The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1687

Chapter 1687 Solemn Ceremony

The return of the first detachment of Avatars and Sentinels from the front was a much anticipated affair.

Surprisingly, Melkor already sent a message to Ves. The Avatar Commander requested a subdued rather than a bombastic ceremony.

The war wasn't over yet. Planets and star systems continued to fall while countless mech pilots and starfighter pilots sacrificed their lives every day.

In addition, the first batch of returning soldiers brought back the coffins of the fallen.

For that reason, Ves, Gloriana, and everyone else who worked for the Avatars or the LMC turned out to the landing zone of the Mech Nursery on a dreary morning.

In addition to his organization, Ves also invited the Larkinsons and the mech cadets attending their academy to take part in this event.

Every future mech pilot ought to become aware of what was in store for them. Each mech cadet had to accept the prospect of returning to their homes in a coffin one day.

If they perished far beyond friendly territory, then their coffins would never make it back home! Instead, their comrades would have no choice but to launch them into the nearest star!

The ever-present clouds over Cloudy Curtain appeared darker than usual today. A slight shower of rain poured down on the Mech Nursery, though none of the people present shied away from the rain.

The LMC already forecast the rain and installed a device that projected a wide-area rain cover over their heads. A weak energy screen blocked the rain and diverted it to the sides.

"They're coming."

A single carrier emerged in the far distance. Her hull already started to cool from the friction generated by her descent.

Slowly, the ship approached the Mech Nursery and landed her considerable bulk in the center of the landing zone.

Soon, her main hangar bay hatch opened up. A large ramp extended from the opening, revealing a procession of Avatars and Sentinels in golden and silver dress uniforms.

Two columns holding coffins draped with flags of the Bright Republic emerged, stepping onto the landing zone in complete silence.

The ritual slowly proceeded according to some of the customs of the Mech Corps. While the Avatars and Sentinels weren't soldiers, many of them used to serve in the military.

There was no need for them to fix what wasn't broken. The familiar customs soothed their troubled souls. No matter how much the mech pilots suffered at the hands of the sandmen, they had each fought for a noble cause. The lives they directly and indirectly saved as a result of their sacrifice had elevated each of them into heroes.

As a trumpeter blew a sad tune, Ves stood as stiff as possible in order to convey his respect to the fallen.

The survivors brought over forty coffins back from the front. Whether they actually contained any human remains, no one was sure.

Battles at the scale of mechs and alien constructs often resulted in a lot of damage. The forces unleashed by a Sandbreaker rifle was enough to explode an unprotected office building! Even the lightest lasers released by a sandman drone was enough to vaporize a human body from existence!

Considering that most mech pilots perished instantly from a direct laser strike, the retrieval parties often came back with nothing but some floating ashes. _{frёewebnoѵēl.com}

Therefore, no one ever asked what the survivors placed in the coffin. Usually, the comrades of the fallen placed the clothes and some of the personal possessions of the deceased inside to take the place of the missing body.

The family members of the deceased looked at the coffins and started to cry and react under the darkened skies.

Seeing how much the families the dead have left behind were suffering made Ves feel a little guilty. It was easy to dismiss the dead when they were just names on a list, but being confronted by their coffins and their saddened family members hit his emotions a lot harder.

He still steeled his face and presented a stoic front. As a leader and one of the people responsible for sending them in battle, Ves could not show any remorse.

He stood by his choices.

The solemn ceremony slowly conveyed the honor and valor of the fallen to the audience. The rituals had an especially strong effect on the normally energetic and rambunctious mech cadets.

Thousands of young potentates showed up to honor the dead today. Each of them had grown up hearing heroic tales. Coming face to face with the price they might pay for their chance of glory instantly doused their optimism.

They needed this wakeup call. No mech pilot was invincible in battle. Even expert pilots were mortal enough to lose their lives when faced with insurmountable opposition.

After more than half an hour of silent rituals, the ceremony finally ended. As the surviving mech pilots eventually brought the coffin away, the Larkinson instructors slowly guided their pupils away.

The Avatars and Sentinels who remained home walked up to greet the veterans of the Sand War and guide them to their haunts.

Ves and Gloriana slowly turned around and departed while surrounded by their bodyguards.

Each of them held their cats in their grasp. Due to the serious occasion, they remained remarkably quiet and well-behaved. It probably wasn't easy for them to suppress their playfulness, but they knew when to listen to orders.

"Meow."

"I know. Leadership is a burden that constantly weighs me down." He replied. "I wasn't born to be a leader. I don't even really enjoy ordering people around. I only ever wanted to be a mech designer, you know."

"Meow meow." Lucky pressed his paw against his cheek.

"Yeah. You never know where life takes you. That's the charm of living."

Life was precious and valuable because it wasn't predictable. Perhaps some people were convinced that life could be modeled and calculated to a point where the future was already set in stone.

Ves did not buy into this belief. He viewed life as a chaotic form of existence that provided endless variety. It was exactly due to these properties that life must be cherished.