The Mech Touch novel Chapter 941

Nobody objected to his suggestion, but the question was which ship should they approach and how should they meet them midway?

The troublesome part right now was that the lingering astral winds still caused their sensors to capture hazy readings, especially at longer ranges. Right now, the CFA shuttle’s sensors had only been able to track the fleeing ships by the weapon emissions from their escorting mechs.

Now that the fighting subsided, the only way the shuttle could rendez-vous with one of the ships was through extrapolating their possible routes and hoped they picked the right interception route.

This took a lot of judgement and familiarity with both orbital mechanics and navigation. Lieutenant Dise may be a passable shuttle pilot, but she could only fly the shuttle directly from point A to point B. The intricacies concerning space navigation was beyond her as she usually just programmed a destination on the autopilot to determine the most optimal route.

In short, it was up to Ves who possessed the broadest grasp in the sciences to extrapolate and guess the route the fleeing ships followed and hope he selected the right ship to reunite with. Ves had very little data to work with as the long-ranged sensors only captured strong weapon emissions, but for a mech designer that was enough.

"I think I can calculate which fleet and which ships belong to the Flagrant Vandals." He stated as he started to set up the control panel for his calculations. "The weapon emissions that we’ve been able to capture mostly come from strong explosions and strong laser fire. The Akkara heavy cannoneers are capable of inflicting both types of damage, and I’m sure I’ll be able to identify their distinctive weapon discharges."

Both Captain Orfan and Lieutenant Dise looked at him as if he was speaking an alien language. Only Ketis understood a bit of what he wanted to do, but she wasn’t capable of performing this kind of analysis at all.

She simply gave him a thumbs up. "Good luck, Ves!"

All of this sounded complicated, but Ves knew what he was doing. Sort of. He knew the theory, but once he went to work, he struggled a bit and his calculations came out clumsier than he thought.

Nonetheless, he succeeded in determining an approximate route that should bring the shuttle close enough to a ship to recalibrate their route.

The question now was whether they should go meet up with a ship or continue to wait in high orbit above Aeon Corona IX.

"Major Verle told us to stay put here, remember?" Captain Orfan reminded them all. "What do we do if the Vandals and Swordmaiden ships arrive but we’re not here to greet them all?"

Lieutenant Dise shook her head. "The major’s orders didn’t anticipate the presence of deserters hanging around here. I’m willing to take my chances with another ship instead of staying in the vicinity of a hostile ship and her complement of mechs."

Ves and Ketis both agreed with Dise. Even if the shuttle’s ECM systems managed to fool the enemy sensors for now, it wasn’t a good idea for them to rely on a single system to keep them safe. Any form of technology could fail, even from the CFA!

Therefore, all of them quickly came to a consensus that it was better to take their chances than to sit here and risk the deserters sniffing them out.

As for any ideas about taking back control of the Finmoth Regal and rescue the loyalists such as Vedette? None of them were delusional enough to support such a crazy plan!

The CFA shuttle quietly slipped away from Aeon Corona IX and headed back in the direction towards Aeon Corona VII along a curve in order to meet with the fleeing ships.

Unfortunately, Ves miscalculated somewhat. He did not anticipate the fleeing ships converging with each other at some point. This caused the shuttle to fly in the wrong direction.

Fortunately, the shuttle’s sensors managed to pick up the thruster emissions from the other ships once it came close enough. After readjusting their course, the shuttle flew off to intercept their presumed comrades.

As the shuttle came nearer and nearer, the shuttle’s sensors finally managed to make a more precise visual confirmation of which ship they managed to find.

"Yes! We found the Shield of Hispania!"

Since Ves was most familiar with the spaceborn mech contingent of the Shield of Hispania, he aimed to identify their weapon emissions from the start. Though he had never been quite sure of his guess, it still gratified him to come within sight of the flagship of the Verle Task Force.

"The Jaded Sword is also with the group!" Ketis burst with pleasure.

Overall, two Vandal combat carriers along with the Jaded Sword and two light carriers made it out of the confusing mess that engulfed Aeon Corona VII’s orbital space.

Yet even as they managed to flee and congregate again, they also brought unwanted guests. Flying in the wake of the Vandal and Swordmaiden ships, a mix of unknown carriers followed along.

"They must the Dragons of the Void. Who else but them would flee towards Aeon Corona IX?" Captain Orfan spat.

"The pirate vessels doesn’t appear to be able to catch up to the Vandal and Swordmaiden ships. Even if they do, they’ll have a tough fight on their hands. They don’t have the numbers to overpower our mechs."

Even so, being pursued by an unknown and very likely hostile force did not seem very reassuring!

"There are sandman motherships trailing further ahead as well, but they’re falling further behind." Ves observed as the sensors picked up their comparatively weaker energy signatures.

Nonetheless, even if the situation seemed precarious, it was better than floating around in space with just a shuttle!

As the CFA shuttle flew close enough to communicate comfortably, Captain Orfan and Lieutenant Dise both contacted their respective flagships and exposed their identities. They also explained what went on with the Finmoth Regal.

"What?!" Major Verle shouted over the comm channel. "You better not be pulling my leg, Captain!"

"It’s true! I swear! That traitorous cow Bonnet and her deserter buddies completely surrendered to the Dragons of the Void and became their lackeys! I have the comm logs to prove it! Aeon Corona IX is not safe!"