The Mech Touch



Even as numerous people started to question his odd behavior, Ves said goodbye to the Phase King and called upon Zeigra.

It may be because the Crown Cat had melded extremely closely with his father, but Zeigra possessed a much greater compatibility with Ves!

His vibe exuded a lot of aggression and excitement all of a sudden!

The primordial human skull in his hands no longer exuded an air of mystique, but turned into an illusionary flaming skull that ignited the fire in everyone's hearts!

Ves moved away from the command center and moved forward until he joined up with his honor guards.

"Let's go! March forward and do not stop until you have reached the top!"

"Wait, don't go, Ves!"

Ves ignored everyone else's well-meaning advice and turned around the corner to fire his Amastendira at the nearest turret!

His aim wasn't half-bad these days. The burning bright laser beam struck the defensive installation, causing it to produce a piercing blow that not only cut through its structure, but also damaged whatever was behind!

"ATTACK!"

The bold strike along with the spread of Zeigra's aggressive glow seemed to spur all of the other soldiers to launch their own attacks!

They hadn't even bothered to wait for orders before they joined in on the assault!

"This is madness!" Major Durant uttered in shock and disbelief!

No matter how many orders he transmitted to his units, his troops no longer paid attention to him anymore.

The guard captains may have remained sober enough to understand that they were acting contrary to their orders, but their men just thought that since the Larkinson Patriarch ran ahead, the plan had already commenced!

It was a big misunderstanding that was exacerbated by the aggressive glow that Ves deliberately propagated to the soldiers around him. The man seemed to excel at grasping and inciting the emotions of the people around him, causing them to lose their rationality and to become his unwitting slaves!

Although Major Durantd deeply wanted to find a peaceful resolution to their dangerous predicament, now that 'the humans' had fired the first shot, the possibility to reconcile with the pescan remnants had dropped to almost zero!

There was no way he could continue to negotiate the release of the humans trapped within the prison.

Since that was the case, Major Durant had little choice but to support the Larkinsons and hope that their decision to switch to an aggressive strategy yielded results.

"Fire the rockets according to our original plan!"

The heavy weapon specialists who were situated further in the rear exhibited much greater control. They had to be more careful about the firepower in their possession as a single mistake could have devastating consequences.

As such, they kept their weapons in check and waited for an unambiguous order before they took action.

Now that Major Durant had spoken the words, the heavy weapon specialists confirmed the settings of their missile launchers and made sure to inspect the instructions that they programmed into the missiles.

It was only then that they fired their warheads!

Seven guided projectiles quickly flew into the air and began to rapidly turn around a couple of corners before they headed straight onto the enemy defenses!

The heavy turrets and other defensive installations had only just begun to come online. It was as if not even the pescans expected the humans to disrespect their great chief and open fire right away!

The only weapons to open fire were automated projectile interception systems. Rapid streams of kinetic projectiles attempted to shoot down the missiles, but these transphasic guided munitions were not only fast, but could also take a few hits without getting affected!

In the end, the distance was too short and the speed of the missiles were too fast. The warheads struck their intended targets without any suspense and blew them to pieces without fail!

The Davutan guard forces apparently invested a lot of money into acquiring destructive transphasic missiles!

Munitions of this grade were hard to come by and costly to expend, but the Davutan guard forces were backed by a state and carried an important duty.

Davute's ability to earn phasewater was not low on account of its unceasing efforts to create an open and tolerant trade hub.

The superior economic circumstances of Davute even allowed the government to equip its troops with consumable transphasic products on a greater scale.

How luxurious!

As explosions engulfed a part of the fortifications that the pescans had built in this abandoned ancient prison facility, the surviving alien defenders flinched or slackened their fire.

This only encouraged the human soldiers to attack even harder!

"Concentrate your fire onto the other turrets!"

"Sharpshooters, keep your eye out for pescan defenders armed with transphasic weapons."

"Fire the second batch of missiles!"

The broad tunnel became flooded with explosions yet again, causing both humans and aliens to flinch or groan once again.

The fact that these explosions occurred in a confined space made them even worse!

It couldn't be helped. The defenses had to be destroyed as quickly as possible in order to prevent the assault from getting beaten back with ease.

As Ves continued to fire his Amastendira at different targets, he noted that the return fire from the defenders had already dropped by more than half.

The targeting of the defensive installations had been especially helpful as much of the bigger guns in alien hands had already been destroyed!

This was crucial in maintaining the momentum of this attack.

"We need to push forward!" Ves roared in frenzied encouragement! "We need to take over this entire floor before the pescans catch their breath and get their act together. Rush forward!"

It was absolutely amazing and horrifying that the leader of a large clan that played a pivotal role in Davute had put himself in front of other soldiers!

However, people couldn't help but admire a leader that dared to charge forward like no tomorrow and endure the same risks as every other soldier. This was why mech officers who commanded his troops in the trenches were often a lot more effective in inspiring fellow mech pilots.

It became unquestionable to every trooper that was a formidable fighter!

This was especially the case when he fired his powerful first-class laser pistol in one hand and channeled the aggression of Zeigra through the primordial human skull with his other hand.

He looked like a mystical space pirate that had stepped straight out of an action drama!

Of course, Ves did not stay in the vanguard of the human troops for long.

Even though it looked like he had gone absolutely bonkers by charging at the front, he still maintained a shred of rationality and calculation.

He knew how much damage his Unending Regalia could take. If his armor somehow failed to protect him sufficiently, then his personal shield generator could make up the difference.

With the level of protection that he now enjoyed, it was extremely difficult for attacks to kill him in a single blow.

Ves did not even exhibit that much fear against transphasic weapons as his modified Unending Regalia had become a lot better at resisting attacks of this nature.

The only possible concern was that his armor and energy shield could not protect him against the kinetic force of an overwhelming physical attack.

Even so, he would only get blasted off his feet and get knocked around for a moment.

Right now, his beliefs were vindicated as the more responsive and trained pescan soldiers shot at the obvious human target in front of their sights!

Dozens of laser beams struck his Unending Regalia without producing any noticeable results.

The physical attacks were a little more annoying, but his armor resisted them easily enough.

"Hah! Is that the best you can do, aliens?! Come on, men! These aliens are not as tough as they look. The pescan race is a defeated race. Let us hasten their extinction!"

His main purpose was not to fight like a champion, but to incite the foot-dragging Davutan guard forces into committing an assault.

Now that hundreds of infantry guard troopers as well as hundreds more private guards employed by other groups followed the plan and rapidly advanced into the enemy stronghold, there was no need for Ves to set such a dramatic example anymore.

Whether people noticed it or not, he did not march as quickly as the other troopers. This was how the latter quickly overtook Ves and started to carry the brunt of the assault.

With hundreds of laser rifles and gauss rifles firing in the direction of the opposing pescans, the monster that Ves had created through his drastic actions had fully matured!

Even if Ves withdrew Zeigra's glow, the troopers would still press on with their attack!

His honor guards had also caught up by now and took up positions around him. "Sir, please withdraw to the command group!"

A part of Ves wanted to say no and continue to press forward, but he reined in this irrational impulse.

It may be fine to indulge in his desire to fight once in a while, but he should not forget his original identities.

He was a dignified clan leader and a solemn mech designer. How could anyone like him turn himself into cannon fodder on his own accord? It should be other people who took on this job on his behalf!

Ves was not stupid, so he took a deep breath and started to turn back. "Very well. You guys must proceed, though. The other forces are doing well so far, but they will definitely face a lot more opposition. Only you can lead them further."

The honor guards nodded and gripped their heavy assault rifles before marching forward at a steady but solid pace.

Their heavy luminar crystal rifles began to spit out large disruptor beams and slicer beams.

These specialized luminar crystal attack patterns excelled at taking out energy shields and armored targets.

A lot of pescan soldiers couldn't withstand the firepower of the armaments of the honor guards!

It was a pity that Ves hadn't gotten around to making them transphasic, or else they would have been able to inflict a lot more damage on the pescan transphasic defensive installations.

Even so, the combined damage output of just a small group of honor guards was still enough to overwhelm the intact defenses by relying on sheer quantity.

With hundreds of other human troopers making their own contributions, it was not as hard as it looked to destroy the first line of defense!

Unfortunately, the pescans weren't completely defenseless, though.

Once the alien soldiers started to fight in earnest, they managed to slay plenty of humans.

In one instance, a turret fired a wide energy beam that vaporized an entire squad of infantry troops.

Since the soldiers didn't carry any shield generators or other exceptional gear, the chances of those troopers surviving was minimal no matter whether they were wearing any transphasic combat armor.

The casualties did not affect everyone's morale. They had already commenced the attack with the resolve to fight for everyone's lives, and Zeigra's unceasing glow encouraged them not to think too much!

Ves did not think it was wise to maintain this glow forever. Unceasing aggression could be useful in spurring soldiers on, but it could also tire fighters out a lot faster than they should.

For now, all was fine. The pescans had finally rallied to the point where their resistance had stiffened deeper into their camp on this floor.

If the human infantry forces couldn't overcome this hurdle, then they wouldn't be able to invade the floors above their heads!

"Speed up! Don't slow down! We've moved past their initial defenses!"

Aliens cried out as they fought with uncommon ferocity. The hatred towards humans had boiled in their alien hearts for so long that they couldn't hold back their impulses anymore!

It looked as if Zeigra's glow was affecting the aliens as well! The agitation produced by the feline design spirit seemed to induce these aliens into a similar frenzy, causing them to fight back no matter the consequences!