The Mech Touch

The revolution had begun!

After centuries of peace and stability, the Life Research Association became embroiled in a conflict that could only be described as a civil war!

As a society that had long operated under the stable but stagnant order of the conservative faction, a lot of grievances had built up over the centuries.

The opposition factions resented the dominance of the conservatives.

Rival biomech designers hated their direct competition.

Minor bureaucrats wanted to get rid of their incompetent superiors.

Mech pilots wished to prove their skills in actual battle.

In hindsight, the citizens of the LRA accumulated so much pent-up urges and desires that many of them welcomed the outbreak of violence!

Finally they obtained an opportunity to unleash their darker side!

This was why the initial outburst produced so much death and destruction. When the adherents of the respective factions opened fire on each other, many other citizens who didn't share any relations to the ongoing political turmoil took the opportunity to pursue their own agendas!

Because the vast majority of people hadn't received any advance warning about the start of the revolution, these brazen acts of violence were largely devoid of planning and forethought.

After all, no one expected the Supreme Sage to experience an accident that pretty much left him dead!

The abrupt exit of the long-time ruler of the state caused a lot of people to believe that a void had formed at the top. With the conservatives split and besieged from all sides, the government was in complete disarray!

Without sufficient guidance or instructions, the overly-rigid government institutions were far too slow to respond to the rapidly unfolding chaos.

Let alone suppressing the troublemakers, the authorities weren't even able to defeat the defectors from within!

"Johnny! Why are you attacking us?! We're brothers in arms! We formed a pact with each other!"

"Hahaha! What a joke! I only sucked up to you because you're the district commander's crony. I never liked you from the beginning. The corrupt regime must fall, and getting rid of you will help my buddies in taking over this city!"

"You're mad! You won't get away with killing me. This is treason!"

"Hiding the Supreme Sage's death and experimenting on his body is true treason! Compared to the crimes of your friends, our cause is righteous!"

Everyone formed a different idea of what was right and wrong. As long as someone wanted to enact a plan, they came up with many possible rationalizations to justify their actions.

Perhaps even the madman who activated Ruuzon Arena's war mode came up with his own excuse!

Around two-thirds of the people who bought a ticket and witnessed the design duel had died! Most plunged helplesssly to their deaths, while others got smacked to pieces by the berserk tree tentacles!

Only those with flight capabilities had a chance to escape the initial onslaught, but their suffering had not yet passed.

Below and above them, hundreds of biomechs began to battle each other!

The Planetary Guard and the local military garrisons all fought against each other and themselves without any sign of backing down!

Throughout the long centuries of stable development, many institutions had already become politicized. The lack of war caused many mech units to experience little upwards mobility. Aside from becoming more competent, the best way to attain a higher position was to play the game of politics!

This caused many Planetary Guard members to develop second loyalties. Aside from answering to their nominal superiors, they also answered to their patrons, faction leaders and other helpers.

Now that the regular hierarchy had become paralyzed, some of these law enforcement units no longer executed their primary missions.

Instead, they listened to the instructions of others who weren't above killing their own comrades in order to further their grand ambitions!

While the mechs that went rogue only amounted to less than 10 percent of their respective units, the unfolding chaos quickly swept in other combatants!

Neutral or ignorant mech pilots were suddenly compelled to hit back after their mechs mistakenly got hit by stray attacks.

Others felt compelled to assist their buddies, not realizing that they inadvertedly signalled that they had joined a side!

Some just listened to the orders of their captains and commanders without hesitation, thereby turning themselves into unwitting tools.

More Planetary Guard mechs attempted to suppress attackers from both sides, only for them to be regarded by an enemy of every group and faction!

Soon enough, every single mech unit in Veoline and beyond became embroiled in mass chaos!

In fact, Prosperous Hill VI was not the only planet that exploded into violence, though it was certainly the worst due to its population density, economic interests and development level.

The other planets of the Prosperous Hill System became affected as well. Intermittent conflict broke out in major cities and sites with considerable value such as beast preserves and biomech production facilities.

No one knew how long this revolution would last or what the next day might bring, but some far-sighted leaders were already attempting to secure valuable infrastructure and war assets in order to prepare for the long haul!

Fortunately for most citizens, the conflict outside of Prosperous Hill was much more limited. Many planets didn't host as many competing interests or valuable industries. Some regions that fell under the sway of a strong and authoritative leader had remained fairly calm as loyal troops quickly suppressed any troublesome elements.

Of course, none of that was relevant to Ves and the other survivors who escaped Ruuzon Arena.

With the crown of giant tree structures coming to life, blood stained the air as people were still dying left and right.

This time, it wasn't the berserk arena that was killing them, but attacks from mechs that had become embroiled in their own conflicts!

"The authorities have gone mad!" Vincent shrieked as he clung on his floating hover chair with his muscular arms. "Aren't they supposed to fight the bad guys?!"

Venerable Jannzi sneered behind her combat helmet. "Everyone has become a bad guy in their eyes. Their fellow Guards are not excepted!"

To her, what was happening was a travesty of the highest order! While she initially felt a bit of sympathy for the opposition, now she loathed them with all her heart.

No rebellion was worth slaughtering over half of the arena visitors! It was even worse as there didn't seem to be a useful purpose to killing so many innocent people. Whoever was responsible for turning Ruuzon Arena into a deathtrap deserved to die!

"We need to get down as soon as possible!" Ves commanded to everyone. "We can't stay up here and remain exposed to anyone who recognises me and wants to kill me. While I'm not responsible for all of this, I doubt everyone will think the same way."

He had witnessed so much stupidity and irrationality from the Lifers that he wouldn't put it past them to think that Ves caused it all due to agreeing to a design duel. As far as many people were concerned, the LRA would have never descended into chaos if Ves and Dr. Navarro never met!

"The fighting is more intense on the surface." Nitaa critically observed as her heavy combat armor continued to maintain altitude. "It's become a playground for landbound mechs."

"I know that, but there is an extensive tunnel network beneath the surface. As long as we slip inside, we won't be easy targets anymore for the hundreds of mechs that are fighting around us at this moment."

They all descended to the surface, making sure to control their fall so that they did not lose control.

It helped that many of the spectators also chose to take their luck on the surface. Hundreds of floating people had already been smashed to paste or vaporized into carbon as various beams, projectiles and explosives devastated their ranks!

Screams and cries of panic continually echoed throughout the air as this tragedy unfolded. Biomech after biomech forgot their original purpose of protecting people and instead put them at risk as they desperately fought to defeat their enemies, whether they were real or imagined!

Due to the high-quality suits of armor worn by Ves and his entourage, their descent was faster and more stable than that of other people. Run-of-the-mill antigrav clothing was particularly susceptible to shocks, gusts of winds and other environmental variables.

While the immediate area around Ves sometimes got hot and dangerous, they were spared from a direct attack.

None of the mech pilots had time to squander on hunting down Ves. Not when there were hostile mechs right next to them that posed a much more immediate threat!

It was also fairly difficult to pick out Ves and his group among the crowd of escaping people. Even though not everyone wore armored suits, there were still plenty of arena personnel, VIPs, guards and other people who looked similar enough to make it difficult to distinguish their identities.

The heavy combat armor worn by Nitaa and the other guards also possessed moderate ECM functions. This did not prevent a determined enemy from detecting their presence, but made it a lot more difficult to identify them unless subjected to targeted scanning!

"Meow meow meow!"

Lucky's black-clad form stuck closely to Ves. While he was a terror against infantry, he could do nothing against mechs, especially when they were kilometers away.

"Hang on, buddy! We're almost to the surface!"

The group descended at an angle away from the arena. Ves didn't want to go anywhere close to the out-of-control tree tentacles. While they were randomly whipping around in the air, they could easily whip the ground around the arena at any moment.

They seemed to have landed in one of the rear areas of the arena grounds. This was the place where the majority of spectators arrived and left. Various shuttles and passenger transports were parked in a large and open landing zone.

Right now, many visitors were flocking to these vehicles. They all wanted to get in and leave the premises as soon as possible!

BOOM!

However, the fighting had not left this area untouched! Ves turned around to see a large transport with a capacity of 500 people getting crushed into half after a mech had slammed against the side of the vehicle!

Not too far away, two swordsman biomechs were swinging their blades at each other, uncaring whether their feet trampled any shuttles or humans who failed to run away in time.

The power of mechs was too terrible!

Vincent's crippled body was already shaking. "What are we doing? Let's get out of here! Ves, can't you hack one of the shuttles and fly away?"

"None of these vehicles are safe." Nitaa retorted. "We won't make it far with all of the fighting that is going on. We need to get onboard the armored transport prepared by the Infinity Guards."

They had to go underground to do that as the Infinity Guards assigned to escort Ves didn't dare to poke their necks out. Their escort mechs mainly consisted of Guard Masters, which excelled at defense but possessed little offensive capabilities!

They quickly found the nearest entrance that led to the underground complex. Hundreds of panicking Lifers were already trying to escape the violence on the surface, which caused the passageway to become congested.

It turned out that the gate up ahead had been locked and sealed!

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Nitaa boomed through her suit.

No one listened to her command. Instead, they pressed their bodies forward even harder as if they thought that could get them inside!

Nitaa and some of the honor guard started to arm their rifles and point at the backs of the mass of people. Their intentions couldn't be more obvious.

Yet before they opened fire, Venerable Jannzi's armored suit jumped in front of their muzzles and pressed them down.

"STOP! Don't shoot!" She urgently called. "We are Larkinsons! We don't spill innocent blood!"

Nitaa narrowed her eyes but didn't argue with the expert pilot. Instead, she shifted towards Ves.

"Your orders, sir?"