The Mech Touch

Light-years away from the Duqaste System, the expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance had already become embroiled in their own battles against the invading aliens.

More alien reinforcements arrived in the Arvest Lima System and had begun to make a persistent push against the fortified planet defended by the humans.

Among the many mechs that took part in the defense of the star system, one of the most prominent machines aside from the ace mechs was the Minerva.

The valiant and feminine-looking masterwork expert mech reigned over the Larkinson mechs like a war queen overseeing her troops.

With the Living Sentinel mechs maintaining a protective formation around her expert command mech, Commander Casella Ingvar of the Larkinson Clan continued to Commandeer tens of thousands of living mechs.

Each of the affected machines glowed with power as they borrowed a faint amount of true resonance from the Minerva!

Their performance skyrocketed as a result. Each of them performed similar to quasi-expert mechs as their attacks, their damage resistance and their other properties significantly exceeded their physical limitations!

This turned the Larkinson Army into one of the best-performing mech groups on the battlefield!

Commander Casella and the cooperating Larkinson mech units frequently relied on this powerful approach to produce lots of results and earn lots of war merits in battle.

Though the dramatic performance of the Minerva and all of the machines that glowed in dark gold attracted a lot of hostile attention towards the expert command mech, Commander Casella was more than capable of holding her own in most fights.

If that was not enough, the Dark Zephyr Mark III or any of the other ace mechs on the battlefield would be glad to intercept any threats that the Minerva and her Commandeered mechs couldn't handle by themselves!

While the alien phasefighters and warships that pressed onto the Arvest Lima System had numbers on their side, the defenders could still rely on a combination of superior equipment and fortifications to hold their ground.

This meant that Commander Casella did not have to worry about an immediate collapse. She continued to remain confident as she fought back against the invading aliens and commanded her subordinates as best she could.

Whenever she was fighting at her peak, she stretched her multi-tasking ability to the limit. She paid attention to so many variables that it was impossible for any ordinary human to keep track of so many moving parts.

So far, nothing happened in the orbital battle that merited any special cause for concern or alarm.

Yet for whatever reason, Commander Casella had begun to feel slightly apprehensive starting from the morning she woke up earlier today.

The faint sensation of unease did not seem connected to any impending disaster in the Arvest Lima System, so she dismissed it and focused on her more immediate affairs.

The problem was that her unsettling feeling did not go away. It had always lingered in the background, and steadily grew stronger as time went by. It started to make her more guarded and alert.

What if it was a premonition of an imminent surprise attack by the phase whales?

Though she did not have enough information to alert other leaders over her currently baseless concerns, she kept this uneasy consideration in mind, but did not allow it to disrupt her rhythm.

As soon as the latest battle commenced, Casella naturally pushed this matter aside in favor of commanding and assisting her mech units as best as possible.

Yet the feeling had never disappeared. Ignoring it helped to keep her focused, but she found it much harder to get rid of her unease when it abruptly grew stronger.

For whatever reason, her concerns grew, yet she still did not know why. After putting a bit more thought in this phenomenon, she tentatively concluded that it was not herself that was the problem.

Her concerns grew a lot stronger all of a sudden. Casella became a lot more high strung. It was as if she was locked in battle against a predator that was powerful enough to chew up her Minerva.

How could this be? Her expert command mech was positioned well to the rear! The native aliens were unable to target her battle partner from this distance.

In addition, as prominent as her performance may be, the assaulting aliens had much greater priorities to deal with. It was not worth it for them to overreach in order to make an attempt at her life.

Minutes passed by as Casella continually tried but failed to discern the source of her unease.

If she was not engaged in battle, then she might have been able to deduce the origin of her discomfort, but she did not enjoy this luxury at the moment. Any significant distraction in a large-scale engagement could easily lead to the deaths of tens, hundreds if not thousands of human lives!

Casella was not irresponsible enough to let her personal issues inflict disaster onto others.

She tried her best to focus on the ongoing battle, becoming more mindful of the fact that the alien phasefighters were inflicting heavy casualties onto the underequipped interceptors of the Starfighter Corps.

The Red Fleet had the right idea by forming this new division, but the fleeters were far too stingy when it came to investing in quality starfighters.

The inability for the Starfighter Corps to contain the alien phasefighters meant more work for the mechs under her command.

The Larkinson mechs frequently had to come to the rescue in order to prevent the starfighter units from collapsing entirely.

As Casella did what she could to preserve the lives of as many human starfighter pilots as possible, her heart suddenly wrenched as if an enemy had stabbed her from the back!

The interruption was violent and shocking enough that she briefly lost her control of all of her Commandeered mechs!

Though the expert pilot quickly recovered and made up for her lapse, she still felt incredibly distressed for reasons that weren't immediately clear!

"What happened?!" She gasped as she reached out to clutch her chest. Her heart was beating madly, and her mood was beginning to decline for reasons unknown. "What did I lose?!"

Casella realized that she became hurt. She became afflicted by a mental wound that was so severe that it would have affected her much more severely if she realized the cause for her escalating distress.

Now that her mental anguish became a lot stronger, she was finally able to pin down the cause why she was experiencing this inexplicable ordeal.

"It is not me. It is… my brother."

Only a threat directed at her brother could make her feel this concerned!

To be honest, Casella hadn't actively thought about Imon for a while. Her brother wanted to develop his strength and prove that he could stand on his own by serving in another mech force than the expeditionary fleet.

Though Casella made sure to keep in touch with Imon from time to time, the physical separation between the two prevented them from remaining as close to each other as before.

Imon was clearly doing well enough within the 77th Warborn Mech Division.

General Ark Larkinson was a competent mech commander, and while she did not entirely agree with his direction, she entrusted the patriarch's uncle to keep Imon out of trouble that he couldn't handle.

She was well aware that it was impossible to truly protect Imon from every threat. Piloting mechs was inherently dangerous, and every battle could spell his end.

However, with so many Larkinson expert pilots as well as Patriarch Reginald Cross fighting alongside Imon, Casella did not have any serious concerns about her brother's safety and wellbeing.

At least that was supposed to be the case.

For her to feel as if her heart was literally bleeding meant that something must have gone very wrong with her brother!

Though Casella still tried to keep up with her responsibilities in the ongoing battle, she couldn't stop herself from diverting a bit more attention to what had happened to her brother.

She tried to reach out to him with her mind. Casella and Imon had been very close for a long time. The two had even developed a mysterious bond of sorts after becoming expert pilots.

Though the bond did not really make a big difference so long as Casella did not Commandeer Imon's expert mech, the two were vaguely able to sense each other's state.

Right now, Casella felt nothing from the other side.

"I need to know what happened to him." She said in a more desperate tone.

She couldn't activate her comm and call Imon directly. Ordinary communications were locked down in warzones, especially active ones.

The Minerva gave her battle partner a helpful suggestion. The living expert mech had been tracking all of Casella concerns through the man-machine connection.

"ASK THE GOLDEN CAT. THE ANCESTRAL SPIRIT WILLL NOT REFUSE YOUR REQUEST."

That was a good suggestion!

"GOLDIE!"

"Nyaaaaaaa…"

A small manifestation of the Golden Cat appeared inside the cockpit in an instant. The fact that the spiritual entity answered the summon so promptly was a bad sign. The cat's reluctant appearance was another bad sign.

Commander Casella's mood sunk even lower as she received a second clue that something terrible had happened to her brother.

"Goldie… tell me the truth. What… happened to Imon?"

The Golden Cat's ears drooped as the cat made a mournful yowl. "Nyaaa…"

"Did he get involved in a tough battle?"

"Nya."

"Is he injured?"

"Nya nya…"

"Is he… dead?"

"....Nyaah…"

"..."

Several seconds passed by as Casella processed the response.

Though she did not understand cat speech, she was able to feel the emotions conveyed by the Golden Cat clear as day.

There was absolutely no ambiguity in Goldie's responses.

That included the last one.

Though Casella wanted to press Goldie for more confirmation and details, she was not a stupid expert pilot.

The truth had become clear. To deny it was not only folly, but also an insult to her intelligence.

Her body grew hotter while her eyelids shook. A wellspring of emotions surged from her wounded heart and surged into her head.

Heat and anguish began to fill her mind as Casella unwillingly acknowledged the truth.

"My brother… is dead!"

"This… should have never happened!"

"General Ark told me he would watch out for him and keep him out of trouble!"

"How could you fail to uphold your duty?!"

"What did you do to fail my brother so badly?!"

Commander Casella regretted that she allowed her brother to leave her side!

She just knew that if he remained within her reach, she would have been able to save him from whatever threat he faced!

Yet because she was fighting in a completely different star system from her brother, she was unable to "Why is my brother dead?!"

"WHY AREN'T YOU HERE TO ACCOUNT FOR YOURSELF, ARK?!"

"HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A MECH COMMANDER WHEN YOU CAN'T SAVE THE LIFE OF A SINGLE EXPERT PILOT?!"

"IS HIS LIFE THAT INCONSEQUENTIAL TO YOU, YOU CALLOUS JACKAL?!"

"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU ARE TO BLAME FOR MY BROTHER'S DEATH, ARK!"

"BROTHER! IF YOU ARE DEAD, THEN I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO BRING YOU BACK TO LIFE! I WILL BREAK THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH ITSELF IF THAT IS WHAT IS NECESSARY TO REVIVE YOU! THIS, I PROMISE!"

Her vows along with her overflowing emotions was enough to send her over the edge!

She smashed past her limitations and instantly triggered her second apotheosis!

The Minerva suddenly exploded in power!

No one in Arvest Lima expected for an expert command mech that was calmly overseeing the Larkinson mech units in a comfortable position to trigger such a powerful phenomenon all of a sudden!

Many people immediately recognized what had happened!

"It's the Sentinel Commander! She broke through!"

"Our clan has just gained its third ace pilot!"

"This is a fantastic day!"

"Hail Saint Casella Ingvar!"

"Hail Saint Casella Ingvar!"

"Hail Saint Casella Ingvar!"

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