The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3188

Chapter 3188: Empire of the Lost

The Empire of the Lost was a relatively young state that was burdened with a loaded past.

When the Vulcanites initially rose up and rallied their dwarven compatriots from nearby star clusters, their conquest did not happen overnight. Many years passed by as the increasingly more emboldened rebels conquered state after state, beginning from the weakest and most decayed third-rate states to finally breaking apart the once-powerful second-rate states.

The dwarves accomplished all of this while fighting and dying under their unflinching belief in Vulcan and the notion that they were superior to the tall folk!

Due to the blending of many different people and cultures in a single amalgamation, the Empire of the Lost was a bit of a mess. It was like the Friday Coalition but with more partners and without a neat partition between them. While the cultural differences between them had lessened through the passage of decades, the state was still dysfunctional in many ways.

The only common threads that tied them all together was their undying hatred for the Vulcanites and their persistent desire to return to Smiling Samuel and take back the territories that they lost.

"What a sad people." Ves commented to Chief Minister Magdalena as the two stood in the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim while the fleet transitioned into the Amswick System. "These guys just can't get over their loss and move on. I hear they are still trying to plot an invasion to push the dwarves off their former homes, but they never mustered up the courage to pull the trigger."

Magdalena held a more generous view of the Lost. "They have good reasons to avoid another confrontation. They suffered enormous losses during their flight. The Empire of the Lost is far from being able to contend against the united and much more expansive Vulcan Empire. It makes much more sense for them to bide their time so that they can rebuild their strength."

"That makes sense, but… from what I have read about the Lost, the newer generation born after the flight from Smiling Samuel care less about paying back old grievances and more about living decent lives in the empire. In a few more generations, most of the survivors of the tragic flight will have died without ever seeing their dreams fulfilled. I bet the Empire of the Lost will slowly change into a normal state."

The only unstable factor that could derail this predicted outcome was if the dwarves left their star sector and began to expand into other ones. The Empire of the Lost was too close to Smiling Samuel and would definitely suffer the brunt of dwarven aggression.

Not that Ves cared about this. The benefit of being a traveller was that he did not have to sympathize for the plight of any local people.

Upon entry into the Amswick System, the expeditionary fleet received a lot of attention from the local authorities. The port system was not just a major economic hub, but also a strategically important stronghold. It was the central node upon which the Empire's defense against the Vulcan Empire rested upon.

Due to this crucial consideration, the Amswick System was the best-fortified star system of the Lost. It not only concentrated a huge amount of orbital and fixed defenses, but also hosted an entire mech army that were currently spread across multiple bases covering multiple angles of approach.

"The defensive layout of the star system is interesting." Magdalena commented as she pointed at the projection of the overall plot. "The defenses are arrayed like an onion. There are multiple concentric circles of fortifications that become increasingly denser and more concentrated towards the center. While the outermost defenses can easily be bypassed by any invading force, leaving them up will make any attacker vulnerable to attacks from the rear. A proper invasion plan would have little choice but to take out the outer defenses one by one."

"That sounds like a wasteful defensive scheme." Ves said. "Isn't it better for the Lost to just concentrate all of their defenses on a couple of key planets? This way, the dwarves wouldn't be able to defeat them in detail. The invaders will have to face much stiffer resistance if they want to push through the condensed defensive lines."

The chief minister shook her head. "The Amswick System is never supposed to hold back the Vulcanite onslaught by itself. The idea behind setting up layered defenses in a star system is to delay the invaders and increase their consumption of manpower, mechs and supplies. By the time the dwarves reach the final layers, they will already be weakened and vulnerable to an extent. That is where reinforcements from other parts of the Empire of the Lost can pounce the invading force from behind."

There were many other tactical and strategic considerations that Magdalena hadn't mentioned yet. There were so many variables at play here that it would take days to inform Ves about all of the nuances behind the defensive strategy of the Amswick System.

During this time, the fleet confirmed its arrangements with traffic control. It turned out that there was no possibility for foreigners to get close to any of the bustling planets.

"The traffic restrictions are just as strict as the Prosperous Hill Star System that we once visited." The chief minister informed Ves. "Every foreign and almost every domestic vessel is prohibited from entering the inner system. A local transportation monopoly takes care of every transfer of passengers and goods to and from Amswick V, which is the principal commercial planet of this port system. The only good news is that the transportation service possesses an abundance of cargo and passenger transports, so we won't have to wait too long to receive our shipments."

Ves nodded in understanding. "Take advantage of that to stock up on an abundant amount of war supplies. It's questionable whether we need any of it, but it is best to be prudent. I would rather end up with an excess amount of unused stuff than run short of it when we need it the most."

"Understood. Prices of combat supplies have gone up as of late, though. The Empire of the Lost is not in its most quiet period at the moment and the constant pressure exerted by its dwarven neighbor is a constant source of concern."

Ves dismissively waved his hand. "The LMC is still doing well, right? We can afford the expenditures."

As the fleet slowly settled into its assigned sector that was far from any other visiting ship or fleet, numerous preparations were being made to fabricate the two expert mechs.

After numerous discussions with different mech designers, expert pilots and commanders, Ves decided to pull out all the stops for the Decapitator Project but not for the Vanguard Project.

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