The Mech Touch novel Chapter 946

Once Ves ascertained the state of the workshops and saw the conditions of the damaged mechs for himself, he mulled over the idea that developed in his mind.

"If a battle starts in two days, we can rush five or so additional mechs back into the field. If we have double the amount of time, then it’s not impossible to get ten or more additional mechs ready to deploy!"

Even if the condition of these hastily-repaired and jury-rigged mechs would likely be awful, every mech frame counted in a battle against a tricky opponent.

The Dragons of the Void deserved their reputation as the most skilled and organized pirates in the frontier. Paired with the deserters from the Finmoth Regal who knew every trick in the Vandal playbook, the Vandal and Swordmaiden survivors did not possess an overwhelming advantage in the upcoming battle.

Therefore, Ves long thought about a means to tilt the advantage to his own side in an unconventional manner.

"It’s not about courage. It’s about survival."

Certainly, the Vandal mech pilots aboard the Shield of Hispania all wanted the whoop the butts of the deserters. Mech Captain Bonnet and her ilk not only forsook their oaths, but more importantly turned their daggers against their former comrades!

A stab in the back was a lot more painful than a stab in the front!

When Ves thought about what delaying actions the Flagrant Swordmaidens could employ, he honed in on the Finmoth Regal. Didn’t he scan the battered combat carrier thoroughly to the point of mapping out all of her exterior damage as well as the structural integrity of at least half the ship with his CFA shuttle?

Not only that, he also obtained detailed scans about the condition of all of their spaceborn mechs!

"We have an information advantage!"

While Ves did not know enough about starships to pinpoint their weaknesses, he knew at least one person aboard the Shield of Hispania who could easily school him in this field.

After bidding farewell to a frazzled Chief Haine, Ves zipped out of the mech workshops and navigated the congested corridors all the way to the engineering bay where an abundance of engineers and technicians milled about core ship components. He sought out Chief Engineer Avanaeon among the crowd and drew him to his office.

"What’s this about, Ves?" He asked. "I’m busy supervising this rabble of stubborn engineers! Everyone of them wants to do things the way they did back on their old ships!"

"I need your help with a plan to deal with the Finmoth Regal. As long as we can hinder or disable that ship, we might not have to fight an arduous battle against the Dragons of the Void."

This caused Chief Avanaeon to look up. "What do you have in mind?"

"We have detailed files and schematics as well as status updates on the deserter vessel, right?"

"Yeah, but that won’t help as much as you think. A combat carrier is military-grade starship built for surviving the rigors of war. Combat carriers are next thing to a fleet carriers in taking a beating!"

Ves activated his Squalon’s built-in comm and projected the detailed scan results of the Finmoth Regal.

Chief Avanaeon widened his eyes. He immediately recognized the Finmoth Regal. "This resolution. This scan penetration! Where did you get all of this?! The quality and quantity of all of this scan data is extremely luxurious! In fact, it’s even better than standing right next to ship!"

"CFA tech has its perks." Ves grinned. "I think the shuttle I lifted off the Starlight Megalodon probably did double duty as a vehicle for customs inspections and peacekeeping. Its scanners are remarkably good at scanning ships, mechs and other vehicles of every kind."

"Makes sense. Damn, the CFA has some really good stuff!"

After Chief Avanaeon went over his tech envy, he demanded Ves to transfer all of the files over to his terminal. Once he obtained the files, the chief engineer performed some quick data aggregation and analysis on the scan data.

The older man became so engulfed in his work that Ves practically didn’t exist anymore in his eyes!

Knowing the importance of a focused state of mind, Ves stood quietly and let the engineer engross himself in the sheer quantity of high-quality scanning data.

After half an hour, the chief engineer finally closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair. His hazard suit creaked as he did so.

"If you told me to come up with a plan to exploit the weaknesses of the Finmoth Regal with archival data, I would have packed you off. Yet now that you brought me all of these up-to-date scan data, there’s no way I can miss out on an easy opportunity to cripple their ship!"

"What a confident boast!" Ves raised his eyebrow. "That sounds ambitious. Are you certain you can cripple the Finmoth Regal?"

"Ves, to a seasoned engineer like me, the Finmoth Regal is a ramshackle combat carrier which depleted most of their supplies. Look at the scans of their cargo bay and material stockpiles to see what I mean. While her crew patched up the most egregious holes, their repairs aren’t very thorough and with the right application of force we can easily punch through them and damage the delicate components and compartments underneath!"

"Even so, most of the surface components and compartments aren’t very vital to the functioning of a combat carrier. Their core systems are always buried in the center with loads of compartments, hull structure and redundant armor layers in between."

"That’s generally the case." Chief Avanaeon nodded, but then spun around the projection so that it showed the Finmoth Regal’s stern. "However, the engineering bay is always placed close to the rear of the vessel and so isn’t as well-protected. The sublight propulsion system is especially exposed. This is where we should strike!"

Avanaeon activated a projector that showed the Finmoth Regal’s actual, damaged and partially-repaired state and highlighted several sections of her stern. _{frёewebηovel.cѳm}