The Mech Touch

by welldarn

Just posting this here so I can listen to it while I'm at work. I obviously don't own this work. If you are looking for the previous 175 chapters look up the User: Srtyi.

50. Chapters 2651-2700

Chapter 2651: Mounting Pressure

The battle between the Golden Skull Alliance and Task Force Umbra had formally commenced!

The initial volley unleashed by the Charlemagne and its 44 follower mechs struck the prow of the Spirit of Bentheim in a taunted fashion.

"He's mocking us! He's insulting our clan!"

"Don't let this traitor go. Let us prove to everyone that the future of the Larkinsons lies with us instead of this kinslayer!"

undefinedThe Larkinsons were all in high spirits after Ves riled them up! Every crew member stood ready to respond to any emergency. Every mech pilot sat silently in their cockpits while awaiting their orders.

Of course, the Larkinson fleet did not consist entirely of soldiers. There were many children and other dependents who weren't able to contribute in any way. They had all been moved to the Spirit of Bentheim as a precaution.

The sub-capital ships of the expeditionary fleet weren't safe enough to protect them all. Ves also wanted to move civilians out of the smaller vessels in order to free up other uses for the half-evacuated vessels.

Every combat carrier and every support ship was a potential asset on the battlefield. The survival of these relatively ordinary vessels was not a priority to the Larkinsons.

As long as they won the battle, they could rebuild everything they had lost! To Ves, every ship aside from the Spirit of Bentheim was just a pile of credits. Even if he lost almost all of his entire fleet, it only took a bit of time and money to reform his fleet!

As Ves sat down on his special seat at the rear, a large panorama of projections came to life. Lucky settled on his lap while the long-ranged sensors of the fleet began to glean more details from the closing opponents.

The Larkinsons and its allies had already invested a lot of effort in determining the properties of the enemy carriers. Ves mentally issued a command that summoned a page that summarized the known and suspected attributes of the Fridayman deep strike fleet carriers.

"They truly went big with this attack." He murmured.

All five fleet carriers were important strategic assets to the respective institutions of the Friday Coalition. Losing any of them would definitely cause a lot of pain.

However, if their loss came paired with the death of Ves, then the leaders of the Coalition would probably rejoice!

A rueful smile appeared on his face. "I guess my head is worth more than all of these ships and mechs."

He always liked it when others appreciated him, but he did not like it when the enemy gave him respect. He would rather be underestimated by his enemies, or better yet, not be recognized by them at all. It was incredibly stressful to be on guard against competent and powerful enemies all the time.

In a way, Ves felt a bit relieved that the Friday Coalition had opted to pull the trigger at this time.

Ves knew for sure that this was their last and final attempt to take him down.

Once he surpassed this hurdle, he could completely leave the Komodo Star Sector behind.

What was even better was that Venerable Ghanso had come as well. This was the best opportunity to get rid of the greatest tumor of the Larkinsons. Ves did not want to leave until he was absolutely certain that his least favorite cousin had met his end at the hands of his mechs!

"Come, Ghanso. Let's see who of us shall shape the future of the Larkinsons!"

The start of the battle did not erupt in an explosion. The range was still too far for that.

The infamous Unit L had already ceased fire after unleashing just a single volley. The Larkinsons didn't expose any easy targets for the enemy ranged mechs.

The defending mechs did not stupidly expose their frames in open space. Instead, the Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers all positioned their mechs behind the bulk of their armored vessels.

The only mechs that exposed a portion of themselves to the approaching enemies were the various ranged mechs. They huddled behind purpose-built extensions that the vessels specifically erected to provide the ranged mechs with plenty of cover.

While these ranged mechs weren't as well-protected as bunker mechs, they had gained a lot of defense against frontal attacks!

The Fridaymen were no different. Most of their mechs were out of sight as their huge carriers and smaller sub-capital ships obscured their mechs as much as possible.

They were actually clever enough to deploy their mechs out of sight from their opponents. Even now, the Larkinsons still didn't know which units they faced and how many enemy expert mechs lurked out of sight.

As the range between the two fleets continued to narrow, the calm finally broke to an extent.

"Detecting incoming fire!"

Both sides started to test each other out by firing some modest volleys at each other. While Unit L conserved its firepower, the ranged mechs and the artillery mechs among the attacking force finally opened fire.

Hundreds of energy beams struck one of the combat carriers of the Penitent Sisters!

The beams raked across the hull of the second-class vessel, but none of them managed to pierce through the surface layers.

In response, the vessel started to rotate. While this inconvenienced the rifleman mechs and bunker mechs that relied on her for protection, the rotation caused the subsequent volleys to spread out their damage across a much wider surface area!

Ves and the Larkinsons all remained calm. This was more of a probe than anything else. The Fridaymen gathered valuable data as they tested the response of the Larkinson fleet. Their ranged mechs were also able to examine their own performance and determine whether their weapons required additional calibration.

The defenders soon reciprocated. The ranged mechs and artillery mechs each fired their energy weapons at one of the combat carriers brought by the Praetor Clan.

Colonel Ariadne Wodin ordered the ranged mechs to fire their weapons at half strength. There was no need to stress out their guns in the opening phase of the battle.

"We won't win this battle by taking down the enemy carriers." The projection of Major Verle quietly stated to Ves. "Even if we manage to take down 75 percent of their fleet, their mechs will do us in. We have to wait until our opponents begin their main assault before we can concentrate our firepower on their mechs."

Ves nodded in understanding. "It's a bit frustrating to allow the enemy to close in without beating them back."

The tension in the fleet increased as the defenders nervously awaited the next move of their opponents.

The initiative was firmly in the hands of the enemy strike force. The Fridaymen and their allies had many options at their disposal.

The most important question was whether they would opt to bull through in a straight line or attempt to split up their fleet in order to catch their prey in a pincer attack.

It turned out the enemy leader chose the latter approach!

"Detecting course changes among the enemy fleet! They're splitting up in two diverging elements!"

The Fridaymen opted to separate themselves from the Praetors and Planats. The factions all gave up the advantages brought by concentrating all of their strength and decided they would rather catch their targets in flanking fire.

It took a lot of confidence to make this decision!

By splitting up their forces in two, one of the branches risked getting focused upon.

However, the advantages were equally as great. The Golden Skull Alliance already showed their intention of making as much use of their starships as hard cover as possible.

This meant that frontal attacks would not lead to any decisive results!

The enemy commanding officer evidently wanted to achieve more decisive results. By attacking their targets from two different directions, it became a lot more difficult for the defending mechs to guard against incoming fire from multiple directions!

"I was afraid of this." Major Verle sighed. "This will be an intense and decisive engagement. While their flanking maneuvers will cause them to take additional time to close in, our losses will rapidly mount if they succeed in enfilading us. Only our bunker mechs are protected from attacks coming from multiple directions."

"What will we do?" Ves asked. "Will we split up our fleet as well, or will we focus on one of the two pincers?"

"It's not that simple, sir. For now, we will wait and see. We first need to determine whether the Fridaymen distributed their forces unequally. If we barrel down on the pincer that holds the bulk of the enemy mech troops, then we won't be able to free up enough forces to fend off the other pincer!"

The situation was actually a lot more complicated than that, but Major Verle did not have the time to expound upon all of the tactical moves that both sides could make.

To Ves, the enemy maneuvers complicated the battlefield to an extent. The Larkinsons had no choice but to split up their mech forces in two as well in order to respond to both pincers.

Additional maneuvers might force his mech forces to split up even further. This was not good news to Ves as he believed that his mech pilots performed at their best when they fought shoulder to shoulder with as many comrades as possible.

The false peace did not last long. The pincers didn't take any major detours. They parted from each other just enough to support each other in the event their targets wanted to gang up on one of them. While that meant that attackers didn't gain the best angles against their targets, they didn't waste too much time!

"Their ranged mechs are opening fire!"

The Fridaymen and its allies attacked for real this time! After collecting a lot of data, their fire became a lot more precise!

They targeted the engines of starships, the bunkers where artillery mechs were huddling behind and struck many other targets of opportunity.

At the same time, the mechs that were still out of sight launched tens of thousands of missiles in quick succession!

The missiles initially flew to the sides before slowly arcing in the direction of the expeditionary fleet!

"Intercept those missiles!"

Long-ranged sensors and scanners immediately analyzed the incoming missiles. It quickly became clear that the missiles were very powerful!

The defenders had no choice but to take them down lest the potent payloads inflicted considerable damage to their starships!

Fortunately, the Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers were not weak when it came to this aspect.

Ves keenly paid attention to the performance of his Transcendent Punishers and Valkyrie mechs.

The former employed its positron beam cannons at low power in order to fire them at a rapid frequency. When any of the missiles came close, the heavy artillery mechs activated their rapid-fire secondary pulse cannons.

Though the Larkinson fleet only hosted 350 Transcendent Punishers, their firing rate and accuracy was disproportionately high!

The Valkyrie Redeemers and other Valkyrie mechs performed much worse in this aspect. Their pulse submachine guns were not famed for their range or accuracy. They only made meaningful contributions when the swarm of missiles came close.

Due to the flood of incoming missiles, a number of them managed to reach their targets! They impacted several starships, cracking a considerable amount of hull plating and taking out various surface modules.

While the missiles didn't inflict too much damage in the end, they were a huge distraction which allowed the enemy ranged mechs to attack their targets with impunity!

"How many missiles do they have?"

"They shouldn't have too much left I think! Their fleet lacks a support train, so it's impossible for them to bring too many supplies!"

While the missile swarms slowly petered off, hundreds of powerful shots suddenly hit one of the damaged Penitent Sister carriers!

"The Listener of Athena has lost a portion of her power! She's drifting out of formation!"

"Damn!"

The sudden salvo struck one of his combat carriers with much more strength and precision than he thought! This was absolutely a calculated attack that could only be accomplished by a specialized troop!

"Who launched that critical attack?!"

Soon enough, one of the sensor operators supplied the answer.

"It's a detachment from the 125th Destiny Hammers, one of the famed artillery regiments of the Vanguard Group!"

The first Fridaymen elites had announced their entry into the battle!

Chapter 2652: Elite Mech Units

The Vanguard Group was one of the declining partners of the Friday Coalition. Their prominence was so low that most people in the Komodo Star Sector overlooked their existence.

That did not mean their mechs were weak! While the Vanguard Army was not as large or well-equipped as the Gauge Dynasty, the 125th Destiny Hammers could go toe-to-toe against any Hexer elite artillery regiment!

The Destiny Hammers was an old mech regiment that possessed a rich martial tradition. They piloted exclusive mechs designed by some of the best Masters of the Vanguard Group.

What stood out was their penchant for bombarding their enemies with precise kinetic and explosive attacks!

undefinedThey loved to hit their targets with hard-hitting projectiles aimed at any possible vulnerabilities. The energy beams they fired before was actually the secondary armament of their heavy mechs!

Just like the Transcendent Punishers, the Destiny Hammer mechs actually allocated much of their capacity to their formidable gauss cannons!

However, unlike the Transcendent Punishers which essentially relied on cheating to inflate their accuracy, the Destiny Hammers relied on pure skill and advanced technology to raise effective hit rate!

As Ves quickly read through the intelligence the Hexers had gathered on the Destiny Hammers, he grew quite concerned.

Even though the Destiny Hammers only 'donated' a couple of mech companies for this operation, their track record suggested that their performance would definitely be disproportionately high!

The Golden Skull Alliance immediately designated the Destiny Hammer mechs as priority targets. The longer the latter were allowed to fire their weapons, the more the expeditionary fleet suffered!

While that applied to every ranged mech unit, the Destiny Hammers were especially threatening in this case!

However, the Destiny Hammers weren't the only threats at range. The enemy possessed a lot of other potent threats.

Unlike the Destiny Hammers who had yet to unveil their best weapons, a different troop persistently achieved great results at extreme range!

Precise laser beams and positron beams struck the various surface modules of every starship in the expeditionary fleet. Even though it was incredibly difficult to achieve consistent results at longer ranges due to various reasons, the ranged mechs sticking close to the fleet carrier called the Orca Tyrant achieved exceptional results!

While the damage to the exposed sensor and communication arrays did not lead to any short-term drops in effectiveness, if this went on, the command and control capabilities of the expeditionary fleet would definitely suffer!

The Larkinsons and Glory Seekers tried their best to identify the enemies that achieved such steady results.

"It's the 219th Witch Slayers of the Puffer Clan!"

It was another famed marksman mech regiment! The Puffer Clan was just as weak if not weaker than the Vanguard Group, but their Witch Slayers had achieved remarkable results in the Komodo War.

Whereas the Destiny Hammers specialized in inflicting as much targeted destruction as possible at medium range, the Witch Slayers excelled at focusing their fire on critical targets at extreme ranges!

They were one of the premier sniper groups of the Friday Coalition. Their record was filled with accounts of turning the tide of battles by assassinating critical leaders or disabling critical hardware!

The formal entry of the Destiny Hammers and the Witch Slayers exerted a lot of pressure onto the expeditionary fleet.

"We have considerably more ranged mechs than the enemy, but our opponents have the edge on this aspect." Major Verle muttered. "Look at the results of our attacks. They're too scattered. Most of our firepower is absorbed by the thick hull plating of their combat carriers. We're not weakening the enemy strike force in any meaningful way except for chipping away at their buffer."

Ves wanted to rub his smooth-shaven chin, but his armored hand bumped against the chin of his helmet.

"Erm, we need to do something. As long as we give the order, our Transcendent Punishers can likely give them a surprise."

Major Verle frowned. "As much as it pains us to lose out on this long-ranged duel, we still need to hold on to our trump cards. From my understanding, our Ylvainan mech pilots cannot maintain their highly accurate state for an extended amount of time. We need to preserve this advantage until we truly need to eliminate our opponents quickly."

Eventually, they decided to keep the Transcendent Punishers on a leash. They were only allowed to fight normally inside their bunkers unless ordered otherwise.

Though Ves privately believed that it was best to cripple the Destiny Hammers and the Witch Slayers at the start in order to curtail their destructive influence, the range was a bit too long. Even if the Transcendent Punishers achieved quick results, it was far too easy for the elite range mechs to hunker down and weather the storm.

Besides, the two units were hardly the only notable threats the enemy held in reserve!

Ves briefly glanced at another projection. The Cross Clan seemed to focus much of their ire against the Praetor Clan and the Planat Clan. The grudge between the two sides ran so deep that they practically ignored the Larkinsons and the Fridaymen!

While he grew a little concerned at that, it was not a problem for now. The Larkinsons tried their best to identify which elite mech units they were facing while defending against as many incoming attacks as possible.

The good news was that the enemy stopped launching missiles. The bad news was that the missiles had done a good job of drawing out the defenses of the expeditionary fleet.

The enemy likely gathered a wealth of data. They identified the positions of every bunker, estimated the firepower of the heavy artillery mechs that shot down the missiles and gauged the damage resistance of starship hulls.

Few attacks landed on the Spirit of Bentheim. The Friday Coalition already learned that the factory ship possessed relatively high defenses for a non-combat vessel.

The Larkinson fleet did not even attempt any other ships in front of the Spirit of Bentheim. Any attacks that strayed in the direction of the capital ship harmlessly splashed against one of her energy shields.

It took a lot of contracted attacks to overload a heavy-duty shield generator. Unless the enemy was determined to crack open the Spirit of Bentheim, it was best for them to direct their firepower on easier targets.

The sub-capital ships of the expeditionary fleet suffered the brunt of the enemy bombardment as a consequence. While none of the other ships had been crippled yet, they gained increasingly more hull breaches.

The Larkinsons already expected this outcome. It was not as if they held all of their fire.

The combat carriers of the Garlaner clans and the Forward Momentum of the Vanguard Group came under significant fire.

The latter received special attention because she was one of the least resilient fleet carriers in the enemy fleet. While the Orca Tyrant of the Puffer Clan came close, the Forward Momentum received the greatest attention because it held the increasingly more threatening mechs of the Destiny Hammers.

While the Witch Slayers were incredibly annoying, the Destiny Hammers possessed a much greater capacity for destruction!

Sooner or later, the artillery duel would begin in earnest. Both sides were still waiting until they reached their optimal range.

More ranged mechs opened fire from both sides. Aside from the artillery mechs, the other mechs did not fire their weapons at full power. The ranged mechs also controlled their firing rate in order to moderate their energy consumption and minimize their heat buildup.

As the enemy mechs continued to expose their strength, the Larkinsons continually identified more and more units.

The Coalition Reserve Corps brought forward a distinctive unit of medium and heavy mechs.

"The 77th Corundian Giants." Major Verle frowned. "They're specialized in defense. They're also good at steadily pushing lines. The Corundian Giant mechs are noted for carrying multiple shields. While their mobility is low, they can shed pieces of their armor in order to gain a boost in acceleration and agility."

"There's more to them than just their defensive mechs." Ves zoomed in on the live footage of a pair of mechs that practically melded together into a single combination. "Is that a cannoneer mech slotted into the back of a space knight?"

Although Ves had heard about these combinations, he had never seen it in action, let alone be on the receiving end of this unusual tactic!

He continually zoomed in on the Corundian Giant mechs until he confirmed his suspicions.

"The two mechs have truly bound their frames together!"

The space knights of the elite CRC mech regiment boasted an abnormal design. The flight system mounted to their back collapsed and moved to the side. This exposed some kind of mounting mechanism which allowed a specially-designed cannoneer mech to physically slot itself in place!

The result was a very slow-moving combination mech that possessed superior defenses and superior firepower!

In fact, the genius part about this complex maneuver was that the two different mechs were essentially capable of sharing their strengths.

The space knight was no longer a punching bag. Instead, it gained a very powerful helper that was capable of retaliating against any ranged mechs.

The cannoneer mech could fire its cannons without exposing any of its fragile frame. Not only that, but it was able to draw power from its companion mech while dumping a lot of excess heat at the same time!

Of course, the combination's awful mobility left it very prone to flanking attacks, but that was not a concern at the moment!

Ves felt both impressed and intimidated at the fantastic mechs the enemy employed. As a mech designer, he keenly recognized that none of the enemy mechs were weak! Their quality was incredibly high and their performance was guaranteed to be stellar!

"What the? Are those hero mechs?!"

"Huh?!" Ves reacted with surprise.

Hero mechs were not common. They forced too many compromises and demanded more from their mech pilots. Most mech militaries preferred to employ mechs with more defined roles.

When Ves directed his attention to the mechs that stuck close to the Auralis, he became a little more suspicious. The colors of those mechs looked a bit familiar.

"It's the 1633rd Bloody Herons of the Gauge Dynasty!"

"What?!" Ves almost shot up from his seat!

He never expected to encounter a unit from the Bloody Herons!

"What is the matter, sir?" Major Verle asked.

"The Bloody Herons.. are very special. Their mech pilots are all connected to a neural network."

The Bloody Herons was one of Master Huron's handiworks. They were famed for their versatility and exceptionally high coordination!

Their mech pilots overflowed with talent and were proficient in both ranged and melee combat. It was like facing an army of Joshuas who all happened to have gone through a very strict training program that allowed them to meld their minds together in the midst of battle!

During the development of his spiritual networks and battle networks, Ves had performed plenty of research on the elite mech troops that Master Huron had shaped.

The Bloody Herons was one of his greatest success stories! The combination of excellent skill, powerful mechs, punishing training and a brotherhood that was closer to family resulted in many victories against the Hex Army!

Did Master Huron bear a grudge against Ves? He allowed the Gauge Dynasty to commit Unit L to this operation, but also 5 full mech companies of the Bloody Herons!

Ves understood more than anyone else in the expeditionary fleet how exceptional the Bloody Herons could be once they entered the stage. Their powerful and expensive hero mechs hacked down any enemy that came close and fired their rifles at any targets that thought they were safe at range.

While this didn't sound particularly different, the key here was that the Bloody Herons coordinated their actions to an insanely high degree!

What one mech pilot knew, another mech pilot knew as well!

Ves could not allow the Bloody Herons to take over the battle!

Chapter 2653: Heavy Pummeling

The artillery duel soon began in earnest!

The heavy artillery mechs holed up inside the many bunkers placed on the hulls of hundreds of carriers all let loose their heaviest armaments!

The space between the two fleets lit up with a combination of searing beams and heavy projectiles!

The Destiny Hammer artillery mechs securely ensconced on the Forward Momentum silently roared to life! Their gauss cannons did not fire rapidly, but every hit inflicted telling blows to every vessel they struck!

undefinedIf the elite Fridayman heavy mechs managed to land a direct hit on one of the lighter mechs of the expeditionary fleet, then the latter would certainly be taken out of the fight!

Even though the defenders had not exposed many of their mechs, the Larkinsons assigned to pilot the budget second-class mechs were already shaking in their seats.

The oppression exerted by the Destiny Hammers

was wholly disproportionate to their numbers. Now that they had begun to fire their main cannons, their destructive capacity was beginning to hurt the starships they targeted for real. Hull plating cracked, compartments became exposed to space and all manner of surface components were being swept at an alarming rate.

The Vanguard Group's premier heavy artillery mech regiment fully deserved its stellar reputation!

Ves was already starting to regret his decision to commit the Larkinson Clan to fighting against the Fridayman elite mech troops.

He underestimated the extent in which the Coalition partners invested heavily in these units. By combining superb mechs, exceptionally-trained mech pilots and well-developed martial traditions, the Fridaymen produced an all-round end product that was able to compete against the best of what the surrounding Star Sectors had to offer!

If not for their relatively limited numbers, Ves would have ordered his clan to forget about the fight and abandon the entire fleet except for the Spirit of Bentheim!

There was no way the Larkinson at its height could defeat the Destiny Hammers if they brought their entire mech regiment! Just 80 of their mechs were already chipping away at the morale boost that Ves had managed to instill in his men with his speech.

The worst part of all of this was that the Destiny Hammers weren't even the scariest elites the enemy strike force had in store!

Through direct and indirect observation, the sensor and intelligence personnel slowly identified additional Fridayman elites among the incoming fleet.

The Auralis not only carried a detachment of Bloody Herons, but also hosted the 1002nd Holvein Grenadiers!

The Holvein Grenadiers was a renowned elite mech regiment with an all-round orientation. They fielded many different mech types, allowing them to utilize combined arms to achieve great synergies.

As their name suggested, the Holvein Grenadier mechs were also known for carrying a plethora of grenades.

It didn't matter whether they were swordsman mechs, space knights, rifleman mechs or auxiliary mechs. As long as they wore the colors of the Holvein Grenadiers, they definitely carried at least a couple of expensive grenades with varied effects!

This made them a nightmare to fight against in close range. Whenever the Grenadiers wanted to unleash a surprise, they whipped out a grenade and expertly threw them in a way that dealt the most damage to their opponents!

The grenades couldn't easily be guarded against. Even if their exterior shells all looked exactly the same, they possessed many possible effects. Some of them possessed plain high explosive payloads. Others unleash a shower of plasma. A rare few detonated an intense EMP blast.

While these potent grenades may cost as much as a mech, the Gauge Dynasty continually supplied the Holvein Grenadiers with replacements. This had turned all of their mech pilots into explosion artists!

Anytime the Hex Army encountered the Holvein Grenadiers in battle, the normally-aggressive Hexers instantly suspended all of their plans to push forward. They would rather fight the Grenadiers at range than fight up close!

There was more. The Konsu Clan contributed their elites as well. Hundreds of swordsman mechs trailing close behind the Amagi. The Glory Seekers eventually identified them as the 125th Silent Swords!

This was yet another trump card of the Friday Coalition!

Every mech pilot of the Silent Sword took on a vow of silence. While that did not preclude them from communicating with friendlies in other ways, they rarely did so. Whenever they fought on the battlefield, they relied on their impeccable teamwork and strong battle sense to coordinate with each other and advance in unison.

They were almost just as coordinated as the Bloody Herons, but without relying on any technological solutions such as neural networks!

Due to their extreme diligence and discipline, the Silent Swords weren't only some of the best swordsman mech pilots of the Friday Coalition. They also cultivated minds of steel. The elite Konsu clansmen were so exceptional in this aspect that they were effectively immune against any suppressive glows!

"The Glory Seekers estimate that the Amagi is carrying up to 400 Silent Sword mechs. That's 8 mech companies, sir." Major Verle's projection spoke to Ves on the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim. "The Silent Swords are the shock troops of the Fridayman strike force. The enemy will likely hold them back until our mechs are tired and exhausted from fighting the other elite mechs. Once the enemy commander judges that we have exhausted most of our strength, the fresh and fully-prepared Silent Sword mechs will likely swoop in and roll us up with unstoppable momentum!"

While the Fridaymen might not necessarily employ the Silent Swords in this manner, it was what the Larkinson Clan would do if it was in the place of the enemy.

The Silent Swords were famed for their combat prowess up close, but possessed obvious shortcomings at range. At this stage of the battle, it did not make sense for them to enter the stage.

In fact, the Larkinsons also intended to keep Venerable Dise and the Swordmaidens in reserve for the same reason. The only difference was that there were a lot less of them! Too little time had passed for the Swordmaidens to train up additional mech pilots, so they were only capable of fielding a single mech company at this time.

The huge number disparity depressed Ves. If the Swordmaidens were able to field ten times as much mechs, then he wouldn't be so concerned about the Silent Swords!

As Ves and the other leaders worried about how to fight against the different Fridaymen elites, the soldiers did not think so much.

The ranged mech pilots were all focused on shooting at the approaching threats!

The Transcendent Punishers debuted in battle for the first time. Every bunker on a Larkinson ship featured the purpose-built artillery mechs. Their six thick legs sank deep into the slots of the bunkers. Anchoring the mechs not only brought exceptional stability, but also enabled much more efficient heat transfer.

Four out of six of their heavy cannons fired on a continuous basis. Their positron cannons fired incredibly powerful beams that stripped the layers of anything they struck. Their Xcordon gauss cannons immediately cracked and breached the damaged layers if they managed to land their shots on target!

Taon Melin concentrated fully on his duel against the Destiny Hammers. The higher had commanded the Transcendent Punishers to focus most of their firepower against the bunkers of the Forward Momentum.

It wasn't easy. The Fridayman deep strike carrier may be the weakest capital ship on the battlefield, but her acceleration and agility made it very difficult to achieve consistent hits on a single point along her hull!

The Vanguard Group had cheaped out when it came to cladding the Forward Momentum with armor, but the shipbuilders did not neglect her bunkers. Every shell protecting the Destiny Hammers against external attacks was extra thick!

Fortunately, the Transcendent Punishers were just as secure, if not more.

A volley of heavy gauss rounds impacted the energy shield erected before the group of bunkers that held the Prophet's Fist along with several other Transcendent Punishers!

The energy shields only blocked the initial shots before disappearing, allowing subsequent shots to impact the upper layers of the bunkers!

The bunkers held, if only for now. Despite the lack of thunderous sounds, Taon could practically feel the vibrations as a pair of kinetic rounds slammed onto the protective roof above the Prophet's Fist!

The mech would have been okay even if the bunker succumbed to the attacks. Heavy mechs weren't big and expensive for nothing!

Regardless, Taon couldn't help but regard the Destiny Hammers as his greatest foes. Out of all of the enemy ranged mechs, he instinctively felt he needed to annihilate the enemy artillery mechs before he was free to bring his guns to bear against other targets.

The Destiny Hammers evidently felt the same way because they had concentrated more and more of their fire onto the bunkers of the expeditionary fleet!

After pouring their fire onto the Spirit of Bentheim for a while, the Destiny Hammers eventually directed their fire elsewhere.

This was not because it was impossible for them to inflict meaningful damage against the bunker mechs aboard the factory ship. The enemy artillery mechs succeeded in breaching a couple of bunkers.

The problem was their progress was too slow!

The shield generators that constantly came online for a few moments mitigated a substantial portion of incoming fire. This weakened any attacks directed against the flagship of the Larkinson Clan.

The shield generator operators expertly activated and deactivated the energy shields in order to manage the stress onto their devices. The shields worked wonderfully against lighter attacks but could not bear the burden of blocking too many heavy attacks.

Each time a shield generator came under a heavy burden, they rapidly heated up. Some of their subcomponents also reached their limits. If the shield generator kept blocking more and more damage, they might fizzle out and forcibly enter an emergency cooldown cycle!

Skilled operators and engineers were capable of overriding this necessary cycle if they needed to. The shield generators would then be forced to erect wobbly, unstable energy shields that could still play a critical role at the right time.

This was very dangerous, though! Aside from risking breakdowns and explosions, overloading the shield generators also reduced their lifespans at decades at a time.

The Larkinsons obviously couldn't care about that at this time. The heavy-duty shield generators cost as much as hundreds of mechs, but they were ultimately machines in the end.

If their operators had to push them to their breaking points in order to lighten the burden on the Transcendent Punishers, then so be it. Lives could not be rebuilt as easily as machines!

Through the pure and sacred glow of the Prophet's Fist, Taon felt his purpose. Even without the mech's special ability, he still had Prophet Ylvaine by his side. The passive glow already expanded his awareness, allowing him to identify the best and most threatening targets he should train his guns on. His accuracy slowly increased as he became more in tune with his artillery mech!

Not every Ylvainan mech pilot was able to reach this elevated state of mind. Their closeness to their mechs might not be as good or they might be unaccustomed to piloting artillery mechs.

Another reason why the Transcendent Punishers weren't able to perform at their best was because of the pummeling they received!

After the Destiny Hammers learned that the Spirit of Bentheim was too well-protected to succumb to their attacks, the enemy artillery mechs trained all of their firepower on the bunkers of the combat carriers instead!

Devoid of shields and boasting thinner layers of armor, the incoming rounds and positron beams made quick work on the bunkers. The accuracy of the Destiny Hammer mech pilots were so high that not even rotating mechs stopped them from concentrating their fire onto individual bunkers!

The first Transcendent Punishers had already fallen when their bunkers collapsed and lots of heavy attacks slammed into their frames!

"This can't go on!" Taon screamed.

The higher ups agreed. Soon enough, the Ylvainan mech pilots finally received the order that they had been waiting for. They received orders to activate the greatest function of their new machines!

Chapter 2654: Ever Forward!

Lieutenant Edmund Corsica of the Destiny Hammers piloted his heavy artillery mech with great proficiency.

Armed with as much as ten energy and physical cannons, the mech expended both energy and ammunition at a judicious rate as it pummeled one of the Hexer-built combat carriers of the Larkinson Clan.

The only downside to carrying so much armament was that the mech was rapidly heating up while expending much of its ammunition and energy!

As the limited ammo reserves of his mech started to bottom out, the hatch into the bunker slid open. A porter mech along with some cargo bots arrived just in time to deliver fresh supplies.

undefinedThe thick and heavyset mech ceased fire and opened up a rear port that exposed its spent ammunition and energy cell canisters.

Jets of cooling fluids sprayed from the sides of the bunker, causing it to fill up with steam. The artillery mech was already cooling down once it silenced its guns, but the extra cooling measures accelerated its recovery!

The porter mech proficiently removed the depleted canisters and put fresh ones in their place. The mech slapped its heavy palm against the rear port that had just closed.

"You're set! Good luck, Edmund!"

"Keep up the good work, Benny."

As a proud soldier and mech officer of the Vanguard Group, he knew the importance of this battle.

The creator of glows and one of the most influential supporters of the Hexadric Hegemony was aboard the factory ship of the enemy fleet.

Ending the life of the former Brighter known as Ves Larkinson was their primary objective!

The increasingly more intensive engagement took a greater toll on both sides. Starships began to receive crippling damage while various mechs were starting to collapse after being subjected to focused fire.

The duel between the Transcendent Punishers and the Destiny Hammers had become the focal point of the struggle between the Larkinsons and the Fridaymen in the battle.

The latter numbered less, but their heavy artillery mechs were superior on almost every front! Compared to a Transcendent Punisher, the machine piloted by Lieutenant Corsica possessed greater mass, possessed more guns, carried greater armor and incorporated some of the best targeting systems developed by the Coalition!

The Destiny Hammer mech pilots themselves exhibited much greater proficiency than any of their Ylvainan counterparts.

The latter only took up piloting heavy mechs only recently. What was even worse was that the Ylvainan mech pilots were barely accustomed to piloting second-class mechs.

Lieutenant Corsica and his comrades were different. They attended the best mech academies of the Vanguard Group and committed to an artillery track early on. They spent many years learning the ins and outs of the various skills needed to utilize the most advanced functions of artillery mechs.

The Destiny Hammers was made up of the best graduates that came out of these mech academies. Once they entered the elite mech regiment, they weren't allowed to pilot one of the powerful machines right away. They had to spend years polishing their marksmanship and control abilities before they were even ready to pilot the advanced heavy artillery mechs!

All of the effort put into their training paid off. Edmund and his comrades exhibited as much as 50 percent greater accuracy!

Their superior marksmanship compared with all of the technical assistance provided by their mech inflicted methodical, controlled destruction onto their targets!

And this was despite the fact the Forward Momentum was slowly spinning along her length!

It was much harder for the Destiny Hammers to keep their aim consistent while their firing platforms constantly moved, yet mech pilots such as Edmund Corsica considered it routine.

In fact, it was not necessarily bad for the individual mechs to lose line of sight for a time.

Not only did it spoil every attempt made by the enemy to breach their bunkers, the maneuvers also granted the Destiny Hammer mechs precious time to cool down their rapidly-heating mechs.

If there was one notable flaw to their mechs, it was that there was no way to avoid excessive heat generation!

This was a rule that every artillery mech designer had to grapple with. More firepower always generated more waste heat due to lots of energy being converted to one form or another. The Destiny Hammers happened to love their guns a lot, so it was a given that all of their artillery mechs boasted a multitude of guns, allowing them to output a huge burst of damage in a very short time!

While that made them very great at penetrating armor and fortified positions, their mech pilots constantly had to keep track of the condition of every single cannon as well as the rest of their mechs.

A flood of data continued to flow back and forth between Lieutenant Corsica and his familiar machine. Normally, he wouldn't fire his guns so rapidly, but the critical nature of this battle left him and his fellow Destiny Hammers with little choice.

If they failed their crucial mission, then dying was the least of his concerns. The Vanguard Group was already one of the underdogs of the Komodo War. If he couldn't stop the menace of glows right now, then the Coalition partner that Edmund regarded as home might not be able to last!

"Ever Forward!" Edmund cried out the motto of the Vanguard Army!

"EVER FORWARD!" His comrades echoed!

As several more combat carriers and bunkers succumbed to their weight of fire, he and his Vanguarders already knew in advance that they were destined to win this artillery duel.

Their enemies were too bad. Whoever the Larkinsons put into the cockpits of their admittedly-decent artillery mechs were still too green!

The large number of misses, the lack of focus, the inability to adjust to spinning starships and so on all pointed out that the Larkinson artillery mechs were amateurs who were way out of their depth!

"Well, it's not as if I expected more from these third-raters." Edmund contemptuously muttered.

Now that he gained a measure of his opponents and their equipment, his mech began to inflict greater destruction. He already knew how to dismantle the standard hexagon-shaped bunkers that the Hexers favored in as little time as possible.

Just as his guns along with the guns of the rest of his squad transformed an enemy artillery mech into a piece of scrap, the enemy fire abruptly abated for some reason.

Lieutenant Corsica looked puzzled. "Have the enemy artillery mechs overheated?"

It shouldn't be. The enemy mechs fired their cannons at a slower rate and more sustainable rate. As someone who knew artillery mechs well, Edmund instinctively felt as if the enemy was preparing something big.

Of course, that did not mean the Destiny Hammers were willing to abide by the rhythm of their opponents. Their cannons kept launching powerful beams and solid rounds at their targets without interruption. Just like their battle cry, once they attacked, they never stopped until they completed their mission!

Just as Lieutenant Corsica succeeded in felling yet another combat carrier together with his comrades, the enemy artillery mechs that possessed clear firing lines all fired their primary armaments at the same time!

"What?!"

Over 800 positron beams and gauss rounds hit over a dozen different points along the hull of the Forward Momentum with practically no deviation in aim!

The attacks shouldn't have been able to shake a capital ship, yet the deep strike fleet carrier somehow vibrated just enough to affect Edmund's artillery mech's aim!

Shortly afterwards, the cooling fluid being sprayed onto the mech ceased to flow!

"What happened?!" He demanded.

"The enemy salvo managed to pierce through the hull of the Forward Momentum! Several sensitive compartments and power lines are damaged. We are doing our best to restore the knocked-out systems, but it will take time!"

Just as the mech lieutenant pondered over the coordinated strike, the enemy artillery mechs unleashed yet another devastating salvo with their kinetic weapons!

This time, Lieutenant Corsica flinched as numerous kinetic rounds slammed into the bunker above his artillery mech!

What was remarkable was that the rounds all hit the port where his third primary gauss cannon was poking out. While half of the powerful gauss rounds cratered into the solid surface of the bunker, they nonetheless created an opening that just happened to allow another gauss round to rip right into the barrel of his third gun!

"Ahh!"

The Destiny Hammer artillery mech jerked as both its third and fourth gauss cannons were instantly knocked offline due to the direct attack!

"Impossible! How can they be so precise all of sudden?!"

Lieutenant Corsica wasn't able to ponder this question too much. The earlier attack had just blasted apart an entire weapon mount, causing his mech to incur significant damage to a side!

While his mech was too big, tough and heavy to let the damage affect the functioning of the rest of the mech, Edmund still felt concerned!

"Why didn't they fire their positron beams?"

Just a second later, the enemy responded!

Over a dozen beams struck the gap in the bunker! Just like before, a number of hits went slightly wide as there were too many variables at play.

Yet despite all of these conditions, at least five full-powered positron beams managed to thread the needle, causing them to hit straight onto the already-damaged portion of Edmund's mech!

"Ahhh!"

More portions of the stricken mech incurred heavy damage! What was even worse was that the heat levels of the machine rose rapidly, causing the mech to lose its ability to fire its cannons and slowing down its responses.

Lieutenant Corsica's heart beat faster and faster. Once might be a coincidence. Twice was deliberate. What if the enemy artillery mechs fired a third time?

"Damn! I need to withdraw back into the ship while waiting for my mech to cool down!"

He quickly asked permission to withdraw from his captain, which was granted right away.

"Pull back and stabilize the condition of your mech." His superior told him. "Emergency repair bots are already on their way, lieutenant!"

"Roger that!"

While Edmund tried his best to withdraw his mech as quickly as possible, this was not exactly a quick process. Due to the extensive anchoring between his artillery mech and the bunker, it normally took at least 20 seconds to lift the legs of the mechs out of slots built into the deck.

In fact, the mech lieutenant estimated it would take twice as much time due to the damage sustained by his mech as well as the extreme heat affecting the performance of many components.

"Too slow!"

Barely seven seconds passed after Edmund had begun the laborious withdrawal process before the enemy artillery mechs struck yet again.

This time, over two-dozen gauss rounds and positron beams precisely struck the damaged and partially-damaged roof of the bunker.

The previous attacks that failed to enter the gap had weakened the structure just enough for the third and final salvo to collapse the roof entirely!

Even if heavy mechs were notoriously famed for their ability to keep going despite sustaining a lot of hits, the enemy attacks weren't light at all! The positron beams softened up the surface layers of the exposed mech while the gauss rounds slammed through and transferred an immense amount of destructive kinetic energy onto their target!

Lieutenant Corsica was unable to think any longer. He didn't even have time to cry out the battle cry of the Vanguard Army, nor think about his two young sons that he was leaving behind.

His life passed in an instant as the attacks collapsed his cockpit, crushing his body into bloody mush!

In just three salvos, the Larkinson artillery mechs managed to fell 20 percent of the Destiny Hammers taking part in this battle!

The Forward Momentum bore dozens of scars as various bunkers and surface components were blasted apart. More critically, a lot of maneuvering thrusters had been struck as well, thereby impairing the fleet carrier's ability to adjust her course and make it difficult for enemies to target specific sections!

Despite these sudden setbacks, the Destiny Hammers did not back down. The surviving mechs fired their weapons just as intensively as before. They were determined to pay back their losses tenfold!

"Ever Forward, men!"

"EVER FORWARD!" The surviving Destiny Hammer mech pilots echoed!

Chapter 2655: Cruel Destiny

The Larkinson Clan's artillery fire abruptly changed in pattern.

Previously, the Transcendent Punishers fired their cannons at a brisk rate of fire. Due to their relatively low hit rates, the mech pilots attempted to increase their chances of inflicting meaningful damage by outputting as many attacks as their mechs were able to bear.

Yet once they received the command to draw upon the Great Prophet's blessing, they no longer fired their weapons in a scattered manner.

Every bunker that hosted a Transcendent Punisher gained a holy atmosphere. As mech pilots such as Taon Melin opened their minds to Prophet Ylvaine, they actively felt the object of their worship responding to their prayers.

undefined"Prophet, guide my aim!"

Over three-hundred Ylvainan mech pilots simultaneously entered into a different state of mind. Pure devotion welled up in their minds as their devotion was clearly being rewarded!

Inside the Prophet's Fist, Taon felt as if he had gained a completely different view of the battlefield.

When the glow of his artillery mech had become more active, its sensors seemed to supply him with additional information.

The Forward Momentum's secrets opened up to him and his fellow mech pilots.

He intuitively learned that attacking a specific section on the starboard side would disrupt the power flow to the surrounding bunkers.

He also learned that one of the bunkers on the fleet carrier was incorrectly maintained. If he concentrated his fire on the left side of the oval roof, he could weaken the entire structure.

"This!"

None of his practice sessions with the Prophet's Fist ever yielded so much information to him. This was completely new as far as he was concerned. Was he able to read the weaknesses of the enemy because his connection to the Great Prophet was closer than other Ylvainans?

Whatever the case, he had to share what he learned!

This was not difficult. Through the man-machine connection, he transmitted his inexplicable insights to the command network after packaging them into a condensed form.

Due to his special identity as the chosen of Zeal, the Ylvainan mech officers took his contribution seriously.

They had no doubt in the data supplied by Taon. To the Ylvainans, faith and devotion trumped logic and skepticism!

"We have developed a list of priorities based on the observations you have made with the Prophet's blessing." A mech captain spoke. "Every Transcendent Punisher will be allocated a set of targets. We must strike hard and make our attacks count. Do not let the Bright Martyr down and do not fail your purpose!"

"We stand ready to exact the Prophet's punishment!"

The Prophet's Fist received a data transmission from the Spirit of Bentheim that precisely outlined its targets.

Taon no longer sought to glean more details from the Forward Momentum but instead brought the cannons of his mech to bear against the aft section of the enemy capital ship.

The Forward Momentum wasn't making it easy for him to keep his guns on target. The ship slowly spun around like a giant drill, which made it very difficult for ranged mechs to focus their fire on a single section.

Before, that would have inconvenienced the Ylvainan mech pilots. Now, their aim remained true. While they still employed their own aim along with the aid provided to them by the targeting systems of their mechs, they received additional assistance from what must be the Prophet himself!

"Fire!"

The Transcendent Punishers fired once. The Forward Momentum immediately shook and drifted off-course for a fraction a second as numerous important systems ceased to function as normal!

The Prophet's Fist adjusted its frame after firing its primary armament. While it could have fired another shot after its weapons recovered, it was not yet the time to do so. Taon had to go down the list of targets and bring the guns to bear on a bunker that was intermittently visible as the enemy capital carrier did not stay still.

It didn't matter. He trained his guns on a specific set of points ahead of where the Forward Momentum traveled and tried his best to stay on target.

Seconds passed until the next order came.

"Fire!"

The moment Taon pulled the trigger, the Prophet's Fist silently boomed as its pair of positron cannons and gauss cannons unleashed their power again.

The points where he happened to be aiming at just happened to be occupied by one of the bunkers of the Forward Momentum!

The Prophet Fist's attacks along with the attacks of several other Transcendent Punishers managed to drill a hole right through one of the gun ports.

"Fire!"

When Taon fired once again, he already knew the results of his attack. Without any surprise, he observed the already-damaged bunker collapsing and exposing a ruined artillery mech into space!

This was far enough. There were still many more Destiny Hammer mechs that were continually trying to make up for their losses.

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

The Transcendent Punishers continued to maintain their uncanny high accuracy. More and more bunkers collapsed while the Forward Momentum exhibited more problems due to losing an increasing amount of subsystems.

While the capital ship was too massive to be taken out so easily, her bunkers were another matter!

With at least two-hundred Transcendent Punishers focusing their firepower on twenty bunkers at a time, every few salvos continued to fell a lot of Destiny Hammer mechs at a time!

As confident as the Destiny Hammers were in their own strength, they finally sensed that something was very wrong once they lost an entire mech company after just a handful of exchanges!

"We've lost half of our men!"

"How is the enemy able to target us so precisely?! I thought the Larkinsons didn't have any mech pilots who could match our skill!"

"What kind of nonsense intelligence is this!? How can religion possibly play a role in a matter like this! This report is pure fantasy!"

The soldiers of the Vanguard Group smelled something very wrong about this change. If this went on, the Destiny Hammers assigned to Task Force Umbra would probably be wiped out in short order!

"Evade the enemy attacks! Move the Forward Momentum behind the Auralis! Let the other fleet carriers become our shields!"

The Forward Momentum actively broke formation and slowed down in order to let the other fleet carriers overtake her. Once the other capital ships had passed her by, the vessel quickly hid behind the large and formidable bulk of the Gauge Dynasty's capital ship!

General Vander Pierce became furious! The Vanguarders acted on their own accord without even bothering with the decency to ask for instructions first! Not only that, they completely shamed themselves by drawing themselves back to the rear of the fleet!

"Ever forward, indeed!"

As much as he wanted to reprimand the Vanguarders, the leader of Task Force Umbra forcibly pressed down his rage. While his authority was technically absolute, the forces he led were composed of several different units that belonged to several different factions within the Coalition.

They weren't united enough to let go of their selfishness!

Even though the Forward Momentum managed to take shelter behind the Auralis, it was already too late for the Destiny Hammers. They lost 64 precious heavy artillery mechs!

Of the surviving 16 mechs, several of them sustained significant damage that heavily impaired their performance.

While the Destiny Hammers were still capable of influencing the course of the battle with the firepower they managed to preserve, they were no longer a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield!

This was especially so because the Destiny Hammers lost all of their mech officers and veterans! For some unknown reason, the Larkinson artillery mechs prioritized all of their attacks on the machines piloted by the most authoritative, skilled and experienced mech pilots.

The ones who were left were all in their thirties and possessed significantly less skill than their older colleagues!

Back in the Larkinson fleet, the Ylvainan mech pilots each felt satisfied with what they had managed to accomplish. The Destiny Hammers may be better than them in many ways, but the Ylvainans had gods on their side!

With the blessings of the Great Prophet and the Bright Martyr, Taon and his fellow devout mech pilots actively channeled the fury of their faith! They continued to mete out targeted destruction at other exposed targets.

At this time, the Orca Tyrant became their target of choice. The Puffer Clan's fleet carrier was not as weak as the Forward Momentum, but she was also slower and more sluggish.

It didn't matter if the Orca Tyrant possessed a thicker shell. With hundreds of Transcendent Punishers achieving an effective hit rate in excess of 80 percent, no amount of alloy plating could withstand the combined impacts of hundreds of positron beams and gauss rounds!

Despite the longer distance, the Witch Slayer mechs which were using the Orca Tyrant as their cover experienced great difficulties. Dozens of fragile marksman mechs collapsed in an instant as their positions came under sudden bombardment! The lack of warning and simultaneous attacks gave the mech pilots no time to react before sections of their mechs blasted to pieces!

Over a third of the Witch Slayers had been slain in just a couple of salvos! The rest of the marksman mechs did not dare to snipe at the Larkinson fleet anymore and withdrew until they were hovering directly behind the Orca Tyrant's bulk!

All in all, the Transcendent Punishers expended a lot of effort to take just over a hundred ranged mechs. Yet despite felling so few mechs, the oppression exerted by the enemy strike force had reduced by over half!

While the ranged mechs of the other elite mech units weren't bad, they did not excel in ranged combat unlike the Destiny Hammers and the Witch Slayers. The latter two mech troops differed from the others by their ability to make their attacks count!

Now that they had been diminished and suppressed, the expeditionary fleet gained a lot more momentum during this battle phase!

Taon slowly let out a deep breath as he exited out of his elevated state. He felt the presence of the Great Prophet receding from his mind and mech. While his Prophet's Fist still possessed it's reassuring glow, he still longed to return to his previous state.

"I can't." He shook his head. "I need to be prepared to face the subsequent wave of enemies."

They only managed to dismantle a portion of the enemy strength. The Fridaymen and their helpers brought around 6000 mechs in total. The Transcendent Punishers and their Ylvainan mech pilots could not afford to exhaust themselves too early. Even the Great Prophet himself felt a little weaker than before to Taon!

"The fight is far from over."

The Prophet's Fist and the Transcendent Punishers opened fire again.

Back on the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim, Ves sighed as he saw the results of the outburst of the heavy artillery mech he designed.

"What a splendid performance." Major Verle's projection smiled just after he issued a set of orders to others. "Your Transcendent Punishers exceeded my expectations. They are truly an evolution of your remarkable Deliverer designs."

"Thank you, but do note that there is a limit to this special state." Ves warned. "Every benefit has a cost. Every process consumes energy. We need to make sure to reserve enough strength to survive the next phases of the battle."

"Indeed. It is almost time for our fleets to approach medium range. This is the phase where many rifleman mechs will shine. Melee mechs will take to the field as well."

What Major Verle didn't state was that the enemy expert mechs would probably make their moves as well in the next phase!

Ves could practically feel Venerable Ghanso's hostility from this distance. Once the main body of the enemy strike force entered the fray, the battlefield would become a lot more chaotic!

He gripped the Larkinson Mandate tighter. He could feel Goldie's concern. Larkinsons were already dying at a steady rate. Many more would die as the battle progressed!

Chapter 2656: Old Survivors

Two different fleets were locked in struggle!

Task Force Umbra along with extra forces dispatched by the Praetor Clan and the Planat Clan barreled down onto the Golden Skull Alliance's fleet with hatred driving them onwards.

The Fridaymen hated the Larkinsons and their leader!

The Praetors and Planats resented the Crossers!

undefinedMuch of the excitement that took place in the beginning phases of battle centered around the Komodans. The result of the artillery duel between the Transcendent Punishers and the elite ranged mech troops of the Friday Coalition had far-reaching effects.

Despite involving a relatively small quantity of mechs, the clear advantage secured by the Ylvainan artillery mechs left them free to train their prodigious firepower against the advancing carriers and mechs of the opposition!

That did not necessarily mean that the thousands of other Fridayman ranged mechs were incompetent. They just excelled in a different form of combat. They placed less emphasis on long-ranged precision and more on medium-ranged suppression and skirmishing.

The rifleman mechs of the 1002nd Holvein Grenadiers, 77th Corundian Giants and other elite mech regiments numbered much more than the contingent of 125th Destiny Hammers and 219th Witch Slayers.

Yet much of their laser beams and gauss rounds slammed ineffectually against the thick hulls of the opposing starships.

While the damage onto the Larkinson vessels kept accumulating, the lifespans of the targeted combat carriers in question did not diminish fast enough!

Even if the combat carriers finally succumbed under all of the weight of fire, their destruction accomplished little else besides robbing their owners of a bit of cover.

Escape pods launched towards the rear minutes before the vessels drifted out of control or ruptured when their structure was methodically torn apart.

Billions of pieces of debris flung in each direction as other starships exploded as critical power reactors or other volatile components reached critical levels!

Not every evacuating crew member managed to make it back to the Spirit of Bentheim.

Plenty of escape pods were shot down by errant attacks or deliberate shots.

Deadly debris could also shred the vulnerable shells keeping their occupants protected against the hazards of space.

Sometimes, escape pods arrived at the flagship of the Larkinson Clan intact, only to deliver a corpse as an intense burst of radiation turned its occupant dead!

The battle was becoming more and more tragic as the range between the two fleets continued to shrink!

As destruction rained down on both sides, a group of expert pilots gathered together in the hangar bay of the largest capital ship on the battlefield.

The Hemmington Cross was at least a kilometer longer than the Spirit of Bentheim. The fleet carrier was also considerably thicker, though that came at the expense of mobility and other properties.

The ship endured significant attacks from the beginning. The Praetors and Planats had focused much of their firepower on the pride of the Cross Clan, but their bombardment only resulted in surface damage.

The ship may not be as well-armored as other fleet carriers, but she was still a vessel built for war!

It was not a problem for the huge vessel to endure the firepower outputted by thousands of enemy mechs for an extended amount of time!

If that wasn't enough, the Crossers also adopted the same tactic as the Larkinsons. Numerous combat carriers flew in front of the Hemmington and used their considerable bulk to block the enemy from compounding the damage inflicted onto the Crosser flagship!

Of course, the Crossers did not have much luck in felling the enemy capital ships eithers. Both the Praetors and Planats had committed one fleet carrier each to this operation.

The Praetors had dispatched two different capital ships. The first one was the Vindicator 35, a fairly average fleet carrier with a total capacity of 500 mechs. Despite her lack of strengths and weaknesses, the Vindicator 35 was a versatile and useful capital ship that served the Garlener clan well.

The second fleet carrier was even bigger. Capable of carrying 700 mechs, the Palmis Crislin was almost just as ludicrous as the Hemmington Cross. She also happened to possess the same faults as her armor and mobility were not very good.

The Planat Clan dispatched just a single capital ship. Compared to the other capital ships, the Soaring Eagle performed below average, reflecting the relative weakness of the Planat Clan. Capable of holding 450 mechs, the Soaring Eagle was a fleet carrier that was past her time. Her aging hull may still be serviceable in contemporary battles, but she was destined to be replaced at any time!

If the two clans of the Becker Tribe only brought these capital ships, then the Crossers would have gone on the offensive by now. Yet the clans that had turned their coats had also brought 51 combat carriers, though several of those vessels were already taken out of action!

Both sides knew that this was just the prelude. They had clashed many times after the Cross Clan lost its warlord and ace pilot. They roughly knew what both sides were capable of. As clans who used to be part of the same tribe, the intelligence they possessed on each other mechs, starships and mech pilots was still relevant.

The Crossers knew that they were the disadvantaged compared to their opponents, but they were already used to these circumstances.

Different from before, the Cross Clan now gained the confidence to reverse the expected outcome!

Patriarch Reginald Cross proudly stood before three other expert pilots. All four of them exuded aggressive force of wills. Despite their nature, they peacefully existed alongside each other.

The battles the Crosser expert pilots had been through had forged an undeniably close relationship between them. These seasoned warriors wouldn't have been able to make it out with the remnants of the clan if they didn't learn how to trust each other's backs.

"The traitor clans have made a very grave mistake this time." Reginald grinned. "They only dispatched a portion of their forces. We weren't able to beat them when entire mech divisions hounded our tails, but now that they have brought less than 4000 mechs, we stand a good chance of crushing our current opposition!"

The other expert pilots looked fired as well. Many Garlener tribes and clans had all conspired to tear the Cross Clan apart. The Praetors and Planats had behaved especially reprehensible because they had switched their allegiances to the enemy as soon as the Cross Clan no longer possessed its invincible momentum!

"The two traitor clans must not be doing so well back in what remains of the Becker Tribe." Venerable Linda Cross, an older and grizzled female expert pilot surmised. "While we aren't privy to the details of the peace treaty brokered by the Empire, the Praetors and Planats are probably more on guard against their neighbors than us. We are little fish compared to the giant sharks that are swimming right next door."

Just because the traitor clans switched over to the side of their former enemies didn't mean they were buddies now. The Billard Tribe and the Chardon Tribe still harbored great suspicion and greed towards the remaining territories of the Becker Tribe. The Praetor Clan and Planat Clan had to keep as much of their strength at home in order to guard against any untoward actions.

Venerable Banner Cross, another old expert pilot, frowned. "Perhaps the Praetors and Planats have already put us out of their minds. They succeeded in preserving their clans at the cost of our own. In our current state, we pose no threat to them anymore."

"What do you think, Imaris?" Reginald asked.

The fourth expert pilot let out a weary sigh. "We are already beaten. We used to rule over entire star systems. That time is past. We have been reduced to a single fleet, and a diminished one at that. I wish.. I wish.. we could have saved more Crossers. I still mourn for our expert pilots. They were too young to sacrifice themselves during our retreat."

A heavy mood descended over the gathered expert pilots. Their force of wills grew calmer as the four old expert pilots painfully recalled the desperate flight that caused them to lose so many comrades.

One of the biggest tragedies of their initial flight from Vicious Mountain was that they lost all of their younger expert pilots!

None of the Crosser expert pilots that survived to this day was younger than 50 years old. Those with brighter futures and greater talent had all met their end prematurely as they gave up their lives to hold back the enemy expert mechs.

Patriarch Reginald's force of will suddenly grew intense as he raised his fist!

"We can't tear down the traitors entirely today, but we must not let their dishonor go unanswered! We must not let our descendants grow up hearing that we have fled Vicious Mountain like craven rats. We must beat our enemies today if only to regain our honor and build a better future for the subsequent generations of our clan! Let us smash the traitors and let the entire Garlen Empire know that the Cross Clan can still earn glory!"

The expert pilots all boarded their mechs. Even though they weren't actively developed anymore, the expert mechs were all formidable in their own right.

The only Crosser expert pilots who survived up to this point were all strong, experienced and tricky without exception!

Venerable Linda Cross was a space knight specialist. With a piloting career spanning over three decades, she and her expert mech were countless times more formidable than Venerable Jannzi Larkinson and her Shield of Samar!

Venerable Linda's expert mech, the Amphis, was a formidable medium space knight that boasted unparalleled defense but also considerable offensive capabilities.

The most notable weapon system on the Amphis was its compact shoulder-mounted laser cannon arrays. Able to output 6 powerful laser beams at the same time, the Amphis was capable of suppressing powerful enemies or wiping out many weaker opponents without needing to close the distance!

Venerable Banner Cross was responsible for providing more powerful ranged solutions. The Leskin, his expert rifleman mech, was armed with a special heavy multi-rifle that was able to output many different types of damage. The Leskin was also incredibly fast and mobile, allowing it to outpace every other expert mech aside from lighter machines!

The oldest surviving Crosser expert pilot also happened to pilot the fastest expert mech in the possession of the Cross Clan. Venerable Imaris Cross may be over 80 years old, but his slightly-declining reflexes was still good enough to pilot the Conavis Mer, a very agile light skirmisher. Even if Imaris fumbled for some reason or another, his expert mech's formidable active and passive ECM systems had always managed to rescue him from a difficult situation.

As for Patriarch Reginald Cross, his expert mech was the most formidable and most valuable expert mechs of them all. He boarded the cockpit of the Bolvos Rage, a hefty medium hybrid mech that possessed a myriad of close and medium range solutions!

The Bolvos Rage's most formidable weapon was an axe made out of mysterious exotics and other materials. The weapon did not possess any special gimmicks, but it didn't need any. The axe was both hard and sharp, allowing the Bolvos Rage to hack through most shields in a single blow!

The hybrid mech also carried a shotgun. The weapon was notable for its huge threat against other expert mechs. It was capable of firing specially-manufactured pellets that was very effective in exhausting resonance shields!

The only downside was that the defection of its high-ranking mech designers left the Cross Clan with no means to produce additional shotgun shells.

The Crossers had lost the formulas.

Patriarch Reginald had already requested Professor Cortez to reconstruct them or develop a viable alternative. That would take time, however, so the expert mech only had a limited amount of shells at its disposal.

The Bolvos Rage actually integrated several other weapons and modules in its frame. The high-tier expert mech surpassed the narrow specializations that the local mech community favored. Hardly any enemies knew what to expect when they faced the expert hybrid mech in battle!

Patriarch Reginald Cross briefly closed his eyes before fury entered his gaze!

"Our time has come. Let us launch and meet our old enemies!"

Four glowing stars rocketed out of the hangar bay of the Hemmington Cross and formed up in front their fleet!

Chapter 2657: Combination Mechs

Thousands of rifleman mechs entered the fray in earnest!

As the two fleets entered medium range, the hit rate of rifleman mechs shot up quite considerably! They were able to land hits on vulnerable ship modules and even distant mechs on a reliable basis.

This has caused the two fleets to incur damage at a considerably greater rate than before! While the amount of ships that were put out of action did not increase that quickly, many ships were still bearing a lot of new scars as the huge volume of fire steadily diminished their overall durability!

Of the two sides, the expeditionary fleet possessed a slight advantage.

undefinedAlthough the quality of the mechs of the Larkinson Clan was inconsistent, their superior numbers along with the survival of much of their artillery mechs allowed them to exert a lot of pressure on their opponents!

Ideally, the Larkinson Clan wanted to prolong this state as much as possible. Without the intervention of the Destiny Hammers and the Witch Slayers, the Transcendent Punishers outputted so much siege damage that none of the Fridaymen fleet carriers felt very good!

Though the mech pilots of the Transcendent Punishers weren't very accurate now that they had put aside the Great Prophet's blessing, at this range they didn't need too much skill to methodically demolish the bunkers on the enemy ships.

With dozens of Transcendent Punishers focusing their fire on individual bunkers, it didn't matter if most of their shots went wide!

The damage inflicted onto the sections next to the bunkers not only affected the functioning of the artillery mech inside, but also compromised the integrity of the bunker structure.

As long as the Transcendent Punishers kept up their heavy attacks, the bunkers they targeted went down sooner or later!

Of course, the Fridaymen did not let the Transcendent Punishers go unanswered. The rifleman mechs of the Corundian Giants, Holvein Grenadiers and several smaller units all brought their firepower to bear on the threatening bunker mechs.

"Don't let those ranged mechs shoot at our artillery mechs for free!"

The Vima Suns of the Larkinson Clan . As a budget second-class rifleman mech, the Vima Sun was a relatively fragile and basic machine that was designed with energy weapons in mind.

Though the mech was not that impressive, they were very good in performing their primary purpose, which was outputting a lot of damage. Otherwise, Ves wouldn't have chosen to acquire a lot of copies of this model.

As an added bonus, the Larkinson Clan supplied the Vima Suns with modified laser rifles that were upgraded with luminar crystals and some other components. This allowed the Vima Suns to inflict as much damage as midrange mechs, though not without a few limitations.

Sadly, as much as the Vima Suns were successful in suppressing a lot of enemy rifleman mechs, they weren't as good at taking damage!

Their relative lack of armor was doubtlessly a calculated tradeoff meant to keep them light and affordable. They were ordinarily supposed to rely on hard cover to shield them from damage. If that wasn't possible, then they needed to depend on their decent mobility to remain elusive.

Right now, the Vima Suns did not need to resort to the latter. Even if the enemy strike force split up in two different splinters, it would take a lot more time before they caught the expeditionary fleet in a vulnerable position.

This meant that the battle at range was only going to keep tilting in the favor of the defenders!

General Vander Pierce was well aware of this development. Pain and frustration welled up in his body as he witnessed the results of the artillery duel. The Witch Slayers could still contribute to the battle once they no longer became a priority target, but the Destiny Hammers were pretty much done for in this battle!

"It appears we'll have to resort to harder measures." He muttered.

Ideally, he would have liked to lean more on his ranged mechs to carry the fight. That would have resulted in less casualties and a cleaner victory.

It was not to be. With the Fridaymen absorbing a lot of damage, they were on a time limit.

At the general's command, the melee mechs as well as the expert mechs made an appearance!

As soon as thousands of additions emerged in open space, the Transcendent Punishers, Vima Suns and other Larkinson mechs instantly changed their targets!

Rather than wasting most of their firepower on cracking bunkers and disabling starships, it was much more meaningful to take out as many enemy mechs as possible!

"They finally couldn't hold back any longer!"

A handful of elite Fridaymen mechs already exploded as a torrent of focused attacks impacted their frames and bombarded the space around them!

The true lethality of the Transcendent Punishers was on full display at this moment as their heavy cannons were much more effective at blasting through the much-thinner armor plating mechs than penetrating much heavier layers of starship hull plating!

The only problem was that mechs were much more elusive targets in space. The formidable Fridayman mechs did not float like sitting ducks. Instead, they immediately accelerated forward and to the side in order to close the distance to the enemy.

Only by getting close would the Fridaymen be able to render the Transcendent Punishers useless! The advancing mech pilots possessed great confidence in their melee combat abilities. This was Task Force Umbra's strong point!

As the Larkinson Clan and its allies directed much of their firepower against the advancing enemies, around 6 mech companies of the Corundian Giants deployed in earnest.

Their unique space knights formed a large and dispersed wall in space as they slowly advanced to a flanking position.

A matching number of cannoneer mechs flew behind the space knights as the latter already started to bounce away positron beams and gauss rounds.

Once the space knights accelerated for a long enough time, their flight systems parted in half and exposed an open slot on their backs.

The cannonneer mechs all flew forward and expertly mated themselves to the backs of the space knights.

The cannons wielded by the ranged mechs mounted on top of the shoulders of the defensive mechs. The shields carried by the latter automatically changed their configuration so that they still provided adequate protection while not getting in the way of any of the guns!

As soon as the Corundian Giant mechs completed their merger, their formidable cannons began to fire a variety of physical and energy attacks!

While their fire was not particularly precise, their damage was very considerable!

When the Transcendent Punishers attempted to train their firepower onto the Corundian Giants, they encountered a lot of unexpected surprises.

The combination mechs outputted an energy shield that was powered by both mechs, thereby making them stronger than usual!

If the energy shields had been breached, then the high-quality physical shields carried by the space knight was very effective in mitigating a lot of damage.

Even if the Transcendent Punishers concentrated their fire, their target would just rely on their limited mobility to fly behind another combination mech, thereby saving them from further damage.

This was just the start. As the Larkinsons continued to fire at the weird combination mechs, the Corundian Giants employed more tactics to reduce the damage they incurred.

For example, the combination mechs merged together into a giant shield wall that was able to replace individual elements if they ever came close to collapsing.

While this tight formation left them vulnerable to explosive attacks, the mechs collectively outputted an energy shield that was far stronger than what any individual mech could support!

If any of the shields wore out, then the mechs in question slowly withdrew from the front and quickly returned to the Eager Condemnation to pick up a replacement shield.

Since the shields did not take up a lot of space when stacked together, the CRC fleet carrier had brought hundreds of spare shields that each took a lot of effort to breach. As long as the space knights of the Corundian Giants withdrew fast enough, they would be able to keep rotating several times!

The same went for their powerful cannoneer mechs. Their potent firepower was paired with limited reserves. They were forced to return to their fleet carrier to replenish their spent supplies and reduce the heat that they had built up by launching a lot of attacks.

While these constant rotations significantly hampered the Corundian Giants, the elite mech pilots were already accustomed to this. The space knights were able to continue to redirect a lot of firepower onto their intact defenses while the cannoneer mechs were able to maintain a high firing rate without holding back.

The mech pilots knew that as long as they kept this up, hardly any of their mechs would fall! They would be able to keep up their numbers over the course of a battle and outlast any enemy in the end. This approach worked especially well against impatient Hexers who were eager for quick successes!

On the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim, all of the bridge officers and operators looked unprecedentedly serious.

The battle was rapidly heating up! With the appearance of thousands of mechs on both sides, it was clear that a decisive confrontation was at hand!

Captain Vraken stood in the center of the bridge and directed the crew of the factory ship like they were extensions of her own body. She kept track of every single detail and issued precise instructions that prevent compartments from getting breached and shield generators from getting overloaded.

At this battle, the renowned starship captain fully proved she deserved to be the captain of a great capital ship!

While the grand captain did her best to minimize damage to the Spirit of Bentheim while keeping her relevant on the battlefield, others did their part as well.

The Hexer trainers who had originally been assigned to help the Larkinsons take control of their vessels took matters into their own hands. As the Larkinson crew members found themselves out of their depth during a battle, the incredibly competent Hexers calmly took charge and commanded the respect and obedience of every clansman!

In the rear of the bridge, Ves continued to pay attention to the battle while keeping an eye on the changing sentiment of the bridge operators.

Major Verle, who was physically stationed in the CIC on the 37th deck, had less time to spare on talking to Ves. The increasing scope of the battle forced him to spend more time on moving many more pieces into place.

His projected form only occasionally brought something up with Ves.

"These Corundian Giants are too troublesome." The former Vandal officer shared his frustration. "Not even our Transcendent Punishers are able to exhaust them. They're just too tough."

Ves nodded in agreement. "Their designs are very advanced and their combination tactics are highly effective. All of this must be costing the Coalition Reserve Corps a lot of money, but that doesn't appear to be a concern in this case."

"The only way to take down these infernal combination mechs for good is to fight them up close. If the Penitent Sisters or the Swordmaidens manage to reach the Corundian Giants, then the combination mechs cannot effectively defend against flanking attacks!"

"The enemy won't allow us to do that." Ves grimaced. "The Fridaymen and their helpers have brought plenty of other mechs that can block the approach of our forces."

"There's also the expert mechs to consider…"

As the regular mechs of both sides were about to confront each other, the expert mechs did not stay behind!

Eleven glowing mechs emerged from the ranks of the enemy mechs. The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers couldn't help but feel a lot of pressure from the appearance of so many expert mechs.

The enemy attempted to shock the Golden Skull Alliance by unveiling all of their expert mechs at the same time!

Even though the defenders already received advance warning, the impact was still substantial! Morale immediately dropped as the reality of facing so many expert mechs at the same time put everyone's courage to the test.

"Do not falter! We have our own expert mechs!"

Five dazzling mechs appeared from the forces of the expeditionary fleet. While their numbers were much less, their appearance nonetheless stopped friendly morale from sliding further.

Over four thousand standard mechs fell behind the expert mechs of the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan.

"We are not alone!"

Chapter 2658: Warmonger

The intervention of the Corundian Giants did not fundamentally solve the disadvantages of the attackers at range.

As much as the protected cannoneer mechs were able to fire at their targets while enjoying the protection of their paired space knights, their damage output was quite limited compared to a true artillery mech.

The Transcendent Punishers were able to inflict three to four times as much damage. They did not have to deal with as many logistical limitations as well, allowing them to do their jobs in a much more sustained fashion.

The attackers decisively ordered their mechs forward. Thousands of melee mechs from both pincers flew forward with rifleman mechs following close behind.

undefinedThe eleven expert mechs brought by the enemy also followed suit. Their movements already made it clear that the expert pilots intended to support their regular counterparts.

It was too bad that their opponents had different intentions in mind.

Patriarch Reginald Cross scanned the enemy battle lines inside the cockpit of the Bolvos Rage. His powerful expert hybrid mech was surrounded by a boiling red glow that reflected the repressed fury of its pilot.

The Bolvos Rage was an expert mech designed to exact retribution upon the enemy!

His time would come soon.

He completely disregarded the enemy standard mechs. He held little interest in what passed for elites in the Komodo Star Sector. Their long centuries of peace severely curtailed the Friday Coalition's ability to put all of their theories to the test. Virtual combat against other soldiers from the other parts of the galaxy could only teach so much.

As far as the Crossers were concerned, the Fridaymen were still playing at war!

"Their expert pilots aren't that much either." Reginald scoffed.

Although the distance between the two forces was still too far to resolve too many details about the enemy expert mechs, from what he could sense, the Fridaymen did not bring out their best for this battle.

The glows surrounding the eight mechs flying close to the Fridaymen elite mech units were less radiant. Reginald had heard that the Friday Coalition had resorted to employing third-rate expert pilots as their guest expert pilots. He immediately suspected that all 8 Fridaymen expert mechs were piloted by foreigners.

"A state that has stagnated in peace can't even rely on their own mech pilots." Imaris Cross contemptuously remarked over the communication channel. "I can smell the ineptness from these third-rate expert pilots. They aren't accustomed to their recently-issued expert mechs."

Expert pilots had a way of sensing whether other pilots were fully in tune with their mechs. The fluency of movements, the frequency of mistakes and the delay in actions were all telling signs to those who truly knew what it was like to pilot a powerful mech.

So far, the Crosser expert pilots were not impressed by their opposition.

Venerable Linda Cross examined the mechs rather than their pilots.

"Their expert mechs aren't even all that good aside from a couple of exceptions. They're basic and their materials are probably middling at best. The Fridaymen must have been unwilling to expend too much strategic reserves on these extra expert mechs."

"Don't look down on them too much." Patriarch Reginald sobered his mind a bit. "Respect their numbers if you can't respect their quality. Even we may fall into a losing trend if any of us have to fend off two mediocre expert mechs at the same time."

"That's what our helpers are for." Banner Cross said as his Leskin gestured at the thousands of mechs backing them up. "As far as numbers are concerned, we enjoy an absolute advantage!"

Of course, much of the Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs might fall at the end of the day. There was no way the enemy expert mechs would go down without a fight!

Still, as far as the Crossers were concerned, they could mop up the Fridayman expert mechs at their leisure after they took care of their true opponents.

The traitor clans knew quite well that the Cross Clan still retained a handful of powerful expert pilots.

The Praetors and Planats couldn't just send anyone to confront the likes of Patriarch Reginald Cross, who was rumored to be close to advancing to ace pilot!

"I see some old friends have come." The Cross Patriarch grimly spoke as the identities of the Praetor and Planat expert mechs became clear. "Our foes aren't as green as their Fridayman colleagues."

The Planat Clan dispatched just one expert mech, but it was a powerful one.

Reginald made an impulsive decision and attempted to hail the sole Planat expert mech.

Despite all of the interference produced by all of the explosions, weapon discharges and flying debris, a basic communication channel still came into shape.

"Damira." Reginald greeted. "So you've come to finish the job, eh?"

The enemy middle-aged female mech pilot sighed. "For what it's worth, I disagreed with the decision made by the top. We should have fought against the Billard Tribe and the Chardon Tribe until the end. Instead, our elders decided that you Crossers aren't worthwhile friends and comrades-in-arms anymore. Saint Hemmington Cross burned a lot of bridges while he was alive."

Reginald's fury suddenly spiked!

"My father has always treated you Planats well! All of those complaints about the supposed injustices your clan has suffered at the hands of my father are pure excuses. He never neglected the rest of our tribe!"

"Hahaha!" The Planat expert pilot laughed. "You are incapable of recognizing the faults of your tyrannical father. Sure, he rewarded us for our contributions in battle. Sure, the Saint allowed us to grab a decent chunk of conquered territories. Yet that wasn't enough for him. He had to keep going. He had to keep fighting. We were barely finished with burying our dead before your gloryhound of a father pushed us into another war!"

"We had to take advantage of our momentum. We can mourn and rest at any time, but we would never be able to make so much progress if we stopped our conquests midway."

"Your warmonger of an ace pilot completely lost sight of the cost of his victories!" Venerable Damira Planat accused. It seemed her patience was wearing thin! "Do you know the truth behind your Saint's death? We Planats and our fellow Praetors had enough of you Crossers. We didn't want to go down in flames with the rest of you, so we decided to jump ship ahead of time."

Patriarch Reginald's eyes widened as shock started to overtake his fury. "Are you saying.."

"Hehehe." Venerable Damira seemed to enjoy this conversation. "We didn't collude with the Billard Tribe and Chardon Tribe, if that's what you were wondering. No. We did something much simpler. We simply kept track of the positions of their ace mechs and steered Lord Hemmington Cross towards them. I've heard that it was so easy to lead him around the nose because he was always looking for more targets to attack!"

"THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!" Reginald roared!

The Bolvos Rage burst out in red as its resonance glow intensified! Patriarch Reginald could not handle the supposed truth behind Saint Hemmington Cross' demise!

Red suffused the expert mech's vision as he only had Venerable Damira Planat's expert mech in his sights.

He knew her expert mech well. It was an impressive melee mech with a set of complex transformable melee weapons. They could shift in many different forms according to what Venerable Damira liked to wield in a situation.

Back when the Cross Clan and the Planat Clan were part of the same tribe, Patriarch Reginald had the pleasure of fighting alongside Venerable Damira several times.

She piloted a weapon master mech, which was a special type of melee mech.

He witnessed her incredible mastery in wielding swords, axes, spears, halberds and many other weapon types.

What was even more impressive was that Venerable Damira often changed the shape and configuration of her transformable weapons at a very high frequency.

In one blow, her opponent might be blocking a sword, only for it to transform into an axe that wrenched the shield aside by hooking onto its edge. In another split second, that axe might morph into a spear that instantly stabbed into exposed mech!

This was only the simplest sequence. The Erin Tear was capable of executing millions of permutations!

Anyone who fought her up close would constantly have to be on guard against sudden transformations.

Though Lord Reginald might not be the best expert pilot to face the Erin Tear, he no longer considered all of these matters. He ignored every other factor on the battlefield including his fellow Crosser expert pilots and concentrated all of his fury on the expert mech of the Planat Clan.

His honor demanded that he must defeat Venerable Damira Planat and her Erin Tear in person! He would not rest until his Bolvos Rage chopped its axe straight through the cockpit of the expert weapon master mech!

"YOU MUST REPAY YOUR TREACHERY WITH YOUR BLOOD!" He roared!

The Bolvos Rage accelerated forward like a searing red comet!

"Hah!" Venerable Damira Planat grinned. "If you want to harvest my blood, you have to get past my weapons first! Let me put you down like the rabid dog you are. I will exterminate the remnants of your pathetic clan after this fight!"

Her Erin Tear shot forward like an orange sun!

Venerable Damira was not afraid of her old battle comrade! Even though Patriarch Reginald Cross was considerably stronger than her in terms of resonance strength, she was supremely confident in her chances!

The actions of the two expert pilots triggered the others into moving forward as well!

The Amphis, Venerable Linda Cross expert space knight, steadily flew towards the Trost.

Piloted by Venerable Kelvin Praetor, the Trost was a hybrid mech that excelled in mid-range destruction. It possessed a variety of arms that were exceptionally suited to mow down large amounts of enemies.

Up close, the Trost was armed with powerful flamethrowers that could roast any mech at close range into ashes!

The Trost was too tough to be taken down from range with ease. Venerable Linda already recognized that her Amphis was the best mech to fight against the Trost.

The latter expert mech fared much worse against heavily-armored opponents. The Amphis not only possessed exceptional defense, but also possessed means to mitigate incoming heat and energy!

Venerable Imaris Cross targeted the remaining traitor expert mech. His expert light skirmisher rapidly advanced towards the Imperial Verdict, the expert spearman mech piloted by Venerable Albert Praetor.

The Imperial Verdict was a renowned expert mech that had won many duels with its iconic trident and shield.

Not only was Venerable Albert Praetor a master at wielding the trident, the Imperial Verdict also possessed considerably greater acceleration and agility than was typical of a medium mech.

Only a faster mech such as Venerable Imaris' Conavis Mer was capable of keeping the Imperial Verdict busy!

As for winning the duel, Venerable Imaris had no such intentions in mind. Venerable Albert Praetor excelled at 1-on-1 duels, and so did his expert mech!

That left Banner Cross free to choose his opponents. While he wanted to come to the aid of his fellow Crosser expert pilots, he could not ignore the presence of 8 Fridayman expert mechs.

While the standard mechs of the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan were already starting to put a lot of pressure on them, his Leskin was needed to contain the Fridayman expert mechs even further!

As Venerable Banner Cross was about to make his move, he instinctively jerked his Leskin to the side as more than twenty resonance-empowered beams raked the area where his mech had just been!

"Tch!"

If his mech wasn't so mobile and possessed such powerful boosters, his mech would have been struck by the sudden attacks!

The Leskin immediately began to retaliate by firing a beam that struck one of the quasi-expert mechs accompanying the Charlemagne!

"I only have one rifle, but that's enough to teach you a lesson!"

Chapter 2659: High-tier Expert Mechs

At this stage of the battle, the apparent plan of the enemy strike force became clear to Ves and the other leaders.

The enemy split up their fleet in two pincers which slightly arced apart from each other in order to pin the expeditionary fleet down from two sides.

From the orientation of the Golden Skull Alliance, the left side was dominated by the Friday Coalition's elements of the enemy fleet. All of the elite mech units as well as their expert mechs soared forward in an obvious attempt to break through the lines of their opponents with unstoppable momentum!

The Praetor Clan and the Planat Clan took responsibility for the right side. Neither the Larkinsons nor the Glory Seekers were too familiar with the unit composition of the Garlener Clans, but Ves was not too intimidated by the mechs they fielded.

undefinedWhile they were unquestionably up to military standard, the traitor clans were evidently unable or unwilling to bring their crack troops.

"They're seasoned regulars." Major Verle's projection spoke in an appreciative tone. "The mech troops fielded by the Friday Coalition's friends have a stable and reliable quality to them. Their relatively unexciting mechs reflect their stated purpose in battle, which is to form a solid wall and occupy their opponents as much as possible. They aren't shock troops who are needed to breach defenses, nor are they required to outmaneuver their opposition in order to achieve victory in one fell swoop. Look at their overall mech composition. It's largely medium mechs with a modest proportion of heavy mechs sprinkled in. They only have enough light mechs to perform the necessary scouting and interception roles."

He had a good point. Ves had already noted the overall quality and characteristics of the mechs fielded by the Praetors and Planats. It appeared that their commitment to this operation was not all that great.

"Why have they agreed to fight us at all?" Ves frowned.

"Pardon, sir?"

"Think about it. From what I understand of the sordid history of the Becker Tribe, once the Cross Clan lost its ace pilot and had been driven out of Vicious Mountain, the conflict should already be over. The Becker Tribe has lost all of its conquered territories and even gave up its own star systems as compensation. The Praetors and Planats managed to preserve the core of their territories while also cannibalizing the territories that used to be held by the Cross Clan. This is an irreversible outcome. Killing the remnants of the Cross Clan doesn't serve any strategic purpose."

Major Verle followed the train of thought and began to speculate as well.

"Hmmm. I understand. The Praetor Clan and Planat Clan may have succeeded in preserving themselves, but the Becker Tribe is in poor shape. They need to focus much of their energies on preserving what they have. There isn't much of a rationale to finish the job as the Cross Clan is unlikely to make a comeback and is already on its way out of this galaxy."

Ves pointed at the powerful Garlener expert mechs that were about to clash against each other. "Look at them. These arrogant expert pilots are too impulsive and prone to their emotions. I bet they're the ringleaders behind the cooperation with the Friday Coalition. This is all a private action to them. The only soldiers they were able to command are those who are personally loyal to them. This is how expert pilots work in Vicious Mountain. They have actual autonomy and decision-making power in their star sector."

"That sounds plausible."

They could make good use of these guesses if they turned out to be accurate. If Ves was right about the forces of the two clans, then their rank-and-file shouldn't be too threatening. There was a difference between following orders and fighting for a cause. Perhaps the individual soldiers might harbor some irrational hatred against the Crossers, but now that the main problem had been resolved, it was not worth it to risk their lives to beat down an already fallen opponent.

Ves looked at the moving elements on the map with a hopeful expression. "We don't have to invest too much resources in fighting against the standard mechs of the two clans. We can just rely on the Living Sentinels along with some other perfunctory units to hold back the right pincer with the help of our combat carriers. If it turns out my guess is wrong, our Transcendent Punishers can help hold back the Garleners."

"That's a solid plan, but only if you're right, and that is never certain." Major Verle cautioned. "Still, I'm inclined to believe in you. Only the Fridaymen should be fighting us with the fate of their precious state on the line. We'll definitely need to allocate more forces to prevent them from reaching our ship. The Spirit of Bentheim will certainly be in their sights."

He proceeded to bring these matters up to Colonel Ariadne Wodin and the other leaders. They all recognized that this theory had merit. In particular, the senior officers of the Cross Clan also supported Ves' assertion that the rank-and-file Praetors and Planats were followers.

"It's the expert mech pilots who are truly calling the shots." A Crosser officer briefly explained to them all. "We have identified Venerable Damira Planat and Venerable Albert Praetor among our current opponents. Both of them are most certainly the masterminds behind this private action."

The power that both expert pilots exuded in their expert mechs was impressive. To be honest, the Garlener expert pilots on both sides were on a different level compared to the rest.

This was the power of veteran expert pilots who matured in a volatile star sector!

This was the power of expert pilots who lived in an environment where their kind was revered!

It would have been quite frightening if the Larkinson Clan had to fend off the Erin Tear, the Trost and the Imperial Verdict on its own. Fortunately, the Cross Clan's own powerful expert pilots kept these powerful machines in place, if only to take revenge on the traitors.

While the situation still looked manageable, that was only the case if the three aforementioned enemies were eliminated or remained locked in combat.

If just one of the powerful enemy expert mechs achieved victory, then a chain reaction would quickly ensue that would spell the defeat of the Crosser expert mechs and subsequently trigger the collapse of the rest of the expeditionary fleet!

"We have to keep a constant eye on these duels." Major Verle wearily sighed. "As long as one of them tilts against our favor, we need to reinforce Patriarch Reginald and his comrades no matter the cost."

The expert pilots from Vicious Mountain truly exhibited a lot of power from the very start!

The duel between Venerable Patriarch Reginald Cross and Venerable Damira Planat was the most eye-catching clash of them all. This was the first time that Ves personally witnessed a confrontation between two high-tier expert pilots and expert mechs!

The resonance meters recorded resonance strengths in excess of 50 laveres between the two powerful expert mechs!

Venerable Reginald Cross held a slight edge as his true resonance levels fluctuated between 55 to 57 laveres.

Venerable Damira Planat was a bit worse off as her true resonance only hovered between 50 to 53 laveres.

Despite this minor disparity, Venerable Damira actually held the upper hand in the duel. The Erin Tear she piloted was an exceptionally tricky weapon master mech that was a nightmare to fight at close range!

The Bolvos Rage piloted by Venerable Reginald Cross was a much more rounded mech. Aside from its external weapons, it also carried a variety of integrated weapon systems.

Ves witnessed the Bolvos Rage launching a volley of miniature missiles at the Erin Tear. The latter mech shot out a small but concentrated volley of lasers from its head, detonating most of the incoming missiles.

Two still went through and exploded a short distance away from the Erin Tear, causing the mech's resonance shield to wobble.

The mech piloted by Patriarch Reginald did not let up on the assault. A pair of shoulder-mounted positron turrets swiveled out and glowed in red before firing a pair of piercing beams at the enemy resonance shield!

At the same time, the Bolvos Rage raised and oriented its wrists and fired a pair of projectiles that quickly fired a couple of plasma bolts!

The Bolvos Rage then lifted its shotgun and fired a blast as it flew closer! The silent but powerful blast easily tore the Erin Tear's already-weakened resonance shield to pieces!

Even though the Planat expert mech lost its first layer of defense, an energy shield appeared fast enough to block the second shotgun blast! While the energy shield immediately destabilized, it had succeeded in its job.

The Erin Tear burst forward and jabbed forward with her weapon configured in the form of a spear!

Patriarch Reginald predicted the attack. His Bolvos Rage had already moved out of the way while putting away the shotgun. Instead, it withdrew a small rod that quickly unfolded in a circle until it formed into a shield!

Ports opened up on the chest and thighs of the hybrid mech. They began to fire small but hard-hitting projectiles that precisely targeted the secondary weapon modules installed on the Erin Tear.

The Planat expert mech did not let the attacks go unanswered. The thick spear in its hands split up in half and turned into a pair of axes. The weapon master mech held them tight and charged them up with true resonance, causing the weapons to be surrounded by increasingly brighter orange glows!

The Bolvos Rage ceased its attacks. Instead, it began to distance itself from the Erin Tear while bracing its circular shield directly in front.

Once the Erin Tear finished charging the pair axes, the mech threw them forward with mighty swings!

The soaring axes spun so fast that they looked like two powerful energy disks as they advanced with speeds far greater than what an ordinary thrown weapon should possess!

The thrown axes reached the Bolvos Rage in no time! One spinning axe impacted the mech's red resonance shield in a mighty collision that would have been deafening if there was any air in place!

The first axe that collided against the mech even had enough energy left over to pressure the energy shield that the Bolvos Rage had already erected!

The second axe didn't even have to expend much effort to get past the energy shield. The already unstable barrier couldn't even prevent the spinning weapon from getting right past and slamming into the solid metal shield head-on with its blade!

A second burst of orange exploded at the collision site!

Due to the Bolvos Rage's preparations, the mech managed to make it out intact, but it's foldable shield had been split in half! The hybrid mech threw the ruined defensive tool away and pulled out yet another rod that unfolded in an identical circular shield.

The mech pulled out another shield just in time to block the hammer slamming forward!

The spent axes had automatically flown back to the hands of the Erin Tear before merging together to form a hammer.

While the Bolvos Rage managed to block the attack, the kinetic energy behind it threw the mech backwards in space.

The Erin Tear did not pause and spurted forward with the help of powerful boosters integrated into its frame. The hammer in its hands morphed into a spear with the sharp tip pointed downwards. The weapon master mech instantly jabbed it into a downwards motion, causing it to pierce through the Bolvos Rage's left foot!

"DAMIRA!"

An omnidirectional red blast exploded from the Bolvos Rage, knocking the Erin Tear back!

"Hahahaha!" Venerable Damira Planat laughed as she stabilized her expert weapon master mech. "You're as slow as ever. First blood goes to me, old friend."

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!"

The center chest plate of the Bolvos Rage parted aside. The weapon port behind it glowed ominously in red before it unleashed a power beam that pierced through the Erin Tear's recovering resonance shield and burned against the shield that the weapon master mech had formed out of the weapons it held!

The duel between the high-tier expert mechs was far from over. The first round was just the beginning. Both exquisite machines carried so much equipment and modules that the fight would not end until one of them exhausted all of their means.

This was not going to conclude in a short amount of time!

Chapter 2660: Rising Casualties

Ves and many other observers couldn't help but admire the performance of the Garlener expert mechs.

He had to admit that Vicious Mountain had turned expert mech combat into an artform. While he looked down on their warrior culture, only such a circumstance was capable of pushing the development of expert mechs to a higher level!

The expert mechs fielded by the rest of the enemy strike force looked like toys in comparison to the Vicious Mountain expert mechs!

Of course, Ves knew that much of that had to do with the relative strength and treatment of the individual expert pilots.

undefinedVenerable Brutus Wodin was not only a boy, but also a relatively young expert pilot who had only come into power for a few years.

Venerable Ghanso Larkinson and the other 7 expert pilots deployed by his side weren't truly Fridaymen. As foreigners who were half-conscripted to fight on behalf of the Coalition, they didn't receive the best treatment. They weren't as skilled as true second-class expert pilots so they wouldn't be able to make good use of more powerful expert mechs anyway.

All of this resulted in an obvious disparity between the two enemy forces.

The Fridaymen brought powerful elite mech troops but only paired them up with a bunch of mediocre expert mechs.

The Praetor and Planat Clan were led by a small number of powerful expert pilots but only managed to bring several thousand ordinary military mechs.

The expeditionary fleet did not have to worry too much about the weaker components of the two enemy forces. While that didn't mean that they could be ignored at will, they obviously weren't expected to achieve victory on their own merits as long as they were contained.

Right now, thousands of mechs on both sides have become locked in battle!

Due to the fact the enemy dispatched its forces in two pincers, the Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers had to split up their forces as well.

As previously agreed upon, the defending mechs on the right side of the expeditionary fleet largely consisted of units that were more suited to slower-paced battles of attrition. While that didn't necessarily mean that the individual officers couldn't employ unexpected stratagems or pull off clever maneuvers, the overall tone of the battle was relatively subdued compared to what took place on the opposite side.

The exchange of blows was a lot more intensive at the left side of the battlefield!

A flood of laser and positron beams lit up the surrounding space as rifleman mechs from both sides had become locked in battle!

The initial weight of fire clearly favored the elite Fridaymen due to their stronger mechs. The Larkinsons only managed to compensate for the weakness of their Vima Suns by relying on their greater numbers and allowing the Transcendent Punishers to provide some much-needed assistance.

The artillery mechs played a crucial role in suppressing the enemy! The Ylvainan mech pilots had all received orders to concentrate their firepower on the grenade-carrying mechs of the Holvein Grenadiers.

It couldn't be helped! The elite mech regiment founded by the Gauge Dynasty was just too difficult to fight against at close range! A series of powerful grenades could easily tear apart a formation or blow upon a hole in a battle line.

The grenades also induced a lot of fear in any mech pilot that attempted to take down a Holvein Grenadier mech. The elite mech pilots had a habit of holding back at least one grenade until their mech was about to be defeated. The damaged mech would whip out and throw the grenade at its opponent at the final moment before taking advantage of the moment to disengage.

If the nearly-defeated Holvein Grenadier mech was unable to withdraw, then its mech pilot would not hesitate to blow up the grenade at point blank range!

Therefore, the 300 or so Transcendent Punishers that still remained operational all unleashed death and destruction on all 6 mech companies of the Holvein Grenadiers!

While the Grenadiers brought forth plenty of space knights to withstand the barrage, their defenses weren't as perverse as that of the Corundian Giants.

With up to 1200 heavy positron and gauss cannons trained onto the brave space knights of the Holvein Grenadiers, their thick shields melted and fractured into pieces as soon as they were subject to focused fire. The energy shields that formed along the way quickly popped within seconds after blocking over twenty successive beams and rounds at once!

Once the space knights became exposed, not even their thick frontal armor availed them for long. Positron beams vaporized the upper layers while softening up what remained with an excess of heat. Solid gauss rounds fired by the Transcendent Punisher's potent Xcordon cannons slammed into the already-weakened plates and shattered several of them at the same time!

While a single Transcendent Punisher likely needed a fair amount of time to chew through the defensive layers of a Holvein Grenadier space knight, what about an entire squad? What about an entire mech company?

No single mech could withstand so much firepower at once, especially when they advanced closer!

Dozens of space knights shattered into pieces. Others turned into empty husks as their mech pilots hastily ejected from their machines. Without any significant counter battery fire to worry about, the Transcendent Punishers were performing their jobs in splendid fashion as their heavy firepower literally forced the Holvein Grenadiers to a standstill!

Other defensive mechs hastily reinforced the Holvein Grenadiers, allowing their more fragile mechs to escape the brunt of the bombardment for a while longer.

Of course, the fact that the Transcendent Punishers employed all of their firepower on just one single enemy mech unit meant that the others were able to advance under much less pressure!

The Larkinson rifleman mechs only inflicted light damage onto the enemy mechs. The modified laser rifles of the Vima Suns might be a tad more powerful than the norm, but the powerful armor of their opposition were more than capable of resisting the beams.

It couldn't be helped! The commercial second-class rifleman mechs piloted by the Avatars, Battle Criers, Vandals and so on were only optimized for laser weapons in order to lower costs.

While laser weapons boasted stellar accuracy, their damage potential was disappointing compared to positron weapons. Even when squads of Vima Suns focused their fire onto a single target, it took a lot of effort just to dig into the internals of a tough military mech.

The enemy rifleman mechs did not suffer from the same problem. Many relatively fragile Larkinson mechs lost limbs or suffered severe damage after getting hit a couple times by power positron beams.

The enemy rifleman mechs had no equals on this side of the battlefield! Only the rifleman mechs fielded by the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan were able to match their Fridayman counterparts blow for blow, but the latter had numbers by their side.

This was because the Glory Seekers and the Crossers had tasked the majority of their ranged mechs with the vital mission of suppressing the Fridayman expert mechs!

Colonel Ariadne Wodin chose to rely heavily on ranged firepower to suppress and constrain the Fridaymen expert mechs. Thousands of rifleman mechs all concentrated their energy beams at the powerful machines. Most of the beams actually went wide because their targets accelerated in unexpected directions, allowing them to evade most incoming fire.

What scattered beams managed to hit the expert mechs were actually scattered by their resonance shields.

The combined firepower of a mech regiment's worth of rifleman mechs weren't even capable of getting past the resonance shields of the enemy mechs!

While the expert mechs did not sustain any significant damage at the moment, it was quite exhausting to maintain their resonance shields. The expert pilots had to invest so much attention to avoiding so much damage that they weren't able to close in on their opponents!

Whenever an expert mech shot forward, the rifleman mechs flew backwards while at the same time directing much more firepower at the closing enemy.

The Glory Seekers and the Crossers also dispatched many melee mechs because ranged suppression was not enough to hold back the enemy expert mechs. These mechs formed into squads and advanced whenever the rifleman mechs halted their fire on a target.

These brief clashes did not end well. In one instance, the Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs that approached an enemy melee mech abruptly lost half their number as a blade extended by resonance slashed across a wide area, thereby slicing the attacking melee mechs without encountering any significant resistance!

This wasn't even the worst that the Fridayman expert mechs could unleash. The Charlemagne and its Scarra calmly took aim before firing 40 resonance-empowered beams at the same time.

40 Glory Seeker rifleman mechs exploded at the same time as they were fatally struck by Venerable Ghanso Larkinson's amazing feat of marksmanship!

Just as the Unit L was about to fire a second time, two different enemy mechs sniped three Scarra mechs at once!

The Star Dancer piloted by Venerable Brutus Wodin managed to fire a powerful beam that instantly tore through a quasi-expert mech. As the rifleman mech flew forward, its multi-rifle fired a steady staccato of gauss rounds that heavily damaged another Scarra mech.

Approaching from the other side was the Leskin piloted by Venerable Banner Cross. The experienced Crosser expert pilot quickly deemed Venerable Ghanso's abnormal entourage to be the most threatening presence on the battlefield.

If Unit L was about to repeat its earlier feat a few times, then the losses to the Glory Seeker and the Crosser mechs would quickly render them unable to hold back the other expert mechs!

Under this desperate circumstance, the thousands of standard mechs were basically trading their own frames in order to consume the energy levels of the enemy expert mechs.

The chances of taking down expert mechs were too low under normal circumstances. They became a lot more vulnerable once they exhausted their reserves, and one of the ways to do that was to force them to expend their energy to fight back against a flood of regular mechs!

Naturally, the Fridayman expert mech pilots weren't blind. As soon as their opponents brought so many mechs to bear against them, they tried their best to link up with each other and combine their powers together.

When an expert melee mech paired up with an expert ranged mech, the combination proved a lot deadlier than if they were separate!

The former perfectly took care of the advancing waves of melee mechs while the latter steadily shot down ranged mech after ranged mech without worrying about interference!

Unit L already established this combination by pairing up the Charlemagne with the Jaenne D'Arc. As soon as Scarra mechs started blowing up one after another, the Jeanne D'Arc instantly propelled forward and chased after the Leskin, which Venerable Foster regarded as the more threatening of the two opposing expert rifleman mechs!

"You take care of that Hexer expert mech yourself!" She told her teammate.

"Who do you think I am?" Venerable Ghanso growled as the Charlemagne along with all of his Scarra aimed at the swift and elusive Star Dancer. "I've demolished a lot more Hexer expert mechs than you!"

Venerable Brutus Wodin felt a fatal threat as soon as over 35 rifles simultaneously aimed in the direction of his mech.

No matter where the Star Dancer attempted to dodge, it could not avoid getting hit! This was because Venerable Ghanso always fired the guns under his control in a box pattern around his target.

Perhaps getting hit a few times was no big deal, but as long as the Star Dancer received damage that impaired its mobility, then the expert rifleman mech was definitely doomed!

Fortunately for him, the Glory Seekers already anticipated this situation. A dozen or so regular mechs darted forth and put themselves in between the two expert mechs just in time!

"For the Superior Mother!"

"Glory to the Seekers of Truth!

Every mech that had moved to help the Star Dancer blew up or turned into wrecks without fail!

In some cases, the cockpits of the damaged mechs managed to eject without a problem, but over half of the Glory Seeker mech pilots sacrificed their lives for a momentary advantage!

Venerable Brutus regretted his inability to prevent the Hexer mech pilots from dying.

"Your slaughter ends here!"

Chapter 2661: Pinning Enemies

The Charlemagne and his Scarra posed a very great threat on the battlefield, yet they were not without their flaws.

One of the greatest shortcomings of the quasi-expert mechs controlled by Venerable Ghanso was that they were very fragile against other expert mechs.

Right now, the threatening Leskin had just drawn away the Jeanne D'Arc, thereby depriving the Scarra of their bodyguard.

This allowed the Star Dancer to pick off the Scarra with powerful shots.

undefinedOf course, Venerable Ghanso should have been able to shoot down the opposing rifleman mech a while ago. Yet he had been unable to get rid of this annoyance because there were too many flies getting in the way of his attacks!

The Glory Seekers mech pilots did not hesitate to put their lives on the line by using their mechs as shields! Even though the mechs blew up right after, they succeeded in blocking or mitigating the incoming resonance-empowered beams!

More Glory Seeker mechs began to divert their attention to Unit L. Every Hexer loathed Venerable Ghanso Larkinson. Even though he was kin to the famed Ves Larkinson, Ghanso had too much Hexer blood on his hands!

"Die, Hexer slayer!"

"We will never let you kill more Hexers after today!"

Even though the Glory Seeker preoccupation reduced the pressure on the other expert mechs, their combined efforts made life very difficult for Venerable Ghanso!

"Fine!" He shouted. "If you want to fight me so bad, then so be it! I'll kill all of you before I come for Ves!"

The Charlemagne and its entourage stopped focusing on the elusive Star Dancer and instead shot at every enemy standard mech in Ghanso's sights!

His killing efficiency increased due to two reasons. As the Scarra slowly reduced in numbers, Venerable Ghanso experienced less of a burden in controlling the remaining quasi-expert mechs. He also didn't have to employ full-power attacks to take down most standard mechs, thereby enabling him to adopt a higher rate of fire!

Venerable Brutus tried his best to wipe out the Scarra as fast as possible in order to render Unit L toothless, but Venerable Ghanso purposefully moved his mech over to the other beleaguered Fridayman expert mechs.

With more and more of the enemy expert mechs joining forces, it became a lot more difficult to take them all down! Mechs blew apart at a faster rate than before.

Even though the resonance shields of some of the expert mechs had already popped, their super-hard armor still granted them plenty of damage resistance against most attacks, especially lighter ones.

Colonel Ariadne Wodin began to grow increasingly more concerned. The enemy expert mechs weren't weakening fast enough. The Glory Seekers and the Crossers were losing their mechs at a prodigious rate, causing the enemy to experience less pressure over time.

While the fight against the enemy expert mechs was very tragic for the Golden Skull Alliance, the confrontation against the elite mech units wasn't going well either!

While the Transcendent Punishers succeeded in crippling the Holvein Grenadiers, they hadn't been able to direct their firepower elsewhere.

The Corundian Giants, the Bloody Herons, the Silent Swords and other less-famed units successfully advanced while only suffering light to moderate attacks.

At this time, the Bloody Herons took the lead. As soon as they were about to clash against their opposition, the Fridayman mech pilots all melded their minds together into a neural network!

"Fight for the Coalition!"

The Bloody Heron mechs soon changed in character. Their formations became a lot tighter and their coordination abruptly increased.

"Damn! The Herons are getting serious now!"

The moment the Bloody Heron mechs collided against the Avatars of Myth, the latter failed to withstand the pressure!

The Tamris Stellars that the Avatars relied upon to greet the initial push completely failed to delay the Bloody Heron mechs! The enemy machines either combined their attacks to circumvent or break the shields of the commercial space knights without too much effort!

The Princess Jeckas that swept forward in order to threaten the enemy melee mechs were unable to hold them back either! Their relatively weak strength made it very difficult for their swords to penetrate the armor of the Bloody Heron mechs.

Instead, their cheap frames quickly succumbed as the Bloody Herons worked in unison, always opting to launch simultaneous attacks from multiple directions with impeccable timing!

Commander Melkor was on the verge of panicking. Even if he managed to land a lot of hits onto the Bloody Herons, the rifle of his Vima Sun was simply too weak to achieve instant results.

"Pull back and Condense your lines! Help is coming!"

The Avatars were never meant to defeat the Bloody Herons. The Larkinsons were merely supposed to keep the Fridaymen occupied, but Melkor had miscalculated how well their current foes were able to defeat his men with so much ease.

Fortunately, reinforcements arrived quickly.

"Death from above!"

250 Valkyrie Interceptors and 250 Valkyrie Hurricanes swooped down from above!

The third eyes on their foreheads shone before shining hundreds of beams onto the mechs of the Bloody Herons.

The Fridaymen mech pilots couldn't help but pause. While their strange mind state left them much less susceptible to the glow of the Valkyrie mechs, just the physical charge alone posed a significant threat to them because they were outnumbered by more than 2-to-1!

It was at this time that the Silent Swords shot forward! The elite swordsman mech unit weren't supposed to be deployed so early, but the threat posed by the Valkyrie mechs were far too potent.

The Silent Swords were unquestionably superior in melee combat. The Konsu mech pilots possessed minds of steel and a mastery in swordsmanship that most Hexers could only dream of. This combination made them exceptionally suited to confront the Valkyrie mechs!

The Glory Seekers made the difficult decision to abort their charge. Instead, their Valkyrie mechs arced away while strafing the Bloody Herons and Silent Swords with their pulse submachine guns. Their guns inflicted light damage onto the enemy mechs, but the advantage of the weapons was that the Valkyrie mechs could keep firing without worrying about any limitations for quite some time!

The Glory Seekers opted to pressure the Silent Swords with their strafing runs in order to keep them occupied.

Additional mechs surged forth in order to pin down the Fridayman elites. The Cross Clan's mainstay mechs took over the position of the Avatars of Myth and adequately kept the Bloody Herons and the Silent Swords contained, if only for some time.

There were still too many threats! The Friday Coalition had brought thousands of more mechs, each of which needed to be contained. The Glory Seekers and the Crossers were spreading themselves thin in order to block the elite Fridayman mechs from advancing forward, but they were already reaching their limits!

The Avatars, Battle Criers and Vandals had been relegated to helping from the side. This was the only way to prevent them from losing their budget mechs too quickly, but they were only able to play a marginal role in this clash.

"Damn! Our allies won't be able to hold on!" Melkor cursed.

While the disparity in quality between the two sides wasn't as great now that the Larkinson mechs had made way, the numbers weren't in their favor.

If the Larkinson mechs weren't able to make the difference, then the Fridaymen mechs would eventually be able to gain an unstoppable advantage!

"We need more help!"

The Larkinson Clan still had several cards left to play.

"Larkinsons! Hold steady!"

The first prime mech had entered the fray!

"Vandals!" Venerable Orfan called as her Bright Spear Prime shone like a flame as she advanced! "Advance with my spear!"

The Flagrant Vandal mech pilots swelled with battle intent as the glow of the Bright Spear Prime enveloped them. Both Qilanxo and the Golden Cat lent their presence to the mech, causing it to turn into a beacon of hope that infused some much-needed courage in their hearts!

"Fight like a Vandal! Don't clash head-on against these Fridayman mechs. Harass them from their flanks and annoy them as much as possible. Take what is ours!"

"Take what is ours!" The invigorated Vandal mech pilots proudly echoed!

Under Venerable Orfan's lead, the Flagrant Vandals turned into a bunch of scumbags who never gave the Fridaymen an opportunity to confront them in a fair fight.

The Vandals circled around and raked the flanks of the Bloody Herons. Even though the latter was always able to respond perfectly to the attack runs due to their extensive coordination, not a single Bloody Heron mech was able to match the Bright Spear Prime in battle!

Even though the spearman mech fell far short of an actual expert mech, the huge amount of pressure it exerted made it very difficult for any human to stay close in its presence.

The heavy glow of the Bright Spear Prime pressured the Fridayman mech pilots to such an extent in close range that they were practically forced out of the neural network!

Once the individual Bloody Heron mechs in front of the Bright Spear Prime became isolated, their mech pilots couldn't adjust to the changes fast enough to make the right responses.

With Venerable Orfan's superior skill along with the strength of a prime mech derived from the unfinished Bright Warrior Version B design, she quickly felled half-a-dozen enemy mechs in quick succession!

The Bloody Herons instantly recognized the threat she posed. What one mech pilot knew, all of the mech pilots knew.

Their ranged mechs no longer exchanged fire with other ranged mechs and instead concentrated their fire on the Bright Spear Prime.

The Fridaymen judged that the strange mech that exhibited a different form of false resonance was a high priority target. Taking it down not only deprived the Larkinson Clan of a champion, but also damaged their morale!

The weak resonance shield around the Bright Spear Prime quickly popped as a torrent of energy beams and gauss rounds flooded in its direction!

"Hahaha!"

While Venerable Orfan employed evasive maneuvers, she did not pull her mech back. Instead, she allowed her mech to continually get hit by her opponents.

To the surprise of both sides, the Bright Spear Prime largely remained intact!

While some vulnerable surface components and other parts were compromised, much of the armor plating did no suffer a single scratch!

The Unending alloy cladding much of the mech had successfully fended off the incoming attacks!

"Hahaha! Is that all you got? Shoot at me some more!"

The Bloody Herons collectively analyzed the result of their attacks and soon made some adjustments.

The Fridayman rifleman mechs no longer wasted time on the odd prime mech. Instead, they went back to pressuring other mechs.

It only took a few seconds before attacks fired from the rear of the Fridayman forces impacted the Bright Spear Prime instead!

No energy weapons struck the prime mech. Instead, gauss rounds of a heavier caliber than before slammed into the spearman mech and rammed it backwards.

"Hey! Who the hell shot me this time?!"

The cannoneer mechs of the Corundian Giants had taken over the task of suppressing the Bright Spear Prime!

After proving the viability of this tactic, the cannoneer mechs mounted on the backs of space knights fired their primary armaments at an alternating pattern.

Every half-second, at least one kinetic round slammed into the indestructible chest of Venerable Orfan's mech. While the mech still remained as whole as ever, the mech was constantly being pushed back meter by meter!

"What gives! Let me fight already!"

Venerable Orfan became more and more frustrated as all of the power she had at her disposal wasn't able to prevent her prime mech from getting pushed back again and again.

The Fridaymen did not let up. The Corundian Giants allocated a considerable amount of firepower to suppress this potentially destabilizing factor.

Unfortunately for them, the Bright Spear Prime wasn't the only prime mech on the battlefield.

The Corundian Giants detected an approaching energy signature. Their mech pilots initially dismissed the incoming mech because it was only a light mech that was probably scouting forward. The light mech even circled around and kept a respectable distance from every Fridayman mech.

That was until it turned around and advanced rapidly towards the Corundian Giants. It accelerated thirty percent faster, causing it to build up its speed faster!

Some of the combination mechs of the Corundian Giants turned around and fired at the approaching light mech.

Predictably, the light mech easily evaded the attacks.

The Corundian Giants weren't worried. When the light mech came close, the cannoneer mechs suddenly shot out simultaneous blasts of fracturing projectiles!

Like shotguns, the cannons turned the entire area around their target into a lethal zone against any lightly-armored mech!

Unfortunately, the Fridaymen miscalculated again! The light mech possessed a resonance shield as well! Even though it only blocks a portion of the attacks, the remainder bounced harmlessly off its thin Unending armor plates without severely slowing the machine down.

The lone Piranha Prime rapidly entered the middle of the enemy formation! The surrounding combination mechs instantly froze or slowed down for a moment as their mech pilots came under the effect of a crippling glow!

"You're too slow!" Venerable Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson crowed as the daggers of his Piranha Prime stabbed into the vulnerable back of a cannoneer mech!

Chapter 2662: Looking Up

Commander Casella Ingvar looked pensive as her Living Sentinels fought alongside a large number of Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs.

Just like the left flank, the Larkinson Clan was only capable of playing a marginal role at the right flank.

Perhaps the only consolation was that the Living Sentinels piloted the same commercial second-class mechs as the other mech forces. The Princess Jeckas, Vima Suns and Tamris Stellars in the hands of her troops were identical to those in the hands of the Avatars of Myth and the Flagrant Vandals.

Of course, the other mech forces utilized them a little better because of the difference that pilots made. She was merely glad that the difference didn't appear to be too big, which showcased that her men were worthy soldiers.

undefinedWhile she continued to pay attention to the overall state of her side of the battlefield, she did not neglect the difference she could make as a person. Her mech, a prototype Bright Warrior Version B in rifleman mech configuration, constantly fired powerful positron beams that precisely hit an exposed joint, an important sensor system or the exposed gaps of a damaged mech.

Casella was an expert candidate!

Her skill, judgement, intuition, reaction speed and other relevant attributes had exceeded human limitations, if only barely. That was still enough to turn her into a top combatant among the thousands of mechs that were clashing right in front of her machine!

In particular, her concentration, attention span and her multi-tasking ability had increased considerably, allowing her to pay attention to both the state of the battle and her own combat situation with hardly any penalties!

"5th Company, reinforce the 3rd Company and prevent the Praetor mechs from breaching through their ranks."

"Vima Suns of the 6th and 8th Company, suppress the light skirmishers coming around to harass us from below the orbital plane."

"Requesting artillery support at the marked coordinates. We need to break up the charge of the Planat lancer mechs."

The battle might look like chaos up close, but Commander Casella never lost her cool!

After clashing against the mechs dispatched by the Praetor Clan and Planat Clan, she already gained a measure of her opponents.

Just as Major Verle had alluded to her, the enemy military mechs were orderly and disciplined but not that imaginative. The intensity of battle was lower at this side of the battlefield because neither side wanted to initiate any high-risking gambits that could easily escalate and lead to massive casualties.

Instead, both sides seemed content with going through the motions, though the battle was anything but an illusion. Even if they weren't putting their all into the fight, plenty of mechs still succumbed and many mech pilots constantly perished as a result of the large-scale fighting!

Both sides had different reasons to keep the fight from escalating at this side.

The Golden Skull Alliance sought to achieve victory at the left side. Defeating the 8 Fridayman expert mechs was the primary win condition for the expeditionary forces. With thousands of mechs focusing all of their efforts on taking down 8 expert mechs, the latter's odds were not great!

Once those expert mechs fell, the enemy strike force lost a major component of their strength, thereby freeing up a lot of friendly forces which could be reassigned to attack other enemies!

As for the Praetors and Planats, they were content to maintain a stalemate because they put their faith in their expert pilots.

Back in Vicious Mountain, the status of expert pilots in battle was supreme! Whenever they were present on the battlefield, the duel between opposing high-ranking mech pilots was all that mattered!

Once an expert mech became victorious, the soldiers of the winning side received an insane morale boost while the mech pilots of the losing side fell into a pit of despair.

Unless there was a gross disparity in numbers, the latter always suffered defeat at the end!

Commander Casella briefly directed her attention upwards. An intensive clash had erupted between the expert mechs of both sides!

The Crossers and their archenemies weren't messing around! Their medium and high-tier expert mechs fought with such intensity and violence that not a single standard mech dared to get close or interfere with the destructive duel.

This wasn't a fight they were qualified to intervene in! It took too many standard mechs to put pressure on an enemy expert mech, but if Commander Casella really attempted such, she would have too few mechs to stop the regular troops of the enemy from advancing!

This was the true reason why the Praetor and Planat mechs fought in such a sticky fashion. They wanted to occupy as many Larkinson, Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs as possible in order to prevent them from interfering with the duels taking place above!

An alert sounded in her cockpit.

"Watch out!"

The Trost piloted by Venerable Kelvin Praetor briefly swooped closer to the static battle lines and unleashed a wide and devastating blast of glowing flames that enveloped 15 Living Sentinel mechs and 22 Crosser mechs!

The mechs that had been struck all burned with blue flames that melted right through their armor plating and charred the internals!

Fortunately, the majority of the mech pilots quickly understood their mechs were unsalvageable and ejected their cockpits. Only a couple of ejected cockpits were still aflame. The hardened shells only lasted for seconds before breaching the interior and turning the mech pilots inside into ashes.

"Noo!"

Venerable Linda Cross arrived late!

Her expert space knight seemed to dash forward with great momentum! The Trost barely evaded the Amphis as the latter attempted to charge into the hybrid with its shield!

Even though the space knight missed the mark, it launched forward its sword as it passed, causing it to slam into one of the Trost's arms and deliver a deep cut that exposed its internals!

What was even more remarkable was that the thrown sword was connected by a chain. Even though the sword bounced away shortly after impacting the Trost, it seemed to gain life and attempted to entangle the Praetor expert mech with its chain!

The Trost panickingly withdrew from the range of the chained sword. Nothing good would come from getting lassoed! The chain connecting the sword with the Amphis was so thick and resilient that barely any weapon in the Trost's arsenal could cut its links apart in a short amount of time.

Just as Venerable Kelvin Praetor thought he had dodged a dangerous moment, the sensors of his mech picked up a sudden change from the other expert mechs that were dueling in the vicinity.

The Conavis Mer that had persistently fought to contain the Imperior Verdict piloted by Venerable Albert Praetor suddenly turned around in an instant and activated all of its boosters to accelerate towards the Trost's exposed rear!

The Imperial Verdict momentarily froze at the sudden turn of events. Venerable Albert Praetor had been so engaged in his duel against Venerable Imaris Cross that he had tuned out the presence of other mechs on the battlefield.

The trident-wielding expert mech rapidly accelerated forward in order to catch up with its opponent, but its speed could never match that of an expert light skirmisher!

"Hahaha!" Venerable Imaris laughed as the daggers of his mech already glowed in off-white. "Albert always fights like he's in the dueling arena. Idiot!"

Even though Venerable Kelvin was already attempting to turn around the Trost, he noticed that the Amphis had already closed in and launched its chain sword forward a second time with surprising speed!

The expert hybrid mech fell into a dilemma. The daggers of an expert light skirmisher swept in from the rear while the chain sword extended by an expert knight mech approached from the front.

There was no way the Trost could block both attacks! Perhaps other expert mechs might be able to, but Venerable Kelvin Praetor's personal machine was not geared for blocking or parrying!

"KELVIN! Defend from the front!"

The expert pilot's eyes lit up! He completely disregarded the approaching Conavis Mer and focused fully on blocking the chain sword. The mech quickly retrieved two shafts strapped to the side of its legs and slotted them together to form a short halberd!

With impeccable timing and precision, the Trost swung the flat of the glowing halberd blade against the side of the sword connected to the chain.

Two resonance glows briefly competed against each other before cancelling each other out! Without any form of true resonance amplifying the power of the chained sword, it had briefly turned into a regular weapon with regular momentum.

Though the stress to the Trost was not light, the battering impact successfully swung the threatening sword off-course!

Unfortunately, this heavy exertion left the Trost's rear completely exposed against the Conavis Mer's lethal daggers.

Small weapon ports exposed themselves from the Trost's back and fired a pair of potent missiles at the incoming light skirmisher.

"That won't work!"

The Conavis Mer's knees bent in a way that caused them to expose two gun ports that fired two separate streams of projectiles that intercepted the incoming missiles!

The Trost fired some additional weapons from the rear, but the Conavis Mer's resonance shield fended most of them off while dodging the remainder!

Venerable Kelvin Praetor was not yet out of tricks. However, the price of implementing his desperate solution was very severe.

Yet just as the Conavis Mer was about to sink its daggers into the flight system of the enemy hybrid mech, Venerable Imaris Cross abruptly jerked his light mech off course.

A gloving arrow had almost struck the Conavis Mer! If the light skirmisher had not altered its course, its relatively lightly-armored frame would have suffered considerable damage!

"Damira!"

The four mechs that had moved closer to each other all looked above the heads of their mechs.

Having previously decided to fight far away from other mechs in order to avoid endangering their comrades, Venerable Damira Planat decided to break this accord first.

Just as the Erin Tear swung its twin axes against the battered unfolded shield of the Bolvos Rage, the weapon master mech declined to take advantage of the moment the shield finally split in half.

Instead, the boosters installed on the Planat expert mech's front engaged at full blast, causing the mech to distance itself from the Bolvos Rage and avoid the explosion of heat that Patriarch Reginald's hybrid mech unleashed from its chest!

As the Erin Tear launched backwards, it connected the ends of its two axes together as they spontaneously elongated and morphed into the shape of a bow. The Erin Tear rapidly retrieved an arrow from a slot built inside its thigh and strung it onto the flexible alloy string before pulling the bow and firing the projectile in one smooth motion!

"DAMIRA!" Venerable Reginald Cross furiously roared. "You will pay for that!"

Even though the Bolvos Rage's chest projector already unleashed a powerful close-ranged heat blast, it rapidly glowed before firing a powerful energy beam that struck the Erin Tear before it could completely dodge out of the way!

The weapon master mech had already morphed its spear into a thick radial shield that barely managed to block the powerful beam!

Even though the shield had rapidly heated up, it still remained intact!

No more attacks ensued for a moment. The three expert mechs of the traitor clan rapidly congregated together while the three Crosser expert mechs grouped up as well.

The two sides briefly faced each other. The expert pilots knew that the struggle between them would become even more precarious now that they had linked up with their peers.

"Our primary target is the Trost." Patriarch Reginald Cross decided with a repressed voice. "It is the easiest to defeat out of the three."

Venerable Damira Planat issued a similar instruction to the two Praetor expert pilots. "Target the Amphis first. I know it's a space knight, but it is the least maneuverable out of our current opponents. Just pile as much damage onto it as possible. Take out its flight system if you have the opportunity! We don't need to care about the rest of the Amphis once it loses its mobility!"

Six expert mechs clashed against each other with much more violence than before!

Chapter 2663: Interfering Prime Mechs

Ves grew concerned at the changes to the right side of the battlefield. The expert pilots from Vicious Mountain abided by a different set of rules and customs. That made him feel uncomfortable because Patriarch Reginald Cross seemed to act without regard to the bigger picture.

Now that the struggle between the expert mechs shifted from single duels to a full three-on-three confrontation, the danger level of their confrontation had increased remarkably.

While there was a chance the three Crossers would quickly be able to defeat their opponents, the same applied in reverse.

This was not good!

undefinedAs long as one side gained a clear advantage, the entire course of the battle would instantly change. The power displayed by the Bolvos Rage and the Erin Tear far exceeded that of the Fridayman expert mechs.

If the Bolvos Rage was unleashed, then that would be fantastic. The hybrid mech seemed to possess an endless amount of energy which could be used to fuel massive area attacks that was able to wipe out dozens of enemy mechs at a time!

The Erin Tear was not as efficient at mopping up weaker mechs, but it was virtually undefeatable and unstoppable without the Bolvos Rage constraining its actions. The Erin Tear could easily fly up to the Spirit of Bentheim and carve its way inside to inflict crippling damage from within!

If the Spirit of Bentheim didn't manage to escape before the Erin Tear reached her hull, then it would be too late to do anything! Even if the factory ship hastily transitioned into FTL, the Erin Tear would just travel with the escaping vessel because the hostile expert mech had entered her envelope.

"Well, that won't happen anyway because none of us are able to escape in this way."

The Friday Coalition went through all of this effort to ambush the expeditionary fleet in order to take out Ves. There was no way it was willing to let the Spirit of Bentheim slip away at the final moment.

Ves glanced at the periphery of the projected map of the local space. Various Fridayman light mechs had stationed themselves all around the battlefield. These light mechs did not do anything aside from maintaining an active gravitic module that slightly disturbed the local space.

Not only that, but a number of artillery mechs stationed in the bunkers of the enemy deep strike fleet carriers fired special shells that inexplicably burst in the middle of the expeditionary fleet without hitting anything.

Anytime these shells exploded, they generated dispersed gravitic fluctuations that destabilized the local space. The disturbances were just enough to prevent any FTL drive from safely engaging!

With this measure, none of the ships of the Golden Skull Alliance was allowed to escape willy-nilly.

It was useless to try even if he transferred to a swift corvette like the Barracuda and attempted to flee at all costs. The Barracuda may be fast, but she was thinly-armored and not as agile as a light skirmisher.

The remnants of the Witch Slayers and the Destiny Hammers would easily be able to cripple the Barracuda!

The only way to lift the blockade was to prevent the enemy from coming close and to take out the enemy elements that maintained it. This was very difficult and would certainly distract from the overall fight.

In certain rare circumstances, excellent engineers were able to force an FTL drive to make an unstable transition by compensating for the gravitic disturbances. This was an extremely complicated and data-intensive approach that was fraught with danger.

While it was not impossible to open up an escape route, Ves wasn't willing to do so until there was no other choice.

He had already decided to commit to the battle. The window of opportunity to run away was already closed. Since he chose to meet his pursuers in battle, he had to live with the consequences.

He did not go into this battle with the expectation of losing, though. Once he turned his attention to the left side of the battlefield, the situation grew more hopeful.

At the start, the elite Fridayman mech units secured a considerable advantage. Their mechs and mech pilots were better than the opposition. The Avatars of Myth and other Larkinson mech forces assigned to the left wing were wholly outclassed by the Bloody Herons, the Holvein Grenadiers and the other Fridayman elites!

Not even the backbone of the Glory Seekers and Cross Clan managed to hold their ground!

All of that changed once additional elements entered the fray.

The Bright Spear Prime piloted by Venerable Orfan invigorated the Flagrant Vandals! The mech was able to defeat even the toughest elite mech in single combat. Its absurdly thick glow suppressed any human mech pilot in the vicinity until they lost control.

Most mech pilots simply weren't capable of withstanding the spiritual pressure that reached thousands of Ves!

Not surprisingly, the Bright Spear Prime's cheat-like glow was even able to crack the famed mental defenses of the Silent Swords.

The Konsu Clan's most disciplined and mentally-resilient mech pilots were all strong enough to withstand the suppressive glows of the Doom Guard, Ferocious Piranha and Valkyrie Redeemer.

Yet against a brute force approach like stacking lots of spiritual energy in a single mech, only expert pilots were able to maintain their lucidity under so much mental pressure!

Once the Bright Spear Prime was no longer suppressed by the Corundian Giants, Venerable Orfan drove her mech into continuous attack runs against the Silent Swords, seeking to constrain and block the Fridayman swordsman mechs from carving their way through friendly lines!

The Valkyrie Interceptors and Valkyrie Hurricanes piloted by the Glory Seekers pitched in as well! While they did not commit to a charge, their constant harassment from the side was very hard to deal with. The Silent Swords did not possess any powerful ranged solutions while the Valkyrie mechs were all armed with at least a pulse submachine gun.

The marauder mechs were much more flexible than the rigid Silent Swords who were only good up close. While the ranged attacks of the Valkyrie mechs weren't all that strong, as long as hundreds of them focused their fire onto the rears or sides of the enemy swordsman mechs, the damage they were able to inflict over time was quite significant!

The Fridaymen tried to adjust to the changing circumstances as best as possible. The enemy leader suddenly ordered the Silent Swords to break up into individual squads that all spread out across the battle line.

Breaking up the hundreds of Silent Swords deprived the Fridaymen of a powerful shock formation, but also deprived the Flagrant Vandals and the Hexers of an easy target!

The Fridaymen adjusted their formations so that the Bloody Herons, Holvein Grenadiers and Silent Swords all integrated into a combination that allowed them to cover for each other's weaknesses to a far better degree than before!

Whenever the Valkyrie mechs attempted to make another firing run, the enemy space knights moved to shield any targets that were receiving the bulk of the enemy attacks.

Enemy ranged mechs all retaliated against the Valkyrie mechs, making it too costly for them to buzz around the sides.

Even Venerable Orfan endured great opposition again. After trying out various solutions to destroy or repel the Bright Spear Prime, the Fridaymen eventually hit the jackpot when they discovered that the prime mech wasn't able to cope with excess heat!

Laser rifles fired unceasingly at the Bright Spear Prime. Whenever Venerable Orfan drove her mech close, the surviving Holvein Grenadier mechs flung any grenades in its direction that unleashed a lot of heat. Incendiary grenades, plasma grenades, thermal grenades and a couple more exotic grenade types rapidly heated up the spear-wielding prime mech until Venerable Orfan helplessly withdrew.

Her actions were not in vain. The Bright Spear Prime had exerted so much pressure onto the Fridaymen that they felt compelled to spend a considerable amount of battle resources to keep the prime mech at bay.

In fact, the Corundian Giants were supposed to suppress the Venerable Orfan's machine, yet their cannons had ceased firing at the prime mech a short time earlier.

The problem was that a single nimble prime mech was disrupting everything!

If the thickened glow of the Bright Spear Prime was already bad enough to be around, then the Ferocious Piranha was even worse!

The entire area around the mech turned into a zone where any other human aside from expert pilots and maybe expert candidates were able to remain in control.

Every other human including the mech pilots hailing from the Coalition Reserve Corps were unable to think clearly as they came under the suppression of two different effects.

First, like any Ferocious Piranha mech, the Piranha Prime embodied the conflicting glows of Lufa, Zeigra and Qilanxo.

Second, with thousands of Ves worth of spiritual energy pumped into its Unending alloy frame, just the pressure alone was unbearable to be around.

Venerable Tusa was actually surprised at how effectively his mech disabled nearby mech pilots to the point where he was always able to attack the weak points of the enemy mechs without facing any opposition!

It was as if the enemies he targeted proactively lined up their mechs in space to get stabbed!

"This is absurd! This mech is a monster!"

A vicious grin appeared on his face.

"But I like this mech."

Venerable Tusa initially intended to harass the enemy combination mechs in order to distract them from bombarding his buddies. However, seeing how he was able to make the Corundian Giants so flustered, he immediately switched to a more aggressive plan and openly dove into the middle of the enemy formation!

Even though it sounded incredibly dangerous, the prime mech enjoyed numerous advantages by doing so. It's incredibly perverse glow allowed it to discount most forms of retaliation against nearby mechs.

The Corundian Giant mechs that were a bit further away did not dare to go all out. They were more liable to hit their own comrades than a very elusive enemy light mech!

Of course, the Corundian Giants were not completely unable to defend against the Piranha Prime.

Some of the combination mechs broke up into separate space knights and cannoneer mechs. The space knights formed together and projected a shared energy shield that formed a physical barrier against the Ferocious Prime that still remained active even if the mech pilots blacked out for a time.

The cannoneer mechs sheltering behind the energy shields all adjusted their weapons and began to fire dispersed laser beams that denied an entire area at close range or shot strange nets that Venerable Tusa avoided like the plague.

"These Corundian Giants are trickier than I thought!" Tusa cursed.

Even though he wasn't able to sink his daggers into the backs or joints of the enemy mechs, his presence alone still exerted a significant threat to them. The high mobility of the Ferocious Prime along with the piloting skill and instincts of an expert pilot meant that Venerable Tusa was virtually untouchable!

The more time and resources the Corundian Giants wasted on the lone prime mech, the less damage they were able to inflict onto the rest of the Larkinson mechs.

It was a completely worthwhile exchange!

"Watch out Venerable Tusa!" A communications officer warned him. "The Fridaymen are reinforcing the Corundian Giants with striker mechs. We have confirmed that all of them are armed with flamethrowers."

"Roger that." Tusa replied as his good mood faded. "I'll be pulling back."

"That won't be necessary."

When a mech company's worth of striker mechs reached the halfway point, they came under sudden bombardment!

In a brief amount of the time, the exposed striker mechs were struck by thousands of heavy beams and rounds, peeling away their heavy armor and destroying their internals batch by batch!

The rest quickly huddled behind the space knights escorting the reinforcements. Their shields held out quite a long time, but wore away eventually under sustained bombardment.

While the number of intact Transcendent Punishers had dropped due to suffering from renewed counter battery fire, plenty of them were still left to put pressure on any enemy element!

The Corundian Giants were already moving towards the striker mechs. Venerable Tusa intuitively sensed they were able to link up in time, thereby ending most of his opportunities to distract the powerful cannonneer mechs.

"Damn. It looks like the party is over."

"Not yet!" Another young voice shouted.

Another unit charged the reinforcements! The Valkyrie Prime and the Valkyrie Redeemers piloted by the Penitent Sisters had finally joined the fray!

Around 200 Valkyrie mechs charged into the enemy reinforcements while activating their Marked For Death abilities. With multiple pale white beams shining onto each mech, the elite Fridaymen mechs abruptly froze before switching to AI operation.

It was useless!

The inflexible computer-operated mechs could not fend off the spears of multiple Valkyrie mechs at the same time!

Though flames and other weapons met the incoming charge, the armor of the Valkyrie Redeemer were more than capable of enduring the damage for a time.

None of the Fridayman space knights and striker mechs survived the charge!

Chapter 2664: Low Blow

Ves smiled as he leaned back on his observer's seat on the bridge of his flagship.

He even had time to pet Lucky's back, though the experience wasn't all that pleasant for the cat.

Ves was still wearing his full Unending Regalia while Lucky was clad in his Misfortune Harness.

"Meow!"

undefined"Hey, it's just a habit."

That wasn't an acceptable answer to Lucky. The cat slipped out of Ves' lap and began to fly around instead.

Ves shrugged and turned his attention back to the unfolding battle.

The two pincers of the enemy fleet had been fully contained.

Neither the Fridaymen nor the Praetors and Planats were able to get any closer to the expeditionary fleet.

Of course, the cost of doing so was considerable. Mechs blew up, cut apart, fell silent or melted into slag at a very worrying rate. All of the mechs that the Larkinson Clan had produced or procured were being reduced at rapid tempo.

The loss in value was already enormous, and would become even greater over time!

It would cost the Larkinson Clan at least hundreds of billions to replenish all of the battle losses after today.

What worried Ves and the clan even more was the loss in life. Not all of the crews of the various downed warships had managed to evacuate successfully. Mech pilots were dying at a steady rate as powerful attacks were easily capable of penetrating through their cockpits. Sometimes, the vindictive enemies purposefully shot down the cockpits ejected from fallen mechs.

The hatred boiling within their enemies ran deep! It became even more severe as the losses among the attackers mounted as well.

The right flank was fairly calm at the moment. The regular mech units of the two sides grinded against each other as if they were trying to mill wheat. The boring stalemate that had formed between the expeditionary forces and the traitor clan forces stood in stark contrast to the exciting spectacle that took place above their heads.

Three powerful expert mechs combined forces to fight against other three powerful expert mechs!

Ves had learned so many new insights about expert mechs and expert pilots. The duel between high-tier expert mechs taught him so much about their capabilities and how difficult it was to oppose them without a machine that could match them in single combat.

What Ves found very intriguing was that the expensive expert mechs were anything but one-dimensional. Even though they abided by a clear specialty, the more effective mechs seemed to incorporate a wealth of additional modules that granted additional options to the expert pilot.

The relative superiority of versatile mechs was exemplified by the limited effectiveness of the Imperial Verdict.

The trident-wielding melee mech was almost just as good as the Erin Tear in melee combat despite being of a lower tier. It possessed high mobility that allowed it to catch up with any mech that attempted to avoid getting locked in a close-ranged exchange of blows.

Yet for all of its melee prowess, the knowing Crosser expert pilots all toyed with the Imperial Verdict by keeping it at bay.

The Bolvos Rage was able to output considerable damage onto the melee mech. The Amphis was able to block and stall its attacks. The Conavis Mer was able to stay outside of the reach of the trident mech.

While Ves was sure the Imperial Verdict was able to excel against other opponents, this time the poor mech happened to be constrained by all three of its opposing expert mechs!

Personally, he favored the design of the Erin Tear more. Even if it was piloted by an opponent, the mech designer in Ves couldn't help but admire its logical design.

The Erin Tear piloted by Venerable Damira Planat excelled in melee combat, but possessed plenty of tricks that allowed her to threaten enemies out of reach. The Erin Tear's astonishing transforming weapon could be thrown and retrieved without problem. It could also form a bow and fire a powerful resonance-empowered arrow at more distant targets.

These implementations opened his eyes to how he could expand the functionality and versatility of narrowly-specialized mechs. While it was not possible to add these options in cheaper and more limited mechs, he definitely intended to try when it was time for him to design his own expert mechs!

As the battle between the six expert mechs raged on, they began to inflict serious damage to each other. Ves knew that the three-on-three death match was not going to last forever.

Regardless of what happened on the right side, Ves was more hopeful about the left side.

The various advantages brought by the Larkinson Clan confounded the Friday Coalition. While they made some on-the-fly adaptations to prevent the prime mechs from running roughshod over their forces, it was undeniable that the Bright Spear Prime, the Piranha Prime and now the Valkyrie Prime each altered the course of the battle in a significant way!

Their influence was comparable to expert mechs, if only a lot more subdued.

"I have to say that your prime mechs are wondrous mechs." Major Verle's projection remarked to Ves. "Don't get me wrong. They are not as strong as I wish to be. If Venerable Tusa piloted a real expert mech, he would have been able to break the Corundian Giants apart by now. Still, the result he has currently achieved is already good enough."

The Corundian Giants truly weren't easy to take down. Whether their merchs formed into combination mechs or merely adopted a different defensive formation, their tough space knights and powerful cannoneer mechs were always able to hang on and retaliate in some way.

Ves briefly considered whether the Living Sentinels should adopt this model. The Corundian Giants weren't mobile, but that wasn't really needed for a defensive mech troop.

At this time, Venerable Joshua and the Penitent Sisters had finished chewing through the reinforcements that attempted to relieve the Corundian Giants.

Venerable Joshua briefly hesitated whether he should bring his Valkyrie unit to assault them, but Major Verle quickly issued a different instruction.

"Your Valkyrie mechs don't have the power to punch through the defenses of the Corundian Giant space knights. You are much more useful attacking the main body of the Fridaymen forces. You need to defeat the Bloody Herons as soon as possible. They have gained the upper hand and are tearing through depleting lines."

"Understood, sir! We're on our way!"

Glows and prime mechs may have been able to frustrate the initial advances of the Fridayman elites, but that was only temporary. The adaptation speed of the excellently-trained mech pilots was very quick. They not only formed a bunch of responses against the surprises of the Larkinson Clan, but also became better at mowing down the backbone of the Glory Seeker and Cross Clan!

The military mechs of the latter were not doing so well! The grenades of the Holvein Grenadiers, the inhuman coordination between the Bloody Herons along with the powerful close-combat prowess of the Silent Swords all allowed them to defeat three mechs for every two they lost.

This was a very concerning ratio!

With the pace of the battle picking up, this meant that the Friday Coalition was rapidly gaining an advantage on this side of the battlefield!

Joshua and the Penitent Sisters couldn't afford to act conservatively anymore. Even the Valkyrie mechs piloted by the Glory Seekers charged forward and suffered continuous casualties after they impaled the prepared Fridayman mechs!

While the 200 Valkyrie Redeemers followed the Valkyrie Prime into action, a bit further ahead, the battle against the eight Fridayman expert mechs had reached its most intense moment!

The Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan not only committed to expert mechs, but more than 4000 mechs standard mechs.

Over 2000 of them had already fallen at this time!

The enemy expert mechs forcibly converged together and fought as a single unit in order to resist the flood. Even though the foreign expert pilots hardly shared anything together, the intense pressure forced all of them to develop their teamwork while under heavy fire.

Resonance shields broke. Armor plating wore down. Weapons became exhausted.

Yet despite needing to fight against thousands more standard mechs, the foreign expert pilots fighting on behalf of the Friday Coalition did not give in to the pressure!

"The Vesia Kingdom cannot survive under the heel of the Hegemony boot!" Venerable Foster snarled as her Jeanne D'Arc continued to absorb hits that were aimed at the Charlemagne. "Our mission must succeed!"

Her mech fought wilder and wilder as time went on. The mech began to wield a pair of swords and dove into the midst of the Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs in order to slice them apart without worrying about incurring any damage.

Even though the Jeanne D'Arc bore a lot of new scars, the mech steadily regenerated the damage as the Rorach's Bone integrated into it performed its function after being fed a lot of energy.

The Jeanne D'Arc was single-handedly disrupting the precise lineup of its opposition!

"Foster! Where the hell are you going?!" Venerable Ghanso questioned as his Charlemagne lost a bodyguard.

His expert mech and his diminishing number of Scarra struggled considerably against the Star Dancer.

Even though Ghanso managed to land numerous hits on the Hexer expert mech, causing it to lose its left arm as well as the legs below its knees, it still retained much of its mobility, allowing it to remain very elusive when met with Ghanso's array attacks.

Only 15 Scarra were left!

The rest had succumbed when the Star Dancer and the Leskin piloted by Banner Cross took potshots at the quasi-expert mechs whenever they had an opportunity.

The Jeanne D'Arc and the other 6 friendly expert mechs only managed to slow down the attrition. They were so busy with defending themselves that they couldn't spare enough attention to preserve the Scarra.

With each quasi-expert mech that fell, Venerable Ghanso felt as if another burden had been lifted.

His marksmanship grew sharper and his acuity in battle grew better. Even though the Star Dancer was a good expert mech piloted by a more skilled expert pilot, it had incurred too much damage!

Venerable Ghanso's grudge against Venerable Brutus and the Star Dancer continually accumulated as he concentrated most of his efforts on keeping his remaining Scarra alive.

At a certain moment of time, Ghanso's eyes shone as the Scarra mechs shone brighter than ever before.

"I've caught you!"

The powerful rifles wielded by the Scarra mech simultaneously fired a salvo enhanced positron beams that were more powerful and more accurate than ever before!

It turned out that Venerable Ghanso had been holding back his strength throughout the battle! He deliberately hid the capacity he gained after losing more and more of his accompanying quasi-expert mechs.

Only at this time did he employ all of his freed up will, concentration and skill against the Hexer expert mech he bore a grudge against.

At this time, there were too few spare Glory Seeker mechs to intercept the incoming attacks. Venerable Ghanso had already taken down hundreds of them. Sixteen powerful beams almost instantly reached the Star Dancer!

Just before Venerable Ghanso pulled the trigger, Venerable Brutus already sensed he was in the most intense crisis of his life.

Though he had dedicated his life to protecting his sister and those he loved dearly, he knew that his family would be sad if he died at this moment.

"Sometimes… I need to protect myself!"

Just before attacks landed, the Star Dancer rapidly maneuvered its frame so that its ruined legs faced the attacks head-on. This minimized its profile towards the attackers to the smallest extent possible.

Unfortunately, while fifteen of the powerful beams were destined to miss the expert rifleman mech, one of them was bound to hit right through the crotch of the Star Dancer!

An explosion of light and energy erupted from the mech as a searing white beam of antiparticles struck it from below!

"BRUTUS!" A wailing voice screamed on the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim!

Chapter 2665: Calculating Expert Pilots

Venerable Brutus Wodin only had a very brief window of time to prepare his response against the incoming salvo of empowered positron beams.

Having held back for quite some time, Venerable Ghanso pumped more resonance in the wave of attacks than usual, giving them a destructive edge that allowed them to penetrate tougher mechs with greater ease than before.

Though the cost was significant, Ghanso knew he absolutely had to get rid of the Star Dancer before he could proceed with his mission.

"You only have yourself to blame for getting in the way of my mission to save the Larkinson Family!" He uttered with hatred.

undefinedThe glow surrounding Charlemagne along with his Scarra seemed to fade as Venerable Ghanso struggled to channel his will after unleashing his powerful attack.

Sixteen beams of destructive positrons accelerated forward at relativistic speeds! While they weren't as fast as true lasers, at these ranges they pretty much reach their targets at an instant!

It was already too late for Venerable Brutus to dodge or evade the attacks if he responded after his opponent pulled the trigger.

However, expert pilots possessed considerable intuition. Their danger sense was constantly honed through battle, practice and even meditation.

This was one of the qualities that made them so difficult to kill.

Expert pilots also possessed a superhuman insight into the fighting style and reactions of their opponents.

Venerable Brutus had already sparred against Venerable Ghanso for a considerable amount of time! As a rifleman mech specialist himself, he rapidly gained a thorough understanding Venerable Ghanso's skills, personality, the strengths and limitations of his expert mech, the properties of his Scarra mechs and other crucial information.

The mind and brain structure of an expert pilot developed in a different direction from normal people. Even without implants, they gained the capability to process a lot of data and derive useful conclusions even without needing to go over every individual detail.

When their minds melded with the formidable processing power of a mech, this capability became supercharged to a degree that often made expert pilots seem as if they could read a few seconds in the future!

However, just like how the Hexer expert pilot was able to read his opponent, the reverse also applied!

Venerable Ghanso had tussled against many Hexer expert pilots over the course of the Komodo War. He squared off against many different expert mechs as well as a considerable amount of expert rifleman mechs.

He rapidly made up for his lack of foundation in second-class expert mech warfare by learning on the battlefield.

The Star Dancer was pretty typical for Hexer expert rifleman mechs. It featured excellent mobility, even for its mech type, but the rifleman mech's armor was not as great. While the armor system was tough enough to withstand a few full-powered attacks, they weren't meant to get hit in the first place.

From the beginning of their confrontation, Venerable Ghanso already formed a methodical plan to take down the annoying Hexer expert mech.

First, he purposefully targeted the Star Dancer's limbs. Everytime he and the mechs under his thrall fired a salvo of shots, he did not launch his attack with the expectation of taking out the Star Dancer in a single blow.

The mech was too darned agile and its expert pilot was too skilled in evasion to score a solid hit!

Instead, Venerable Ghanso went for the second-best outcome, which was to eliminate the Star Dancer's limbs.

While the mech's highly-advanced flight system was responsible for most of its mobility, the Star Dancer integrated many miniature thrusters and boosters throughout its frame.

Putting them out of action by destroying the limbs they were installed in was the best way to impair the Hexer expert mech's evasion ability!

Ghanso focused on taking out the legs first. The underside of the Star Dancer's feet incorporated powerful boosters that allowed the mech to make flexible course changes depending on how the mech orientated its legs. The other parts of the legs also incorporated several mini-boosters that added a bit of extra fine control for any complicated movements in space.

Once the Charlemagne and its Scarra took out the lower legs, Venerable Ghanso focused on eliminating at least one of the arms of his opponent.

This was much harder to do as rifleman mech pilots were trained to keep the arms of their machines out of harm's way. Without arms, how were they supposed to fire their rifles?

Even so, after removing the feet of the Star Dancer, the mech was less able to dodge incoming attacks than before!

One the arm got sheared off, the balance as well as the defensive capabilities of the mech had dropped. The Star Dancer had only one arm left to hold its rifle. It was unable to pull out any possible gadgets or sacrifice the limb as a makeshift shield. The loss of the limb also deprived the expert mech of even more mini-boosters.

It took a lot of effort to reduce the Hexer expert rifleman mech to this point.

During all of this time, Venerable Ghanso not only had to fend off attacks from the Star Dancer, but also had to keep his Scarra safe against the opportunistic attacks of the Leskin piloted by Venerable Banner Cross. He also had to preserve his Scarra against the multitude of other attacks launched by thousands of Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs!

Fortunately, he had 7 other expert mechs to cover for him. Even though he disliked his Vesian companion intensely, Venerable Foster had done a good job blocking attacks directed against his Charlemagne while distracting both the Leskin and any small fry.

Even so, his Scarra had shrunk by more than half at this point!

In an open space battle where there was no cover or terrain to shelter behind, the pseudo-expert mechs were too vulnerable to attacks!

No matter how much Ghanso tried to keep them moving in random evasive patterns, the load on his mind was too much and their specs weren't as good as his own machine.

He already accepted the fact that he would be losing his Scarra in this battle. He allowed Venerable Brutus and his other opponents to pick off the Scarra mechs one by one, adopting the mindset of trading them for other benefits.

After all, compared to trying to take down the much trickier and better-defended Charlemagne, it was much easier to go after the Scarra.

Once the Charlemagne lost its retinue, its threat was no longer as oppressive!

That was what its opponents thought, but what Brutus and the others didn't realize was that each Scarra mech they took down only liberated Venerable Ghanso's strength.

He was forced to deploy a huge amount of concentration, willpower and other mental resources to control all of the Scarra mechs through the asymmetrical neural network.

It was incredibly burdensome to keep those slaves in line.

Now that his opponents were sacrificing valuable resources to rid him of his burden, Venerable Ghanso felt more liberated than ever before.

He hardly piloted his Charlemagne without the need to drag his entire entourage along. His Fridayman superiors forbid him from piloting his expert mech by itself. As far as they were concerned, Ghanso constantly had to train his ability to control multiple mechs as much as possible. It took a lot of active training to become a proficient master over so many slave machines.

"I am no master." Venerable Ghanso contemptuously muttered. "I am a soldier. I am a savior. I am willing to give up everything as long as I can restore the Larkinson Family!"

The ideal he was chasing after centered his mind constantly kept him focused. His Scarra, his expert mech and his life didn't matter. As long as he was able to kill his cousin Ves, Ghanso was assured that the Larkinson Clan would collapse!

Thus, when Venerable Ghanso launched his killer attack on the Star Dancer, he drew strength from his desire to kill Ves, remove his poisonous influence on the Larkinson Family and collapse everything that the aberrant Larkinson had built over the course of his career!

The clan, the LMC and everything Ves had introduced to the Larkinsons would crumble as long as the ringleader was dead!

Just the thought of crushing Ves with his own hands sent Ghanso into an ecstatic frenzy!

"No one will get in the way of my goal of killing Ves!" He crowed. "No one!"

After being targeted by Venerable Ghanso's unexpectedly strong blow, Venerable Brutus knew that he was in a difficult spot.

If his Star Dancer was still fresh and intact, it shouldn't have been a problem for it to weave its way out of the cage of 16 resonance-empowered positron beams.

Unfortunately, it was far from its peak condition! Not only had it lost a considerable amount of thrusters and boosters, the fuel and energy reserves of the mech was also nearing depletion!

Even though Venerable Brutus managed to fell over a dozen Scarra mechs over the course of the battle, his mech had to expend a lot of effort in trying to keep itself safe against such a powerful opponent.

In fact, if not for the sacrifices of his fellow Glory Seekers, the Star Dancer would have long turned into another accomplishment on Venerable Ghanso's record!

When Brutus faced the incoming salvo, he knew his time was finally up. He had done the best he could to restrain the killer of over 10 Hexer expert pilots.

He didn't have the luxury to think about anything else. He needed to protect himself and do his best to preserve his own life! Only in this way would he be able to continue his mission of protecting his sister!

The instant before the positron beams came, Venerable Brutus rapidly formed a plan and immediately implemented it without any second thoughts!

First, he tilted his mech over. This not only minimized the target he presented to his opponent, but also allowed him to evade the positron beam fired by the Charlemagne.

The Charlemagne's rifle was stronger and more potent than the rifles wielded by the Scarra mechs. Its positron beam was not only more powerful on a technical level, but was also amplified to a greater degree by true resonance!

This unavoidably put the flipped expert mech straight on a collision course of another positron beam fired by a Scarra mech.

Even though the beam was less powerful and destructure, it was still capable of ripping straight through the relatively unprotected underside of the waist of the Star Dancer! Once the attack pierced through the crotch of the mech, the beam would definitely have enough energy left to do ruinous damage to the internals. Even the cockpit stood a high chance of getting affected!

This was why Venerable Brutus already activated the eject command. His cockpit was already starting to begin the ejection procedures even before the Star Dancer had moved.

Unfortunately, there was a small but significant delay before the cockpit fully detached itself and the flight system blasted apart to make room for the cockpit to launch out the rear!

The Hexer expert pilot knew he had to weaken or hinder the incoming beam even further to give him a shot at survival.

He had an idea.

At the same time the Star Dancer maneuvered so that its crippled legs met the incoming attack, the mech also fired a very quick attack of its own!

The rifle had already charged up for its next attack, but Venerable Brutus was unable to charge it with resonance due to lack of time!

As a result, a much-weaker positron beam spat out of the rifle and instantly collided with the beam fired by one of the Scarra mechs just in front of the Star Dancer!

Since the former was fired at a slight angle onto the incoming beam, the weak attack slightly managed to cancel out the resonance amplification of Ghanso's fatal attack as well as negating some of its other energy in a particular direction.

When the affected beam finally struck the Star Dancer, it pierced straight through the obstruction of the legs, punched through the waist before washing over the mech engine and many other nearby components, destroying them in an instant!

Yet by the time the remainder of the beam and its potent energies was able to reach the internals buried inside the upper chest, it had weakened to the point where the cockpit was able complete its launching procedures and eject out of the back of the doomed Star Dancer!

A scorched and partially-melted cockpit succeeded in launching away at high acceleration!

As the lives of expert pilots were very valuable, their cockpits were of high quality.

"HE LIVES!" Gloriana happily cried out as she noticed the cockpit zipping away! "Wait, he's still vulnerable!"

Though Venerable Ghanso had expended a lot to launch his latest attack, he was not content with the result. Venerable Brutus had hindered him from completing his mission far too much!

"You'll pay for delaying me." He vowed.

The Charlemagne adjusted the aim of its rifle and fired a quick shot at the cockpit! Venerable Ghanso didn't want to give anyone any time to rescue the fleeing escape device and its precious occupant!

"Die, Hexer!"

Chapter 2666: Precise Attack

When Gloriana dutifully performed her job and identified the weak points of the opposing mechs before inputting her findings in the fleet's network, she always kept an eye on her brother.

She knew that Brutus was in the fight of his life. She didn't want her brother to square off against the infamous Unit L, yet there was no other alternative.

The Charlemagne and its Scarra had proven their capacity for slaughter many times over the course of the Komodo War.

Unless they were constrained by an enemy expert mech, the numerous ranged mechs empowered by Venerable Ghanso could easily tear through entire formations of Hexer mechs with ease!

undefinedVenerable Brutus did what was necessary to constrain the Friday Coalition's experimental unit. His Star Dancer, the mech and partner that had served him well over several years, turned into a wreck because of his sacrifice.

The loss of an expert mech was a traumatic loss to any expert pilot. If not for the acute threat he was subjected to, the Hexer expert pilot would have mourned for the loss by now. As it was, his life was anything but guaranteed at this time!

Venerable Ghanso already had a history of shooting down enemy cockpits. The Fridaymen put bounties on the heads of every Hexer expert pilot. The Coalition deliberately encouraged its mech pilots to shoot down the ejected cockpits whenever they could in order to weaken the power of the Hex Army.

An expert pilot that fled from the battlefield intact was one that would doubtlessly show up in a new mech at least half a year later!

Since Ghanso had dozens of powerful rifleman mechs at his disposal, he had become very proficient at shooting down cockpits, even the higher-performing ones that were utilized in Hexer mechs.

The ejected cockpit of an expert mech was highly resilient. Some of the same high-quality armor that clad the exterior of an expert mech also encased the cockpit in order to preserve the life of the pilot as much as possible.

Expert pilots were just as valuable as their expert mechs, if not more! They were scarce resources to a state, so they enjoyed the protection that was commensurate to their degree of preciousness.

Since the Star Dancer was an expert mech commissioned by the Wodin Dynasty, the protective capabilities of the cockpit was a bit better than a machine of its tier was accustomed to. It was no problem for the cockpit's armor to fend off a multitude of attacks from standard mechs, especially with the help of a one-use shield generator!

Yet the attack that the Charlemagne snapped off with as little delay as possible was still powerful enough to crush the cockpit!

The power output of an expert mech was not comparable to that of a standard mech. Not even premier mechs such as the Valkyrie Brunhild could come close to matching the power of just a casual attack from the Charlemagne.

They were basically two different species of mechs!

The only upside was that Venerable Ghanso didn't bother to coordinate with his Scarra to launch this next attack.

First, it wasn't needed. The maneuverability and evasion ability of the cockpit was really incomparable to that of a true mech. While it was a lot smaller and more compact than a multi-ton mech, the cockpit's capacity was tiny as well. Its designers opted to load it with a one-use shield generator in order to protect it better against attacks from regular mechs as opposed to adding more movement capabilities.

This meant that Venerable Ghanso hardly had to employ any effort to land a solid hit on the fleeing vehicle!

He did not grow complacent and assume that killing Venerable Brutus was already a done deal. He already spotted nearby Hexer mechs changing their course to put their frames in the way of his shots.

While there were too few Glory Seeker mechs left to be sacrificed like this, the remaining ones knew it was incredibly crucial to preserve the life of an expert pilot.

Even if Venerable Brutus was a boy, he was still a treasure to the Wodin Dynasty!

Every Glory Seeker was a diehard loyalist to the dynasty that nurtured them and still took care of their families. They were trained to accept death as long as it advanced the cause of the Wodins.

Besides, even if they used their own mechs as shields, there was no guarantee that they would die for certain. As long as their cockpits were intact, they could make it out alive as well!

Yet even as the nearby Glory Seeker mechs moved to support and cover for the Star Dancer's cockpit, Venerable Ghanso wasn't willing to give his opponents any time to mount a rescue.

The snap shot the Charlemagne unleashed almost instantly reached the vulnerable cockpit. Its cockpit desperately activated its side boosters in order to get out of the way of the incoming attack, but the range was too short and the beam arrived too quickly for it to work!

As the occupant of the cockpit was already smelling death, another beam struck the Charlemagne's attack!

A searing, hellfire-red laser beam fired from far away had intercepted Venerable Ghanso's latest attack!

What was surprising about the intercepting beam was that it managed to overpower the attack launched by an expert mech!

Venerable Ghanso looked shocked as his seemingly surefire kill was pulled out of his grasp.

Gloriana froze as she looked at the projection depicting the flight of her brother's cockpit.

Ves and many others who paid attention to this side of the battle were flabbergasted as well.

Who managed to rescue Brutus' cockpit?

"It's Venerable Davia Stark!" Ves quickly realized as he used his implant to access the relevant data in an instant. "My Bright Beam Prime managed to intercept the Charlemagne's attack!"

Far behind the main lines of the battle, a number of Larkinson mechs stuck close to the expeditionary fleet. The mechs stayed behind in order to act as both a reserve and a final line of defense against any attackers that were determined to reach the heart of the Golden Skull Alliance.

Among the mechs that hung back were the Shield of Samar and the Bright Beam Prime.

Although the mechs weren't designed to mate together in a combination mech like the specially-designed machines of the Corundian Giants, the two mechs had already adopted a similar approach.

The Bright Beam Prime stuck behind the Shield of Samar as best as possible. This was not that difficult due to the relative differences in their sizes.

The Shield of Samar was considerably bigger than a typical medium space knight. Even if it wasn't able to cover the prime rifleman mech fully, it was still capable of projecting both a resonance shield and an energy shield to cover any gaps in its coverage.

From the start of the battle, the Shield of Samar did nothing but hold position and block the handful of incidental attacks that were aimed in its direction.

While Venerable Jannzi Larkinson wanted to advance her mech forward, her mech was too slow to keep up with all of the maneuvers.

The only way she could contribute to the battle at this point was to lend as much cover to the Bright Beam Prime as possible. This way, Venerable Davia Stark would be able to launch her attacks without any other concerns.

The older woman never did anything, though.

The Bright Beam Prime remained still as its mech pilot constantly kept a vigilant eye on the battle.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" Jannzi eventually lost her patience with her current partner.

"I am biding my time." Venerable Davia calmly replied. "My prime mech can only fire three full-powered attacks according to its maker. I cannot waste these opportunities."

"That.. sounds ridiculous. Who would cobble together a rifleman mech that can only fire three times in total?"

"Hehehe.. don't underestimate the Bright Beam Prime, young woman." Davia smirked even as she kept observing both the left and right sides of the unfolding engagement. "To be honest, my new mech can also fire regular laser beams, but they're not that powerful and wont make that much of a difference. I would rather lay low and avoid drawing attention to us. A battle of this scale never ends quickly, so don't be concerned."

Her time had eventually come. She had kept track of the Star Dancer all this time. Even though she harbored no good thoughts for the Hexers, Venerable Brutus had sincerely taken care of her for many months.

Even though she despised his pathetic Hexer personality and pathological deference towards women, he was not an awful human being.

The time she spent under his care and attention may not have changed her awful impression towards the Hexer people, but it at least caused her to develop a soft spot for the young and horribly misguided Hexer expert pilot.

Davia briefly shook her head. "You're a brainwashed fool of an expert pilot, Brutus, but you're probably one of the better humans in the galaxy. I will try and save you this one to repay all you have done for me. Decency must always be rewarded."

Once she realized that Venerable Brutus was in trouble, Venerable Davia became serious and resonated with her new mech.

The P-stones embedded in the mech reacted to her aggressive force of will. The entire mech became surrounded by a dark red glow that stood in stark contrast to the Shield of Samar's gold-coated frame.

The rifle of the prime mech began to glow brighter than the rest of the mech when Venerable Davia pooled as much power as possible into her weapon.

She held her fire when Venerable Ghanso unleashed a salvo that resulted in the elimination of the Star Dancer!

Davia intuitively judged that the Bright Beam Prime was too weak to affect Venerable Ghanso's fully-charged attack.

Besides, as a bystander and a rifleman mech specialist herself, she already guessed that Brutus was able to save himself.

He did not disappoint her expectations. His cockpit managed to escape intact.

It was unfortunate that Venerable Ghanso did not leave it at that! As soon as the Charlemagne adjusted its aim, Venerable Davia already deduced what the enemy expert pilot had in mind!

A lot of calculations went through her mind and her mech as her fully-charged rifle minutely turned.

The Bright Beam Prime unleashed its beam just before the Charlemagne executed Venerable Ghanso's command.

A powerful dark red beam that made anyone who observed its passage feel threatened down to their souls traversed all the way from the rear of the expeditionary forces to the front!

The prime mech's attack was just powerful enough to do its job. Venerable Davia and her new mech managed to precisely cancel out an attack that was incredibly challenging to intercept by any normal human mech pilot!

Venerable Davia had done her utmost to accomplish this nigh-impossible feat!

If her aim was even a centimeter off, then a part of the Charlemagne's attack might still go on to strike the vulnerable cockpit!

If her timing was off by a second, then much of the power of her attack would go to waste, thereby giving the Charlemagne's strike enough uninterrupted time to end Venerable Brutus' life!

"He's safe now." Venerable Davia wearily said as she tried to recover from her arduous exertion.

On the other side of the battlefield, Venerable Ghanso was furious! His attempt to finish off the opponent who annoyed him so much had been ruined by some random marksman mech who fired an odd attack!

His Charlemagne was about to fire again, only for him to widen his eyes before attempting to dodge his mech to the side!

A rain of beams and explosions impacted the Charlemagne's resonance shield!

Ves had personally commanded the surviving Transcendent Punishers to set aside their current actions and hinder Venerable Ghanso's mech as best as possible!

Even though none of the attacks launched by the artillery mechs posed a serious threat to the Charlemagne in the short term, they still caused Venerable Ghanso enough trouble to force him to abandon his earlier intentions.

The Scarra mechs also came under bombardment!

"Blast you, Ves!"

Chapter 2667: Vengeful Eye

Venerable Brutus was safe for the moment.

The Bright Beam Prime expended a precious full-powered shot in order to preserve the life of an expert pilot that had already served his usefulness on the battlefield.

With the destruction of the Star Dancer, Venerable Brutus was no longer a valuable asset as far as Ves was concerned.

A part of him even felt it was a waste for the Bright Beam Prime to intervene in saving the Hexer expert pilot's life.

undefinedThe intervening attack not only wasted one of the three powerful chances of the Bright Beam Prime, but also exposed its existence to the enemy!

However, when Ves glanced at Gloriana looking incredibly relieved after she thought that her brother was about to die, his discontent faded.

He did not want his wife to suffer the pain of losing a loved one. He had lost his mother early on in his life, so he knew how much it hurt to live through this kind of experience.

Besides, on a pragmatic level, Venerable Brutus was still a bona fide expert pilot who would continue to add to the strength of the expeditionary fleet for many years in the future.

Ves wouldn't care too much about Brutus if he was as old and feeble as Venerable O'Callahan, but he was barely older than Gloriana. This meant that he was able to provide a lot of value to Ves over many decades and perhaps even centuries.

There was no way that Ves wanted to lose such a long-lasting asset when it was still in the early stages of its product life cycle.

This was why he commanded the Transcendent Punishers to redirect their firepower to smash the Charlemagne and the Scarra to the point where they couldn't take anymore potshots at the escaping cockpit.

That, and it just felt good to smack Venerable Ghanso around.

A couple of other Fridaymen mechs attacked the cockpit as well, but its sturdy construction was no joke. The cockpit only suffered a bit after it was grazed by a gauss round, but numerous Glory Seeker mechs quickly arrived and escorted it until it was safely able to reach the Indigo Tremor's hangar bay.

"I'm not sure you should have done that." Major Verle's projection quietly spoke to Ves. "Our artillery were doing a fine job of pressuring the elite Fridayman mechs. Now that you have predicted our firepower away, the enemies they've previously suppressed are now unleashed."

Ves minutely shook his head. "If Venerable Brutus dies, the morale of the Glory Seekers will sink. Besides, now that the Star Dancer is no able to keep the Charlemagne and the Scarra occupied, my cousin Ghanso can reinforce the other expert pilots on his side. We can't allow him and his remaining Scarra mech to precipitate a collapse at his side of the battlefield."

The unfolding clashes were all locked in a very tenuous balance. If even one of them tipped over, a cascade of defeats might quickly ensue that would spell inevitable doom to Ves!

Major Verle quickly understood the logic. "You're right. While we have managed to eliminate a lot of Scarra mechs, enough of them remain to pose a great threat to the remainder of our forces, especially when they are exhausted to this extent."

The Glory Seekers and the Crosser mechs that had swarmed the Fridayman expert mechs had achieved considerable results at this time!

An expert space knight serving in the Oni Guard had succumbed from all of the attacks it attempted to block. It had done an admirable job in intercepting the flood of attacks directed to the more vulnerable expert mechs, but the machine had eventually collapsed due to the incredible amount of punishment it was forced to endure!

Another expert mech piloted by a foreigner hired by the Vanguard Group had succumbed as well. The expert striker mech was one of the most destructive mechs against masses of standard mechs.

The powerful striker mech had actually felled hundreds more Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs than the other Fridayman expert mechs!

Taking it down was a high priority to the expeditionary forces. After sacrificing a lot of mechs, the Hexers and Crossers managed to destroy the expert striker mech's flight system, thereby impairing mobility to the point where a lot of concentrated attacks managed to breach its thick shell and take out the flame-spewing monstrosity for good!

The two aforementioned expert mechs weren't the only ones that sustained significant damage. The other Fridayman expert mechs aside from the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc also suffered a lot of damage from getting hit at least a thousand times!

Although that sounded like an absurd amount of attacks, the armor systems of expert mechs were much better than any standard mechs. Combined with superior mobility and the uncanny skill and intuition of expert pilots, it was not a surprise the remaining expert mechs managed to hang on. Teamwork also played a role in preserving their strength.

Though the surviving expert mechs were unquestionably damaged and low on some of their reserves, it was too difficult to finish the job.

The Glory Seekers and Crossers had lost too many mechs to make it to this point!

They came in with over 4000 standard mechs as well as the Star Dancer and the Leskin. Now, the Star Dancer was drifting into space in the form of a half-complete husk while the wreckage and debris of 3000 other machines kept it company!

The loss of so many mechs significantly depleted the firepower and the morale of the remaining forces assigned to block the Fridayman expert mechs.

In fact, the original battle plan called for the thousands of mechs to crush the enemy expert mechs. It was too bad that the powerful enemy machines were just too good at eliminating swarms of weaker mechs!

The expert striker mech as well as occasional attacks from Venerable Ghanso had taken a huge toll on the brave Glory Seeker and Crosser mech pilots.

Due to the incredible lethality and penetrative power of expert mechs, much of the mechs they took out also killed the pilots. A significant portion of the wrecks also carried traces of human remains!

This was an especially major loss to the Cross Clan. Every mech pilot in the clan was not only a trueblood member of a much-diminished clan, but also a highly-trained veteran that had survived the calamitous flight from Vicious Mountain.

Such high-quality mech pilots were incredibly difficult to replace to the Cross Clan!

Unlike the abnormal Larkinson Clan that had opened its doors wide to any talented outsider, the Cross Clan wasn't able to rely on external recruitment to replenish its depleted manpower.

It was practically unheard of for a long-standing clan to open its doors. That would affect internal cohesion far too much while also allowing a lot of people with ulterior motives to corrupt the clan from within.

This was why organizations like the Cross Clan only sparingly recruiting outsiders. Their main source of manpower always relied on internal replenishment.

That took time. A lot of time. Far too much time considering their precarious strength.

Of course, these were later concerns for the Crossers. For now, Ves saw that the artillery support provided by the Transcendent Punishers offered the remaining Glory Seekers and Crossers crucial help in constraining the surviving expert mechs.

It became more important than ever to seek a quick advantage somewhere.

Ves turned his attention to the confrontation against the elite Fridaymen mech troops not too far away.

His greatest hope for victory lied here.

While a lot of mechs had already fallen in this grueling slugfest, there were plenty of mechs left on both sides to make it relatively even.

No. That wasn't quite true. Ves recognized that the Fridaymen had started off with a slight advantage and were quickly in the process of expanding their lead.

The reason for this was because the Transcendent Punishers no longer forced their heads down!

"Gloriana!" Ves shouted from the rear of the bridge.

"What is it?" She asked as she slowly calmed down after seeing her brother make it back.

"If you want to keep your brother and the rest of us alive, you must rein yourself in and focus on what you can do to help. Pay attention to the observation data provided by the Valkyrie Prime. I recently installed a very good sensor on it that can make detailed scans on any mech within its range. Take a look at it and take your revenge on the Fridaymen in your own way!"

Tears stopped flowing from her eyes as determination welled from her heart. Her fear turned into anger as she thought of how close she was to losing the relative who had accompanied her throughout her life!

"These Fridaymen will pay…"

Her purple-armored form sat back onto the chair. She accessed the data supplied by the Valkyrie Prime and became surprised at the breadth and depth of information she received.

"This is ridiculous! No sensor is that good, especially in a battle!"

She quickly set aside her amazement as her fury took over again. She could not allow those who threatened her and her family to get away with their actions!

She soon immersed herself in the detailed data. As a consummate mech designer who constantly strove for perfection, she was extremely familiar in all of the ways that made mechs flawed.

The varied mechs of the Holvein Grenadiers, the Bloody Herons, the Silent Swords and some other troops became an open book to her determined gaze.

The designs themselves didn't contain any major flaws. The Fridayman Mech Designers weren't that sloppy most of the time. Even if she identified a number of design vulnerabilities, they weren't really weak enough to change the equation.

What truly stood out to her was the flaws that emerged when the mechs sustained battle damage. As long as the mech in question bore at least some holes, their frame gained at least a dozen additional weak points aside from the obvious holes!

Anyone could tell that a breach in the armor represented a major vulnerability. The mech pilot who piloted a damaged mech would always do their utmost to prevent their enemies from targeting those holes.

Yet what about the weak points that weren't visible? Sometimes, the mech's operating system identified some of these vulnerabilities and helpfully conveyed them to their pilot.

They weren't perfect however. Some weak points were not as obvious. It took a mech designer of Gloriana's caliber to determine how certain changes opened up new opportunities.

She analyzed the observation data of a single Holvein Grenadier mech that suffered a breach in the lower waist area. She did not even lift her finger to manipulate any projection. In the interest of efficiency, she utilized her implant to point out a dozen new vulnerabilities.

She identified that the armor plate on the side of the mech had loosened a bit. It could probably be dislodged if it was attacked with physical force coming from a specific direction.

Within a second, she rapidly conveyed a lot of other exploitable vulnerabilities to the Spirit of Bentheim. After the ship's systems inspected the data, they uploaded it to the communication network that constantly supplied relevant data to all friendly mechs.

An Avatar mech pilot that confronted the Holvein Grenadier mech became surprised as his view of the enemy mech had changed. The overlay highlighted the additional vulnerabilities.

In fact, ever since the Valkyrie Prime had entered the fray, the surrounding mechs already received some additional information. The Odineye was already capable of interpreting and identifying the most obvious vulnerabilities by itself!

Now that its power was combined with a mech designer that could make much better use of the data, the battle gradually swung back in the favor of the expeditionary forces!

It wasn't just Gloriana who was supplying the mechs at the frontline with crucial information. Ves and the rest of the Design Department were hard at work as well.

The more data they supplied, the faster the Fridaymen lost their mechs!

Chapter 2668: Resilient Fridaymen

Over 16,000 mechs entered the battlefield.

Now, many of them were lost!

Many blew up into fragments that flung in every direction. Others suffered fatal hits to their chests that caused them to lose power. A few of the luckier ones managed to retreat and return to their motherships before they completely collapsed.

No matter what, the survival rate of mechs constantly plummeted as if it was the Starlight Megalodon about to crash on the surface of Aeon Corona VII!

undefinedAs Ves briefly took a pause from trying to analyze the flaws of individual enemy mechs, he became captivated by the immense amount of violence taking place.

He had seen larger and grander battles, of course.

He could always access the battle footage sent by the Hexers if he ever wanted to forget about everything and just surround himself with as much mechs as possible.

The scale of the Komodo War was immense. The amount of mechs that clashed against each other in a given star system numbered in the hundreds of thousands as entire mech army groups struggled for supremacy.

Yet Ves had little part in it other than designing some of the mechs involved. These battles took place many light-years away from his current location. He did not personally feel awed when the Hexers moved entire mech divisions forward and he did not feel frightened down to his bones when the Fridaymen launched an ambush involving more than 100,000 mechs.

While he always felt gratified to see his products serve their use to his clients, he did not feel as excited as he was at this moment.

Yes, he felt excited.

Despite the threat of facing 11—, no 9 expert mechs now, Ves felt alive in a way he never did when he was living a placid life on Cinach.

The greater the danger, the greater the risks, the more his life became meaningful to him. As a Larkinson, he lived for battle, so moments like these captivated him in a way that stimulated his design seed beyond reason!

As Ves observed his prime mechs and Valkyrie mechs in action, he gained many small but novel insights about his mechs. He recognized what worked, what didn't work as well and what needed to be corrected right away.

The performance of his prototype mechs were especially illuminating. One mech that stood out in particular was the prototype of the Ferocious Piranha Version B.

The incomplete second-class version of the best-selling Ferocious Piranha showcased why the light mech had become such a popular seller on the market!

In the hands of Raella Larkinson, the Ferocious Piranha clearly showcased that she hadn't slacked off too much in her mech training despite her responsibilities.

The light skirmisher moved swiftly. Other friendly light mechs surrounded the mech like a protective guard. The moment the Ferocious Piranha approached the edge of an enemy formation, the opponents tried to make as much distance as possible. They were deeply apprehensive towards the light mechs.

There was a good reason for this. As soon as the Ferocious Piranha drew close, many of the enemy mechs moved stiffer than usual. Their reaction speeds slowed and they made plenty more errors.

The light mechs along with other nearby friendly Larkinson mechs pounced on the weakened Fridayman mechs and always managed to gain the upper hand in the ensuing clash!

The Ferocious Piranha achieved fantastic results the first couple of times it employed its glow, but once the enemy recognized its threat, Raella was forced to become a lot more constrained. She fought closer to existing friendlies and did not dare to make any attacks in person. Her mech received the same treatment as the Blessed Squire, being valued for nothing more than its glow.

"Ah, glows." He sighed.

This was a period of time when the Larkinson Clan happened to employ a huge amount of third-party products. A lot of Larkinsons fought without experiencing the myriad of benefits of melding their minds with an LMC mech.

Fortunately, the nature of glows meant that Ves didn't need to employ too many LMC mechs to spread his glows.

His mech forces cleverly employed the original Bright Warriors like Blessed Squires, bringing the warmth and light of the Golden Cat to the vast majority of Larkinsons who fought on behalf of the clan. Their morale remained strong and their willingness to fight with all never shook as they carried the hopes and dreams of every Larkinson!

Ves only dared to bring the obsolete Bright Warriors due to being clad in plenty of Breyer alloy. The Fridaymen weren't blind or stupid. Glows were force multipliers that amplified the performance of entire formations and units. They were as threatening as artillery mechs if not more, and that turned them into high-priority targets!

Even with space knights and other mechs keeping them safe, the Fridaymen mechs did not hesitate to employ suicidal charges in order to destroy the seemingly-crucial Bright Warriors!

Yet once their weapons struck their targets, the Bright Warriors didn't crumble. At most, they received a few dents and bounced away due to the force behind the blows.

While Breyer alloy wasn't indestructible to the Fridaymen, it was still challenging to pierce through their shells, as evidenced by the near-pristine prow of the Spirit of Bentheim!

As a symbol of the majesty of the Larkinson Clan, the majestic and overdramatized depiction of

The Golden Cat attracted plenty of attacks at first, especially when enemies attempted to take out the Bentheim's bunker mechs.

Not even a hundred attacks managed to do more than lightly scar the huge and solid prow!

In fact, Ves felt as if the battle scars added character to his flagship. It showed that the Larkinson Clan was not afraid to confront powerful enemies.

The continued existence of the golden prow seemed to instill the Larkinsons with even more confidence. Even though it didn't really possess a significant glow or anything due to his minimal involvement, Ves had an illusion that the totem was propping up the fighting spirit of the Larkinson Clan.

As long as it remained whole, the Larkinsons would never break in battle!

"The work that your mech designers are doing are all taking effect." Major Verle briefly pulled his attention away from his own responsibilities. "Look. Ever since your Valkyrie Prime started to relay a lot of data to us, the Fridaymen are almost losing as much mechs as ours. This is a significantly better ratio than before."

"It's not enough." Ves grimaced inside his helmet. "We have already lost a lot more mechs at the start on this side of the battlefield, so we are still fighting at a disadvantage."

Despite all of the setbacks they suffered, the elite Fridayman mech units still put up a lot of fight. The Holvein Grenadiers, the Bloody Herons and the Silent Swords each showcased why they were considered to be the best of what the Friday Coalition had to offer!

The Transcendent Punishers heavily suppressed the Holvein Grenadiers in the earlier stages of the battle. Plenty of grenade-carrying mechs succumbed before they could even show their might. No matter how well they performed at close range, they were still as helpless as other mechs when faced with relentless bombardment!

Unfortunately, now that the Transcendent Punishers redirected their fire to suppress the Charlemagne, the Scarra and the other surviving Fridayman expert mechs, the Holvein Grenadiers fought back with a vengeance!

A string of powerful high explosive grenades enriched with volatile exotics blew up near a cluster of Crosser mechs, heavily damaging their sides and disrupting their rhythm enough for the Grenadier mechs to make a quick breakthrough.

It took twice as much mechs to stop the Grenadier mechs in their tracks and prevent the lines from becoming more disordered.

A handful of rifleman mechs safely floating at the rear of the formation fired a volley of grenades with their under-barrel grenade launchers. Once the grenades detonated, they spread out of a huge amount of dark foam that didn't do anything but dirty the mechs in the vicinity.

However, when this foam touched the flight systems of mechs, they suddenly fizzled out, causing the mechs to lose a lot of maneuverability for a time.

Without their flight systems, mechs weren't able to fight anymore! They had lost too much mobility and not even the secondary boosters and thrusters built inside the other parts of their frame was enough to compensate for the loss.

They turned into sitting ducks against the prepared Holvein Grenadier mechs at the front!

"These damn grenade-slinging mechs are too outrageous!" A Larkinson mech pilot complained. "I bet that some of these grenades cost as much as one of our mechs!"

The Holvein Grenadiers basically gained their advantages in battle by spending lots of money! The grenades they flung would never have as much potency against mechs as now if they didn't incorporate a lot of expensive exotics with a myriad of powerful and unusual effects. This was the only way to make a deadly package that was also compact and able to be carried by mechs.

Even though the Grenadiers had already expended most of their grenades by now, they still clung to at least one of them until the moment their mechs succumbed.

Explosions rippled through the frontline as Grenadier mech after Grenadier mech did not hesitate to take down their opponents with them. Often times, the diehard mech pilots actively overloaded the power reactors of their mechs in order to give their enemies an even bigger surprise!

The Silent Swords of the Konsu Clan fought in a completely different approach. Every mech pilot was a swordmaster and their mechs were completely tailored to the swordsmanship style that has been bestowed upon them. They all fought in the same way, but because of the exquisiteness of their technique, hardly any other melee mech was able to get the better of them in a one-on-one duel!

In some cases, the mech officers and mech champions of the Silent Swords were even able to fight two opposing melee mechs to a standstill!

As long as the circumstances were equal, the Silent Sword mechs were always able to carve their way through the ranks of their opponents and lay waste to any mech that entered their reach.

If not for the fact that they had no effective solutions against ranged attacks, the Silent Swords would have been enough to fight at least four times as many opponents!

The expeditionary forces had to reserve most of their rifleman mechs to put pressure on the Silent Swords. If their tricky wandering squads weren't put under fire as soon as they approached a contentious area, the elite Konsu mech pilots would have easily been able to harvest the enemies locked in battle against other Fridaymen mechs!

Yet what gave Ves the most dread was the Bloody Herons.

Even though the Herons lost a lot of mechs over the course of the engagement, the powerful mechs still punched above their weight due the impeccable teamwork they showed.

Only the prime mechs and the Valkyrie mechs piloted by the Glory Seekers and the Penitent Sisters were able to constrain them to an extent.

While Ves was previously fine with letting the battle play out against the Bloody Herons, he began to feel more concerned about what happened on the other parts of the battlefield.

The enemies here needed to be cleaned up as quickly as possible in order to free up a lot of friendly mechs that could be deployed to reinforce others.

Ves struggled a bit before he made a decision. He opened a private communication channel.

"Venerable Joshua."

"Yes, sir?" The expert pilot hurriedly spoke.

His Valkyrie Prime was currently in the heat of battle!

"Do it. Show them what the Superior Mother can truly do. Wipe out as many Fridayman mechs as possible."

"Isn't it too soon?! If we do this, our mech pilots will be…"

"I'm aware, but there is little point in delaying." Ves replied. "The elite Fridaymen mechs are no longer as numerous and oppressive as before, and their mech pilots have exerted heavily to the point where they are far from their peak. The timing is right. Delaying any further will just result in needless casualties. Just do it before anything changes."

"..Very well, sir."

Chapter 2669: Parting Mechs

Many of the expert pilots and expert candidates of the Larkinson Clan fought against the most challenging opponents they faced up to this point!

Unlike the pirates of the Nyxian Gap, the Friday Coalition fielded professional mech militaries that fought while drawing strength from every means within their reach!

None of their mech pilots were sloppy or complacent. Their elites were as tough as nails and their skill regularly overwhelmed the Larkinsons.

The Fridayman mechs fighting in this battle were all built better than normal military mech pilots due to the supreme status of their elite mech regiments.

undefinedEven after being subjected to numerous disadvantages, it became clear to Ves that wiping them all out would be slow, painful and costly.

This wasn't good. The attempt to demolish all of the Fridayman expert mechs didn't appear to be going as planned so Ves saw that his side needed to gain an advantage elsewhere.

The right side was also a persistent source of concern. The Vicious Mountain expert mechs clashed against each other with so much violence and animosity that Ves did not dare to predict the outcome.

If Patriarch Reginald Cross succeeded in taking revenge, then that would be great.

However, if the powerful Crosser expert pilots fumbled, then the entire expeditionary fleet would become horribly exposed against some of the most powerful enemy mechs on the battlefield!

Ves saw the need to accelerate the defeat of the Fridayman elites. After he instructed Venerable Joshua to make a move, he asked Major Verle to coordinate the upcoming action.

As his most trusted military advisor and leader, Major Verle was already aware of the basic properties of battle formations.

He frowned. "It would indeed be great if Venerable Joshua and the Penitent Sisters can shock the enemies through this fashion, but as far as I know, the attack they are capable of launching will never be able to cover all of the enemies."

The major was right. Distances were magnified in space. Mechs fought further apart from each other than they would have if they were deployed on land. Every formation was stretched at least four to ten times in order to cover more distance and to leave plenty of gaps in between.

Every spaceborn mech force always adopted dispersed formations because it was too easy to bombard them if they clumped up their units. Every ranged mech loved to fire upon a tight formation of mechs because it would always hit something even if its shot missed its original target.

For this reason, the battle against the Holvein Grenadiers stretched across several kilometers in both a horizontal and vertical direction.

That latter part was also troublesome right now. There was no solid surface in open space and no gravity pulling every mech down. Mechs formations in space were fully three-dimensional in order to prevent enemies from gaining an easy advantage by attacking from above or below.

To be honest, Ves didn't understand all of the intricacies of mech formations in space. He could see that Major Verle and many of the tactical officers were constantly thinking, issuing orders and making other adjustments as the battle unfolded.

Just as the expeditionary forces were constantly tweaking their mech formations to better cope against the opposition, their enemies were doing the same. Both sides constantly had to stay on their toes in order to keep up with this high-stakes game.

What Ves sought right now was to break the game. He didn't want it to play out any further because the end result would almost certainly leave the surviving Larkinson, Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs devastated at the end.

What he wanted was to free up some mechs that retained enough battle strength to reinforce other parts of the battlefield!

In order to do that, the battle formation that the Penitent Sisters were about to adopt had to sweep as many enemy mechs as possible.

The more, the better!

Major Verle critically analyzed the targets of this upcoming attack. "We don't have to affect the majority of our opponents to tip this battle over. As long as we can debilitate or take out at least 10 to 15 percent of our opponents, we will be able to achieve a small but decisive numerical advantage. The rest of our forces can capitalize on the sudden shock the surviving Fridaymen must be going through."

Ves could see that happening. Battle formations should still be a mystery to their current opponents, so they should definitely be stunned when they became the latest victim of one of his more secretive innovations.

He pointed at a specific section of the battlefield. "Let's focus on the Bloody Herons. They are the strongest and most comprehensive elite mech troop that are currently fighting against our forces. Due to their penchant for coordinated attack and maneuvers, their formations are tighter and more condensed than usual."

"Hmmm." Major Verle evaluated the proposed target. "It's a good target. If we can manage to take them out at once, the center of the enemy line will be blown wide open. However, are you sure your trick can work? As far as I know, our upcoming move directly attacks the mind of mech pilots. This is good against normal opponents, but how will it fare against the Bloody Herons?"

"I've tracked the performance of the Bloody Herons. Their performance against prime mechs and a couple of other glow mechs has shown me that they are not immune to glows. While their famed neural network connects their minds together in a strange way, Ves did not perceive their mental defenses had become too strong.

Sure, the fact that they were able to borrow strength from other mech pilots was fantastic, but all of the mech pilots were mortals at the end of the day. Even a thousand mortal minds did not come close to matching the mental strength of a single expert pilot!

After Ves made his decision, the Larkinsons and the other friendly forces quietly made their preparations.

The mechs clashing against the Bloody Herons did their best to compress their neural-networked opponents in a smaller space. This was difficult to accomplish because the Bloody Herons refused to back down.

Fortunately, the Fridaymen didn't seem to have caught on to what was happening. In fact, not even the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan knew what the Larkinson Clan had in mind. The Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs still fought the Fridaymen as usual, which helped a lot in keeping their opponents from noticing that a plot was boiling.

When Venerable Joshua and the Penitent Sisters received the orders they were waiting for, they all became stoked.

Of all of the Valkyrie mechs on the battlefield, only the ones piloted by the Glory Seekers freely entered the fray. They hovered around the flanks while harassing their enemies with their pulse submachine guns. When they spotted an opportunity, they performed a high-risk charge that always set the Fridayman elites back, but not without suffering plenty of damage in return!

After performing several charges, of which the last ended in a near-disaster due to falling in a Silent Sword ambush, the Glory Seekers lost more than half of their Valkyrie Interceptors and Hurricanes.

They only retained a bit over 200 of their Valkyrie mechs. While that was still a force to be reckoned with after the Fridayman suffered a lot of losses, many of the surviving mechs sustained considerable damage as well, so they were far from their prime.

They had served their purpose. Without the disruption caused by their charging attacks, the elite Fridayman mech units would have been able to accumulate enough momentum to push through their opposition.

The Valkyrie Prime and the Valkyrie Redeemers piloted by the Penitent Sisters had not followed suit. From the beginning, they always hovered close but never fully committed to the battle.

They were ordered to preserve their strength until they were finally asked to employ their full strength.

Up until then, their unit mostly contributed to the battle by allowing the Valkyrie Prime to come within several kilometers of the entire enemy lineup.

Unknown to any Fridayman mech, the pupil of the third eye installed on the Valkyrie Prime's forehead quietly observed several layers deep into their mechs. The closer the mech, the more structural faults and other vulnerabilities the Odineye captured.

While Venerable Joshua felt very gratified to be able to give his comrades an edge against their opponents in this way, he was an expert pilot! He should be giving his all in this battle!

"I've been waiting for this moment for many minutes!" He grinned!

The Valkyrie mechs had already started to circle around in order to build up speed. They had already learned that their attack traversed faster as long as their mechs moved faster relative to their opponents.

"Don't give the Bloody Herons to evade our attack. We must catch as many of them as possible in a single blow!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Valkyrie Prime and its follower mechs followed a specific route that had been prepared for them by the tacticians stationed in the fleet. It was a rather clever route that kept the Valkyrie mechs behind friendly lines up until the final moments.

In fact, Joshua was briefly surprised at what he saw. "This is ingenious! It's dangerous as well."

He didn't care too much about the latter. Battle was fraught with risk and mech pilots like him were always trained to fulfill their mission regardless of the danger.

Time passed as the battle became more and more heated. Perhaps the Bloody Herons sensed something unusual from their opponents, but it was impossible for them to back off at this point. Their heated offensive was much of the reason why the elite Fridaymen mechs fought so well against their current opponents. Their crucial position at the center was like an immovable rock that supported the Holvein Grenadiers, the Silent Swords as well as the Corundian Giants that had slowly merged into the body!

At this time, the Valkyrie mechs had built up sufficient speed. They didn't necessarily have to reach blazing speeds. They also couldn't afford to spend too much time on accelerating their mechs forward because Ves wanted to make their move quickly.

When the Valkyrie Prime slowly curved the entire unit of around 180 surviving Valkyrie Redeemers onto the final approach.

They were well behind friendly lines at this point.

The Valkyrie Prime glowed bright green as Venerable Joshua prayed as sincerely as possible to the Superior Mother.

The Penitent Sisters also gave their all to connect to the Superior Mother!

Due to their rear position, they received few distractions, allowing them to connect to the Superior Mother's battle network without interruption.

As soon as they formed their desired connections, the Valkyrie mechs all changed their positions until they adopted a mysterious V formation with the prime mech at the very center.

The collective efforts of the mech pilots not only caused them to find their place in the new formation, but also called up a giant energy silhouette.

The Superior Mother had been waiting. The moment a giant apparition of the ancestral spirit manifested over the formation, not a lot of enemies captured it yet. The illusionary figure of the Supreme had shown up in the rear where it was only observable by the Fridayman staff officers who were on the lookout for anything strange.

It took time for these observers to relay their findings to their superiors and others.

While this was taking place, the projectors built into the Valkyrie mechs were already activated to fill in the details of the energy silhouette. The Superior Mother seemed to have truly descended at this moment!

This time, it attracted a lot more attention from the enemy, but it was already too late.

"Unleash death and give them the fate that they deserve!" Venerable Joshua roared as the prime resonance of his mech activately fed the energy silhouette.

The giant manifestation of the Superior Mother glowed with strength!

At this point, even the Bloody Herons noticed that something was wrong, but there wasn't enough time for them to disperse their formation.

Before their mech officers could issue any order, the opponents in front of them abruptly withdrew!

Every Glory Seeker, Crosser and Larkinson mech that had tangled with them suddenly withdrew a bit before abruptly parting to the sides.

It was as if a god had parted an ocean of mechs!

All of this took place in just a handful of seconds. Aside from broken wrecks and loose debris, not a single object blocked the Bloody Herons from advancing forward anymore!

However, the same corridor that allowed them pass unopposed also freed up enough space for over 180 Valkyrie mechs to launch their extraordinary attack!

The Bloody Heron mechs froze even further as the Valkyrie mechs all activated their Marked For Death abilities.

Beams of every white light shone on the elite Fridaymen mechs. They seemed to pierce straight into the souls of every neural-networked mech pilot.

While that wasn't enough to paralyze them completely, their reactions slowed down enough for the Valkyrie mechs to complete their attack run!

"FOR THE CLAN!"

The Superior Mother swept her hand forward at the same time the battle formation unleashed a powerful V-shaped wave of extraordinary energy!

The power of both life and death was infused in this powerful attack!

Chapter 2670: Life and Death

Whenever the Penitent Sisters engaged their battle network while piloting a Valkyrie Redeemer, they automatically defaulted to the battle formation associated with the death phase of existence.

It was the only battle formation that truly felt right for the Valkyrie product line.

During previous tests, Ves had gotten to know additional properties about this battle formation. The wave of energy it released was exceedingly deadly. While Ves had not dared to test it on any living humans, it was not that big of a deal to float some containers in space and fill them up with some inconsequential animals.

Suffice to say, none of the animals had a good time after they were swept by the energy wave.

undefinedWhat interested Ves more was how it changed when a prime mech entered the equation.

More specifically, he became very intrigued at what might happen if Venerable Joshua was the one that piloted the prime mech in question.

From a spiritual perspective, the Valkyrie Prime was a carrier of the Superior Mother's energy. The Unending alloy that made up its entire armor and much of its internal frame was all filled with the ancestral spirit's spiritual energy.

By itself, this 6300 Ves worth of spiritual energy was in its basic state. While the mech itself was slanted towards death, the Superior Mother was a spiritual entity that encompassed more than just the death phase of existence.

She was capable of embodying all six hexism phases.

It was just that she normally manifested just one of the phases at the same time. This was how Ves designed her and how she was meant to function.

He hadn't been imaginative enough to think whether he should give her the capability to channel multiple phases at the same time. That was an oversight that Ves slightly regretted. Creating new lifeforms wasn't easy. Any mistake he made could not be corrected as easily as he could do with mechs.

In any case, when Venerable Joshua resonated with his latest mech, the prime resonance he evoked reflected his life domain.

According to his studies, Ves determined that resonance always manifested in a form that highly suited the mech pilot. It was more of a human phenomenon than a mech phenomenon.

Of course, the mech also affected the character of the manifested resonance to a degree, but this was probably dependent on the strength of a mech.

Compared to true expert mechs, prime mechs were much more trivial. They also worked on different principles.

While the mech was technically themed around the death phase of existence, its spiritual foundation only measured up to around 110 Ves in strength, though it could be a little more now that an expert pilot had used it for a while.

What truly affected the form of resonance evoked by the Valkyrie Prime was both the pilot and the source of all of the spiritual energy dumped into the prime materials.

When Venerable Joshua, who possessed a strong and pure life domain, came into contact with the spiritual energy donated by the Superior Mother, what kind of resonance did they produce?

It was life. A mech designed to bring death became surrounded by a glow that exuded pure vitality. Didn't that sound ridiculous?

Yet it worked out fine. The Valkyrie mech line was originally designed to be a carrier of the Superior Mother, and life just happened to be one of her six domains.

In fact, the mutation that happened during her creation may have even strengthened this aspect of hers!

Cynthia Larkinson also possessed a life domain. Even if it had a different orientation than that of Ves and Joshua, it was undeniable that they shared a common root!

Therefore, when Venerable Joshua induced resonance in the Valkyrie Prime, he was evoking the Superior Mother's extraordinary attainments in life.

Ves found it rather coincidental that the life phase of existence also happened to be associated with boys. At least, that was what many Hexers thought.

While the Valkyrie Prime piloted by Joshua turned into a mass of contradictions, the mech in this state was anything but weak. The Valkyrie Prime was still able to channel the death-based abilities that it was meant to evoke.

Yet what happened if this same resonance spread onto the battle formation composed of lots of Valkyrie mechs?

Even Ves didn't know what might result from this combination.

He became even more excited than before. He always derived a lot of satisfaction when he was watching his creations work the way he designed them to, but he gained even more pleasure when he saw them being utilized to a greater degree than he initially envisioned.

This was a true creation!

This was what a true maker pursued!

An invention that only performed to their creator's expectations was a boring and predictable product. The lack of subsequent evolution, improvement or evolution signified that the creation was essentially dead and static.

Only an invention that could endlessly be improved after it was made was truly worthy to be called a living product!

All of these sudden realizations stimulated his design seed to an even higher state than before. The insights he derived from this battle would definitely benefit his work as long as he survived.

"It's time."

Ves and several other observers watched carefully as the sea of mechs parted aside in order to give the Penitent Sister battle formation an ample corridor to their intended targets.

The approaching mechs flew down the corridor as if they were akin to a kinetic shell being propelled forward by a railgun. The only difference was that the mechs all activated their Marked For Death ability when they came close, ensuring that the Bloody Herons would not be able escape the doom that was coming for them in the form of an extraordinary wave of energy!

To be honest, Ves had no idea what kind of energy the battle formation produced. The core of it seemed to be associated with death. This pure and intense death energy largely came from the Superior Mother, but was able to manifest into a coherent attack through the medium of a battle formation.

Yet what made this attack more remarkable than unusual was that it was surrounded by a glow of resonance that originated from the Valkyrie Prime!

It was as if a shell made of life enveloped a huge quantity of pure death energy. What amazed Ves was that the opposing energies didn't conflict or react adversely with each other.

Instead, they existed side by side, reflecting the fact that most of the energies came from the Superior Mother in the first place. It also proved that Joshua had become very compatible with the Hexer spirit.

When the V-shaped wave of death approached the Bloody Herons, the entire battlefield around this incident had slowed. The Holvein Grenadiers, the Silent Swords and the Corundian Giant mechs all seemed to pause in their attacks as their pilots became compelled to watch the results of the powerful attack.

Even the Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers slowed down a bit. The Larkinson mech pilots knew a bit more than most, but none of them aside from the veterans of the Battle of the Abyss knew what they were about to witness.

The shape and size of the energy attack was proportionate to the dimensions of the battle formation that originally launched it. The larger the battle formation, the more space it covered.

With around 180 mechs, the wave of energy just happened to encompass more than half of the Bloody Heron mechs that remained functional.

This was enough.

When the Bloody Heron mech pilots had become subjected to the suppressive glows of the Valkyrie Redeemers, they felt more than ever that their doom had come!

"No!"

The wave of pale white energy surrounded by green resonance passed through all of the mechs in its way without any obstruction.

It was as if some sort of ghost was merely passing through without taking the time to make any detours.

In just a short amount of time, the energy wave soundlessly passed through several hundred mechs. Not just the Bloody Herons, but also the other Fridayman elite mechs positioned behind them became affected.

Unfortunately, due to the dispersed formation adopted by the Fridaymen, only several mechs were affected in total. The only consolation to Ves was that the previous losses sustained by the elite mechs meant that this was definitely a high proportion!

The energy wave continued to fly forward past the formations of elite Fridaymen mechs, but no one was paying attention to it anymore.

Instead, every observer that was free enough to look was intently observing the mechs affected by the attack.

Around 240 mechs had been hit by the energy wave. Now, everyone waited to see what had happened to them. Had the mechs sustained damage? The attack didn't seem to have done anything to the machines. Was this some sort of failed EMP attack?

It wasn't until the Fridaymen attempted to contact the mech pilots residing in the mechs that they realized that something had gone horribly wrong.

According to the telemetry transmitted by the affected mechs, the mech pilots were still alive, at least on a physical level.

Yet their brain activity had gone completely silent!

In the ships of the Friday Coalition, the battlefield monitors and analysts had become completely stunned.

At one console in the command center of the Eager Condemnation, a certain Journeyman Mech Designer became increasingly more alarmed as she monitored the state of the neural network.

The neural network had become a lot more quiet. It abruptly exhibited only a fraction of its previous activity. What few Bloody Heron mech pilots were left alive were so shocked by what had occurred that the network automatically collapsed!

Fear had swept their minds, causing their thoughts to become too disordered to remain in sync with each other!

As realization spread throughout both friendly and enemy mechs, the Penitent Sister mechs did not bother to charge forward and impale their spears into the defenseless mechs.

Instead, they curved their path away so that they would not be colliding with any enemy mechs.

The battle formation quickly ended after the mechs had unleashed the combined attack.

The energy silhouette of the Superior Mother also faded.

The Valkyrie Prime appeared a bit less energetic than before.

Every action had a price.

An attack as powerful as the one they just unleashed took out a lot from them. Even with the assistance of Venerable Joshua, the Penitent Sister mech pilots all felt as if they had fought for an entire day! They could no longer concentrate as well as before.

It was enough.

When it became clear that the mech pilots affected by the attack were not about to recover anytime soon, the entire direction of the changed.

Commander Melkor quickly fired his weapon! His Vima Sun unleashed a bright laser beam that struck an exposed portion of a Silent Sword mech, inflicting heavy damage on the machine.

"What are you waiting for? Finish them off while they are still caught off-balance! Drive straight through the center and split them apart!"

The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers quickly pounced on the enemy! Even though the surviving elite Fridayman mech pilots recovered fairly quickly, they had firmly lost the initiative! The absence of more than 250 mechs meant that they faced an insurmountable disparity in numbers.

There were too few of them left to fend off the remaining enemies, especially if the strange Valkyrie mechs were able to unleash a second energy wave!

However, as the increasingly less confident Fridayman mech pilots worried about a second possible attack, the first one had still not run its course!

When lots of Fridayman officers and analysts were focused on the changes to their mechs, a couple of officers aboard the Auralis suddenly sounded the alarm.

"INCOMING! The unknown attack is flying right in our direction!"

"Evade!"

"It's too late! Our fleet carrier won't be able to evade in time!"

The energy attack persisted far longer than anyone expected from something so weird and powerful. In fact, a normal attack from the death formation should have dispersed after traversing some distance, but this was not a normal energy attack.

As the death wave of energy continued to soar deeper into space, the life resonance surrounding it was slowly being consumed.

Life was sustaining death, allowing the energy wave to persist for a much longer time while retaining most of its potency!

The attack run performed by the Penitent Sisters was angled just right. It did not hit the Bloody Herons straight on but was instead angled just enough to allow the energy attack to reach the coordinates where the Auralis should have reached.

The timing was impeccable. The calculations were all on point. The only factor that potentially spoiled this second surprise was that the Auralis was slowly moving out of the way.

However, the Larkinsons deliberately targeted this fleet carrier in particular. It was the largest, heaviest and least maneuverable deep strike fleet carrier out of the five that the Friday Coalition had sent.

Even though a portion of the vessel had succeeded in moving out of the way of the impending wave of death, something else happened that confounded everyone.

The energy wave seemed to have gained some life of its own! Directed by a consciousness, the pale white wave surrounded by a dwindling corona of green resonance passed right through the length of the fleet carrier of the Gauge Dynasty.

Everyone had become speechless yet again.

Chapter 2671: Auralis

The wave of energy seemed to travel a bit slow on the map, but in reality it moved incredibly swiftly for how much devastation it was able to wreak.

It was already absurd for a strange energy wave to knock out and possibly kill the minds of so many Bloody Herons and other elite mech pilots.

No one expected the reality-defying attack would go on to slaughter the entire crew of the Auralis.

This was one of the Gauge Dynasty's proudest fleet carriers! While she was certainly not the largest capital ship from the Friday Coalition, she possessed a rare deep strike configuration which allowed her to traverse much more distant stars at good speeds.

undefinedUnlike some of the other deep strike fleet carriers in Task Force Umbra, the Auralis was not a minimal effort.

The cheaper fleet carriers such as the Vanguard Group's Forward Momentum and the Puffer Clan's Orca Tyrant only carried the basics. They were thinner, lighter and offered less room for mechs. While that made them fairly maneuverable compared to other capital ships, this was hardly what military leaders sought in a vessel that was supposed to undertake dangerous missions behind enemy lines!

The Auralis was a true deep strike fleet carrier as far as everyone was concerned. She was clad in thick, premium starship hull plating that could take a heavy beating for a time. As long as the vessel rotated along her axis, she could absorb a huge amount of punishment as long as none of the incoming damage wasn't concentrated.

The Auralis was definitely the most expensive and impressive fleet carrier out of the five she traveled with. Not even the Konsu Clan's Amagi or the CRC's Eager Condemnation matched the luxuries that the Gauge Dynasty had foisted on the starship.

It was actually quite noteworthy that the Gauge Dynasty was even willing to supply such a valuable fleet carrier for this operation in the first place, but then again, it had many more capital ships to spare.

Yet for all of the defenses that granted the Auralis so much value, she possessed a least one major weakness.

Relative to the other deep strike fleet carriers, her mobility was abysmal. While her FTL range was commendable, that was solely due to the quality of her specialized long-ranged FTL drives.

Her sub-light propulsion system was actually quite powerful, but that was mostly responsible for allowing the lumbering vessel to keep up with ordinary transits. Her straight-line acceleration was barely passable, but her other maneuvering characteristics were wholly inadequate.

The Auralis was deliberately built to be tough enough to block and bounce off any damage with her powerful shield generators and heavy hull plating. There was hardly any capacity left to install powerful maneuvering thrusters that could help with turning her orientation or allowing her to dodge to the side in a timely manner.

The side thrusters were so weak relative to the mass of the lumbering vessel that it was as if a mouse attempted to move a chair.

Even though there wasn't any friction in space, it still took an awfully long time for these piddly thrusters to move displace an object that massed an uncountable of tons. Just like every other capital ship, the Auralis was so heavy that she was unable to land on a planet with standard gravity.

Considering all of these disadvantages, the Auralis was the perfect follow-up target for the energy wave. It was big, valuable, and difficult to defeat through conventional attacks.

Yet the death energy evoked by the Penitent Sister battle formation was not material in nature. Just like normal spiritual energy, it passed through every solid obstacle and only interacted with other forms of spiritual energy and spiritual phenomenon.

Aboard the Auralis, the only spiritual presence aboard the vessel was the inherited spirit of her crew. Over 20,000 crew members served aboard the well-staffed vessel. They serviced the mechs, ran the many functions of the vessel, facilitated the complicated and risky process of performing long-ranged FTL transitions and so on. All of these Fridaymen were highly-trained professionals with at least a decade of experience under their belt.

None of these Gaugers were weak!

Yet despite the prodigious defenses of the Auralis, the minds of all of these loyal and professional soldiers had been snuffed.

The vessel failed to evade the full breadth of the attack. While she had actually detected the danger and started to move in time to save at least a portion of her crew, she wasn't maneuverable enough to save them all entirely.

It turned out that it was pointless even if she succeeded. The energy attack exhibited enough control to correct its course, though it seemed to be a strenuous process.

Without being able to evade the mysterious attack, the crew was doomed. No shield generator and no hull plating was ever designed to block such an inexplicable attack method.

Only high-ranking expert pilots with expert mechs were supposed to be able to accomplish these kinds of feats!

Perhaps the only consolation for Task Force Umbra was that the absurd energy was not endless.

The death energy had already expended a lot of effort. It weakened faster passing through the massive fleet carrier of the Gauge Dynasty. This proved that the attack definitely had other limitations.

The green resonance corona vanished shortly afterwards, and with its passing the wave of energy dissipated in short order.

The incredibly magical and confounding effect shocked the entire battlefield for a time.

But only for a time.

"Finish off your opponent first! Leave the rest to the eggheads! Let the nerds puzzle it all out!"

The fight soon resumed as if nothing had happened. No matter how much everyone wanted to learn about how less than two-hundred mechs led by a fake expert mech managed to accomplish such a feat and whether it was repeatable, they still had a battle to fight!

The only people paying attention to the Valkyrie Prime and its accompanying Valkyrie Redeemers were those who feared a repeat.

They didn't know whether the Valkyrie mechs could launch a second wave.

In truth, the Penitent Sister mech pilots were already nearing their mental limits. Connecting to the battle network and channeling more energy than ever before had taken a very great toll on their minds.

To be honest, the power and reach of the energy surpassed their expectations! Even Ves was surprised that the attack actually managed to succeed in sweeping through the Auralis.

While he was very pleased with the unsurpassed power and scale of the earlier attack, the price was also considerable. When Ves accessed the pilot telemetry of the Penitent Sisters, he immediately noticed signs that they were completely spent.

It was hard for them to concentrate on piloting mechs after such a heavy exertion!

"This is strange.." Ves briefly frowned. "It wasn't like this before."

In previous tests, every activation of the battle formation took a lot of the Penitent Sisters, but they still retained at least some strength to fight for a time.

This was different.

As Ves tried to find an explanation, he recalled one of the experiments he performed.

He connected the Valkyrie mechs to the battle network as well!

As 'living' entities, why shouldn't they be able to participate in the battle network? The Valkyrie mechs may not be human Hexers, but they were completely designed as an extension of a specific aspect of the Superior Mother.

While Ves hadn't been able to observe how the mech interacted with the battle network when the mech pilots prayed to the Supreme, he reasoned that some of the extra power must have been brought by the mechs.

As for that weird homing function at the end, Ves guessed that the Superior Mother was able to maintain a connection to the wave attack. Whether the death energy had always been under her control or whether the resonance bestowed by Venerable Joshua added that capability was something that Ves would look at later.

Right now, they still had a battle to win!

"The Fridaymen are wavering!" Major Verle sounded both amazed and excited. "Their resolve is clearly shaking. Look at how their mechs are fighting at the moment. They look as if the wind had taken out their sails. Even their Praetor and Planat compatriots fighting on the right side are flustered!"

The Fridayman mech pilots who had been closest to the passing death wave were affected more than most. Their very souls had trembled as the soundless doom attack had caused them to experience fear on a primordial level.

Their excellent training, discipline and determination quickly reasserted themselves. As some of the best mech pilots of a powerful second-rate state, their wills were not so easily broken!

While they were still suffering from the afterattacks of escaping a brush of death, they managed to pick themselves up to an admirable degree.

Yet no one, not even the iron-willed Silent Swords, were able to fight as confidently as before.

The momentum of battle was a very nebulous concept. It swung back and forth according to many different variables, the most important of which was morale.

The elite Fridaymen did not easily lose their morale. They also did not break and rout even if the situation looked a lot more hopeless than before.

Yet that didn't mean they were emotionless robots. Aside from the shadow the extraordinary energy attack had left in their hearts, the Fridaymen mech pilots were also being pushed back for another reason.

A giant hole had been blasted in the middle of their battle line!

Once the mechs of the Bloody Herons and some of the other Fridayman mechs in the vicinity had lost their mech pilots, they became as useful as scrap metal. Even if their AIs took over control for a time, they were never designed to assume permanent control.

That was too dangerous.

Therefore, once their mech pilots had become braindead, the machines gradually powered down and silently drifted out of formation.

The void that had formed in the middle was not so easily filled.

Just like how the morale of the Fridaymen had sunk, the confidence of the expeditionary forces had risen to its highest level!

With the power of a death god on their side, the defenders eagerly pounced on the advantages created by the enormous move!

Mechs quickly filled up the gap and tried to split the off-balanced Fridayman mech units apart. Their goal was to cleave the enemy's carefully-arranged battle lines and put even more pressure on the enemies that remained!

"Cleave their formation apart and sandwich them from multiple flanks!"

"We've already wiped out over 200 of these bastards in an instant! If we can't capitalize on this advantage, then we will shame ourselves in front of the Superior Mother. Attack!"

The Larkinson and Crosser mech pilots fought as if they already saw light at the end of the tunnel. The reduced pressure from their enemies also contributed to their increasing confidence.

As for the Glory Seekers, their swing in momentum was much more drastic. As soon as they beheld the giant energy silhouette of the Superior Mother coming to life, they had already gone through a rapturous moment.

The Superior Mother was with them! Not only did she descend on the battlefield to inspire the righteous Hexer mech pilots in person, the Supreme also punished the wicked Fridaymen by waving her hand!

"For the Hegemony!"

"For the Wodin Dynasty!"

"For glory!"

Even though the Glory Seekers had suffered heavy casualties prior to this moment, the surviving mech pilots didn't care about that anymore. Their faith was so invigorated that it practically propelled them all forward.

No one thought about retreat at this time!

The huge swings in morale had a devastating effect on the Fridaymen elites who had previously acquitted themselves well. Slight disadvantages cascaded into major disadvantages. The old status quo had broken. The left side of the battlefield had firmly swung in the favor of the Golden Skull Alliance!

Yet before Ves could maintain his satisfied grin, a bridge officer conveyed shocking news.

"The Leskin has fallen! Venerable Banner Cross has been overwhelmed by the Jaenne D'Arc!"

More bad news poured in a moment later.

"The surviving Fridayman expert mechs have altered their battle posture! It looks.. it looks as if they are attempting to break through our lines at all costs!"

Chapter 2672: Correcting A Mistake

"This is impossible… the Bloody Herons shouldn't have died so easily…"

Lady Aisling Curver simply couldn't believe what her console was telling her. The Bloody Heron mechs had become completely unresponsive. She patched into the cockpit feeds and looked at the bodies of the pilots.

Not a single one of them moved. Aside from performing unconscious body functions such as breathing, the pilots seemed to have gone completely still.

According to the brain monitoring systems, the mech pilots were no longer alive according to the Friday Coalition's interpretation of what constituted a living being.

undefinedIt was as if the bodies had turned into clones. Aside from containing a self-maintaining system of blood, flesh and bone, the collection of organic tissue was no longer alive in the truest sense of the word!

This was impossible. No attack should have been able to bypass every defensive barrier and strike straight at the minds of the Bloody Heron mech pilots.

Even if such an odd attack was able to affect normal mech pilots, the proud elites hand-picked and nurtured by the great Master Huron himself shouldn't have perished so easily!

They were some of the most excellent mech pilots of the Gauge Dynasty and by extension the Friday Coalition. Even if they weren't expert pilots themselves, they were the very best among the standard mech pilots that served in the Sundered Phalanx.

For them to fall over like this en masse was a huge injustice!

Aisling simply couldn't comprehend how the Larkinson Clan was able to kill them all in an instant.

It was one thing to defeat the Bloody Herons through ordinary combat. No matter how well they fought, they were still mortals who piloted mechs that were significantly worse than expert mechs. It was normal for the Bloody Herons to sustain casualties, especially against opponents who were close to them in strength such as the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan.

Yet the mechs responsible for triggering the devastating losses did not belong to the Hexers, but the mech designer who created them in the first place. The Valkyrie Redeemers led by a strange variant had displayed a power that was completely unprecedented in the history of this mech line!

Was every Valkyrie mech capable of evoking this mysterious power? Why were the Valkyrie mechs in the hands of the Larkinsons much more special than the ones in the hands of the Hex Army? What role did the custom Valkyrie mech in the lead assume in their odd formation?

So many questions whirled in Aisling's mind that she had completely forgotten about her earlier responsibilities.

While there weren't many living Bloody Herons that needed her monitoring and support, Venerable Ghanso Larkinson clearly noticed the lack of attention.

Whenever he fought in a serious battle, he frequently received support from the rear. As the mech designer responsible for maintaining the Charlemagne and the Scarra mechs, Aisling provided considerable technical support to him in many different ways.

Whether it was unlocking some of the limiters of his expert mech to advising him how to best dismantle an enemy expert mech, Venerable Ghanso could not have achieved as much success as he did without the support of an excellent Journeyman mech designer.

"Aisling!" Ghanso gritted his teeth as his Scarra mechs kept getting picked off by his invigorated opponents. "Get your head back together! We're switching to plan F!"

"Wait, what?" Aisling suddenly shook.

Her hazard suited form sat up straighter in the seat as she brought her mind back to the present.

This was no time for her to wonder how in the hell her beloved Ves had managed to turn his Valkyrie design into literal engines of death.

They still had a mission to perform!

"General Pierce has just relayed the order!" Ghanso quickly continued as he fended off a squad of rabbidly-fanatical Glory Seekers. The crazy women willingly launched suicide attacks under the belief that the Superior Mother was watching their performance! "We're unlikely to achieve a conventional victory at this rate. The best-case scenario is no longer attainable. We've all agreed to switch straight to our most desperate plan. Only this way will we be able to maximize our remaining chances."

The mech designer couldn't keep up with the changes. So much had already happened that she was barely able to wrap her mind around the decision to switch over their last, most desperate plan.

"That will mean…"

Venerable Ghanso did not hide his ferocity and desperation.

"WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE! In order to take down Ves, we must be willing to sacrifice everything! None of us joined this operation expecting to make it back alive, remember? We have made a vow to complete our mission to the best of our ability or die trying, and I am not about to go back on our word. Are you with me or not, Aisling?!"

Her body shook again. She thought about the expectations of her state, the suffering she enabled by letting Ves escape from her grasp and the deaths of all the Bloody Herons she previously supervised on behalf of her Master.

As her gaze centered around the lifeless and immobile mechs of the Bloody Herons, her eyes hardened.

Letting Ves go was one of the greatest oversights she had ever made. If not for her inability to bring her back to the Warsaw Giant System, she could have prevented him from introducing the power of glows to the Hex Army. Without glows, the aggressive and overconfident Hexers would have never been able to overrun the hinterland of the Carnegie Group and the Vermeer Group!

How many trillions of Fridaymen civilians had suffered from the Hexer incursions?

How many brave Fridayman mech pilots had died from facing Blessed Squire and Valkyrie Redeemer models?

How could the Bloody Herons attached to Task Force Umbra have died so suddenly without any chance of mounting a proper defense or counterattack?

The deaths of all of these fellow people weighed heavily on her conscience. Her carelessness and selfishness resulted in a huge chain reaction that had ruined the lives of many people she considered her friends and comrades.

There was only one chance left to earn her penance. In order to serve the greater good, she had no choice but to sacrifice her happiness, her goals and possibly her life.

As a human, she didn't want to go this far.

As a loyal member of the Gauge Dynasty, her duty compelled her to set aside her individual desires.

She closed her eyes, calmed down her conflicting emotions, and regained her focus.

"Tell me what you need from me, Ghanso." She spoke with determination.

Venerable Ghanso briefly shared his idea with her. The moment she heard what he expected from her, she became shocked.

"That's not supposed to work! You're asking me to go outside the boundaries of Master Huron's work! This is one of his masterpieces!"

"Then contact him and get his help instead if you can!" Ghanso heatedly retorted. "Time is short! We're launching our breakthrough attempt soon! I need you to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together before it's too late. If you fail, our mission will very likely fail! I am counting on you, Aisling. One way or another, we must correct the mistake that is Ves' continued existence!"

Correcting a mistake. Was that how Venerable Ghanso thought of this situation? It aptly described her feelings on the matter.

Aisling Curver briefly paused before she nodded. "Very well. I will try and contact Master Huron as soon as possible in order to facilitate your plan. Do note that you and the Charlemagne were never set up for this. We absolutely cannot make any guarantees that it will work out the way you think."

The expert pilot displayed a savage grin. "Oh, it will work, one way or another. I don't need it to last very long. I just need it to work long enough for us to reach that blasted factory ship. Once we are there, it's game over for my corrupted cousin."

Shortly after the discussion ended, the Fridayman expert mechs changed their fighting posture.

From the start of the battle, they had continually been suppressed by the thousands of Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs tasked with wearing down.

The losses had been horrendous on the attacking side. Initially, 8 expert mechs along with a score of quasi-expert mechs worked together to fend off the flood of enemy attackers.

Even gods could be gnawed to death by an endless flood of ants!

Yet these expert pilots quickly learned to work together and utilize the utmost of their powerful machines to wear down the enemy. Their powerful machines remained mobile and constantly used their excellent mobility to stay out of the reach of the enemy.

The expert pilots rationally sacrificed the various resources at their disposal to kill as many opposing mechs as possible.

To be honest, without the intervention of the Star Dancer and the Leskin, the Fridayman expert mechs may have been able to succeed in defeating the thousands of enemy mechs!

Yet because of the addition of two additional opposing expert mechs, Venerable Ghanso and the rest had to work a lot harder in order to stay relatively even!

At this time, many of the Fridayman expert mechs were already at the end of their rope. The energy reserves, armor integrity and ammunition stores of their powerful machines were already running dry.

They should have returned to their motherships at this time. Yet there was no way they could do so under these circumstances.

Returning to resupply their spent and damaged mechs took too much time. The battle might very well be over once the half-replenished mechs deployed into space again!

Besides, how could the enemy allow the damaged expert mechs scurry back to their mothership in peace?

The Glory Seekers and the Crossers were already smelling blood! Too many of their comrades had died to reduce the expert mechs to this point! There was no way they would allow the job to remain unfinished!

Every expert pilot in the service of the Friday Coalition was already aware that there was no turning back.

Once they agreed to implement Plan F, they had already made their peace.

"We must break through all of our opposition no matter the cost." One foreign expert pilot stated in a fatalistic tone. "The Hexadric Hegemony must not be allowed to take over our star sector."

He reminded everyone what they were fighting for. They held no intrinsic loyalty to the Friday Coalition. Each of them agreed to fight to this extent to save their home states.

"Break out!" Ghanso shouted as he commanded the ten remaining Scarra mechs forward! "We must last as long as possible, but don't hesitate to give something up as long as we can advance forward!"

"The Larkinsons may have slaughtered our comrades aboard the Auralis, but we shall do the same to their fancy factory ship!"

When the surviving 6 expert mechs no longer tried to preserve themselves as best as possible, they could unleash surprising power.

Even though the expert mechs incurred significantly greater damage than before, they easily managed to bull through the mechs blockading their way forward and soar straight at the Spirit of Bentheim in the rear of the enemy formation!

"VICTORY OR DEATH!"

"THE FATE OF THE KOMODO STAR SECTOR RESTS UPON OUR SHOULDER!"

"SLAY THE DEVIL WHO HAS BEWITCHED THE HEXERS!"

The expert pilots all burst out greater power than before! Their mechs glowed bright as their exhausted resonance shields seemed to be revived all of sudden. The desperation in their hearts had fostered their willpower and boosted the strength of the force of will beyond their previous levels!

Expert pilots never accepted defeat!

Expert pilots never gave in to despair!

Their valiant performance as well as the orders to facilitate the breakthrough also affected the other troops on the battlefield.

The surviving Fridayman elites seemed to find new strength in desperation. They could not allow themselves to be slain without accomplishing their mission. They were better at this! Rather than allow themselves to get butchered like helpless lambs, they would rather go down in one final blaze of glory!

One of the few surviving Bloody Heron mechs even started to glow in an uncontrollable fashion. Its desperate mech pilot was breaking through to expert candidates all of sudden!

"THE HERONS SHALL NOT BE SILENCED!"

The space knight affected by forced resonance temporarily gained the power of an expert mech, allowing its evolving mech pilots to batter away any enemy mech.

The glowing Bloody Heron space knight charged into a formation of Avatar mechs and collided against a Tamris Stellar, crunching the cheap and inferior defensive mech as if it was made of sticks!

The final counterattack of Task Force Umbra had begun!

Chapter 2673: Stronger Resonance

The battle had taken on a crazy turn again!

Just when the expeditionary fleet thought it had gained a decisive advantage after unleashing one of the killer moves that Ves had in reserve, the defeat of the enemy strike force seemed to be set in stone.

Once the Bloody Herons, the Holvein Grenadiers, the Silent Swords and the other elite units had been wiped out to the last mech, the outcome of the battle shouldn't have been in doubt anymore.

Yet to the amazement of Ves and everyone else in the expeditionary fleet, the desperate Fridaymen seemed to have gained a second wind.

undefinedAfter shaking off every inhibition, the liberated mech pilots fought without regard of their lives or any other irrelevant concerns.

The mission had to be completed!

The soldiers could never allow themselves and their comrades to sacrifice their lives in vain. After incurring so much damage and suffering so many deaths, it would be the biggest shame if their primary objective remained unfulfilled.

The Fridaymen mech pilots fought with renewed vigor, if only to finish the job they were meant to perform.

This was their purpose!

This was how they were trained to fight!

They did not decide to fight to the death unknowingly.

They fought knowing full well that their efforts would have a profound impact on the future of their state.

The Friday Coalition must survive and win the Komodo War! Only then will this battle and their deaths have meaning!

"Do not fear death, friends! Our lives are incredibly short compared to the timeline of the cosmos. What does it matter to die a few decades ahead of time? It is only a blink of an eye from a cosmic point of view!"

"We are men!" Another mech pilot cried out as his mech pierced its spear straight into the chest of an opposing Avatar mech. "These enemies do not want us to lift up our heads anymore. Each and every one of our sordid opponents want nothing less but to emasculate the brave boys and men of the Coalition. If you have any decency left as a man, then stand up now and fight for equality and justice!"

Even though the outnumbered and increasingly more deranged mech pilots and mech officers were crowding the communication channels with lots of nonsense, their words inspired their fellow soldiers even further.

This was no longer a battle of wits!

What tactics? What formations? What maneuvers?

They already tried all of that and failed to gain the upper hand! The enemy may be inferior in terms of mechs and mech pilots, but the trump card unleashed by the Larkinson Clan had changed everything!

Against such an illogical and unreasonable attack, no amount of calculated tactics and strategies availed the Fridaymen anymore.

Only grit and determination availed them now, and it worked!

The sudden burst of ferocity took all of their opponents aback. The remnants of the Holvein Grenadiers, the Silent Swords and even the Corundian Giants took the lead and physically collided against the opposing mechs to forcibly swing the momentum back in their favor.

"We can't back off any longer! As long as we keep giving ground, they'll keep suppressing us with their numbers even further. Let us push into their lines and turn their own mechs into obstructions!"

The Holvein Grenadiers simultaneously threw their last grenades forward. They even gave up their final grenades which they usually reserved for their final moments!

The thunderous explosions blasted many of enemy mechs barring their way!

It did not matter if the expeditionary forces had pushed a wedge in the Fridayman formation. It didn't matter if the survivors were getting increasingly more outnumbered.

As long as the elites left standing occupied the opponents all around them long enough, they wouldn't have the opportunity to reinforce the depleted mech units that had been assigned to stop the Fridayman expert mechs in their tracks.

This meant that the breakthrough attempt by the expert mechs had a much higher chance of succeeding!

"Come on, Grenadiers! Come on, Silent Swords! Come on, Corundian Giants! Will you shame our mech regiments like this? Advance forward with me and avenge our fallen comrades!"

The battle spirits of the surviving Fridayman elites had spiked so suddenly that they had forcibly taken back the initiative they had lost.

One of the stars of the show was the Bloody Heron space knight that was undergoing forced resonance.

Although the surviving mech pilot wasn't abnormal enough to evoke complete resonance, the forced resonance enveloping the mech was so strong that it functionally became as strong as an expert mech, at least for the moment!

Even though defensive mechs such as space knights were famed for their lack of killing efficiency, once they reached the expert level, all of that changed.

Against a large quantity of normal mechs, the temporarily empowered space knight fought as if it was a god that had descended onto the mortal plain!

When it swung its sword, a large resonance blade extended many meters beyond the tip, allowing it to slice apart weaker mechs that thought they were firmly out of reach.

When the space knight moved, it accelerated considerably faster than what its design should be capable of. The abundant power of forced resonance granted the recently-advanced expert candidate the power to warp reality in his favor.

This was one of the most powerful and most sacred moments that mech pilots could ever enjoy in their lives!

There was no explanation of how forced resonance was able to channel so much power in a manner that comprehensively boosted the performance of regular mechs. Uncontrolled energy was very destructive, yet this strange phenomenon was capable of directing all of that power in an intelligent way that just so happened to turn a normal space knight into an unstoppable engine!

It was as if the resentful dead of the Bloody Herons had attached themselves to the mech in order to help their surviving comrade exact as much payback as possible!

Of course, all of this power was not limitless. Forced resonance only lasted for a varying amount of time depending on the accumulation of strength, so the space knight pilot who had turned into an expert candidate knew he needed to make the most of this precious moment.

The more he kept his surrounding opponents busy, the more his efforts contributed to the completion of the mission!

"I have to last." The expert candidate gritted his teeth. "My mech won't be able to make it much longer."

The Bloody Herons were equipped with excellent and highly-robust mechs. Their space knights were tougher and could take a lot more punishment than other mech types.

Yet the mech that was currently glowing according to the will of the surviving Bloody Heron had already been through an arduous battle beforehand. Its frame was already damaged in some portions, and the incredible stresses that it was currently going through to maintain the forced resonance state wasn't making matters any better.

The expert candidate's wondrous connection to his mech already allowed him to know that his overburdened space knight was destined to collapse once the after-effects of his breakthrough ran their course.

Once that happened, his defenseless mech would definitely be subject to lethal retaliation.

It didn't even matter whether the expert candidate was able to eject from his cockpit beforehand. His opponents would never allow an expert candidate to flee to safety.

"Get out of the way!"

The Bright Spear Prime suddenly charged forward while driving its spear forward. While the mech was not designed to be a lancer mech, it was still capable of empowering its stabs with forward momentum!

The Bloody Heron pilot instinctively felt a threat from the opposing mech. Even though it did not appear to be a genuine expert mech, the mech had already felled many Fridaymen mechs by abusing its abnormally strong glow.

Even the expert candidate felt pressured by the Bright Spear Prime's dense glow!

"Tch!"

The space knight actually chose to evade the charge at the last moment! Once the Bright Spear Prime missed its charge, the glowing Bloody Heron mech slammed the surface of its shield against the prime mech.

The silent crunch forcibly threw the Bright Spear Prime aside! Even though its Unending armor plating did not exhibit a single dent, Venerable Rosa Orfan still felt a bit dizzy from the sudden shock.

"You damn Fridayman. Accept your defeat already!"

The scrappy Bright Spear Prime advanced towards the empowered space knight and began to launch a series of stabs. The target easily fended off the one-directional attacks with its shield. It even managed to retaliate by swinging its sword at the prime mech!

When the extended blade formed out of forced resonance struck the spearman mech, the resonance shield popped in an instant. The Unending alloy managed to repel the attack, but not before inflicting some form of damage to the energy stored inside the alloy.

"Ahhh!" Venerable Orfan cried out in pain as she felt as if her current opponent had managed to hurt the Bright Beam Prime on a deeper level! "Don't get hit by that resonance blade! It's too powerful. Not even the armor of my prime mech can withstand the damage!"

The prime resonance acting upon the Bright Spear Prime visibly weakened. The Bloody Heron pilot also sensed that his attack had inflicted real damage onto the spearman mech. The threat he sensed from the opposing machine had dropped!

"Hah! I'll just have to hit you over and over again if this is the case!"

The difference between a prime mech and a mech empowered by forced resonance became very clear.

The latter immediately gained the upper hand against the former! Even though Venerable Orfan was unquestionably the better mech pilot, the Bright Spear Prime was closer to a standard mech than an expert mech. Many of its performance characteristics simply couldn't keep up with the moves that she wanted to perform.

As a result, the mech that performed much closer to an expert mech at this time immediately managed to land continuous hits on the Bright Spear Prime!

The only response that Venerable Orfan could make was to make sure that her unstoppable opponent did not manage to stab a blade through the joints and other weak points of her prime mech.

Her efforts barely allowed her Bright Spear Prime to remain intact. Even so, her mech seemed to scream every time it came in contact with the enemy's resonance.

Forced resonance was unquestionably more powerful than prime resonance!

"Damnit, where's my support?!"

Even though all of the shield bashes, kicks and sword slashes failed to break apart the Bright Spear Prime, its internals were already starting to malfunction from all of the shocks they endured. These components weren't made out of Unending alloy so they were unable to withstand so much abuse!

Just as the empowered space knight accelerated forward at an unreasonable level for a defensive mech, it suddenly turned around and braced its shield just as a pair of daggers clanged against the surface!

"It was worth a try!"

The Piranha Prime had arrived!

The light mech did not look in good shape anymore. Previously, it had constantly harassed and worn down the Fridayman elites. While its superior mobility allowed it to evade many attacks, it was not able to avoid everything. Its ruined coating, blackened surface and precarious-looking flight system showed that not even Unending alloy could guarantee the mech's safety.

Fortunately, now that two prime mechs were ganging up on the mech piloted by the newly-advanced expert candidate, the rampaging space knight was much more contained!

The Bright Spear Prime looked listless and faded after suffering several corrosive resonance attacks. Yet Venerable Orfan did not lose any of her battle spirit. She looked forward to any clash against any challenging opponent, and this one happened to be just close enough for her to deal with at the moment.

As for the Piranha Prime under the control of Venerable Tusa, it constantly tried to face the back of the space knight. Even though the light skirmisher did not launch too many attacks, just the threat it posed was enough to make the Bloody Heron pilot feel shackled in his actions.

"You dishonorable Larkinsons!"

Chapter 2674: Advancing Wedge

The Fridayman expert mechs were breaking through!

Dozens of mechs crumbled as an expert mech wielding an axe called the Ulver Quinn unleashed a sweeping diagonal chop that unleashed a sharp and destructive resonance slash!

The expert axeman mech hailed from the Auralis. Its expert pilot was besotten by grief at the realization that the entire crew of the ship he had been travelling abroad for months had perished at once!

"I will carve out a path with my own body if need be!" The raging expert pilot roared as he summoned up greater strength from his mind and will than ever before! "Let justice fall upon these forsaken Larkinson!"

undefinedThe mech pilot of the Ulver Quinn should have been exhausted after fighting so much. The frame of the mech had incurred numerous scars and even holes due to all of the punishment it endured. Yet the valiant axeman mech exhibited none of the weaknesses of before!

An expert hybrid mech called the Prava Lonestar arrived just behind the Ulver Quinn and began to raise its wrists before firing an array of piercing laser beams that tore through some Crosser rifleman mechs that had been putting them under pressure.

"Let me advance with you as well, my friend! We shall sing our final song today before we accompany our comrades in the afterlife!"

"Your mech is already depleted of energy and ammunition!" The expert pilot of the Ulver Quinn protested. "You're little use to us anymore at this point."

"I can still fight with my limbs, my friend. While melee combat is not my forte, it is more than enough to help you carve a path forward!"

The expert hybrid mech pulled out a thick rod from the back of its frame. The rod telescoped in both directions to form a thick but hollow staff that glowed with the resonating will of the vengeful expert pilot.

The hybrid mech extended one of the ends of its new staff towards the surviving Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs that stood in its way. Its resonance shield continually blocked every attack that was fired in its direction!

"Murderers! You shall pay for slaughtering the crew of the Auralis! We shall not stop until your precious patriarch has met his end at our hands!"

The two expert pilots didn't actually know each other well before this battle. They were both third-raters who were originally 'persuaded' to fight on behalf of the Friday Coalition.

Yet as humans, they spent months befriending and getting familiar with the Fridaymen who served alongside them aboard the Auralis.

The realization that tens of thousands of earnest, loyal Fridaymen had been wiped out to the last man was too much for them to bear. Their despair darkened their emotions but also stimulated their wills!

Their inability to pass through the quagmire that the enemy had formed around them was the reason why the battle had remained static for so long.

They could have prevented the tragedy from happening if they fought harder and got rid of their opponents faster!

There was no medicine for regret. Only vengeance was able to soothe their guilt!

The axeman mech and the hybrid mech wielding a staff both stormed forward, using their ferocity to blow open a hole through the enemy ranks!

Even though they fought admirably, their valiant performance also attracted a lot of enemy fire.

The Transcendent Punishers trained their fire onto the two Fridayman expert mechs! The constant barrage of gauss rounds and positron beams took a great toll on the resonance shields. The confrontation directly pitted the willpower of the vengeful of the expert pilots against the indomitable firepower of the surviving artillery mechs of the Larkinson Clan!

More artillery fire rippled onto the other expert mechs as well. The Charlemagne, the Scarra and most notably the Jeanne D'Arc came under heavy fire.

The expeditionary forces wanted to stop the enemy expert mechs from advancing at all costs!

At this point in the battle, the efficiency of the Transcendent Punishers had declined. Their weapons had fired hundreds of times in a very short period of time. This generated a lot of heat that turned the entire bunker into an oven. The weapon systems had endured continuous stresses, causing them to reach their breakdown thresholds. Without immediate servicing and cooling, the Ylvainan mech pilots did not dare to fire their weapons too frequently.

Even so, well over 250 Transcendent Punishers still remained active. The other Larkinson heavy artillery mechs had either been smashed by counter battery fire, suffered retaliation from the surviving ranged mechs of Destiny Hammers and Witch Slayers or had become crippled as their weapon systems failed.

The continuous bombardment soon resulted in the demolition of another Scarra mech. Only 9 of them were left!

"I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU LONG ENOUGH!" Venerable Ghanso roared, his rage and will echoing throughout the battlefield!

Seeing that opposition closer to the expert mechs were being handled by his fellow battle partners, Ghanso directed the rifles of his Charlemagne and all of his surviving Scarra towards the red-coated starships in the distance.

Bright white positron beams surrounded by a pale yellow glow precisely struck 10 different bunkers at the same time!

The resonance-empowered attacks drilled straight through the tough roofs of the bunkers and retained enough power to inflict heavy blows on the heavy artillery mechs taking shelter inside!

Even if the attack hadn't destroyed the sturdy Transcendent Punishers, the attacks definitely took them out of the fight due to the excess heat and energy that overwhelmed their frames!

Venerable Ghanso did not waste his time and energy on finishing the job. The still-active Transcendent Punishers had become incredibly riled up! They struck the Scarra mechs with a vengeance, demolishing one after the other with concentrated fury!

The exchange of fire turned all of the space between the two sides into a no-go zone. The Ulver Quinn, the Prava Lonestar, the Jeanne D'Arc as well as the other two surviving expert mechs all formed a protective circle around Venerable Ghanso's mech.

The remaining Fridayman expert mechs forcefully drove their formation, letting no enemy bar their way forward!

The exhausted and diminished Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs no longer had the power or numbers to put up an adequate fight!

The entire will of the Friday Coalition and the states who opposed the hegemony of the Hexers had gathered around the expert mechs!

As this dangerous group advanced, the expeditionary forces incurred great casualties, yet managed to get their hits in as well.

The Ulver Quinn and the Prava Lonestar served as the vanguard and suffered the brunt of all of the frontal attacks.

The exchange of fire between the Transcendent Punishers and the Scarra mechs went unabated. Despite Venerable Ghanso's best efforts, his final Scarra mech eventually collapsed.

In contrast, over 180 Transcendent Punishers still remained battle effective, if only barely!

The aberrant Larkinson did not seem too saddened by the loss. The Scarra were expendable mechs from the start. It was not a waste to trade them away for an opportunity to advance forward.

Besides, the pseudo-expert mechs had almost run out of energy. Their energy reserves were considerably less extensive than the Charlemagne, which still had plenty of power left to support this final attack run.

Venerable Ghanso felt incredibly liberated at this moment. His connection with the Charlemagne soared as his mind no longer became burdened by any additional connections.

Unfortunately, the artillery attacks that slammed against his expert mech's resonance shield ruined this pleasurable moment!

Without any vulnerable targets left, the Transcendent Punishers directed their fire on the Charlemagne. With the other expert mechs including the powerful Jeanne D'Arc occupied with fending off the enemies that sought to stop them in their tracks, the Charlemagne would soon exhaust all of its defenses!

No matter how much firepower the Charlemagne possessed, it was impossible for it to eliminate all of the artillery mechs by itself. It had to expend too much energy to drill through all of the bunkers and inflict enough damage to take down an undamaged heavy mech.

"We need more mechs!"

The Fridayman expert mechs managed to advance both forward and downwards until they reached the edge of the battlefield where the remnants of the Holvein Grenadiers, the Bloody Herons, the Silent Swords and the Corundian Giants were putting up a valiant fight.

Despite their final outburst of power, there were too many Larkinson, Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs preventing them from linking up with their expert mechs.

The 180 Valkyrie Redeemers that previously unleashed the death attack that changed everything were also putting up a fight.

While the mentally-exhausted Penitent Sisters no longer had the strength to fight an intensive battle, they forced themselves to stay. With permission from Major Verle, their piloting suits injected a potent stimulant in their bloodstream that forcibly stimulated their brains and temporarily shook away some of their fatigue.

While this drug would definitely cause the female mech pilots to crash after a short time, this was but a small price to pay for continuing to contribute to the battlefield!

Their Valkyrie Redeemers fired their pulse submachine guns in the direction of any enemy within reach. This was the most they were able to accomplish. Even though their firepower was weak and scattered, every attack counted.

Not even the space knight empowered by forced resonance was able to change the result! The recently-advanced Bloody Heron expert candidate still possessed a lot of power, but three prime mechs had come together to stifle his options!

"Too much power, not enough skill!" Venerable Orfan taunted as her dimly-glowing Bright Spear Prime pressured the space knight from the front.

After several costly exchanges of blows, the former Vandal Commander finally figured out her opponent's fighting style. She no longer allowed her prime mech to get hit by the resonance blade.

Even though her cautious approach lessened the pressure onto the glowing space knight, the Valkyrie Prime had come to lend a hand!

Throughout the entire clash, the Valkyrie Prime's pupil precisely analysed the entire frame of the rampaging space knight.

Forced resonance was a violent process. The mech that became empowered by it always strained their physical components beyond their limits, thereby introducing hundreds of hidden dangers!

While it wasn't easy to identify the majority of them, the Odineye continually relayed a lot of information back to the analysts on the fleet.

A vengeful Gloriana personally analyzed the data and quickly marked out all of the weak points.

The Bloody Heron mech's resonance shield finally broke after blocking another attack from the Bright Spear Prime.

"A chance!"

Venerable Joshua moved into action as the space knight was just recovering from another attack.

The Valkyrie Prime soared forward and jabbed its spear through the shield arm of the space knight.

A second later, the Bright Spear Prime stabbed the partially-crippled space knight through a weak point on its abdomen, causing it to freeze!

"Tusa!"

"I'm already on my way!"

The Piranha Prime stabbed its daggers through the upper back of the space knight! According to the fleet network, Venerable Tusa had managed to pierce through a pair of crucial power lines that were each responsible for keeping the flight system fed with energy.

Now that those lines were cut, the backup lines no longer supplied enough juice for the mech to fly and maneuver at its fullest extent!

The touch and heavy space knight instantly slowed down. No amount of forced resonance amplification was enough to turn the thick and sluggish mech into a ballerina.

Subsequent attacks completely disabled the exposed flight system, causing the mech to lose almost all of its mobility in space. It had turned into a useless mech!

"No!"

Without the obstruction of this anomalous machine, the fate of the remaining elite Fridayman mechs was sealed!

However, the enemy expert mechs had something different in mind!

The Ulver Quinn raised its axe in a heroic fashion before chopping it down, unleashing a vertical resonance wave that slammed into the Bright Spear Prime and caused it to crumble away!

"Ahhh!" Venerable Orfan cried!

Even though its Unending alloy exterior remained intact, its prime resonance state had completely collapsed as all of the spare spiritual energy inside had been depleted.

The Piranha Prime and the Valkyrie Prime barely evaded the other attacks!

Chapter 2675: Final Wish

"Ghanso Larkinson!" Venerable Joshua transmitted on an open communication channel. "What are you doing?! You are already responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of Larkinsons. Will you persist in your madness and slay even more relatives?"

"SHUT UP!"

The Charlemagne unleashed a powerful beam at the Valkyrie Prime!

Fortunately, Joshua had anticipated the attack and already moved his mech aside, evading the dangerous attack!

undefined"You are no Larkinson!" Ghanso scowled as he saw his attack had missed. "Just because Ves is selling out our family name like cheap garbage doesn't mean you deserve to carry our heritage forward. You and the rest of your so-called adopted Larkinsons are a mockery of everything that true Larkinsons stand for. Now get out of my way!"

The Charlemagne kept putting pressure on the Valkyrie Prime, but none of its attacks connected. The prime mech was constantly backing off while focusing its utmost on evasion.

Venerable Joshua did not dare to get hit by a direct attack from an expert mech! He had already seen the consequences of letting this happen.

Eventually, Ghanso gave up on trying to kill the annoying Valkyrie mech and proceeded to attack the mechs that belonged to the Avatars of Myth.

The reflexes and intuition of an expert pilot was too sharp. Even though the odd Valkyrie mech did not appear to be a true expert mech in his eyes, an expert pilot could still perform some small miracles with a good machine.

It would have been a lot easier for Venerable Ghanso to take down these annoying opponents if he still had his Scarra at his beck and call!

His eyes narrowed as he was about to implement the most crucial part of his own plan. While Plan F never accounted for this specific situation, an opportunity had opened up to increase its chance of success.

"Foster! I don't care what you are doing, but cover me while I focus! I can't afford to get distracted at this point!"

"Got it!" She replied.

At this crucial time, they completely put down their rivalry and animosity towards each other. The ideals they were fighting for trumped every other consideration!

This was why Venerable Relia Foster did not hesitate to play bodyguard to a Larkinson and a Brighter. Her Jeanne D'Arc long lost the protection of its blue resonance shield, but the sword-wielding expert mech simply withstood every attack without exhibiting too much concern.

Even though the attacks from the expeditionary forces constantly poured onto its frame, its weak points never seemed to succumb to the pressure.

The Jeanne D'Arc was one of the most difficult mechs to take down in a fight! It sacrificed versatility, offensive power and many other useful functions in order to make room for as many energy cells as possible.

With a frame infused with a deliberate amount of Rorach's Bone, the mech constantly drew on its abundant energy reserves to regenerate its damage through a very opaque process.

Though Venerable Foster didn't even pretend to understand how Rorach's Bone was able to repair broken components and even reproduce them if they were missing, that did not prevent her from utilizing her expert mech like a zombie!

She feared no attack! While she still tried to evade as many attacks whenever she could, she did not mind it when her expert mech incurred damage.

It would all regenerate back to normal anyway!

She only needed to take care not to deplete the Jeanne D'Arc's energy reserve too quickly.

With the undying swordsman mech covering for the Charlemagne, Venerable Ghanso closed his eyes and connected deeply to the systems of his expert mech.

He had piloted Charlemagne for many months. He used it to take part in dozens of large-scale battles in the Komodo War. He had grown extensively familiar with all of its core systems.

One of the most dangerous but innovative among them was the heavily customized neural interface. The Charlemagne was the central node of the asymmetrical neural network. In order to assist Ghanso in the difficult process of controlling several dozen pseudo-expert mechs at once, the expert mech possessed a lot of processing power as well as other related systems.

Now, all of this power was coming to life yet again. Venerable Ghanso opened his mind and reached out his will through the neural network that had put such a heavy burden on his head.

His actions made no sense. While he entered the battle with 44 Scarra mechs, the expeditionary forces had taken out each and every one of them. The final one had succumbed not too long ago after getting bombarded by over a hundred Transcendent Punishers!

Yet despite the lack of Scarra mechs, Venerable Ghanso reined in his impatience and kept extending his mind.

Soon, his patience was rewarded. Twinkling lights appeared in the fog. The new presences felt dim at first, but soon they grew strong enough for Ghanso to establish a connection with the new nodes.

Not too far away, around a hundred drifting mechs came to life. The Bloody Heron mechs were surprisingly intact. After Aisling Curver contacted Master Huron, she received special permissions that allowed her to gain limited control over some of the systems of the silent machines that carried the braindead bodies of their mech pilots.

The control she gained was very limited. Rather than controlling the mechs themselves, Aisling's elevated permissions actually allowed her to exert control over their exclusive neural interfaces.

Normally, hijacking the controls of the mechs was impossible, but for safety reasons, Master Huron implemented a limited remote control function in case that any of his neural network mechs went haywire.

An active mech pilot could easily block and resist the external influence. No matter what, the mech pilot should be the ultimate controller of any armed mech. This was a universal standard that the MTA heavily recommended throughout all of human space. Even Master Huron did not dare to challenge this rule.

Therefore, Aisling couldn't do more than boot up the mechs again. There was no way for her to remote control any reactivated Bloody Heron mech to the point where they could move and fight according to her instructions.

She wasn't asked to do this much. Turning the mechs back on was all she needed to do. More crucially, the neural interfaces of the Bloody Heron mechs successfully connected to the minds of the braindead mech pilots.

Obviously, this didn't change much as the mech pilots did not generate any brainwave activity that could pass on instructions to the mech.

"I've given you a chance." Aisling whispered as she made sure to maintain the current state of the reactivated mechs. "Now reach out and show them the might of an asymmetrical neural network!"

Venerable Ghanso did not disappoint her expectations! Once he grasped the connections to the new presences, he steadily gained control over them with his powerful mind and will!

77 Bloody Heron mechs had come to life! They slowly activated their flight systems and gripped the weapons that were still in their grips before forming up in front of the Charlemagne like a resurrected honor guard!

Many observers were shocked at what had taken place!

"What?! How the hell is Ghanso able to pull that off!" Ves almost stood up from his observer's seat! "A conventional neural network is supposed to be different from an asymmetrical neural network! They are two different species!"

He underestimated Master Huron's work. An asymmetrical neural network worked in a different manner from a conventional network but shared many of the same principles. They even used much of the same modified neural interfaces.

As long as the neural interfaces of the Bloody Heron mechs received a software update that added a new operation mode, they could easily turn into Ghanso's new slaves!

The only major hindrance that could truly cause Venerable Ghanso to fail was whether the minds of the Huron mech pilots resisted his attempts to take control.

Normally, this procedure was madness, but this was different! Their minds were already wiped out, leaving Ghanso with a clean slate.

Not only that, the expert pilot also felt as if his new slave welcomed his embrace. As the mech pilots loyal to Master Huron, each of them hoped that Venerable Ghanso would be able to make use of them to take revenge on their killers!

Venerable Ghanso was under incredible pressure! Even with the lack of resistance from his new slaves, he had never controlled so many mechs at once! It took all of his willpower to remain cognizant of the situation!

"Go.. forward! Advance! I can't hold this state for too long!"

The other expert mechs had been waiting for this. The resurrected Bloody Heron mechs immediately assisted the expert mechs and helped them break through the blockade!

Even though the Bloody Heron mechs were being sliced by swords, stabbed by spears, shot by rifles and bombarded by artillery cannons, they still managed to do their jobs!

Ghanso displayed a much greater degree of control and multi-tasking than ever before as his surging force of will raised his capabilities as a master to an unprecedented degree!

"Hahaha! You can't stop us, Ves! My army is already dead!" Ghanso maniacally laughed as he forcefully drove the undead Bloody Heron mechs forward.

Since their mech pilots were already dead, Venerable Ghanso had no qualms about using them to launch his-risk attacks and trade blows for blows. The expeditionary forces could not handle the ferocious fighting style displayed by the resurrected mechs!

"We've created an opening!" The mech pilot of the Ulver Quinn yelled. "Get through before it closes! We'll stall the remaining opponents here. Don't let our comrades die in vain!"

The other expert mechs did not delay. They passed through while the Ulver Quinn and the Prava Lonestar desperately attempted to black as many enemy mechs as possible.

It wasn't enough!

Hundreds of mechs still chased after the remainder. They attacked the unnaturally-controlled Bloody Heron mechs from behind while the artillery mechs inside the expeditionary fleet attacked from the front.

The 4 remaining expert mechs were surrounded by the zombie machines, protecting their damaged frames and conserving their power for the final effort that was needed to complete their mission.

"There are too many enemies chasing behind our heels! We'll go and help out the other two! Take care and finish the job!"

The two additional Fridayman mechs purposefully moved out of the protective envelope and began their epic struggle to hold back the enemies that were trying to stop the final attack run.

One expert mech crashed into the formation of Valkyrie Redeemers. The weakened Penitent Sisters weren't able to contend against the power machine and tried to spread out as much as possible, but all of that took time!

"No! Don't let them go forward! Kill them before they get close!"

Every single member of the Golden Skull Alliance feared what the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc might do once they reached their destination.

Not a single ship wanted to fly next to a hostile expert mech!

Fortunately, the Larkinson Clan recognized the threat and formed a response.

While the Fridayman expert mechs were fighting past their opposition, the Valkyrie Prime had quietly fallen back and linked up with another group of Valkyrie mechs.

This time, Venerable Joshua no longer flew with the exhausted Penitent Sisters. His prime mech had joined up with the surviving Valkyrie Interceptors and Valkyrie Hurricanes piloted by the Glory Seekers!

"Are you ready?"

"We are at your disposal, boy." Mech Captain Serena Valeis answered on behalf of her fellow Hexers. "Please lead us to victory. We are all willing to lend our power to you. Let the Superior Mother punish these wicked enemies of the Hegemony once again!"

"Then do what I have just said and pray!" Joshua quickly instructed.

As the Glory Seekers tried their best to evoke the same phenomenon that the Penitent Sisters had previously accomplished, the Fridaymen all recognized the threat.

Venerable Ghanso's eyes burned as he spotted a very familiar formation mechs doing something very shady in front.

"I WON'T LET YOU FINISH!"

The Charlemagne and the ranged Bloody Heron mechs immediately opened fire on the Valkyrie Prime, causing the mech to be blown back while interrupting Joshua's concentration!

Yet before the mechs under Ghanso's control could get more hits in, some of the Glory Seeker pilots deliberately stopped praying and instead piloted their mechs protectively in front of the Valkyrie Prime!

"Go on! Do not hold back! We'll cover for you all!" They called.

Even though Valkyrie mechs were dropping at a worrying rate, they succeeded in buying enough time.

Since this was their first time, the Glory Seeker pilots needed a longer time than normal to connect to the battle network. Yet they eventually got the knack and managed to connect to the crown of the Superior Mother.

Their Valkyrie mechs activated their bonds as well.

In just half a minute, the Glory Seeker mechs was beginning to fly forward while adopting a V formation that sent chills through the spines of the Fridaymen taking part in the battle.

The deep strike fleet carriers were already altering their course to the side as a precaution!

The energy silhouette of the Superior Mother had manifested yet again. The weakened but still vigorous prime resonance generated by Venerable Joshua even surrounded it with an eerie green corona!

"The Superior Mother has descended once again!"

Despite facing a god-like figure, neither Venerable Ghanso and Venerable Foster despaired. Instead, they burned with greater determination than ever before.

Mortals may fear the power of gods, but demigods like them were not afraid of facing it head-on. Their will did not allow them to falter at this critical time!

The Jeanne D'Arc pointed the tip of its sword against the giant projection of the Superior Mother.

"I am not afraid!"

Chapter 2676: The Proudest Larkinson

The entire battlefield rippled when the Valkyrie Prime reprised its earlier role.

Even though the entire support cast had been swapped by first-timers who were still new to this greater stage, the Glory Seeker mech pilots stepped up when it counted.

The Hexer mech pilots forcefully brushed aside all of their anxiety and insecurity. They tried their best to enter into the best possible state of mind to channel the Superior Mother's might.

As proper Hexers, they were extremely jealous of the Penitent Sisters for being able to serve as the vessel of the Superior Mother's judgement.

undefined"We can't let those criminal exiles upstage us all." Captain Valeis told her fellow earlier. "Forget about all of your contempt and ill feelings towards Venerable Joshua. Even if he's a boy and not a Hexer, he is still blessed by the Superior Mother, just like her son. So forget about everything your mothers and your teachers have taught you about boys and treat him as if he is the Superior Mother's personal envoy."

The Glory Seekers may be Hexers, but they were also accustomed to following orders. Even if their instincts and their minds warred with their instructions, whenever they recounted how the exiled cultists of their state managed to strike a blow to the very souls of the Fridaymen, they no longer let their inner turmoil get in the way of this moment of supreme glory.

The Superior Mother already appeared to be prepared. As soon as the earnest Glory Seeker mech pilots had engaged their connections in the battle network, the ancestral spirit actively extended her influence and smoothed out the fluctuating emotions of the Hexer mech pilots.

For a moment, most of the Glory Seeker mech pilots as well as Venerable Joshua had become one in mind and with the battle network!

With the strengthening of the connections, the Superior Mother was able to exert greater control over the mechs and mech pilots than before.

Her power channeled into them, causing them to move in a mysterious fashion before they successfully formed into a V formation.

The Valkyrie mechs advanced slowly. Due to the slightly weaker spiritual foundations of the Valkyrie interceptors and the Valkyrie Hurricanes, the momentum of the overall battle formation was a little weaker. There were also slightly less mechs than before, and Ghanso's active attacks weren't helping.

Even though the attacking expert pilots put up a brave front, they were still vigilant towards this extraordinary manifestation.

Yet despite what their instincts told them, there was no way that Venerable Ghanso and Venerable Foster were willing to turn back at this point!

"Push through, Foster!" Ghanso called out.

"Hah, I was just about to say the same." She savagely grinned inside the cockpit of her regenerating expert mech. "In fact, let's split up. If this attack is the same as the one before, then it shouldn't be able to go after two separate targets that are located too far away from each."

There was a good reason why they stuck together up to this moment.

The Charlemagne was a powerful ranged mech but it was not designed to fight at point blank range. While it wasn't strictly helpless against melee mechs, it performed at its best when it attacked its targets with its rifle.

The Jeanne D'Arc was the opposite. It was very deadly up close and could endure a lot of punishment to boot. It served as an excellent complement to Venerable Ghanso's expert mech.

Yet as they were making their final end run, sticking together would only do more harm than good, especially against a powerful new attack method that had already slaughtered tens of thousands of Fridaymen!

"I'll go up, you go down!"

The Charlemagne and its zombie Bloody Heron mechs distinctly changed their course to an upward trajectory.

Meanwhile, the Jeanne D'Arc left the protective formation and angled downwards as if to approach the Spirit of Bentheim from below.

The two expert pilots separated from each other very fast! Long before the Glory Seeker battle formation was ready to unleash its attack, the two primary targets had already split several kilometers apart from each other, which was too far away for the Superior Mother's death attack to reach them both.

With each second that passed, the two Fridayman expert mechs flew even further apart!

Venerable Joshua, who was still able to exert a huge amount of influence on the battle formation due to the entrustment he received from the Glory Seeker mech pilots, briefly fell into a dilemma.

However, he instantly regained his focus. He and the other Hexer mech pilots knew they needed to achieve the greatest possible result.

If their efforts weren't able to touch both targets at once, then they would settle for the second-best option!

The battle formation oriented upwards in order to prepare an attack against Venerable Ghanso and his new slave mechs!

When Ghanso saw this happening, he briefly cursed but soon controlled his expression. He knew he was the more attractive target because there were around 60 Bloody Heron mechs that were flying alongside his Charlemagne.

He had already begun his preparations to meet the incoming attack. He spread the slave mechs out to the edge of his control range, which was actually just a couple of hundred meters.

"Come and hit me, Hexers!" Ghanso taunted as his mech fired straight at the Valkyrie Prime that had exposed itself by holding the center position of the V formation. "I am not afraid of a fabricated deity!"

The Superior Mother didn't exist. The huge robed woman that appeared above the formation of Valkyrie mechs was clearly a projected illusion according to the sensors of the Charlemagne.

It was all smoke and mirrors aside from the actual attack!

Even though the Charlemagne's attacks were having some effect against the Valkyrie Prime, the Superior Mother merely pointed her finger at it. Seconds later, the mech seemed to have been recharged to full strength!

The two opposing formations were moving forward. Venerable Joshua did not want to unleash the attack until he was close enough to prevent any chance of missing.

As the critical moment neared, Venerable Joshua briefly mustered up enough focus to transmit a message to Venerable Ghanso.

"I pity you, Ghanso."

"Don't bother to break my attention, you false Larkinson."

"You may want to pay attention to this. Do you know that the Superior Mother is Ves' mother?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"I'm just telling you a fact." Joshua said. "Let me tell you another fact. Not a single Larkinson supports you. Nobody in the Larkinson Clan or the Larkinson Family wants to follow your vision. Do you know what that means?"

"I will correct every mistake that Ves has made as soon as I slaughter him myself!"

Venerable Joshua ignored Ghanso's outburst.

"You don't get it, Ghanso. What I am trying to say is that the Superior Mother is much more of a Larkinson than you! She is our true family, while you are a traitor who has stooped to killing your relatives!"

"What?!"

Venerable Ghanso's rhythm froze a bit as he made the mistake of falling into his opponent's narrative.

Joshua grinned. "Your aunt says goodbye!"

The Valkyrie mechs finally unleashed the extraordinary attack that had shocked the battlefield!

This time, the giant projection of the Superior Mother seemed to glare at the Charlemagne. She swept her sleeves at the offending mech, causing the Valkyrie mechs to unleash a more radial-shaped energy attack that happened to sweep over Ghanso's expert mech as well as every single Bloody Heron mech.

Though the death energy contained within the attack looked intimidating, Venerable Ghanso knew enough about physics that an attack that was dispersed over such a wide area was not actually that concentrated.

With his exceptional will, he feared no assault against his mind! His instincts also hinted to him that while the strange attack was very deadly against mortals, an expert pilot like him would only experience a bit of discomfort at most.

As the wave hit the Charlemagne, his suspicions turned out to be true. Ghanso remained as confident as ever as he withstood the foreign energy battering against his mind and will.

What aunt?

What Superior Mother?

This was nothing but a wide area mental attack activated through unknown means! His opponents should have concentrated the energy to a single point if they wanted to kill him with this method.

As for the Bloody Heron mechs, the attack shouldn't be able to do anything to them either. The minds of their mech pilots were already wiped out once. There shouldn't have been anything left for the second wave to affect.

Unfortunately, Ghanso and his sharp intuition overlooked one crucial detail. Aisling and the Fridaymen who supported him from behind also missed something important.

The Charlemagne was still supporting the asymmetrical neural network!

At the time the huge wave of death energy washed over the roughly 60 surviving Bloody Heron mechs, the minds of the mech pilots all received it at full blast.

With the help of the active man-machine connections, that energy entered the asymmetrical neural network through obscure means.

The dutiful slaves were unwittingly passing on their suffering to their master. The results came instantly.

"AHHHHHH!"

Venerable Ghanso was in more pain than ever before! His mind almost split apart immediately as the amount of pressure he had to endure suddenly amplified by 60 times!

Expert pilot or not, the concentration of energy that was battering at him was corroding his own will!

Fortunately, before a second had even passed, the emergency safety systems of his Charlemagne instantly shut down the asymmetrical neural network regardless of what was happening. The anomalous and incredibly concerning brain activity of his mind had instantly subsided a bit as Venerable Ghanso quickly gained a reprieve.

His will was crumbling and burning!

His mind felt as if it was about to shatter in pieces!

His body was shaking from the agony he just endured!

He miscalculated!

He never thought that the asymmetrical neural network could channel something as strange as the death energy to him. Even Aisling back onboard the Eager Condemnation was stunned.

According to the telemetry of the Charlemagne, the neural network did not transmit anything anomalous. How come they were able to channel something that bypassed every safeguard and limiter and directly impacted Venerable Ghanso's mind?

While Ghanso was trying to recover from getting mentally slammed, the Valkyrie Prime had suddenly flown up to the Charlemagne and slammed its spear straight through the exposed abdomen of the rifleman mech!

If the stricken expert pilot had managed to shake off his pain, he would have been able to avoid the charge.

Yet his slow recovery at this point proved fatal!

"H-How?" Ghanso felt confused as he felt his mech lose a lot of functionality from the damage. "A cheap trash mech like yours shouldn't have been able to penetrate through the frontal armor of my Charlemagne in one charge."

He was piloting a genuine expert mech! Even if it was mostly geared towards ranged combat, the mech's armor was still strong enough to bounce away attacks from regular mechs!

Unfortunately, Ghanso wasn't facing any normal mech.

Venerable Joshua's lips curled into a cruel grin. "Your biggest mistake is that you have always looked down on Patriarch's Ves work. If you just accepted Ves' greatness, all of this could have been prevented."

The Charlemagne's lifted a shaking arm. It was attempting to bring its rifle to bear against the Valkyrie Prime that was still holding onto the unmoving spear.

The prime mech easily battered its shield against the rifle, physically wrenching it away from the grip of the damaged expert mech.

"So this is.. Ves' greatest work?"

Joshua shook his head. "So far, at least. He has many other wonders in store for us. Only true Larkinsons get to enjoy his best creations."

Obviously, Ghanso wasn't among them. Even if Ves offered his cousin a mech, Ghanso would never accept!

Seeing that a melee mech had managed to defy his expectations and critically damaged one of Master Huron's unique works, Venerable Ghanso lowered his head and slumped into his piloting seat.

"You're right." He sighed as his aching pain and the sudden turn of events seemed to have sapped all of his anger out of him. His mind was still pounding like a drum and his will seemed to fray more and more as time went by. "I underestimated Ves. He's a good mech designer. I'll give him that. I should have respected his abilities more. What a Larkinson…"

"It's over, Ghanso. Shut down your mech."

"Heh. And give up the Charlemagne so my cousin can get his grubby hands over it? DREAM ON! A TRUE LARKINSON SHALL NEVER LET ANYONE GET AWAY WITH DISGRACING OUR NAME! COUSIN! I KNOW YOU ARE LISTENING TO ME! A RECKONING WILL COME! IF NOT FROM ME, THAN FROM SOMEONE ELSE! YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU DESERVE AND I WILL HAVE MY JUSTICE!"

One of the Charlemagne's wrists extended a long blade. Yet before it could be thrust into its target, the Valkyrie Prime easily blocked the feeble attack.

The prime mech simply pulled out its spear and stabbed it into the expert mech again!

There was no contest!

However, as Venerable Joshua finished the job that he had set out to do, the Jeanne D'Arc was still intact!

Even though the Transcendent Punishers bombarded it with all of their remaining strength, the expert mech remained undaunted as it approached the expeditionary fleet!

"It's useless, Larkinsons!" Venerable Foster confidently taunted. "There's hardly any mechs left in my way! Your precious factory ship will soon taste my blade!"

It seemed that some clansmen took issue with her statement. Seeing that the Transcendent Punishers weren't strong enough to stop the Jeanne D'Arc in its tracks, the Larkinson Clan finally called upon one of its final reserves.

The Bright Sword Prime and a mech company of swordsman mechs emerged from behind the Spirit of Bentheim.

The Swordmaidens knew exactly who was piloting the Jeanne D'Arc. They had been looking forward to this confrontation for a very long time.

Venerable Dise took a deep breath as she focused all of her sights on the Fridayman expert mech that was getting closer and closer.

"Commander Lydia… you can rest easy now. I will take revenge for your death and the death of our sisters today!"

The Bright Sword Prime brandished its sharp sword at the Jeanne D'Arc in a challenging fashion!

"SWORDMAIDENS! LET US DO COMMANDER LYDIA PROUD!"

Chapter 2677: Heating Up

While the enormous confrontation on the left side of the battlefield neared its conclusion, the high-stakes clash at the right side was also reaching a critical condition!

When the Jeanne D'Arc piloted by Venerable Relia Foster rammed her blade through the cockpit of the Leskin, the remaining three Crosser expert pilots had become maddened with rage!

The Bolvos Rage pilot turned into a veritable demon in battle! The advanced hybrid mech continually pressured its opponents by chopping them with its axe while at the same time peppering them with its other weapon hardpoints.

"WE WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOUR TREACHERY!" Patriarch Reginald Cross boomed as the blade of his glowing axe crashed into the side of the Imperial Verdict!

undefinedNormally, the melee mech should have been able to evade or block the attack with its trident, but Venerable Albert Praetor had fallen into a trap that caused one of the arms of his Imperial Verdict to be grappled by a chainsword!

The Amphis was an unusual expert mech. It was a fairly typical space knight with strong defense and low offensive compared to other expert mechs. The secondary laser shoulder mounts might threaten a standard mech, but their accurate firepower merely tickled the armor of its current opponents.

However, the expert space knight possessed one powerful feature that caused it to become a mech to be reckoned with. When paired with the unique strengths of Venerable Linda Cross, the mech gained an unnaturally heavy quality.

Her unique domain appeared to be related to gravity, mass or momentum. In other words, every resonance-empowered move made by her mech made it seem as if it had twice the mass!

Yet despite this added heaviness, the Amphis still retained the mobility characteristics of a medium mech!

In combination, this caused the unusual expert space knight to become a terror to fight against at close range. A normal attack that could easily be blocked could easily turn into an unstoppable blow that could breach the chest armor of an expert mech!

For this reason, none of the three opposing expert pilots wanted to enter into a contest of strength against the Amphis. It took several times more effort to block a casual blow from Venerable Linda Cross!

This was why the battle between the six powerful expert mechs was a constant moving affair.

The Amphis constantly chased after the Erin Tear, the Trost and the Imperial Verdict as if it was a machine that heralded their doom!

In the meantime, the Bolvos Rage and the Conavis Mer piloted by Venerable Imaris Cross did everything in their power to constrain the movements of the Imperial Verdict.

The two swifter Crosser expert mechs did not have to fight the Imperial Verdict to a standstill. It was already enough to slow down the trident mech so that the Amphis could catch up and attempt to use its strength to achieve greater advantages.

Yet even as the Praetor and Planat expert mechs kept their distance, they did not forget about punching back.

After they learned the hard way that the Amphis was much more difficult to deal with than anticipated, they abandoned their initial intentions and focused their efforts on the Conavis Mer instead.

The expert light skirmisher might be fast and incredibly difficult to attack, but it possessed the lowest defense out of all of the expert mechs. As long as the Praetors and Planats could land one solid attack, the Conavis Mer would definitely be impaired!

A light skirmisher must never get hit! If Venerable Imaris Cross had his way, then he would keep his mech in the periphery and exert pressure by his presence alone.

Every opponent feared getting stabbed in the back while they were preoccupied with another action! Just the existence of the threat alone was enough to constrain someone's behavior.

Yet the situation right now did not allow for the Conavis Mer to remain passive. If the light skirmisher did not take risks and become proactive, then Venerable Damira Planat and her two Praetor peers would just ignore its existence and focus on the Bolvos Rage!

While Patriarch Reginald Cross was arguably the most powerful expert of the six, he was only able to draw even on the Erin Tear. If the other two enemy expert mechs ganged up on the Bolvos Rage as well, then the situation would quickly run out of control!

Fortunately, the Crossers managed to achieve a breakthrough in the tenuous stalemate!

After launching a trap on the Imperial Verdict, the Bolvos Rage managed to land a direct attack on the Imperial Verdict's chest!

The powerful axe blow dug a trench into the side of the trident mech. At the same time, the Bolvos Rage's chest projector unleashed a powerful beam that struck the head of the enemy expert mech, destroying numerous sensors and other secondary systems!

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT REGINALD!"

With one arm trapped by the chainsword launched by the Amphis, the Imperial Verdict was still unable to retaliate properly. It was as if its opponents had tied it to an anchor that kept it just out of reach against the Bolvos Rage!

Venerable Albert Praetor knew the situation was critical. It was highly unlikely for his Imperial Verdict to wriggle away from its current bonds. The Erin Tear and the Trost were already coming to save him, but they were not in a position to do so at this time!

He decided to make an extreme decision. The expert pilot decisively activated an emergency command through the man-machine connection.

The instruction he issued was so drastic that a mental command was not enough for his expert mech to accept it. He had to reach out his physical hand and input a code on a console in front of his piloting seat.

Just to be certain that his mech would register his intentions, he also voiced his command!

"Detach and eject the right arm!"

The shoulder of the Imperial Verdict explosively cut off and pushed away its trapped limb! The decisive decision briefly caught Patriarch Reginald and the other two Crosser expert pilots off-guard.

This was because the ejected limb just happened to be the main arm that gripped the trident!

Venerable Albert was already making his next move. The Imperial Verdict's other arm did not draw a dagger from a hidden pocket or anything. His enemies would not allow such a sequence of moves to play out. The Bolvos Rage was already coming around to swing its axe a second time!

Since time was short, Albert pulled off a secret move without hesitation. The half-crippled mech burst closer to the Bolvos Rage while ramming its elbow against the hybrid mech!

Just before impact, a sharp blade extended out of the elbow, causing it to pierce through the Bolvos Rage's energy projector at the chest a bit faster than expected!

Patriarch Reginald had been too overconfident! He drove his Bolvos Rage to attack the Imperial Verdict at close range. That left it open to retaliation by a mech that was designed to excel at melee combat!

The two mechs quickly separated from each other.

The Imperial Verdict may have succeeded in landing a return blow, but its combat efficiency had dropped! The damage to its sides was considerable. Already, the mech was losing some power as well as a bit of other functionality.

Even though the mech had taken the time to withdraw a long dagger, the Crosser expert mechs were already focusing on their next target!

The Erin Tear came under heavy pressure. The weapon master mech constantly morphed its transformable weapon in order to cope with the combined attacks of the Bolvos Rage and the Conavis Mer.

The destruction of the chest projector severely curtailed the Bolvos Rage's threat level. While its other secondary weapon systems were able to damage and dent the Erin Tear's exterior, their penetration power was too low against a high-tier expert mech!

Venerable Damira Planat therefore opted to absorb the punishment and inflict as much damage as possible. The Erin Tear slammed its twin axes against the single axe wielded by the Bolvos Rage.

A small repeating plasma projector constantly sprayed the Erin Tear with hot matter, but its powerful armor did an admirable job of resisting the damage!

The Erin Tear quickly morphed its twin axes into a scythe that suddenly managed to hook onto the rear of the Bolvos Rage and carve out a chunk of its flight system!

The Bolvos Rage was not agile enough to keep up with the Erin Tear's movements! In his rage, Patriarch Reginald boldly instructed his expert mech to lean forward and hug the Erin Tear with its arms!

"Imaris! Do it now!"

The Conavis Mer had already recognized the opportunity beforehand and dove into the exposed rear of the Erin Tear without any hesitation!

However, before the light skirmisher could finish its attack run, the other two enemy expert mechs did not sit back!

The Imperial Verdict activated all of its boosters and overloaded its flight system at once, causing it to rocket forward under a very powerful impulse!

This forced the Conavis Mer to abort its attack run. If it did not alter its course, then it would collide head-on against an enemy mech at an unfavorable angle.

Yet this was what the Trost had been waiting for. The hybrid mech piloted by Kelvin Praetor had been biding its time. When the Conavis Mer was about to dodge exactly in the direction that Kelvin anticipated, his expert hybrid mech had come close enough to unleash a huge blast of flames from its wrists!

The Trost had been accumulating this attack for at least a dozen seconds! The flames it spurted out was not only hot enough to melt the weapon components just a few seconds later, but was also amplified with as much will and true resonance that Kelvin was able to muster for a single attack!

He invested a lot of resources in this attempt. The Trost had concentrated the flames so that they managed to reach much further than normal while still maintaining enough power to threaten any expert mech!

Kelvin's gamble paid off. The concentrated flame blast successfully hit the Conavis Mer, inflicting heavy damage onto the lightly-armored expert mech!

"What?!"

Venerable Imaris Cross was utterly surprised that the Praetors had managed to predict his moves.

Even more astonishing was that the angle of the Trost meant that any attack that hit the Conavis Mer would also hit the Imperial Verdict. This was why Imaris was certain that the Trost would not attack the Conavis Mer at this instant.

Indeed, just as the Conavis Mer lost its critical flight system due to the flames, the Imperial Verdict was not that much better off either. The mech's surface had already started to melt, thereby ruining its previous valiant appearance.

Both mechs ejected their cockpits. Venerable Imaris and Venerable Albert had no choice!

"ALBERT!"

The Amphis launched its chainsword at the Trost and succeeded in landing a glancing blow on the hybrid mech. However, Venerable Kelvin Praetor was not concerned about the damage.

What he was actually worried about was the retaliation from the Bolvos Rage!

The more powerful hybrid mech was hugging the Erin Tear with its heavy limbs, preventing the weapon master mech from getting free!

"I won't let you win, Damira!" Reginald roared.

Even though the Bolvos Rage had lost its powerful chest projector, it still had other trump cards in store. An armor panel on the mech's crotch blasted away, exposing a hidden weapon port in a rather unconventional location!

A concentrated positron beam shot out from the underside of the Bolvos Rage and hit the lower waist of the Erin Tear!

Even though the attack was not that massive, the attack was continuous. The beam kept burning its way through the Erin Tear's exterior while also heating it up. Soon enough, the beam managed to reach into the internals and inflict major damage!

Venerable Damira Planat knew the situation was crucial. The Erin Tear lacked the leverage to free itself from the Bolvos Rage's embrace, so she didn't try to wrench her expert mech free.

Instead, it morphed it's adaptable weapon into a drill-like implement before pressing the tip of it into the Bolvos Rage's rear at a tricky angle!

The powerful drill came to life and steadily dug its way into the Bolvos Rage until it approached the mech's power reactor.

The two expert mechs employed other weapon systems and tricks, but they both lost functionality at the same time.

"DAMNIT!" Patriarch Reginald slammed his fists against the consoles of the cockpit in his rage!

Venerable Damira Planat was similarly upset!

It was incredibly frustrating for them to be unable to finish the job and kill their respective opponents!

Chapter 2678: Sword of Lydia

The Bolvos Rage and the Erin Tear had mutually taken each other out of action!

Both of their expert pilots knew they couldn't proceed with their fight with their disabled expert mechs.

Their cockpits ejected from the backs of the two hugging machines at the same time!

The Trost attempted to shoot Patriarch Reginald's cockpit down by launching missiles from its shoulder mounts, but the Amphis quickly intercepted them before they reached their destination.

undefinedThe hybrid mech piloted by Kelvin Praetor launched other attacks, but Reginald's cockpit was too fast and durable!

Venerable Linda Cross interfered as much as possible, causing Kelvin to lose the opportunity to kill the leader of the Cross Clan!

Only two expert mechs were left. The Trost and the Amphis squared off against each other for a moment.

A hybrid mech was generally weak against a space knight, and the rules weren't that much different at the expert mech level. Its ranged weapons lacked the punch needed to punch through the armor of a space knight.

While the Trost was armed with a short halberd that could accomplish what its other weapons could not, it was not as good as the Imperial Verdict up close.

In contrast, the Amphis was deadly at close range! Its unnaturally heavy blows and tricky chainsword moves made Kelvin reconsider his options.

He directed the sensors of expert mechs to the rest of the battlefield.

The Trost was unsuitable to fight against the Amphis. Why not direct its attention elsewhere?

Kelvin briefly considered intervening in the slow and grinding confrontation between the regular Crosser mech units and a group of obstinate defenders such as the Living Sentinels.

Yet the distance wasn't much. The Trost was considerably more mobile than the Amphis, but the difference in straight-line acceleration was actually not that drastic.

If Kelvin wanted to unleash the firepower of his expert mech without constraint, then he needed to increase the distance. The Amphis would have to take longer to catch up, giving the Trost plenty of time to unleash devastation!

The Trost suddenly rocketed to the ships of the expeditionary fleet. Venerable Kelvin had already spotted the advance of the Jeanne D'Arc and decided to link up with the sole surviving Fridayman expert mech.

As long as the Trost combined forces with the Jeanne D'Arc, they could easily gang up on the Amphis!

"Venerable Foster!" Kelvin quickly communicated to the distant expert mech. "Turn around and link up with my Trost!"

Unfortunately, Venerable Foster wasn't listening!

She had completely set her sights on her mission. As long as her Jeanne D'Arc was able to get past the measly reserves of the Larkinson Clan, she would be able to reach the Spirit of Bentheim!

Six other Fridayman expert mechs failed to make it this far. The Ulver Quinn, the Prava Lonestar as well as two additional expert mechs were already falling apart under the combined attacks of hundreds of enemy standard mechs.

She knew her peers wouldn't be able to last much longer!

The story would have been different if the Ulver Quinn and the other Fridayman expert mechs were still at their peak. Yet after depleting all of their ammunition, draining most of their energy reserves and resisting thousands of blows with their crumbling armor, they were only holding on through sheer grit and determination.

The four expert mechs were like flickering candles in the wind! It was only a matter of time before the numerous attacks finally collapsed their precious machines.

If they fought to preserve themselves, then they might be able to last a few extra minutes, but that was contrary to their purpose. Their goal was to stall the remaining expeditionary mechs as long as possible so that they wouldn't be able to catch up to the Jeanne D'Arc.

Venerable Foster briefly grew heavy as she realized how little time she had left. Her Jeanne D'Arc may be capable of regenerating its damage, but that took time and lots of energy.

Every second that passed, at least a dozen positron beams and gauss rounds impacted her expert mech!

It couldn't be helped. The mech had to reach the Spirit of Bentheim as quickly as possible, so Venerable Foster was unable to make too many evasive maneuvers. The Jeanne D'Arc had to reach the side of the factory ship before the enemies from behind caught up. Its durability was also nearing its end.

While Venerable Foster was heavily focused on reaching her goal, she was not unaware of the other events taking place on the battlefield.

Whether it was the fall of the Charlemagne or the urgent request issued by Venerable Kelvin Praetor, the Vesian expert pilot was aware of everything.

"I can't turn back!" She gritted her teeth.

Even though Task Force Umbra partnered up with the Praetor Clan and the Planat Clan, its goal was never to achieve a comprehensive victory. Their sole purpose was to kill the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan.

She could not give Ves anymore chances to run away or pull out another trick out of his bag! She had to grasp this hard-won opportunity and see it through the end. This was why she resolutely ignored every transmission that asked her to slow down or turn around.

"I don't have time!"

If she hesitated any further, then the Valkyrie Prime as well as other enemy mechs would probably be able to catch up and force her to a standstill.

The Jeanne D'Arc had no choice but to push through the storm of artillery fire without regard for surviving after this battle. The mech did its best to shield its vulnerable and critical sections as best as possible.

Aside from the enemy artillery mechs, her only concerns were the handful of Larkinson mechs that had remained in reserve. They served as the final backstop against enemies that sought to get close to the flagship of their fleet.

Venerable Foster did not think much of the remaining opposition.

The Bright Sword Prime was incomparable to a real expert mech.

The Princess Jeckas piloted by the Swordmaidens was an ordinary commercial second-class swordsman mech model.

The Shield of Samar was too slow and inflexible.

Perhaps the only mech that caused Venerable Foster some consternation was the rifleman mech huddling behind the Shield of Samar.

It had already fired a powerful energy attack before. That single attack managed to weaken an attack from the Charlemagne. This meant it had the power to threaten the Jeanne D'Arc, if only slightly.

"This rifleman mech shouldn't be able to fire too many supercharged shots. Otherwise, it wouldn't have bided its time. As long as you can block, evade or mitigate two or three shots, then you're probably in the clear." An analyst from the CRC aboard the Eager Condemnation personally instructed Venerable Foster.

"Understood." She nodded seriously. "I need as much ranged support as possible."

"We do not have enough available ranged mechs at our disposal, but we will redirect everything we have left to suppress the enemy bunker mechs. This will accelerate the downfall of our assets, so make the most out of this opportunity. Godspeed, Venerable Foster."

The artillery fire against the Jeanne D'Arc indeed slackened off, which made her feel a lot more relieved. She had much more confidence in her ability to reach the Spirit of Bentheim than before.

"Now, I only have to get past you lot."

Venerable Dise could sense her opponent's contempt. She grew furious!

"Relia Foster! I know it's you! We have waited years to avenge the deaths of Commander Lydia and our fellow Swordmaidens. Answer me and face the death that you deserve!"

Venerable Foster did not deign to reply or even pay attention to the bleating of her foes. They were just obstacles to her. She would have been worried if the Swordmaidens brought more mechs, but a single mech company of budget swordsman mechs was not enough to stop the advance of an expert mech!

The lack of response made the Swordmaidens more indignant! If the arrogant Vesian expert pilot did not wish to acknowledge their strength, then the Swordmaidens were more than willing to correct this misconception!

The veteran Swordmaiden mech pilots quickly cleared their minds and began to channel their thoughts towards Venerable Dise.

Meanwhile, the Bright Sword Prime began to glow even brighter. The furious will of Venerable Dise combined with the spiritual energy donated by Qilanxo resulted in an odd and marvellous combination that made the prime swordsman mech appear like a warrior beyond compare!

Not only that, but through the combined efforts of all of the Swordmaiden mech pilots, a battle formation came into being.

Another energy silhouette appeared into existence. Compared to the energy projection of the Superior Mother, the manifestation of the greatsword was not as big or impressive.

The Swordmaidens were few in number, and the heart of the network centered around a low-tier expert pilot without an expert mech.

Another reason why the battle formation was weaker than before was because Commander Dise was no longer able to induce forced resonance. She was no longer able to slaughter thousands of clumped-up opponents at a time.

Still, Venerable Dise would take what she would get. With the help of the prime resonance she had managed to induce, the illusionary greatsword's edges became surrounded by a sharp, blue-tinted corona.

The Swordmaiden expert pilot decided to finish this bout in a single go! She directly chose to implement the most impactful battle formation to make up for the regret of her past and slay her demons.

Everytime she dreamed about the battle on Aeon Corona VII, she was always haunted by the sight of the Belisarius withstanding every attack while slaughtering Swordmaiden mechs with impunity.

No more. Venerable Dise's eyes bore straight into the approaching Jeanne D'Arc as the battle formation accelerated forward.

Since both sides were closing in on each other, it didn't take much time before they reached each other!

"The Sword of Lydia shall pierce your heart!"

The projected greatsword drove its tip straight into the chest of the Jeanne D'Arc!

When Venerable Foster saw the strange formation and its illusion closing in, she already sensed a fatal threat to her life.

Her evaluation of the weak swordsman mechs had abruptly changed. Unlike Venerable Ghanso, she did not dare to take this upcoming attack lightly. The two previous examples had already served as a stark lesson.

The Jeanne D'Arc briefly attempted to alter its course in order to evade the incoming blow, but the approaching formation simply adjusted as well.

There wasn't any time left!

As the giant greatsword was about to slam its tip into the Jeanne D'Arc, Venerable Foster's concentration had reached a peak.

"HAAAAAH!"

At the last moment, the Jeanne D'Arc abruptly dodged to the right and above!

The boosters on the expert mech spiked and overloaded as they tried to push the strained expert mech aside as much as possible!

Even though Venerable Dise expected her opponent to make such a move, she wasn't able to predict the evasion direction.

By the time she saw that the Jeanne D'Arc had moved, it was too late for Dise to react! The battle formation was too inflexible to make such a sharp turn!

The giant greatsword passed the Jeanne D'Arc in an instant. The battle formation quickly collapsed as the Swordmaiden mech pilots had exhausted themselves in their attempts to empower the battle formation.

Venerable Dise's expression sank as the sensors of her mech observed her target.

The Jeanne D'Arc managed to survive!

Certainly, the mech was not in good shape anymore. The mech managed to avoid fatal damge to its torso, but the Sword of Lydia still managed to slice off its left arm and leg!

Not only that, but a portion of its flight system at that side was cut off as well. The Jeanne D'Arc had lost a modest amount of mobility, enough to give Venerable Dise some ideas!

The Bright Sword Prime quickly turned around and pounced towards the Jeanne D'Arc!

The Princess Jeckas piloted by the other Swordmaiden mech pilot followed from a distance. Since the commercial mechs weren't alive, their mech pilots weren't as exhausted as the Hexers who performed a similar feat.

They could still fight, if only reluctantly.

Soon enough, the Swordmaiden mechs surrounded the damaged Jeanne D'Arc, forming a cage to hinder Venerable Foster from escaping.

The Swordmaidens did not intend to leave the job unfinished!

The Bright Sword Prime squared off against the Jeanne D'Arc. Venerable Dise had not decided to pounce upon her opponent immediately. She knew how much power the opposing mech still had left.

What made her even warier was that the Fridayman expert mech still retained its sword!

Venerable Foster had deliberately dodged her mech to the right because her mech was gripping its weapon from that side as well.

Even if her Jeanne D'Arc lost its left arm and leg, it still retained much of its lethality!

"Will you take us seriously now?" Venerable Dise questioned.

"Hmph. I have no time to entertain filth like you. Either get out of my way or be squashed like the bugs you are. Once I am done with killing Ves, I will immediately hunt down your mothership and kill every single friend, family and comrade you have."

"YOU'LL NEVER HAVE THE CHANCE!"

The two swordman mechs immediately swung their swords at each other!

Chapter 2679: The Hunted

Missing a limb was not a fatal impediment to a mech.

In spaceborn combat, it was much more important to keep the flight system intact. As long as the mech was able to fly, it was often able to fight.

Yet as soon as the flight system mounted to the rear no longer worked, a mech could do little but drift in space on a ballistic course!

Of course, most spaceborn mechs possessed secondary thrusters and boosters that were situated elsewhere onto the frame.

undefinedWhile they represented weak points, they added a small but considerable amount of maneuvering capabilities to the mech. At the right times, they could mean the difference between life and death!

It was with the help of these secondary maneuvering systems that the Jeanne D'Arc managed to evade the Sword of Lydia generated by the Swordmaiden battle formation.

Yet the strange sword was still sharp enough to cut straight through two of its limbs, which Venerable Foster found completely absurd!

Even if the Jeanne D'Arc was not in its best shape, a small group of standard mechs should still be unable to cut off the limbs of the mechs.

That this happened at all was very abnormal and caused Venerable Foster to become a lot more vigilant.

The Larkinsons appeared to be very confident in their swordsman mechs. Their artillery mechs no longer directed their firepower at the Jeanne D'Arc.

The Swordmaidens insisted on finishing off Venerable Foster themselves.

For this reason, the remaining Transcendent Punishers directed their firepower towards the Trost. The surviving Garlaner expert mech presented a much greater threat to the expeditionary fleet!

The previous clash between expert mechs had not consumed the Trost too much. The expert hybrid mech's armor integrity, ammunition levels and energy reserves were still in good shape.

Due to its greater power, stronger expert pilot and considerably greater destructive potential, the Trost had to be taken out before it managed to reach the Jeanne D'Arc!

At this moment, the Jeanne D'Arc fought back hard against the prime mech. Even if it had lost a substantial amount of strength and maneuverability, an expert mech was still a force to be reckoned with no matter its condition.

The expert mech was physically stronger and still possessed an edge in mobility.

As Venerable Dise quickly discovered, the force of a serious swing was already strong enough to overpower the guard of her weaker mech. In the first few exchanges of blows, the Jeanne D'Arc already managed to slam its sword against the shoulder of the Bright Sword Prime!

Unexpectedly, the Venerable Foster's powerful attack failed to slice through the shoulder and impair the sword arm of her opponent.

Just like almost every prime mech, the Bright Sword Prime was almost fully covered by Unending alloy. The Jeanne D'Arc may be able to slice a Princess Jecka in half, but its strength was not enough to dent Unending alloy!

Her attack merely bounced away the Bright Sword Prime, teaching Venerable Dise a profound lesson on the gulf between the strengths of the two mechs.

The former Swordmaiden Commander did not dare to tarry any longer. Though she wanted nothing more than to fight Venerable Foster in a sacred duel, she could not afford to underestimate an expert mech.

Besides, the greater battle was not yet won. The Trost could still do a lot of damage as long as it managed to outpace the slower Amphis.

"Commander Sendra!" She called her successor.

"Our blades are ready."

"Harass Venerable Foster's mech. Threaten its back and attack its flight system whenever possible. Don't take any risks. We will not give this woman the satisfaction of killing another Swordmaiden today. Just use your numbers to your advantage in order to constrain her actions."

"We understand." Commander Sendra grinned as she quickly passed on some instructions. "Let's wear her down just like we tackle the most dangerous exobeasts."

The duel had turned into a hunt. The Jeanne D'Arc may still be a vastly superior battle machine, but it was injured and all on its own! The Swordmaidens did not believe they would fail this challenge!

The Swordmaiden mechs attacked the Jeanne D'Arc with great coordination. The Bright Sword Prime still faced the damaged expert mech, but Venerable Dise no longer dared to engage into any contests of strengths.

Instead, the Bright Sword Prime became more elusive. It danced at the edge of the Jeanne D'Arc's range and used the extended reach of its greatsword to launch cautious but safe attacks.

"You craven rats!" Venerable Foster cursed as she came under heavy pressure all of sudden.

If the Jeanne D'Arc was facing the Bright Sword Prime alone, then she was confident she could destroy opponent within a minute!

However, the weak swordsman mechs that her expert mech should have been able to squash with ease were constantly targeting the flight system of her mech.

Naturally, the flight system of an expert mech like the Jeanne D'Arc was a lot more condensed and harder to destroy. It took more than a couple of hits to cripple the mobility of a powerful machine.

Yet the constant attacks added up. Despite Venerable Foster's skill, it was too difficult for her to fend off the Bright Sword Prime while at the same time defend against multiple attacks from the rear.

What was even worse was that some of the swordsman mechs had the gall to attack the amputated sections of the Jeanne D'Arc! The insides weren't as durable as the exterior and could easily sustain greater damage that further slowed the mech down.

"Fight me like a warrior!" Venerable Foster roared as her indomitable will spiked further!

A resonance shield briefly reformed around the Jeanne D'Arc, but it only lasted for a few seconds before a handful of Swordmaiden mechs successively attacked the bubble and forced it to pop!

Another wave of swordsman mechs swooped in from another angle and struck the rear of the expert mech.

The attackers did not dare to fly too close. Many of their greatswords missed the mark or bounced off the rear armor of the Jeanne D'Arc.

However, one lucky Swordmaiden mech pilot managed to score her blade over a small component that caused the Jeanne D'Arc to lose even more maneuvering power!

Venerable Dise gained more confidence as her prime mech cleverly evaded the swings of the opposing mech before attempting to cut off the Jeanne D'Arc wrist.

The attempt failed, but it kept the expert mech busy and opened it up to even more attacks from the rear!

No matter how many times Venerable Foster turned around her mech to attack the other Swordmaiden mechs, her opponents were too sharp and cautious. They instantly turned away as soon as the Jeanne D'Arc began moving.

This was an incredibly frustrating situation! Foster became more and more frustrated by her inability to pass through a blockade of weaker mechs.

She gradually realized what her opponents were doing. The Jeanne D'Arc was dying by a thousand cuts. The enemy swordsman mechs actually weren't that impressive, but their mech pilots were very skilled at dismantling a vastly powerful enemy.

"I need to break this game." Foster realized.

The Jeanne D'Arc no longer followed the rhythm of its opponents. It completely ignored the attacks of the Princess Jeckas and instead focused its sights on the Bright Sword Prime.

As long as the ringleader mech was taken out of the equation, the Jeanne D'Arc could easily wipe out the rest!

"I'll take you down first!"

"Don't think about it, Foster!"

The Jeanne D'Arc truly pressured the Bright Sword Prime at this time! Venerable Foster's unrelenting aggression forced Venerable Dise to employ as much skill as possible to evade or mitigate the incoming attacks.

Due to the inferiority of her prime mech, Venerable Dise simply couldn't avoid every blow. She tried her best to redirect the attacks towards its chest, shoulders and other areas covered with Unending alloy.

Of course, Venerable Foster knew she couldn't penetrate the absurdly resilient armor plating. She tried her best to land her attacks on the joints and other weak points that couldn't be entirely covered by Unending alloy.

In order to land a meaningful attack, Foster decided she needed to be even more aggressive and decided to trade blow for blow, assured that the frontal armor of the Jeanne D'Arc was able to fend off a direct attack from her current opponent!

Venerable Dise had actually been biding her time. When she recognized Venerable Foster's intention, she saw a golden opportunity!

"This strike is for Lydia!"

The two mechs struck each other at the same time!

The Jeanne D'Arc was the first mech in history to fell a prime mech. Its sword had stabbed straight through the axilla or the 'armpit' of the Bright Sword Prime.

Due to the necessity of making the arms of a swordsman mech flexible, the axilla area was protected by moving plates.

The Jeanne D'Arc's sharp and powerful sword managed to slip through these plates and overpower the imperfect layers of protection underneath. The weapon managed to damage the power reactor to such an extent that the prime mech forcibly shut down!

Unfortunately, the expert mech did not come out of this exchange unscatched.

An instant before the Bright Sword Prime thrust its sword into one of the damaged sections of the Jeanne D'Arc, Venerable Foster's instincts screamed.

She sensed a huge threat from the incoming greatsword!

What she wasn't aware of was that Ves had made the weapon out of Unending alloy shortly before the Battle against the Abyss. Not only that, but he had also filled it up with Qilanxo's spiritual energy.

At the decisive moment, Venerable Dise no longer held back and resonated with the blade! The stab dedicated to Commander Lydia glowed with blue and amazingly penetrated right through the enemy expert mech's chest!

The unnaturally sharp greatsword pierced through armor that had managed to withstand thousands of other attacks and still remained largely intact. Aside from getting marked by surface damage, the Jeanne D'Arc should have been able to block or bounce the incoming attack even if Venerable Foster failed to angle her machine away!

Unlike Venerable Ghanso, Relia Foster had no time to express her regret.

Venerable Dise expressly targeted the cockpit from the start. Her gambit succeed and the greatsword of her mech managed to pierce through the cockpit, inflicting until damage onto its occupant!

The surrounding swordsman mechs stilled. Their sensors already sensed the Jeanne D'Arc powering off. The fight was over.

"We succeeded…" A Swordmaiden whispered.

"Commander Lydia has been avenged."

Bits of frozen blood had already leaked out of the cavity from the front of the broken expert mech as soon as it was exposed to vacuum. There was no surviving from getting hit by a giant, mech-sized sword.

Even as the veteran Swordmaiden mech pilots reminisced about the past, the battle was actually not yet over.

The Trost along with around a thousand Praetor and Planat mechs were still in the fight!

Venerable Kelvin Praetor actually only needed less than a minute to link up with the Jeanne D'Arc. With the weapon systems of his hybrid mech, he could have easily wiped out the swordsman mechs with much greater efficiency.

Unfortunately, he came too late.

"Damnable woman!"

With the Amphis right on the Trost's heels, Kelvin was faced with a very difficult decision. What should he do? The Trost couldn't turn back. The Amphis along with the mechs that had won the battle at the left side at great cost would soon block its escape route.

"We can no longer achieve victory." He realized.

Even now, Task Force Umbra and the starships of the Praetor Clan and Planat Clan were already turning away in order to distance themselves from the soon-to-be-victorious Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers.

This was no longer a matter of winning a battle! At this time, the Praetors and Planats who had been roped into taking part in this disastrous ambush needed to preserve as many lives and assets as possible.

They did not want to go down to the last man! Even if it was slightly dishonorable to flee the battlefield, their two clans could not afford to lose so many combat assets.

"Venerable Kelvin Praetor!" A commanding officer directly contacted the expert pilot. "The Soaring Eagle, the Vindicator 35 and the Palmis Crislin must not fall into enemy hands. We do not have the resources to rescue you back while at the same time safeguarding our crucial fleet carriers and combat carriers."

"What is your request?"

"...We have ascertained that our opponents highly value the Spirit of Bentheim. I would like you to do your best to complete the goal the Fridaymen have been trying so hard to achieve. Attack their factory ship. Do as much damage to this vessel as possible. Find and kill Patriarch Ves Larkinson if you can. Whether you succeed or fail, it is all worth it. The more distress you cause, the more our opponents will seek to tighten their defenses, leaving them with less opportunities to chase after our fleet."

"I shall keep the enemy busy as best I can." Kelvin replied in a heavy tone. "Must I truly seek to kill their leader?"

"It's the only way for us to recoup our losses from this disastrous battle. Our clan has signed a secret agreement that compels the Friday Coalition to transfer a heavy sum of money and a substantial amount of strategic materials as long as we have materially contributed to Ves Larkinson's death."

"Understood. We will not let our opponents have the last laugh!"

The powerful Praetor expert mech decisively advanced towards the Spirit of Bentheim, which startled the defenders!

The Trost bypassed the Swordmaiden mechs, not that the latter could put up any fight at this point.

The Bright Sword Prime was out of action.

The other prime mechs were too far away and had wasted too much time trying to defeat the Ulver Quinn and the other stalling expert mechs.

The slower Amphis needed too much time to catch up to the Trost.

Venerable Kelvin suddenly discovered there were very few opponents left in his way!

Sure, the enemy artillery mechs were constantly bombarding the Trost. However, their firing rate at this stage of the battle had slowed down considerably. While their attacks were still heavy, the Trost was a medium-tier expert mech that was designed to survive constant warfare in Vicious Mountain!

The Trost's condition was still fairly good. The Crosser expert mechs had dismissed its threat and focused their attacks elsewhere, leaving Venerable Kelvin with an almost intact expert mech!

"Hahaha!" The expert pilot laughed as his Trost easily withstood the rain of fire from the enemy artillery mechs. "I'll crush all of your ships!"

The Spirit of Bentheim had too few defenders remaining to block the Trost's approach!

Chapter 2680: Final Defense Line

After a long and harrowing battle, victory was in sight!

Aboard all of the ships of the expeditionary fleet, every member of the Larkinson Clan, the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan felt jubilant at what they accomplished.

Their combined forces accomplished a legendary feat!

They fought against a force that comprised entirely of military mech pilots and gained the upper hand. The Friday Coalition even fielded some of their best elites to no avail!

undefinedYet before the Golden Skull Alliance could celebrate their first official victory in combat, the enemy still had one card left to play.

A single surviving expert mech was racing towards the Spirit of Bentheim as fast as possible!

The entire Larkinson Clan trembled in fear as they realized what was happening.

"No!"

"The enemy wants to spite us! Damn these barbaric Vicious Mountainers!"

No vessel ever wanted to be approached by a hostile mech. It didn't matter what mech type it was or how much it cost. As long as the mech managed to fly right next to a starship, then they could easily employ several ways to damage, cripple or doom the ship entirely.

This was especially the case for expert mechs. Their destructive potential was at least an order of magnitude above regular mechs and they were extremely difficult to fend off due to their excellent defenses.

What concerned people like Ves the most was that artillery mechs mostly became invalid when a hostile mech came close.

Most of the surviving bunker mechs on the Spirit of Bentheim wouldn't even have a good angle to shoot at a target that stuck close to a hull.

In fact, a considerable number of bunkers would likely be situated on the opposite side of the ship, thereby rendering them completely useless!

"I should have acquired more missile mechs!" Ves cursed as he tried to rein in his panic when he saw the Trost flying closer.

"Stop it! Our families are aboard the Spirit of Bentheim!"

This was bad. Before the start of the battle, the Larkinson Clan preemptively moved every civilian and non-essential crew member aboard the sub-capital ships to the Spirit of Bentheim.

The factory ship was by far the toughest and most defensible ship of the Larkinson Clan.

The decision made a lot of sense. The Larkinson Clan had lost around a dozen combat carriers from enemy bombardment. While most of their crews were able to evacuate in time, casualties were unavoidable.

If those vessels were still occupied by family and an excess of personnel, then the casualty figures would have risen by a couple of thousand.

However, now this decision might easily kill over half of the members of the Larkinson Clan at once if the Trost was able to finish the deed!

Ves quickly turned to Captain Vraken, who was urgently trying to button down the capital ship she commanded as much as possible.

Shield generators were ready to be overloaded.

Peripheral compartments were being evacuated and filled with ballistic foam in order to form additional barriers.

Damage control teams were being moved around to critical sections.

Maneuvering and orientation thrusters were trying to put the Spirit of Bentheim into the fastest spin it could manage in a short time.

If Ves patched into a feed that looked out of the side of his flagship, then he probably would have become dizzy pretty quickly. It was not easy for someone to keep their bearings when the ship they were on was rolling like a drill!

However, this was the only way to make it more difficult for the Trost to reach the side of a ship and attack a single point in order to excavate a hole through the hull.

"This isn't enough!" Captain Vraken concluded. "Our bow and sterns are still easy targets."

The only way to fix this was to spin the ship like a thrown axe. Soon enough, powerful thrusters came to life which caused the Spirit of Bentheim's nose to dive down while lifting her rear end upwards.

Through precise calculations, the thrusters activated when they reached the right orientation and deactivated when the angle was no longer right.

Anyone looking out of the ship would quickly become dizzy regardless where they stood!

"Deactivate the forward view!"

The panorama in front of the bridge had become so disorientating that it had to be shut down. The projections that simulated the front view instantly disappeared. In place of that, Captain Vraken summoned a giant map of the immediate area around the Spirit of Bentheim.

The tumbling and rolling representation of the Spirit of Bentheim attracted a lot of attention. It looked as if the helmsman had become completely drunk and started to take the capital ship on a chaotic joyride.

Even though the flagship of the Larkinson Clan looked as if it had gone completely out of control, in fact the grand captain, the engineers, the helmsmen and every other relevant professional completely had everything under control.

"This will buy a lot of time for us, but we cannot guarantee that the hostile expert mech possesses a means to penetrate the hull regardless of our measures."

You couldn't tell with expert mechs. Even though the Trost was a hybrid mech that didn't seem to possess any weapons that could quickly tear a hole in the hull of a capital ship, who knew what siege weapons it carried.

The Trost was not a basic expert mech. It was a fully-fledged mid-tier expert mech that was only a notch below the Bolvar Rage and the Erin Tear in quality and destructive potential!

Combined with a mature Garlaner expert pilot who possessed ample battle experience, neither Ves nor any other Larkinson dared to underestimate the Trost.

Ves, Gloriana and every other mech designer in the fleet urgently analyzed the current condition of the rapidly-approaching expert mech.

While the Valkyrie Prime was too far away to lend its Odineye, the expeditionary fleet already collected a wealth of data on the Praetor expert mech.

It had just come away from an intensive clash where it had fought and displayed a myriad of weapon systems against the Crosser expert mechs.

Ves rapidly accessed the footage through his implant and skimmed through the footage in order to get a quick impression of the expert mech in question.

"This mech is not damaged enough!" Ves banged his fist against the armrest.

This was bad. An expert mech without an armor breach somewhere was basically a closed shell. It took a lot of power and effort to overcome its armor. This was the first step to defeating any expert mech.

Yet this hurdle was also the most difficult and time-consuming step!

The Transcendent Punishers had already pounded the Trost with a continuous barrage of positron beams and gauss rounds. In fact, as the hybrid mech came closer, the artillery mechs even activated their secondary armaments, not that it did any good except to create extra heat. The weak rapid-fire pulse cannons did nothing except to splat against the exterior of the Trost like rain hitting an umbrella.

Ves made some quick calculations. According to his estimates, it would take at least 10 minutes of continuous bombardment to breach the exterior of the Trost!

This was way too much time!

"Gloriana!" Ves called out to his wife.

"I'm already on it! Don't disturb me!" She replied as she was directly processing a lot of observation data through her implant. "Right now, I haven't spotted any major vulnerabilities. In my judgement, it's too difficult to neutralize the threat by destroying it. The best way to handle an expert mech like the Trost is to impair its mobility! As long as we strip it of its flight system, it can't do much against our ship. The Amphis will be able to catch up to it and finish the job."

She was right! The Amphis was still trying to close in on the Trost. Unfortunately, the friendly expert space knight was just too damned slow!

"What assets do we have left to stall or block the Trost?!"

Precious few mechs were left. In fact, putting the Spirit of Bentheim in a complex rotation also made it more difficult for her bunker mechs to attack the Trost. The Transcendent Punishers couldn't adjust the aim of their heavy cannons fast enough to keep up with the change in angles.

The only way for them to hit their target was to keep their heavy cannons pointed at a single predetermined direction and fire the instant the Spirit of Bentheim's rotation happened to align their guns to the Trost.

Fortunately, many of the surrounding combat carriers also carried bunker mechs, but the drop in firepower was still noticeable.

"Artillery alone isn't enough." Ves already concluded.

He really wished he completed his Giant Killer design and fabricated a couple of hundred copies. The mech's penetrative cannons were much better suited to damage expert mechs and other ultra-armored targets.

"In fact, the Giant Killers don't have the firepower to threaten the Trost either." Ves muttered.

While the armor of the incoming hybrid mech was not as strong as Unending alloy, it was still leagues better than Breyer alloy. This was exactly what made expert mechs so difficult to defeat by ordinary forces. It was not a surprise that Gloriana suggested that they should target the Trost's flight system.

The expert mech essentially possessed no other weak points at this time!

Ves glanced to Major Verle. The military leader of the Larkinson Clan looked incredibly grave.

"I'm sure you already know that the Swordmaidens are spent." He quietly said. "Our best hope of defeating the Trost is to pit it against the Amphis and the Bright Sword Prime. However, the former is too slow and the latter is too weak against this remaining threat. Our other prime mechs are on their way but it will take even longer for them to reach our side. The Piranha Prime will arrive first, but I'm afraid it doesn't have the damage potential to harm a tough mech like the Trost."

That was his judgement as well. The Ferocious Piranha was fast, light and possessed an extremely effective glow. However, Ves already knew for certain that its thick and unbearable glow posed no threat to other expert pilots.

More reinforcements were on their way, but the mechs that had remained intact up until now were pretty much spent. Their conditions were poor and their mech pilots were almost on the verge of exhaustion. Pitting them against the Trost would likely result in another slaughter!

As Ves studied the overview, he found to his sinking regret that the final line of defense only consisted of three mechs.

The Bright Beam Prime.

The Shield of Samar.

And surprisingly… an obsolete third-class mech that Ves had already forgotten about.

After automatically writing off the latter, Ves focused on the two prime mechs.

While Ves was very impressed by the power of the Bright Beam Prime, he already calculated that its full-powered shot was unable to penetrate the frontal armor of the Trost.

In fact, Venerable Davia wouldn't even be able to pierce the rear of the Trost either! Only the most vulnerable sections of its flight system were weak enough, but it was exceedingly difficult to land a hit on them while the mech in question was moving.

The Bright Beam Prime had already shown what it was capable of, so the Trost would certainly not be stupid enough to expose its rear to the rifleman mech!

Another mech had to confront the Trost in order to stop it in its tracks and create opportunities for Venerable Davia to land a hit on its flight system.

That role should be taken by the Shield of Samar, but the mech was vastly slower than the Amphis! The Trost could just take a detour around the sluggish prime mech!

Already the Trost was arcing around the Shield of Samar. Its expert pilot did not waste any time on trying to take the defensive mech.

Perhaps the only consolation was that the Trost wasn't able to attack the Bright Beam Prime either. It already tried to shoot at the rifleman mech once, but Venerable Jannzi had already moved its heavy shield to block the attack.

"Damn! It's getting close!"

As the Trost came close, it was still under constant bombardment, but the mech still didn't pay any notice. Instead, it pointed the tip of its short halberd in the direction of the Shield of Samar and looked as if it was about to charge into its rotating target!

Chapter 2681: Helpless

When the Trost reached the Spirit of Bentheim, Venerable Kelvin Praetor felt a bit of consternation.

It wasn't easy to bore into a capital ship. The analysts aboard the Soaring Eagle already transmitted a lot of information about the enemy factory ship to his mech.

According to various sources, the Spirit of Bentheim wasn't a typical industrial vessel. She was expressly configured for frontier survival missions and came equipped with both energy shields and a robust layer of armor.

However, a non-combat vessel was never able to match a combat vessel such as a fleet carrier when it came to defense.

undefinedThe Spirit of Bentheim just posed a greater challenge to the Trost than normal, especially when it was rotating as madly as possible like someone threw a spinning coin in space.

What was even more annoying was that the Amphis would soon reach the Spirit of Bentheim as well. While Venerable Kelvin Praetor was confident that he could keep out of its reach, the necessity of moving around would hinder his attempts to bore into the core compartments of his target ship.

"The Amphis possesses decent straight-line acceleration capabilities but it is less good at correcting its course." Another analyst instructed him. "As long as you keep circling around the Spirit of Bentheim, it's impossible for the Amphis to close in on your mech. However, be careful not to meet the Amphis on the other side."

"Don't worry. I won't make such a beginner's mistake."

Venerable Kelvin concentrated deeply onto the rotating vessel. He had set his sights on the stern of the factory ship.

The other sections were too difficult to bore through quickly. The sides were covered with meters of thick hull plating. Even if the materials were not all that tough compared to mech armor, their sheer thickness was an obstacle in itself.

The bow was even more unbearable to him. He was surprised when the analysts told him that the sculpted prow consisted entirely of mech-grade armor.

This was an extremely extravagant expenditure! The Larkinson Clan would have been much better off if it employed this tough alloy into its mechs instead. At least several hundred more mechs would have remained intact if they were clad with this excellent material!

Kelvin shrugged. "Idiots."

The stupid Larkinsons did not even apply this material onto the surface of the Spirit of Bentheim in a manner that made sense. Instead, the Larkinsons decided to pile it all onto the prow, giving the ship an extremely hard head but leaving the rest alone!

"They should have used it to reinforce the backside instead." He shook his head. "Well, at least that makes my task easier!"

As his expert mech continued to circle around the Spirit of Bentheim, he waited for the right moment to strike.

The Spirit of Bentheim's rotation might look hard to deal with, but the processors of his expert mech already figured out his target's trajectories. There was no way a vessel as huge as this could alter the direction and speed of her rotations.

In addition, the ship had to take a lot of care not to spin too quickly. If her angular momentum exceeded what her inertial dampeners could compensate for, any crew inside that wasn't strapped down would quickly be pressed onto a solid surface!

In the worst case scenario, their bodies might go splat as if they fell off a tall building!

"The primary engineering bay of a capital ship is always closely connected to the main sublight propulsion system." A Praetor engineer informed Kelvin. "We have looked closely at the stern of the Spirit of Bentheim and believe this thruster section is your best opportunity to breach into the primary engineering bay. Once you have destroyed what's inside, the ship will already be half-crippled. You'll have to get in deeper to seriously threaten the ship and all of her occupants."

"What about their leader?" The expert pilot asked. "Is Ves Larkinson even onboard this ship?"

"Even if he isn't, you are still doing enough to save our fleet. Only the Crossers are still chasing after our fleet. The Larkinson and Glory Seeker mechs have all begun to turn back to their own ships."

While none of the members of the Golden Skull Alliance wanted to let their enemies go, the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers absolutely couldn't care about chasing after the enemy capital ships at this time.

Both Ves and Gloriana were under great danger!

Even though it shouldn't be possible for the Trost to find them in a ship that was over 2 kilometers long, who knew how much destruction the expert mech could unleash once it got inside!

Just as the Trost was about to pounce onto the stern that was just rotating into view, a mech had barely managed to get into range and began to fire all of the weapons it could bring to bear.

Missiles exploded without inflicting any meaningful damage.

Nails ricocheted off the armor.

A laser beam reflected off the surface.

The mech closest to the Trost was so weak and ineffectual that nobody paid attention to it! The mech in question was so irrelevant that not even its own mech pilot thought he could make a difference.

"I told you already, Raella! My attacks aren't even tickling the mech. The Transcendent Punishers are much more powerful than my old little mech."

"That's not an excuse, Vincent!" Raella shouted at him over their private communication channel. "I don't expect you to defeat the Trost, but you need to do everything possible to stall it so that the others can catch up. Get close, get in its way, attack its flight system. Just do something!"

"I can't!" Vincent fearfully replied. "I'm not cut out for this! My mech isn't good enough either. We don't belong in a battle like this. That bastard Ves didn't even give me a proper second-class mech like yours. What am I supposed to do? The Trost can fight off thousands of mechs like mine!"

Raella privately agreed with Vincent's assessment, but the situation was far too desperate at the moment. The Larkinsons had to do everything in their power to preserve their flagship and the tens of thousands of innocent Larkinsons taking shelter inside the vessel.

Even though she wasn't a typical Larkinson, she still prioritized the safety of all of those vulnerable clansmen over the life of a single mech pilot.

"Are you a coward, Vincent?!"

"What? No! I'm not! I can't go against an expert mech. I just can't!"

"You disappoint me, Vincent. Where was the brash young man who fought valiantly against the Sand War? Where is the war hero who fought to defend Bentheim for months? Has all of your courage disappeared once you became a Larkinson? You're a disgrace!"

The insults crushed his heart and hurt his confidence.

Even as the Trost successfully charged the stern of the Spirit of Bentheim and unleashed a torrent of attacks that damaged one of her main thrusters, the Adonis Colossus remained unmoving!

"GET MOVING, VINCENT! Are you a man or are you a coward?!"

"I'm a man!"

"I'm not seeing any of that here. For all your pretensions, you're doing a very poor job at proving your worth. All of our other mech pilots have fought and risked their lives against the enemy. You're pretty much the only one who hasn't done anything to defend us. You're no Larkinson, Vincent! You may have taken our name, but when it mattered the most, you chose to dig your head into the ground instead of fighting like a man. You're a disgrace!"

"I'm attacking! I'm doing something, don't you see?!"

Indeed, his mech had begun to fire its missiles and other ranged weapons at the Trost whenever possible. Unfortunately, the Adonis Colossus was designed to fight against sandman vessels and third-class mechs. The jump to its current opponent was too big!

"YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!" Raella furiously shouted. "GET CLOSE AND USE YOUR MECH AS A DISTRACTION! DON'T LET THE TROST GET ANY DEEPER! IF YOU DON'T START MOVING NOW, I'LL NOT ONLY BREAK UP WITH YOU, BUT ALSO ASK VES TO KICK YOU OUT OF THE CLAN! WE DON'T NEED COWARDS LIKE YOU IN OUR RANKS!"

Vincent froze. He really didn't want to get booted out of the Larkinson Clan. There was no way he wanted to return to his old life as a space peasant after enjoying a lot of benefits.

What was even less acceptable was the damage to his pride and confidence. After going through so many bumps in his life, he finally settled on centering his identity around his manhood.

If he lost even that, what reason was there for him to exist?

It was unbearable for him to live in hell after he became accustomed to living in heaven!

He imagined what he would be like if Raella truly did what she said. How would he be able to lift his head up when he was branded a coward and a failure of a man?

"I would rather die!"

He really couldn't live in disgrace. Not now. Not when he enjoyed the good life.

In comparison to such an awful outcome, death didn't sound so bad. Even if he perished in battle, he would perish like a Larkinson and a man. His girlfriend and the other Larkinsons would honor his sacrifice and credit him with saving the lives of thousands of Larkinsons.

Once his mentality changed, Vincent seemingly became a whole new man. His body no longer shook. His eyes didn't waver anymore. His thoughts no longer became enthralled by fear.

While he was still afraid, he chose to disregard the many possible ways that this could go wrong.

"I need to step up as a man." He spoke to himself as he piloted his mech forward. "I need to prove myself as a warrior and a Larkinson!"

His determined words seemed to echo with his mech. The Adonis Colossus became much more comfortable for Vincent. His thoughts aligned with the machine and the machine aligned with Vincent.

Even if his mech was only a fraction as strong as the Trost, the Adonis Colossus was the closest to the only remaining threat to the clan. Even a second of stalling could save numerous lives aboard the ship!

Right now, the Spirit of Bentheim had already sustained considerable damage to her propulsion systems.

The Trost did not land on the vessel. Instead, it remained mobile and just fired its formidable ranged weapons at the stern. The advanced targeting systems of the expert mech combined with the considerable skill of its pilot resulted in accurate, devastating salvos that inflicted massive damage to one the thrusters.

The Shield of Samar and the Bright Beam Prime were helpless to intervene.

The Amphis was about to arrive as well, but the space knight simply didn't have a chance of catching up either, and everyone knew it. The only way for Venerable Linda Cross to attack the Trost was by firing her mech's shoulder-mounted laser hardpoints, but this wasn't really an effective solution.

The shoulder lasers were mostly designed to pick off kiting standard mechs and intercept incoming missiles. They lacked too much of a punch against better-armored targets!

It was at this time that the Adonis Colossus reluctantly came closer.

To be honest, the hybrid mech piloted by Vincent wasn't all that fast either. The only reason why the Adonis Colossus managed to get close to its target at all was because the Trost completely disregarded its threat.

Venerable Kelvin Praetor had to keep circling around the Spirit of Bentheim in order to avoid bumping into the Amphis.

Vincent simply followed a track suggested by a tactical officer and found that his mech was flying almost straight towards the Trost!

The enemy expert mech finally noticed the Adonis Colossus in front of it. Its active sensors swept across the third-class mech. One of its secondary weapons, a laser hardpoint buried in its chest, casually targeted the weaker mech.

A powerful beam that was strong enough to pierce through any third-class mech instantly struck the Adonis Colossus!

Chapter 2682: Lasted Too Short

Moments before the Trost decided to get rid of the annoying fly in front of its path, Ves looked befuddled as he saw the Adonis Colossus moving closer to an expert mech that was so much stronger that a comparison wasn't even meaningful.

"What is Vincent doing?" Ves frowned. "Major Verle, did you issue any orders to this idiot?"

Major Verle's projection looked just as confused. "No. The Adonis Colossus may be one of your most.. visually distinctive works, but it's effective as an unarmed shuttle against the Trost. I see no need to needlessly throw away another mech and mech pilot."

Both of them agreed with each other that the Adonis Colossus absolutely wasn't qualified to take part in a battle of this level. Unlike some of the other third-class mechs the Larkinsons fielded in desperation, at least the Desolate Soldier and the original Bright Warrior were able to contribute with their glows.

undefinedAs for the Adonis Colossus? Other than instilling a bit of useless bravado, its glow was completely pointless. None of the Larkinsons ever saw a need to deploy the Adonis Colossus at the front.

Technically, the third-class hybrid mech was supposed to be on reserve.

The truth was that none of the mech commanders wanted to deal with the headache of trying to integrate a useless machine in their formations. Carelessly throwing in outsiders into the mix could lead to severe disruption.

It was better to keep this useless mech out of the way!

Ves narrowed his eyes at the Adonis Colossus. The mech was so pathetic that not even the enemy expert pilot was on guard against it. This amazingly allowed Vicent's mech to come quite close!

Unfortunately, the party was about to end. The Trost simply activated its most convenient weapon system at hand and fired a lethal laser at the annoying mech.

Yet just before the thin but very powerful laser beam struck the Adonis Colossus, Vincent had just put up a defense against the attack!

It may have been years since Vincent confronted the sandmen in battle, but he never forgot what it was like getting attacked by sandman lasers.

"Lasponge! Do your thing!"

The Lasponge module had become active!

In just a few eyeblinks, the Adonis Colossus released a liquid substance that quickly hardened into a giant crystal shield.

Yet the shield only had time to harden up before it was immediately struck with the most powerful laser that had ever targeted the Adonis Colossus!

Vincent had not held anything back. His mech dispensed its entire tank to form the thickest and most solid shield he could erect at this critical time.

Even though it was a long time since he fought in a true battle, he still kept his reflexes and instincts sharp by piloting his mech in competitive duels. This allowed them to react fast enough before it was too late.

"It worked!"

The crystal shield was just capable enough to block the laser attack. The story would have been different if the Trost fired another weapon or took the Adonis Colossus more seriously by empowering his attack with resonance.

Instead, the attack that should have pierced through the cockpit had instead fallen short of its goal.

"Damn! It's getting far too hot!"

The crystal shield absorbed so much heat from the single attack that it instantly blew up, flinging extremely hot shards in every direction!

Fortunately, the Adonis Colossus only suffered minimal surface damage. The mech was actually quite sturdy for a third-class mech.

While the mech remained intact, it was a different matter when it came to its mech pilot.

Vincent's courage and bravado had practically popped when the Trost fired at his mech.

He knew quite well that the attack was aimed straight at the cockpit of his mech!

If he hadn't activated his Lasponge module in time, he might not even be alive anymore!

It was all well and good to dream about putting up a valiant fight, but now that he had almost brushed past his own death, the reality of situation was so much worse than he could ever imagine.

Who could stay calm when they realized they were close to dying?

Who wouldn't cherish their life more after such a frightening moment?

His instincts warred against his thoughts. His body shook and began to release a copious amount of sweat. His vision blurred and his control over the Adonis Colossus wavered. He audibly gulped.

The only reason why he hadn't turned around his mech and flew away was because Raella's words were still ringing in his ears.

She would never forgive him if he turned away like a coward! The Larkinson Clan would never acknowledge him as their own even though it was completely unfair to expect him to make a move against a powerful expert mech!

He simply couldn't make a decision on what he should do. Fortunately, the Trost did not seem to take much notice of his mech's continued existence.

As far as Venerable Kelvin Praetor was concerned, he needed to keep drilling into the stern of the Spirit of Bentheim. His expert mech was already moving away in order to reach the next coordinates that allowed it to fire into the heavily-damaged thruster system.

The Amphis suddenly flew past the immobile Adonis Colossus!

"Either do something or get out of the way!" Venerable Linda Cross contemptuously barked on the local channel.

That caused Vincent to lose even more confidence. Yet another woman thought he was a good-for-nothing. Would it even make a difference if he piloted one of the new-fangled second-class mechs designed by Ves?

Perhaps he would be just as useless as now!

"Damnit, what am I thinking?! Why have I become such a coward?!"

He still remembered the glory days of the past. Back when he was a member of the Bentheim Liberation Movement, he mingled with the worst while fighting against the entire Bright Republic.

He fought and survived through many battles against both humans and sandmen. He had lived through family plots, a war between states and an alien invasion.

"I'm just as much of a warrior as any other Larkinson mech pilot!" Vincent indignantly roared!

His heart longed for him to prove himself!

"I am a real man! I don't hide behind women!"

His mind echoed with his mech once again!

"Who cares about fighting an expert mech? I will make its pilot pay!"

The Adonis Colossus flew forward once again. It circled around the Spirit of Bentheim for a moment and was finally able to approach the Trost once again.

The enemy expert mech was still firing its ranged weapons at the Spirit of Bentheim. Further behind, the Amphis attempted to launch its chainsword at the Trost, only to fall short as the distance between the two machines was never getting shorter.

Due to the track that the Adonis Colossus had taken, Vincent was again in a position to intercept the Trost. His mech was already firing another volley of missiles, nails and laser beams.

The Trost didn't bother to defend against the harmless attacks. While it tried to alter its course to go around the obstacle in front, it did not really try that hard, allowing Vincent to make sure his mech was on a collision course.

If the Adonis Colossus wouldn't get out of the way, then it would quickly collide against the expert mech, causing it to shatter or bounce aside!

There was no way that Vincent would be able to survive such a violent collision!

However, the mech pilot strangely did not move his mech away. Instead, he dared himself to stay right in front of the Trost, forcing the expert mech to make a more proactive move that would force it to waste some of its resources.

At this time, the Trost decided to cut the Adonis Colossus in half. It raised its halberd and was prepared to chop its target down.

As the intimidating blade of the polearm began to hack down, Vincent's heart was pumping faster than ever before.

"MOVE ASIDE, VINCENT!" Raella screamed over the channel.

Her words didn't register in his ears. Instead, as the halberd was about to cut into his mech, his mind had become unprecedentedly close to his mech.

He felt as if the mech that Ves had designed and made for him was truly an extension of himself during this life-threatening moment.

The Adonis Colossus was not the strongest mech by far, but it was the manliest one, and that was enough.

The mech seemed to sense its own impending destruction. It too was unwilling to perish without putting up a decent fight!

Two brave and foolish souls seemed to meld into one. An invisible barrier broke and a will that carried forth the desires of Vincent, the Adonis Colossus and Bravo flooded out of Vincent's mind!

"I AM A MAN!"

The Adonis Colossus, which had already been spiritually enhanced by Ves a some time ago, had actually nurtured itself and Vincent for many months.

Together, they quietly developed as Vincent fought every space duel with his trusty custom mech.

Even though the fights weren't as real, the mech pilot had unquestionably developed a deeper bond with his machine.

Now, all of this accumulation set the conditions for an improbable breakthrough.

When Ves realized what was happening, his mouth practically gaped.

As far as he could recall, Vincent didn't possess any spiritual potential. The likelihood of him going through this event should have been minimal!

Yet during this critical life-and-death moment, the Adonis Colossus became surrounded in a radiant golden corona!

The resonance shield that formed around the mech actually managed to block the halberd strike of the Trost!

Not only that, but the unanticipated failure to cut apart the Adonis Colossus immediately resulted in a very different collision than Venerable Kelvin had anticipated!

The Trost collided against the newly-formed resonance shield!

Already weakened by the failed halberd strike, the resonance shield instantly popped. The forced resonance generated by Vincent may be powerful, but it was still too weak to stop an entire mech in its tracks!

A violet but soundless crash occurred as both mechs bounced away from each other!

Vincent's heroic moment already came to an end!

He lasted less than a second!

The entire front surface of the Adonis Colossus had been crushed! Not a single portion of its front looked intact as the collision had flattened and ruined the muscle definition of its chest!

The damage would have been worse if the resonance shield hadn't absorbed much of the incoming force, but the Adonis Colossus still turned into a wreck!

"VINCENT!"

"Ahh.. Raella.. I'm still there." Vincent weakly said. "Ahh! My cockpit is crushed! Call for help! I think my legs are gone!"

"Help is on the way! Don't worry about your legs. We can just grow them back!"

"Wait.. is my little brother still there?! It can't be, right? I NEED HELP!"

While the ruined Adonis Colossus was flung away, the Trost had also become affected.

Even though its excellent armor caused the mech to remain undamaged, its forward progress had abruptly stalled.

After impacting the resonance shield and the surface of the opposing mech, the Trost had actually bounced back uncontrollably.

Even though Venerable Kelvin Praetor quickly tried to move his mech forward again, the small delay was enough for the Amphis to get closer!

If that wasn't bad enough, the Trost actually flew back at an angle, causing it to angle into a posture that made it seem as if it was reclining on an invisible couch.

This change in angle just happened to be captured by Venerable Davia Stark. Her eyes glinted as her Bright Beam Prime spat out a full-powered energy beam that struck one of the most sensitive exterior components of the enemy expert mech's flight system!

The blindingly powerful beam hit its mark!

Even though the attack failed to deal any further damage, a portion of the flight system fizzled out as the damaged section no longer provided any propulsion power!

The Trost had become slower!

The reduction in acceleration effectively meant that it was barely able to keep ahead of the Amphis!

As long as the space knight was able to reduce the distance a bit more, it would definitely be able to catch the Trost!

"I need one last nudge!" Venerable Linda Cross excitedly exclaimed. "The Trost is almost in my range!"

Venerable Davia quickly contemplated her options. The Trost may have slowed down, but it was still a threat. It had also oriented itself so that she would never be able to shoot its flight system again.

With the Spirit of Bentheim's stern in awful shape, she couldn't afford to wait patiently anymore.

The Trost only needed to make one more attack pass to breach the primary engineering bay and inflict untold destruction to the capital ship!

She took a deep breath and waited until the Trost circled around and came back in the Bright Beam Prime's sights.

"Get ready, Linda!"

Davia pulled the trigger, causing the Bright Beam Prime unleash a final full-powered shot! The resonance-empowered beam struck the Trost head-on, inflicting little actual damage but causing substantially more psychological damage!

When Venerable Kelvin Praetor noticed that the Bright Beam Prime was about to fire, his willpower quivered a bit. Even though expert pilots felt no fear, he still remembered how he suffered the earlier attack.

Perhaps the ranged mech wasn't able to harm his Trost. Perhaps the enemy mech had been holding back until now. Kelvin was stuck in a very difficult dilemma and had no time to think the situation through.

In the end, he flinched, and so did the Trost.

The expert hybrid mech crossed its arms, causing the attack to strike against its already-ruined wrist-mounted flamethrowers.

The damage was actually a bit serious. One of the hands of the Trost had become unresponsive.

"Is that all?"

The damage actually wasn't a big deal. The Trost was still able to wield its energy rifle with a single hand.

Just as Kelvin contemplated the purpose of this ineffective shot, a powerful volley of attacks actually came from a completely unexpected angle.

His instincts warned him of a threat from below, but due to the earlier incident, he wasn't able to orient the Trost fast enough!

A pair of searing white positron beams struck the mech's flight system from below, dealing actual, material damage to it! The strikes were so precise that the Trost completely spun out of control as its thrust had become uneven.

Just half a second later, a pair of glowing gauss rounds struck the already-damaged flight system just as it exposed its rear towards the Spirit of Bentheim.

The Trost's entire flight system shattered into pieces as the enhanced kinetic impacts completely crippled its flight abilities!

"You're finished!" Linda exulted as her Amphis finally caught up with the final traitor expert pilot!

A chainsword wrapped around Trost's torso. The Amphis yanked on the chain, causing it and its target to converge.

What followed next didn't need to be said. Suffice to say, the Trost had been completely neutralized!

Everyone quickly noticed who was responsible for sealing the Trost's fate. A glowing white corona leaked out of one of the bunkers on the surface of the Spirit of Bentheim.

Ves almost shot out of his observer's seat.

"Whose mech is in that bunker?!"

"It's.. Taon Melin, sir. The Prophet's Fist is stationed inside that specific bunker!"

Realization had finally set in for the Larkinsons. The final threat to the Spirit of Bentheim was taken care of. In the final moments, two new expert candidates had broken through and prevented the Trost from breaching the primary engineering bay.

"We're.. saved? We're saved!"

Victory never tasted sweeter.

Chapter 2683: Turnaround

A huge wave of relief swept across the bridge.

The Golden Skull Alliance prevailed!

After sacrificing thousands of mechs and losing a lot of mech pilots, the Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers managed to achieve a military victory against their opponents!

The behavior of the enemy strike force conclusively set the hard-won victory in stone. The deep strike fleet carriers of the Friday Coalition and the larger fleet composed of carriers from the Praetor Clan and Planat Clan were all beating a desperate retreat!

undefinedTheir sudden turnaround reflected the fact that they no longer possessed the confidence to defeat the expeditionary fleet.

Instead, it was their turn to fear death and capture!

Now that they no longer had enough mechs to complete their objectives, they recognized that their defeat was already set in stone.

Their subsequent actions were no longer geared towards achieving victory. The chance of salvaging a win after losing so many combat assets was too slim.

Instead, the enemies who initially attacked the expeditionary fleet were solely trying to preserve as many assets as possible.

Any mech or starship that fell in the hands of an enemy would only compound their losses!

Thousands of trained mech pilots and starship personnel were still aboard the fleet carriers and combat carriers. All of these well-trained servicemen took decades to nurture. Their loss would definitely hurt the national strength of their respective organizations!

The aggrieved members of the Golden Skull Alliance definitely didn't let their opponents off! The ambushers had to pay a price for launching an unprovoked attack.

"Mr. Melin! Don't let the Fridaymen off! Use whatever strength you have left to cripple the mobility of their fleet carriers!"

"Yes, sir!"

The bunker on the Spirit of Bentheim that housed the Prophet's Fist was still glowing!

Unlike Vincent Ricklin whose breakthrough ended prematurely, Taon Melin still had plenty of juice left in the tank!

Ves and Major Verle did not want to waste the temporary power of the Larkinson Clan's newest expert candidate.

At this moment. The Prophet's Fist was surrounded by a sacred white glow that was unquestionably Ylvainan in character. The forced resonance that affected the entire mech temporarily elevated it to the performance standards of an expert mech.

Soon enough, Taon Melin showed what an artillery mech was truly capable of at the expert level.

The Prophet's Fist fired radiant white positron beams that struck the thrusters of the Eager Condemnation.

An instant later, the glowing mech fired its gauss cannons.

Two white comets slammed into the wounds opened up by the earlier attacks. The resonance-empowered projectiles slammed into the rear of the Eager Condemnation with great violence!

Fragments of thruster components exploded from the damaged capital ship. Immediately, her acceleration dropped by 7 percent. While that didn't sound very impressive at first, this was just the first salvo!

Fleet carriers were combat vessels, so their propulsion systems shouldn't be so easily affected by damage. Yet the power of the Prophet's Fist was easily able to overcome the initial layers of defense.

The other Transcendent Punishers joined in on the action as well.

Though the range was quite considerable, there was no way for the huge and lumbering capital ships to evade! At this distance, it was no problem for regular artillery mechs to land their shots on a reliable basis.

"Hahaha! Look at them running! Serves them right for trying to kill our patriarch!"

"Don't let any of them get away!"

Despite being besieged from behind, none of the remaining enemy combatants had any intentions to fight to the death.

First, there was no benefit to it. Victory was unattainable, so it made no sense to continue the fight.

Second, they still had an escape route. Space was very open and the battle took place beyond the edge of the zone that prohibited FTL transitions.

This meant that as long as any of the fleeing ships distanced themselves far enough from the enemy, they could instantly slip into the higher dimensions and

"Don't let those starships run!" Colonel Ariadne Wodin of the Glory Seekers commanded! "The outcome of this battle has been decided, but we still need to bleed the Fridaymen more. Don't let any of their deep strike fleet carriers escape!"

This time, it was the expeditionary fleet's turn to inhibit their opponents from escaping this star system!

The enemy strike force had stopped to prevent their targets from running by launching gravitic interference missiles.

Instead, it was the Golden Skull Alliance's turn to detonate gravitic payloads that disturbed the local region of space!

The Larkinson Clan didn't stock up on gravitic interference missiles, but fortunately its allies already had that covered.

Both the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan had already loaded their missileer mechs with the appropriate missiles. Now, they fired them in the vicinity of their respective targets.

The soldiers of the Wodin Dynasty did not want to let any of the deep strike fleet carriers go. The Glory Seeker missiles all detonated close to the Eager Condemnation, the Amagi, the Forward Momentum and the Orca Tyrant.

The Hexers did not even let the Auralis off! Even though all of her crew had been wiped out some time ago, the Fridaymen were already employing multiple methods to take the paralyzed fleet carrier out of the hands of their opponents.

As for the Cross Clan, their surviving mechs were already racing after the ships of the Praetor Clan and Planat Clan!

However, the chase was a bit more restrained here. Unlike the Fridaymen, the traitor clans still retained a considerable amount of strength.

Even when the surviving Crosser mechs from both the left and right side converged back together, they only roughly matched the amount of opposing mechs.

They needed to borrow the help of the surviving Glory Seeker mechs in order to enjoy a decisive numerical advantage, but the problem was that the Hexers weren't very interested in battling a desperate opponent!

Patriarch Reginald Cross — who had managed to return to the Hemmington Cross — made an urgent plea to Colonel Ariadne Wodin.

"We can't let them run!" His projection angrily shouted. "We have suffered far too much at the hands of the Praetors and Planats. We must not let their ships crawl back to their nests. If we can't take all of their carriers, then we must at least destroy them. I will not stop chasing them until I have cornered Damira Planat!"

The expert pilot of the Erin Tear had managed to eject and return to her mothership as well. Just the thought of letting that woman flee from this battle alive made Reginald Cross very indignant!

"Patriarch, I understand your desire to take revenge, but there are still around 1000 enemy mechs left." The colonel replied. "While we outnumber them by more than two times, a battle against a cornered enemy will definitely produce further losses. It is difficult to tolerate further sacrifices when we have already accomplished our primary goal. We survived."

"It's not enough! Don't think I haven't seen your mechs chasing after those deep strike fleet carriers as if they are your birthday presents."

"The Fridaymen have essentially lost their ability to protect their ships. Aside from some bunker mechs and scattered ranged mechs, their ability to threaten us is nil. We do not have to make any sacrifices to overtake their carriers. It's a different story when it comes to your old enemies."

"Then help us! As long as you can facilitate the capture or destruction of the Soaring Eagle, the Vindicator 35 and the Palmis Crislin, I won't demand reparations for most of the damage we have incurred. We have lost a lot of good Crosser mech pilots from this battle. We have also lost Venerable Banner Cross."

Both of them briefly fell silent at this mention.

The Golden Skull Alliance hadn't actually lost a lot of expert pilots. The ones who lost their mechs successfully ejected from their broken machines and safely returned to their motherships.

However, Venerable Banner Cross never had the chance to do so when the Jeanne D'Arc stabbed its sword straight through the Leskin's cockpit.

This was an incredibly painful loss to the Cross Clan. The most troublesome aspect was that Venerable Banner Cross sacrificed his life to block the Fridayman expert mechs.

Colonel Ariadne Wodin knew that she could not act rashly at this time. The Cross Clan certainly needed to be compensated for the losses they suffered while fighting opponents who were only enemies by association.

She quickly pulled in Ves into the conversation. His projection appeared quickly.

After briefly filling him in on the situation, Ves briefly frowned until the commanding officer of the Glory Seeker asked some very relevant questions.

"How many artillery mechs do you have left? What are their conditions? How many hours do they have left before they are spent?"

Her questions reminded Ves of the greatest performers of the Larkinson Clan in this battle.

While his prime mechs and his battle formations arguably stole the show, as far as he was concerned, the battle would have never ended up as good if not for his Transcendent Punishers!

Ves quickly used his implants to access the most current status update.

"We have around 160 Transcendent Punishers. Most of them are tired but can still fire their weapons continuously at low intensity. As the designers of this heavy artillery mech, I can assure you that they will be able hold on for several hours. They are not made of glass. Several dozen of Transcendent Punishers have suffered varying degrees of damage, so their combat effectiveness is not as good. There are also a handful of artillery mechs that were previously taken out of action. Our mech technicians are working as hard as possible to restore their combat ability."

160 artillery mechs!

Perhaps that did not sound like much when the battle started off with 16,000 mechs, but now that the number of enemy threats dipped below 1000 combat effective mechs, this was a priceless advance, especially when it came to ranged combat!

If that wasn't enough, the Glory Seekers and Crossers also retained a considerable amount of bunker mechs! Even though their heavy artillery mechs weren't as flashy as the Larkinson Clan's Transcendent Punishers, they were still a force to be reckoned with at this stage of the engagement!

Of course, the same went for the enemy. Their artillery mechs were still covering for the retreat of their fleet.

Even so, both Ariadne and Reginald looked ecstatic! As long as the Larkinson Clan pitched in their artillery mechs, their side could easily crush the remaining enemy bunker mechs!

"If this is the case, the remaining enemy mechs will not be a problem." She confidently stated. "We still have a significant amount of artillery mechs at our disposal. We don't need to assault the enemy remnants directly. We can just maintain a safe distance while bombarding the propulsion systems of the enemy carriers. Since the vessels are currently trying to run away from us, their main thrusters are in our sights. Even at three times the distance, our artillery mechs can still cripple their legs. Once we have accomplished that, we can suppress or demolish their surviving mechs with continuous bombardment."

The three suited and armored figures quickly hashed out a plan.

While the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers still prioritized immobilizing the fleet carriers of the Friday Coalition, they promised to lend their strength to cripple as many starships of the traitor clans as possible.

Patriarch Reginald was not content with forcing the three fleet carriers of the two clans to stay. He wanted to immobilize the 50-odd combat carriers that the Praetor Clan and Planat Clan had brought as well.

As long as at least one of the combat carriers was able to escape the star system, then there was a good chance that Venerable Damira Planat and Venerable Albert Praetor would escape from the vengeful patriarch's grasp!

The Cross Clan did not want to let either of them crawl back to their respective clans! Weakening his old enemies by depriving them of their valuable expert pilots would hurt more than robbing them of their carrier vessels.

This was especially the case for Venerable Damira Planat! As a high-tier expert pilot, she was effectively an ace pilot candidate, someone who was able to revive her clan as long as she managed to advance.

There was no way that Reginald was willing to let this happen!

"Do not let any enemy escape!"

Chapter 2684: Loyal to the End

The battle had devolved into a giant frenzy at this stage. Even though there were thousands of wrecks floating in space, the search and rescue operation was only a sideshow compared to the current undertaking of the expeditionary forces.

This time, the hunters had become the hunted!

Initially, the Fridaymen and the traitor clans entered the battle in high spirits. They confidently banked on their elite mech units and their superior amount of expert mechs to crush their opponents.

Against any other enemies, their plan may have worked. Even if they suffered a lot of casualties to earn their victory, it was all worth it as long as they were able to achieve their primary goals.

undefinedYet once they fell victim to the unconventional methods that the Larkinson Clan had never unveiled in public, the attackers suffered too many setbacks!

A pallid shadow cast over the crews of the fleeing starships.

Aboard the Eager Condemnation, Aisling Curver ignored the frantic activity around the command center.

The Coalition Reserve Corps was hardly the best military branch of the Friday Coalition, but its professionalism was beyond doubt. The personnel taking part in Operation Head Crusher were hand-picked for both their competence and loyalty.

Their loss would no doubt hurt the CRC considerably, but they could also be counted upon not to leave anything valuable behind to the enemy.

Even now, the bridge officers were in the process of wiping out valuable data, installing booby traps and facilitating the upcoming end of the Eager Condemnation.

General Pierce did not even want to leave a single scrap of useful material to the enemy. Blowing up the ship was the best possible way to spite their enemies and prevent them from gaining more loot.

While it was still possible for the winners to pick up the fragments from the expanding debris field, this was a very time-consuming ordeal that would likely take months to complete!

As more time went by, the debris of the destroyed ship would keep spreading further apart, making it even more difficult to pick up the pieces.

"The Larkinsons and Hexers will never waste the time to pick up our scraps."

"Even if someone comes to salvage the remains of our grand ship, I would rather let the local scavengers pick our bones!"

Their deaths loomed close, but the remaining CRC servicemen were determined to withhold as many benefits from the winners as possible.

It had practically become an obsession to the doomed crew members!

"Hahaha! Our engineers have just trashed our deep strike FTL drives! We're not going to let any Larkinson or Hexer use our own tech to travel through the stars!"

Aisling widened her eyes when she heard this news. This was an incredibly serious measure. Destroying the FTL drives of a starship was nothing less than cutting off their own legs!

Even though it was clear that everyone was already resigned to meet their doom, she was still surprised at how quickly and decisively the crew of the Eager Condemnation had moved.

No hesitation!

No procrastination!

No excuses!

As soon as it became 99 percent certain that they wouldn't be able to bring back their fleet carrier to the Friday Coalition, the people in charge immediately destroyed their own means of getting away.

"Ah!"

A low rumble rang throughout the ship. This was definitely a sign that another propulsion system had been taken out by the enemy artillery mechs.

There was no way to prevent the enemy from firing their guns at their main thrusters.

The only way for the Eager Condemnation to run from their pursuers was to turn their backs to them. If any ship attempted to shield their vulnerable propulsion systems by pointing their noses at the enemy, then they wouldn't be able to fly away anymore!

The only way to mitigate the damage somewhat was to fly away at an angle. This made it a bit more difficult to immobilize the starships completely.

Right now, this was exactly what Task Force Umbra was doing.

Each fleet carrier had split up. Aside from the silent Auralis, the other four Fridayman fleet carriers had opted to fan out in different directions. This forced their pursuers to make the difficult decision to spread out their pursuit forces. This was risky and dangerous considering that each Fridayman vessel still retained some bunker mechs and other damaged mechs.

Unfortunately, the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers were not deterred. Even though their mechs weren't in good shape and their mech pilots were very exhausted, they were determined to take revenge and maximize their gains!

Splitting up only delayed the inevitable. Even Aisling could see that. She considered her own fate.

She had a responsibility as well.

Master Huron briefly transmitted a message to her just before the crew of the Eager Condemnation trashed the quantum communication nodes.

"...I deeply regret your loss, but I will make sure your family and dependants are well taken care of. As the main technical supervisor of Unit L, you must wrap up this project as properly as possible. Please see to it that all of the spare parts, data banks, manuals and any other equipment related to the asymmetrical neural network project are properly disposed of. We cannot allow even an inkling of my research to fall in the hands of the enemy. The Gauge Dynasty and I expect you to do your duty. The Friday Coalition will prevail. Farewell, Aisling."

Due to the sensitive moment, Master Huron was only able to transmit a brief message. The rest of the bandwidth of the quantum communication nodes was already taken up by the need to transmit as much data as possible about the battle. Every sensor reading, every battle log and every other scrap of data had to be preserved to allow the Friday Coalition to figure out how they lost this battle.

If the Hex Army adopted the powerful methods of the Larkinson Clan one day, the Coalition had to be ready with a response!

None of the Fridaymen wanted to get caught with their pants down again. The introduction of the Blessed Squire and the Valkyrie Redeemer had already caused untold damage to their forces. Now that they gained a preview of some of the Larkinson Clan's next innovations, they had to make as much use out of this intelligence trove as possible.

To some of the Fridayman leaders back home, the intelligence gathered by Task Force Umbra made the loss of five deep strike fleet carriers a lot easier to accept!

Aisling's mood lowered even further as she rewatched her Master's message.

"You.. you're excited as well, aren't you? You can't wait to learn from the lessons of this battle."

She spent years learning under Master Toqueman Huron. She knew when he was eager to explore something new. The performance of Unit L and the Bloody Herons in this battle was very illuminating.

What was even more interesting was how some of the mechs of the Larkinson Clan vaguely exhibited a similar approach!

"This is impossible! There is no way that Ves has permission to form a neural network. The expertise required to design a networked neural interface is far too difficult for a Journeyman!"

She couldn't figure out how Ves managed to copy some of Huron's work! The mech designer in her was not reconciled with her ignorance. She wanted to know the truth! She wanted to take a look at Ves' research and applications!

Yet.. from what it looked like, she wouldn't have the chance. The Eager Condemnation was slowing down. The Larkinsons were steadily overtaking the increasingly less mobile fleet carrier.

The CRC would never let their opponents get what they wanted. With each minute that passed, the stoic crew members installed more explosives throughout the ship. They also purposefully crippled many systems by overloading them or forcing them to function outside of their boundaries.

"Don't blow up the ship just yet. Let's wait for them to land their boarding parties on our ship. We need to take as many of them with us as we can! It'll be our final surprise!"

"You idiot! There's no way our pursuers will fall for our trap. We've set up this scheme too many times during the Komodo War, and the Hexers have used the same trick as well."

The soldiers were right.

During the entire pursuit, the Glory Seekers constantly transmitted demands for them to surrender.

As long as the Fridaymen shut down their ship and evacuated from it, the Golden Skull Alliance promised to respect their surrender and keep them alive.

The expeditionary forces were much more interested in taking their ships than their lives!

Even if there was a lot of hatred between the two sides, as far as Ves and Colonel Ariadne were concerned, they would rather maximize their benefits than satisfy their grievances.

Aisling sighed. "They won't get their way."

The entire situation felt surreal to her. What was she doing here? Was Ves her enemy? Was she truly obligated to execute Master Huron's final orders?

She felt very mixed at this time. By all rights, she should do her best to safeguard the confidentiality of Master Huron's work. She shouldn't leave anything behind to the people who killed Venerable Ghanso Larkinsons and Venerable Relia Foster.

"Ghanso.. Relia…"

Although they weren't true Fridaymen, Aisling spent months working alongside them. Over the course of her assignment, she no longer minded their humble origins. Both expert pilots were individuals to be respected. She even regarded the two as comrades in arms.

If she wanted to respect her fallen friends, then she shouldn't even be hesitating at this moment!

"..Damnit! Why am I making this so difficult.."

She remained entangled in her conflicting emotions throughout the attempted flight.

At this time, the Transcendent Punishers had achieved a lot of progress in slowing down the fleeing fleet carriers.

Even though Taon's breakthrough moment finally came to an end, the Larkinsons didn't need to rely on his power to accomplish something as simple as cutting off the legs of their prey.

The pursuers still kept their distance, though.

Neither Ves, Major Verle, Colonel Ariadne and any other leader dared to send mechs or shuttles to the largely-immobilized fleet carriers.

"The Fridaymen are not responding to our surrender demands." Major Verle grimaced. "They're not even doing their best to lull us in a false sense of security. In my judgement, there is a 90 percent chance that the Eager Condemnation, the Amagi and the Orca Tyrant are already rigged to blow."

Ves rubbed his armored fingers against the side of his helmet. "What about the Forward Momentum?"

"The Forward Momentum is the lightest and most mobile fleet carrier of the enemy fleet. If any enemy capital ship has a chance of escaping our pursuit, it has to be this one. If you look at the local plot, you'll see that the Forward Momentum is far ahead from the battlefield. Her forward acceleration is the highest out of every other ship, including the Antonio Cross."

"Are they actually getting away?" Ves frowned.

Major Verle laughed. "Hahaha! No chance! While our artillery mechs are missing their shots quite often, they're still dismantling the Forward Momentum's sub-light propulsion systems over time. Since she is so poorly armored, it doesn't take a lot of hits to cripple her chances of getting away. It's just…"

"She'll just blow up in the end." Ves depressingly concluded.

This was a frustrating experience! Those deep strike fleet carriers were incredibly valuable! If the Larkinsons were able to get their hands on a couple of them, then they would gain a huge windfall!

No matter if the Larkinsons sold their spoils or converted the captured vessels for their own use, the enormous gains would definitely take the sting out of the enormous losses the clan had suffered!

However, from what it looked like, it was not to be. Ves could already see trillions of credits, huge troves of data and large reserves of valuable materials collapsing in front of him. This was an incredibly painful realization that almost the joy he gained from winning a crucial battle!

Fortunately, there was one more enemy fleet carrier.

"What about.. the Auralis?"

Major Verle grinned. "She's a special case. While the Fridaymen are doing their best to deprive her from us, we have dispatched numerous boarding parties to secure this prize."

The overall battle may have been decided, but an entirely different struggle was still taking place inside the hallways and compartments of the Auralis!

Chapter 2685: The Fate of the Auralis

The Forward Momentum had no chance of getting away.

It was not for lack of trying.

The Vanguarders crewing the vessel employed desperate measures to traverse as much distance as possible.

Bots and mechs were throwing away as many supplies and equipment as possible. It wasn't enough to dump their spare parts, their ammunition stores, their material reserves and even months worth of food and water into space.

undefinedThe crew of the Forward Momentum also tore out as many non-essential equipment as possible!

Mechs roughly tore out heavy equipment such as 3D printers and structural components such as decks and bulkheads and physically threw them out the nearest large-sized hatches.

Of course, the Fridaymen didn't forget to trash any of the valuable equipment and goods they got rid of. They didn't want their pursuers to pick up a bargain.

While it sounded a bit silly to speed up a ship as long and heavy as a fleet carrier in this fashion, the actions did make a difference, if only modestly.

It was too bad that too much of the Forward Momentum was still stuck to the hull. The hull plating and structural components such as the keel accounted for most of the mass of the fleet carrier. Removing them was either time-consuming or not doable if they actually wanted to keep the ship together when she transitioned into FTL travel.

In the end, the Forward Momentum lost her primary sub-light propulsion systems.

While she still possessed numerous secondary thrusters and so on, they were mainly responsible for performing delicate maneuvers and adjusting the ship's orientation. In other words, they were only responsible for turning and spinning the Forward Momentum around. It simply wasn't doable to rely on their meager power to outrun a mech or starship!

Even when the Forward Momentum's escape was blocked, Ves didn't pay much attention to the vessel.

"There is no way for the Vanguarders to run away far enough before my Transcendent Punishers robs them of their mobility."

He held no doubts. He knew his mechs the best, so he could already predict the outcome.

Even though his artillery mechs already fired their weapons more than a thousand times, even though their weapon barrels were already showing heavy signs of wear and tear, even though the entire fleet's reserve of gauss ammunition and high-density mech-grade energy cells was running low, the Transcendent Punishers were still capable of finishing the job.

Of course, Ves did not look forward to the aftermath. The mechs had been in combat for so long that many of them were only just a few steps away from breaking down. Even the undamaged mechs required an extensive round of maintenance to fix all of the damage they accumulated over the course of firing their powerful weapons.

While it was not impossible to force them to take part in another battle, strictly speaking they should pretty much be out of service after this engagement.

Ves silently groaned and pressed his hand against his helmet. He felt the urge to palm his face or rub his smooth-shaven chin, but it was not wise to remove his Unending Regalia at this time.

While there was pretty much no chance that the Fridaymen managed to infiltrate the Spirit of Bentheim, it was best to be cautious to the very end. He had already paid for mistakes of underestimating the Fridaymen before.

In order to cheer him up, he turned his attention elsewhere. He focused his sights on the projection of the Auralis.

The Gauge Dynasty-built fleet carrier had fallen dormant ever since it got hit by the energy wave unleashed by the Penitent Sister battle formation.

A lot of people were initially scared and hesitant to approach the Auralis. The surviving Fridaymen all learned that the crew of the massive ship had died in an instant when the wave passed through the hull.

Over 20,000 humans died in an instant. None of them succeeded in resisting the unstoppable attack. Who knew whether some of that 'death energy' still lingered on the lifeless capital ship!

It was only belatedly that General Pierce compelled the forces under his command to dispatch marines to escort a takeover party to bring the Auralis back online.

"We can't leave this ship floating around in space! We can't let our opponents get our hands on her either. Gain control over her propulsion and her FTL drives and bring her away if possible. Blow her up if you can't or if our enemies have a chance of capturing her. The Auralis is the property of the Friday Coalition. There is too much sensitive intelligence and classified technology in her hull. She cannot fall into the hands of outsiders!"

This was easier said than done. When the Fridayman shuttles initially arrived next to the eerily-silent vessel, they had difficulty getting in. The Fridayman boarding parties were stuck outside for a very long time as they waited for a mech to breach one of the entry hatches.

It got worse as they went inside.

Every compartment and hallway section was locked.

"Damnit, the Auralis isn't accepting our codes or communication requests! The stupid ship AIs don't want to let us in. They're treating us as rivals rather than allies!"

The AIs were never programmed to deal with this unprecedented situation. A ship as valuable and sensitive as a deep strike fleet carrier possessed extremely high security. The Auralis boasted the best physical defenses and virtual defenses the Gauge Dynasty could stuff in a capital ship.

Bang!

A frustrated virtual security specialist slammed his fist against the console. Trying to gain access into the Auralis' internal network was as hard as pulling out an exobeast's teeth!

The suited and armored figures of this specific boarding party all impatiently shuffled their feet. If the Auralis accepted their identities and let them in, then they would have been able to reach her primary engineering bay at this time!

Instead, the ship acted like a traumatized survivor who had become horribly paranoid to anyone else. She closed herself off from her former friends and allies and trusted no one except for other Gaugers.

This ordinarily shouldn't be a problem. No matter what catastrophe the Auralis suffered, she was so well-armored and well-protected that it should have been impossible for all of her crew to die at once.

In the imagination of her shipwrights, the only instance where all of the crew would die at once was if she flew into a sun, crashed onto the surface of a heavy gravity planet or got struck by a superweapon.

In any other instance, at least some of the 20,000 crew members of the highly-compartmentalized vessel should still be left alive to take over command.

Even if every crew member died except for the junior cook, the Auralis would instantly recognize the survivor as the highest-ranking service member on the ship who was still alive.

This simple cook would gain a huge amount of authority and become capable of commanding the fleet carrier's AIs and automated systems.

This was enough power to command the Auralis to flee from the battlefield or initiate self-destruct procedures!

Yet this did not happen! Every single crew member had died without exception, so according to the programming of the AIs, the Auralis was locked unless a senior officer of the Sundered Phalanx came to take over command.

"What kind of stupid demand is this!?" A marine captain roared. "I'm a citizen of the Gauge Dynasty!"

Unfortunately, the Auralis ignored the officer's pleas.

The marine captain served in the Coalition Reserve Corps, which was a separate military branch.

The man was also an infantry officer, making him unqualified to 'unlock' a ship as valuable as the Auralis!

"Wait, don't we have any surviving Sundered Phalanx mech pilots left, sir?" A combat engineer suddenly proposed. "The mech pilots of the Bloody Herons and the Holvein Grenadiers are part of the Auralis' original crew complement. As long as we bring one of them back, the Auralis should recognize them and hand over command authority."

As soon as they conveyed this suggestion back to their superiors, they were met with a long period of silence before they received an answer.

"Not a single mech of the Bloody Herons and the Holvein Grenadiers have managed to disengage from the battle. The enemy mech forces have essentially wiped them all out."

A heavy weight fell on the shoulders of the boarding party.

It didn't matter if other senior Fridayman officers came. As far as the Auralis was concerned, people from the Konsu Clan, Vanguard Group and other Coalition partners couldn't be trusted.

Who knew if they were looking to steal the Auralis for themselves!

These strict instructions reflected the general wariness that Coalition partners held towards each other. Even after they merged in a single state, they still maintained a competitive outlook towards each other!

Not a single Coalition partner was their friend. They merely allied with each other out of necessity. It was impossible for the Gauge Dynasty to program their most sensitive military assets to roll out the welcoming mat to their rivals!

"..If that is the case, then we have no other way to go deeper aside from breaching every hatch and blast door in our way."

That was going to take a long time. When a fleet carrier as valuable as the Auralis wanted to keep people out, the barriers in the way could stall intruders for hours or even days depending on their breaching equipment!

"Well, at least our opposition will have it even worse." The combat engineer quipped. "The Auralis doesn't want to let us in, but she doesn't recognize us as hostiles either. If any of the Larkinsons or Hexers try to step aboard, the ship's active defenses will immediately wipe them out. Even if they manage to sabotage these countermeasures, they won't get the core systems in time. We have a head start on anyone who comes afterwards."

Ordinarily, the Fridayman combat engineer should be right.

Yet the first infiltrators the Larkinson Clan had sent was a single stealth shuttle.

The invisible vehicle had actually launched from the expeditionary fleet shortly after the Auralis became a ghost ship.

Even while mechs were still battling it out with each other, the stealth shuttle stayed far away from the hot zones and quietly slipped to the underside of the Auralis.

When the shuttle hatch oriented towards the ship slid open, two figures floated into view.

A heavily-suited woman and a cat clad in form-fitting black armor landed on the hull of the lifeless capital ship.

"You know what to do, Lucky." Calabast transmitted to the cat. "Follow the routines and instructions that I've sent to you. The ship diagram, hacking software and false data provided by DIVA should work. Even if they don't, just switch over to the backup plan. One way or another, we'll be taking over the ship, and it will all be thanks to you. Now get going if you want to have free rein over the ship's vault and material stores!"

"Meow!"

Lucky phased straight though meters of solid hull plating and other material designed to repel outside intrusion. Once he entered one of the outermost compartments, the cat was careful not to appear in open space.

Instead, he kept 'swimming' through solid decks and bulkheads, preventing even a shadow of his presence from getting detected by the ship's vigilant monitoring system.

When a ship like the Auralis was in lockdown mode, then her security systems became incredibly alert to any intruders!

It was one thing for other Fridaymen to step aboard the ship. It was another thing for Hexers and thieves to sneak their way inside!

Calabast had warned Lucky over and over again not to stick his head out. The cat had to rely on other senses to make his way to the center of the fleet carrier. Fortunately, his progress was fairly quick since not a single solid obstacle was able to stop a phased commando cat.

Lucky eventually passed through the reinforced layers that protected one of the core sections of the Auralis.

The primary data vault housed the AIs and much of the essential data of the Auralis.

This was an incredibly sensitive compartment. The core AI that governed the highest levels of the fleet carrier was incredibly sensitive towards any form of intrusion.

Not even the Hexers managed to figure out a way to hack or subvert the core AIs employed by the Sundered Phalanx.

As long as the core AI or the ship's systems detected anything amiss, the AIs would quickly activate a contingency plan that made taking over the ship impossible!

Fortunately, Lucky didn't need to mess with the core AI. Instead, he moved over to one of the data banks and retrieved a tiny chip from one of his Misfortune Harness' pockets.

He carefully took advantage of his phased state to attach the chip into an internal server port in one of the closed data storage units.

Immediately, the software and data inside this tiny chip went to work!

What was strange was that the Auralis did not reject the intrusion.

It would have been different if Lucky appeared into view and tried to drill a hole in the storage unit.

Yet because the chip appeared spontaneously, the initial actions of the hacking software took effect before the security systems put up its guard.

As long as the hacking program managed to get its foot in the door, the rest was easy!

It only took a couple of seconds for the contents of the chip to do its job. Soon enough, it broke apart into specs of dust.

Outside of the Auralis, Calabast and a boarding party from the Black Cats patiently waited. Upon receiving a subtle signal, the spymaster attempted to open the outer hatch.

It slid open without resistance. Calabast and her subordinates effortlessly flew inside and landed on the deck as soon as the artificial gravity took hold.

The ship greeted the new arrivals.

[Welcome back to the Auralis, Captain Arnlend. This ship is currently under lockdown. Your orders, ma'am?]

Calabast grinned. "Kill any unauthorized intruders. Don't leave any of them alive."

Chapter 2686: Reckoning

"War is cruel."

Ves stood proudly before the giant forward projectors on the bridge. His Unending Regalia along with his cape made him look exceptionally valiant.

As the leader of a victorious force, he felt incredibly relieved that he managed to retain his life.

If the battle had taken a turn for the worse, his opponents might have been able to gain a decisive advantage. Ves really didn't want to think about what would happen to him once the situation got to that point.

undefinedIn fact, not just him, but every member of the Larkinson Clan would suffer a bad fate. As their leader and the person responsible for inviting them to take part in his grand expedition, he'd feel very guilty for making their life worse.

There was so much responsibility on his shoulders that he felt burdened whenever he had to make any decision. Even a simple matter such as how he spent his day could have a profound influence on the success of his clan.

Sometimes, he even thought about ditching it all, but it was far too late to make that decision.

For better or worse, his problems had become the Larkinson Clan's problems and vice versa.

This battle was a good example of that. If Ves hadn't meddled in the Komodo War by providing the Hex Army with usable glow-oriented designs, the Friday Coalition would have never sent 8 expert mechs and 5 deep strike fleet carriers to ambush a single Journeyman Mech Designer!

While he was happy that his side won in the end, he did not look forward to hearing the casualty figures. His clansmen were still in the process of performing search and rescue out into space.

A lot of mechs had broken apart with their mech pilots stuck inside while others limped back to the carriers with heavy injuries. Even mech pilots who appeared to be physically healthy may be in a lot of mental anguish.

Considering the destructiveness of the battle, Ves was already bracing himself for bad news. His thoughts already moved on to what would happen next.

What he worried about the most at this stage was the support he enjoyed among the crew. While a victory always boosted the reputation of the people in charge, a pyrrhic victory could easily erode his support even further!

This was especially after Ves had made the determination to avoid a repeat of the Battle against the Abyss.

"What do they call this battle?" Ves asked the dignified older woman standing by his side.

Grand Captain Daria-Maria Vraken did not look exhausted at all. Despite her responsibilities, she admirably kept the Spirit of Bentheim under control. Throughout much of the battle, her excellent direction essentially prevented any enemy attacks from getting past the energy shields and other defenses of the factory ship.

Even when the Trost had unleashed a myriad of weapons at the main thrusters of the Spirit of Bentheim, Captain Vraken along with the chief engineer made sure to lock everything volatile down and divert power and resources to limit the secondary explosions that might occur.

While the Spirit of Bentheim's sub-light propulsion systems were not in good shape, the ship still retained a portion of her mobility. Other ships had suffered worse. Many of the combat carriers of the Larkinson Clan were banged up due to the enemy's attempts to take out their bunker mechs.

"Every large-scale battle deserves a name." The captain smiled. "This is no skirmish. With twelve capital ships, hundreds of sub-capital ships, sixteen expert mechs and roughly 16,000 standard mechs, I'd say this is definitely a battle that is worthy to be added to the records of the Komodo War."

"We're not fighting on behalf of the Hegemony." Ves grimaced. "We were just defending ourselves."

"Let's not kid ourselves, Patriarch Ves. You are anything but a bystander in our war. This battle only came about because the Friday Coalition considers you its enemy. That alone means you are a core participant in the struggle for domination in the Komodo Star Sector. Even if you run to an entirely new galaxy, your mechs are still advancing the Hexer cause."

That was nice to hear. Not.

He lightly coughed. "Anyway, what is this battle going to be called?"

"Well, I doubt you would want to commemorate our victory here by referring to it as the Battle of 347342-E-348312 or something." She crossed her arms and chuckled. "The survivors here need a more.. expressive name to remember it by. I've noticed that the martial wing of your clan speak quite solemnly about the Battle of Ulimo Citadel and the Battle against the Abyss. I can already tell you that your clansmen will speak of this confrontation in the same light, so you should take some creative liberties."

There weren't any official rules that governed how a battle should be named. It was not solely determined by the location. As long as enough people accepted a common name, it became official. Battles could even have multiple names if the two sides disagreed.

"Are there any good ones circulating around?"

"There are a few. Some have started to call it the Battle of Retribution due to all of the bad blood involved. Others have taken a liking for calling it the Battle of Divinities, due to the outsized roles of expert candidates, expert pilots, expert mechs and prime mechs."

Ves immediately frowned. "Let's not take it too far. The bulk of this battle was won through the efforts of thousands of ordinary mech pilots. They may not be so flashy, but they have done their duty and should be recognized for that. I don't want their contributions to be overshadowed by the handful of expert candidates and expert pilots that already enjoy a lot of attention."

"Your concern for your lesser clansmen is admirable, but I don't think they will mind if the spotlight is shone on the likes of Venerable Joshua Larkinson or Pilot Taon Melin. I think it will do more good than harm if you rally your clan around a grand and bold name. It will help with dealing with the inevitable backlash from suffering so many losses."

She had a point.

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"The Glory Seekers have taken to calling it the Battle of the Superior Mother's Reckoning. She has acted twice in this battle. The moment when the Superior Mother slew the Bloody Herons and harvested the lives of the crew of the Auralis is the most unforgettable moment in this battle."

Ves immediately rejected it. "I need a more inclusive name, but I like the word reckoning. Revenge is both the main driver and the ultimate result of this clash. Plenty of people satisfied their need for revenge while others paid for their misdeeds. Perhaps.. we should call it the Battle of Reckoning."

It was a bit plain, which Ves preferred, but it also conveyed enough meaning to those who lived through it. While it was not the most unique way to commemorate a battle, it still passed his requirements.

He transmitted his choice to Major Verle and other leaders. They would take care of the rest.

Speaking of revenge, Ves received a surprising notice from Major Verle.

"We've picked up a couple of very special survivors, sir. If you're interested, you can pay a visit to them. We've transferred them to a secure and isolated treatment facility aboard the Spirit of Bentheim. So far, we have kept the news under wraps."

Ves became intrigued.

"Who are the survivors?"

"It's.. Venerable Relia Foster and Venerable Ghanso Larkinson."

"What?! They're alive?!"

"Yes, but… they're not in good shape. You'll know when you see them, sir. One of them is stable but the other is deteriorating. If you want to talk to the latter, then you should head down there quickly before it's too late."

"I'm on my way!"

Ves exited the bridge post-haste and took a floater platform down a handful of decks at the highest priority, forcing every other floater platform or cargo bot in the way to move aside.

He didn't actually expect that both of them made it through, but in hindsight he should have taken the possibility into account.

Expert pilots were strategically valuable. When Seniors or Masters designed their expert mechs, they invested heavily in the protection it afforded to its occupants.

In particular, the cockpits were virtually bunkers in themselves. They were not only armored as much as possible, but also contained a range of protective and medical functions to preserve the lives of expert pilots as much as possible.

The tech stuffed inside these extravagant cockpits were so good that expert pilots should still be able to survive if their heads had been cut off their necks!

Of course, whether such an expert pilot was capable of piloting expert mechs again was another question.

When Ves reached the entrance to the medical bay, he met up with Dr. Ranya. She personally took charge of the treatments due to the sensitive identities of the two patients.

"Patriarch." She greeted as she wore a high-quality white hazard suit that was customized for medical purposes. "My team and I are keeping the two expert pilots alive as best as possible, but it's not going too well."

"What's the problem, doc?"

She gestured towards the hatch leading into one of the sterilized treatment rooms. "Venerable Relia Foster has received considerable body injuries. The traumatic injuries she suffers suggests that a giant sword sliced through her limbs. With a weapon of that size and force, the damage that Foster sustained is not as simple as some clean cuts. Her entire body endured a lot of shock."

"Is she dying?"

Ranya hesitated. "We can keep her alive, but that is the extent of what we can accomplish with our medical equipment and the expertise we have at hand. To be honest, we need to clone replacement organs for her because her current ones are constantly on the verge of failing. She's completely beat up from both the inside and outside. It's only due to her excellent helmet and piloting seat that her head is still intact. A concussion is nothing compared to the damage inflicted on the rest of her body."

This was a very meaningful observation to Ves. As long as the head and brain of an expert pilot was still intact, then their ability to pilot mechs was still intact. Every other part of the body was replaceable.

"If Venerable Foster is the stable patient, then Venerable Ghanso…"

"Your cousin is dying. We don't know how or why. While his cockpit had been breached, he only suffered some bruises and some other impact wounds. Physically, that is anything but life-threatening. Yet for some reason, his life signs are fluctuating downwards and he is in constant mental pain. Whatever he is suffering from is not something that we can grapple with. Perhaps.. you might know more."

Dr. Ranya looked very upset at her inability to treat Ghanso's injuries. She took it as a personal failing.

She knew that there were many unknowns in the galaxy. Just like every other Larkinson, she had been watching the battle as well. She clearly witnessed how the Valkyrie Prime and the Glory Seekers launched an unconventional attack on the Charlemagne.

She was glad it was effective. If not for that, Venerable Ghanso could have overpowered the Larkinsons. However, she was also filled with curiosity about the nature of this novel new attack method and how it was able to bypass every barrier and affect humans directly.

Ves simply smiled at the doctor. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I don't know as much as you think. If not for our desperate circumstances, I wouldn't have tried to harness powers that I don't understand."

"It doesn't appear you'll be giving it up, though. If you intend to further your research in this area, you should think about your safety and the safety of your clansmen. It is prudent to learn how these unknown energies affect the health, mentality and physiology of humans."

"You have a good point." Ves reluctantly nodded. "Right now, my research is far too sensitive to be spread around, so I'll have to consider this matter carefully. Anyway, I didn't drop by to chat about my research. Ghanso is dying, right? Let me meet with him before it's too late."

No matter how much Ghanso had given him grief, he still carried the Larkinson name.

Chapter 2687: Dignity

Plenty of expert pilots survived after their expert mechs fell in battle.

As long as they managed to eject their cockpits, they stood a decent chance of making it back to safety.

For example, the Cross Clan only lost 1 out of 4 expert pilots. The Planat Clan still retained Venerable Damira Planat while the Praetor Clan managed to recover Venerable Albert Praetor.

As for the Fridaymen, more than half of their foreign expert pilots actually perished. This was not just because their cockpits were of a lower grade than the rest, but also due to the sheer amount of opponents they fought.

undefinedThe end was especially brutal. When four Fridayman expert mechs wanted to stall the expeditionary forces as long as possible, they became swamped by a thousand mechs.

There was no way any of the hostile expert pilots would be able to survive after their cockpits were struck by a couple of hundred attacks!

Fortunately, the circumstances surrounding the defeat of the Charlemagne and Jeanne D'Arc were different. There were no hostiles left remaining around them so there was no risk of dispatching a rescue shuttle to pull out the trapped and injured expert pilots.

Better yet, the two expert mechs fell rather close to the Spirit of Bentheim, so the rescue shuttle directly deposited the patients back to the ship with the best medical facilities in the Larkinson fleet.

After hearing that Venerable Ghanso's case was very dire, Ves did not dare to dilly-dally around. He swiftly entered the treatment room where Ghanso's body was laid onto some kind of medical platform.

Despite all of the hardware, none of the medical equipment was able to do anything to stabilize the mentally-anguished expert pilots.

In fact, Ves felt it as soon as he entered the chamber. His mind became swept by a highly-erratic force of will that appeared to be very unstable.

"Ahhh! Ves! I'll.. kill you! The Larkinsons.. must be restored!"

Well, at least some things hadn't changed.

Hearing Ghanso's curse immediately caused Ves to discard all of the sympathy he briefly held for the fallen Larkinson.

"Hello, cousin." Ves casually greeted as he walked up to Ghanso. He didn't forget to activate the jammer function of his Unending Regalia. "It looks like you won't be getting your wish."

The closer he got, the more difficult it was for him to keep his cool in the face of Ghanso's unstable force of will.

Ghanso's mind was like a leaking tub. No matter how much the expert pilot wanted to keep himself together, the barrier that protected and contained his mind had deteriorated to a heavy degree.

It was like a city wall that had been subjected to heavy bombardment. Too many parts of the walls had been damaged for it to serve its purposes. Unless Ghanso or someone else was able to plug all of the gaps, there was no way to prevent Ghanso's mind, will and spirit from eroding due to a combination of leakage and outside exposure.

The human mind wasn't meant to exist in the open. Much like how regular human bodies easily got infected or polluted by toxins if they suffered cuts, Ghanso's open mind was simply incapable of defending itself from all of the consequences of losing its defenses.

While he didn't show it, Ves was taken aback by what he saw. He frequently experimented on spirituality. What if he triggered an accident that caused his mind barrier to form holes as well?

Was treating it as simple as patching it up with spare spiritual energy?

Ves had an urge to try this solution out on Venerable Ghanso on the spot. While he didn't want to make Ghanso better, it was worth it to conduct an experiment. Anyway, it wasn't as if his cousin could resist becoming his next test subject.

"Why.. are you staring me.. Like that? Talk to me.. Already!"

"Shut up for a moment." Ves snapped as he concentrated his mind.

Without caring for what Ghanso felt, Ves began to extend a firm spiritual projection that performed some simple actions.

He basically grabbed a piece of Ghanso's force of will and tried to mold it into a patch that covered one of the holes in Ghanso's mind barrier.

"AHHHH! I'LL KILL YOU!"

It didn't work. The patch was too insubstantial and impermanent.

Ves tried again. He grabbed different parts of Ghanso's mind and also varied the quantity he utilized.

Nothing worked. Ves even made use of his own spiritual energy, but that led to a bad reaction that caused Ghanso to utter another curse.

In the end, the expert pilot's mental barrier hadn't improved at all. In fact, its holes and tears were becoming wider. Ves estimated that it would collapse entirely after 20 or 30 minutes.

He sighed. "You're dying."

"You didn't.. need to tell me that." Ghanso glared at the object of his loathing. "At least.. give me the decency.. of looking you in the eyes. Get rid.. of that dumb helmet."

Ves tapped the side of his helmet, causing his faceplate to turn completely transparent.

"I'm not taking off my helmet. Who knows what kind of hidden weapon you are hiding in your body."

"I'm bound here!" You have a bodyguard right behind you! I'm completely at your mercy!"

"That makes me want to keep my helmet on even more."

"You insufferable bastard!"

Ves crossed his arms. "Look, I don't like to wear a bulky suit of armor that interferes with my movements either, but it's people like you who keep forcing me to wear it."

"You deserve it! I.. hope someone else.. can succeed where I have failed." Ghanso gasped.

Even upon his dying breath, the stubborn Larkinson still clung to his hate. Ves did not sense a single measure of remorse in his cousin's resentful tone.

He felt disappointed. He had hoped that Ghanso would regain an inkling of his sanity at the onset of his death, but Ves felt as if he was facing an old grandpa who still clung to his outdated biases to the very end.

There was no way to redeem Ghanso.

"You're really pathetic, you know that?" Ves spoke as he looked down on his captive. "You went through all of this trouble to pursue a goal that no Larkinson can agree with. Have you ever thought that you don't actually represent the will of the Larkinsons?"

"You're wrong! I.. am a true Larkinson! Only I am continuing the legacy of our predecessors. You.. you ruined everything! The entire family has gone astray because of your greed!"

Ves snorted. "I find it rather silly that you think you are the hero of your own story. Circumstances can change, Ghanso. The political environment has changed. The economic environment has changed. Our relations have changed. Our capabilities have changed. Clinging to the past when it no longer fits the present is how species die off. Nothing lasts forever. Only a stubborn fossil like you thinks the old ways are still viable."

This was a philosophical debate that was destined to go nowhere. The acid glare that Ghanso threw at Ves encapsulated the expert pilot's obsession. His entire identity was centered around the illusion that he was the 'savior' of the Larkinson Family. He never paid any thought of whether he was wrong on anything.

Perhaps his mind and spirit might shatter completely if he was forced to recognize his faults.

What a sad expert pilot.

Ves turned around and extended his hand.

"Book, please."

Nitaa handed over the Larkinson Mandate to his armored hand.

Ves placed the tome next to Ghanso's restrained body.

"Goldie? Can you come out, please?"

Nyaaaaa.

The Golden Cat emerged out of the book and materialized her body. She looked a bit downcast due to the many losses the Larkinson Clan had suffered.

"What is that?!"

Ghanso initially regarded Goldie as a projection, but his crumbling and leaking force of will was still functional enough to recognize the extraordinary nature of the ancestral spirit's existence.

Ves lovingly caressed Goldie's back, though his gauntlets made the experience a lot rougher than unusual.

Nyaaa.

"She is.. the purest distillation of the Larkinson Clan. Every true Larkinson is kin to her. As long as you are a Larkinson who is supportive to other Larkinsons, then Goldie will bless you with her warmth. Are you feeling okay right now?"

"Get this filthy animal off me! I hate cats!"

Nyaaaa!

Goldie raised her tail and hissed at Ghanso.

Obviously, there was no affection between them at all. Whereas other Larkinsons always felt comfortable being in the presence of the Larkinson Mandate or the Golden Cat, Ghanso simply reacted as if he was touching a hot coal.

"Interesting. Goldie, you can return now if you don't want to stay."

That was exactly what she wanted. After expressing her dislike by hissing at Ghanso one last time, she dove back into the Larkinson Mandate as if she was eager to escape a stinking bathroom.

"Well, I've made up my mind." Ves muttered. "If even Goldie hates you, there really is no reason for me to feel remorseful over your death."

"Don't bother with your falsehoods. You.. would probably dance on my grave."

"I'm very happy to see you gone." His glee showed through his transparent faceplate. "I won't lie about that. I'm still a decent human being, though. I've already won. You're a challenging opponent, so the least I can do is to give your body the respect it deserves. I promise to give it a dignified burial."

Though Ves sounded smug as hell, Ghanso relaxed a bit after hearing that Ves had no intentions to defile or dishonor his corpse.

"Thank you…"

"We are civilized people here. War is unquestionably gruesome, but it also produces the most noble moments in human history. I think it is important that our Larkinsons stay true to their noble ideals. I don't want them to descend into barbarism. The best way to reinforce that trend is to give your remains a respectful sendoff."

"Even at this time, you still think about exploiting others.. figures.."

"Our society is based around interests. Cooperation is gained through shared interests and conflicts are usually sparked by competing interests. No one does anything for free. That's stupid. Then again, I don't expect you to understand. Even now, you think that the Larkinson Family must return to the Bright Republic in order to become their war dogs, is that right?"

"It's not like that!" Ghanso angrily replied. "There is honor in service! We must continue the legacy of our predecessors!"

Ves just shook his head at that. He was losing patience in this conversation.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, a chime sounded from the entrance hatch.

"Come in."

A bot floated inside that carried a number of metal boxes.

"Ah, I've been waiting for this delivery."

Ves took one of the boxes and brought it next to Ghanso.

The expert pilot looked confused. "What is.. that?"

"Oh, it's just a prop for my next experiment.

An ominous feeling swept over Ghanso as he looked at Ves' increasingly more enthusiastic expression. Whatever was left of his intuition screamed in alarm!

"Get.. back… I don't want.. to get involved with whatever you have in mind!"

Ves amusingly chuckled. "What makes you think you have a choice? While I don't want to do harm to any kin of mine, you're no Larkinson. Not to me. You're a test subject, Ghanso. Enjoy your final moments as a living human being."

"Wait.. we can talk about this! I have rights, Ves! You can't do this to me! ARRGGHHHH!"

Venerable Ghanso experienced an overwhelming amount of mental pain!

Ves mustered up his entire Spirituality to do something that he had always dreamed about but never dared to implement due to the taboo it represented.

Yet now that the Battle of Reckoning happened to serve a dying expert pilot to him on a silver platter, how could he possibly resist?

"You're not getting rid of me so easily, Ghanso!"

Ves roughly scooped into Ghanso's mind and tried to pull out as much of the expert's mental stuff as possible.

This was a rough, painful and extremely destructive process because it was impossible to extract an expert pilot's mind and spirit in a single go. What this essentially meant was that Ves was literally tearing pieces of Ghanso's mentality with every scoop!

Whatever piece of will, thought, spirituality or other mind junk he managed to grab quickly entered the P-stone that Ves had just received.

The P-stone ensured that the mental pieces did not deteriate any further due to outside exposure. If Ves was able to separate an expert pilot mentality as a single whole, then it may be possible to keep the individual in question alive in the truest sense.

Sadly, Ves wasn't at that level yet. He could only employ this crude and destructive method to salvage as much of an expert pilot's mind, will and spirit as possible.

Venerable Ghanso's body convulsed! His body was shaking as if he was being shocked by a current.

The signs so bad that Dr. Ranya forcibly intruded into the treatment room. She attempted to get closer, but Nitaa firmly blocked her advance.

"What are you doing?!"

It was too bad that Ves had no time to answer the doctor. He sped up his scoping until he hollowed out Ghanso's completely collapsed mind.

While there were a few tiny bits and pieces that Ves had missed, they quickly disappeared into the imaginary realm without any protection.

The body ceased convulsing. It had become completely braindead without a spirit.

"He.. he's dead, isn't he?"

"He is." Ves nodded as he carefully closed the box holding the P-stone filled with his latest experimental materials. "Don't bother to wake him up or anything. He's a goner. Just keep the body in this state. Let's make it look as good as possible for its upcoming burial."

Ghanso Larkinson had officially died.

Chapter 2688: Satisfaction

"The Vesia Kingdom will pay a lot for my ransom."

Venerable Foster did not let her emotions overtake her reason. She immediately started off with saying something that maximized her chances of survival.

Ves found her opening quite refreshing after dealing with Ghanso's diehard attitude to the end. Perhaps this conversation would go a lot better than he anticipated.

"You've grown up." He stated to Foster's heavily-injured form.

undefined"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" She responded with a muffled voice.

Not a single part of her body was visible. Her body from the neck downwards was stuffed in some kind of tank filled with healing fluid that comprehensively stabilized her heavy injuries. Though Ves couldn't see any details of her wounds through the opaque liquid, he could vaguely see that the expert pilot had lost a good chunk of her legs as well as her left arm.

As for her head, it was covered by some strange form-fitting covering whose purpose escaped Ves. It made it seem as if Foster's head was mummified.

He was actually surprised that Venerable Foster was still in a condition to talk. From her calm tone and her repressed force of will, she retained enough lucidity to hold a normal conversation.

It seemed that even though her body was broken, her mind and spirit was still as vigorous as ever. Her condition was essentially the reverse of that of Venerable Ghanso.

If Ves wanted to harvest her mind like he did with his cousin, then he would likely fail. Venerable Foster was far too strong. Perhaps he might have a chance of breaching her tough mental defenses when she was sedated, but he doubted it would go well.

After an awkward pause, the injured expert pilot turned her head. "The Vesia Kingdom places great value on my life. As long as you allow my home state to redeem me intact, you will be richly rewarded."

"I doubt a third-rate state can offer me anything of interest. Besides, I'm not sure your value is high enough to make it worth it to trade you back."

"You'd be surprised." She said before lowering her voice. "If my guess is right.. the Vesia Kingdom may even be willing to return the shares of the LMC."

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! My company's shares are worth much more than a single expert pilot! Besides, those shares are in the hands of the Bright Republic and Ylvaine Protectorate."

"That's not a problem. The Vesians have a lot of influence in that region of space. The Bright Republic is too weak to hold onto its stake in the LMC while the Ylvainans.. can be persuaded."

Ves was amazed to hear that from Venerable Foster. What happened to the vengeful woman who vowed to wipe out every pirate that threatened the Hafner Duchy?

It seemed that expert pilots were capable of growth as well. Still, he had no illusion that Venerable Foster was putting up a polite front because she respected the Larkinsons. She just wanted to prevent her captors from taking her life, thereby preventing her from continuing with her lifelong pursuit.

To an expert pilot such as her, it was unbearable to be unable to fight on behalf of her state! Even if it was disgraceful, Venerable Foster was still willing to bend her head and lower her posture if that was what it took to return to service.

She was right to feel worried. Generally, the MTA disallowed killing expert pilots outside of mech combat.

However, this was not an absolute rule. There were certain exceptions such as if an expert pilot randomly pulled out a gun and pointed the weapon at a random person on the street. The latter had a right to defend himself even if his opponent belonged to a protected class of people.

Another instance where expert pilots lost their protection was immediately after the end of a battle.

As far as the MTA was concerned, the capture of an expert pilot was still within the scope of a mech battle that had just concluded. How the people who took an enemy expert pilot into custody decided to treat their battlefield spoils was their business.

Naturally, expert pilots still deserved to be treated with dignity. The MTA as well as the entire mech community heavily sanctioned anyone who tortured or subjected a captive expert pilot to cruel treatment.

Expert pilots were demigods. They were beyond human and stronger than almost any other person in the galaxy. No matter which side they fought for or what cause they pursued, they still represented some of the best mech pilots that human civilization had produced.

Ves had no intentions to screw around with Venerable Foster. He was so disappointed by Ghanso that he was glad that his other captive was reasonable.

Yet whether her attitude helped to keep her alive was another matter.

"Let me be honest, Venerable Foster. You took part in an unprovoked attack on the Larkinson Clan and its allies just as we were about to leave the Komodo Star Sector behind."

"You are not innocent, Mr. Larkinson. The services you are providing to the Hexadric Hegemony not only harms the Fridaymen, but also the third-rate states in our star sector. If the Hexers win, you know as well as I do what will happen to the original customs and cultures of the surrounding states.

Though Relia's eyes were covered with bandages, Ves seemed to feel her glare through her agitated force of will.

He fully agreed with her statement. Ves did not enjoy enabling the Hexers and giving them a greater chance to expand their poisonous culture to other states. It was too bad that his current circumstances didn't give him another choice.

"It wouldn't have come to this if the obstinate Fridaymen just ignored me. Instead, they keep coming after me because they're afraid of what I might possibly do to strengthen the Hexers. Don't they realize that they're just driving me in the arms of the Hexers this way? Right now, I feel like raising a giant middle finger to the Friday Coalition."

"An eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind."

Ves snorted. "That's rich coming from you. You still want to kill me, right?"

An expert pilot like Foster couldn't lie.

"I do, but my intentions are noble. While I regret the Friday Coalition's approach, I still want to defeat you in battle. The Vesia Kingdom must not become a vassal of the Hegemony."

"It doesn't matter what reason you use to justify your hostility towards me. As long as you become my enemy, you deserve everything you get. I'm just a mech designer, but people keep finding reasons to bully me. If I don't stand up for myself, I'll keep getting harassed."

Ves seriously hated the Friday Coalition. Their continued actions against him had driven his attitude towards the state to a new low point. While he and his clan may have gained a lot from winning the Battle of Reckoning, they also lost a lot! If any of them had a choice, they would have preferred to avoid this bloody clash.

"Don't you think the cause you are fighting for is too small?" He changed the topic. "Even now, I am a bit in awe at your strong presence. You've developed quite a lot since we last met. The Vesia Kingdom is too small for a mech pilot as talented as you. You could enjoy a much better trajectory if you signed on to a second-rate state. Of course, I don't recommend you to pledge your loyalty a state as duplicitous as the Friday Coalition."

"I have never wavered in my purpose. I wouldn't have developed up to this point if I grew up anywhere else. I will defend my state to my death!"

"I see."

Well, at least some part of Foster was still similar to Ghanso. When it came to her bottom line, she never compromised.

Venerable Foster calmed down. "Have you considered my earlier proposal?"

"Um, what?"

"Offer to return me for a ransom." She urged. "Don't be hasty and base your decision-making on your assumptions. Contact the Hafner Duchy first. Your demands will definitely be satisfied."

Her urgency had grown. She wanted Ves to stop wavering and accept her suggestion.

To be honest, he couldn't make up his mind.

Emotionally, he wanted to end Foster's life in order to satisfy his primal need for vengeance against an enemy who wanted to kill him on multiple occasions.

Rationally, he knew that he could potentially gain a lot more benefits if he ransomed her. Satisfying his vengeance might make him feel good for a time, but it didn't really provide him with any solid benefits.

Ves constantly pursued greater advantages in order to elevate him as quickly as possible. From a logical perspective, Venerable Foster was much more valuable when she was alive rather than dead.

As he kept considering his choices, Ves received another notification.

Someone demanded entry into the treatment room.

When Ves unlocked the entrance, a pair of suited women immediately entered with their greatswords clasped between their hands.

"Venerable Dise! Ketis! What are you two doing here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Ketis lifted up her weapon. "We're here to finish the job. This moment is long overdue. The murderer over there has too much Swordmaiden blood on her hands! If we let her stay alive for another day, we'd be disgracing the memories of our fallen sisters!"

Ves immediately felt a headache. He turned to the older and hopefully more mature woman. "What about you, Dise?"

"Ketis has already said everything that I want to say." The female expert pilot gruffly spoke. "One way or another, Commander Lydia's death will be answered. I made sure to keep Foster alive. Killing her while she's piloting a mech is not as satisfying as running my sword through her heart with my own hands. She's mine, Ves. Don't make me move you out of the way."

Ves immediately stepped aside. He conveyed his stance very clearly.

"Hey, I don't intend to stand in the way of your satisfaction. You are one of the most loyal fighters in my service. I haven't forgotten the sacrifices of the Swordmaidens."

Venerable Dise smiled. "You are a good man. The Swordmaidns are glad to fight for a leader who understands us. Please forgive us for the mess we are about to make. What will happen next will get rather.. bloody."

Ves awkwardly coughed. "The MTA has rules that govern the treatment of expert pilots."

The expert pilot swung her long and sharp blade in the air. "Just keep your jammer active while we do what we must. We don't care what the MTA says. Just pretend that my mech has smashed her corpse when my mech sunk its blade through the cockpit."

"You can't do this, Larkinson!" Venerable Foster desperately cried! "Think about it! I can absolutely guarantee you that you will gain at least half of the shares in the hands of the Republic and the protectorate back to you if you follow my suggestions."

"I can get back all of those shares once the Hegemony wins the Komodo War."

"Hah! As if that will happen! Even if the Friday Coalition loses, the governments in charge of the shares will find a way to keep them out of the hands of the Hexers."

That may very well be true. There were a lot of good lawyers in those two states. Governments excelled at bending and exploiting the rules when it was in their best interests to do so. They rarely followed the spirit of the law if it inconvenienced them in any way.

Ves fell silent, making Ketis and Venerable Dise nervous.

He didn't keep them waiting for long, though.

"I've decided."

"And…?"

Ves helplessly lifted his arms. "Faced with a choice between satisfying my friends or my enemies, the answer is obvious. Relia, no matter how many benefits you can give me, I always stick to those who have been loyal to me. I'm not going to break the trust of those who expect me to care for them. That's not the kind of person I am! Ketis, Dise, the two of you can go ahead. I'll just stand here and wait until you are done."

"Thank you, Ves!" Ketis gave him a brilliant smile.

"You're making a mistake! If you don't want your shares back, the Vesia Kingdom can give you other compensation! Don't give me to these butchers!"

"Shut up!" Venerable Dise strode forward and pressed the edge of her blade against Foster's neck. "You're the butcher here. You showed no mercy to my sisters back on Aeon Corona VII. Now it's our turn."

"You're a savage, Ves! You're worse than a pirate! The MTA will find out about this! Justice will prevail!"

Ves ignored Venerable Foster's indignant words and turned to grab another metal box.

He was actually wrong on one consideration. Killing Venerable Foster did provide him with something other than emotional satisfaction. He might be able to harvest her spirituality when she finally succumbed to her injuries.

"It's raining presents today!" He smirked.

Chapter 2689: No Expert Mech

"Brutus!"

Gloriana entered a highly secure and luxuriously-furnished recovery room on the Indigo Tremor.

The Glory Seeker fleet carrier had become a lot emptier after the destruction of lots of mechs. Fortunately, the enemy hadn't prioritized her as a target so she incurred remarkably little damage.

For now, her crew were busy trying to recover the wrecks floating in space while also organizing a prize crew to facilitate the takeover of the Auralis.

undefinedGloriana didn't care about that at the moment. She ran up to the bed where a tired-looking Brutus looked at his sister with happiness.

"You're safe."

There was little doubt about that as soon as word of their eventual victory reached his ears. However, seeing was believing. Only when he saw that her sister was safe did he feel reassured.

His protective force of will embraced the woman in a familiar fashion. On her part, Gloriana relaxed even further.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she tried to spot any injuries on his body.

"I'd be in a treatment machine if I was hit more seriously. Don't worry. My cockpit got banged up a bit, causing me to suffer some bruises that are easily treatable. You don't have to be concerned at all. My most serious problem is that I overloaded my mind. Trying to keep my mech alive as long as possible against the Charlemagne and those pseudo-expert mechs was the most challenging moment of my life. I pushed myself so hard to dodge more attacks and prevent all of those Glory Seekers from sacrificing their mechs to block incoming attacks. I.. I regret that I failed to protect all of those people."

"There was no choice, Brutus." Gloriana reached his side and retracted her suit so that her bare hand touched his shoulder. "Those Glory Seekers did their duty. Our expedition is much better served if you're alive."

"This isn't how I want to fight my battles. It's me who is supposed to be protecting you all. How can I possibly continue to pilot a mech when those brave female Hexers are risking their lives for me? This is a travesty!"

"They're doing it because of me!" Gloriana gripped his chin and turned his head around until their eyes. "You are much more valuable than anyone else in the Glory Seekers. Even Colonel Ariadne Wodin is worth nothing compared to you! So don't think that everyone has their priorities wrong. If you die…"

The wounded expert pilot sighed. "You're being selfish again, sister."

Gloriana leaned in and kissed his cheek before staring lovingly in his eyes. "That's the privilege of power, brother. I only value two people in our fleet: Ves and you. The Glory Seekers exist to serve me, so I told them to do their best to keep the two of you alive. I am not going to allow you to make me sad by getting killed in battle."

"You.." Brutus was speechless.

As a soldier dedicated to protecting Gloriana and other Hexer women, his sister's declaration did not sit well with him. His honor and his duty compelled him to resist this policy!

Yet… Brutus couldn't go against his sister. She always had the final say in matters. No matter how unreasonable she sounded, her will trumped everyone else's as long as she didn't endanger herself.

They soon changed topics.

"I took a look at the Star Dancer when I was on my way to visit you." She said as she calmly sat down next to his bed. "I'm sorry to say that what is left of your expert mech is not in good shape."

Brutus looked pained. "The Star Dancer accompanied me well for several years. It served me well in this battle. I was hoping that it could serve a few years more."

Gloriana tried to smile. "It's okay, Brutus. Ves and I will try and make a replacement for you. I've prepared for this project for many months. We just need to determine what materials we can use and which Master we should partner up with to design a better machine. You should definitely look forward to what I have in store. The mechs that Ves and I are capable of designing are extremely special. Just look at the so-called prime mechs that my husband came up with. I still can't accept that the Valkyrie Prime along with several hundred standard mechs are able to wipe out a vast swathe of mech pilots along with the entire crew of a starship."

"You're not the only one who is wondering. No one in the fleet will underestimate his mechs from now on. While I detest the Fridaymen, a part of me feels that no one deserves to die from such an odd method of attack. It's.. too destructive. It's practically a weapon of mass destruction."

As a mech pilot, Brutus instinctively repelled any weapon that diminished the lives of soldiers. It was one thing to get killed by getting shot by an enemy mech. It was another thing to get killed along with thousands of other comrades by getting blasted to pieces by a tactical nuclear weapon!

Gloriana was not as conflicted, though. Her smile stretched wider as she relished in her memory of that wonderful moment.

"The Fridaymen deserve to be slaughtered by the Superior Mother! Don't feel any pity for our loathsome enemies. If they didn't want to lose their lives this way, then they shouldn't have gone out to ambush us. They should have known better than to go up against Ves and his wonderful inventions!"

His sister was incorrigible, Brutus thought. Still, it wasn't as if he felt much differently. The battle had been close. Too close. If he fell too soon or if the others fought a little worse, then Gloriana and everyone else in the fleet might have been killed by now! Thinking what might befall of his sister wiped away any sympathy he held towards his opponents.

"When will I be able to get a new expert mech?"

"Uhm.. not soon." Gloriana slowly admitted. "My husband and I are very busy. Once we complete our current round of projects, we need to design a large amount of expert mechs for the Larkinson Clan. While I will do my best to push your expert mech up the priority list, don't expect any quick results. It might take up to a year before you can pilot an expert mech again."

This was not what any expert pilot wanted to hear. Still, it was not an unusual situation for them either. It always took time to develop a new replacement expert mech whenever an older one got trashed. The only way to cut the waiting time short was to fabricate another copy of an existing expert mech design.

"Why not remake the Star Dancer, then?" Brutus carefully suggested. "While I look forward to piloting a mech that is blessed like the Superior Mother, I'm worried about the delay. This battle has already shown me that the galaxy is a lot less safe than I thought. Can't you pick up the pieces of my original mech and put it back together?"

Gloriana shook her head and tutted. "Silly brother. It's not that simple. Your mech got struck by a lot of resonance-empowered positron beams. Do you know what that does to a mech? Too many parts and components are vaporized or melted into slag. Much of the damage is unrecoverable with our current means. We don't have the equipment and expertise to restore your Star Dancer. In my professional judgement, the only purpose the remains of your mechs is good for is to salvage whatever materials we can extract from them and use that to develop your next expert mech."

One of the most important benefits to winning the battle was the opportunity to salvage the wrecks floating on the battlefield!

Not just the Star Dancer, but the wrecks and pieces of plenty of other expert mechs were eagerly being picked up by the victors!

While not all of the valuable materials they yielded might be useful, the valuable salvage would definitely help with accumulating the core materials required to develop their other expert mechs.

All of this was beyond Brutus' understanding.

"I trust you with the development of my next expert mech. Just make it even faster and more agile so that I can evade enemy attacks even better. I've progressed my piloting style after I've participated in this battle. I don't have the patience or the inclination to sit back in the rear and snipe my opponents from afar like Venerable Davia Stark. I need to be more in front so that I can be a lot more proactive in protecting you and my fellow Glory Seekers. A run-and-gun style suits me best."

Gloriana nodded. As his sister, she knew him best.

"I've already taken that into account. It's quite hard to design a mech that is highly mobile while at the same time boast a high amount of firepower. I'll do my best to push for a mech that excels at both, but it will cost us a lot. Our dynasty is funding this project, so they must be convinced to invest more in your expert mech."

"That.. might be difficult. According to what I am hearing from back home, every dynasty in the Hexadric Hegemony is tightening their belts. With how the Komodo War is proceeding, it looks like our state will soon be devastated by war. Everyone has to plan to defend their space while evacuating as many people and valuables as possible."

He was right. The Wodin Dynasty could not afford to be unprepared when faced with a possible enemy invasion. The Wodins had to acquire as much transportation as possible and establish several different escape channels. All of that cost a huge amount of money especially considering that the demand and therefore the price of starships had skyrocketed!

A part of Brutus felt as if he was in the same shoes as Davia Stark.

Previously, it was third-raters like her who were being threatened with invasion and annihilation due to the relentless advance of the sandmen.

Now, it was the Hexers who were beginning to panic and trying to obtain passage that could get them out before it was too late.

The internal stability within his home state had deteriorated! Too many Hexers who never thought they would lose were beginning to realize that the outcome of a war was never decided beforehand!

Both Wodins looked downcast. The situation back home was growing more pessimistic by the day.

"Will your next Hexer mechs be able to do anything to stop the Friday Coalition from advancing?" Brutus carefully asked.

"I don't know." She slumped. "We have some interesting projects on the way, but they're mostly auxiliary in nature. It's too difficult to design a mech that can counter expert mechs. We're trying out some ideas but I don't think they will work out as well as Ves expects. Expert mechs and expert pilots are too strong. This battle has just illustrated that. The amount of standard mechs needed to fight against a handful of expert mechs is too much. The Hex Army can't handle this loss ratio."

Even she could no longer maintain her upbeat confidence when all of the news she was hearing from the front was negative. While the Hex Army still achieved plenty of victories, the results didn't change the overall strategic trend.

As long as the mech armies of both sides remained roughly even, the disparity in expert mechs played a decisive role. No matter how hard the Hegemony tried, it simply wasn't possible for them to conjure additional expert pilots out of thin air.

Gloriana actually hoped that Ves was able to solve this problem. If he could produce in the Larkinson Clan, why shouldn't he be able to do the same for the Hegemony?

Unfortunately, he always put down her request by saying that the circumstances were different or that Master Willix prohibited him from spreading his experimental solutions.

It was so frustrating!

"What can I do?"

Chapter 2690: Unease

The fighting still continued long after the Battle of Reckoning was decided.

This was also the reason why everyone still wore their protective suits. No matter how safe the situation looked, there were still Fridaymen and Garlaners out there who were firing shots at the expedition forces!

Thousands of Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers were still actively fighting their opponents in some way. Whether it was chasing down the routed starships or bombarding the hostile mechs that remained intact, people were still being killed hours after the initial confrontation!

The only difference from before was that the proportion of losses heavily tilted in the favor of the Golden Skull Alliance.

undefinedThe rats fleeing before them no longer possessed the strength to win the battle, let alone preserve their lives! All of the chases devolved into a one-sided shooting match where the outcome was already set. This was how many space battles ended. There was no escape so long as one side was able to prevent the other one from transitioning into FTL travel.

One of the most notable operations was the attempt to take over the Auralis.

Inside and around the eerily-silent fleet carrier, the golden vessel had suddenly become active without any warning!

The boarding parties that were slowly making their way to the bridge, the primary engineering bay and several other important compartments had no clue that a cat had overtaken them. They were still breaching one hatch after another.

They thought that even if the Golden Skull Alliance won the battle, it would take a lot longer for their infantry troops to make any progress inside.

This was because unlike the Fridaymen, the Hexers and other foreigners would be met with active resistance from the ship's internal defense systems!

Of course, the expeditionary forces could also choose to employ a more destructive approach by breaching through the interior by borrowing the power of mechs.

This was an incredibly destructive approach that would inflict a lot of collateral damage to the Auralis. That was not conducive to taking over the ship in the best condition possible.

"Will they really keep their mechs out?" A CRC marine softly wondered.

"I don't know. I dare not say. Perhaps the AIs will see sense when the enemy is tearing the ship apart from the inside. I hope the ship will unlock all of these hatches for us so that we can reach her critical compartments within minutes."

Nothing seemed to have happened so far, so the boarding parties were still progressing slowly.

"Hm? Did you hear that?" A combat engineer raised his helmet. "My sensors are picking up faint activity above and below us. Something is vibrating beneath the deck."

"What is your best guess?" A marine captain stepped forward while holding his rifle ready.

"According to my judgement, it's as if a large mechanical system is about to activate beneath us. The only possibility that I can think of is.. oh no! This is bad! We need to exit this hallway as soon as possible! The security systems are about to go online!"

The remainder of the boarding party didn't hesitate. Even if they had doubts, they weren't about to question the word of an expert.

Unfortunately, it was far too late! Before the engineer running in front managed to cross half of the distance to the entrance they came from, the entire deck shoved upwards all at once before squashing straight against the ceiling!

"AAAH!"

Sounds of pain, fear and agony spread out for less than a single second as the deck pressed their armored forms into the ceiling with great force!

Miraculously, none of them died, though plenty were dealing with broken bones or uncomfortable positions. The force that drove the deck into the ceiling wasn't powerful enough to flatten the tough combat armor worn by the marines.

This condition didn't last too long. A large laser projector emerged from a hidden port at the end of the hallway. It charged up briefly before firing a powerful beam that swept every trapped body in the narrow corridor!

It only took a couple of seconds for all of the protection to melt and burn under the sustained attack!

In the end, the deck receded back to its original position. Only several piles of slag and ashes remained out of the boarding party.

In another compartment of the Auralis, another boarding party suffered its end.

Their deaths were much more straightforward. Turrets emerged from the ceiling. They instantly locked on to the Fridaymen that the ship considered intruders and began to open fire!

"Crap! The Hexers took control of the ship!"

A torrent of laser beams and small explosive shells impacted the boarding party. While the marines fired back, the turrets were too well-protected!

Their firepower was also vastly superior to any weapon that could be carried on foot. They chewed through the resilient armor of the marines with great efficiency!

The Fridaymen were being killed off rapidly throughout the rest of the ships. Hundreds of visitors who wanted to take the Auralis away or at least deprive her from the enemy were completely at the mercy of the powerful internal defense systems.

There was no escape!

It only took a minute to dispose of every enemy aboard the ship. Calabast observed the projections of the active incidents with satisfaction. Military starships of this caliber always featured extensive internal defense systems. Their lethality against hostile visitors was so great that successful boarding operations rarely happened in wars.

Of course, these internal defense systems did not wake up under normal conditions. There were plenty of safeguards and locks in place to prevent them from activating by mistake.

A ship could easily kill most if not all of her crew if it was hacked or glitched!

For this reason, the internal defense systems only activated when a human gave them permission to do so. In this case, Calabast was easily able to do so once the Auralis mistook her as the captain of the vessel.

The permission of the captain was the greatest and most authoritative. If she assumed the identity of an ensign, then it was very difficult to get any of the internal defense systems to fire upon other people!

"It's too easy." She muttered as she closed the projections.

While she couldn't guarantee that every intruding Fridayman was killed, none of them should have been able to reach the critical compartments of the ship. The Auralis wouldn't be at risk of blowing up if that was the case.

"Alright, Black Cats. The Auralis is under my initial control, but don't lower your guard. There may be infiltrators and other survivors scurrying about. It's impossible to sweep the entire Auralis with the manpower we have at hand, so just hold the critical compartments such as the bridge, the command center and the engineering bay until the rest of our fleet is able to dispatch follow-up parties. I've just registered your new identities to the Auralis so that you'll be recognized as her officers and engineers. That should be sufficient to unlock every hatch in your way."

The Black Cat operatives quickly entered deeper inside the Auralis. Unlike the Fridaymen who were blocked at every entrance, the hatches automatically slid open when a Black Cat came close.

This was the privilege that crew members recognized by the Auralis enjoyed.

Along the way, they encountered plenty of bodies along the way. What was notable about all of them was that their physical bodies were still alive.

The sight became more and more eerie as the Black Cats encountered more and more braindead Gaugers.

Hundreds of them littered the decks of large and important compartments such as the command center and the hangar bays.

At first, the Black Cats proactively fired their rifles at the bodies. They couldn't be sure if any of the original crew would wake up again.

It was only after killing a dozen or so crew members that they stopped bothering.

"They're not alive anymore."

Though Black Cats were trained to keep their cool under many different circumstances, the realization that they were on a ship with over 20,000 braindead crew members slowly dawned upon them. It was all well and good to hear about it from afar, but it was only when they started bumping into bodies left and right that they truly learned how horrible it was for all of these people to die out at once!

"This feels wrong. I don't think the weapon employed by the Valkyrie mechs should ever be used again."

An officer smacked the back of his subordinate's helmet!

"Shut up! We can't show any mercy to our enemies. If our side didn't employ this new attack method, we'd be the ones who would be lying on the deck. Our bodies would probably look a lot uglier than this, assuming the Fridaymen didn't outright blow up our ships."

Humans were creatures of emotions. None of them could rein them in when faced with the horrible sights of hundreds if not thousands of Fridaymen lying senselessly on the deck.

It would have been easier for them to accept the fate of their enemies if their bodies were riddles with holes and burn marks.

Instead, their hazard suits and combat armor were completely pristine. Not a single suit showed signs of physical damage and intrusion. Even now, their automated systems were still doing their best to keep the braindead Fridaymen in optimum condition.

It was as if they were still alive and well.

This juxtaposition was so jarring to the Black Cats that they were becoming more and more uncomfortable with being on the ship.

"Is the Auralis haunted?"

"Maybe the souls of the dead are still floating around."

"The Superior Mother cleansed the Auralis because the ship is unclean. We shouldn't be here."

Of course, the changes in mentality did not escape Calabast. She frowned deeper when she noted that the progress and efficiency of her operatives was dropping by the minute.

It was as if they thought they were on a ghost ship!

"I should step up their mental training. Their performance is completely unacceptable."

DIVA agents wouldn't be quaking in their boots in this situation. Instead, they'd be happy whenever they saw another Fridayman victim.

While the takeover of the Auralis was proceeding apace, the fate of the other starships of the enemy strike force was already being decided.

Task Force Umbra had lost its ability to defend itself. Aside from some scattered bunker mechs and some other heavily-damaged mechs, the Eager Condemnation, the Amagi, the Forward Momentum and the Orca Tyrant were constantly being pursued by a number of opposing mechs and combat carriers.

The crew of the Amagi and the Orca Tyrant both acted decisively. As soon as every window of escape was closed, the two deep strike fleet carriers exploded from within!

The pursuing Larkinson and Glory Seeker mechs abruptly turned around and tried to distance themselves from the two exploding vessels. The crews of the two ships had done so much work to maximize the power of the explosions that it was too dangerous to get too close!

Fortunately, the pursuers were already expecting this to happen.

"Two down, two to go!"

The Forward Momentum took a lot longer to meet the same end. She had accelerated away from the battlefield very quickly. Yet despite how much the crew overloaded her sub-light propulsion and decreased her mass, her fundamental nature as a capital ship didn't change.

She eventually exploded as well as the Vanguarders performed their duty to the end!

As for the Eager Condemnation, the Larkinson Clan received a secret transmission from the fleeing carrier.

Ves became notified as soon as it became clear that the transmission was addressed to him in person.

"Are you kidding me?" He looked skeptical. "Aisling wants to defect to our clan?"

"Yes, sir." Major Verle informed him over the comm.

"I don't think the rest of the crew will be happy to send her off on a shuttle."

"Lady Curver has already come up with a plan for that. She has already prepared an escape vessel, but she lacks an escape route. We'll need to open one up for her. She has sent a partial diagram of the fleet carrier to us in order to accomplish this. She specifically instructs our artillery mechs to concentrate their firepower at a specific section in the lower port hangar bay. That is the area where Unit L was assigned to. As long as we breach the right areas, the Fridaymen won't be able to prevent her escape."

Ves crossed her arms. "Why should we follow along with her plan?"

"She… not only offers her mech design expertise, but all of the confidential research data she has access to with regards to basic neural networks and asymmetrical neural networks."

"I see."

That changed his consideration. Ves quickly made up his mind. "Do it, then. I'm eager to get my hands on that data. Even if I can't use any of it, I can still gain a lot of insights by understanding Master Huron's methods."

Major Verle did not immediately disappear. "There's one more condition, sir. Lady Curver only agrees to hand over the data intact as long as you promise that you will keep her alive and treat her well. Not only that, she wants to join our clan and become one of us. As long as you don't promise that to her in person, the deal is off. She has assured us that we won't see any scrap of research data if we don't cooperate. She has stored it all in her implant and rigged it up with enough safeguards that it will all be corrupted if she isn't safe anymore."

Damn! Aisling knew him too well!

Ves felt really conflicted. He hated Aisling with a passion. Gloriana would probably love nothing more than to kill her as well.

Yet… he really wanted to get his hands on her data. With Aisling's considerable technical expertise, he fully believed that her safety measures couldn't be circumvented.

"Proceed with rescuing her." Ves commanded. "I still have time to make a final decision. I'll figure out my response when we bring her back to the Spirit of Bentheim. Just make sure that word doesn't spread."

The last thing he wanted to see was Gloriana finding out about this secret deal!

Chapter 2691: The Pursuit of Glory

The Eager Condemnation followed her sister ships to the grave, but not before someone made it out before the final moment!

Just as instructed, the Transcendent Punishers targeted a specific section of the hull that encompassed one of the fleet carrier's hangar bays.

After blasting through the hull plating and creating a large breach, a cockpit of all vehicles flung out of the gap!

It turned out that Aisling had secretly holed herself up in the spare cockpit of the Charlemagne!

undefined"Someone is escaping! Stop the traitor!"

Predictably, the rest of the Eager Condemnation's crew weren't happy about that. The surviving ranged mechs quickly began to fire at the escaping cockpit, but its shell was built to take a punishment.

The cockpit survived long enough for the Larkinson to suppress or destroy the Fridaymen mechs that stuck their necks out to kill the defector!

The most forward Larkinson mechs soon reached the escaping cockpit and carefully escorted it back to the Spirit of Bentheim.

The crew of the Eager Condemnation knew that they had failed. General Pierce shook his head and gave the command.

"Let us end this farce before more of us try to escape. Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to serve by your side!"

"For the Friday Coalition!"

The last escaping deep strike fleet carrier exploded violently! The space around the vessel became filled with debris as an uncountable amount of pieces fling in every direction.

While this was going on, the pursuit against the ships and mechs of the Praetors and Planats proceeded a lot less smoothly.

Unlike the Fridaymen, the traitor clans still retained around a thousand functional mechs when their commanding officers ordered a retreat.

The Cross Clan was determined to prevent their escape! The bad blood between the three clans was too great for either side to give up their vendetta against each other.

However, the remnants of the enemy mechs were heavily outnumbered. Just as Ves and the others discussed, there was no need to get too close.

The artillery mechs of the Golden Skull Alliance calmly maintained their distance while bombarding their enemies from afar. By concentrating their firepower on hostile ranged mechs first, they first neutralized the enemy's ability to retaliate.

Once they completed this step, the artillery mechs began to fire at the remainder of the enemy mechs with impunity. They also fired at the propulsion systems of the fleeing enemy carriers.

Just like the Fridaymen, the traitor clans opted to split up their ships and flee in separate directions.

This tactic was a lot more effective this time!

While the Praetor Clan and Planat Clan only brought three capital ships, they also brought over 50 combat carriers. While a number of those vessels had already fallen in battle, plenty of them were left to carry their surviving crews back to safety!

"It's useless." A tired Ylvainan mech pilot said as he mechanically pointed the guns of his overstressed Transcendent Punisher at another fleeing combat carrier. "Even if we miss 90 percent of our shots at this distance, it's still useless. Space is empty. There is no escape from our guns."

It would have been a different story if the battle took place in the orbit of a planet or in the middle of an asteroid belt. There would have been plenty of natural terrain for the fleeing opponents to shelter behind.

It just so happened that the enemy strike force ambushed the expeditionary fleet when the latter was on its way to another destination.

There were no satellites or asteroids worth nothing in the vicinity. If that was the case, it would have been impossible for the expeditionary fleet to transition out of FTL in this area.

It wasn't as if the Praetors and Planats were unaware of this truth. They were all experienced and professionally-trained soldiers. They could read the outcome of the situation as well as their enemies.

Venerable Damira Planat and Venerable Albert Praetor held the final word in their respective detachments.

Even though they had safely ejected from their broken expert mechs and returned to their flagships, neither of them were in a good mood.

In the Vicious Mountain Star Sector, every mech pilot knew that pursuing glory and victory in battle was a dangerous road. Those who fought for fame, honor or territory did so with the full knowledge that the losers often met an unfortunate end.

In truth, conflicts in the Garlen Empire rarely ended in death. That would just weaken the powerful second-rate state excessively.

Most conflicts amounted to limited territorial border conflicts where one tribe or clan tried to nibble a couple of star systems from their neighboring rivals.

These campaigns were so minor that the Garleners didn't even regard them as proper wars.

No matter who won or lost, the losing soldiers were usually ransomed back. For those that couldn't, the winning side usually absorbed the losers in their ranks.

In many cases, this wasn't a big deal. Mech pilots and other soldiers switching their allegiances to a winner was not an objectionable act as long as it was an 'honorable' defection.

How the Garleners determined that was rather opaque. In general, as long as the treachery wasn't ugly, it was tolerable.

The reason why the natives of the Vicious Mountain Star Sector easily accepted this reality was due to two reasons.

First, they all shared a common identity as citizens of the Garlen identity. This effectively meant that every internal conflict amounted to a factional struggle. Defecting to a different state was much more egregious than switching over to another faction.

Defection was a core component of every factional struggle. The faction that achieved the most success or presented the best vision naturally deserved to take in a lot of people.

Second, the overwhelming majority of citizens in the Garlen Empire simply didn't matter. No matter if they were lowly mech technicians or influential ministers, they were all painted with the same brush.

The only people who truly called the shots were expert pilots and ace pilots. The latter were treated like monarchs or presidents even if they didn't know anything about governing billions or trillions of people!

This was why the entire crews of the Praetor and Planat carriers didn't dare to act on their own accord. The captains of the ships and the senior command staff also refrained from acting presumptively.

As long as their expert pilots told them to shut down their vessels and surrender to their pursuers, they would fulfill their instructions without hesitation.

Of course, Damira and Albert never even considered that option.

The Crossers were far too vengeful to let anyone off. Surrender or not, the Preators and Planats that had survived up until now were destined to die!

Since that was the case, they might as well meet their ends with dignity.

Both expert pilots had retreated to their respective staterooms in order to talk in private over the comm. They faced their projections with a heavy sense of failure.

"Our gamble failed." Albert stated the obvious. "It's regrettable that we can't bring any of our forces back to our clans. The clansmen back home will probably resent us for decades for depriving them of so many assets and mech pilots."

Venerable Damira Planat was even more miserable. As a high-tier expert pilot, her fall represented a major loss to her clan.

Yet despite this awful outcome, she did not show any remorse. Expert pilots did not doubt their decisions. Whether the outcome was good or bad, they acted according to their judgement.

While it was difficult to understand why they had taken such a considerable risk to attack a clan that was already exiled from the Becker Tribe, it made complete sense to Damira and the other ringleaders.

Their animosity towards the Cross Clan ran deep. Many of the participants in this failed attack had personally lost a lot of comrades and relatives. Damira had personally vowed to take revenge on the Crossers whenever possible. There was no way for her to shy away from this opportunity when the odds looked so good.

It turned out that she had been far too dismissive of the combat strength of the allies of the Cross Clan.

She rubbed her hand over her shaven head. "It is not a shame to lose to the likes of the Larkinson Clan. Their fighting spirit and unique methods already proves they are bound for greatness. The two of us will probably occupy an important place in their annals. We'll be remembered for the strength and valor we have shown in battle."

Venerable Albert eased up after hearing that. "You're right. The Crossers might spit on our names, but the Larkinsons.. are different. We should have befriended them rather than turning our guns at them. The Cross Clan is so lucky to get to them first."

The two fell silent for a time. While they knew what they had to do, it was still difficult for them to pull the trigger.

Venerable Damira sighed. "I was sure that succeeding here would serve as the catalyst for me to advance to ace pilot."

"Truly?" The former pilot of the Imperial Verdict reacted with surprise. "Is the vow of revenge you've taken that important to you?"

"I am always sure about these matters. Do you know what separates ace pilots from expert pilots?"

"We must find our calling. It is not enough to abide by a principle or conviction. We must dedicate ourselves to a cause that is greater than what our current strength can handle. The reason why most expert pilots stall in their growth is that they are subconsciously content with their current strength."

Expert pilots never advanced if they felt that they were already capable of resolving every issue.

Only those who truly yearned and needed the strength of an ace pilot were able to push themselves beyond their limits!

"That's true, but it's not the complete picture according to my understanding." Damira quietly replied.

It was never that simple. If this was the sole requirement, then a lot of expert pilots would have broken through a long time ago. Only those who were close to the threshold like Venerable Damira and Patriarch Reginald understood the greater requirements.

"Is it related to the Saint Kingdom?" Albert guessed.

"I don't know. All I can tell you is that it's not enough to talk the talk. You must walk the walk. If you go against your convictions even once, you can forget about becoming more than an expert pilot."

This was an incredibly onerous demand, but hardly any expert pilot objected to it. Their dedication was legendary. They wouldn't be who they were if they betrayed their principles as often as they changed their clothes.

An ace pilot was overwhelmingly superior to an expert pilot in all aspects. It was a given that they should be even more unflinching towards their chosen conviction!

"What separates a Saint from a Venerable is not just putting all of your thoughts and words into auction." Damira continued. "We also need to earn recognition from enough people. Gods are worshipped by mortals, are they not? Since we all walk the path to god pilot, we must separate ourselves from our humble origins and assume the mantle of greatness in our society. If we managed to succeed in killing off the remnants of the Cross Clan.. then the entire Planat Clan would have recognized my accomplishment."

Albert looked astonished. He never heard this theory in the Praetor Clan! "Is this true?"

"I don't know. This is what my predecessors in the Planat Clan thought. They themselves learned it from another clan, so I can't determine whether this hearsay is correct. Still, it makes too much sense to me. This is the truth of the Garlen Empire. It explains everything about our great state. The pursuit of glory is not just about becoming immortalized. It's also a path of ascension to ambitious mech pilots like us. Expert pilots are never able to advance in isolation. Each of us needs the help of norms to lift us higher."

"I see…" Venerable Albert Praetor looked fascinated, but only for a moment. "It's unfortunate that this knowledge doesn't help us in any way. I won't live long enough to earn any further glory."

Both of them lowered their heads. Eventually, Venerable Damira lifted herself up. She was ready.

"Let's do it. Don't leave anything behind for the Crossers."

"Very well."

All of the ships of the Praetor Clan and the Planat Clan in the star system blew up at the same time!

Chapter 2692: Solid Protection

Vincent slowly woke up from his slumber. His mind was foggy and he could barely feel anything. As his eyes began to perceive more details about his surroundings, he discovered that he was surrounded by white.

White ceiling, White bulkheads, White furniture. White bed.

"This.. where am I? Why do I feel so.. fuzzy?"

"Vincent! You're finally awake!"

undefinedHe looked to the side, only to see his girlfriend looking at him with concern and happiness.

As she was wearing a hazard suit right now, Vincent figured out that not a lot of time had passed since he was forcibly put to sleep.

"The battle..?" He weakly groaned.

Raella Larkinson smiled at him in a reassuring manner. "It's all over. We've won. While the losses we've suffered are considerable, I'm glad you're not among them. You're a hero, Vincent. You stepped up when it mattered the most. You confronted the Trost head-on despite facing an overwhelmingly superior mech and mech pilot. Everyone in the clan recognizes how much courage it took to face an enemy that could have easily crushed you like a bug."

The memories flowed back into Vincent. If his body wasn't so weak, he would have jumped out of his bed!

"I fought an expert mech!" He shouted in shock. "Not only that, I survived!"

He knew how fortunate he was for being able to wake up like this and face his girlfriend with his mind intact. Thousands of other mech pilots had fought against the enemy expert mechs as well and did cruel and unjust deaths.

Expert mechs were too powerful!

Every attack aimed at them either stopped in front of their resonance shields or bounced harmlessly off their fantastic armor.

Whenever an expert mech made a move, it could easily tear through the defenses of any standard mech as if they were made of leaves.

Expert mechs and standard mechs didn't even belong in the same category of machines. Vincent barely remembered what was going through his head when he pushed himself to fight against the Trost and actually managed to fare better than most.

"Wait a minute.. Didn't I advance to expert candidate?"

It was only now that he recognized that something inside of him had changed. As his mind slowly cleared up even further, he instinctively felt a source of strength that matched the descriptions of what he read about expert candidates.

"I committed to something?" He looked puzzled.

It was common knowledge among mech pilots that expert candidates and expert pilots always dedicated themselves to a certain goal, principle or ideal. This was the source and foundation of their extraordinary will and dedication.

When Vincent explored the changes in his mind, he felt as if he had become larger than life as soon as he thought about his masculinity.

When he fought against the Trost, he felt compelled to face the threat as a man. He despised the thought of being regarded as a coward and a boy. The fear of being regarded as a failure overcame his fear of death!

That wasn't all. The last thing he wanted to do was to validate the stereotype that Hexers held towards men like him. A part inside him and his mech wanted to prove to everyone that men were more than savage monsters or incompetent little boys.

As death loomed closer to Vincent, he resolved to become more than an average mech pilot! He wanted to become stronger and achieve fame as the manliest mech pilot in human space!

Perhaps a normal mech pilot would feel ashamed at this aspiration, but Vincent only felt pride as he imagined becoming known throughout the galaxy.

This was what a real mech pilot should pursue!

He held no doubts about himself anymore. He knew who he was as a person. All of the doubts and confusion in his mind had faded away. No matter what uncertainties he might have, he knew that he would never get lost as long as he stayed true to his heart!

"I am a man." He declared with steel in his voice.

He felt greater and stronger than ever before. It was as if he had previously been muddling around without knowing what he wanted to do in his life.

He didn't need to drift around any longer. After spending his life as a descendant of a rich family, a rebel cadre, a hero of the Sand War and a member of the Larkinson Clan, he finally settled the matter of his identity once and for all. A smile settled on his face as he embraced his new truth.

He was a man.

"What are you smiling about?" Raella sharply poked his arm.

"Huh? Can't I enjoy a moment to myself? I'm an expert candidate now! I'm a hero!"

"You idiot. Don't you know what this means? You can't take part in our competitive circuit anymore. You're too strong now! Team Solo Vincent will have to go on without Vincent from now on because it will just be bullying if you duel against the other contenders."

His eyes widened. "Damn! I didn't think about that!"

He wasn't a normal mech pilot anymore. Even though his new strength paled in comparison to that of a genuine expert pilot, he was still capable of performing above the level of a normal human mech pilot.

As long as this was the case, it wouldn't be fair anymore for him to bully around others who fought like children in his perspective.

While he looked forward to his vastly-improved performance, he lamented the end of his brief and short career as a mech athlete.

He suddenly remembered something else.

"Wait.. what happened to my Adonis Colossus? I remember that my mech collided right into the enemy expert mech. Is my mech still…?"

Raella shook her head. "It's not in a good shape. Let me show you how it looks after we picked it up from space."

She tapped the wrist of her suit, causing a projection to appear that displayed a very vivid depiction of a ruined mech.

The Adonis Colossus was no longer as grand as before. It had lost its masculine contours and its pleasing appearance. Vincent's heart bled as almost nothing of the mech's frontal structure was left intact. The straight collision not only crushed and distorted the entire front of the frame, but also squashed much of the internals.

"I've spoken to a mech designer who was surveying the damage." Raella carefully said. "She said that while it is technically possible to restore the Adonis Colossus, it's too difficult to bring it close to its original condition without involving a mech designer who is much more skilled than an average Apprentice. As the mech is Ves' work to begin with, his involvement is essential."

That was basically impossible. The patriarch wasn't under anyone's beck and call. He had much more important matters on his agenda. While it was true that the Adonis Colossus was his personal work, Ves had moved on to greater and more impressive mech design projects.

"He won't bother with fixing up an old third-class mech." Vincent sighed in disappointment. "Our clan urgently needs both second-class mechs and expert mechs. Even I know better than to take up his time with a request to fix the Adonis Colossus."

Raella silently nodded. As a figure of authority within the Larkinson Clan, she understood this reality even more. The battle just now had painfully demonstrated to her and fellow clansmen what it was like to bring cannon fodder mechs in a fight involving lots of high-quality machines!

The two briefly discussed the changes in Vincent's life and what mech he should pilot next now that the Adonis Colossus was trashed.

"I haven't heard any mention of a hybrid mech from the Design Department, so you'll probably have to wait until the mech designers complete the Bright Warrior IB to pilot something that fits you somewhat."

Vincent had gotten used to piloting a mech with a myriad of integrated weapon systems, so he didn't really look forward to getting back to piloting specialized mechs.

"The basic mech types are too boring to me. I don't think that any of them reflect my current piloting style."

"Hey, it's not that bad. Just like the original version, the new Bright Warriors are all modular in nature. You can switch loadouts whenever you feel like fighting in a different way than before."

That hardly sounded ideal to Vincent. He knew that it took a fair amount of time to switch a Bright Warrior configuration. What he truly wanted was to have multiple options at his disposal during battle. As far as he was concerned, this was the key to surviving on the battlefield!

Just because he aspired to become the ultimate man didn't mean he was eager to throw away his life! He did not look forward to repeating his earlier life-threatening confrontation against the Trost!

As time passed by, Vincent felt more vigorous. His strength came back and he felt eager to hop out of his bed!

"Let's get out of here!" He declared while grinning saucily at his lover. "We just survived a huge battle. Do you know what that means? We should celebrate our victory in style!"

Strangely enough, his girlfriend panicked. "Wait, Vincent! Don't go up yet! There's something you need to know!"

He didn't listen to her. His thoughts had already strayed to the inevitable party that the Larkinsons would host on the 12th deck.

However, as he tried to push his body off the recovery bed, he strangely stayed in place.

"What's going on?" Confusion marred his face.

He drew back his blanket, only to learn why he wasn't feeling anything below his waist.

"WHAAAAAHH?! MY LEGS! WHERE ARE MY LEGS!"

Vincent discovered to his horror that the area below his stomach was covered by some white machine. It covered his entire waist and conspicuously did not leave any room for a pair of legs.

Unless the high-tech brace possessed a dimensional space pocket, the sight basically indicated that his legs were gone!

"Your legs were amputated." She told him. "When the rescue party pulled you out of your ruined cockpit, your lower body was in bad shape. When the cockpit of the Adonis Colossus became compressed, the interior essentially squashed your legs. While your piloting suit tried its best to keep you stable and alive, your situation was deteriorating by the minute. In order to prevent further damage and minimize the risk of death, your rescuers had no choice but to…"

She lifted her palm and made a sawing motion, causing Vincent to wince.

He suddenly recalled an even more important matter.

"Wait.. when they separated my lower body from my upper body, did they.. cut my third leg as well?"

His girlfriend fell silent. Vincent's heart sunk all the way to the bottom. Had his worst fears come true?

Just the thought of it alone almost caused his will to shatter! How could he regard himself as the ultimate man if he no longer possessed the organ that served as the core of self-image?

Vincent felt as if he had already descended into hell! Losing his manhood was a fate that was worse than death in his eyes!

"Hahaha!" Raella suddenly laughed. "You should see the look on your face!"

"What's going on?! Did I lose it or not?!"

"It's still there, Vincent! It didn't get crushed when the front of the cockpit pressed up against your lower body! Your third leg is too small for that, hahaha!" Raella wheezed.

Vincent coughed. While he was happy with this news, he didn't like how Raella left him in the dark for so long.

He truly worried about his future as a man for a moment!

"Don't be such a baby, you big hero. An injury like this will only inconvenience you for a couple of weeks. The docs are already regrowing a new pair of legs for you. They can grow an additional organ while they are at it. Still, I do have to say you've lucked out this time."

Once he heard how close he came to losing his most sensitive organ, Vincent immediately made a vow to himself.

"I'll wear a solid codpiece next time. I'm not going to go out anymore without wearing sufficient protection!"

Chapter 2693: Value of a Mech Designer

Lady Aisling Curver almost couldn't believe her last-minute plan had worked.

Task Force Umbra initially set out to kill Ves Larkinson. The Fridaymen arrived with the force of thunder and made it clear that they did not intend to show any leniency towards their target.

It would have been great if they won, but the reality was crueler.

By now, almost every member of Task Force Umbra was dead. In fact, discounting the scattered Fridayman mech pilots who were stuck in derelict mechs, she might be the sole survivor left!

undefinedThat frightened her on a profound level. How many servicemen had taken part in Operation Head Crusher? The Auralis alone was home to at least 20,000 crew members and the other fleet carriers definitely brought at least 15,000 people each depending on their size.

Now that all of those valuable fleet carriers blew up in order to prevent their enemies from deriving any value out of them, there was no way that any of those people made it out alive.

Surrender wasn't an option. The hatred went deep on both sides.

Aisling lowered her head as she sat on a comfortable chair in some kind of ready room. She brushed her hand over her tangled hair.

As soon as the Larkinsons brought back the spare cockpit ejected from the Eager Condemnation back to the Spirit of Bentheim, a team of security officers roughly pulled her out and stripped her of her hazard suit as well as all of her gear. While they had been generous enough to give her a comfortable jumpsuit, she felt terribly out of place.

She normally wore fashionable outfits or perfectly-fitted uniforms when she went about her day. She wasn't used to losing control.

"Well, at least the Larkinsons haven't treated me too poorly."

From what she could tell, the Larkinsons considered her to be a security risk, but that was all. They attempted to make her feel more at ease. She expected to be dragged to a cell or an interrogation room, but instead she was put into a ready room meant to keep pilots comfortable while they remained on standby.

That was probably the best treatment she could receive if Ves accepted the deal she offered.

"The data is all safe inside my head." She smiled.

As the administrator and supervisor of Unit L, she possessed extensive access to how the Charlemagne and the Scarra worked. While some of the data was still stuck behind very thorough encryption, it was still possible to gain access to it in time.

Her gift did not just encompass asymmetrical neural networks. She also possessed extensive resources that would allow anyone knowledgeable in neural interfaces to set up a basic neural network. This was the core crystallization of Master Toqueman Huron's lifelong pursuit. It was so refined and optimized that its applicability and ease of use was significantly greater than when the Master Mech Designer initially realized his design philosophy!

"Ves doesn't have any mech designer who specializes in neural interface technology." Aisling muttered.

This was the greatest source of confidence to her. As someone who tracked Ves' life as best as possible, she knew about every single mech designer who worked under the man she loved more than anyone else in the cosmos.

Not a single mech designer in the Larkinson Clan could harness the considerable amount of research data in her head!

The only one who qualified was Aisling herself! Even if Ves brought in an outsider with a background in neural interfaces, he or she would never be able to master Master Huron's proprietary trade secrets.

Only someone who specialized and dedicated her design philosophy to neural networks were best able to work in this specific field!

Considering what she heard about Ves, Aisling knew that she possessed a good chance to preserve her life and gain the acceptance of her crush if she showed her value.

Ves had proven that he was not completely in the grip of his wife by forcibly elevating Juliet Stameros to the position of lead designer.

"I'm definitely more useful than this Hexer mech designer!" Aisling confidently asserted.

Ves was sorely lacking a specialty like hers in his design teams. She was one of the few mech designers who were permitted to design custom neural interfaces. This was very useful to any mech design projects because she could optimize a neural interface to any specific design, thereby facilitating a smoother piloting experience.

This was especially relevant when it came to designing expert mechs! Neural interface specialists played an essential role in their design because most resonance-empowered abilities required custom neural interface programming and configuration in order to be activated and controlled.

While it was possible to design an expert mech without a custom neural interface, the efficiency of such a machine would definitely be impaired!

"Expert pilots are too different from normal humans. If the neural interface isn't expanded to accommodate their distinct properties, then they will always be held back from displaying their full might!"

Aside from this, Aisling was also a great mech designer in other aspects. She was fairly well-rounded and possessed a very broad and solid foundation. She was able to design mechs independently or lead mech design projects on her own. Her addition would definitely alleviate the manpower shortages at the LMC's Design Department.

The entrance slid open without warning, startling Aisling out of her considerations.

She quickly straightened her back and adopted a slightly soft and vulnerable demeanor.

This was not a situation where she could afford to throw her weight around. If she wanted to get past this hurdle, she needed to gain Ves' sympathy.

A pair of powerful suited forms entered the ready room. Ves, still clad in his sealed Unending Regalia, strode forward while his dashing cape fluttered in the air. His tall and heavily-armored bodyguard followed closely behind.

No one else entered the room, which quietly made Aisling feel relieved.

She was afraid that Ves would bring Gloriana. If she wasn't here, this meant that Ves clearly wanted to deal with the situation himself. That meant she had a chance!

"Hello, Ves." She started simply and plainly.

She made sure to restrain herself from saying anything more. She had to be very careful with how she presented herself. She carefully controlled her posture, her demeanor, her pitch and her phrasing according to the training she received.

"Hello, Aisling." Ves eventually replied.

Aisling couldn't read too much from his response. His damned armor prevented her from gleaning too many details from his body language and his expression remained frustratingly expressionless.

"Have you considered my offer?" She gently asked.

"I have." He said haltingly. "I'm not entirely convinced. I don't like you at all, though I can't deny your talents are useful. The problem is that you haven't managed to offer enough arguments to make me forgive your very serious transgressions. Tell me why I should look past the crap you've put me through and bring you into the fold."

"I'm sure you already know what I can bring to the table as a Journeyman and a neural interface specialist, so I won't bother to elaborate on that. Let me explain what it means to gain access to the data in my mind."

She began to outline some of the benefits of neural networks. She tried to use as few words as possible to describe all of the advantages of the unique knowledge she held in her head.

"The Bloody Herons showcased a relatively high-level application of neural networks. The selection of mech pilots is rather strict because it's not easy to find people who meet all of the requirements. However, the results are very much worth it, as the previous battle has shown. As long as the mech pilots are sufficiently trained, they can fight as one with the help of an active neural network for an extended period of time. It is applicable in nearly any situation and battlefield."

Ves crossed his arms. He looked intrigued. Compared to his battle networks, the classical neural network could be sustained over a much longer period of time. This was a huge benefit for battles where the use of trump cards was excessive.

"I can't say that I'm not tempted." He casually replied. "However, why must I keep you around? If I want to, I can extract that valuable data straight from your implant."

"That won't work! I've employed enough safeguards to rule out any method of accessing the data stored in my implant unless I am fully onboard with it. If my implant is accessed by a third party, it will immediately erase all of the data. If any of its programming or parameters are altered, it will immediately erase all of the data. If I don't feed a specific code in intervals of less than a minute, it will immediately erase all of the data. In the long journey to this ship, I have set up hundreds of different safeguards like these to account for every conceivable contingency."

Ves frowned. He had hoped that she would be careless, but she was too technically literate to leave herself open to all of these vulnerabilities.

Only by making him give up any attempt to steal her valuable research data in a dishonest manner would she be eligible to negotiate with him. Aisling was not naive enough to believe her charm was enough to make Ves treat her in such a cordial fashion.

As she was about to proceed with the negotiation she set up, Ves began to turn around without warning.

The hatch soon slid open to allow a woman to enter the ready room. The new entrant wore a stylish purple protective suit patterned with hexagons.

Aisling's composure quickly broke down when she realized who Ves invited into the room.

"Of all of the people I expected to see in the flesh, I never imagined I would come face to face with you." Gloriana said with a deceptively calm voice.

Panic had swept through Aisling! The appearance of Ves' wife signalled a very dangerous turn of events!

"Ves!" Aisling ignored Gloriana's looming presence. "Please consider what I can offer to you. I promise that I will forget about all of my former loyalties and completely dedicate my expertise to you and your clan. I can help you design better mechs in a way that no other neural interface specialist can compare. I've noticed that you developed some mechs that work really well together. You must have become inspired by Master Huron's work, right? You can probably push their cooperation to the next level with the help of myself and the knowledge I carry!"

Ves did not immediately respond to her pleas. Instead, he kept looking at his wife.

"How do you want to deal with her, honey?"

"She's not worth my time." Gloriana arrogantly huffed. "Ever since I married you, other women don't stand a chance anymore."

"Don't you want to teach her a lesson or something?"

"I'm not a savage, Ves! I'm a dignified woman. There is no need for me to stoop to Aisling's level. Just kill her so we can move on to more productive matters."

"Nooo! Please don't listen to her, Ves!" Aisling begged. "If you kill me, you won't get any of my data! My implant will immediately fry and self-destruct. There is no chance for you to retrieve anything valuable from my head!"

Ves looked at her as if she was already dead.

"I don't care."

Those simple words sealed her fate. Aisling gradually realized that Ves never really cared about all of the benefits she could bring to him. He was fully okay with forgoing her valuable knowledge!

Her body shook. "Can.. can you tell my why?"

"I might as well, if only to ease your passing." Ves shrugged. "It's very simple. You screwed me over. You wanted to take me away from everything I built and forcibly turn me into someone else. This is unforgivable. I simply can't get over it. While I don't deny my interest in the research data that you hold, I'm already a successful mech designer in my own right. As an innovator, I am already accustomed to making my own inventions. I don't need to rely on anyone's research to progress. The most it can do is serve as a source of inspiration. That's not enough to offset your transgressions, but even if you offered a hundred times more value, I still would have rejected you out of hand."

It turned out that Aisling didn't understand Ves sufficiently at all! His grievances took precedence over his greed!

"Don't forget about me." Gloriana smirked in an incredibly smug fashion as she leaned her suit against Ves' solid form. "Ves knows better than to entertain you when he's married to me. He's mine, Aisling. I will never give you a chance to worm your way into his heart."

That was that. Neither Ves nor Gloriana had any reason to keep their valuable captive alive.

She lowered her head. Tears began to leak from her eyes.

When she looked up again, her vision became filled by the barrel of a very ornate laser pistol.

The weapon was aimed straight at her unprotected heart.

"Any last words?"

"I will always love you, in life and in death."

A bright red fash blinded her eyes!

Chapter 2694: Most Valuable Salvage

Gloriana looked sick. She couldn't help but turn around in order to block her view of what remained of her former 'rival'.

"I thought I could handle it, but it's too much for me. It's too disgusting!"

"Corpses are never pretty." Ves remarked as he demateralized his Amastendira.

He looked down at the body which had gained a very large and conspicuous burn hole through the chest.

undefinedUnlike Ves, Aisling did not possess a Jutland organ or the like. Her augmentations and genetic treatments purely focused on upgrading her cognitive functions. Ves was pretty sure her head was tougher than it looked, though he doubted it could resist the firepower of his favorite laser pistol!

Gloriana tried to cheer herself up. "I'm glad that she got what she deserved. Aisling Curver is a horrible woman. She doesn't respect or love you like I do. You would have become a puppet of the awful Friday Coalition if she managed to sink her claws into you. Aren't you happy that I got to you first?"

Ves knew without a doubt that he would definitely suffer if he didn't answer to her satisfaction!

"I am, haha! You're a wonderful woman, Gloriana. I couldn't ask for a better wife to spend the rest of my life with. The mechs that we will design together will be just as perfect as our love!"

"Oh, Ves…" Gloriana softened up and released a loving sigh. "If not for the awful lump of burning flesh next to us, I would have given you a reward by now. As it is…"

"It's a long day, honey. I still have a lot of duties to attend to. I'll probably be busy for several days straight in order to handle the aftermath of the Battle of Reckoning."

He had never taken part in a battle of scale, and neither did most of the Larkinsons. A lot of work had to be done to wrap everything up and allow the expeditionary fleet to resume its journey in the best condition possible.

Ves hadn't even spoken with Colonel Ariadne Wodin and Patriarch Reginald Cross yet about how to distribute the rich spoils they managed to secure. He was already salivating to get his hands on as many expert mech remains as possible!

Gloriana eventually moved to leave.

"I really can't stand being in the same room as a dead body. Please make sure to clean up the mess. I don't want any piece of her to remain intact and whole."

"Don't worry. I'll just look and see if I can salvage anything from her brain and implant before I dispose of the bodily remains."

His wife snorted as she walked away. "Don't bother. The typical security arrangements of a high-quality implant rules out any way to retrieve any data."

Even though he knew that, he still held a treasure hunter's mindset. He didn't want to rule out any option until he received solid proof.

When Gloriana exited the room, Ves turned to his bodyguard.

"Give me another box."

Nitaa passed over a familiar-looking metal box. When Ves opened it, he inspected the P-stone resting within. Once he saw that it was completely empty, he turned his attention to Aisling's body.

A fair amount of time had passed, causing Aisling's mind to collapse and dissipate.

Ves already expected to encounter this situation. Unlike expert pilots, mech designers were wired in a different fashion. They did not possess an unnaturally high willpower, but instead concentrated their spirituality in a condensed design seed for a lack of a better word.

From his own understanding of design seeds, they were very dense and resilient.

Ves speculated that once Journeymen died, their design seeds wouldn't evaporate in an instant like the rest of their fragile minds.

His guess hit the mark. Aisling's design seed still looked as solid and whole as a minute ago. It didn't seem to deteriorate anytime soon.

Of course, Ves had no idea what happened to them. Would they break down at a slower pace than normal? Would they slip into the imaginary realm and evolve into something else? Would they just.. fade out of the material dimensions and enter into a realm that is specific to mechs?

No matter what was supposed to happen, Aisling's design seed could forget about getting away!

Ves may not be able to salvage the valuable research data in her implant, but it was a different matter when it came to her spiritual essence!

As a mech designer himself, he knew that the rest of a Journeyman's mind was not that essential. Ves had no interest in retaining any portion of Aisling aside from the literal crystallization of her design philosophy.

He could think about how to make use of it later. Right now, he just wanted to add it to his collection.

Salvaging the design seed was as simple as picking up the design seed with a spiritual projection before depositing it into a waiting P-stone.

It seemed that when Aisling died, her mental barrier and all of her mental defenses had collapsed. Her mind and design seed should have reacted violently to any intrusions if she was still alive, but since that was not the case, Ves didn't encounter any opposition.

"Interesting."

As Ves looked carefully at Aisling's intact design seed, he became a bit uncertain.

Was Aisling still alive? Was there any living part of her that still resided in her design seed? Did the design seed exist as a separate autonomous life form or was it purely an extension of the mech designer who created it? All of these questions and more momentarily overwhelmed his mind.

"Ah, whatever! I'll figure this out later!"

All that mattered for the moment was that he collected all of the spiritual loot he could obtain from this battle.

His only regret was that he had missed out on too many opportunities to harvest more spirits. The enemy fielded 11 expert pilots in total! He could have used up all of his P-stones if he was in a position to salvage the crumbling will and spirits of those extraordinary mech pilots!

Sadly, it wasn't as if he could hop on board a shuttle and fly next to an expert mech that just got wrecked while the battle was still raging hot. The risks were far too great. If his shuttle was attacked by a couple of mechs, then Ves didn't think his Unending Regalia would be able to protect him against the excess shock or heat that would sweep over his entire body!

By this time, the spiritualities of all of those dead expert pilots had already faded away. It was no use even if the Larkinsons brought back the bodies before his feet. He had already tried to do so for Venerable Kelvin Praetor when the Trost got demolished right next to the Spirit of Bentheim, but too much time had passed.

These failures taught him that the only way he could realistically harvest an expert pilot's spirituality was to be right next to them with a P-stone within reach when they died!

"What an onerous restriction!"

It was too difficult to ensure that Ves would have more opportunities to expand his collection. His expert pilots would not only have to fight against an opponent that was at least equally as dangerous, but also achieve victory without taking any lives.

Ves shook his head. "I shouldn't be too impatient. Perhaps I'll figure out a better solution one day."

He decided to take stock of his spiritual spoils.

The three special containers were still within his reach. He opened every box and inspected the contents of every P-stone resting inside.

Obviously, Ghanso's spiritual remains were not in the best of shape. The method that Ves used to extract his spirituality from his mind was so crude and destructive that the P-stone was filled with several ugly pieces.

Ves expected them to merge back together, but it seemed they weren't capable of doing so. He didn't detect much activity in any of the remnants.

While Ves speculated that it might be possible to 'resurrect' Venerable Ghanso in a spiritual form, he probably wouldn't be the same as his old self. Too much had been lost.

"Of course, I have no intentions of reviving an enemy of mine."

He might as well point his Amastendira at himself and pull the trigger if that was the case!

Instead of seeking to bring an aspect of Ghanso back to life, Ves would rather use his powerful spiritual remains as an ingredient for a greater project.

As long as Ves cleansed and stripped the broken pieces of Ghanso's spirit of everything hateful, he would still be left with something strong that could empower any design spirit!

"Hehe. Rest well, Ghanso." He grinned. "I know you don't want to, but you'll be working for the Larkinson Clan one way or another. Death is not an escape when I'm involved!"

He inspected the P-stone holding Venerable Relia Foster's spirituality next. Different from Ghanso, Foster's spirituality was relatively whole and intact.

Even though she died in a very bloody and aggrieved fashion, her will and spirit had remained strong no matter how much pain that Dise and Ketis inflicted on her body.

Ves admired her perseverance. She truly exhibited the qualities of an expert pilot at that time.

Due to being ready to receive her the moment her broken body finally succumbed to death, he managed to harvest her entire spirituality with remarkably few problems.

Not only that, but Ves still sensed a powerful will from within. The P-stone actually radiated a weak force of will for that reason!

"This is much greater than with Ghanso!"

While Ghanso's spiritual remnant was also contaminated by his extraordinary will, it was much weaker and less active.

Whereas Ghanso's remains gave Ves the impression of a pile of body parts, Foster's remains seemed like a whole but comatose body. Her spirituality didn't appear to be conscious, but it still had some qualities that were definitely alive.

Frankly, Ves was amazed by what he managed to obtain. This prize might possibly be the most valuable haul from this battle. Not even the Auralis in her entirety could compare to the complete and relatively-intact spirituality of a promising and talented expert pilot!

The only problem was that Ves had no clue what to do with it. He supposed he could chop it up and turn it into an ingredient, but that sounded far too wasteful to him. He could draw upon plenty of ingredients to create his design spirits.

He should find another purpose for Venerable Foster's spirituality. One that would hopefully yield an entirely different result.

Would it be possible to transplant it into another mind or body?

"What if.. what if I clone Foster's body and put this spirit inside its new shell?"

It was theoretically possible. While there were bound to be a lot of problems, Ves guessed that he might technically be able to 'revive' Venerable Foster.

What a crazy and audacious plan!

Something like this was definitely unheard of. If he succeeded, the implications were enormous. Yet if he failed, he would have probably wasted a very strong and valuable spirit!

"I can't take this risk!"

There was no point to reviving Venerable Foster anyway. He wasn't short of expert pilots these days and the last thing he wanted to do was to revive one of his enemies.

"At the very least, I should cut some parts out while adding some other stuff inside."

Was it possible for him to turn Venerable Foster's spirit into a deeply loyal member of the Larkinson Clan by cutting out the parts that were hostile and implanting a spiritual fragment from the Golden Cat?

Even if it was possible, Ves instinctively repelled these measures. This was playing with life on a much deeper level than before. Human life was sacred. Toying with it in this fashion was far too close to playing god!

"I'm not a god!" He insisted.

He needed to forget about these macabre experiments and focus on how he could use his spoils to empower his mech designs. That was the right way to apply his spiritual abilities.

As soon as his thoughts strayed in this direction, he came up with an interesting idea.

"What if I design a self-resonating expert mech?" He wondered. "Would a normal pilot be able to gain the power of an expert pilot without actually being one?"

This was an interesting idea!

Chapter 2695: Spoils Spoils Spoils

The distribution of spoils was always a contentious issue.

After every battle, the side that controlled the battlefield received the opportunity to pick up a lot of valuable loot.

What was interesting was that the party that asserted control of a wreckage-filled battlefield was not always the winner.

For example, in the case of deep raids, the attackers could only stay in a hostile star system for a limited amount of time before they needed to leave. If they lingered too long in order to pick up all of the valuable scrap, enemy reinforcements might drop in and corner the greedy raiders!

undefinedThird parties might also be the final beneficiaries of a battle. If two pirate outfits smashed each other apart, the authorities might arrive at the end and defeat the exhausted victors with ease!

All in all, the issue of controlling the battlefield and dividing the spoils was of great importance to any combatant. Entire wars were won or lost due to arguments and mishaps surrounding the recognition of claims on salvage and other matters with profound financial implications.

This was especially the case when multiple organisations had to decide how to distribute the salvage!

Much of the wealth lying on the ground or drifting off in space came in the form of broken wrecks and debris. It took a lot of effort to convert them into valuable assets, either in the form of restored machines or recycled materials.

Most outfits generally didn't possess the industrial capabilities to process complex salvage, so they were accustomed to selling it to a dedicated salvage processing company at a discount. This became a lot more relevant as the amount of salvage far surpassed what any organization could reasonably process.

Suffice to say, this was exactly the case after the Battle of Reckoning. Not even the Larkinson Clan could process thousands of mech wrecks. The Spirit of Bentheim excelled at transforming refined materials into mechs and other industrial equipment. She did not possess extensive or efficient recycling and reprocessing capabilities.

Even so, no one wished to discard any of the salvage. No matter how difficult it was to extract value out of any broken piece, it could still be sold for a lucrative amount of money. Nothing on the battlefield was truly worthless.

The negotiations between the partners of the Golden Skull Alliance had already commenced as soon as the outcome of the battle was decided. The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers sent out various salvage shuttles and other vehicles to survey the debris fields and pick up the most valuable salvage before it could drift off any further.

The most valuable and controversial salvage of all was definitely the broken expert mechs!

Of course, every wreck that belonged to one of the members of the alliance automatically returned to them. The Glory Seekers retrieved the remains of the Star Dancer and the Cross Clan quickly gathered the pieces of the Bolvos Rage, the Conavis Mer and the Leskin without contention.

That left the expert mechs that belonged to the enemy. There were 11 expert mech wrecks in total. How to determine who deserved to obtain one was a difficult matter!

The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers mostly fought alongside each other. Even if one side managed to occupy a given enemy expert pilot, the reason why they were left undisturbed was because other friendlies blocked other opponents from intervening.

To be honest, Ves didn't want to bother with all of the horse-trading. He threw the problem to Major Verle who in turn tapped other Larkinsons to do all of the talking.

After more than an entire day, the negotiations concluded. Just like any compromise, the final agreement satisfied no one. The way these talks worked was to make sure that none of the participants felt overly left out. The final outcome at least had to approach their psychological expectations.

"One of the reasons why the talks stretched out for so long is because it's difficult to determine a 'fair' distribution." Major Verle personally met with Ves at his office. "Those that made more accomplishments should obtain more spoils. No one disagrees with that principle. It's just that everyone has different ideas on how to score a contribution. Another point of contention is the compensation of losses."

"What's that about?" Ves questioned as he stroked Bygul's back.

[Mew~]

Calabast took Lucky on a trip to the Auralis, so Ves had little choice but to cuddle with a substitute.

Though Bygul was obviously less lively than his first cat, the AI-driven projection had become a lot more realistic in acting like a real pet.

The ASTERA's deep learning function constantly studied the cats on the Spirit of Bentheim and precisely tracked Ves' reactions to any given behavior.

The results became better and better. While Bygul initially came across as stiff and artificial, now he had become a lot less distinguishable from actual cats!

"All of us have suffered losses, but some have lost more than others." Major Verle pointed out. "Each of us have lost thousands of mechs and at least half as many mech pilots. To us, these losses aren't too heavy, because we can easily recruit other mech pilots given our open recruitment policies."

"What are our current losses?" Ves asked.

"The numbers are still in flux. We have a lot of injured who might not make it at the end of the day. However, the overall picture has become somewhat clear. Get ready, because the current tally isn't pretty."

"Just give it to me, major. I'm not a newbie when it comes to hearing these reports."

"Very well, sir." Major Verle took a deep breath. "Out of the 4300 mech pilots of the Larkinson Clan, around 1800 of them are no longer with us. This time, the Avatars of Myth, the Battle Criers and the Flagrant Vandals have lost a disproportionate amount of soldiers."

The three mech forces were responsible for fighting against the elite mech units of the Friday Coalition. Compared to the Praetor and Planat mechs, the Fridaymen mechs were not only stronger, but also fought a lot harder.

The detachments of famed elite mech regiments such as the Holvein Grenadiers and the Silent Swords were so overwhelmingly powerful that the flimsy commercial mechs fielded by the Larkinson Clan collapsed quickly without support!

Ves briefly closed his eyes. His decision to cheap out on mechs had led to the loss of almost half of the Larkinson Clan's main combatants. This was a grievous loss and would surely generate a lot of hard feelings among the other Larkinsons.

Of course, the Larkinson Clan was actually a lot weaker than these numbers suggested. The casualty figures specifically mentioned mech pilots. When it came to intact, combat effective mechs, Ves loosely guessed that the Larkinson Clan only retained around 20 percent of what it had before!

This left the Larkinson Clan remarkably vulnerable against any opportunistic enemies that might show up in the near future.

"What about our allies?"

"They haven't shared the full picture with us, but they still supplied us with a couple of estimates. The Glory Seekers lost around 1200 out of 2600 mech pilots. The Cross Clan lost around 1500 out of 3200 mech pilots. In both cases, the majority of deaths occurred during the attempt to contain the 8 destructive Fridayman expert mechs."

Ves had tracked that desperate fight with great attention. The Golden Skull Alliance simply didn't have enough expert mechs, so it had no choice but to field an overwhelming amount of cannon fodder in the hopes of drowning the vastly-superior opponents!

"Damn. Our allies have lost a lot of mech pilots, all of whom are trained to military standards. That represents a great drop in strength. How will they address this problem?" Ves inquired as he stroked his hand on Bygul's physically projected body.

He relished getting back to wearing more comfortable clothes.

Now that the entire area around the expeditionary fleet had been swept for threats, there was no need to wear any protective equipment any longer. The alert level had already been lowered to yellow, which meant that there was no need for the entire crew to be fully geared and permanently stuck at their battle stations.

"Let's start with the Glory Seekers, sir. The Hexers are in a bit of a bind because the Wodin Dynasty cannot reinforce them any further. Now that the Hexadric Hegemony is facing an increasing amount of pressure from the Friday Coalition, the Hexers truly need every single mech pilot. It is political suicide for the Wodins to transfer mech pilots away from the front."

That was understandable.

"How will the Hexers get back to full strength?"

"I'm not sure. You should know them better than I do, sir." Verle replied. "In my judgement, they will probably hire female mech pilots who are compatible with their ideology. It's the only viable way for them to get back to a level of strength that allows them to defend the Indigo Tremor and other valuable assets."

This was a desperate measure, but one that could not be avoided. The Indigo Tremor was a newly-built fleet carrier that incorporated state-of-the-art Hexer military technology. Yet no matter how many features she possessed, she would only become an attraction to thieves if there weren't mechs on guard to serve as a deterrent!

Ves looked nonchalant. "I'm not sure whether the Hexers can attract any decent mech pilot considering their.. eccentric culture, but maybe they'll surprise us all. What about the Cross Clan?"

"We haven't heard anything from the Cross Clan about this matter so far. It will likely take some time for them to come to a decision."

"Do you think the Crossers will open their doors as well?"

"They have no choice, sir." Verle firmly answered. "If they want to succeed in the Red Ocean, they can't arrive at the dwarf galaxy at half strength. They can't afford to wait decades for their descendents to grow up, so the only viable solution is to recruit outsiders. It will be difficult."

That was an understatement, but it wasn't any of their business.

Now that Ves gained a decent overview of the losses suffered by everyone in the alliance, he became a bit worried how they would proceed in the coming months.

Right now, the Golden Skull Alliance was at its most precarious moment. It would take at least several months for the injured mech pilots to heal and to restore, build or acquire enough mechs to make them useful again.

It might take a lot longer to replace the huge amount of mech pilots that had fallen in the Battle of Reckoning!

That made the next steps of their journey a lot more dangerous.

However, there was plenty of time to formulate a couple of plans. Ves was much more interested in the more immediate topic of distributing all of the juicy loot!

"Let's get back to dividing the spoils, major. Just give me the short version. Who gets what?"

"I'll start with our clan. We may have fielded the most mechs, but most of them are considerably weak. The only good performers we had were our prime mechs, our Valkyrie Redeemers and our Transcendent Punishers. While it's true we've pulled off some very astonishing moves, we didn't contribute nearly as much in the more punishing clashes."

"So we'll be getting less of the share of the spoils?"

"It's.. complicated. We obviously can't demand too much, but the fact that we have overturned the battle by wiping out the Bloody Herons and the entire crew of the Auralis at once cannot be ignored. In the end, our negotiators managed to hash out the differences by making some major concessions in exchange for obtaining some priority spoils."

Major Verle began to list out the full loot.

In total, the Larkinson Clan received 20 percent of standard mech salvage. While this was a low proportion, the Larkinsons secured priority on all of the wrecks of the Bloody Herons and the Corundian Giants.

The Larkinson Clan gave up any claims on the salvage originating from the starships of the enemy strike force.

The only exception was the Auralis. The Glory Seekers and the Crossers easily conceded the whole fleet carrier to the Larkinsons for obvious reasons.

As for the most valuable loot, the Larkinsons gained just 2 expert mech wrecks in total. Ves became very disappointed when he heard he could only get his hands on the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc.

"It's not that bad." Major Verle tried to console his upset patriarch. "We got all of the Scarra mech wrecks as a package deal as well."

That was hardly a consolation.

Chapter 2696: Payment for Services Rendered

Obviously, the Larkinson Clan's major coup was the Auralis. No matter whether the Larkinsons attempted to bring her into service or sell her off, the ship was packed with value!

What was especially important here was that the Larkinsons gained sole custody of the deep strike fleet carrier. They did not have to share the ship with anyone else, which saved everyone a lot of trouble.

The problem was that the Auralis accounted for a huge proportion of spoils that the Larkinson Clan had to skimp out on other spoils.

The Larkinson negotiators filled up the rest of the quota of spoils by securing a relatively small amount of mech salvage and just two expert mechs.

undefinedCertainly, Ves was very interested in getting his hands on the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc. Despite their fall, the mechs were actually in decent shape. Aside from some missing limbs and some broken components, they could still be restored as long as Ves put in enough effort.

The Charlemagne was a special mech. It served as the focal point of Master Huron's asymmetrical neural network, so it should definitely be packed with all kinds of advanced systems.

The fact that the Larkinsons obtained a lot of Scarra mechs was doubtlessly helpful in any attempt to study or reverse engineer the asymmetrical neural network.

"It's a shame I didn't manage to gain any of the valuable research data in Aisling's implant." Ves sighed.

When Ves handed her corpse over to the Black Cats, their hackers quickly discovered that the implant was completely fried. All of its data storage facilities were firmly destroyed beyond any means of recovery.

There was no realistic way for the Larkinson Clan to field neural networked mechs on its own even if it secured the Charlemagne and as many Scarra mechs as possible.

It would have been much more useful to retain the services of the Aisling Curver and gain access to all of the proprietary research data in her head.

It was too bad that Ves had made a different choice. While he did not regret killing someone he loathed, he also had to accept the implications.

The Jeanne D'Arc wasn't as complicated. Its design was quite simple for an expert mech because its strength lay in its fundamentals. It hit hard, it flew fast and it could take an enormous beating.

The latter was the key feature of this swordsman expert mech. The Jeanne D'Arc needed no shield because its frame was clad with tough, regenerating armor.

When Ves discovered that Venerable Foster's former expert mech was augmented by Rorach's Bone, he immediately put it on his wish list.

He wanted it! Rorach's Bone had a special place in his heart and it was also very useful to boot. The only uncertainty he held was whether it was possible to extract the Rorach's Bone from the Jeanne D'Arc without losing too much of its capabilities. Losses always occurred in any recycling process, particularly when it came to recovering volatile or energetic exotics.

Ves also had plenty of other uses for an expert mech like the Jeanne D'Arc.

By studying it, he would be able to gather a lot of clues and insights about the operation of an expert mech. The Jeanne D'Arc was the best choice to do so because it possessed the least complicated internal architecture out of the 11 broken enemy expert mechs.

On the flipside, the Jeanne D'Arc also had very little to offer in terms of proprietary tech and applications.

This was the extent of the spoils that the Larkinson Clan received. While Ves felt quite regretful that he didn't get to obtain more broken expert mechs, he was content with obtaining a complete capital ship.

As for his allies, the Glory Seekers enriched themselves with plenty of other salvage. The Hexers secured 30 percent of enemy mech wreck salvage, 35 percent of enemy starship salvage and 4 expert mechs.

The expert mechs they obtained were half of the Fridayman expert mechs. While these were less advanced machines compared to the mid and high-tier expert mechs of the traitor clans, the Hexers were quite familiar with how the Fridaymen built their expert mechs. This meant that the Glory Seekers should be able to make much better use of this salvage than others.

As for the Cross Clan, they arguably obtained the highest share of spoils.

Their powerful mechs and veteran mech pilots contributed a lot of battle strength to the alliance's lineup.

Their powerful expert mechs also stopped the equally-powerful Praetor and Planat expert mechs in their tracks.

The Erin Tear, the Imperial Verdict and the Trost were so powerful that they could easily slaughter thousands of mechs or entire starships if left alone!

What was even more crucial was that Venerable Banner Cross sacrificed his life in an attempt to help with containing the Fridayman expert mechs!

This was a very painful sacrifice for an organization that looked up to high-ranking mech pilots to an insane degree!

The Larkinsons and the Glory Seekers weren't heartless enough to discount Venerable Banner's role. If the Leskin did not keep the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc busy, the Fridaymen would have been able to leverage their advantage in expert mechs even better, leading to a much faster collapse of the Golden Skull Alliance's battle lines.

From an objective point of view, the Cross Clan definitely earned the most merits in battle.

Of course, it was also due to their presence in the expeditionary fleet that the Fridaymen managed to invite the traitor clans to take part in the ambush in the first place.

The alliance members didn't quibble over this detail. It was not as if the Crossers were obligated to help the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers fight the Fridaymen.

The moment they signed the alliance treaty, they formed a mutual defense pact that encouraged them to form a united front against external enemies.

In consideration of the Cross Clan's huge contributions, it gained the lion's share of spoils. The Crossers obtained 50 percent of mech wreck salvage, 65 percent of the enemy starship salvage and 5 expert mech wrecks.

In addition to obtaining the very valuable Erin Tear, the Imperial Verdict and the Trost, they also managed to rope in the Ulver Quinn and the Prava Lonestar.

Part of the reason why the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers agreed to hand over so much loot was to keep the Crossers happy enough.

If they perceived that they were being shortchanged, there was a very realistic possibility that they might leave the alliance!

Not even Professor Benedict Cortez or Patriarch Reginald Cross could stop all of the rank-and-file from demanding a separation. After all, they just lost a huge amount of battle comrades. Hardly any of the Crossers were in a mood to go on a risky adventure in the Red Ocean at this time!

"We need the protection of the Cross Clan even more at this delicate time." Major Verle explained to Ves. "Through this battle, we have learned that the Crossers are honorable, upright warriors who can be relied upon to cover our backs. It's quite difficult to secure valuable allies like these. Much of the spoils we have surrendered is actually their 'pay' for protecting us in the next couple of years."

"That's.. reasonable." Ves murmured.

He was fine with this. He wasn't particularly greedy for the other salvage. Their main value lied in how much money they could yield when sold to salvaging companies.

Was the Larkinson Clan short of money?

No!

Therefore, Ves personally felt it was beneath his clan to drop to its knees and grab as much trash on the ground as possible.

The Cross Clan was in the opposite situation. While the addition of their latest guest designer certainly alleviated their income concerns, Professor Cortez did not come with a large-scale mech company.

Their desire to restore the strength they used to hold back when they led the Becker Tribe meant they needed to make huge investments. They had to acquire a lot of starships, a lot of mechs and possibly hire and nurture a lot of talents.

All of that cost money! A huge amount of money!

It shouldn't be any surprise that the Crossers were very greedy for the salvage. In any case, Ves was fine with letting them hunt down all of the broken pieces strewn around in space.

There was no way that any of them could sweep the entire battlefield of valuable debris in a short amount of time.

Ves wasn't sure whether any of their starships had enough cargo capacity to store it all. Eventually, the expeditionary fleet had to resume its journey.

The debris field definitely attracted a lot of vultures. While individual outfits didn't pose a threat to the expeditionary forces, it would be a different matter if other Garlener clans and tribes dropped by.

Aside from that, staying in this border system also exposed the weakened fleet to attacks from other powerful state actors.

It was best to reach a star system that offered a much greater degree of protection.

Major Verle laid out their awful situation in very clear terms.

"We are effectively down to 15 to 20 percent of our original battle strength, sir. We not only lost a lot of standard mechs, but effectively lost all but one of our expert mechs. The Amphis alone cannot possibly shield us against a hostile force that deploys multiple expert mechs."

"We still have our prime mechs."

"Those mechs are subject to many limitations, and you know it. The fact of the matter is that we are simply not in shape to fight another battle. That's not a critical concern if we are near the Hexadric Hegemony or other friendly territory, but that is not the case right now. The only chance we have is to enter a neutral, trade-oriented star system where the local rulers guarantee the safety of visitors."

"We need to reach the Life Research Association as soon as possible." Ves concluded.

"Correct, sir. There's more. In my talks with Colonel Ariadne Wodin and Patriarch Reginald Cross, we came to the conclusion that our ratios of mechs-to-starships is so low that we cannot adequately ensure our safety for the next couple of months."

Something was afoot here.

"What are you getting at, major?"

"We.. are thinking about contracting mercenaries."

Ves immediately froze.

"Mercenaries?"

"Yes. Mercenaries." Verle confirmed. "They're not as bad as you think."

"That hasn't been my experience with soldiers-for-hire. They're cowards and can't be relied upon to fight against serious opposition."

"Mercenary corps come in all shapes and sizes, Ves. You can't paint them all with a single brush. While it is true that the lowest grade of mercenaries are unreliable, it's a different story as long as we pay serious money. Also, don't forget that second-class mercenary corps are much more trustworthy and professional than any third-class mercenary corps. They're also vastly stronger as well. The largest mercenary organizations can supply enough protection to guard us against any enemies for a reasonable amount of time."

These were reasonable arguments. Ves acknowledged that much of his views on mercenaries were colored by his mixed experiences with the Oodis Mudriders years ago. Then again, he should have known better to employ a mercenary corps with a black mark on their record.

Ves had another reason to be reluctant about hiring mercenaries.

"This is going to cost us a lot, right?"

Major Verle nodded. "Every partner will have to give up a portion of the share of the earnings gained from processing our spoils. In order to protect us against most possible threats, we need to do business with powerful mercenary organizations that are at least the size of a mech regiment. They're very expensive to hire on short notice and without establishing an existing relationship. In the absence of favorable conditions, we can only secure a contract by paying a hefty premium. A short-term monthly contract will already cost us several billion hex credits, and that doesn't address their battle pay."

"What?!"

Chapter 2697: Reprieve

"Why do you look so upset, Ves?"

"We're about to hire mercenaries."

There was no way that Ves could remain calm when he learned of this plan. While he understood the necessity of temporarily bolstering their protection, he still had a very bad impression of mercenaries in general.

This was actually a bit unfair towards the mercenary community. There were plenty of reliable mercenary corps in human space. Many of them possessed clean and stellar records.

undefinedYet there was a reason why few people liked to hire mercenaries in general.

The cheaper and weaker ones were unreliable. They were more than willing to stand their ground when faced with a weaker opponent, but were prone to running and saving their own hides as long as they encountered a stronger foe!

The stronger ones charged a different price for their services. Their reputation was much more important to them so they always abided by their contracts.

As long as a battle fell within the scope of the terms set in the contract, the mercenaries could be trusted to fight on behalf of a client.

However, it was impossible for professional mercenaries to leave themselves open to exploitation.

What if the client was attacked by an enemy that was ten times stronger than anticipated?

It would be unfair for the contracted mercenaries to fight to the death just because the client misjudged the strength of its enemy!

To prevent these incidents from ruining otherwise reliable mercenary organizations, they always specified a maximum limit on the strength of the enemies they were supposed to fight.

This was actually the biggest variable which determined how much it cost to employ any professional mercenary corps.

If Ves happened to be short of money, he could lower this strength limit. While this was enough to protect his forces from ordinary rabble, the mercs had the right to step aside without a fight if a serious enemy emerged.

In this situation, he only had himself to blame for skimping on the contract.

The only way to hire mercenaries that were willing to fight against strong opponents was to pay a lot of money.

"I don't see the problem in this arrangement." Gloriana frowned. "The Wodin Dynasty has prior experience with hiring mercenaries. They're quite well-behaved as long as they get their money. How much revenue is the LMC pulling in these days? It's definitely over a trillion hex credits. I don't see why you should feel conflicted about paying somewhere between 5 to 15 billion hex credits to enjoy the protection of a powerful mercenary corps."

She was right, but Ves still felt pained at the thought of forking over so much money.

"These mercenaries will be making a killing by doing nothing but sitting around most of the time. Their business model is more about deterrence than actual fighting. As long as they show up and brandish their mechs, they'll scare away any opportunistic robbers. While that is doubtlessly useful, we are literally paying them the equivalent of several combat carriers a month!"

Gloriana picked up Clixie and began to scratch her furry cat's chin. "You're looking at it the wrong way. The cost of hiring powerful mercenaries is expensive, but losing our entire fleet and getting everyone killed is an even greater cost! In this situation, it's best to choose the lesser of two evils. If we get defeated by an enemy because you were too reluctant to pay a bigger share of our vast earnings, you'll feel as much regret as you did earlier when you realized what a mistake it was to procure cheaper mechs for your mech forces."

His face grew ugly. She had a point. The Larkinson Clan could have retained more mech pilots if they piloted premium mechs rather than budget mechs. It didn't matter too much if the more powerful machines were also more difficult to pilot. Their improved defenses alone would be enough to save a lot of precious lives.

"Hmm.. maybe you're right." Ves reluctantly conceded. "We'll have to set back a couple of plans if we spend this much, but this is a trivial cost compared to losing everything."

No wonder mercenaries could still stay in business even when they charged such exorbitant prices. There was always a need for protection in this dangerous galaxy. Some needed more protection than others, and the expeditionary fleet just happened to fall into this category.

As Ves sat down at a couch next to his wife, he leaned into her in order to plant a modest kiss on her cheek. He also took in her fresh floral scent.

"Hihihi!" Gloriana turned her attention away from Clixie and kissed his cheek in return. "I'm so glad we survived in the end. I don't even mind it if we lost as long as we managed to make it out intact. We can always rebuild what we lost, you know. We're the most promising pair of Journeymen in this star cluster. That makes us desirable no matter where we travel."

That may be true, but how easy was it to get over the loss of so much family?

The Larkinson Clan had become more than just a vehicle for his ambitions as far as Ves was concerned.

Perhaps he might not care for the deaths of thousands of regular Larkinsons, but he would still feel pained if Melkor, Ketis, Raella and Joshua died in battle.

He shook his head and changed the topic.

"How are the Glory Seekers? They lost a lot of mech pilots without even reaching the Red Ocean. That must be a considerable setback."

Gloriana tapped his cheek with her finger. "They're not as depressed as you think they are. None of them are really angry, Ves. They fought against the Friday Coalition and managed to eliminate a considerably powerful force of deep strike fleet carriers, elite mech units and expert mechs. The casualties they suffered are quite reasonable in relation to our opposition. Not only did they manage to fight against a true enemy of the Hegemony, they also did so under the blessing of the Superior Mother. To witness her making a move in battle is the most glorious moment of their lives!"

"That.. is.. nice to hear…"

"I'm not worried at all as long as your mother is there to protect us all!" She pressed up against him in a loving manner. "Your mother is so strong. I feel absolutely reassured. Every Glory Seekers also feels the same now. We can defeat any opponent with a Supreme by our side!"

"My mother isn't as strong as you think! She can't fight all of our battles for us. We can't keep relying on trump cards like battle networks to bail us out. We need to develop our base strength as quickly as possible!"

Gloriana was banking way too much on the Superior Mother! That was a dangerous habit that Ves did not wish to see in anyone. While it might not be a big deal if his wife was the only one who thought this way, the problem would be a lot bigger if the Glory Seekers adopted the same attitude!

"Ugh." Ves placed his head into his palms.

"Miaow?"

Clixie moved over to his lap in order to cheer him up. Her tail wagged in a cute manner as she looked up at him. Ves couldn't resist and stroked her head and tufted ears.

"Miaow miaow~"

"When are we departing?" Gloriana asked. "Do you know that already?"

"Not really. Our schedule is completely shot to hell. We'll probably linger on this battlefield for at least a week in order to pick up a sufficient amount of valuable salvage. We also need this time to perform large-scale repair operations on our starships and our mech assets. It's a lot easier to do this in realspace than in FTL because we can easily transfer parts, materials and personnel to each other."

The Spirit of Bentheim already began to act as a foundry for replacement parts for the entire expeditionary fleet. It was times like these where Ves appreciated his factory ship the most. It felt so great to be able to rely on their own capabilities to restore their hardware and produce new ones.

"Our clan has gained two expert candidates."

"I know. To be honest, I pretty much knew that Taon Melin would reach this point sooner or later. He's the golden boy of the Living Prophet. As for.. the other guy.. I'm not inclined to pay attention to him. We've got too many expert candidates. I was actually hoping that a couple of them would die in this battle."

Ves wouldn't have to develop as many expert mechs in the medium term if that was the case. He hadn't even started with designing expert mechs for his first batch of expert pilots yet! He would probably be forced to work himself to death if more expert candidates emerged!

"Did any of them die?"

"Unfortunately, no. They're just too damn good at preserving their lives."

While many of their colleagues were dying left and right, the expert candidates of the Larkinson Clan were able to rely on their greater skill and instincts to stay alive.

Every expert candidate ranging from Commander Casella Ingvar to Percival Larkinson performed admirably in the Battle of Reckoning. Ves truly couldn't find fault in any of them. None of them managed to achieve apotheosis either.

Each of the Larkinson Clan's existing expert candidates had advanced too soon. They still needed to accumulate for many months before they reached the bottleneck that barred their way to becoming an expert pilot. Only then would the impetus of battle be able to elevate them further.

There were a lot of other internal issues that Ves needed to address, but that could all wait. This was the first break he enjoyed since the end of the battle.

"How will we go forward?" Gloriana asked in a gentle tone. "Have any of your intentions changed due to what we had just been through?"

Ves rubbed his not-so-smooth chin. It had been too long since he shaved his cheeks.

"We're going to need to expand the Golden Skull Alliance as soon as possible. There is strength in numbers. I originally intended to take my time, but I think we need to hurry up in roping in more partners. I hope we can find at least one new partner in Majestic Teal."

Gloriana became a lot more intrigued. "Will you be looking for a partner in the Life Research Association? There are a lot of good biotech researchers in this state. As long as we attract a good organization, then we'll have access to a lot of advanced biotech-related services."

"I'm not so sure that will work, honey. The lifers are very attached to their biomechs. While I don't have anything against these biological machines, they rely on an entirely different infrastructure than mechanical mechs. It's not efficient to mix them both in the same force."

"Are you sure about that? Biomechs have their own advantages, Ves. I think it is worthwhile to field at least some of them in case we're faced in a situation where regular mechs fail."

"Pfff. As if that will ever happen. Ordinary mechs are dominant in human space for a reason. They can handle any situation as long as their design allows it." Ves declared. "Personally, I don't specifically object to them, but I don't think there are sufficient benefits to adding them to our fleet. What about you? I never took you for someone who has taken a liking for these odd mechs."

Gloriana smiled. "Some of them are quite gruesome, but the better ones are quite charming in their own way. They're.. natural and fluid in a way that no mechanical mech can compare. I think orthodox mech designers like us can learn a lot of useful lessons from studying biomechs. They're grown rather than assembled. There are many implications to their design methodology because of that. The only flaw that I can't stomach is the high variance between copies."

Every biomech was unique. Even mass-produced copies from the same batch were distinguishable from each other with the naked eye!

Ves found that to be the most interesting part about biomechs. If it wasn't so difficult to get started on designing these organic machines, he would have tried it out by now!

Chapter 2698: Convenient Belief

A lot of salvaging work commenced in the coming days. Valuable goods flew aimlessly in space, just waiting to be plucked.

There were also a lot of restorable wrecks and parts floating around that could easily be put back into working order after expending a bit of effort. Now that the strength of the expeditionary fleet had dropped to a low point, the restoration of even a single mech was of utmost importance!

Turning broken mechs into functional mechs was difficult work. It took too much time to restore them back to peak condition or as close to them as possible.

"We'll have to do some judicious jury rigging." Ves decided. "It doesn't matter if a mech is only half as effective as before if it only takes a few hours to slap some random parts onto an incomplete frame. I would rather have half a mech at my disposal than nothing at all during another crisis."

undefinedIn order to fix as many mechs as possible, Ves decided to halt all of his current design projects. No one in the Design Department was in the mood to go back to designing mechs at this time. The assistant mech designers were much more useful if they lent their expertise to the maintenance crews trying to fix all of the broken Larkinson mechs.

Ves also had a fair amount of work to do. Some of the Prime mechs such as the Valkyrie Prime, Piranha Prime and the Bright Spear Prime accumulated a fair bit of damage to their internals.

While the enemy completely failed to breach their Unending armor, a varying amount of shock and heat damage still managed to pass through and affect the more delicate internals.

"There are so many items on my agenda that I don't even have time to inspect the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc!"

Time was of the essence, and the Golden Skull Alliance had far too little of it. News of the battle had already spread. While the details in public were scarce, the first scout ships had already arrived in the star system.

Ves knew that this was just the beginning. As long as those corvettes observed the expanding debris field for some time, they would know that a lot of very valuable military hardware had been destroyed recently!

"We'll be welcoming all kinds of vultures soon!"

There was no order in this border star system. With no authority laying down the law, the only way for the expeditionary forces to deter opportunistic thieves was to have the biggest fist!

"The problem is that our fist is already bloodied and broken. We can't punch as hard as before."

The solution they came up with was to hire mercenaries. While Ves had his misgivings on this course of action, it was objectively the best solution they could make at this time.

They already signed a contract with a very large and renowned mercenary organization on an emergency basis. The cost of calling in a strong mercenary force on extremely short notice was considerable, but what choice did they have?

At the very least, Ves felt that he got what he paid for. The mercenary organization that was about to supplement the defense of his expeditionary fleet not only possessed a great track record, but was also a behemoth in the Yeina Star Cluster.

Any mercenary organization that operated multiple branches across multiple star sectors had to maintain an excellent reputation. Their credibility was important to them as the misdeeds of one branch could affect business in every other branch that operated under the same brand.

This was why these huge mercenary companies never turned against their own clients.

Considering the huge value of the expeditionary fleet, this was not an impossibility. As long as the benefits outweighed the very considerable costs, unscrupulous mercenaries were more than happy to turn against their own customers!

That was not going to happen here. The mercenaries the alliance chose to work with could earn much more money by doing steady business across the star cluster than performing a robbery just a single time.

Of course, it still took time for the local mercenary branch to mobilize all of their forces and travel to a border star system.

This meant that the expeditionary fleet would have to fend for itself for the foreseeable time.

"We'll manage, sir." Major Verle reassured Ves during another meeting. "Our surviving mech pilots are surprisingly optimistic after the battle."

Ves reacted with surprise. "Oh? If I recall, more than 1800 of their comrades-in-arms have died."

The senior military commander smiled. "You haven't been spending time among the men lately, haven't you? While there are plenty of Larkinsons who are depressed, the overall sentiment in the clan is still positive."

"How can that be? This doesn't make any sense."

"There are several reasons why the negative blowback is lower than anticipated. First, the Larkinson Clan is already inoculated against suffering considerable losses in major battles. The Battle of Kesseling VIII, the Battle of Ulimo Citadel and the Battle against the Abyss have all caused our clansmen to cope increasingly better with these kinds of outcomes."

"That.. makes sense."

"Not a single mech pilot of the clan is unaware of the risks we are facing. We have deliberately overemphasized the dangers in order to lessen any backlash. Throughout the short history of our clan, it has become increasingly clear that we are not destined to lead peaceful lives."

"Sorry about that." Ves lamely said.

There was no denying that he was the principal cause behind much if not all of the aforementioned battles. He bore the responsibility of disappointing so many Larkinsons who believed in his vision and wanted to be a part of it. Now, they were no longer among the living.

"You don't need to feel sorry about anything, sir. You have always been transparent about the risks we incur. In fact, that is something that we have been emphasizing over and over among our men, both new and old. It's kind of cruel to put it in this way, but they only have themselves to blame. If you are at risk of losing your savings if you play at a casino, you don't have the right to complain if the worst-case scenario actually happens. It's the same with our clan. Everyone who we recruited into the clan wants to win the jackpot. That doesn't mean that they are entitled to win the grand prize."

Equating the Larkinson Clan to a casino was not exactly the most flattering comparison, but Ves found it to be an apt comparison. As long as every Larkinson adopted the same mentality, then he could see how there would be less hard feelings.

"Of course, that's not enough to placate the surviving Larkinsons." Verle continued. "One of the other reasons why we have managed to temper the consequences is because of how well we treat the deceased and their family. Anyone who dies will be completely assured that their relatives will be taken care of. We don't kick any spouses and kids out of our clan. Instead, we give them generous pensions and provide them with preferential treatment. This alone is a cause worth dying for to many mech pilots."

The kind of people the Larkinsons hired all cared about family. Kinship was of great importance to the clan so those who got in were never too selfish or cruel.

Ves nodded in understanding. "Okay, I can see how those reasons have kept the reactions within a healthy range. I guess that our officers and leaders have also become better at managing the morale and expectations of our men. Are there any other reasons or is that everything?"

"There is.. one more factor that may be playing a role." Major Verle reluctantly said. "I'm not sure I should even mention it because of how silly it sounds."

"That makes me even more curious. Just tell me, major."

"If you say so. The truth is that there are an increasing amount of Larkinsons who… believe that the dead are still sticking around."

Ves resisted the urge to clean his ears. Did he hear that right?

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"I'm unsure how to explain it, sir. The best way I can describe it is that an increasing number of Larkinsons, particularly the more religious-minded ones, have developed the impression that the honorable deceased of our clan is still among us and watching over us. One interpretation even posits that the ancestors of the original Larkinson Family have been protecting us from the shadows all this time. It's a way to rationalize the invisible bond they formed to the clan ever since they joined."

"..."

Ves didn't even know where to begin. This was pure superstition. The Larkinsons who died were gone. He was pretty sure about that. He didn't know what happened to people once they perished, but they definitely weren't hanging around! He would have been able to spot any ghosts with his spiritual vision if that was the case.

The Larkinson Network may be remarkable in many ways, but it did not have any functions related to preserving any aspect of people's lives. It was not designed to substitute the afterlife.

Still.. now that he thought about it, was it possible to turn it into a new home for the dead?

What if it was possible to program the Larkinson Network in a way to capture and preserve the spiritualities of dead Larkinsons? Would it work on anyone or would it only work for those with spiritual potential?

What about the expert pilots of the clan? If Ves was able to preserve as much of their wills and spiritualities as possible, would it be possible for him to recycle them in the same way the expeditionary fleet intended to recycle the salvage they collected?

This was an incredibly audacious idea!

It was also an insanely difficult one to realize. Ves quickly dampened his excitement when he thought of all of the steps he needed to make in order to upgrade the Larkinson Network to this extent.

His current theoretical framework on spirituality was too rudimentary to develop such a crazy application!

He shook his head and threw the idea to the back of his mind where all of his other ideas were collecting dust.

"I shouldn't need to tell you that those beliefs have no ground. The dead are dead. They are not 'sticking around' or 'protecting us from above'. The only ones who can defend us against our enemies are ourselves."

"You should tell that to the Penitent Sisters and the Ylvainans. The incidents where they activated their battle networks seemed to have connected them to greater entities that have adopted some very difficult outlooks on life and death."

"Ugh. It figures."

He should have realized that exposing the minds of his mech pilots to Prophet Ylvaine and the Superior Mother would lead to this outcome. The Penitent Sisters and the Ylvainans just so happened to be the most religious and superstitious members of his clan!

Ves was too annoyed to deal with this problem. "Make sure that our officers don't encourage any of these baseless theories."

"That has been our stance from the start, but there are limits to this approach. You can't control what people believe, sir. You can encourage and discourage the propagation of certain dangerous beliefs, but we can't be too heavy-handed. It's useless anyway."

The believers would just go underground if that was the case. If Ves really wanted to, he could probably root them out as well, but that would just make the clan become a lot less pleasant.

"Well, whatever. As long as no one imposes any beliefs on anyone, it's fine as long as long as our mech pilots keep doing their jobs."

"Speaking of our religious-minded Larkinsons, there is something that you should know. Something has happened to a very influential leader of ours. I think you should pay a visit to him before it's too late."

"Who are you referring to?" Ves grew curious.

"It's James Ylvaine."

Chapter 2699: Step Up

Ves didn't have a habit of meeting with the Living Prophet. He detested religion and had no patience to listen to the gospel of any believer.

As far as he was concerned, he only needed to care about his immediate life. There were way too many unknowns in current science that he would need trillions of years to figure out all of the answers. There was no way he could spare the time to contemplate the more mysterious and philosophical aspects of reality and existence.

"I'm just a mech designer. Why should I bother with aspects that are completely unrelated to my area of expertise? Scams should be left to the professional scammers!"

Because of this, Ves rarely met with James. For his part, the Living Prophet was content with spending time with his adherents and trying to fool more unsuspecting Larkinson into his faith.

undefinedIf there was one good thing that Ves had to say about the religious leader, it was that he looked the part.

Even though James was fairly young for a prophet, he was quite handsome. Of course, that wasn't special enough in itself. In an age where cosmetic treatments were highly-developed and commonplace among those with enough money, anyone could put on a pretty face.

What the Living Prophet had was a lot more special. He was persuasive and charismatic in a way that would probably make any politician and statesman green with envy!

Whether James trained hard to become such a good speaker or whether it was his natural talent, his charm was so compelling that even enlightened Brighters fell under his sway!

Ves expected to meet a handsome and charming man who was about his age when he paid a visit to the so-called 'Ylvainan Quarter' of the Spirit of Bentheim.

Instead, he encountered an aged figure whose appearance almost matched the classical depiction of Prophet Ylvaine!

When Ves entered the shrine where a disturbingly-accurate statue of himself was spreading out his hands in a welcoming gesture, a single figure knelt before the altar.

When that robed figure rose to his feet and turned around, Ves felt as if the original prophet had traveled forward in time!

The wrinkles, the loss of vitality, the decrease in energy and above all the greying hair all matched the original prophet back when he was alive during the time where his faith was at its peak!

This older version possessed a more subdued presence. A profound sense of wisdom and sagacity exuded from his thinner and frailer-looking body. The current James had taken on an appearance that many men would want to look like when they grew older.

Even Ves wanted to foster a similar kind of air when his body eventually aged to this level!

He quickly suppressed his yearning and focused on the more important matter.

"What happened to you?" He asked bluntly. "If I remember correctly, you didn't have as many wrinkles when we last met, and that was just before the Battle of Reckoning."

The older-looking James smiled in that annoyingly familiar fashion. It was the kind of smile that someone adopted when they knew something that the other person was ignorant of. It was the kind of expression that one took when they wanted to be smug about their information superiority.

"The battle that we have fought is indeed a reckoning, but not just to our enemies. They have all received the judgement they deserve, have no doubt about that, but we are not exempt either. There is a price for everything. In order to ensure a better outcome, I have decided to make a sacrifice that is well worth it considering the alternatives."

"This.. doesn't answer my question. What exactly did you do? Is it because of a lack of energy?"

James shrugged. "You might as well see it that way. I no longer have as many worshippers as before. While my influence in the Larkinson Clan is slowly expanding, it is incomparable to the flock that I used to have before."

Ah. Ves had already suspected as much. With the Ylvaine Protectorate doing everything possible to warp its interpretation of the Ylvainan Faith in a different direction, even the diehards had difficulty maintaining their grasp on their original beliefs.

With the loss of so many believers, the amount of people who supplied actual spiritual feedback to the Ylvaine the design spirit had dropped to a paltry level.

Aside from scattered believers living elsewhere in the Komodo Star Sector, the only core that the Great Prophet had left amounted to thousands of sincere believers.

While this was still a large sum in some respects, apparently it was not enough to fuel Ylvaine's demanding powers.

Ves couldn't hold his curiosity any longer.

"Are you dying?"

James nonchalantly shrugged. "Everyone is dying, Bright Martyr. Some die sooner than most. I suppose that I have fallen into this category as well. I can't say when I will finally succumb. It could be weeks. It could be years. All I can say for certain is that my current end has been shoved forward by a wide margin. It's a shame to skip over so many decades, but it is a worthwhile sacrifice considering how many lives I have saved through my actions. I would gladly exhaust my entire life if that is what it takes to grant salvation to every Larkinson."

The Living Prophet sounded as if his great sacrifice was just a trivial matter to him. Ves felt incredibly disturbed at this situation.

He didn't like it! He hated to be put into situations where he or the ones who were on his side had to sacrifice their lives or freedom to pull others out of a fatal situation.

Back in the past, he witnessed the destruction of the ground forces of the Flagrant Vandals and Lydia's Swordmaidens at the hands of Venerable Foster and her fellow Vesians.

During the Battle of Kesseling VIII, the Swordmaidens came to the aid of the Larkinson Clan and lost even more of their precious mech pilots because of their decision.

Now, it appeared that James had given up a considerable portion of his life to empower his design spirit.

Was it worth it? Certainly. The instance where the Transcendent Punishers systematically demolished the Destiny Hammers was a crucial turning point of the battle.

If the Ylvainans hadn't defeated their Fridayman counterparts so soon, they wouldn't have been able to provide as much support to the expeditionary forces in the later phases of the battle!

The role the artillery mechs played in the Battle of Reckoning couldn't be overstated! The Larkinson Clan would have definitely been in a much poorer state if Ves hadn't completed the design of the Transcendent Punisher in time!

Yet.. the mech still wasn't strong enough to carry the entire battle. The entire reason why the Larkinsons had to borrow the power of glows, design spirits, prime mechs and battle networks to begin with was because they were too weak!

Their mechs were too cheap. Their mech pilots didn't receive enough training. Their expert pilots lacked proper expert mechs.

Addressing these deficiencies became an even greater priority to Ves. He never wanted to end up in a similar situation in the future. He needed to work as quickly as possible in order to elevate his mech forces to their highest potential.

However, that was easier said than done. The reason why those problems hadn't gone away was because it took far too much time to address them all. There was only so much design work he could accomplish by himself.

Perhaps he should consider expanding the Design Department to a much greater extent than he originally planned. He needed to acquire more assistants to complete the grunt work faster. He also needed to obtain more lead designers in order to design more mechs concurrently.

In short, everything needed to go faster!

"I won't let this happen again." Ves spoke with a measure of steel in his voice. "We have a lot of resources at our disposal that we didn't enjoy before. I should have been more proactive in converting them into actual strength. I'll try my best to elevate our strength so that people like you don't have to make any choices again."

James gently shook his head. "That is a noble sentiment, but you don't need to work yourself to bone. The future is never as straightforward as you think it is. I wouldn't say that your previous approach is wrong. Time is a resource that every single existence is short of. Even gods wish they could conjure up more time for themselves."

They soon entered into a philosophical discussion about time. Ves didn't know why, but he became increasingly more caught up in the prophet's interesting perspective on this subject.

Their discussion only halted when a third person in uniform entered the shrine compartment.

"Ah, Taon. You are here. Please come forward, my champion."

The latest expert candidate of the Larkinson Clan strode forward with a greater measure of confidence than he previously held.

Though Ves hadn't spent much time with Taon either, he definitely sensed a change in demeanor.

"Prophet. Bright Martyr." Taon greeted them both in turn. "What do you require of me, sirs?"

"Are you strong enough to defend the clan?" James asked.

Taon frowned. "I dare not make such a claim. I can only state that I can fight much better than before. With the help of the blessing that you have bestowed upon me, I am ready to fight against any expert pilot if the need arises!"

"Hahaha! Do not be so quick to stand out. You still have a long way to go before you are ready to take on such a heavy responsibility." James patted Taon's shoulder. "Also, don't put too much stock in your blessing. The sole reason why you have become stronger is because of your merits."

As Ves witnessed the interaction between James and Taon, he noted that Taon was still quite deferential despite advancing to the rank of expert candidate.

Many other expert candidates tended to develop a stronger ego after they had taken their first step in transcending their human limits. It was natural for them to become more conceited in their own importance. The widespread idolization of high-ranking mech pilots in human space only made the transformations worse.

While Taon definitely seemed to be more assured in a way, his change was not as drastic.

Of course, Ves knew that the biggest swing was yet to come. When Taon eventually underwent apotheosis, he would literally be born anew.

"Never forget who you are, Taon. Just because you are a Larkinson as well as a man of faith doesn't mean you have to stick to those categories. Think for yourself and fight for yourself before you devote yourself to others. The future is becoming increasingly turbulent. Escaping to the Red Ocean only delays the inevitable."

Taon immediately adopted an expectant posture. "Please share your wisdom."

James smiled sardonically. It made him seem like an indulgent old grandfather.

"Taon, it is no longer enough for you to be a follower. The capable must step up and lead the flock. When you grow in strength, more and more faithful will look up to you. Every choice you make will have great implications to those who share the same beliefs."

"I understand." The expert candidate responded. "I have already taken charge of the mech pilots under our watch."

The prophet looked reassured and turned to Ves. "As for you, I have little advice to tell you. To be frank, even if I tell you something, you are too stubborn, biased and contradictory to pay any mind to my words."

"That sounds about right." Ves shrugged.

"Hehe." James shook his head before turning around before looking at the marble statue of Ves. "You are different from others. It is reasonable to make certain allowances for you. No one is perfect, not even gods. That doesn't mean you should give up. As long as you keep caring about the lives of your growing flock, they will help you become an existence that they can look up to. It is not nice to be alone."

What was James talking about? Before Ves could reply with his usual dismissal of gods, the robed figure standing next to him collapsed.

It happened so suddenly and without warning that both Ves and Taon were slow to respond.

"James…?"

The panicking expert candidate quickly lowered himself to his knees in order to feel the aged body's pulse. "He.. he has ascended ahead of time!"

It was as if an invisible shockwave had swept throughout the Ylvainan shrine.

"THE LIVING PROPHET HAS PASSED!"

Chapter 2700: Unusable

The passing of James Ylvaine came as a shock to the Larkinson Clan!

Not a single clansman dismissed this piece of news. While the Ylvainans had long been relegated to a minority within the clan, they still possessed a considerable amount of influence.

This was especially so after their stellar performance during the Battle of Reckoning! The Transcendent Punishers that only the Ylvainans could utilize at their full potential had performed so well that even the most strident secularists were grateful to the faith and its leader.

No matter what the clansmen thought about the unique existence known as James, the so-called Living Prophet possessed a sense of modesty and friendliness that few leading figures were able to match.

undefinedHe was able to befriend and disarm the suspicions of many different Larkinsons. No matter if they were young, old, men, women, Brighter or Reinaldan, they always gained a good impression of James after just a short talk.

Of course, it was not that easy to convert random clansmen into believers. Perhaps James might be able to convert tens of thousands more believers if he adopted a more forceful approach, but that was obviously not allowed.

Ves had always been afraid that James would turn the Larkinson Clan into a cult, but the man knew his limits. There were just enough Ylvainans in the clan to bolster it, but not enough to affect its overall direction.

James was very tactful, Ves had to give him that. The Living Prophet was a good man and deserved to live longer.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. The body expired after running out vitality or whatever other energy the prophet expended in order to empower his flock.

"He was so young." Ves whispered.

Although clones were flawed forms of life, he didn't expect James to shed his mortal coil so soon.

The transition was too abrupt!

On one day, the religious leader was still as hale and healthy as other people in their thirties.

On the next day, James seemed to have aged by a century and could only chat with Ves one last time before he expired!

It was impossible for Ves to remain unmoved under the circumstances. He had just witnessed yet another person dying in his presence.

While Ves was not a stranger to death, he had become accustomed to witnessing it at a distance after he assumed a position of power.

Most of the loss of life took place much further away from his presence. The Battle of Reckoning killed thousands of Larkinsons and many more enemies. The amount of blood that had been shed could probably fill an entire starship!

Yet because all of this slaughter took place tens, hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away from his physical position, it was easy for Ves to dismiss the tragedy since it was presented to him in such an abstract fashion.

This was not possible this time. James not only died right next to him, but also spoke to him as if he knew that his time was already up. The words that the prematurely-aged clone had passed to his ears still lingered inside his head.

This was incredibly frustrating to Ves!

"This goddamn bastard! Couldn't you have died after my visit?! I wouldn't feel so upset if you just croaked when I'm on the other side of the ship!"

As Ves tried to process his mixed thoughts and emotions, the rest of the Larkinson Clan offered their sympathies to the Ylvainans.

Strangely enough, once the faithful processed the news, they quickly tempered their grief. They were sad about the Living Prophet's passing. That was not in doubt. However, they did not react as severely as Ves expected of fanatics.

None of the Ylvainans cried until they had no tears left to shed. They did not fall onto their knees in a fit of despair. It was as if they had already accounted for the passing of the Great Prophet.

"Death is another word for the beyond." Taon explained to Ves with a smile. "This is only the Great Prophet's second death that we know of. Besides, he's not really gone. He is with me whenever I pray to him. Our mechs still radiate his sacred aura when we go near them. A grand figure such as him is not bound by the same concerns as regular people."

Ves found this to be an odd sentiment, but he understood some of what the expert candidate said. Ylvaine the design spirit was still alive and well. In fact, it even appeared to have grown a little stronger.

As a consequence, the Transcendent Punishers also retained their pure and sacred glows. It was very hard for the devout Ylvainan mech pilots to accept that the prophet was really dead when their own mechs suggested that he was alive!

Ves just grew more confused at the situation. He really didn't know whether he should grieve a lot for James' passing or not. No matter what he claimed to be, Ves considered him to be a unique individual rather than an extension of a greater existence.

The disappearance of James represented the end of a unique personality.

As far as Ves was concerned, this was a true death. The Larkinson Network was not set up to catch any passing spirits, so it was impossible for the Living Prophet to still be around somewhere.

Ves was pretty sure he would notice a stalking prophet.

"You do not need to be concerned about us, Bright Martyr. James Ylvaine does not require any special arrangements. Please afford him the same burial treatment as the other Larkinsons who fell in battle. He deserves to be among our fellow heroes."

"I can do that."

This was an easy request. The funeral ceremony was scheduled a few weeks later.

Although the Larkinsons preferred to hold this ceremony sooner, the current star system had become far too busy. If the expeditionary fleet launched the bodies into space, the heartless scavengers would probably pick them all up in order to loot the materials used to make the coffins!

No. Special arrangements had to be made in order to hold a proper funeral.

The subdued reaction to James Ylvaine's passing meant that Ves ultimately didn't have to bother with the situation.

He had to say that the former Living Prophet had died in a very convenient fashion. The clone was at least thoughtful enough to minimize the mess he left behind.

Already, Taon along with other leading Ylvainan figures such as Ophelia Kronon were stepping up as leading figures in their movement.

As Ves observed their attempts to lead the faithful Ylvainans, he faintly imagined that this was how the original three dynasties rose up all those centuries ago. Everyone needed someone to look up to. While Taon was not a person who was comfortable with a leadership position, he didn't need to do all that much.

Other Ylvainan officers and experienced leaders were already doing a fine job at corralling the flock. Taon mostly played the role of a figurehead as his status as an expert candidate and future expert pilot granted him a considerable amount of prestige.

As long as Taon threw his support behind the new leaders of the Ylvainan movement, the faction remained stable within the clan.

Ves still felt uneasy for some inexplicable reason. He never quite knew what to expect when it came to the Ylvainans.

"I think it's good that James is gone." Gloriana told him after another day of work. "He's a threat to your authority and has constantly sought to steer our clan in a different direction."

"He's not that bad. James always had a sense of propriety."

"That's because he is smart enough to know that you would crack down hard if he ever overstepped his boundaries. This is our clan, Ves. Don't forget that."

Actually, it was his clan, not theirs, but Ves didn't think it was wise to correct her phrasing.

Once the small disturbance surrounding James' death had passed, Ves tried to get back to addressing his regular duties.

One of the questions that hovered over his head all of this time was what to do with their biggest spoils from the Battle of Reckoning.

While it sounded incredibly convenient for a huge and valuable capital ship like the Auralis to fall into the Larkinson Clan's lap, in practice this was just the start of a troublesome process!

When Calabast called Ves, her suited projection appeared in his office. Lucky was with her as well. His Misfortune Harness still protected his body as the Auralis was still a hostile ship.

"Ves. It's good to see you again."

"How are you?"

"It's not every day you can capture a Fridayman capital ship in such a pristine condition." She grinned. "I've enjoyed trawling through her vast archives. While the Gauge Dynasty has already scrubbed it of any information that isn't relevant to the mission, that still leaves us with plenty of intelligence nuggets that DIVA would love to obtain. With your permission, I would like to pass on what I have learned to my former employers."

Ves briefly frowned. "What kind of intelligence are you talking about?"

"Oh, it's all boring matters that aren't immediately useful to the Larkinson Clan. Think about encryption methods, technical specifications, internal discussions and references to the Friday Coalition's current war strategy. The crew of the Auralis died so quickly that they didn't even have the time to wipe out their data banks."

Ves wasn't really interested in keeping this information to himself. "You have permission to pass all of that on. I trust you not to transmit anything that compromises the safety of our clan. Please keep in mind where your current loyalties lie."

"I'd never make such an amateur mistake. I know what to do. You can trust me. Isn't that right, Lucky?"

"Meow!"

In the projection, Lucky flew up to Calabast's shoulder and nestled on it. The cat's armored form rubbed lovingly against the spymaster's neck.

"Ahem." Ves coughed. "Let's move on to the main reason why I've called. Please tell me your judgement on the viability to integrate the Auralis into our fleet. Is it safe to do so and how much effort do we need to expend to make that happen?"

"It's not easy at all." Calabast shook her head. "In short, the Auralis is a Fridayman ship through and through. She's a powerful and richly-featured vessel. That means that she also has the security of one. The Gauge Dynasty did not cut any corners when it came to securing her. In fact, if not for the fact that the ship has existed long enough for the Hegemony to develop solutions for some of the tech that she carries, we would have never been able to gain initial control of her so easily."

"The Auralis recognises you as her captain, correct?"

"You're not wrong, but the captain of a capital ship cannot unilaterally decide over everything. In addition, we don't know how traps and hidden surprises the Auralis are hiding. Just because none of them have triggered yet doesn't mean we're still safe here. In my professional judgement, it is simply too dangerous to add the Auralis to our fleet. We haven't even swept the Spirit of Bentheim of all of her bugs. It will take far too long to do the same for the Auralis."

Ves was afraid of hearing this answer, though he already expected it in his heart.

"I guess.. we have no choice but to sell this prize." He sighed. "It's too irresponsible to make use of her ourselves."

"You don't have to sell her. I can still figure out opportunities to clear the Auralis. For example, you can ask for help from the MTA or the Rim Guardians."

"No. The price is too great, and I don't want to annoy them with such a trivial request."

Calabast crossed her arms. "Then another alternative is to swap the Auralis with an equally valuable capital ship. She's a top military asset of the Friday Coalition. I'm sure that plenty of shipyards are interested in getting their hands on her. They can study the shipbuilding methods of the Fridaymen while reverse-engineering any unknown innovations that are not widely spread."

That sounded more practical to Ves.

"Do we have to swap the Auralis with a pre-built capital ship or can we just use her as payment for a new construction?"

"Both are possible." She grinned. "In essence, as long as you are willing to wait a year or so, you can swap out the Auralis for a brand-new capital ship that is built exactly to your specifications. Alternatively, if you feel the need to acquire a capital ship right away, you can trade our prize for a pre-built or second-hand vessel."

Both options sounded attractive to Ves. Ordinarily, he preferred to choose the option that was more favorable in the long term, but recent events had changed his mentality.

Perhaps he might be able to add another workable capital ship to his fleet in the near future.