The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3225

Chapter 3225: Overreaction

The value of good intelligence capabilities became highly evident today as Calabast managed to discover an ambush in the making.

As soon as Ves discretely passed on the news to a small group of important Larkinsons and allies, the leaders of the Golden Skull Alliance became incredibly alarmed.

Although many people in the expeditionary fleet anticipated that the Vulcanites wouldn't be easy to deal with, few of them actually thought that the situation could deteriorate to this degree.

The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers didn't even do anything! They had barely begun to travel towards the interior of the Vulcan Empire. They never stopped by any of the dwarven-occupied star systems during their guided journey and never communicated or did anything with any dwarven ships they met on their way.

The only dwarves the Larkinsons engaged with were the Pershams. Now that it was clear that the Ferrils intended to attack the expeditionary fleet, Ves couldn't help but direct his suspicions towards his apparent guides.

Had the Pershams led them into this ambush?

He did not develop this suspicion out of the blue. Assuming that Calabast's intelligence was accurate, then the Ferril Provincial Army already dispatched a combined force consisting of three complete mech divisions straight to Fordilla Zentra, the star system that the expeditionary fleet had just arrived in a couple hours ago.

How did the Ferrils know about the location of the expeditionary fleet? How were hostile Vulcanites able to anticipate the route to such a degree that they were able to send a combat fleet to an empty and unimportant star system at roughly the right time?

According to the estimates provided by Calabast, the incoming punitive fleet would arrive in Fordilla Zentra well before most ships of the Golden Skull Alliance finished cycling their FTL drives!

Depending on how much distance the incoming dwarven fleet needed to traverse in order to close in on the expeditionary fleet, the entire expeditionary fleet might or might not be able to escape from this star system in time.

While vessels with faster-cycling FTL drives and multiple drives might be able to get out right away, they would still have to leave a lot behind!

If it came down to it, Ves didn't mind abandoning his less valuable and increasingly more irrelevant support ships. They were already close enough to the beyonder gate that his combat ships could easily support a battle or two without requiring extensive replenishment.

"We'll be abandoning all of our sub-capital ships anyway once we're ready to pass through the first beyonder gate."

That didn't mean it was a good idea to evacuate and scuttle all of the combat and non-combat vessels that weren't able to cycle their FTL drives in time.

"We're too deep in dwarf country." Ves murmured.

It would take too long to reach the border of Smiling Samuel and reenter the Empire of the Lost.

With the dwarven fleet so close in pursuit, it was highly likely that their dedicated combat vessels were able to catch up to the expeditionary fleet.

The punitive fleet dispatched by the Ferril Provincial Army operated in friendly territory and did not need to drag along any slow and lumbering logistical or civilian vessels. This gave them a crucial advantage in FTL cycling time that would allow them to jump sooner than the entire expeditionary fleet!

Though Ves was not completely certain whether interception was possible, he had to take the worst-case scenario into account.

"No wait. It can get even worse." He frowned.

The fact that they were already in the Vulcan Empire meant that other Vulcanite forces might be on their way to surround and block the escape of the expeditionary fleet.

This didn't sound too likely right now as the Ferrils decided to attack the human visitors on their own, but the situation could easily change if battle commenced between the two forces!

Whether the Larkinsons won or lost this battle, the other dwarves in the Vulcan Empire would never allow any humans who attacked their own kind to get away!

Faced with all of these looming threats, Ves and the others had no choice but to quietly prepare for battle.

News soon spread throughout the ships that the dwarves intended to attack them all. Fortunately, panic hadn't erupted and no one had made any moves that revealed their awareness of an impending attack in front of the dwarven patrol ship.

It was crucial for the Golden Skull Alliance to maintain an information advantage during this crisis. The less the dwarves knew about their targets, the better!

Twenty minus passed since Ves quietly spread the word. The drums of war rumbled throughout the entire fleet.

All of the mech legions and other combat forces were quietly readying for battle without being too obvious about it. Most of the movements took place inside ships. From space, the same mechs continued on with their lazy patrols with no sign that their mech pilots had become a lot jumpier.

Mechs were being prepared for battle. Mech pilots received preliminary briefings. The medical doctors were preparing for a flood of wounded soldiers while the ship crews were buttoning down as much equipment as possible in anticipation for hull breaches and other emergencies.

All of the civilians and non-combat personnel received instructions to hole themselves up in protected compartments with easy access to escape pods.

Meanwhile, Ves and several other important leaders held an emergency meeting.

In order to save time and minimize any useless discussions, only a small number of people came together this time.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify