The Mech Touch

Chapter 3231: Calling Dibs

Unlike the unlucky expert pilots who still hadn't received their long-anticipated expert mechs, Tusa, Stark, Orfan and Dise each received powerful new expert mechs.

They were all immensely grateful that they were able to participate in the upcoming battle with mechs befitting their capabilities, but that also meant they had to shoulder a heavier responsibility.

After all, the Larkinson Clan didn't have any mech pilot who was stronger on an individual basis than the foursome.

Out of the four 'lucky' Larkinson expert pilots, Venerable Stark shouldered the greatest burden of them all. The Amaranto was unquestionably the strongest expert mech of the four existing ones in the clan. It also had the benefit of being a ranged mech, allowing it to project its power at extremely long distances.

Now, the expert pilots had to figure out how to best use the power that they had recently gained to the best effect.

"If Patriarch Reginald Cross didn't call dibs on Venerable Orthox, I would have wanted to try my spear against the Gatecrasher." Venerable Orfan grumbled.

"Are you crazy?" Tusa directed an odd glance at the woman. "Venerable Orthox is a high-tier expert pilot! He's in an entirely different league from us! His expert mech is also superior to ours!"

Venerable Orfan snorted. "I can still take him! Look, I admit I might not be able to beat this old dwarf, but I can sure as hell keep dancing with him. That's what my Riot is designed for. It has multiple defensive systems and it is also clad with an inner layer of Unending alloy. Maybe I'll have to worry about my survival if I'm locked in battle against an expert offensive mech, but the Gatecrasher is a space knight."

"An offensive space knight." Venerable Dise reminded her colleague.

"My point still stands! I'm not a mech designer, but I can see that most of the design resources put into this fancy machine is spent on making it as tough and resilient as possible. Sure, its defenses might reach the level of a high-tier expert mech, but what about its attack power? There are bound to be limitations there."

Tusa shook his head. "A high-tier expert mech does not have as many weaknesses as you think. You're dreaming if you think an expert called the Gatecrasher isn't able to hit back hard."

"Look, you may be right, but I'm confident I can handle Orthox. If I'm losing, then I'll do my best to prolong my defeat as long as possible so that you and everyone else can take advantage of my stalling action." Venerable Orfan stubbornly claimed. "It makes a lot of strategic sense for me to do this. I'll readily admit that I'm not as strong or valuable as Reginald Cross. Doesn't it sound great that we can free him up and sic his Bolvar Rage against weaker enemy expert mechs?"

The logic was surprisingly good, but Tusa recognized that the viability of this suggested rested on Venerable Orfan's ability to stop the unstoppable expert mech. The Gatecrasher was a famed expert mech in the Ferril Province and admired by a lot of Vulcanites for good reasons.

There was also another flaw that was sure to doom Venerable Orfan's intentions.

"You don't need to convince us, Orfan. If you want to tussle against the Gatecrasher, you first have to convince the Cross Patriarch that you're calling dibs on his dibs. Are you confident enough that you will get your way?"

Venerable Orfan glared at Tusa. His argument instantly popped her bubble. As much as she hated to acknowledge it, there was no way she would be able to get her way. Patriarch Reginald Cross was not only the most powerful expert pilot of the Golden Skull Alliance, but he was also a clan leader in his own right. He held much more say than anyone else.

"Patriarch Reginald is determined to challenge himself." Venerable Dise said, providing more support to Tusa's argument. "At his level, it is hard for him to make any further progress towards ace pilot. If we can free him up so that he can bully weaker dwarven expert pilots, we can quickly whittle down the enemy's advantage in numbers. However, fighting against weaker expert pilots and expert mechs won't push him past his limits. If he prioritizes his own advancement over every other priority, then he must seek out the strongest champion of the opposing force."

That pretty much ended this line of argument. As expert pilots, they were already aware of the allure of advancing to ace pilot. So many expert pilots had tried and failed to take the next step in their evolution. That didn't stop them from resorting to the most desperate measures in order to grasp their chance. As strong-willed individuals, they never gave up fighting!

"If I'm not going to fight against the Gatecrasher, then which dwarven mech can I fight against instead?"

Part of the reason why Venerable Orfan was so eager to fight against Venerable Orthox was because his expert mech was easy to confront.

As for the other two notable dwarven expert mechs…

"You can forget about dueling against Venerable Leiva's Gauss Baron." Tusa stated. "You'll just get beaten to a pulp long before you are able to get close. As for Venerable Merek's Paravad, I don't think it will be in a mood to tango with you. This avian expert mech is a lot faster and maneuverable than your weighted-down Riot. As soon as Venerable Merek finds out that you're a tough customer, he'll just sidestep your expert mech and find an easier target."

"Just get ready to fight against other expert mechs." Dise told her. "There are bound to be more attractive targets among the dwarven mech force. Even if they're not as famed and celebrated as the three dwarven heroes, you will still be able to get the fight you crave."

Venerable Orfan grunted in frustration. "There's not enough glory in defeating a nobody!"

"This isn't the time to worry about glory. We need to ensure our survival before we can think about building up our fame. Look, just focus on beating the weaker dwarven expert mechs at first. As long as you can mop them up first, you can always reinforce Patriarch Reginald and work together to take down Venerable Orthox. It won't be a fair fight at that point, but you'll still be able to claim victory against a celebrated hero."

This was the best that Orfan could hope for in her position.

That still didn't solve the problem of who should target the other two dwarven heroes.

Dise and Tusa both looked at Venerable Stark. The non-Larkinson expert pilot was the strongest of them all. As a consequence, her preferences and opinions mattered more.

Stark had been contemplating her target selection for a while now. It was not easy for her to choose between the Gauss Baron and the Paravad.

"The Gauss Baron is the greatest threat to our fleet." Tusa said. "In fact, all of their artillery mechs are huge threats, but the Gauss Baron alone can breach the defenses of our ships and destroy our capital ships even if we manage to win the battle."

"Will Venerable Leiva really focus her fire on our starships over our mechs?" Orfan skeptically asked. "I mean, our ships don't have any direct combat value. It's a much better idea to take down our mechs first before sweeping our defenseless vessels."

Tusa sighed. "You never know. Maybe she'll focus on our expert mechs or our bunker mechs. Regardless, whoever she targets will definitely be doomed, so we can't allow her to bombard us with impunity. We need to target her and pressure her right from the start."

This was why they all looked at Venerable Stark. Her Amaranto was the only expert mech that could match the range and possibly even exceed the range of the Gauss Baron.

Both the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan used to field rifleman expert mechs as well, but the Star Dancer and the Leskin had both been wrecked during the Battle of Reckoning.

Surprisingly, Venerable Stark did not announce her choice. Instead, she turned to Tusa. "Can you take out the Gauss Baron?"

The light skirmisher specialised was taken aback. "Uhm, I'm not sure. I have to get close to it before I can do anything to this expert mech, but there are bound to be a lot of obstacles in the way. It could be other expert mechs, thousands of regular mechs or an extremely well-defended bunker. I also have to evade all of Venerable Leiva's attempts to intercept my expert mech."

"Isn't this what the Dark Zephyr is good at?" Orfan said. "Your expert mech is faster and more difficult to hit than anything else on our side."

"Don't you think I know that? I just think that there is no way I can avoid getting hit by the Gauss Baron. It has so many guns that it can saturate an entire area of space with projectiles."

"So what? The rate of hits won't be high. Also, your mech is clad with Unending alloy, so it should easily be able to withstand a lot of hits."

"Maybe the exterior will remain intact, but the internals will definitely get shaken to pieces if my expert mech absorbs too many impacts! There's a real chance I might not make it all the way through!"

Venerable Stark did not stare away. She repeated her question.

"Can you eliminate the Gauss Baron?"

"I…" Venerable Tusa paused before he let out a sigh. "I will do my best. I won't promise I can neutralize Venerable Leiva, but if my posture is threatening enough, she will have no choice but to target me in order to keep my Dark Zephyr at bay. That should at least relieve the rest of our forces from getting targeted by this destructive force."

The guest pilot slowly nodded in satisfaction. "If you can do that, then I will eliminate the Paravad."

"Are you sure?"

Venerable Stark did not change her mind. "My Amaranto is able to fire extremely powerful shots, but I don't think I can penetrate the defenses of the Gauss Baron, at least from a distance. If it is sitting inside a bunker, then the starship it is on can simply roll over and prevent me from delivering the coup de grace. The Paravad is a much more convenient target for me. As an avian marauder mech, it will most certainly circle around the battlefield and seek to attack us at a favorable angle. This means that it will most certainly be in the open."

"You'll have to hit the Paravad in order to take it out." Tusa pointed out.

"I can land hits on your Dark Zephyr." Venerable Stark stated a fact. "I don't see why I can't do the same to a heavier and slower mech. My chances of striking it are a lot higher, though it likely has its own evasive abilities. If that is the case, then it will take considerably more time for me to eliminate this bird mech."

"I can handle the Paravad instead." Venerable Dise offered. "My First Sword should just be fast enough to keep up with this avian expert mech."

Stark shook her head. "No. That won't work. The Paravad is not as good in dueling as a dedicated swordsman mech. Venerable Merek will try to circumvent you and he will succeed because his expert mech is designed to be mobile while yours is not. It has to be me. If I ever think my chances of taking it out are too low, I will tell General Verle, but for now I believe I have the greatest chance of taking out this flanking threat quickly. It's not as well-protected as the other dwarven expert mechs, so I only need to land a handful of hits in order to eliminate this enemy hero."

This was a considerable gamble. The Amaranto's full-powered shots were highly potent, but all of that could easily be wasted if it missed or encountered too many obstacles. Venerable Stark and her expert mechs weren't able to fire too many full-powered shots at a time, so if she missed the mark too many times, then she wouldn't have the firepower to defeat the Paravad anymore!

Once Stark confirmed her decision, only Venerable Dise was left.

The Swordmaiden expert pilot eventually decided to fulfill a similar role to that of Venerable Orfan and set her sights on other dwarven expert mechs. The only difference was that she would be fighting alongside other Swordmaiden mech pilots.

After all, their battle network was one of the trump cards of the Larkinson Clan. In the right moment, their collective attack could instantly turn the tide!