The Mech Touch

The breakthrough of an expert candidate was not as exaggerated as that of an expert pilot.

It should not be underestimated, though!

Expert candidates had taken their first step in transcending their mortal limitations.

To younger and less experienced mech pilots, this transition was 'relatively' mild and short-lasting.

The story was different for an older and more experienced mech pilot like Josh Ketter.

His accumulation was far greater. His failure to break through during the prior decades did not diminish this in the slightest.

If he was just a normal mech pilot who followed a normal career trajectory, then all of this accumulation would slowly atrophy as he fell victim to long-term stagnation and regression as he aged.

Yet because he somehow managed to break through while he had just moved past his prime, Josh still managed to benefit from all of the hidden energies that he had built up over the course of piloting mechs on a near-daily basis for so many years.

The Fey Fianna that had previously lost both of its and an arm began to look a lot better than before!

The forced resonance phenomenon could not replace all of the missing modular armor plating, but it strengthened the machine just enough to serve Josh's purpose!

The death of Franklin shouldn't have affected him to this extent. Sure, the two had become as thick as thieves ever since they met each other after transferring to this star system. Yet that did not mean they became family all of a sudden.

Josh's emotions refused to listen to his rationality. To him, Franklin had become far more than a friend to him. The two shared similar experiences and volunteered for this duty for the same reasons.

He was like a brother that Josh had never met. The two could have accomplished a lot more if they met each other sooner. It was through pure luck and coincidence that the two mech pilots converged on this star system out of all of the other places in the old galaxy and the new frontier.

Now, Josh had lost his friend and brother that he had met too late. He only carried a few months worth of memories of Franklin. This was far from enough to keep him satisfied!

As the latest expert candidate to break through on this battlefield came into his power, he no longer became distracted by as many considerations as before.

In order to avenge Franklin's death and satisfy his own desire for spilling alien blood, Josh rejected the repeated calls to disengage and went on the offensive!

With the power of forced resonance, the Fey Fianna not only flew faster, but also maneuvered more agilely in space.

This enabled the machine to continually evade the attacks launched by other elite phasefighters.

Josh together with his living mech did their utmost to squeeze the potential of the Fey Fianna beyond its potential!

Even though the mech had lost all of its fey, that did not bother the expert candidate all that much.

As more and more orven fighter pilots sought to take down the latest human hero to rise up, the other second-class mechs did not remain idle!

They increased their aggression towards the alien fighter craft and tried to force them to divert their attention by any means possible!

"Go ahead and kill to your heart's content!"

"We will shield you from every enemy that seeks to cut short your killing spree."

"It is high time we annihilate these elite phasefighters. Too many of our brothers and sisters have fallen to their energy cannons. Fight until there is nothing left!"

As the Fey Fianna closed in on the elite phasefighter that had been responsible for ending Franklin's life, the orven pilot knew he was in serious danger.

The alien combatant already possessed a powerful impression of expert candidates and had no intention of fighting back!

The pilot instead steered his craft away in order to avoid falling prey to the vengeful enemy.

"COWARD!"

Josh grew angrier as the enemy avoided any form of confrontation. The Fey Fianna began to accelerate a little faster as the pilot did not hesitate to exceed the safe limitations of the flight system.

The Fey Fianna's flight system and other components would likely collapse after the forced resonance state had come to an end, but neither Josh nor his living mech cared about this consequence!

"WE ARE GAINING ON HIM, JOSH. LET US DRENCH THE TIP OF OUR SPEAR WITH THE BLOOD OF FRANKLIN'S KILLER."

The Fey Fianna had already developed an intimate bond with Josh, and cared about Franklin almost just as much!

The close alignments of their thoughts and motivations strengthened their forced resonance and allowed the mech to gain the boost it needed to get a little closer!

Unfortunately, it was not enough!

The orven fighter pilot somehow figured out a way to squeeze additional speed from his phasefighter.

The craft began to purge unnecessary components. Various parts began to fall away from the frame, allowing the phasefighter to reduce its mass by a small margin.

At the same time, the phasefighter's thrust power also began to increase as the pilot managed to override the safety limitations of his own craft.

Even as the heat levels of the engine and thrusters rose to a dangerous level, the orven pilot ignored the warnings given by his craft and tried to delay a 'reunion' as much as possible.

"I need more speed!" Josh urged his living machine.

"THERE IS NOTHING MORE LEFT TO GIVE. MY FLIGHT SYSTEM IS ALREADY STRETCHED BEYOND ITS LIMIT. THERE IS NO WAY WE CAN ACCELERATE ANY HARDER."

"If that is the case…"

Josh refused to let his enemy get away!

Other ranged mechs helped out by shooting their rifles at the fleeing fighter craft. The attacks strained the alien phasefighter's transphasic energy shield, but not enough to collapse it quickly enough.

"ENOUGH!"

Josh made a spontaneous action. He commanded his Fey Fianna to hold its spear in an overhand grip before launching it forward as if it was throwing a javelin!

Empowered by all of the forced resonance that Josh was able to concentrate into the weapon, the glowing polearm soared through space and accurately nailed the elite phasefighter despite the pilot's hasty attempt to make a barrel roll to the side!

The strained transphasic energy barrier shattered as the spear enhanced by Josh's desire for vengeance pushed through and struck the thrusters of the fighter craft!

Although the spear had lost so much power that it was unable to pierce too deep into the fuselage, the weapon had nonetheless done its job.

The elite phasefighter had lost its main source of propulsion!

The small craft tumbled into space as it had lost control over its movements. With a speartip embedded into the rear of the orven phasefighter, the alien pilot lost his chance to escape the reach of a vengeful expert candidate!

A glowing Fey Fianna stopped by the side of the tumbling machine and yanked back the spear.

Though Josh wanted to take a moment and savor the satisfaction of driving his target to a dead end, the battlefield was still dangerous to him and his living mech.

With multiple elite phasefighters trying to take down the Fey Fianna and kill the promising expert candidate, the living mech constantly had to stay in motion in order to prevent its damaged and overstrained frame from collapsing.

Josh decided to keep it short and simple.

"This is for you, Franklin!"

One firm spear thrust was enough to breach the cockpit and squash the body of the orven fighter pilot!

Dead!

Josh gained an indescribable sense of fulfillment for killing the alien fighter pilot that had been responsible for killing his friend.

The fight was not over, though.

The number of elite phasefighters had dwindled by a lot since he last paid attention to their quantity, but a lot of second-class mechs had perished as well!

Instead of making the sensible decision to retreat and board his ride out of this doomed star system, Josh wanted to eliminate all of the remaining elite phasefighters before he left!

The glowing Fey Fianna valiantly raised its spear!

"KILL THE REST!"

As the Fey Fianna began to fly towards another elite phasefighter, the remaining elite mech pilots cheered and fought a little harder.

Both sides had pretty much fought each other to a state of depletion, so this was a time where both mechs and phasefighters were prone to glitches, malfunctions and other sudden mishaps.

Many craft became vulnerable and got destroyed in an instant. If not for the latest expert candidate intervening in the fight, the second-class mechs would have collapsed a bit sooner!

As the dwindling amount of elite phasefighters were being driven to desperation, they no longer attempted to wipe out all of the surviving elite mech units, but instead sought to take down their 'leader' and symbol of resistance!

The Fey Fianna began to attract a lot of unwelcome attention. The mech had been forced to pick up large pieces of metal debris from the battlefield in order to make up for its inadequate protection.

The Fey Fianna had tossed aside its spear so that its remaining hand could grip chunks of metal that originated from broken mechs and phasefighters.

Josh and his living mech soon learned that the thickest pieces of metal tended to last longer regardless of where they originally came from. The strongest alloys came from the first-class multipurpose mechs, but it was a pity that not a lot of debris from these powerful machines had spread to this side of the battlefield.

The expert candidate found it hard to shield his mech from attacks coming from multiple directions. Josh did his utmost to maneuver and shield his machine so that its torso received as little damage as possible.

By serving as the main target of the remaining elite phasefighters, the other surviving second-class mechs readily took advantage of the situation. They attacked their obsessed enemies and wore down their defenses at a brisk pace.

Eventually, the elite mechs, what little of them were left, had no more elite phasefighters left to kill.

Each of them had been destroyed!

The Fey Fianna that looked to be in a much worse shape than before amazingly managed to last long enough to witness the annihilation of the elite phasefighters!

As Josh registered what had happened, his breakthrough had finally run its course.

The Fey Fianna no longer glowed with power, but instead began to dim until its strained parts all began to shatter and spread apart.

The living mech knew that its time was up. It held no regrets about its imminent demise.

"DO NOT MOURN FOR MY DEATH. REMEMBER ME, AND FIGHT FOR ME. PLEASE GIVE MY REGARDS… TO YOUR DAUGHTER. MY ONLY REGRET… IS THAT I HAVE NEVER MET HER MYSELF…"

"I… will do as you say. Please go with peace. You have done your job. No other living mech will replace your place in my heart. That is my promise."

Josh closed his eyes as the man-machine connection got cut off due to the total breakdown of his machine. Only the cockpit remained intact.

It was only now that Josh regained his wits. He realized that he still remained in a very dangerous part of the battlefield. Now that he had successfully realized one of his dreams, his greatest priority was to retreat and make his way out of this star system alive!

"Aandie." Josh called out his daughter's name. "It looks like I am coming home after all. I am so happy that I can watch you grow up. With my new strength, I can—"

"$#@$#&$@$."

The jubilant expert candidate's words suddenly cut off as a powerful spatial vibration spread across the center of the battlefield and shattered many mechs and phasefighters alike!

The orven fighter craft managed to resist this unannounced spatial attack to an extent, but the same could not be said for the mechs that overwhelmingly lacked transphasic defenses!

The cockpit of the broken Fey Fianna had no chance to survive this devastating strike. The metal cage shattered apart while the body inside had already shook into a bloody mush!

The expert candidate had fallen upon the moment of his triumph!

His bright and promising career as a hero had been cut off before it could get off to a proper start!

The culprit behind Josh Ketter's death never spared a thought to the deceased expert candidate. All of the puny humans and orvens were little more than insects to the arriving phase lord.

As the Trampler of Stars beheld the siege that had faltered due to the mechers successfully pulling off a decapitation strike on the orven siege vessel, the quadruped alien sneered.

"#$#&$&$@."

The powerful phase lord raised its forelimbs before slamming them down onto an invisible floor!

The fabric of space around the Trampler of Stars shook and began to spread a second spatial eruption!

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