The Mech Touch novel Chapter 947

As soon as Major Verle approved the plan concocted by Ves and Avanaeon, he took it to some strategists and fleshed it out. Not only that, he also selected the best shuttle pilot and a specialist in explosives.

The Six-Sided Dice was fairly small for a shuttle and possessed even less internal volume. It only fit four passengers in ordinary circumstances, and even after taking out all the emergency nutrient packs, oxygen tanks and water filtration system, they still couldn’t stuff too much explosives inside the stealth vehicle.

Nonetheless, if the calculations performed by Ves and Avanaeon panned out, they didn’t need to plant too much explosives on the Finmoth Regal to cripple her sublight propulsion system!

Of course, a key part of the plan entailed the use of compact but extremely potent directional explosive charges.

Much like any other weapon system, they came in various shapes and sizes. For this mission, the Vandals pulled out all the stops. All of the best armorers and bomb experts gathered together to custom fabricate a special batch of shaped charges.

While Ves didn’t verse himself too deeply in bombs and explosives, a shortcoming that he definitely planned to fix in the future, he knew that the shaped charges would do the job of penetrating through the weak points of the Finmoth Regal’s patchy armor.

With all the data at their disposal, the bomb experts calculated the force needed to breach the armor and have enough force left over to damage the vulnerable components and compartments underneath.

Naturally, in order to damage portions of the core systems buried underneath, the shaped charges needed to be made of potent, high-quality materials. The Shield of Hispania used up several rare and volatile exotics to form these potent but very compact charges, but no one begrudged the expenditure.

If these rare exotics allowed the remnants of the Vandals and Swordmaidens to slip through the net and avoid a destructive battle, then the investment already paid off in spades!

"It’s done." Chief Avanaeon said as he accompanied Ves to the CFA shuttle. "I thought my days of entering the fray were over. I feel kind of nervous depending on the ECM systems of this shuttle to keep us under their notice."

"Don’t worry, chief. I already flew this shuttle fairly close to the Finmoth Regal and they didn’t have a clue. As long as we don’t come close enough to be caught on their optical sensors or plain human eyeballs, we’ll be fine."

Due to various reasons, the two would be riding aboard the shuttle that would follow the stealth shuttle from behind and coordinate the upcoming stealth operation with the help of its pinpoint comm buoys and advanced sensors and scanners.

Much of these systems couldn’t be accessed without the availability of authorized personnel. For now, only Ves himself could unlock the full capabilities of the shuttle.

A handful of other Vandals entered the shuttle and took the helm or set up various makeshift control panels in the passenger compartment. Each of the people chosen to ride the shuttles were abundantly competent in their respective fields.

After a quick greeting and introduction, everyone turned back to their own preparations without further word. As professionals, they’d rather focus on doing their best to increase the success rate of the coming operation. _{freewebnovel.cσ๓}

Everyone knew what was at stake. If they succeeded in crippling the mobility of the Finmoth Regal, the Flagrant Swordmaidens would be able to take instant advantage of the deserter ship’s inability to maneuver!

Shortly after, both shuttles launched out of the Shield of Hispania’s shuttle bay and quickly flew off into the void of space.

The distance between the Flagrant Swordmaidens and the Finmoth Regal wasn’t too large. It only took a couple of hours for the shuttles to reach the vicinity of the latter, and this was in a state where they pulled back the throttle in order to minimize their emissions.

The CFA shuttle stopped well outside the range where it might risk being detected by the deserter mechs. In the plan refined by the strategists, the CFA shuttle would never be employed as a vehicle to conduct the sabotage.

The Six-Sided Dice took on the starring role instead. As Ves and Avanaeon sat side-by-side in front of their own control panels, they carefully observed as the stealth shuttle threaded its way through the various mech patrols orbiting the Finmoth Regal.

"Did you ever reckon we would put our stealth shuttle to offensive use?" Avanaeon asked.

"Nope." Ves shook his head. "Then again, I never expected to be plotting against one of our own ships. If we targeted any other pirate ship, I wouldn’t have risked it. The only reason why I proposed this action is because we are probably more familiar with the Finmoth Regal’s hull structure than her entire crew."

He couldn’t overstate the advantage in information. Combining detailed scans with archival data stored within the Shield of Hispania’s local database allowed them to plan ahead and account for almost every variable.

With all of these preparations, the stealth shuttle should easily be able to sneak close, which it did as time went by.

Although Ves grew a little more apprehensive as the shuttle got dangerously close to the ship and her powerful sensors, he also felt confident enough about the effectiveness of its stealth systems to stay calm.

As the stealth shuttle came closer, the CFA shuttle began to employ some subtle scans to confirm the condition of the Finmoth Regal.

"So far, the Finmoth Regal received a small amount of patchwork repairs." Chief Avanaeon stated as he poured over the incoming scan data. "It’s not much, though. I think their engineers and technicians hate the thought of performing EVA work out here."

"They might not be loyal to the cause either." Ves added. "From what I’ve gathered of the mutiny, those who readily turned pirates are usually those with the most grievances. The more skilled and competent Vandals shouldn’t be as enthusiastic as the bottom ranks."

"That theory doesn’t apply to the ringleaders such as Mech Captain Bonnet. They made the decision to desert for more reasons than poor treatment."

They both fell silent upon that. This wasn’t the time to talk about why the Finmoth Regal deserted in the first place. Certainly, desperation at being hunted down by the sandmen and gratefulness towards the Dragons of the Void for rescuing them certainly played a role. Yet the leaders of the Finmoth Regal must have had their own ideas to embrace this grave act of betrayal.

As the Six-Sided Dice exerted its stealth systems to the utmost, it deftly slid around the detection radii of the increasing number of mech patrols as it neared the ship.

The closer the stealth shuttle got, the more it risked brushing within a couple of kilometers past the orbiting mechs on patrol!

Although this sounded like a huge distance, in space it was practically close enough to spit in each other’s faces. Due to the sheer emptiness of space, any signal of heat emission, no matter how minor, would immediately stand out like a candle in the dark, especially at such a close range.