The Mech Touch

While Ves received a guided tour from the powerful but cordial king fish, the other members of Task Force Fisherman waited nervously as they hovered a respectful distance away from the Lab Continent.

The mech pilots had never put down their vigilance towards the Evolvers.

Different from the Swarmer fish-whales which were much more numerous and obviously weaker than a mech on average, the Evolver fish-whales were not as numerous, but each of them possessed the power to fight against two to dozens of mechs at once!

Certain champion figures among the Evolvers such as the bladed fish-whale and the silver fish-whale could even challenge expert mechs and gain the upper hand in a duel!

It couldn't be helped. Despite the long-term isolation and lack of development among the fish-whale societies Purgatory, the Evolvers still had far more time than the Golden Skull Alliance to accumulate its strength and develop effective combat solutions.

Even if their options were limited, they spent so many years on polishing and perfecting their battle solutions that they had become extremely skilled and familiar with the usage of their own powers!

When faced against this powerful indigenous alien battle force, the chances that Task Force Fisherman could defeat them in a straightforward confrontation was low!

Not even the presence of a powerful expert pilot such as Patriarch Reginald Cross or an amazing force multiplier such as Commander Casella Ingvar could make up for the difference in individual battle prowess.

Every mech pilot was fully aware that they had entered the other party's turf. While the Evolvers could count on the advantages of fighting on home ground, the members of the task force had to cope with the opposite and fight far away from any support from the expeditionary fleet!

Powerful helpers such as Venerable Davia Stark, Venerable Jannzi Larkinson and Venerable Brutus Wodin had been left behind in order to guard Fort Fishblood and the fleet back in the Garimel System.

Although many people like Commander Casella understood the necessity of retaining strength in their home base, she still felt that they had traveled to this place on a precarious basis. She at least wanted the Amaranto in her lineup so that she had an asset that could quickly snipe the threats such as the phasewater-rich silver whale that were most likely able to block their retreat.

"The Everchanger and that big fish-whale have entered a structure." Imon Ingvar commented. "What if it's a trap?"

"It's fine." Vincent Ricklin confidently said. "Ves is an old driver. He knows how to handle situations like these, and he has Joshua by his side."

Imon grew concerned. "If this meeting really turns into a fight, we'll be hindered even more. The Everchanger is powerful, but it is only a single machine. It can't possibly hold its own against that powerful king fish."

"The Everchanger can't beat the king fish, but it should be fast enough to run away. Don't worry. The B-Man's weapon systems are all on standby and ready to open fire. As long as your sister passes on the order, my hybrid mech is ready to collapse the roof of that building!"

Although both of their mechs looked relaxed, that was just a show for the Evolver fish-whales. The Blade Chaser, the B-Man and many other mechs were just seconds away from ramping up to their battle mode.

The tension within the task force was still high despite remaining for several hours!

All of this did not escape the attention of Commander Casella Ingvar.

As the overall commander of the task force, she was not only able to tap into the data feeds transmitted by every friendly mech, but she was also able to feel out the state of the mechs and mech pilots more directly with the help of her Command Field.

The product of her cultivated talent combined with the purposefully-designed resonance characteristics of her masterwork expert mech had granted her an advantage that other battlefield commanders could even dream of. The more she piloted her expert mech, the more she was able to realize its potential.

In addition to that, she could even take more direct control of her subordinates, which was extremely handy at certain times though she felt a little bit ambivalent about it. Taking direct control meant superseding individual control, which went against the principles she abided by.

She knew there would come a time when she had to decide whether she needed to drive her mech pilots to their deaths in order to achieve a greater goal.

Casella didn't know what she would choose to do at that point.

Would she grant the Commandeered mech pilots back their autonomy so that they could choose for themselves whether to brave certain death?

Or would she just maintain control over them in order to make absolutely certain that they fell in line and acted their roles for the betterment of the Larkinson Clan.

The last thing she wanted was to deprive her mech pilots the choice to fight and possibly die in the line of duty!

"This is the burden of responsibility." She quietly sighed to herself.

THE PRESSURE IS GETTING TO YOU, CASELLA. YOU HAVE REMAINED TENSE AND ACTIVE FOR MANY HOURS AT A TIME. YOU MUST REST AND RESTORE YOUR MENTAL FACILITIES. LET COMMANDER MELKOR TAKE CHARGE OF THE TASK FORCE IN YOUR STEAD. HE ISN'T THE DEPUTY LEADER OF THIS TASK FORCE FOR NOTHING.

Casella twitched a smile. The great thing about piloting a living mech was that she was never alone. The Minerva stood out just like the Quint she had piloted in an earlier phase of her career. Compared to the cranky mech that had pushed her to expert pilot, the Minerva was a much better complement to her role and piloting style.

Since the Minerva was designed to be an expert command mech from its inception, it had already come into existence with a ready base of knowledge centered around leadership. Supposedly, Ves was responsible for instilling it into the expert mech.

Although Casella did not always agree with the Minerva's suggestions, she appreciated the opportunity to obtain a second opinion. It was especially great when she could gain it from a close partner that was not part of the chain of command. She did not have to worry about the discussions leaking out or affecting her relationships with her immediate subordinates.

"This is the most critical time, Minerva." She said while shaking her head. "Commander Melkor is a decent leader, but he is too slow and deliberate. Now, our patriarch has entered the other party's home ground. If the Evolver fish-whales turn on us for any reason, then extracting our patriarch from the clutches of the king fish and those other dangerous beasts will require a quick and decisive response."

As long as Casella remained alert, she could take action at any time with minimal delay. She could even flex her power and Commandeer every single mech in the task force at once so that they could move to rescue the patriarch with the most optimal movements!

Although she was beginning to struggle with the ethics and morality of letting mech pilots give up control over their own actions on the battlefield, she was not willing to hold herself back when it came to rescuing the nucleus of the Larkinson Clan.

If anything happened to Ves Larkinson, then most of her dreams of advancing further and seeing the Larkinson Clan bloom into an increasingly stronger family would fade!

For this reason, she pushed herself to remain attentive and alert.

"This is not a big deal." She said. "I have trained for this. Every mech pilot must be able to endure hardship on the field."

Her willpower helped her focus on her goal. She did not have any thoughts about taking a break unless this situation dragged on for many more hours. Right now was too early for her to think about taking a break.

As the minutes went by, she did not forget about paying attention to the activities taking place on the Lab Continent.

Casella had access to a direct feed transmitted by the Everchanger, so she was fully aware of the current state of the expert hero mech and its important passengers.

What concerned her more was the behavior of the hundreds of Evolver fish-whales that had never stopped staring up at the mechs floating above their continent.

Despite belonging to two completely different species, the humans and fish-whales both regarded each other with plenty of vigilance.

As Casella zoomed in closer to observe the large but remarkably clear eyes of the different fish-whales, she thought she could sense numerous different emotions from them that wouldn't look out of place in human gazes.

She saw plenty of fear, suspicion, protectiveness and repulsion from them. Even if they never saw human mechs before, they could recognize the threat these metal machines posed to their lives.

However, what Casella found interesting was that the proportion of fish-whales that looked like they wanted to push the human mechs away were in the minority.

A lot of fish-whales held less negative emotions. If her ability to read their eyes and body language correctly, then there were plenty of them that were curious, challenging or even playful.

One of the fish-whales that was part of this second group was the bladed fish-whale.

This organic killing machine was larger than almost every other fish-whale. It needed all of that body mass to support its unusual fighting approach and withstand all of the forces acting against the machine.

Though the bladed fish-whale had retracted its characteristic bone blades into its body, it was still able to project a dangerous presence.

The more Casella looked at the fish, the more it attracted her attention. There was something of a spark in the bladed fish-whale's eyes. She did not like the look in its alien eyes.

"Alert! One of the fish is moving in our direction!"

Much to Casella's surprise, the bladed fish-whale took action on its own. The large beast ascended from its place and flew directly towards Task Force Fisherman, making no secret of its intended destination!

"Inform the patriarch! Spread out your formations! Do not come within 200 meters of the bladed fish-whale! Ranged mechs, stand by to fire warning shots. If the bladed fish-whale insists upon getting closer, then try your best to avoid getting close while not allowing it to push you away from the Lab Continent. Right now, our highest priority is to preserve the Everchanger's escape route!"

The reaction from the mechs clearly showed that they were reacting to the bladed fish-whale's actions. Everyone tried to figure out what it was doing. Was the powerful fish-whale closing the distance because it was curious, or was it preparing to launch an attack by getting into range?

The formation of mechs quickly adjusted in response to this unannounced and unanticipated approach.

While tight formations were ideal when fighting against the Swarmers, it was better for the mechs to spread out when fighting against the Evolvers.

The fish-whales of the Evolution Kingdom had spent a long time strengthening their ability to kill tightly-packed enemies en masse. A lot of their ranged fish-whales were able to bombard wide areas while their melee fish-whales could easily fight against multiple enemies at a time.

Of the latter, the bladed fish-whale was the most exemplary fighter among them! Its organic bone blades were so hard and sharp that the ordinary mechs in the task force wouldn't be able to resist if they relied on their armor systems alone!

"It's slowing down!"

"Remain alert and do not let down your vigilance!"

"Look at the fish-whales behind their champion. They're moving towards us as well!"

"Our patriarch needs to ask the king fish what the hell is going on! Have we truly fallen out with the Evolvers?!"

"The patriarch tells us not to worry! The king fish hasn't shown any hostility towards humans so far, and it enjoys a lot of respect among its subordinates."

'Are you sure about that? Because it looks as if these fish-whales have other ideas!"