The Mech Touch

\"Thank you, Mr. Larkinson.\"

After the fateful meeting where half of the mech pilots decided to stay onboard the Felixia Catstrikers, everyone except Ves and Lady Miralix's projection had left the room.

The two stayed back in order to hold a private conversation.

\"I bailed you out to further my own interests, not yours.\" He flatly replied. By now, he had shed his stern persona which he used to great effect during the meeting. \"Don't forget that this attempted mutiny reflects badly on your leadership ability.\"

\"I.. you're right.\"

Perhaps in front of everyone else, she might maintain her belligerent act. However, she couldn't do so against the savior of her hunting ambitions.

Ves took a deep breath. After whipping the mech pilots with his Devil Tongue, he was feeling awfully tired of it all.

\"Let's move on. We've managed to stem the bleeding to only half of the mech pilots and a portion of the support personnel. What do you intend to do with them, my lady?\"

She let out a rueful smile. \"It's difficult. I can't hold them here. They also have enough crew on their side that they can hijack some mechs and at least one legged transport and return to Kemila on their own volition. However, I can't let them do that. I need each and every mech we have to fight the final round against Zeigra.\"

This left the Felixia Catstrikers in a very difficult position. The traitors wanted to leave the dangerous hunting zone as soon as possible, but there was no way they could return safely unless they enjoyed the escort of at least two functioning mechs!

If Lady Miralix granted them a single legged transport with no escort at all, then the chance they would suffer an ambush from an errant huge cat was very significant!

In fact, the risk of dying in a random ambush was probably larger than the risk of remaining with the hunting team when they confronted Zeigra!

Neither Miralix nor the traitors could afford to compromise on their demands for the mechs of the hunting team!

Nonetheless, to Ves, the equation was simple.

\"Just knock the treacherous mech pilots out and stuff them in one of the holding cells of the legged transports. Make sure to post guards at their cells to prevent any sympathisers from freeing them! Problem solved!\"

\"That.. that will not endear anyone to me.\" She retorted. Her earlier bravado was nowhere to be seen. \"Not only will we be trampling on the demands of those who want to leave, we'll also be instilling more doubts to those who have tentatively decided to stay by my side.\"

\"Hahaha!\" Ves grinned. \"They're traitors! Each and every one of them has chosen to quit halfway in the middle of a perilous hunting zone! Even if we aren't chasing after a Crown Cat, their cowardly collusion has threatened the safety of you and everyone else who are determined to fulfill your mission!\"

\"This isn't a battlefield. While the mech pilots who voted to quit are unquestionably cowards, it's still a step too far to paint them as traitors. This is an extremely serious accusation that will only heighten our divisions even further!\"

\"Who cares? If you give in to their demands, you'll only be endangering your loyalists, which happen to be the people whose support you need the most! Instead of compromising with the traitors, just lock them up and keep them out of sight until after the hunt concludes! This way, you'll only piss off the people who have already decided to betray you! As for everyone else, the fight against Zeigra will quickly distract them from other matters!\"

Though it took a bit more persuasion, she eventually started to come around. Ves purposefully appealed to her obsession to succeed in the hunt.

Her chances to kill a Crown Cat depended highly on how many mechs she could bring. All of the mech pilots that remained loyal just happened to match the specialties of the humanoid mechs that remained functional.

Lady Miralix hardened her eyes after she accepted his arguments. \"I'll take care of it. All of the cowards have made their wishes known. My security team will move out and secure them somewhere safe where they won't be able to disrupt our operations.\"

She did as promised. After an hour of tension and premature exchange of farewells, the security guards and others who earned her trust ambushed the unsuspecting traitors and put them under arrest!

\"Hey, what's happening?!\"

\"Miralix has gone crazy! She's going to kill us all!\"

\"We're friends! Why are you taking us down!?\"

\"This is outrageous! We'll be lodging a complaint as soon as we get free!\"

No matter what kind of threats or excuses they muttered, the traitors and cowards succumbed to the stun guns without much issue. The mech pilots may be capable of annihilating entire city districts with their mechs, but outside the cockpit they were unable to muster up any resistance against armored guards!

Ves observed the mass arrests from the observation chamber at the top of one of the legged transports. As the person who encouraged Lady Miralix into taking the traitors in her custody, he bore some responsibility if anything went wrong.

After all, the mech pilots and support personnel who decided to quit did so because they didn't wish to risk their lives any further.

By taking them hostage, the traitors were forced to accompany the hunting team. The only difference was that each of them no longer played any role in the upcoming confrontation. They were not longer in control of their own destinies! They could only pray that Lady Miralix and her loyalist mech pilots were capable enough to kill or scare off Zeigra!

If the remaining Felixia Catstrikers succeeded, then all they faced was to return to Kemila in disgrace. Their decision to quit the hunting team in the field in this vital stage while their other comrades continued the good fight reflected awfully on their records.

In fact, if Zeigra succeeded in overpowering Lady Miralix and her loyalists before killing the rest of the hunting team, then the decision of the traitors would instead be seen as a prescient choice!

\"In short, the traitors suffer the least amount of damage to their reputation if the rest of the hunting team dies!\"

Ves found an issue with this warped situation. It didn't seem fair for the cowards to root for the failure of the former comrades they decisively turned their back towards.

\"Hehehe.\" He chuckled. \"Since you guys are so eager to see us die, then you might as well ride along with us to the end!\"

On the flipside, if the final round ended in Zeigra's death, then the traitors would be seen as dishonorable! No one cared whether Lady Miralix hurt their feelings and put them in deadly peril by denying them permission to retreat.

In fact, she wouldn't even be blamed for imprisoning the traitors. As someone who succeeded in hunting a Crown Cat, her reputation and prestige would almost certainly shield her from the minor irregularities that happened under her leadership!

\"This is the privilege that victors enjoy!\"

Ves realized that as long as someone earned more fame, they were allowed to get away with quite a lot of misdeeds.

He experienced this himself back in the Bright Republic and Ylvaine Protectorate!

\"Meow.\"

Lucky casually jumped on his shoulder and watched what was happening with a curious gaze.

\"Heh. Pets are just as selfish as humans. You've disobeyed me plenty of times, remember?\"

\"Meow!\"

The two of them watched as the excitement quickly died down. Fortunately, enough loyalists remained to take charge of the remaining mechs and transports. The hunting team quickly ended their extended break and resumed their march.

Zeigra was certainly licking his wounds right now! The longer the Felixia Catstrikers delayed the final round, the more the powerful Crown Cat regained his strength!

In order to prepare for the final round of combat against the cat, Lady Miralix convened her mech pilots and some of the remaining hunting consultants for a final planning session.

Ves also attended the meeting, of course, though he was more interested in stroking Lucky's back than offering any further advice. He had already attracted way too much attention. He did not wish to exert any further pressure on the nervous mech pilots.

Miralix began the meeting by projecting the most likely scenario. \"The plan we formulated before we set out on this hunting trip already took our possible losses into account. However, we suffered a bit more damage than we expected. I don't think it's viable for us to maintain an encirclement with only one ranged mech, one knight mech and three other melee mechs. If Zeigra really wants to run, he can easily slip through one of the gaping holes in our encirclement.\"

\"If we allow Zeigra to run again, it's a question whether any of our mechs still has some fight left in their frames.\" A mech pilot expressed his concerns. \"While I'm all for trying to take down Zeigra one more time, a second time is…\"

\"I agree.\"

Lady Miralix surprised everyone by agreeing with the sentiment the mech pilot expressed!

\"We all want to kill Zeigra.\" She continued. \"As long as we have a realistic chance of success, I'm all for it. That won't be possible if my Kinslayer is damaged to the point where it no longer poses a threat to the Crown Cat. The fourth round will be our last chance to achieve success. There won't be a fifth round.\"

Sitting in the back, Ves quietly nodded in approval. He was relieved that whatever spiritual contamination acted on her, she still retained a measure of her rationality. Continuing the hunt even when all of the humanoid mechs had fallen apart and her Kinslayer was halfway from following in their footsteps was sheer folly!

Even if her entire crew didn't rebel, Ves would certainly take matters into his own hands if necessary!

Lady Miralix began to instruct her subordinates in the changes to the plan. Since Zeigra hadn't been as weakened as they expected, the noblewoman decisively gave up her previous intention to corner Zeigra in a one-on-one duel.

\"We need to take the offensive right from the start.\" She declared with a determined expression. \"The moment we track Zeigra to his hideout, we'll spend a brief moment to top off our energy levels before commencing our assault!\"

Some of the mech pilots looked concerned. Maintaining an encirclement was a lot less risky than participating in an offensive!

\"Some of our mechs won't be able to last against Zeigra.\"

\"I know. Even if Zeigra quickly takes out one of your mechs by using his corrosion ability, that means he hasn't used it on my own machine. If there's anything we've learned during the previous rounds, it's that sending in our mechs by piecemeal will only play in the Crown Cat's hands! We have to overwhelm him with enemies in order to spread out his limited corrosion ability over multiple machines!\"

Unless Zeigra held back during the previous rounds, which was a very realistic possiblity, the Crown Cat couldn't use his special power over metals in rapid succession.

Zeigra always exhibited a delay before he activated this ability again!

In fact, the pauses that occurred between his use of his powers lasted longer and longer in each round.

This meant that whatever resource or energy Zeigra expended to activate his powers, the Crown Cat couldn't easily replenish what he lost!

This observation gave Lady Miralix a lot of confidence! Even if the Crown Cat was still a tough opponent without his powers, Zeigra almost exhausted his trump card!

Whatever limits he faced, everyone estimated that he was close to reaching this point!

Lady Miralix unabashedly grinned. \"A Crown Cat that relies solely on his body is a cat that we can defeat! As long as we work together and display impeccable teamwork, we can end the short-lived reign of Zeigra! For the hunt!\"

\"For the hunt!\"

\"For the hunt!\"

\"For the hunt!\"