to discuss the disposition of some of their most sensitive assets.

When they entered Captain Byrd’s office, the mech officer prepared three high-capacity secure data chips for them. These data chips not only stored much more data than the cheaper varieties, they also possessed much stronger encryption as well. Regular hackers needed decades to crack the encryption through brute force.

Byrd gestured towards the data chips. "Please take the data chips and store them well. Each of them contains full logs of what has transpired in our expedition. The data chips also has plenty of room for you to fill up with any pertinent research data that you may feel the need to add."

"Why are you giving us these data chips?" Dakkon asked.

"In the event of a defeat, I want you to make a run for the Starlight Megalodon. The Vesians are cutting us off from entering the red zone right now, but in the event of a battle and defeat, they may lose too many mechs for them to be on guard against some small fry running away on foot. That is the best opportunity for some fish to slip through the net."

Everyone became depressed at the thought. What Captain Byrd actually suggested stood almost no chance of succeeding. Even if they ran past the encirclement of the Vesians, they still needed to traverse more than a hundred kilometers before they reached the safe zone around the Starlight Megalodon. The Vesians could easily track their footsteps and catch up to them before they made it far.

Therefore, what Captain Byrd suggested was extremely unlikely to come to pass. No one called her out for it because even a sliver of chance of success sustained this attempt.

As long as someone managed to slip away against overwhelming odds, the Flagrant Vandals and the Mech Corps gained valuable intelligence on what transpired on the ground. The authenticity of the logs wouldn’t be called into question despite all the outlandish discoveries they made as long as no one tampered with the records.

Ves picked up the data chip first. Unlike the others, Miss Calabast already arranged his escape route. Therefore, he felt more assured that he could complete Captain Byrd’s final request.

"I’ll make sure this data chip falls in the right hand if I manage to survive and make it out of this planet." He pledged solemnly.

This was one promise he was determined to meet. The sacrifice of the Vandal ground forces shouldn’t be in vain. Having witnessed how the Vandals climbed out of the pit of despair with fiery hearts, Ves couldn’t help but get caught up in their fervor!

They were Vandals! They were servicemen! They were Brighters!

Rolling over to die was not in their blood!

Even when the Vandals faced imminent defeat, they still wanted to do what was best for the Bright Republic!

How could Ves not respect such patriotic determination? He felt helpless and powerless at his inability to turn the tide. He hated how little a mech designer’s influence reached when it came to situations like this! If he possessed the battle prowess of an expert pilot, then at least he’d be able to fight on their behalf!

Yet his awful genetic aptitude precluded him from ever entering the cockpit as a mech pilot! Ves felt extraordinarily frustrated at his lack of combat capabilities. Even if he possessed the powerful Amastendira, the most he could do was shoot ten high-powered laser beams that might or might not be able to pierce through the armor of a light mech.

What then? He’d die as quick as that when a single mech retaliated against him. He’d either die from getting stepped upon by a melee mech or being vaporized out of existence when a ranged mech fired a laser at his position.

The boiling blood running through his veins urged him to fight back anyway. His pride and heritage as a Larkinson insisted upon it! How could a Larkinson hole themselves up in the rear and cower in the face of an enemy attack? How could a Larkinson think about abandoning their comrades and scurrying away from danger?

As Ves left Captain Byrd’s office and returned to his office in order to load up the data chip with a bunch of research data from all of the research projects the Vandals conducted, he tried to reconcile his conflicting urges.

"I may be a Larkinson, but I’m not a warrior." He muttered. "I have no place on the battlefield. My presence makes no difference."

Ves inadvertently reminded himself of Eric Kichiro, the mech designer of Chopra Security Services and one of the few surviving Choprans the fleet picked up from a debris field in space.