The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3674

Chapter 3674 Limited Usefulness

After an important conference call, the leaders of the Golden Skull Alliance came to a surprising decision that caught many people off-guard.

Instead of remaining on guard against a maybe-imminent alien assault or trying to get away from the Orange Tulip System as fast as possible, the expeditionary fleet actually chose to launch an attack on the pakklaton fleet!

"What?! Why would they do that? The aliens have warships!"

"According to what I've heard from above, those warships aren't as scary as they look. The pakklatons are not a strong race to begin with, and their ships must have gone through a lot of hardships after fleeing from their collapsed empire non-stop."

"Even if they're down, they're definitely not out. They have genuine warships, you know. Even damaged ones can still burn our mechs into ash!"

"I've heard that those big laser guns must be worn out or damaged by now. With our fresh and well-functioning mechs, we can definitely overwhelm the pakklaton ships at range."

"Have you lost your mind? These are warships you're talking about! Our mechs can't fight against them on even ground. All of those virtual training sessions where we're pitted against different alien warships always end up badly for us. If any of their combat systems are still reasonably intact, they can still chew through hundreds of mechs before we can finally defeat one of their warships."

"The brass will think about that problem, not us. We just do what we're told."

Opinions on the fleet's apparent course of action were decidedly mixed to say the least.

Just the thought about going out of their way to provoke a fight against an alien fleet with nine formidable warships was enough to make a lot of Larkinsons shake in their boots!

"Hahaha!" A veteran Avatar mech pilot slapped the back of a younger colleague. "What are you fellows scared about? This isn't the first time we Larkinsons faced warships head-on. Have I ever told you about the Battle against the Abyss?"

"Who hasn't? That battle is legendary!"

"It also caused a lot of clansmen to fall in battle…"

Many mech pilots in the Larkinson Clan had no real experience fighting against any warships. As a consequence, many of them became unstable in the following hours as their nerves and all of the negative propaganda against warships sapped their confidence.

It took a lot of effort to get these mech pilots back on track. A lot of mech pilots were kept busy by putting them through meetings, quick simulation training and frequent patrols.

As everyone geared up for battle, Venerable Jannzi sought out Commander Melkor.

"What's going on?" Jannzi questioned as she pinned her cousin with a glare. "Why exactly are we choosing to provoke an unnecessary complication? The alien refugee fleet clearly isn't interested in attacking us, so we are not under threat. That will definitely change once we enter into battle with them. Is Ves so determined to repeat the debacle of the Battle against the Abyss!?"

"Hey, to be fair, our situation is much better than before." He told her. "Our alliance can field more than 12,000 second-class mechs, many of which are armed with ranged weapons or can wield a spare rifle. The power disparity between our forces is much more tilted in our favor. The alien starships are riddled with damage and I bet they are also low on supplies. The morale of these pakklaton aliens must be low as well due to traveling deeper into human-occupied space with no safe harbor for them to find shelter."

Jannzi didn't look assured at all. "I'm only hearing guesses and assumptions from you. That's always the problem with Ves. He's way too overconfident and always thinks the enemy will fit his preconceived notions. Then he gets all surprised when the enemy does something that falls outside of his expectations. Look, I'll be happy if this pakklaton fleet doesn't end up as bad as I think, but what if my fears are closer to the truth?"

The Avatar Commander carefully approached and put his arms on the female expert pilot's shoulders.

"We aren't going in blind. We all thought about the concerns you've mentioned. Before we get anywhere close to maximum engagement range, we will keep collecting as much information on the pakklaton ships as possible. The closer we get, the more our sensors can resolve the true state of the enemy fleet. We're also consulting with lots of outside experts and consultants that know more about the pakklaton race and their combat capabilities. If we ever find out that a battle will lead to severe losses, we'll turn around without hesitation. That is what we all agreed upon during the meeting."

Though Venerable Jannzi didn't feel reassured by this, her momentum subsided a bit. She lifted her steely arms and held onto Melkor's outstretched limbs.

"I hope you are right, but I will stay on guard as long as possible. Take care and don't let you or your men die just because Ves is greedy to conquer another warship."

She pushed aside his hands from her shoulders and marched away. She had a bad feeling about this attack. She could feel it in her bones that Larkinsons would die today. Those alien warships all looked formidable and their primary weapons could easily breach the hulls of the Larkinson fleet's combat carriers if they were accurate and functional enough.

Her thoughts lingered on one key question at this moment.

"Can my Shield of Samar and I block a warship attack?"

Elsewhere, a trio of other expert pilots came together in one of the pilot ready rooms of the Wild Torch to share their thoughts on the upcoming battle.

As the latest capital ship to join the Larkinson fleet, the Wild Torch distinguished herself from the Gorgoneion by hosting a lot of wilder, rougher and more aggressive soldiers.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify