The Mech Touch

"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!

"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!"