The Mech Touch

"Papa is so strong!" Marvaine cheered as he jumped and ran as if he hadn't been spending several boring hours in a cell. "I want to be just like him when I am older!"

His mother frowned and picked him up to prevent him from wasting any needless energy. "Hush now, baby. Your father isn't an entirely good role model for a mech designer. Your mama is just as good of a mech designer. Spend more time with me and I will teach you how to design more flawless and perfect Mekanos. Does that sound fun to you, my son?"

"I want that, mama, but only papa can teach me how to escape from prison and subvert an alien prison! I want to learn from him as well!"

"You shouldn't have to learn these lessons at all, Marvaine!"

As Gloriana, Marvaine and many other people enjoyed their slightly greater freedom and began to feel more optimistic about their chances of making it out, a much more serious discussion was about to take place.

A group of important soldiers and officials quickly gathered in order to plan an assault on an unfamiliar position under adverse circumstances.

This was not a normal military operation. Nobody among the crowd knew what they were getting into, so it became imperative to hash out as much as possible in the little time they had left!

Major Alden Durant brought over a dozen different guard captains to the impromptu council.

Meanwhile, Ves summoned General Verle, Ketis, Chief Minister Abigail Evern, Chief Minister Magdalena Larkinson, Director Ranya Wodin, Nitaa and anyone else that might offer enough useful input.

All of the gathered officers and officials looked grim-faced and serious.

No matter whether they wore full combat armor or a ceremonial suit that offered little protection except against the slightly toxic alien air, none of them believed it would be that easy to overcome the adversaries that had managed to circumvent discovery and managed to capture so many Davutan VIPs in a single instant!

The only exception among them was Ketis. Having spent several hours in a situation where she was not only trapped, but also deprived of her Bloodsinger, the most combat capable mech designer among the entire gathering of captives had been experiencing pure torture in the last few hours.

It was only after she was able to meet up with the honor guards of the Larkinson Clan that she finally managed to obtain a decent blade by her standards!

"You might not be my possession, but I still remember how I made you with my own hands. You will sing just fine in my grasp." The swordmaster smiled as she patted the flat of her one-handed transphasic sword.

She forged the weapon years ago during the times when the clan resided in Davute for several years. She took part in the comprehensive upgrade project that aimed to bring up the equipment standards of the Larkinson Clan's honor guard to the highest standards achievable in the Red Ocean.

Though her usage of phasewater was rough and experimental, she forged a batch of swords and sent the best ones among them to the honor guards that were skilled enough to make effective use of the powerful weapons.

Although the blade was not attuned to her, Sharpie was already at work at trying to align it with her own style and strengths.

By the time hostilities commenced, Ketis hoped to be able to slice through whatever enemies prevented her and her family from returning to the clan!

"You will need a suit of combat armor as well." Ves remarked just before the general discussion started. "One of my honor guards should have one that should roughly fit your dimensions."

The swordmaster paused in her admiration of her new sword to shake her head. "Don't bother. You designed their suits of combat armor to fit their dimensions and fighting styles to an exact degree. It will do more harm than good if I force myself to fight in a shell that actively works against my movements."

"How are you supposed to fight, then? Will you just let your shield generator tank all of the blows while you go off running around in a ceremonial outfit?"

"Don't be silly, Ves. I plan to approach one of the many Davutan security guards and ask if I can borrow her combat armor. The gear used by those troopers might not be as tough as your recent work, but they will complement my fighting style better as they are designed to be versatile and widely applicable."

He understood her logic. The honor guards all received the benefit of customized gear, while the guard forces working for the state mostly had to make do with standard-issue gear.

It shouldn't matter whether Ketis was not a soldier of the state. She was a bona fide transcendent swordswoman and probably possessed the single highest combat power out of every infantry trooper in this prison facility!

"I can see how that works, but you will be operating on a thin margin." Ves responded. "You can't afford to make as many mistakes and any weapon that is as powerful as that of a mech can blast you to pieces, swordmaster or not. There is a reason why your profession has declined in modern times."

"You don't need to remind me of that, Ves. My intuition is strong so I will know when I am being targeted. I won't foolishly storm ahead and attract everyone's attention. I will act according to my judgment."

He did not express any further concerns as it was completely unnecessary. Ketis was not a kid. Battles like these were hard to come by and she was in the right position to make a difference. The lives of her children were on the line and that made it impossible for her to sit back and rely on the protection of their guards!

Ves respected her desire to put her life on the line in order to seek greater heights in the field of traditional swordsmanship.

Both Ves and Ketis soon joined the circle of leaders.

No one understood their current circumstances better than Ves, and that made it important for them to hear what he had to say.

Ves did not hold back too much in sharing his discoveries. He projected an annotated map of the prison facility and explained a summary of what he learned up to this point.

Both Larkinsons and outsiders looked shocked and concerned at different junctions. Compared to the captured VIPs who had only been here for a few hours, the enemy had spent a lot more time in this ancient alien facility!

"Our adversaries have too many advantages." Major Alden Durant spoke with concern. "They have demonstrated at least a partial degree of control over the automated systems of this abandoned ruin, and they have spent much more time entrenching their positions at the upper floors. Depending on the nature of our foes, we may be facing strong crew-served weapons, fixed defenses and even outright combat vehicles such as infantry fighting vehicles, tanks and maybe even mechs!"

The senior security guard officer was right to be concerned. His forces may have been well-equipped for their specific responsibilities, but their responsibilities were mainly confined to crowd control and solving infantry-level threats.

Anything heavier required the intervention of the mechs on patrol duty. The infantry troopers were never expected to confront hostile vehicles on their own. They instead had to obey directives which obliged them to escort their charges to safety!

General Verle turned to the Davutan major. "How many effective troops can you call upon and how many of them are equipped with heavy armaments?"

"According to our current count, we can muster over 120 unarmored security guards and 300 armored infantry soldiers." Major Durant responded. "All of them are in good condition and most still have ample reserves of energy and ammunition. Our unarmored troops are not suited for assaults. I prefer to keep them close and have them watch over our noncombatants. Our armored troops possess ample military training and can be relied upon to fight both offensive and defensive battles. However, there is not much variety to their combat equipment. Only 9 of my specialists are equipped with heavy weapons, and even then their ammunition reserves are limited."

The seating blocks already possessed fixed defensive hardpoints that already covered this need. There was not much of a demand to bring in additional heavy weapon specialists for that reason.

The fact that the group of security guards included 9 heavy weapon specialists was already remarkable by themselves.

When Ves and the others took a closer look at the heavy weapons carried by these bulkier and more formidable looking troops, they became slightly disappointed.

"Seven missile launchers and two laser cannons." General Verle summarized. "Both are transphasic and can pack a substantial punch. The former can be programmed to follow complicated trajectories and they are also geared towards punching through armor and energy shields. The latter can only be fired in a straight trajectory, but can fire repeatedly as long as the energy supply lasts and the heat buildup is not excessive."

Ves shook his head. "We can only use them sparingly. The troopers don't carry that many spare missiles so these launchers will quickly turn useless once they have fired a couple of times. The laser cannons are powerful, but they are undersized. Although we can string enough spare batteries from multiple sources in order to fire them a few more times, their heat capacities are too low, and that puts a limit on how many times we can fire them in a single engagement."

The group concluded that they needed to make sparing use of the few heavy weapons available. They should only truly be reserved for threats that could not be solved by regular soldiers.

Once they gained a greater understanding of their assets, they soon turned to formulating a strategy and planning their approach to the upper floors.

"There are clearly multiple approaches to the top." General Verle pointed at the different pathways. "However, we do not have reliable and verified information on how well they are defended. On top of that, we still do not know what we are facing. Scouting should be our first priority. We must gather first-hand information on the state of these approaches before we should commit to an assault."

"That will give our adversaries more time to prepare." Major Durant spoke with a heavy voice. "Aside from that, it is impossible for us to take competent and well-prepared opponents by surprise. In a cramped facility like this where it is impossible for us to breach the walls or circumvent their defensive lines, our only choice is to attack with force. We must carefully determine how extensively we split our forces and apply pressure in multiple directions at once."

If they stuck together, then it would be easy for their enemies to defend from a single direction or use overwhelming firepower to wipe out all of the attackers at once.

If they split up too much, then it would not only be challenging to coordinate all of the groups, but there would also be a greater risk of getting defeated in detail!

No matter what, the people who gathered here had to make a lot of hard choices!

Another problem was the soldiers hailing from the other groups. They amounted to hundreds of additional armored troops, and could play a huge role in any fight.

However, they could only provide a lot of value in the field if they cooperated sincerely. If they slacked off or retreated too soon, then many other units would definitely get in trouble!