The Mech Touch

5866 6th Giant Trapper Division

It gradually dawned on Ves that the 5th round of the lightning tribulation tested the armed forces of the Dominion of Man.

When Ves looked back on the previous battles, he noticed that the rewards for eliminating the lightning soldiers did not benefit the dreadnought all that much.

Less than half of the explosions of destruction and creation energies eventually went on to benefit the nearest hull sections and surface modules.

The remaining energies spilled out into space and dissipated while creating nothing of value.

In contrast, the lightning soldiers felled by the Dread Marines always ended up benefiting the latter to the greatest possible extent.

Very few energies went to waste as the tribulation energies eagerly engulfed all of the Dread Armors in the vicinity.

It was as if the tribulation storm purposefully rewarded the bravery of valiant warriors who resisted its efforts!

Ves was not the only person who noticed these differences.

The surface of the Dominion of Man no longer appeared as frantic as before as many turrets and gun batteries had fallen silent.

Even though there were hundreds of nearby turrets that possessed clear firing lines to the most recent wave of lightning soldiers, they remained completely silent as the fleeters recognized in their minds if not their hearts that this was a contest between infantry.

Of course, the alien definition of 'infantry' was a lot broader than that of humans. The towering alien soldiers that appeared in the 3rd wave consisted of a smaller quantity of formidable-looking giants!

Beneath their solidified tarnished green lightning armor, dense flesh and muscle rippled as limbs gripped their weapons.

Helmets that covered everything aside from two predatory eyes gazed forward with a combination of bloodlust and discipline.

The first impression that Ves gained from these tailed mech-

sized alien soldiers was of an elite alien troop.

The large lightning soldiers adopted a rigid formation while holding axes that sparkled with corrupting flame.

It soon became clear that the latest adversaries were not dumb muscles when they began to say a silent prayer before conjuring flame barriers around their bodies.

Ves furrowed his brows. The spiritual barriers exuded both menace and resilience. It would not be easy for the Dread Marines to break them apart. Even if they managed to get past the first layer of defense, the human troopers also had to penetrate the armor worn by these sizable foes.

"<nullb>$#@$#."

The huge alien face spoke again!

"<nullb>THE FALLEN HERALDS OF AKSHI. DEATH IS NO RELEASE. LET YOUR CORRUPTING FLAMES TAINT THE FIRES OF THESE SLAVES."

"What did the alien say?" Dread Captain Argile asked over the private communication channel.

Ves quickly responded with his best possible interpretation.

The dread captain made an unusually indignant noise.

"The alien thinks his lighting thralls can engulf our flames with their filth!? We will not let that happen! Our Dread Marines shall shatter these facsimile aliens just as easily as they have done before!"

"Maybe it is better to bring out your mechs if you have any, captain." Ves gently advised. "These 'Fallen Heralds of Akshi' look like they have plenty of strength and leverage to overpower your Dread Marines up close."

"Nonsense! We are the Dominion of Man! We exist to exemplify the strength of mankind! Besides, we have received express instructions to limit the exposure of our fighting methods as much as possible. This confrontation has already turned into an information war. The principal alien observer looking down at us from above must know as little about our comprehensive fighting methods as possible."

Ves frowned, but understood the logic behind this strategy. "I understand. It is a clever choice, though I am not sure whether the Subjugation King has access to other intelligence sources. Still, I guess this is as good a time as any to put your Dread Marines to the test. I am just concerned that they might not be able to keep up if our enemies keep growing bigger and stronger with each passing wave."

"Do not be concerned, professor. We have many anti-mech units at our disposal. Just because we refuse to carry any mechs on principle does not mean we are unprepared to fight them in the field. We have invested over 4 centuries of research on how to dismantle mechs as infantry. It is time for us to demonstrate the fruits of our labor! I already know the perfect unit to deploy against these lightning giants. The 6th Giant Trapper Division shall have the honor of leading this bout!"

The Rubicon Spatial Transfer System teleported over 10,000 Dread Marines at this time!

All around Ves, Dread Armor after Dread Armor appeared at the same time!

It was rather impressive how they managed to appear in perfect formation while adapting to inconsistent footing.

None of the Dread Marines showed any signs of disorientation or lack of preparedness. They had all arrived while aiming their weapons at the Fallen Heralds of Akshi.

Strangely enough, neither the Giant Trappers nor the large lightning soldiers went on the offensive right away.

In this environment where human blood and tribulation energies had already spilled in spades, the entire hull section had transformed into a sacred battleground, for a lack of a better term.

The Dread Marines all became affected by this special atmosphere, and so did the Fallen Heralds of Akshi apparently.

Even though the two were separated across species and life states, there were many universal values that transcended species and galaxies.

Major General Arend Capalli deliberately stepped out of the ranks of his troops. The commanding officer of the 6th Giant Trapper Division 'wore' a suit of Heavy Combat Armor that did not put any effort into hiding his importance.

The Fallen Heralds sent out a giant alien figure whose tail was considerably longer. It even ended in a spike that was reinforced by cursed metal that burned with corrupting flames.

As the two leading officers set themselves apart from their troops, the Fallen Herald Commander raised an ornate axe that was carved with sickening runes.

Though the lifeless alien leader was unable to produce any sounds, his gesture showed that he was not entirely without life.

At the very least, the lightning apparition was capable of simulating enough honor to salute his enemies.

This was not necessarily good news. The greater their intelligence, the greater the threat they posed to their opposition!

Ves was not certain whether 10,000 Dread Marines was enough to defeat this formidable alien troop. There had been far too many examples of mechs crushing infantry with disturbing ease. The advantages bestowed by scale were far too great!

Fortunately, many of the Giant Trappers consisted of Heavy Dread Marines. They were large enough to rival demimechs in size.

Each of these heavy troopers mounted distinctly oversized weapon systems that could actually pose a danger towards first-class multipurpose mechs.

The premise was that they fully utilized their numbers advantage to stack their attacks on specific targets.

There were also plenty of Light and Medium Dread Armors among the Giant Trappers. Their functions were different as they lacked the heavy cannons that could effectively wear down mechs from a distance.

In any case, Major General Capalli raised an arm that held a particularly large and technologically advanced plasma sword.

"I salute you, soldiers of a foreign galaxy! The 6th Giant Trapper Division shall fight you and defeat you on behalf of mankind. By the will of Supreme Marshal Caramond Perle, we shall fell each and every one of you and take your strength as our own! SEMPER FORTIS!"

"SEMPER FORTIS!"

The exchange of salutes had a strong ritual air about them. Even though Ves was not a part of the Dread Marine Corps, his involvement in the battle still caused him to get caught up in the atmosphere.

He gripped his Oceancaller tighter. The fire in his metaphorical heart urged him to unfold his true body, charge forward and exchange blows with the dangerous-looking lightning giants.

He resisted this impulse. It was irrational to the extreme. Ves had to remind himself that the tribulation storm was primarily a test for the Dominion of Man. He was just a freeloader who wanted to siphon a few benefits for himself. It was best not to make the lives of the Dread Marines any more difficult.

Once the two commanding officers returned to their own lines, the ritualistic battle soon commenced!

"GIANT TRAPPERS, SHOW THESE ALIENS HOW WE FIGHT! FOR HUMANITY!"

"FOR HUMANITY!" The Dread Marines thundered in their own suits!

Unlike the prior Dread Marines, the troopers of the 6th Division fought according to a completely different paradigm!

Instead of digging in and forming solid defensive lines to meet their incoming foes, each and every Giant Trapper instantly went on the move!

It soon became clear that the Giant Trappers were capable of fighting in open space as each of their Dread Armors came equipped with transphasic flight systems!

The Light Dread Marines turned out to be the most elusive. Not only did they move the fastest out of all of the other troops, their suits also became invisible as soon as they activated their stealth systems.

What was impressive was that Ves had completely lost the ability to detect their presence!

Neither the sophisticated sensor suite of his Unending Regalia nor the sharp spiritual senses of Blinky was able to detect any hide and hair of the Light Dread Armors that had to be flying in the vicinity.

The Heavy Dread Marines were the first to open fire. Many of them were equipped with back and shoulder-mounted cannons that fired a variety of hyper plasma bolts, transphasic hyper gauss rounds and transphasic hyper energy beams. There were also other heavy units that fired high-yield missiles from their bulky missile launchers.

The attacks hit quite hard. The corrupted flame barriers of the Fallen Heralds visibly rippled as they got struck by hundreds of attacks at the same time!

Every target that became subjected to focused fire quickly lost their defenses and soon started to fall as they were unable to withstand the attention of hundreds of Heavy Dread Marines.

However, there were still a lot of surviving Fallen Heralds, and none of them were particularly slow. They charged forward with flames erupting from the rear of their energy barriers!

A multitude of gigantic comets flung towards the formations of Heavy Dread Marines.

For their part, the heavy troopers did not make it easy for their adversaries to close the distance.

Despite their immense bulk, their powerful transphasic flight systems provided so much effective thrust that they accelerated at impressive rates. If not for their lacking agility, they could easily give light mechs a run for their money!

Still, it was precisely due to their disappointing maneuverability that the Fallen Heralds were gaining on them. The latter's ability to simulate jet engines augmented their straight-line acceleration so well that they were brisky closing the distance!

"YOU SHALL GO NO FURTHER!"

The Medium Dread Marines intercepted the giant lightning warriors!

Their Dread Armors did not possess any active stealth systems, but instead equipped themselves with a variety of different loadouts.

Most of them opted for configurations that excelled in close-

range skirmishing. The ones equipped with plasma lances cleverly flanked the Fallen Heralds and charged at their targets, causing their fiery hot weapons to explode against the flame barriers!

Others were equipped with flamethrowers that burned so hot that even the corrupting flames were forced to give up ground!

The expensive propellant used to augment the power of the flamethrowers was made from a special formula that happened to be particularly effective against spiritual manifestations!

Meanwhile, Ves remained shocked as he stood frozen in the same place. He never expected the Giant Trappers to fight in such an impressive manner.

They struck hard yet remained mobile enough to prevent their adversaries from striking them with each.

Each of them fought like agile but deadly raptor packs trying to exhaust their larger but much more lumbering prey.

Ves imagined the Giant Trappers fighting against a mech force and shuddered. These 'infantry' forces were much more competent than he initially thought!

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