The Mech Touch

The war had changed for the worse.

Venerable Ghanso Larkinson smelled the desperation from some of the Fridaymen. Despite the upbeat news, despite the pronounced victories, most of the Fridaymen who served at the frontlines knew that the Hexers were continuing to gain ground.

The Crestfallen Stars were teetering on collapse! It was only a matter of time before the hinterland and the core provinces of the Carnegie Group became vulnerable to successive raids and invasions!

The Friday Coalition couldn't let this pass.

Lady Aisling Curver already warned him that the CRC intended to reinforce Unit L with additional expert pilots.

"That's good." Ghanso responded. "They're all good mech pilots that can make a difference in this war. Why us, though?"

"The brass thinks that we are worth investing in. We'll not only be able to replenish the lost Scarra faster, but also gain some help in other ways. Be ready to greet some new guest expert pilots."

"Please tell your superiors that I prefer to serve alongside other Brighter expert pilots. Our shared background and training will allow us to get in sync right away."

"I will pass on your request, Ghanso, but my influence is limited. From what I have heard, the brass believes it is better to split the foreigners up in order to avoid the formation of insular cliques. When you wear our uniform, we expect you to dedicate yourself to the Friday Coalition."

"We are losing ground against the Hexers. I don't think this is the time to focus on integration. We need to gain immediate battle effectiveness in order to stall the Hexer."

Back when he served in the Mech Corps, Ghanso became acquainted with many Brighters. He trusted his mates from the Volari Starhawks with his life and developed ties with many other honorable Brighters.

Though the Hex Army unexpectedly drove the Fortune Legion from the Marrakath System like rats, a few individual units performed brilliantly enough to mitigate the disastrous defeat.

After killing more than half-a-dozen elite Hexer expert pilots, Ghanso fully gained the Friday Coalition's recognition. Master Huron was already exploring options to start up additional units with asymmetrical networks while Aisling largely washed away her guilt for letting Ves Larkinson hijack her assigned ship.

Neither Ghanso nor Aisling were pleased at their modest success. Killing a bunch of Hexer expert pilots would likely save the lives of several thousands Fridayman mech pilots over the course of the Komodo War, but that hadn't been enough to stave off a crushing defeat at one of the Crestfallen Stars.

The Blessed Squire and its revolutionary glow changed everything. The crazy Hexers became even crazier whenever they fought in the vicinity of one of these annoying supportive mechs.

According to some strategists, the sudden entry of the Blessed Squire onto Marrakath III directly spared the Hexers the lives of at least a hundred-thousand mech pilots and trillions of coalition credits worth of supplies and war materiel!

What was worse was this was just the start. Even when Ghanso heard that the Master Mech Designers of the Friday Coalition were close to publishing their first counters against the Blessed Squire, the powerful force multiplier was showing up in almost every battlefield!

They were ubiquitous on land and became more common in space after the Hex Army started to deploy them onto floaters, which were basically levitating platforms adapted for combat.

Though slow, inefficient and unwieldy, the Blessed Squires flying around on top of floaters gradually caused the Friday Coalition to suffer more losses in crucial space battles.

The ripple effects of the introduction of the Blessed Squire potentially caused more than a million valuable Fridayman mech pilots to perish ahead of time.

This was a very serious consequence that directly tilted the balance in favor of the Hexers!

Such an outcome couldn't stand. With increasing desperation, the Friday Coalition reached out to more and more lesser states in order to poach their most talented mech pilots.

The Coalition not only borrowed a lot of foreign expert pilots, but also started to recruit a lot of talented third-class mech pilots.

The elite mech pilots from the smaller states such as the Ylvaine Protectorate and the Bright Republic were able to pilot some the best standard mechs of their respective mech militaries.

Now, they were only qualified to become the Friday Coalition's cannon fodder. By piloting resilient but simplified frontline mechs, these new additions were one of the Fridaymen's many countermeasures against the rising momentum of their archenemies.

When the first batch of reinforcements finally arrived, Ghanso eagerly awaited his new colleague.

Unfortunately, he did not like what he saw.

"You!"

Ghanso reacted with shock!

Standing opposite to him was a woman who wore a similar uniform as his. Though Ghanso knew that the Coalition Reserve Corps engaged in an extensive recruiting spree in the past couple of months, he never expected to see a familiar face!

Aisling calmly approached the new arrival and shook her hand.

"Venerable Relia Foster. Welcome aboard the Pallas Intaer. We have just transferred to this new combat carrier, but we have made sure to reserve some room for you and your upcoming expert mech."

The Vesian expert pilot perfunctory accepted the handshake and looked around. "I am not pleased with this assignment. While I am willing to do what I can to help you defeat the Hexers, I can tolerate only so many stunts. Why am I standing in the same room as a Brighter?"

The air between the two expert pilots turned volatile as their wills pressed and clashed against each other.

"Venerable Ghanso Larkinson is different from Mr. Ves Larkinson. He is opposed to his cousin."

"THAT MAKES THIS WORSE!" Relia burst out! "I cannot stand you Larkinsons! You and your family have inflicted untold damage to my state. While I can reluctantly accept the fact that both of our states are allied to the Friday Coalition, that does not mean that I am willing to fight alongside one of the butchers of my fellow Vesians!"

"Oh?" Ghanso growled and stepped forward in a menacing posture. "I can say the same for you, witch. You're one of the biggest hopes of the Hafner Duchy. You have tons of Brighter blood on your hands. Why don't I take revenge for the lives of my fellow compatriots right away?"

"ENOUGH!" Aisling shouted. "Calm down and act like adults for once!"

Upon her command, some bodyguards moved in between the two acrimonious expert pilots. Even though it was difficult for the guards to endure the strong wills of both expert pilots at close range, they were well-trained Fridaymen who possessed a natural sense of superiority against third-raters.

Soon, the distance between the Brighter and the Vesian doubled. Aisling stared at both young expert pilots with considerable irritation.

She didn't agree with Venerable Foster's transfer. She already knew that sparks would fly once the two former enemies met. What happened completely fell in line with her expectations.

"Neither of you are allowed to pursue any old grudges and private vendettas. The Bright-Vesia Wars are relics of the past. Your two states no longer have any reason to fight against each other after a lot of devastated territories have opened up for reclamation. The Bright Republic has also lost the Bentheim System, so it has lost much of its value."

The fall of Bentheim was a very sore point to Ghanso, who witnessed its fall up close. Though the sandmen were to blame for launching their final apocalyptic offense, the Bright Republic would have been in a better position to resist the aliens if the Vesians hadn't been spoiling for a fight a few years prior!

His hatred of the Vesians almost exceeded his hate for Ves and his band of traitors!

After the bodyguards forcefully dragged them to different rooms, Ghanso spent some time cooling himself down. Aisling visited him a half hour later.

"I expected better from you, Venerable Larkinson."

"The CRC deliberately presented a former enemy in front of my face." Ghanso resentfully growled. "How else do you think I'm supposed to react? It would be the same as if a Hexer suddenly stepped up to you. Would you really be able to restrain yourself when Gloriana Wodin—"

"DO NOT SPEAK THAT NAME!"

Ghanso shut up, but his eyes twinkled as he made his point.

He knew about Aisling's obsession with his hated cousin. Mesmerizing this brilliant Fridayman mech designer was yet another crime to lay at the feet of the destroyer of the Larkinson Family.

Ever since he learned about Aisling's fascination, he tried to convince her to move on many times. A loathsome profiteering bastard like Ves did not deserve her affection.

It was too bad that any news about Ves' exploits only made her even more regretful at her missed opportunity.

Aisling finally calmed down a bit. "Look, neither of us likes this situation. I really don't know why the brass decided to transfer Venerable Foster to Unit L despite all of the warning signs, but we have no choice but to work with the hand we have been dealt. Can you bring yourself to forget about the past and work to secure our future? Not just the Friday Coalition, but also lesser states are at risk of being subsumed by the Hexers."

She was right. A Hexer victory would definitely lead to a comprehensive transformation of the Komodo Star Sector. Just like in Vicious Mountain, a single dominant second-rate state in a star sector would definitely spread its cultural influences to the third-rate states.

Both Brighters and Vesians were at risk of slowly losing their unique identities! Instead, they would slowly take on Hexer norms and begin to treat men and women differently.

This could not happen!

"...I understand. I will try to get along with Venerable Foster." Ghanso reluctantly promised.

"Good. I'll call her in so that you can introduce yourselves to each other properly this time. I hope that the both of you can take the bigger picture into account this time."

"I am not a lout, Lady Curver. I know when to take a step back."

Once she made sure that Ghanso meant what he said, Aisling activated her comm and transmitted a brief signal.

Venerable Relia Foster entered the compartment and stoically stepped forward. "Venerable Larkinson. Lady Curver is right. The Komodo War is too big and pivotal to allow any room for us to solve our grudges. Let us bury the hatchet for the duration of this exceptional conflict. We can always resume our fight after we have dealt with the threat of the Hexers."

Her response precisely matched his own intentions. It seemed that they had more common ground than he thought!

Without hesitation, Ghanso stepped forward and shook her hand. "Welcome to Unit L. Though it will take some time for me to accept fighting alongside a Vesian, neither can I accept the Hexers taking over our star sector. If I may ask, how will you fit into Unit L?"

Venerable Foster turned to Aisling, who gave the new transfer permission to talk.

"A new expert mech is under development. It is set to be called the Jeanne d'Arc, and it will mainly be a swordsman mech. I will be offering close-ranged protection to you under normal circumstances, and I will also be able to support you against the more formidable Hexer expert pilots such as the Ruination Witch."

"What are the strengths of your Jeanne d'Arc."

"I'm not exactly sure, but it will take a lot to take it down. It won't be a problem for me to fight in extended engagements."

Aisling looked pleased as the two expert pilots no longer generated any sparks between them. Perhaps the upper ranks were right in putting former enemies together. Though expert pilots were known to stand their ground when it came to their principles, they were also able to change if it benefited their cause.

Friend or foe, the two enemies were on the same boat now. Both of them had to do their best to survive the coming Hexer storm!