The Mech Touch

As the Red Tide Offensive intensified, a strategic location known as the Arvest Lima System already came under siege.

The site not only served as a defensive bulwark, but also functioned as a logistical hub.

All kinds of warehouses, factories and repair centers worked around the clock to supply the surrounding star systems with the mechs, manpower and other hardware needed to put up the best possible fight.

The importance of defending this node could not be overstated.

If the aliens ever managed to knock this site out, then a lot of beleaguered and vulnerable star systems in the vicinity could not fight as hard as they wished. The rate of losses could not be replenished and the artillery mechs could not fire as many shells anymore.

War was a capital-intensive business. Not only did red humanity have to produce a lot of war materiel, but the goods and personnel also had to be shipped to the destinations that most needed the help.

There were plenty of organizations that were willing to use their transportation vessels to ship goods around, but they needed secure routes and plenty of human-controlled transportation nodes in order to prevent their precious convoys from getting raided.

Any disruption in the link could lead to delays stretching on for days or weeks. Other facilities positioned further to the rear were already working at close to full capacity. If they had to fulfill a huge load of orders due to the fall of Arvest Lima, then that would adversely affect the supply of other fortified star systems.

The delays, dropped orders and inability to safely ship essential goods and supplies to the front may subsequently contribute to the fall of an entire border region!

The expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance had set off from the Bortele System and arrived in the Arvest Lima System just recently.

The Golden Skullers arrived just as the defenders beat back another offensive.

The native alien assault fleets that sought to take down the main planet where all of the important operations took place did not leave after getting punched in their metaphorical noses.

They fell back to the outer system and began to lick their wounds over there. Many alien crew members began to perform field repairs to their damaged homeships and tried to fix up as many phasefighters as they could.

The aliens weren't making stellar progress considering they were trying to recover in a location that was devoid of friendly infrastructure, but it didn't matter.

Reinforcements were on the way. The native aliens still had plenty of assault fleets at their disposal.

More were being transferred from the rear while a lot of other alien fleets became available again after they successfully toppled the main form of resistance in the fortified star systems in the 1st and 2nd defensive bands.

Trying to hold on to the 1st as well as the 2nd defensive bands had become a lost cause.

Great tales of heroism and sacrifice spread across the galactic net, but they provided little comfort to their families as well as the linefighters expected to face the brunt if alien aggression very soon.

No one among the expeditionary fleet was in the mood to take this matter lightly.

Shortly after the Golden Skull Alliance's arrival, Commander Casella Ingvat along with the military commanders of the other alliance partners attended a briefing where they quickly became apprised of the local situation.

When Casella returned to the fleet, the Sentinel Commander convened an urgent meeting with all of the available senior officers and champions of the Larkinson Clan.

"…As you can see, the Red Two maintains a strong defensive ring in the orbit of the fortified planet. They have also stationed first-class multipurpose mechs and warships in the vicinity. The mechers and the fleeters should be able to block the advance of the strongest and most elite alien forces, but our enemies never limit themselves to that. The Torald Middle Zone has become filled with large quantities of slightly inferior enemy assault fleets that are still more than a match for second-class mech forces."

A tactical officer raised her hand. "How many linefighters outside of our own alliance will be fighting alongside us to secure the Arvest Lima System?"

"The numbers are in flux as mech forces are constantly being reassigned or diverted to reinforce critical positions." Commander Casella replied. "As many as 300,000 second-class mechs may be deployed at a time, with hundreds of thousands more to come in the following two months. Unfortunately, the Red Two are terribly short-handed and cannot dispatch any more of their first-class assets to this location. We can only make do with what we got. The fall of any first-class multipurpose mech or warship signifies that we cannot count on their support in the next engagements."

That caused everyone to frown.

Every linefighter in this star system depended on the mecher and fleeter assets to eliminate or at least contain the most powerful alien opponents.

These enemy assets always performed at a level equivalent or just below first-class standards.

In fact, this was a bit of a helpless decision on the part of the aliens.

They needed to send their more elite warships out to the middle zones to prevent the major powers as well as ridiculously strong high-ranking mechs from crushing the substandard alien fleets with ease.

Commander Casilla Ingvar shifted her gaze towards the most prominent and powerful mech pilot in the gathering.

Saint Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson's presence could not be ignored. His willpower had become powerful enough to radiate across the entire compartment.

It was a good thing that his domain was fairly light and unoppressive. He did not usually judge others or expect them to behave according to his ideals. Many people enjoyed his company for that reason.

"Saint Tusa, you and every other ace pilot in the star system are expected to shoulder heavy burdens during combat. I do not have to explain to you how the military commanders are salivating at the options that you in particular bring to the table. You are not only a light mech specialist at the ace mech level, but also possess strong instant takedown potential that is effective against both warships and phase lords. The others are especially keen on exploiting your Leap of True Freedom."

The Larkinson ace pilot crossed his arms. "I will do what is expected of me. I am not afraid of a challenge. Did you tell them that my Dark Zephyr is still a high-tier expert mech at this time?"

"They know. They have also been informed that you and your living mech will be transferred to the upper zones as soon as your machine has finally been upgraded to a proper first-class ace mech."

"Will my absence cause any problems in Arvest Lima?"

"We can manage. The Glory Seekers have already informed us that another Hexer ace pilot is on the way to fulfill her war obligation."

"It is too bad that Isobel Kotin isn't in shape to fight." Venerable Jannzi Larkinson lamented. "We could have gained another powerful protector that could go out of her way to look after our forces if the worst ever happens."

"Arvest Lima will not fall so easily." Casella responded. "The Red Two have decided to employ additional measures to ensure we maintain our hold over this strategic node. One of them is the accelerated rollout of human starfighters."

"Starfighters?!"

A few Larkinsons were familiar with the phenomenon of human starfighters.

To see them make a return did not make them feel good. Humans only resorted to deploying inferior starfighters when they suffered a considerable shortage in mechs.

In fact, mech pilots also secretly disliked starfighters due to the fear that they might make mechs obsolete one day. Phasefighters already showed how powerful these fighter craft could be, though the aliens cheated by employing lots of phasewater.

Whatever the case, the introduction of human starfighters on the battlefield was bound to cause a lot of changes!

"The Red Fleet has been working on building up a Starfighter Corps for a time." Commander Casella explained to the gathered Larkinsons. "This is one of the first instances where their much-hyped craft will be put into action on a large scale. The fleeters have already tested out the starfighters in small trials on other battlefields, but this is where they intend to make a statement. This is why they are prepared to deploy 80,000 starfighters at once in the next major engagement."

"80,000?!"

The mech commander activated a projection that displayed two different series of starfighters.

Though each series encompassed a range of variants with different loadouts and material compositions, they were very clearly designed around a predefined template or type.

"The fleeters have developed many different small craft models, but they only chose to deploy two second-class small craft lines in the Arvest Lima System. They are the Seditch line of interceptor craft and the Armadillo line of bomber craft."

It did not take much thinking to understand that the two were designed for very different purposes.

The Seditch interceptors were predominantly built for ease of use and cost reduction. They looked quite similar to their slimmer alien phasefighter counterparts, but they possessed distinct human design elements to differentiate them by sight.

None of the starfighter pilots wanted to get shot down by mistake by their own side.

This was a serious risk because many human soldiers became so accustomed to shooting down fighter craft that they did not develop the habit of checking whether their targets fought on their side!

"Do they have any phasewater technology?" Tusa asked the obvious question.

"No." Casella shook her head. "These are entry level machines designed to cater to masses with the lowest possible cost. There are many compromises to their designs. Not even the fleeters expect these fighter craft to last that long on the battlefield. What they do have is mobility. Their forward acceleration exceeds that of most light mechs, and they gain impressive maneuverability if they are not going all-out in trying to move forward."

That was actually quite impressive considering how cheap they looked.

"As their fighter type suggests, these interceptors are meant to catch up to alien phasefighters. Due to their fairly cheap construction, they rely on speed and maneuverability to evade enemy attacks. Based on the performance of other starfighters in smaller engagements, the attrition rate of any single battle will be brutal, but the interceptors may actually have a good chance of achieving their operational objectives."

"How skilled are the pilots of these craft?"

"Not that much, I believe. The second-class volunteers trained by the Red Fleet are just as green as this as their alien counterprats. There are no veterans among them. Experience is completely lacking. The most you can expect from them is that a proportion of starfighter pilots have received prior military training in different but related fields. Most of them have received promotions to higher ranks because they are the only ones among the starfighter pilots that can maintain a somewhat clear overview of the battlefield."

"I see."

"The starfighter pilots may be lacking in experience, but there may be those among them that possess a large amount of talent." Casella noted. "The Red Fleet has promised that as long as these rookie pilots are able to survive the coming battles and perform well enough, they will be transferred to more elite starfighter units where they get to pilot much more luxurious versions of interceptor craft. The main benefit is that those advanced fighters incorporate phasewater technology. They will no longer be fighting at a disadvantage when confronting alien phasefighters."

That sounded nice, but the interceptor pilots first needed to survive those crucial battles, and that was not an easy task!

The fleeters clearly wanted to rely on brutal combat to separate the chaff from the wheat. The Starfighter Corps was too new, and compared to the extremely prosperous and established mech community, no heroes had emerged at this time.

This was a huge shortcoming as humans were accustomed to looking up to individuals who performed far above the average. It was human nature to associate the presence of heroes with the overall strength and potential of their respective professions.

Therefore, the best way to quickly produce a few examples among the starfighter pilots was to use the crucible of war to activate their potential!

Even if thousands of mediocre starfighter pilots perished in the coming fights, it was all worth it for the Red Fleet as long as one emerging hero rose from the ranks!

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