The Mech Touch novel Chapter 676

By the time Ves had reached the command center, the battle had reached a climax. Ves made a profound impression on the crew as his elaborate set of armor replete with a thick cape and bloodstains on his greaves made it seem like he had waded through scores of bodies to get here.

"Mr. Larkinson, for the Republic’s sake, I can forgive you for entering with your showpiece armor, but clean up your bloodstains before you enter!"

"Ah, my apologies, major! I’ll get right on it!"

Ves took a small detour to wipe the stains off his armor. Once he no longer had any spec of blood marring his armored pirate guise, he returned to the command center and sat in the observation seat, which had to readjust its dimensions to accommodate his light combat armor.

He was about to ask what he could do to help, but Major Verle and the rest already seemed engrossed in their own duties. They looked like they had the battle well in hand, so Ves would only disrupt their harmony if he butted in.

He took stock of the situation in space. The Omen of Misfortune faced the brunt of the enemy offensive. However, Lydia’s Swordmaidens and the Flagrant Vandals moved to assist by hitting the flanks of the Castle Breaker fleet. This forced them to abort their bullying attempt on the weaker Omen of Misfortune and redirect their spaceborn mechs to defend their vulnerable starships!

Meanwhile, the Caged and the Red Tongs threw themselves in the battle as well, but not so enthusiastically as the Flagrant Swordmaidens. The close-ranged mechs of the Red Tongs guarded over the long-ranged rifleman mechs of the Caged. They focused their efforts on harassing the forces of the Omen of Misfortune, occupying the hapless pirate gang steepled in mystique and preventing them from taking revenge on the beleaguered Castle Breakers.

Smaller pirate outfits flitted at the periphery, their insignificant mechs and firepower barely affecting the greater trend of the battle.

"Seems like the Castle Breakers bit off more than they could chew." He muttered as his eyes gazed over the plot like a roving hawk taking its time to select a suitable prey. "The Vandals already outnumber the Castle Breakers in terms of spaceborn combatants, and it’s an even worse for them now that we have the Swordmaidens backing up our forces."

Lydia’s Swordmaidens didn’t exactly excel in spaceborn combat, but their murderous swordsman mechs made any clash in melee range a destructive endeavor.

As their name suggested, the Castle Breaker’s mech doctrine excelled in breaking fortified position. They employed a mix of artillery mechs, cavalry mechs and a substantial lineup of medium melee mechs to crash and exploit any opening they made in an enemy’s fortified position.

This was a strong but expensive mech lineup. Normal pirate outfits shied away from such a mech doctrine because it required adequate funding and a talented roster of mech technicians and mech pilots. Only elites among the pirates applied to join the Castle Breakers!

"Still, once they manage to get this lineup together, it can certainly pay back for itself in record time."

A stronger mech roster opened up new ways to earn money. From what Ves briefly found out through a quick search on the galactic net, the Castle Breakers opted to follow the essence of their name. They earned their living by cracking open secure settlements and fortified space stations like they were pinatas and grab all of the goodies that became exposed!

No fortress or stronghold in the frontier was safe against them. Heck, they even drifted into divilized space from time to time to attack distant company outposts. The only reason why they hadn’t been banned from civilized space was because they scrupulously avoided civilian settlements in the Komodo Star Sector. _{freёwebnovel.com}

The same couldn’t be said for the settlements in the Faris Star Region. The Castle Breakers weren’t above raiding, pillaging and enslaving the degenerated descendants of past starfarers that had become stranded in the frontier.

They found a lucrative way to sustain themselves, and with a mech champion like Rowland ’Deathless’ Ryke as their standard bearer, they attracted numerous skilled independent mech pilots over the years.

However, the talent of their mech pilots and the above average quality of their mechs was only relative to the predominant standard in the frontier. Their expensive mechs were as brittle sand when faced with the refined and well-designed mechs of the Flagrant Vandals. Their so-called elite pirate mech pilots faltered when they met the disciplined, coordinated Vandals who employed various battle formations to befuddle their individualistic minds!

The chaotic situation aside, the Castle Breakers had no hopes of winning against the Flagrant Vandals. Both sides knew it, so the Castle Breakers had started showing signs of trying to disentangle themselves from the battle they provoked on their own accord.

"It’s not so easy to escape responsibility for your own actions!" Major Verle grinned as he leaned closer at the projection of the battle plot. "Captain Rakeshir, drive the fleet forward! Their mobility is their weak point! Let’s show them how we Vandals break such a lumbering mech force into pieces!"

"Aye, major!"

The battle had already entered a superheated phase with the Vandals gaining the upper hand from the moment they entered the battle. At no point were the Castle Breakers able to overcome the Vandal superiority in numbers, training, skill or martial tradition. The had already reinvigorated their attempts to back off from the fight, but the Vandals smelled blood right now and wouldn’t let them leave!

The combat carriers of the Vandals surged ahead. The Shield of Hispania shook as her sub-light propulsion pushed the flagship into a straight course into the middle of the dogfights between their mechs.

"The mechs of the Castle Breakers have entered into the effective range of our Akkara mechs! Do you wish to give the command to open fire, sir?"

"Not yet!" Major Verle commanded. "Wait until our targets enter into medium range. At this range, our heavy artillery mechs will be liable to hit own our machines."

Everyone impatiently waited for their combat carriers to reach this magic range. The Akkara mechs had already slotted themselves into the bunker hardpoints placed along the hulls of the combat carriers. They were meant to blast their opposition apart, and it didn’t matter whether they fought in space or on land!