The Mech Touch

"UUUUURRRAAAANNNUUUUSSS!"

The Life Research Association suffered an unprecedentedly huge calamity today. A biocreation that the Lifers undoubtedly developed in secret had not only gone out of control, but also turned against its own creators in one of the most devastating manners possible!

This day could have only gone worse for the citizens of Prosperous Hill VI if Uranus sought to continue its spree of destruction.

Instead, after wiping tens of thousands biomechs on the surface and in orbit, after destroying a huge amount of surface and orbital infrastructure, after slaughtering millions of citizens with the excessive collateral damage it inflicted on its surrounding, it apparently had enough.

Whatever bestial consciousness was driving its titanic body seemed to figure out that sticking any longer on this planet would only put it in greater peril.

That, or it simply got bored with the current locale.

Since the moment it began to ascend in the air, many people guessed that it not only had flight capability, but also FTL capability!

A monster as humongous as Uranus might look like a biomech that was horribly scaled up, but that also caused its properties to resemble that of starships.

One of the benefits of its horrendously oversized frame was that it could actually hold an FTL drive!

At first thought, this was an absurd notion. Why would a bioconstruct as large as this be able to maintain independent operation and perform interstellar travel?

Yet the notion that mechs were not supposed to travel in space without a mothership was no longer an absolute notion. Ever since the MTA announced the new mech generation, the mech industry recently began to release mechs that were capable of performing FTL travel with the help of the newly-developed and popularized minidrives.

While it was true that something as advanced as phasewater and minidrives had yet to proliferate across the galactic rim, the 'mech' that was attempting to ascend into orbit did not need to rely on high technology when it was already the size of a mid-sized sub-capital starship!

If a ship as small as the Barracuda possessed the capability to transition into FTL travel, why shouldn't a juggernaut that outsized the corvette to a large degree not be able to do the same?

At this moment, every Lifer who was watching Uranus escaping the planet of its birth felt despair.

They knew that if the rogue biojuggernaut truly managed to get away, the reputation of their state and biotech industry would become completely tarnished!

In fact, their reputation had already been thrown into the toilet, but it could still be pulled out before it was too late. Yet if Uranus succeeded in proving that the LRA was too incompetent to prevent one of their out-of-control experiments from leaving when it wanted to, then the reputation of the entire state would truly be flushed!

When Ves and Dr. Perris watched the broadcast of the seemingly-invincible biotitan tearing through the military forces of the LRA with ease, they felt very mixed about the monster they had unleashed.

The biomech designer was wracked by guilt. Her eyes quivered and her emotions were moving all over the place. She felt she was greatly responsible for putting these devastating events into motion. She had so much blood on her hands that she could drown in it many times over!

As for Ves, this wasn't the first time he went through an experience like this. He had already rationalized away his guilt by now.

Sure, he may have inadvertently unleashed a mass-murdering bionightmare of epic proportions onto the galaxy because he was too greedy to give up on his pursuit of high-grade serum. Still, it wasn't his fault that the spiritual remnant of the Supreme Sage was too damn weak to succeed in taking over control of his own masterpiece!

The great researcher had been dabbling in a field of science that fell way beyond his extensive expertise. The man should have never engaged in this insane consciousness transfer procedure to begin with. All of the researchers in his state had never succeeded. Why did he think he could do any better when he was not even capable of grasping the basic principles of spiritual engineering?

As far as Ves was concerned, the Supreme Sage got what he deserved. He refused to surrender to his own mortality and violated every principle that was supposed to make his state great. Now, his own magnum opus had single-handedly ruined all of his life's work. Once the Lifers made the inevitable conclusion that Uranus stemmed from their great idol's hands, they would definitely suffer cognitive dissonance on a grand scale!

The Life Research Association might even come to an end due to this disaster!

"It has nothing to do with me, though." Ves excused himself. "If the Lifers couldn't resist playing with fire so many times, they have no one but themselves to blame if they get burned!"

As for him, he was just a bystander. Although a part of him appreciated the horrible majesty of a supermech that was able to match the might and capabilities of warships to an extent, even he didn't possess the courage to design a monster like Uranus!

"Look, the monster has already reached the clouds!"

The giant biojuggernaut that had made a mockery out of the LRA did not slow down in its ascent. Its massive bone-like wings that stretched out of its back continued to provide a humongous amount of thrust to its massive frame.

As the monstrous humanoid creation continued its ascent, it became increasingly clear that the LRA had nothing in their arsenal that could contend against its apocalyptic might.

Deploy an even greater number of biomechs? The LRA's military couldn't bear the losses! The armed forces already suffered heavy losses in the previous massacre without inflicting any meaningful damage.

Dispatch more expert mechs? They wouldn't even last more than a few seconds despite their resonance shields and high-quality armor systems!

It was irresponsible to sacrifice the lives of valuable mech pilots when the LRA was already in disarray. All of those biomechs and expert biomechs were sorely needed to reassert order on Prosperous Hill VI and beyond.

Regardless of whether the Life Research Association had a future, the soldiers still had a duty to defend the people. It would become a lot harder to protect the common folk if the military garrison in the star system lacked the numbers to keep the peace!

Though the decision made by the military was understandable, it was an implicit admission of defeat!

The strongest arm of the state was unable to clean up a rogue experiment. This was an astounding mark of shame to the LRA and the Lifers would definitely suffer from it for many years.

Yet compared to preserving the remaining lives of their soldiers and people, it was a lot more preferable for them to bear this cross!

As Uranus looked upwards, the enormous creature's disturbingly human-like face adopted a gleeful expression. It was as if the biojuggernaut looked forward to continuing its rampage across the galaxy!

Yet just as it was passing through the initial layer of clouds, a portal came into existence some ten kilometers away from the mass-murdering biocreation.

Uranus did not pay attention to it, and that turned out to be a grave error on its part.

A squad of twelve impressive-looking mechs emerged out of the portal. The blue-and-white mechs contrasted sharply with the biomechs that were prevalent throughout the state.

The markings on their armor made their identities clear.

"It's the Mech Trade Association!"

"The MTA is finally intervening!"

"Will the juggernaut defeat these mechs as well?"

Many people did not have a good understanding of the power of first-class multipurpose mechs. It was difficult to make a good comparison when the mechs fielded by the MTA rarely clashed directly against inferior forces. Most people and organizations knew better than to provoke the Big Two.

Obviously, the biojuggernaut did not understand the need for caution. The stupendous destruction it unleashed, the millions of people who died as a result from its actions and the complete lack of rational control it exhibited were more than enough reasons for the MTA to intervene at this time!

Yet had they sent enough mechs? As the twelve highly-advanced mechs surged forward at blazing speeds and began to surround the biojuggernaut from different directions, a lot of people feared the mechers were underestimating the threat.

The first-class mech models adopted by the MTA were a bit taller and larger than the second-class mechs that were prevalent in the private sector. Yet no matter what size advantage they held over other mechs, they were still dwarfed by the biojuggernaut!

How many seconds could they last in the face of the biomonster's enormous arm cannon? Would they be able to resist a punch? How could they possibly restrain a biomech that was the size of a starship?

The MTA mechs soon took action. The identical mechs opened some kind of gun ports on their chest and began to fire a salvo of destructive projectiles at their massive target!

"Stupid! Why are they spread out like that? The mechs could have concentrated their firepower. The mechers are too arrogant!"

Yet the doubters quickly shut up once they saw the explosive results. Explosions rippled on the surface of the monster's upper body from every direction. Huge sprouts of human-like red blood fell onto the ground as the initial attack broke through the biojuggernaut's resilient skin as if it was made of paper!

"UUUUURRRAAAAAAANNUUUUUUUSSS!"

The attack angered the gigantic monster! For the first time since it awoke, Uranus suffered severe damage! Though the explosive rounds did not blast apart its humongous torso into pieces, it nonetheless suffered considerable flesh injuries that it struggled to regenerate!

The biotitan's ominous red eyes shone as it beheld the mechs that were responsible for its suffering. It lifted its massive arm cannon and began to fire a powerful teal energy beam at the nearest target!

"No! Dodge! Don't get hit by it! Not even our expert mechs managed to survive!"

Yet the mech being targeted had no intention of avoiding the obvious attack. It simply hovered in place like an arrogant knight and allowed Uranus to hit it head-on with its signature energy attack!

Ves widened his eyes as he tried to observe the battle in more detail. The resolution and fidelity of projection was too bad for him to see how the MTA mech fared against this attack!

Fifteen seconds passed. Strangely enough, the biojuggernaut never diverted its aim in order to attack the other eleven mechs.

When the arm cannon finally ceased firing, it became clear why Uranus never let up. Its gigantic face scrunched up in confusion as it saw that its initial target did not even incur a single scorch mark on its frame!

It turned out that its blazing blue hexagonal-patterned energy shield managed to resist and divert the stupendously powerful energy beam!

"What?! How can a single mech resist so much damage with its energy shield alone?!"

"Is the juggernaut actually this weak or is the MTA too strong?"

Ves zoomed in on the projection and managed to spot faint glowing lines connecting the various mechs together.

It turned out that the mech that got struck did not entirely rely on its own power to resist the energy attack on its own. It had borrowed the strength of its companion mechs in order to present such an impressive image!

As Uranus tried to figure out why his attack failed, the MTA mechs leisurely made their next move.

They extended their arms and activated a setting that caused long and thick plasma blades to extend out of them. The plasma swords reached an impressive length that was twice the height of the mechs deployed in battle!

"Wait, why are they giving up their ranged advantage. Don't tell me they are going to fight the juggernaut up close. Can these MTA mechs even withstand getting punched?!"

It seemed that the Mech Trade Association was here to make a point today!