The Mech Touch

Suicide attacks were apparently the new trend in the mech tournaments held in central star nodes like Vulit.

Achieving victory mattered more than preserving the mechs in most cases. As long as there were enough friendly mechs left on the battlefield, then it was more than acceptable to sacrifice a bunch of machines to accomplish a result!

As long as the enemy suffered more losses, it was always worth it to go all out and use the mechs to their best effect!

This was why the Penitent Sisters chose to deviate from their training.

Ordinarily, the diving charge attacks of the Valkyrie Redeemers were a lot more restrained. The mechs needed to build up enough momentum to drive their spears through the enemy mechs, but they had to be careful not to go overboard and crash onto the ground!

This was a delicate balancing act that made performing dive attacks in planetary conditions a lot more fraught than charging enemies in space.

At least there was lots of empty room in space for the Valkyrie Redeemers to fling towards with their remaining momentum after pulling off their charges.

This time, the Penitent Sisters were fighting an aerial and landbound battle for the first time in years, but none of them showed hesitation in driving their mechs to suicide.

The arena's safety systems rescued their bodies and pulled them away even as their machines drove their spears through a mech before subsequently slamming those same machines with their own frames!

The damage inflicted by the Valkyrie Redeemers subsequently overwhelmed the Urthinan ground contingent.

Although the spent and damaged Urthinan landbound knight mechs tried to get in the way of as many charging mechs as possible, they couldn't withstand the sheer amount of force generated by tons worth of mechs falling from above!

Throughout the powerful collisions, many of the knight mechs got crushed or bounced away.

Some of them even crashed into the cannoneer mechs they were trying to protect, causing these crucial ranged mechs to suffer serious damage as well!

As the entire position of the Urthinan landbound contingent looked as if it had suffered a calamity, both sides began to study the results of this devastatingly effective charge attack.

The goal of the charge attack was to eliminate all of the landbound ranged mechs. In that, the Penitent Sisters had partially succeeded.

Though the enemy defensive knight mechs managed to block and absorb much of the incoming damage, the death glow along with the Starburst grenades interrupted their actions, causing at least half of them to fail to complete their objectives.

In addition, even if the knight mechs still got in the way, the collisions were so strong that many cannoneer mechs got toppled and crushed!

The only problem was that too few Valkyrie Redeemers managed to survive long enough to pull off their charges. Though the ones that made it to the ground intact had all inflicted a lot of damage, there were still at least twenty or so cannoneer mechs that were either untouched or only suffered moderate scrapes from the dive attack.

Soon enough, they went back to business firing their potent cannons at the Bright Warriors that still put up a fight in the air!

[What a shame! The Larkinson Battalion has made a risky choice by limiting its melee mechs to 80 of these Valkyrie Redeemers. Now that they are all spent, the Larkinsons must either divert more firepower towards attacking the Urthinan ground forces or withstand the continuous ground-to-air attacks as they eliminate other targets.]

[They cannot afford to let the surviving cannoneer mechs fire at their rifleman mechs with impunity. The Larkinsons must respond!]

The Bright Warriors first tried to divert their firepower from the surviving enemy lancer mechs to the Urthinan ground contingent. With most of the landbound defensive knight mechs crushed and out of the fight, the surviving cannoneer mechs became relatively vulnerable targets!

However, unlike the Bright Warriors, the enemy cannoneer mechs were substantially bigger and tougher. They were better able to resist the energy beams raining down on them from above.

What was even worse for the Larkinsons was that the Glory of Urthina Battalion quickly adjusted to the altered situation.

Dozens of mechs flew down from every direction and protectively held their shields close to the cannoneer mechs.

"The Urthinans have diverted their aerial offensive knight mechs to guard their heavy guns!"

The Urthinans deployed two models of knight mechs. The landbound ones were much tougher and more capable of defending against attacks from a distance, so they were assigned as the original guards of the cannoneer mechs.

Now that these big and massive machines had done their jobs, their lighter, flight-capable cousins took over their responsibility!

[What an excellent response!] A strategic commentator praised. [The Glory of Urthina Battalion finally recognize that their offensive knight mechs are too slow and cumbersome to catch up to the agile Larkinson rifleman mechs. It is much more suitable for them to return to their original purpose and guard their more important mechs. If the Urthinans wish to eliminate the Larkinson Battalion, they must rely on their cannoneer mechs to do most of the work of killing the opposition.]

The offensive knight mechs were less capable of resisting enemy fire than the original guards of the cannoneer mechs, but the Urthinans had a good way to extend their durability in the face of so many attacks from the air.

The mechs simply threw aside their shields when their defensive equipment started to crumble and picked up the heavier tower shields that their heavier cousins had dropped onto the ground.

Even though the offensive knight mechs didn't possess the right strength to hold and carry these heavy tower shields effectively, it was no problem for them to hold them with two limbs or brace them against the surrounding wrecks for support.

With the help of these additional tower shields, the Urthinan offensive knight mechs successfully prevented the Larkinson Bright Warriors from downing even a single surviving cannoneer mech!

Even if a couple of stray shots managed to land from a tricky angle, the sturdy ranged mechs still possessed plenty of armor to take the hits and keep going!

"This isn't working!" A Larkinson mech officer said. "We need to close in on the enemy ground force and eliminate those cannoneer mechs immediately."

"We can't! Those knight mechs will stop us all and these lancer mechs that are chasing after us aren't for show either. Besides, our mechs are no good in close quarters combat in our current configuration."

"We still have our backup knives!"

As the Larkinsons tried to figure out a response to the latest development, Commander Casella grew increasingly more troubled.

The pressure continued to mount on her shoulders. Though she tried to keep everything under control, the Urthinans were slowly unraveling the Larkinson Battalion.

"Maybe we should have brought in a company of Swordmaiden mechs."

She did not regret the decision to come into the battle with their current lineup. Although it didn't sound like much at first, Casella knew that they wouldn't have been able to resist against the Urthinan aerial mechs with too few ranged mechs. The Larkinsons needed the numbers in order to pressure and whittle down the enemy lancer mechs fast enough.

Nonetheless, she still needed to do something in order to reverse the Larkinson Battalion's losing trend.

It was at this time that her living mech issued its own opinion.

WE MUST TAKE ACTION OURSELVES. ONLY HEROES CAN SALVAGE A VICTORY FROM THIS BATTLE.

"What?!"

Casella grew appalled even as the Quint grew more eager to enter the fray.

Even though the mech was designed to fight enemies at range proficiently, it enjoyed defeating enemy mechs up close even more.

Although Casella wanted to refuse the Quint's overly aggressive suggestion, she found that she couldn't form the right words to do so. The Larkinsons were obviously losing this battle if this went on, so why not take this gamble?

One of her greatest worries about losing was whether the Quint would get killed as well. She had no idea how much the Urthinans would damage the precious masterwork mech. If the enemy piled too many attacks on her current mech, could it still be brought back to life?

Casella didn't know the answer, and neither did the Quint.

This made both of them more desperate. The Quint did not fear an unworthy death, but it would be damned before it allowed these strange Urthinans who relied on a single trick to gain the upper hand in this match.

At this time, Commander Casella fully let herself go. She quickly passed over the responsibility of commanding the Larkinson Battalion to another mech officer before she instructed the Quint to dive towards the enemy ground force in the center of the battlefield!

The Quint's abrupt change in course did not escape the notice of the Urthinans. Soon enough, their cannoneer mechs as well as a number of lancer mechs went on the attack!

While Casella was able to evade or resist most of the incoming fire, the lancer mechs posed a much greater threat.

Even if the Quint had been upgraded with better armor systems and other defensive measures, it would still not meet a good end when a solid mech and its lance slammed onto its side!

"Cover Commander Casella's approach!"

The other Avatar Bright Warriors did their best to cover for the Quint. They concentrated their fire at the incoming lancer mechs to take them out or slow their advance. They also threw their own bodies in the way of the enemy fire coming from below. Even if their mech frames weren't solid enough to block so many direct attacks, they still served as adequate shields for the short time needed for the Quint to reach its destination!

When the masterwork mech finally reached the ground forces, it had holstered its overstrained luminar crystal rifle and pulled out its sword.

After the first time the Quint became embroiled in a melee clash, Commander Casella had made sure to brush her skills up a bit in case she ended up in a similar position.

She was quite grateful for refreshing her swordsmanship in her recent practice sessions. Together with the Quint's active guidance and participation, she and her mech tore through the Urthinan mechs in their way!

The Quint in its current configuration may be lacking in strength and toughness, but it was light, agile and fast.

Even if it was alone in the center of the enemy ground formation, there was practically nothing the Urthinan ground mechs could do to stop the Quint from rampaging through their ranks!

The Quint looked as if it was dancing from one clumsy Urthinan mech after another.

The enemy cannoneer mech might be well-protected, but they were slow and unable to turn fast enough to prevent a sword from sticking through the weak point in their rear armor!

As for the knight mechs, the Quint outright evaded them. Whether they held tower shields or not, the offensive knight mechs were just not equipped to blocked a powerful masterwork mech piloted by an expert candidate!

"We can't fire at this masterwork mech! There are too many friendly mechs in the way!"

"Urthina save us! We need support from above!"

"Our light skirmishers are coming!"

The Quint had already massacred half of the remaining cannoneer mechs when the Urthinan light skirmishers finally arrived from above!

Even though many of them had been shot or downed after the Avatar Bright Warriors concentrated their fire on them, more than a dozen still managed to make it through!

The light skirmishers were considerably faster and more agile than the Quint. There was no way for the Larkinson masterwork mech to escape their attacks!

That didn't mean the Quint was helpless, though.

"Get out of our way!"

The Quint chose to rely on brute force and charged in a specific direction while blocking as many incoming knife attacks as possible. The Quint was able to summon up just enough force to push and smash aside the light skirmishers that directly blocked its path!

"We shall not be stopped!" Casella declared as the heat of the battle began to rush in her head.

Her connection with the Quint deepened as she pushed her piloting skills to the limit in order to survive in this difficult situation.

More and more Urthinan cannoneer mechs fell against the Quint's sword.

However, just before the Quint could finish off the remaining ones, a lance speared through the air and almost managed to impale the masterwork mech if not for Casella sensing an incoming threat from above.

A more powerful and decorated Urthinan lancer mech had finally made its appearance.

Casella and her living mech grew more serious as they regarded this new threat.

The enemy expert candidate finally initiated its challenge.