The Mech Touch

Elmer Conta's breakthrough was but the first of several mech pilots who broke through while piloting the Ferocious Piranha.

In fact, he wasn't the first customer to break through while piloting an LMC mech.

Under desperate circumstances, numerous mech pilots of the Desolate Soldier, Doom Guard, Blessed Squire and Valkyrie Redeemer broke through as well!

Those who tracked these breakthroughs tried to figure out whether the LMC mechs produced more of them than normal. Interest in this study grew a lot greater after the Larkinson Clan welcomed a lot of new expert pilots and expert candidates after its adventure in the Nyxian Gap.

Were LMC mechs truly capable of producing more expert candidates and expert pilots?

So far, the results were inconclusive. Compared to the mech pilots of other mechs, those who piloted mechs such as the Desolate Soldier and Ferocious Piranha possessed roughly the same chance of breaking through. There was no statistical advantage to advancing in rank when piloting LMC mechs.

This result disappointed a lot of people who were interested in gaining more expert pilots.

No one was more disappointed in these results than the Hexers. With the Friday Coalition gaining more and more momentum with the help of foreign expert pilots, it became more important than ever for the Hexers to obtain more expert pilots.

At this point in the Komodo War, dozens of Valkyrie Redeemer mech pilots managed to advance. This was not a remarkable figure in itself. Expert candidates showed up every once in a while. Since the Hex Army began to field millions of Valkyrie mechs, it was a given that expert candidates would show up shortly after its release.

The true test was whether these expert candidates managed to advance expert pilots.

Until that happened, these expert candidates were only a bit more skilled than their regular counterparts. Outside of their breakthroughs, they were unable to evoke any resonating abilities. There was no point for them to pilot expert mechs.

This meant that many of the expert candidates who broke through while piloting an LMC mech continued to utilize the same machine.

Unknowingly, these expert candidates developed deeper bonds with the mechs that facilitated their breakthroughs. Their mechs had become more alive and they fed back more benefits to their designated pilots.

Many expert candidates progressed faster than usual for this reason.

Even without this hidden interaction, other expert candidates began to pilot LMC mechs as well.

In the Komodo War, the most expensive variant of the Valkyrie Redeemer began to show up in greater numbers.

The incredibly expensive Valkyrie Brunhild soared onto battlefields at the head of a larger formation of Valkyrie mechs!

In space, a Valkyrie Brunhild piloted by a Hexer expert candidate charged forward. Hundreds of Valkyrie Interceptors fired their light pulse carbines at a distant group of Sundered Phalanx mechs.

The mechs of the Gauge Dynasty fired back with a barrage of rifles and cannons. If there was one lesson the Fridaymen had learned, it was that it was best to take out the Valkyrie mechs at a distance!

The ranged capabilities of the LMC Hexer mechs was not as good as its close combat capabilities. The light rifles wielded by the Valkyrie mechs failed to pose a serious threat against the Sunderers.

Josephine Isa, the expert candidate who piloted the Valkyrie Brunhild, knew that harassing the enemy from afar wouldn't do much. The Sunderer mechs were too well-protected!

"Prepare to charge!" The mech commander in charge shouted.

Acting in coordination with other Hexer elements, the Valkyrie mechs began to ready their spears and shields while accelerating forward.

Their targets immediately knew what the Hexers intended. No one participating in the Komodo War was ignorant of how the Valkyrie mechs fought.

If the Sundered Phalanx mechs consisted of lighter and more mobile elements, then they would have withdrawn by now. This was not the case. The assault mechs all boasted enough armor to shrug off the ranged attacks of the Valkyrie mechs, but that also meant they couldn't outrun their opponents.

If the Hexers wanted to force a confrontation, then the Fridaymen had no choice but to accept the challenge!

The Sundered Phalanx mechs began to adopt a different formation. They deepened it so that the charging Valkyrie mechs were only able to attack the front half. Through trial and error, the Fridaymen managed to learn that as long as they kept enough mechs unaffected from the initial charge, they were able to counterattack with greater success.

Even through the Hexer mech pilots witnessed the changes, they did not abort their charge.

"These inferior Fridaymen are too weak. Don't be intimidated, sisters!"

The Fridaymen ranged mechs poured a lot of firepower at the incoming mechs. Ever since the Valkyrie Redeemer and its variants became more ubiquitous, the Fridaymen deployed more ranged mechs in order to whittle them down.

The casualties among the Valkyrie Interceptors quickly shot up! The enemy ranged mechs wielded weapons that were much better equipped to pierce through the armor of the charging machines.

This was one of the shortcomings of Valkyrie mechs! Their armor plating was not as thick as that of other medium mechs. While the materials that made up their armor system were quite valuable, the enemy wasn't weak.

Unlike the situation facing the Ferocious Piranhas, the Valkyrie mechs never fought against inferior opponents!

Whether it was the Fortune Legion, the Oni Guard or the Sundered Phalanx, every Coalition military organization fielded military-grade mechs that were just as powerful as the mechs fielded by the Hex Army.

Due to this relative parity, the armor of the Valkyrie mechs only lasted for a short time against concentrated attacks.

Dozens of Valkyrie mechs fell in rapid succession! More were incurring serious damage.

Even the Valkyrie Brunhild began to attract a lot of fire!

"Haha!" Josephine Isa laughed. "Fire at me all you want. My mech can take much more of a beating than you think!"

The Valkyrie Brunhild's thicker and larger shield silently shook as gauss rounds and laser beams continued to impact on its surface. Yet despite all of this firepower, the shield hardly deformed under all of the impacts!

This was the power of a mech that cost 1.6 billion hex credits to produce. The Valkyrie Brunhild was considerably closer to an expert mech than a standard mech in this regard.

Even with some errant projectiles impacting the unshielded sections of the Valkyrie Brunhild, Josephine hardly took notice of these incidental attacks.

As the Valkyrie Interceptors closed in on the prepared Sundered Phalanx formation, the mechs finally initiated their Mark For Death abilities.

Beams of ominous light shone from the third eyes on their foreheads and struck some of the melee mechs positioned up front.

No matter how much the melee mechs tried to dodge and evade the light beams, they were unable to shake off the locks!

"Ahhh! I will not bend! Your Superior Mother can't put me down!"

While a number of Sundered Phalanx mech pilots became immersed with visions of death, most of them were strong enough to retain their focus.

Weeks after the Valkyrie Redeemer terrorized the Fridaymen, various institutions within the Coalition sought solutions posed by this new Hexer mech model.

While some came in the form of counters, others advocated for other means.

The Gauge Dynasty opted to train the mental strength of its mech pilots through special means. While the Sundered Phalanx mech pilots weren't able to shrug off the glows projected by the Valkyrie Interceptors, they managed to maintain a bit more battle effectiveness than in the past.

Even if they lost control for whatever reason, the AIs embedded in their mechs would automatically take control!

The Hexer mech pilots who drove their Valkyrie mechs forth were already aware of this. However, they still had to fight. The Hex Army had to slow down and stall the Fridaymen as much as possible.

As the leading edge of the Valkyrie Interceptor formation was about to collide with their foes, a single shining mech appeared in the front of the Sundered Phalanx mechs.

Josephine Isa's eyes widened.

The axe-wielding mech that had previously hidden behind a pair of sturdy space knights was surrounded by two different fields.

One of them was an energy shield. Every powerful mech incorporated one. Even the Valkyrie Brunhild possessed a shield generator, though its capacity wasn't as impressive due to its compact size.

The axeman mech did not suffer from this problem. Larger and bulkier than the Valkyrie Brunhild, the remarkable Fridayman mech boasted far more protection.

What was truly remarkable about the enemy mech was that it was surrounded by a resonance shield!

"Damn, it's an expert mech!"

Though more and more Hexer mech pilots recognized the threat, it was too late for them to pull back. Due to all of their forward momentum, it was impossible for the Valkyrie mechs turn away or reverse their course!

"Continue the attack!" The Hexer commander ordered. "Charge forth and punch through the other side. This is the only way for us to survive this battle!"

Seconds later, the two sides collide against each other!

The Valkyrie Interceptors not only widened their glows when they came close, but also released disorienting pulses the moment their spears hit their targets.

Almost a hundred Fridaymen mechs became impaled!

However, hundreds more enemy mechs were spared from the attack. The Sundered Phalanx mechs immediately launched their counterattack.

As the Valkyrie Interceptors fought hard to disentangle themselves from their opponents, the enemy expert mech began to tear into their midst!

Every axe blow downed another Hexer mech. The expert mech exhibited surprising speed despite wielding a hefty weapon. In the span of thirty seconds, the powerful melee mech already demolished twenty Hexer mechs.

What was even more alarming to the Hexers was that the enemy expert mech carved a path straight towards Josephine's mech!

As the Valkyrie Brunhild dispatched a pair of Sunderer offensive mechs in question succession, Josephine tried to suppress her panic as she saw the powerful mech approach.

As more and more Valkyrie mechs were cut in half or swatted away like flies, the Hexer expert candidate strangely came under a fatalistic mood.

Expert candidates stood no chance against expert pilots. This was especially the case when the latter piloted an expert mech.

Though Josephine recognized her impending death, her fury against the Fridaymen intensified.

If the enemy expert mech wasn't here, she and her fellow Hexers might have been able to survive. Yet because of this single variable, most of her battle comrades would likely meet their deaths today!

"NO!" She roared. "Death is not in your control! Only I decide who shall live and die!"

To the surprise of everyone, the Valkyrie Brunhild began to show a large amount of activity!

The mech began to glow and a field began to form around it. This was the tell-tale sign that Josephine Isa successfully advanced to expert pilot!

Unnoticed by anyone, the glow of the mech, which was actually weaker than that of the base model, grew considerably.

Yet for some reason, Josephine felt the changes in her mech. A grand and powerful presence seemed to touch her mind as she underwent apotheosis.

"The Superior Mother." She whispered.

The Supreme seemed to impart a blessing to Josephine. Not only that, but the Superior Mother's glow seemed to harmonize with her newfound strength.

With the strength of her breakthrough, the Valkyrie Brunhild charged forth and slammed against the enemy expert mech!

Shields collided and broke as the Valkyrie Brunhild fought like a woman possessed against the strongest Fridaymen threat. Due to the short-term advantages granted by the breakthrough, Venerable Josephine was able to exert much more strength than the enemy mech!

As her overpowering force of will resonated with her Valkyrie Brunhild, some of her empowered will began to touch the hidden portion of the mech.

The spiritual foundation as well as the design spirit resonated with Venerable Josephine's desire to slay her opponent.

The third eye of her mech, which was already glowing at its brightest, suddenly projected a solid beam of light onto the enemy expert mech!

The axe-wielding machine seemed to pause and slow for a moment as its expert pilot experienced a feeling of doom that was stronger than he had ever felt!

At this rare and exceptional moment, it was if he was being stared at by the Superior Mother up close!

This brief pause did not escape Venerable Josephine's attention. Her Valkyrie Brunhild charged forth and thrust its glowing spear through the lower torso of the Fridayman mech!

The speartip pierced through the armor but failed to inflict too much damage. However, the attack destabilized the axeman mech long enough to generate another opening.

With a rapid maneuver, the Valkyrie Brunhild reached the flank of the axeman mech before launching a powerful blow against the flight system of its target!

Several components shattered! Shards spread out from the back of the expert mech as its mobility became impaired!

Unable to turn around as quickly as before, Venerable Josephine channeled her entire will and conviction in her final blow.

"I SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH!"

For a brief moment, the Valkyrie Brunhild shone brighter than ever! A faint but enormous shadow of a woman seemed to surround the Hexer mech as it thrust its shining spear straight through the back of the expert mech.

Even though the rear armor of Josephine's target was very tough, the Valkyrie Brunhild's spear punched through the expert mech as if the weapon was blessed!

The expert mech was beaten!

As the Valkyrie Brunhild began to lose its resonance field, the mech withdrew its spear.

Every mech surrounding duel had frozen. Both the Fridaymen and Hexers were shocked at what had occurred.

The Valkyrie Brunhild suddenly raised its spear in victory!

"The Superior Mother is with us!"

The surrounding Fridaymen mech pilots despaired.