The Mech Touch

　　Their surviving crews could do little else but fight back against the voribug invasion to delay their possible demise.

　　Ves actually grew a bit interested in the relatively intact vessels. Even if they were built by aliens, they still contained plenty of tech and materials of interest to the Larkinson Clan.

　　Even if the voribug infestation ate up too much junk, the Larkinsons could still recover enough valuable materials by killing the insects and salvaging the most valuable exotics from their carcasses.

　　These weren't the real prizes, though.

　　Compared to sifting through the wrecks of these relatively low-tech alien starships, he would much rather see his men take control of the sole remaining evacuation ship!

　　Ves relaxed as the data screens provided him with enough confirmation that the vessel was stranded.

　　"She almost got away, but luckily Tusa managed to reach her in time."

　　Though the expert pilot once told Ves that he resented being used as a bomb delivery system, there was no better use for the Dark Zephyr at the moment.

　　The expert light skirmisher was by far the fastest mech in the Larkinson Army. It also happened to possess the least attack power out of all of the other expert mech. How else could the Larkinson Clan make use of the Dark Zephyr in a battle against warships?

　　In fact, even if the clan directed the Dark Zephyr to eliminate all of the voribugs that emerged later, its killing efficiency was simply too low.

　　The voribugs weren't individually strong and it was overkill to make use of a mech designed to outduel other expert mechs to squash their shells!

　　"Tusa has a point, though."

　　Ves didn't take him seriously before, but perhaps that was misjudgment.

　　Numerous mech units turned out to be irrelevant or only marginally useful this time.

　　The Swordmaidens, who had often played a prominent role in many battles, were rendered irrelevant in the first half of the battle!

　　The same went for all of the other melee mechs. They had been forced to wield energy rifles in order to keep their hands busy.

　　Though Ves was happy that the melee mechs still brought their primary weapons when the voribug swarms descended upon the expeditionary fleet, not every alien force carried hitchikers.

　　"If we fight against a nunser fleet next time, then our melee mechs will get blasted to pieces before they can get close."

　　The power disparity was too large. Second-class mechs were too fragile in the face of warship-grade weapons.

　　Ves understood that he needed to rethink the Larkinson Army's approach against alien battle fleets.

　　While he was sure that General Verle and his staff had already made plans for them, there was no denying that his mech legions lacked the mechs to fight effectively against warships.

　　Even the pakklaton refugee fleet could have destroyed a few human vessels if they were in better shape!

　　"Well, I can consider all of that later. First, we need to make sure we secure our main prize."

　　The Golden Skull Alliance all realized the importance of the final evacuation ship.

　　While it was good that the key alien vessel was no longer able to warp away, there was still a chance that the pakklatons could initiate a final act of spite and blow up the vessel!

　　"They don't even have to blow up the entire ship. They can already ruin my day if they destroy all of their phasewater reserves!"

　　Although phasewater was an extremely valuable substance, it was not indestructible. As long as the aliens set out to ruin it, they could employ various different means to render it useless!

　　Therefore, the main priority of the expeditionary forces was to make sure that the pakklatons aboard the vessel did not have a chance of completing any of these actions.

　　The first shuttles that approached the evacuation ship landed inside holes that were situated close to the engineering bay and other sensitive areas.

　　The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan all dispatched light assault troops that were fairly light and mobile.

　　Speed was of the essence this time as every second counted.

　　The light assault troops dispatched by the Glory Seekers and the Crossers possessed fairly standard loadouts. They all wore suits of light to medium combat armor that were equipped with special compact boosters that enabled them to speed up their advance.

　　Their mobility systems also came in handy whenever the troops needed to fly up to a higher floor. The pakklatons were avian in nature so they rarely relied on stairs or elevators to ascend the decks.

　　What was a little more unusual about the initial boarding troops was that the ones hailing from the Larkinson Clan were armed with additional weapons.

　　Aside from carrying infantry-grade luminar crystal rifles, they also came armed with swords!

　　The Swordmaiden and Heavensworder contingents had both volunteered for this duty. They did not fear death and relished the chance to make themselves useful for the clan!

　　It was fortunate that a pakklaton body was considerably larger than a human body. The hallways and compartments of the alien ship were spacious enough for the Swordmaidens to swing their large blades without too many issues.

　　"Hahaha! This way, sisters! One of the backup power generators is beyond this corridor!" A Swordmaiden officer called as she held her greatsword close! "Get ready for battle. Our scans have detected the presence of two-dozen aliens. Chop them all up before they can overload the power generator or something!"

　　Although a closed hatch barred their way forward, how could the enthusiastic soldiers be stopped?

　　The ship they were on was originally built for civilian purposes. The pakklatons had not bothered to reinforce her interior in any significant fashion.

　　One of the Heavensworders pulled out a small launcher and fired a warhead that quickly breached a wide hole in the hatch.

　　When the sword wielders plunged through, they soon spotted the tall avian aliens that were wearing odd metal suits that covered their entire bodies.

　　Although the pakklatons weren't strong compared to the other races in the Red Ocean, they were still predators at heart!

　　The large bird-like aliens uttered loud caws as they attacked the human infantry soldiers!

　　Both sides fired energy beams at each other. At the same time, they also closed in so that they could use their claws and swords to tear each other asunder.

　　Pakklatons fell from the air while humans collapsed as a short but brutal fight ensued!

　　Claws that were strengthened by energy fields tore through the relatively thin armor of the Larkinson troops.

　　Swords hacked through the armored wings of the pakklatons.

　　The two sides also employed other weapons such as explosives in order to gain the upper hand.

　　However, compared to a race that had risen up through conquest and once waged war against every other race in their home galaxy, the pakklatons were still too underdeveloped in this aspect!

　　What was worse was that the pakklatons were too overtaken by grief and rage to fight in a more methodical fashion. They almost grew feral as they relied on ferocity rather than sound tactics in order to defeat the human murderers!

　　"These birds have gone mad!"

　　"Isn't that great? Wild chicken always tastes better."

　　"Wait a minute. You're not thinking about roasting them, are you? They're intelligent!"

　　"So what? A bird is a bird. Besides, these pakklatons are so stupid now that they're no different from exobeasts."

　　"Stop talking about dinner and focus on finishing off these birds!"

　　The Swordmaidens and Heavensworders both gained the upper hand in this short but brutal struggle. After gaining the measure of their opponents, they deftly cooperated with each other to eliminate the overwhelmed pakklatons.

　　In the end, the defenders succumbed. Their frozen expressions were locked in hatred as they swore curses upon the killers of their race.

　　The surviving Larkinson troops didn't care, though. They checked on their dead and wounded while also securing the alien power reactor.

　　They had no idea how it worked, of course. Even the sole Swordmaiden with engineering training had no clue how to operate this alien contraption.

　　Fortunately, her job didn't entail taking control of the device. She merely had to find a way to take it offline while at the same time unplugging it from the ship's power network.

　　She referenced a few schematics before she pointed at a spot on the deck. "Pry off that deck plate and plant a directional bomb facing downwards under there."

　　One small explosion later, the nearby compartments all lost power. Emergency lighting soon came online, but they all ran on internal batteries. Most of the more power-hungry systems were unable to function anymore, thereby further taking away control from the pakklatons.

　　More incidents like this took place throughout the ship.

　　The human infantry soldiers smashed through every barrier and overran any defenders.

　　If this was a military ship, then the human invaders would have shown a lot more respect. A proper vessel that was designed to resist boarding could employ all kinds of different ways to prevent intruders from going deeper.

　　From crushing the compartment and anyone inside into pancakes to mustering up heavily-armored troops, in many cases the costs associated with boarding actions were too high to bother with them. It was better to rely on mechs to smash all of the dangerous elements from a distance!

　　The pakklatons hadn't been able to prepare any significant defensive measures, and that suited the humans fine.

　　Back on the Spirit of Bentheim, the teams of mech designers quietly observed the direct helmet feeds of the Larkinson soldiers as they brutally spilled alien blood.

　　Many of them grew queasy at the sight of all of the blood. Even among the Journeymen, people like Jannassa Pellier and Tifi Coslone looked as if they wanted to empty their stomachs.

　　"How barbaric. Do they really have to insist on using swords?"

　　"I can't imagine how these Swordmaidens can kill so many aliens without slowing down."

　　While the mech designers observed the action, Aurelia happily floated in the air as she somehow learned how to direct her flight by moving her arms in different ways.

　　"Hihihihi!"

　　"Meow meow~"

　　"Do the Larkinsons do this often?" Sara Voiken asked with a distasteful expression.

　　Gloriana huffed. "Not really. We usually stick to killing our enemies with our mechs. You better get used to this, though. This won't be the last time our soldiers will kill our opponents up close. Sometimes, it takes a slaughter to get our point across."

　　Her daughter, who had been floating in the vicinity, grew more enthused all of a sudden.

　　Her face scrunched up as her lips began to release a new sound.

　　"S…S….Swauta…"

　　Gloriana instantly turned her attention towards her baby daughter. "What did you say?!"

　　"Ss…"

　　The mother stretched out her arm, causing Aurelia's pink suit to automatically come back.

　　Once the baby fell into her arms, Gloriana activated the command that retracted the pink suit's transparent faceplate.

　　"You said 'mama', right? Say it again!"

　　Aurelia squirmed her body as she looked up at her mother's face with youthful curiosity.

　　"Say mama!"

　　"..maamaaa?"

　　"You said it!" Gloriana burst with happiness! "You said mama! Hahaha! You're so brilliant! I won! Take that, Ves!"

　　Aurelia grew happy when she saw that her mother was happy!

　　"Mama!"

　　"Yes, mama! You are a genius, Aurelia!"

　　Gloriana hugged her baby and showered her cute little face with kisses.

　　What about phasewater?

　　What about alien tech?

　　What about valuable resources?

　　Nothing could make her happier than hearing her daughter say 'mama' as her first word!

　　Gloriana grinned so much that she quickly called up her husband.

　　"What is it, Gloriana? I'm kind of busy now. The battle isn't even over yet, you know. We still have a ship to pacify!"

　　"Guess what, Ves?"

　　"What?"

　　"Aurelia said 'mama' first!"

　　"Huh?!"