The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2735

Chapter 2735 - Redefinition

In the process of explaining his new vision for the Avatars, Commander Melkor started with the identities of the other mech forces of the clan.

"I believe the Penitent Sisters fulfill our original purpose much better than my Avatars." He began. "It’s not your fault. They’re just better than us in every measure except friendliness towards the male gender. The Hexers have many shortcomings, but training skilled and disciplined second-class mech pilots is not one of them. Even if some of their doctrines aren’t tested in combat, they make up for it in unit cohesion and esprit de corps. The Penitent Sisters are strong, and they know it. Their results in the previous battle is hard proof of that."

"That’s not a fair comparison." Ves shook his head. "Due to the importance of our Valkyrie Redeemers in enabling Venerable Joshua to unleash an empowered energy attack, we refrained from deploying the Penitent Sister mechs in the trenches. We had to preserve their numbers as much as possible until they could engage their battle formation."

Melkor lowered his head in response.

"That’s exactly how an elite mech force is supposed to be employed. They have to be employed in the right moment and the right time in order to maximize their impact on the battlefield. In contrast, my Avatars were lumped in with a bunch of other ordinary forces and were tasked with resisting the powerful Fridayman mechs in frontal combat. Does this sound right to you, sir?"

"We were short on mechs. We needed your mechs to hold the line. Besides, the Fridaymen employed their elite units as frontline combatants as well. There is no distinction in this regard."

"That’s because the Fridaymen didn’t bring any regulars for this mission. The elite mech units we fought against were also shaped to take part in massive battles. They are comfortable with acting as the anvil of a greater unit. My Avatars weren’t designed for this role. Not initially, at least. Yet during the Battle of Reckoning, you employed us as an anvil when we are much more comfortable with acting as the hammer."

"We didn’t have enough anvils."

Melkor took a deep breath.

"I get that, sir. I don’t fault you for putting our Avatars in the place where we were most needed. When you are short on anvils, you look for substitutes among the hammers that are not as good or vital in their current purpose. Obviously, my men scored worse in this aspect so we had to fight like Living Sentinels."

Obviously, Melkor was highly ambivalent about this turn of events.

From a logical standpoint, the higher ups made the most rational decision. It was objectively the best and most optimal choice to make out of the available possibilities.

Yet from an emotional standpoint, Melkor resented the circ.u.mstances, and so did many other Avatars probably. They were always told they were the pride and joy of the Larkinson Clan, but when they fought their most serious battle to date, the Avatars turned into supporting characters so that other mech forces such as the Penitent Sisters and the Swordmaidens could play the starring roles.

"The Battle of Reckoning is long over." Ves gently stated. "While the circ.u.mstances we faced back then are regrettable, in this time of rebuilding we can make it all better. Your Avatars will grow bigger, better and stronger, and your men won’t be the only ones to do so. Every element of our clan will improve so that we will not be as desperate next time."

"I’m glad to hear that, sir, but the Avatars cannot go on like this. We need to specialize ourselves just like the other mech forces. We need a new and more focused purpose so that we know what we are building towards and can take pride in something that the other mech forces cannot equal."

"I suppose you’ve formed an idea."

"Indeed, I did." Melkor began to grin. "As it is right now, the force makeup of our clan already covers a number of roles. Yet none of them are quite as suitable to be employed as heavy cavalry as us. That is not to say that the others are bad at launching assaults, but they are much more suitable to be employed as flankers or commando units. What we can do is to perform the charges that others cannot. We shall be the spear of the Larkinson Clan!"

"You mean with lancer mechs?"

The Avatar Commander nodded. "Among other mech types. While it is too monotonous to replace all of our machines with lancer mechs, I do envision them as one of our defining mech types. I want to see entire formations of Avatar mechs charging forward and breaking open a massive hole in the ranks of our opposition! No matter how stiff the enemy is holding back our might, our Avatars must be capable of smashing through every obstacle and disrupting the carefully-laid plans of our enemies. We are your best tools when tricks and schemes aren’t enough."

In other words, Melkor wanted his Avatars to become the fist of the Larkinson Clan. While it was nice to take out a difficult opponent by circling around and stabbing them in the back, that was not possible all the time, as was the case in the previous battle.

Sometimes, an enemy had to be overcome by fighting them on their terms.

The Avatars wanted to stand out from the other elite mech forces of the Larkinson Clan by excelling in creating openings.

In this situation, it would be nice to have a solution that could just charge straight through the front!

"A heavy assault role is quite dangerous." Ves pointed out. "No matter how successful you are, as long as the enemy is strong enough to hold back our other mech forces, they are probably capable of exacting a significant toll on your troops. Each frontal assault is fraught with peril."

"My men can take it. As long as this is our main purpose, we will work hard to meet everyone’s expectations. Of course, we also need the right mechs. We won’t be able to breach through any enemy formation without mechs that are tough enough to drive a wedge into the enemy ranks."

The Avatar Commander looked expectantly at Ves. For his part, Ves was quite willing to address this need. The problem was that this wasn’t the only priority on his mind.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify