The consequences of failure was unimaginable . In the strong hierarchical culture of the Vesians, mech pilots under the service of a House carried a lot of responsibility . Failure to safeguard the lives of their charges often led to imprisonment or execution to those who failed to do their duties .
Yet as much as they tried to reinforce their liege, the battles they fought in the previous days had sapped much of their strength . Even now, many Vandal mechs spread out in Neron City tried to drag on their heels and force them to stop .
"Rescue the Lord!"
"Rescue the Lord!"
Many of the Vesian mechs that survived up to now consisted of second-line and law enforcement units . They weren't equipped for a full-scale war and their mech pilots found it hard to match the skill of the Vandal mechs that harried their footsteps .
Aerial mechs also started to emerge in the skies . With the exposure of most anti-air turrets in Neron City, the Vandal forces made good progress into clearing them all out . Much of the hidden turrets that remained belonged to mercenaries and other private forces . They would never dare to fire them at the Vandals for fear of attracting their wrath .
This basically led to a wild battle in the skies where the Vandal Aerial forces continued to harass the Vesian forces spread out in the city . Sometimes, aerial mechs from both sides clashed high up in the air, though the Vandals slowly managed to gain an edge due to their better skill .
As for the underground rebel base, a lot of rebels stayed behind to support their comrades . The Detemen League held numerous strategic positions in Neron City and assisted the Vandals in slowing down the enemy from reinforcing Lord Javier .
"It's getting increasingly harder to stop the household troops . " Addy said . "They are too persistent in trying to reach their Lord . Our auxiliary troops aren't meant to battle mechs head-on, and your Vandals are too spread out to slow down larger concentrations of mechs . "
"Do the best you can . " Ves replied . "The battle at the former recycling plant won't end so soon . "
"Can't you do anything to help?"
"I've already relayed my analyses on the mechs piloted by Lord Javier and his honor guard . I can't determine much more than that because these are very polished mechs . "
Ves felt a bit useless at this stage . He only managed to figure out the basic specs and some tentative weak points for each mech model . None of them were easy to deal with, and only the rifleman mechs could be taken out quickly if they became exposed to concentrated fire .
The real threat came from the tiger mechs and the Loquacious Raphael . The former proved to be an adept prowler in the ruins . They took full advantage of their ability to navigate the ruinous terrain in order to flank the Vandals .
As for the Raphael, the hero mech proved its valiance with each mech or hovertank it managed to fell . However, this time it met its match when Captain Orfan tried to run interference on its rampage .
"The righteous won't be stopped! Twin Star Slash!"
The Vandal spearman mech deftly blocked the predictable sequence of slashes with its spear and sent out a counter-attack right after . The Raphael quickly brandished its rifle and fired another shell to force Captain Orfan back .
"Why don't you look into the mirror to find a villain!" She yelled out as she went back on the offensive . Her spearman mech stabbed forth in a flurry of blows that forced the Raphael to back off . "A monster to his own people doesn't deserve to take on the mantle of a hero!"
Lord Javier wordlessly growled back . His eloquence deteriorated over the course of their impromptu duel . The captain was twice as hard to deal with compared to his previous opponents . Despite not carrying a shield, Captain Orfan abused the reach of her spear to interrupt his powerful combo attacks .
"You won't take me down that easily! Twin Star Helix!" He yelled as his mech unleashed one of its signature attacks .
Its rotating sword clanged against the shaft of the spear and got pushed to the side . The Raphael had to fire another shell in order to stop the spearman mech from following through .
On and on the two mechs tried to gain the advantage . While Captain Orfan possessed just as much skill, she also benefited from a much richer battle experience than her opponent . She employed her rich bag of tricks to unsettle Javier and throw him off balance .
Sadly, none of her attacks managed to deal more than a scratch on the Raphael . While it was clearly geared towards offense, its excellent armor system enabled Lord Javier to take risks he ordinarily couldn't afford to take . It withstood many blows that would have crippled many other mechs .
Ves studied the performance of the armor system in detail . The more he witnessed its incredible resilience, the more he felt he was out of his depth . "I'm not familiar with this type of armor . It's too effective!"
"Is the Raphael invincible?" Addy asked in a worried tone .
"No mech is invincible . Not even the machines piloted by god pilots can make this kind of claim . There's definitely a way to dismantle its armor . We just have to figure it out . "
Ves always kept an eye on the Raphael since the start of the battle . Ves studied its armor carefully and noted that it did particularly well against all types of damage, fom lasers to bladed weapons . The armor system appeared capable of resisting all conventional damage types without compromising anything .
Yet Ves still clung to the belief that its amazing performance hinged on a secret or two . Once he figured it out, Lord Javier wouldn't be so cocky anymore .
"It's too difficult . " He whispered . He stared hard at the Raphael and attempted to connect to it in the imaginary realm . He never attempted such an act before, but he was grasping at straws at this point .
Surprisingly, distance mattered surprisingly little when it came to such probes . It was enough to look at the Raphael from a projection . The powerful and vivid depiction of its duel against Captain Orfan's mech allowed Ves to pinpoint its location with perfect accuracy . Just as his mental probe brushed against the Raphael, something happened .
"AHH!!"
Ves jerked back and held his head in pain . Something powerful and foreign rejected his mental probe .
"What happened?!" Addy asked as she placed a hand on his head .
"I'm fine, I'm fine! It's just an accident . "
He nursed his head as his mentality tried to recover back to normal . The probe had utterly and completely failed to make a dent . Why did the mech reject his mental approach?
Ves tried to parse the flavors he tasted at the moment of contact . Between pride, confidence and belief, Ves thought he touched upon something more than the simple concepts that Mr . Reeve unconsciously bestowed on his custom work . It felt… greater, and inviolable .
"It's like I touched upon the mind of a human being!"
No, that didn't sound accurate to him . Perhaps he brushed against something more than a single mech or human being . A suspicion began to grow within his mind .
"Is this the strength of a human mind and mech working in unison?"
The mental construct from their combination felt surprisingly powerful . It contained the purity and rigidity of a mech, and combined it with the spark of life and intelligence of a human being .
From the Raphael's continued struggles against the spearman mech, Lord Javier probably hadn't felt a thing from his attempted intrusion .
"Okay, esoteric mind voodoo doesn't work either . "
A mech designer couldn't work miracles . Ves guessed that someone like Alloc or the other Journeymen attached to the Vandals wouldn't have much luck either . The Loquacious Raphael was really something else .
Captain Orfan's spearman mech started to become increasingly more ragged in its defense . The mech she appropriated from the Dastardly Handsome Bastards might be one of their better mechs, but she felt regretful about the fact that it wasn't a military-grade mech . It came with several shortcomings and differences in configuration that made it hard for her to draw out its full strength .
"Is your mech getting tired? Do you want to take a break?" Lord Javier asked with mock sincerity . His mech was still going strong .
"I will keep you here until the end of time if possible!"
Not a lot of mech pilots among the Vandals could match Captain Orfan's skill . She knew that if she pulled away from this duel, the Loquacious Raphael would go back to slaughtering the weaker Vandal mechs and hovertanks .
"Haha! Don't lie to me! You're at the end of your rope! Finishing move! Twin Star Extinction Comet!"
Captain Orfan hadn't witnessed this move before . Expecting a heavy blow, her mech pulled back its spear and gripped it tightly in anticipation for a block .
Instead, the Raphael's rifle arm glowed extremely bright . Just as Captain Orfan's eyes widened and commanded her mech to dodge, the Raphael fired a spread of five radiant shells . Just before they reached her spearman mech, they exploded, buffeting her mech with multiple shockwaves .
Through the fading blasts of the explosions, the Raphael emerged from behind and stabbed its sword downwards while firing off the final shell in the magazine of its rifle .
The shell exploded against the spearman mech's chest armor, which lost most of its layers already from suffering multiple blasts . Captain Orfan couldn't afford to think about that though as her mech hastily parried the plunging attack .
Unfortunately, the force behind the Raphael's attack and the previous shelling had destabilized the spearman mech's footing . No matter her skill in piloting mechs, Captain Orfan couldn't go against the laws of physics . Her mech helplessly fell onto its back, exposing it to the Raphael's finishing move .
"Get away from the captain!"
The Vandals had rearranged their formation in the choke point and brought a couple of rifleman mechs forward . They fired at the Raphael in front of them with no regard to trigger discipline . Nonetheless, their accuracy and familiarity with their weapons allowed them to concentrate their fore on the Raphael's weapon arms .
Javier scowled as he urged his Raphael to retreat back to cover . "I may have let you off today, but I'll finish you myself after I deal with these insects!"
The Raphael might appear impervious to ranged damage, but Lord Javier always acted prudently and sought for cover before his mech could take much of a beating . He also needed to reload his rifle .
The Vandals took no notice of his words . Instead, a pair of melee mechs surged forth and dragged the downed spearman mech with their powerful arms . They couldn't afford to lose Captain Orfan or her mech, as she was the only Vandal so far to last against the Raphael's offensive .
"This is getting nowhere!" Addy slammed her fist against a console in frustration . The lack of progress in capturing or killing Lord Javier gnawed at everyone . "Neither their ranged mechs nor their tiger mechs are downed! What is this? We outnumber them!"
"We're losing our numbers advantage . " Ves noted from his seat . "Don't forget how many mechs and hovertanks they've taken out . Our Vandal mechs and your hovertanks aren't equipped to take out an elite force of mechs, especially in bad terrain like this . "
Though the hovertanks managed to pepper the honor guard mechs from a distance, their relative fragility allowed the Vesian ranged mechs to take them out rather easily . It only took a handful of hits to destroy them . Therefore, Commander Breskin ordered most hovertanks to retreat after suffering one or two direct hits .
"I think we have to make some sacrifices . " Addy concluded . She flickered through various ideas in her mind .
Chapter end
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