The Mech Touch novel Chapter 604

The Vandals all possessed spunk. Though they lacked training in infantry combat, many of them could throw a punch and most of them knew their way around with pistols.

However, Ves didn’t place much hope on their fighting capacity. Separated from their mechs and ships, the Vandals were worse than a bunch of Planetary Guard recruits in an infantry-level engagement. Due to the restrictive weapon laws in the Harkensen System, none of them except for authorized security officers possessed anything heavier than handheld pistols.

"Where are the Honored Ones? Are the Planetary Guard asleep?!"

"Forget about them! They’ve turned lazy after decades of peace on this planet!"

"The Reinaldans rely too much on turrets and fixed defense installations." Ves quickly spoke. "The saboteurs took most of them out, and those amphibian mechs are wrecking everything that’s left!"

He’d been worried about subsequent pursuit, but it appeared the infiltrators favored discretion over upfront fighting. Though the Vandals who turned up in the corridors didn’t particularly look threatening, they numbered over fifty on this floor alone!

However, their only merit was that they had numbers on their side. If an enemy squad kitted out in full combat gear showed up, they would easily be able to mow everyone down!

Under the lead of the officers, the Vandals organized into their original groups of ten, many of which had slept on the same floor. Ves approached his group which Lieutenant Nolsen Feray served as their beacon.

"What happened to you?" The lieutenant asked.

"I felt something was wrong. I called security, who sent two men to check out my room. Just as scans showed that my body is doped with sedatives, several infiltrators dropped from the ceiling and killed the two without a sound!"

"How are you still walking about when you should have been sleeping like a light?" Nolsen probed with suspicion clouding his eyes. "Infiltrators never make mistakes when dosing someone with sedatives."

"I have my advantages." Ves replied simply. "In any case, I manage to run out of my suite and call for alarm. This is also just after those amphibian mechs emerged from the water and is currently bombarding every defensive fixture in sight!"

The fighting outside had never ceased, though the changing sounds indicated that the battle had entered another phase.

"The Planetary Guard finally showed up!" Someone who peeked out one of the windows yelled. "Damnit, an entire squad of amphibian mechs jumped out of the ocean! They’re kicking the butts of the Planetary Guard!"

Ves risked a peek at one of the windows. He couldn’t make out a lot of detail from this distance, but the overall trend became clear.

"These Planetary Guard mechs are first-response units. They’re equipped for rescue and riot control! Their fluid projectors don’t have the range to stop the amphibian mechs!"

The enemy mechs primarily consisted of amphibian machines armed with dual-purpose kinetic weapons. Kinetic projectiles worked great on land and decently in water, though only at very short ranges. They were accompanied by a couple of knights, who seemed like an afterthought more than anything.

Ves had seen many aquatic mechs before when he visited Moira’s Paradise. He had a taste of their weapons, which had to be adapted to work in water and under pressure. This insight along with the large build of the amphibian mechs led him to believe they held missiles and torpedoes in reserve.

"Careful for missiles!" He warned the Vandals. "They’re saving the best for last, I think!"

Nolsen cursed. "This hotel isn’t safe at all. We need to go downstairs and go underground. If that’s still not enough, we can evacuate through the emergency tunnels. Anything is better than remaining above ground where mechs can continue to take potshots at this structure!"

The Vandals fled downstairs in an organized fashion. Ves blamed his bad luck for being situated at the upper floor. This meant that they had to wait in line for the stairway and emergency tubes to clear out the clogging.

"Hurry up!"

"Don’t press against me!"

"This tube has lost power! Don’t enter!"

The stairway was the most reliable exit. A faster way to go down besides taking the elevator was to slide down the emergency tubes. People got down much faster through the tubes, though they formed a bit of a risky prospect if the antigrav modules failed to modulate their sliding speeds. Their bodies might go splat at the other end!

Due to the EMP attacks, many high-tech escape methods failed to work despite their heavy shielding. In fact, besides the emergency lights, the only other devices that still remained working was their military-issued comms!

The Vandals managed to connect to their brothers and sisters on Harkensen III, rousing them to the highest level of alertness. So far, the Vandals at Harkensen III hadn’t encountered any attacks, but they managed to convince the Reinaldans to send some mechs to reinforce their compound.

"I’ve been thinking, Ves." Nolsen said as they slowly moved down the stairway. "The timing of the attack of the beach matches the moment when the infiltrators determined they were exposed."

"What are you getting at, lieutenant?"

"Our attackers are aiming at you. At the very least, the fact that they tried to sedate you at the start means you’re more useful to them alive than dead. Yet they aren’t hesitant about taking you down if they aren’t able to smuggle you away."

"I don’t know." He frowned. "This infiltration is a little too daring to be happening in Harkensen I. The Reinaldans must be furious right now. I think it’s possible that I’m not the only target they are after."

"Even if you’re not alone, you are definitely among the primary targets."

"That makes sense, considering what I know." Ves murmured. As the temporary head designer of the task force, he knew more about the Vandal mechs than any other mech designer or serviceman in this star system. "Who are our attackers anyway?"

"My money is on Calabast!" Tiss called from the side. "Don’t you think it’s creepy that she approached us in person right before this attack? It’s definitely the Seven Stars who are responsible!"