The Mech Touch

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.

The 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!