The Mech Touch

Shield generators shouldn't be common. Ves happened to obtain one by chance after he managed to become Master Olson's apprentice.

To an esteemed Master, shield generators weren't difficult to obtain!

However, they were still expensive enough to put them out of reach of the general population of a second-rate state!

Perhaps shield generators may be more ubiquitous elsewhere, but the Komodo Star Sector did not produce many of the key materials needed to produce them en masse.

As far as Ves was aware of, the shield generators had to be imported, which massively increased their markup!

Those who had the privilege of kitting themselves out with shield generators fell into at least three categories.

The first category were those who possessed a lot of value. Mech designers like Ves or distinguished professionals were capable of earning huge sums of money in their lifetimes.

While not all of them could offer a quick return on investment, as long as they remained alive, they would definitely be able to pay back the cost of a shield generator!

The second category consisted of those who bought the shield generator out of their own pocket or had been gifted to them without expectation of repayment.

Rich and powerful people along with their loved ones fell under this category. As long as they possessed a good enough background, they probably enjoyed the protection of a shield generator!

The third category consisted of those who scavenged or stole a shield generator. These people didn't obtain them through proper means, but that did not stop them from making use of them to protect their lives!

When Ves launched his surprise attack, he killed almost every unprotected crew member in an instant. No one who wore a uniform and an underlayer vacsuit survived the Amastendira's full-powered scatter blast!

That the guards survived was within expectation.

Yet the survival of the captain and Aisling's assistant was outside of his expectation!

Even though ship captains generally held a high status, was it really worth it to equip them with a shield generator?

What was so special about this captain?!

As for the woman standing next to her, Ves realized he underestimated this female Benny.

Many Bennies were more than they appeared on the surface!

The original Benny acted as a steward and a body.

His own Benny both assisted him and spied on him until recently!

Aisling's Benny appeared to be sharp and combat trained, because her expression was devoid of panic!

While the captain sat paralyzed on his captain's seat, the blonde assistant quickly regained her composure!

She withdrew a small laser pistol from a hidden holster in her suit before activating a command that caused her clothes to form into an airtight, flexible survival suit!

"Hostiles present! They're invisible! Activate scanning!"

The captain, though frightened beyond his wits, soon regained his composure. His professionalism kicked in as he processed the assistant's instruction.

Though his projected interface had disappeared, that didn't stop him as he projected another interface from his comm!

"Activating anti-stealth measures!"

Powerful waves of energy encompassed the entire compartment, yet none of them managed to detect any invisible intruders!

The assistant growled in frustration. "Their stealth tech is too advanced. Switch to indiscriminate attacks! Attack every corner until there is no area left untouched!"

The internal defense systems aren't deploying! They're stuck!" The captain noted with alarm as his commands failed to get through!

"Guards! Open fire!"

The two surviving guards aimed their heavy assault rifles in different directions before firing energy blasts that dispersed over a wide area!

Ves cursed in his mind. His enemies were resorting to the same tricks!

Fortunately, Ves had already huddled behind a thick workstation to the side, which offered sufficient protection.

Though the weapon discharges also sapped the energy of the shield generators, their two wearers didn't show any concern!

Shield generators were meant to protect people against mechs! While they didn't last very long against a full-powered attack from a mech, it was enough to give them a chance to survive!

Against small arms fire, shield generators came under much less strain. Their effectiveness depended on the model and battery capacity.

Ves feared that the ones blocking him from killing his primary targets might be able to withstand more than one concentrated attack!

He was already wasting too much time. Even now, the captain was constantly tapping his fingers over the projected interface! Who knew what kind of emergency measures and executive overrides he was activating!

He aimed his Amastendira at the captain, but quickly shifted his aim towards the blind-firing guards.

He had to take out the heavy guns first!

The moment he made his choice, a narrow cutting beam instantly swept over the guards.

Unlike last time, the Amastendira fully concentrated its firepower in a narrow beam as wide as a finger!

Even though the guards managed to survive the first attack, this time was different! Their damaged combat armor already lost a lot of integrity. The highly-concentrated beam swiftly cut through the armor and went on to cut through a workstation!

"There!" The assistant called and somehow managed to pinpoint Ves' location!

Ves barely managed to avoid getting hit by awkwardly rolling back into cover!

Even though his Jutland organ shielded his heart and nearby organs against energy damage, the same could not be said for the rest of his body!

The small laser pistol wielded by the female Benny packed quite a punch! The pulsed beam fired by her pistol was powerful enough to scorch the surface of the deck.

If the beam hit his limb, he would probably lose it! Ves missed wearing actual armor!

Fortunately, now that he escaped the earlier attack, his opponents lost his position.

The assistant looked warily at her surroundings while firing her laser pistol in various random directions.

Against an invisible opponent, doing something was better than doing nothing!

In order to increase the probability of hitting her target, she switched the firing mode of her laser pistol to a wide-area blast.

While her pistol was a lot weaker than the heavy assault rifles, Ves still didn't couldn't afford to get hit!

Right now, he wondered how much energy the laser pistol possessed. From how recklessly the assistant was firing her weapon, Ves suspected that it was feeding off an ultracompact battery!

In addition, the pistol didn't seem to overheat either! Any ordinary laser pistol of its size would have glowed hot from all of the energy it released!

This meant that its wielder wouldn't be stopping anytime soon!

That was bad news for Ves. She could easily keep up her reckless weapon discharges for several minutes, buying the captain enough time to regain some control over the ship.

Ves couldn't afford to delay any longer!

He briefly peeked over the workstation he was huddling behind.

Though he wanted to take out the captain right away, the female Benny had to be taken out first!

Ves waited for the woman to fire a shot. The moment she did, there was a brief delay before she could fire again!

A full-powered cutting beam tore straight towards the assistant, only to encounter an invisible wall that stopped the energy from going any further!

The shimmering shield absorbed some of the energy while withstanding the rest!

When the Amastendira stopped firing, the assistant still remained alive!

Not only that, she stormed over to the workstation that Ves was hiding behind while firing constant wide-area pulses with her laser pistol!

Ves didn't expect her to approach his briefly-exposed position! He hesitated a bit before deciding to bite the bullet!

He refused to believe her shield generator can withstand another attack from his trump card!

While taking advantage of his stealth, he silently managed to circle around the workstation in time to face her back!

Before he fired, though, the assistant abruptly raised her weapon arm overhead and fired a blind shot behind her back!

What an uncanny instinct!

If Ves hadn't been so careful to keep most of his body behind the battered workstation, he would have gotten hit!

Even now, an uncomfortable wash of heat and energy swept over his head.

As soon as this wave had passed, Ves popped out of cover and fired straight at the woman!

Though her shield generator resisted the attack as best as possible, it rapidly started to dim as it was rapidly losing power! Eventually, the shield broke, exposing the woman to the remainder of the cutting beam!

Yet before the beam could manage to fry her to a crisp, she agilely cartwheeled to the side like an agile acrobat! Ves failed to adjust his aim, preventing him from scoring a direct hit!

"Ah!"

While the woman avoided a direct hit, she wasn't feeling but better as she dove into cover herself! The close proximity to a high-energy laser beam caused her armored suit to blacken and scorch! A portion of it even melted and fried some of her skin and flesh!

Ves felt incredibly frustrated. Where did they train female Bennies like her? He wanted one as well! She was much better than his own Benny in this regard!

Though Ves wanted to finish the job, he strongly suspected that the woman was preparing to ambush him. Even though he was completely invisible, her combat intuition was remarkable!

Ves felt as if he was a sandman admiral facing a Deliverer mech! No matter how well he kept himself hidden, this woman would definitely find a way to pinpoint his position!

"At least she's out the way now." He muttered.

He hadn't lost sight of his priorities. While he still wanted to take out this threat, he still hadn't killed the captain!

At least a dozen seconds had gone by, giving the captain plenty of time to activate all sorts of commands.

Ves became more concerned. His preparations weren't comprehensive or foolproof enough. The lack of time, manpower and expertise limited what he could do. He also held back on tampering the systems of the ships because he feared tripping off an alarm!

All of this meant that the captain would definitely be able to restore some functionality given time. Whether this meant activating some internal defenses or sealing the bridge by closing the blast doors, Ves couldn't afford to delay any longer!

He took a second to sneak behind another workstation before firing his weapon at the captain!

Despite being the target of a powerful attack, his target did not flinch away and resolutely kept controlling the interface. His shield generator withstood the entire attack, preserving his life for the moment!

The second attack finally managed to neutralize the shield and end his life.

Unlike Lady Curver's assistant, the captain possessed no combat training to speak of! Up to the very end, he kept trying to regain control over the ship!

Ves sighed in relief when he saw the captain die.

"Only one is left!"

He narrowed his eyes in vigilance as he changed his position yet again. Though he was covered in a powerful stealth field, he still watched out for the female Benny!

He shifted from cover to cover, moving carefully lest this blasted woman popped up and fired her pistol in his direction!

As Ves shifted his position for the fifth time, he suddenly glimpsed the woman trying to do the same!

He instinctively lifted his weapon and wanted to fire. However, his intuition prompted him to abort his actions and draw himself back behind cover!

He moved just in time!

Though her burn wounds hindered her movements, the assistant still retained her sharpness. The instant Ves was about to fire his weapon, she snapped her own laser pistol in her direction and unleashed a shot!

If Ves had decided to fire, his hand or his head would have gotten hit!

While Ves had given up an opportunity to kill the remaining survivor, he did not regret his choice.

"I know your position now!"

He did not bother stepping out of cover. Instead, he quickly adjusted the settings of his Amastendira and began to point his weapon at the workstation he was hiding behind.

He fired his weapon, releasing a sustained cutting beam that penetrated his cover and went on to cut through his opponent's cover!

A final scream uttered from the other side, signifying the death of his final opponent!

"Finally!"