The Mech Touch

Chapter 7561 Lining Up

Whatever the aliens had in mind, Ves doubted that they thought that the humans could actually block their amazing new weapon.

Twice more the alien superdimensional siege cannon attempted to tear open the Tortuous Scream's vulnerable hull.

The accuracy of these ultra-long-ranged attacks could not be faulted. The alien gunners even tried to vary their approach by targeting the sides as opposed to the fat juicy center of the human flagship.

Unfortunately for the aliens, both times the First Sword Mark III managed to repel the superdimensional slugs with unnatural skill and reaction speed.

Of course, as fast as the ace swordsman mech could move, the machine could not cross an entire kilometer in an instant.

There was only a miniscule window of opportunity to intercept the attack!

The moment Saint Dise's intuition managed to discern the trajectory of the incoming superdimensional slug, it was already too late for her to reposition the First Sword Mark III!

Perhaps the Dark Zephyr Mark III might be able to cross this small distance in an instant, but the ace swordsman mech clearly lacked this instantaneous movement ability.

However, neither Saint Dise nor Saint Commander Casella held much concern.

This was because the First Sword Mark III wielded far more than a single greatsword!

Of the sword fey that moved according to her will, there were always at least a couple of them that just happened to be positioned closely enough to intercept the enemy strike!

The timing was impossibly tight, yet Saint Dise managed to move the closest sword fey in the way fast enough for them to make a modest but crucial difference!

Unlike the Decapitator, the smaller sword fey lacked the strength and anchoring to properly block or deflect the powerful alien attack.

Even when empowered by true resonance, the sword was only able to offer enough resistance to deflect the incoming attack by 7 to 10 degrees at most.

However, this was just enough to spoil the potent attacks!

One superdimensional slug bounced off a sword fey just enough to turn a solid corner hit into a near-miss!

The next superdimensional strike managed to strike at a slightly more clever angle, making it so that when it deflected off the next sword fey, it still managed to pierce straight through the azure energy shields and punch through half-a-dozen sensor arrays and other surface modules!

However, compared to the damage that it could have inflicted if it had punched directly through the main hull plating, all of this minor damage was completely acceptable!

The only point of concern was that the sword fey could not handle the abuse. The ones that managed to deflect the slugs had incurred such a powerful blow that they had already become deformed. The way they flew through space also indicated that their internal components no longer worked as effectively as before.

"Failed again!"

"Will the aliens attempt to attack the Tortuous Scream for the third time? "

"They would be fools to do so. Nothing can get past Saint Dise."

"It is precisely because one of our powerful ace mechs is guarding our flagship that suggests that this ship is crucial to us. Aside from the Armitage, none of our other ships can come close enough to her in size."

The alien commanders must be facing a real dilemma. Should they double down and continue to strike at the flagship in the hopes of overcoming her resistance?

Or should they give up on winning the jackpot and strike at the lesser human starships instead?

A short moment later, the answer became clear.

The next strike did not come close to hitting the Tortuous Scream.

Instead, it followed a different trajectory entirely!

No powerful protector was positioned anywhere close enough to intercept the superdimensional round.

Not even the Saint Commander could do more than channel a bit more true resonance at the ship that was about to get hit.

Before anyone could blink their eyes, an RA combat carrier turned into a half-wreck!

The slug had punched straight through the center of her bow and almost ran through the entire length of her hull!

Seconds after the superdimensional slug exited from the aft, multiple secondary explosions quickly engulfed the poor vessel.

Many people looked horrified as they beheld the state of the ship.

Just a single attack had effectively rendered a modern first-class combat carrier dead!

The catastrophic kinetic blow had not only crushed many compartments and squished apart many hapless spacers, but also demolished sensitive components that just happened to be in the way such as power generators and propulsion systems.

Dangerous hazards such as wrecked power lines and leaking fuel pipes set off new explosions, causing the half-ruined hull to turn into a complete wreck.

Only a fraction of the mechers crewing the once-proud combat carrier managed to survive the catastrophic blow.

The surviving damage control teams attempted to stave off ruin, but they soon learned that none of their efforts could save their vessel from her doom.

There was just too much damage!

"Abandon ship! The Iksbar Gallant is unrecoverable!"

Escape pods and a few moderately intact shuttles spewed from the ruined hull. Far too few soldiers managed to make it off the wreck before a final explosion ultimately split the wreck in half.

"Our ship…"

The pressure on the soldiers serving on the remaining vessels intensified.

Although the combined fleet had made good progress so far, there was still a vast amount of distance from the orbital fortress that carried the formidable siege cannon.

Even the vanguard force comprising the Ascended Giants and a gaggle of mechs still needed at least several more minutes to threaten the orbital stronghold in question.

The Victrix, which not only led the vanguard but also granted it the protection of Casella's Command Field, shone brightly as she attempted to warp the space under her dominion to speed up their flight a little more.

"We won't make it in time!" Blinky scowled in frustration as he continued to hover alongside the Dark Apostle. "I don't care if any other ship gets struck, but if the aliens target the Tarrasque…"

His wife! His children!

For a moment, Ves selfishly considered whether he should request Saint Dise to reposition her ace mech in front of the Tarrasque instead.

That would completely expose the Tortuous Scream, giving the enemy an opportunity to heavily cripple the largest and strongest warship of the combined fleet.

Ves could not bring himself to issue such a selfish request.

Should he request the Poison Willows to enact their mission prematurely?

Doing so would set off the trap a lot earlier than planned. While the enemy would definitely get overwhelmed, the human forces were not yet in a position to capitalize on any weaknesses.

The fear was that the deathborn and the native aliens gained enough time to recover from the devastation and employ enough countermeasures to put up a bigger fight.

"Plans cannot keep up with so many changes."

They had come up with many contingency plans, but none of them anticipated that their enemies would have such a weapon at their disposal.

Just as Ves was about to voice his request, the Saint Commander communicated first.

"YOUR FAMILY IS SAFE." Casella directly conveyed to Ves and the Dark Apostle through her domain field. "I HAVE ORDERED THE TARRASQUE TO POSITION HERSELF RIGHT BEHIND THE TORTUOUS SCREAM. THE LATTER'S HULL IS SO LARGE THAT SHE CAN FULLY COVER THE FORMER'S SILHOUETTE. THE ARMITAGE, THE BABYLON EXCAVATOR AND OTHER IMPORTANT STARSHIPS ARE LINED UP FURTHER BEHIND AS WELL. TRUST IN DISE AND HER BATTLE PARTNER. THEY WILL NOT LET ANYTHING THROUGH."

Both Blinky and the Dark Apostle slumped their shoulders in relief.

This was a fairly clever solution!

As powerful as the enemy siege cannon might be, it was completely stationary.

Now that it had launched several strikes, it was not that difficult for the humans to follow their trajectory and gain a fairly accurate picture of the approximate position of the orbital fortress.

However, Ves immediately felt concerned again.

This solution only worked under one important condition.

"Lining up all of those hulls will only protect them against attacks coming from a single direction." He said. "If any of the other orbital fortresses have installed similar siege cannons, then they can form a crossfire. It is impossible for the First Sword Mark III to intercept multiple superdimensional strikes coming from multiple different directions at once. This danger will increase the closer we come to Hypeh-Tekas II."

Not just the Tortuous Scream, but all of the other ships lined up in her wake were incredibly vulnerable to any crossfire!

The Saint Commander did not immediately respond.

It ultimately took a dozen or so seconds for her to convey her next words.

"WE ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF GATHERING INTELLIGENCE. OUR BEST SCOUTS AND SENSOR SYSTEMS ARE DOING THEIR BEST TO EXAMINE THE PRESENCE OF SIEGE CANNONS ON THE OTHER ORBITAL FORTRESSES. THE DISTANCE IS STILL TOO GREAT FOR US TO OBTAIN SUFFICIENTLY HIGH-RESOLUTION SENSOR DATA THAT CAN CONFIRM OR DENY YOUR FEARS."

"What about the Dark Zephyr?! Reconnaissance is one of his specializations. Has Tusa managed to get close enough?!"

"THE DARK ZEPHYR… IS BEING IMPEDED."

"By what?"

"BY THE SHADOW OF THE DEATHBORN LEADER. I HAVE EXPRESSLY ORDERED TUSA NOT TO TAKE THE BAIT AND CONFRONT THE ENEMY DIRECTLY. DOING SO WHILE ISOLATED AND COMPLETELY SURROUNDED BY HOSTILE ENERGY FIELDS IS TOO RISKY."

"..."

If the powerful high-ranking deathborn leader was present on the battlefield, then he should be smart enough to prevent the humans from gathering crucial intelligence.

It made a lot of sense for this extra-galactic leader to go out of its way to block the Dark Zephyr Mark III!

This only deepened Ves' suspicions. The other orbital fortresses or the giant alien temple complex may hide other trump cards that the deathborn leader wished to keep a secret.

Could the combined fleet afford to let their alien adversaries control the battlefield to this extent?

Ves did not think so. He had a bad feeling about this situation.

The Star Cat firmed up his intangible body in determination.

"Casella. I think that we have completely fallen into our enemy's rhythm. We might not know what they are planning or what they have in reserve, but we can still recognize that we are dancing to their tune. This is not good at all. If you ask me, we should flip the board and stop playing by their rules."

Casella did not need any explanations to deduce what he meant by 'flipping the board'.

"AGREED." She straightforwardly responded, catching Ves off-guard. "I SHALL INSTRUCT THE POISON WILLOWS TO MOVE FORWARD AND PRIME THEIR FRUITS. THIS IS A GOOD TIME AS ANY TO WITNESS THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR LATEST WORK."

The Terrang contingent received Casella's latest instructions. To their credit, they did not question their orders. The Poison Willow mechs began to separate themselves from their more conventional Woodsap mech brethren.

They continued to fly outwards until they closed in on the edge of the protective energy fields that had kept the dark miasma and the hostile deathborn at bay.

In order for these twisted biomechs to fulfill their purpose, they needed to abandon the safety of Casella's Command Field and engage the deathborn in hostile territory.

Nobody possessed the qualifications to accompany these dehydrated and weakened biomechs.

Perhaps it was for the best that their prematurely-aged pilots had lost a lot of emotions. Their apathetic mindsets prevented them from experiencing fear or casting doubt on their mission.

The absence of fear caused them to monotonously direct their biomechs to venture outside the protective bubble that had kept all of the hostility at bay.

The transition was immediate.

Pure hatred and animosity battered the Poison Willow mechs from all sides!

Their pilots immediately became assailed by otherworldly screams and soul-tearing howls!

The deathborn approached from multiple directions and immediately attempted to tear the intruders apart, starting from the shiny and impossibly attractive fruits!