The Mech Touch

This was Lanie Larkinson's first real battle.

As a new recruit, she spent too little time among the Avatars to go on any mercenary missions and fight against real opponents.

All of the combat experiences that she had accrued up until this point was mostly based on the many battle scenarios that she had practiced in the MSTS.

She couldn't count how many times she fought against each of the mech regiments and mech divisions of the Sundered Phalanx.

She also couldn't count how many times she died because she made a critical mistake and got punished by it. The illusion of death was so strong in the MSTS that she had quickly corrected most of her bad habits and maintained a lot more respect towards the enemy.

It was through all of these efforts that she was allowed to deploy on the battlefield and operate as she wished.

Most rookies had no choice but to join an existing mech unit and receive guidance and protection from a bunch of veterans.

She knew that this was for their own good, but Lanie had always believed that she was different.

The blood of the old family ran through her veins.

She not only inherited the skills of an expert candidate, but mastered them and transformed them to suit her own fighting style.

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She graduated at the top of her class at the Discentibus Mech Academy, beating many other recruits who had managed to improve a lot with the help of training mechs like the Chiron and the War Squire.

She also received the personal care and attention of the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan.

Even though she was just a fresh mech pilot who didn't know much about complicated stuff, she had grown old enough to know that Ves was not the sort of person who hung around useless people.

For him to spend his precious time on Lanie meant that he expected much from her in the future!

As an earnest Larkinson, Lanie did not want to disappoint him. She owed too much to him and the clan.

For example, during the preparation for this battle, she had an opportunity to meet with him and ask for advice.

"You already possess a solid foundation. There is nothing much I can say that is helpful to you." Ves said as he evaluated her with a critical gaze. "There are many lessons that you can only learn in the field. Don't be too arrogant. I know you're good, but there is too much inequity on the battlefield. Who knows if a passing enemy expert mech deems you to be a threat and eliminates you right away? As a rookie, it is not your turn to stand up for our clan and attract the hatred of the enemy. We have people like Venerable Joshua and Venerable Vincent for that. It is already enough for you to remain steady and prevent yourself from becoming a liability."

The young mech champion's expression did not look like she possessed the patience to play it steady. Her youth and accomplishments made it difficult for her to restrain her eagerness.

Ves couldn't do anything about that. He hoped that she would learn to respect her opponents more once she entered into a real battle.

"If there is one piece of advice that I can give you, it is that you should pay close attention to cooperating with the living elements of your mech. It is not enough to rely on your combat skills to defeat your opponents. The best mech pilots in our Larkinson Army have learned how to cooperate with their living mechs. Build a good relationship with your Lucid Rage and make sure to develop an understanding of its design spirits as well. The more you are in tune with them all, the more they will be able to lend their strength to you in a fight."

"I understand, sir. I already developed a similar relationship with my Sagittarius." Lanie answered. "I really miss my old training mech. I had to give it up once I graduated. I would have liked it if I was able to carry it forward into battle."

Ves shook his head. "That would be a disservice to your Sagittarius, Lanie. I designed and built it as a training mech. Its primary mission is to facilitate the training of mech cadets so that they can bloom as mech pilots with all of the lessons they have learned. Eventually, the two of you had to bid farewell to each other so that another mech cadet could benefit from the teachings of your training mech. Do you understand? Each living mech has a specific purpose, and the only way to maximize your machine is to figure that out and pilot it as it was meant to be used."

Lanie Larkinson listened carefully and took this advice to heart. She had piloted plenty of living mechs outside of his Sagittarius and vaguely understood what Ves was trying to convey.

When the battle in the Pima Prime System finally commenced, Lanie tried her best to adopt the right mood and develop an understanding with her Lucid Rage.

"Neither of us are weak, but the enemies we are about to fight are not only strong, but also numerous. I need to cooperate with you as best as possible to fight the Fridayman mechs and outfight them on a repeated basis. The more enemy mechs we take out, the less casualties our side will suffer. Let's do our best to play our part and maximize our strength!"

From the moment her Lucid Rage deployed into space, Lanie only grew more excited. She hardly felt any fear and apprehension even as her melee mech had little choice but to huddle behind a carrier vessel as the ranged mechs of both sides began to bombard each other.

When the invading fleet had advanced close enough to the Kosic Ring to start the next phase of the battle, Lanie bravely flew alongside the Avatars of Myth as they steadily headed towards the center of the battlefield!

The ensuing action was glorious.

"Yeah! Burn them all! Break open a hole!"

Though Lanie did not participate in the planning of this breaching plan, she had practiced alongside the Avatars plenty of times when they practiced it in the MSTS.

Therefore, she knew exactly when and where her skills were needed.

"You're up, Champion Lanie! Accompany the Avatar mechs heading towards the breach! Don't worry about depleting the HiCap energy shields of the enemy heavy mechs. Other Avatars are already taking care of that. What we need from you is to defeat their mech officers. Try and go for the kill if possible. The more we make it dangerous for them, the sooner we can break down their command and control."

"Got it. I've already practiced this a lot of time. These Pima Defenders won't stand a chance."

As the Larkinson mechs crashed against the lines of the Pima Defenders, Lanie's mech approached the initial breach but did not rush in at first.

Specialized Avatar mech units had already gone ahead to expand the initial breach.

It wasn't until they created more room that her Lucid Rage could finally squeeze inside and fight against her first Fridayman opponent!

Lanie skipped right over the Modal Firmament. Their defenses were too disgustingly high and it did not take much of a challenge to defeat the heavy space knights as long as they weren't able to retreat.

Instead of wasting her time on this chore, she had set her sights on much more difficult opponents.

Among the Pima Defenders mech division, the halberd-wielding Favored Sons posed the greatest offensive threat against the Avatar mechs.

Though every Avatar mech pilot had practiced fighting against them plenty of times in the MSTS, the skills and combat literacy exhibited by the most skilled and elite Pima Defender mech pilots exceeded the expectations of many Larkinsons!

Dozens of Avatar mechs already suffered serious damage after getting hacked or stabbed by the heavy halberds in the hands of the enemy.

It wasn't until now that Lanie truly gained a sense of the cruelty and unfairness of the battlefield.

"No!"

Two Sword Warriors flanked an unshielded Favored Son mech in an attempt to pincer it from both sides, but the enemy mech pilot simply ignored one of the Larkinson mechs and launched an all-out attack on the other Avatar mech!

Not only did the Sword Warriors failed to deal serious damage to the Favored Son, but one of them even got savaged as the enemy mech's halberd almost caved in its chest!

The Lucid Rage piloted by Lanie hastily took over the place vacated by the heavily damaged Sword Warrior.

"Let me grab its attention!" Lanie transmitted to the other friendly mech before putting most of her attention on the enemy halberdier mech.

At this time, she had made sure to follow the advice and come more in sync with her mech and its design spirits.

She drew quite a lot from Lufa at this time. Her mind grew more analytical and she picked up a lot of useful details that she would have missed due to the chaos of the battlefield.

The opposing mech pilot truly mastered the halberd to an impressive degree! It was as if he had specialized in it from the beginning, which Lanie found unlikely due to how uncommon it was to encounter it in battle.

As Lanie gained a greater cognition of her opponent, her fire grew hotter as she developed a greater anticipation for this fight.

She soon increased her exposure to Zeigra, making her more pumped up and eager to defeat her foe!

"Attack me, Fridayman!"

Though the enemy mech pilot probably never fought against a mech with tonfas before, that did not stop him from stabbing his Favored Son's sharp halberd tip towards Lanie's approaching machine!

The Lucid Rage easily used its mobility advantage to evade the initial thrust.

Before the Favored Son had any time to retract its weapon, Lanie precisely took action at the right timing and vigorously commanded her mech to hook and trap the halberd by the bottom of its axe blade!

At this time, the complicated shape of the halberd had turned into a detriment!

Though the strength of the Favored Son was significantly greater than that of the Lucid Rage due to their disparity in mass, the latter as still able to keep the halberd stuck in place long enough to make its wielder vulnerable to other attacks.

The Sword Warrior that had been targeting the Favored Son from the other side quickly swept in from the flank and was just about to thrust its sword through one of the weak points of the heavy halberdier mech before it suddenly aborted its attack run and moved away!

The Avatar mech couldn't have evaded too soon because a long spear that was tipped with phasewater had just thrust in front of the Sword Warrior!

If the Larkinson mech pilot went through with his attack on the debilitated Favored Son, his Sword Warrior would have been impaled by the penetrating spear of the Space Piercer!

"Heh, we're already familiar with your tactics." Lanie gloated.

The Pima Defender mechs were expressly designed to cover for each other. None of them ever truly fought alone. This was a lesson that every Avatar mech pilot had learned through repeated deaths in the MSTS.

The Avatar mech pilots weren't afraid of the Space Piercers in the third row thrusting their dangerous spears forward.

What they were actually afraid of was not being able to anticipate when they would strike!

It was only when the Space Piercers performed their characteristic stabbing or lunging attacks that they became vulnerable themselves!

The Sword Warrior's movements made it clear that it had only been feinting an attack on the Favored Son. Its real target was the Space Piercer!

The Larkinson swordsman mech quickly charged towards the Space Piercer and forced the beleaguered Sundered Phalanx to drop its extendable spear and pull out a shorter one that was more suitable for dogfights!

Though the Sword Warrior wasn't able to do much against the Space Piercer due to its strong HiCap energy shield, the latter's threat level had instantly dropped from the moment it lost its long, transphasic weapon!

As for the Favored Son, Lanie never intended to rely on outside help to defeat her current opponent.

She smirked. "Your weapon is mine!"

Although the Favored Son was able to maintain an excellent grip on its halberd due to the special accommodations built into the shaft, the heavy mech could not resist the overpowering force that wrenched it away.

The Lucid Rage had actually moved its lower body closer so that its legs were able to entangle the shaft of the enemy weapon!

A heavy mech might possess more powerful arms than a medium mech, but the story was different if the latter leveraged the strength of its entire frame!

The struggle between the two resembled a confrontation between a rhino and a monkey.

The rhino might be stronger, but the monkey was faster and more capable of exploiting advantages!

Soon enough, the Favored Son lost its halberd, forcing the heavy mech to pull out its backup sword.

However, it only took less than thirty seconds for the Lucid Rage to strike at the right opportunity and wrench the sword away as well!

The elite Pima Defender mech pilot felt sick to his stomach. Losing grip on a weapon was an unbearable shame to a soldier. Losing two weapons in a row was a disgrace to his name!