The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1658

Chapter 1658 Stormy Clouds

A sandman fleet entered the Cloudy Curtain System!

This should have been impossible, or at least extremely unlikely!

After the fall of Sydney Superior, a part of the interior of the Bright Republic became vulnerable. Sandmen fleets were much more able to travel to Bentheim.

The port system already fended off a dozen different sandman incursions, and this was just the start.

While Cloudy Curtain was situated close to Bentheim, the latter was much more attention-grabbing to the sandmen.

Hardly any sandman ought to be interested in a trivial star system with an average sun and no exotic mineral deposits to speak of. It was one of the least attractive star systems in the Bentheim region with a human population.

"How strong is this fleet and where did it come from?" Ves demanded as he entered the command center of the Living Sentinels.

Commander Magdalena Larkinson, who sat in the command chair, answered his question.

"The sandman fleet we've discovered first emerged in Bentheim, sir. Unlike every other fleet that transitioned there, it resisted the incredible temptation to travel closer to the energy-rich planet in the inner system and transitioned back into FTL before the nearest defense force could reach its position."

"This is too abnormal! The sandman admirals never resist the temptation to absorb more energy!"

The Sand War lifted the veil that obscured the sandmen. Previously, many people only knew scant details about this alien race. Now that they became a threat, everyone began to know what they were like.

Perhaps in an attempt to raise everyone's confidence in winning the war, the Bright Republic revealed many details about the race.

As a whole, the sandman was more akin to a superorganism than a genuine civilization of sentients.

While the sandmen were able to process data like computers, they didn't have much of a personality.

As a result, they were more like nature's version of bots. Most sandmen were so simple and stupid that they didn't have the drive to do anything when isolated.

Only the presence of higher-caste sandmen changed the equation a little. Smarter and more capable of independent thought than their lower cousins, these sandmen were able to make their own decisions and command trillions of sandmen to follow their orders.

Naturally, this did not mean that a sandman admiral was just as smart as a human fleet commander. Time and time again, the sandman admirals had shown that they didn't have much imagination and usually followed their orders to the letter.

No sandman admiral should have the initiative to abandon a juicy target for a rotten target, especially several ones at the same time!

"How many sandman admirals are in this fleet?" He asked next.

"Three to five. The local defense fleet is more than capable of addressing this threat, sir."

Ves sighed in relief. While it would be a bit painful to fend them off by relying on the Avatars of Myth and Living Sentinels stationed at Cloudy Curtain, they weren't alone.

The Mech Corps stationed a small force in the star system. The Starfighter Corps also donated some starfighter wings to serve as cannon fodder.

The government also contracted some mercenary corps to bolster the defense. Along with the Cloud Whalers, the private outfits were more than capable of defeating half of the sandman fleet as long as they didn't cut and run.

"Don't expect too much from the starfighter wings." The Sentinel Commander warned. "There are only two of them here, and they all consist of castoffs."

Ves reached towards a nearby control panel and summoned up a page that displayed the readily available assets to meet the incoming threat.

As Magdalena had said, the starfighters patrolling in space all consisted of outdated, first generation models. Their flimsy armor succumbed far too quickly against the sandmen these days.

The sandman fleet that decided to invade Cloudy Curtain this time happened to have adopted the dreaded swarm configuration!

This meant that facing a storm of lasers was practically assured!

"The starfighter pilots will have to prepare themselves for the worst." He muttered.

"I'm not so certain of that, Ves. The Mech Corps has recently sent a notice to us. They plan to repel the sandmen without involving starfighters.

"What?!" Ves grew concerned. "That's ridiculous! Who will draw fire away from our mechs if the starfighters aren't there to act as bait?"

"Captain Xera Monlin believes that it isn't necessary to rely on a screen of starfighters. The starfighter wings will be placed in reserve to offer long-ranged fire support and provide additional assistance as needed."

"What about us, then?"

"We are expected to deploy our new Dawnbreakers in the forefront of the battleline. Together with the Novabreakers fielded by the 2nd Equinox Stingers, our mechs are expected to absorb most of the firepower, at least until the machines can't take it any longer."

Ves wanted to puke. What was the point of fielding cannon fodder if the officer in charge valued their lives too much?

However, considering how badly first generation starfighters performed against the swarm configuration, the mech captain's orders made a bit more sense.

Unlike the starfighters, the Dawnbreaker and Novabreaker models had been designed while the destructive potential of the sandmen came to light.

The armor systems of those mechs were anything but ordinary at a response. The mech already came with a considerable amount of damage mitigation properties to preserve the life of the mech pilot. Paired with a decent application of compressed armor, it took a lot of firepower to crack through their shells!

Even so, Ves was deeply reluctant to put his Dawnbreakers at risk. A sandman fleet led by at least three sandman admirals was a significant threat that could not be repelled without cost!

While the relative strength of the defense forces ensured that they would definitely win, the real question was what price they must pay to achieve victory.