The Mech Touch

Chapter 7300: Giant’s First Mission

“Thank you for your willingness to commit your men to this operation, Ves. The entire Rubarthan Pact is grateful that your Ascended Giants are rising up to the challenge. Their bravery and sense of duty are to be commended. No matter whether they are able to fulfill the objectives of their upcoming mission, we will award them with medals and other rewards. We will not let you and your men risk their lives and suffer without gain.”

Lord Richard Brownstone spoke sincerely while making a deep bow.

The other Rubarthans in the command center followed suit. They all knew that their own assets could not complete the scouting mission. Only by relying on the capabilities of outside guests would they be able to lift the veil that shrouded the secrets of the Voribug Organic Battle Moon.

Now that Ves had made up his mind, the ball got rolling quickly.

Ves barely had enough time to inform the 30 Ascended Giants stationed on the Armitage of their new assignment before they all transferred to the pre-prepared scout vessels.

Of course, these ships looked deceptively simple.

Most scout ships tended to possess weak and fragile hulls. The ships assigned to this mission did not appear any different from the outside, but possessed a lot of advanced features.

The additional tech made the ships tougher, faster and more intelligent.

The crews were also completely different. Most of the naval personnel assigned to scout vessels tended to be young and inexperienced, but this time was completely different. Every single spacer on the scout ships possessed elite qualifications. Their experience was abundant and possessed much more extensive skillsets than normal.

All of this meant that the scout vessels provided much more safety to their crew and passengers than usual.

Of course, this was just a relative statement. There was only so much high technology that the Rubarthans could stuff inside such small hulls.

In preparation for this big operation, the Rubarthans had already sent out dozens of scout ships and many more scout mechs to the vicinity of the new battle moon.

The Rubarthans made a persistent effort to bring their assets close in the hopes of gathering detailed data.

It was rather understandable that the humans possessed a strong desire to understand the details of the unprecedented new organic megaconstruct as soon as possible.

The mutated voribugs did not intend to let the humans get what they wanted. The patrols surrounding the new VOBM continued to grow in numbers. The globe gradually became host to more and more roaming bugs.

All of these alien flies possessed very little combat power, but they were cheap and easy to mass produce en masse.

Bug after bug emerged from various corners of the outer system. Their behavior consistently proved that the Goliath Hive greatly valued its battle moon.

“You did not have to accompany us, my lord.” The Divine Harpoon quietly spoke to Ves.

“You are right, but I am coming with you guys anyway. Don’t worry. I do not intend to enter the field myself. I just want to be close at hand. By the way, how are the men?”

Both Ves and his strategos maintained their human bodies while they were riding aboard the small and cramped RA starships.

The lack of space, the tension in the air and the sudden assignment all put the Ascended Giants on edge.

Due to their loyalty to the new polemarchos, none of the Ascended Giants refused to take part in the mission.

Ves was glad that they could be relied upon to follow orders. However, just because the giants promised to fulfill their duties did not mean they had to like what they were doing.

“The Ascended Giants assigned to the Bluejay Fleet are not happy.” The Divine Harpoon plainly stated. “They are soldiers and warriors with great egos. They had all been looking forward to entering the battlefield all at once during the decisive battle. Each of them possesses formidable strength and wishes to display their might to everyone. The grander the fight, the greater the glory. The Ascended Giants all think that performing scouting missions is beneath them. They do not fully understand the necessity for us to take action when the Rubarthans still have many assets in this star system.”

“Divine Harpoon.” Ves addressed the older officer. “Do you harbor the same kind of doubts?”

“No.” The strategos of the Faceless Giants immediately responded. “I am an old man. I have lived through enough wars and conflicts to understand the necessity of gathering first-hand data. While I question the need to deploy all 30 of us at once, I am not dissatisfied with this task.”

“I take it that the others are not the same.”

“They feel as if they are being used as errand boys. You know how soldiers gossip with each other. They talk as if they are being reduced to slaves of red humanity. While there are enough sober-minded giants that understand the greater truth such as myself, we are still in the minority. There are still many giants who believe that cooperating with red humanity is a waste of time.”

Ves scowled. This was a completely nonsensical stance. Without the shield of red humanity, the human phase lords would get overwhelmed in short order. They lacked the numbers to resist entire enemy civilizations and also lacked the individual strength to carve out their own territories in space.

It was a complete fantasy for the Ascended Giants to defect from red humanity and found their own civilization in this hostile dwarf galaxy!

Even if the native aliens under the Red Cabal decided to treat human phase lords as their kin, the mutated voribugs would definitely not let them off! Peace was an illusion in the Age of Dawn!

“Will the men stay obedient?”

“They will, at least for the time being.” The strategos reassured Ves. “This is just the start. The men are still hopeful that they can participate in the main battle after they have completed this ordeal. If you deny them the chance to earn honor and glory in the next few weeks, then you will start to have a problem. I highly advise you not to deprive them of the opportunity to test their might against a worthy adversary. If there is one advantage that we possess, it is that none of us are cowards.”

That was indeed an important advantage. Ves did not know whether the Ascended Giants would remain fearless against the mutated voribugs for long, but at least their morale was high at the start. This granted him a lot of leeway. He was already happy that the giants did not question the viability of the current plan.

As the scout vessels continued to fly towards the outer system, Ves and his most trusted giant officer continued to discuss the details of the mission.

Unlike other Ascended Giants, the Divine Harpoon clearly lost less of human sensibilities than others, which made him the most observant and cognizant among his kind.

Ves valued his wisdom, especially when the other giants tended to be fools in comparison.

“There are many questionable points about this mission.” The older giant said. “I will not waste my time explaining all of them. I will just state the most important ones to you. My first major concern is that our approach may not proceed as smoothly as we assumed.”

“Are you afraid that the mutated voribugs will hinder your approach much more effectively than anticipated?”

The strategos nodded. “Yes. Past attempts to scout the VOBM have been met with light resistance, but that is because the voribugs do not need to leverage more assets to drive away scout mechs and scout ships. If we take the Goliath Hive by surprise by springing 30 Ascended Giants in close proximity, I can guarantee you that the mutated voribugs will respond much more heavily than before. Not only will our men have to contend against millions of angry bugs, but the VOBM itself may begin to shoot at us with an enormous amount of organic guns. We cannot stay close to the battle moon for long.”

“That is why the plan has tried to minimize this time interval as much as possible. The Rubarthans are not ignorant of the dangers. The sensor spikes will only take a couple of seconds to complete the data-gathering phase before immediately ejecting their data storage modules. Our men only need to stick to their assigned coordinates long enough to capture the data modules and retreat back to safety.”

“What if enough time has passed by for the mutated voribugs to wake up all of their high-priority defenses and interception forces?”

“Then we need to fight like hell.” Ves simply replied.

The Divine Harpoon did not look happy. “I would be much more inclined to agree with you if we are able to deploy in full gear. However, your decision to keep the Bluejay Fleet in orbit of Philaster Crestia III means that we will be separated from our wargear by multiple light-hours. We will have to fight against the mutated voribugs without the arms and armor that we have come to rely upon since our transformation into Ascended Giants. Our ability to wipe out the mutated voribugs en masse is limited, and our defenses are precarious. Our spatial barrier is indeed highly effective at blocking the bugs from devouring our flesh and blood in an instant, but it will only last for so long against massed attacks.”

Ves grimaced when he heard that. The inability to bring their usual combat gear into battle deeply unsettled the giants.

While they still possessed enough confidence in their combat prowess, the gear still formed an important part of their identity as soldiers of the Human Phase Lord Department.

Fighting without any effective gear aside from a smart metal suit turned into a nightmare for many soldiers!

Ves wished that they could be accompanied by a small group of combat carriers.

Compared to juggling the juvenile and impulsive emotions of Ascended Giants, I would rather spend my time on improving my mechs.

Despite participating in this mission, the Rubarthans did not provide Ves with enough restricted information.

He was still a guest, and he was destined to leave and explore other stars sooner or later.

This meant that he remained in the dark about whether the Rubarthans had dispatched additional forces in secret.

Ves guessed that the scouting vessels were all accompanied by at least one stealth carrier.

Even if that was not the case, the Rubarthans would never neglect the ship that he was currently riding!

A tier 2 galactic citizen such as Ves normally shouldn’t accompany his men on a high-priority reconnaissance mission, but he was different.

Even if he had yet to bring out the Dark Apostle on this day, Ves could practically feel the eagerness and approval from his other self!

Though the mission did not call for Ves to intervene in person, he got ready anyway.

He would have to do so naked like the rest of the giants.

[ETA 1 hour]

The mood between the two began to drop. The closer the distance, the more horrifying the VOBM appeared.

Not everyone was able to maintain their courage and balance after witnessing the enormous Voribug Organic Battle Moon in full glory!

The mere thought that a biological construct could grow to such an exaggerated extent generated a cloud of oppression that slightly damaged everyone’s confidence.

Of course, the damage was only slight, or else everyone involved would have lost more than a bit of courage!

“Do all 30 of our men have to launch their sensor spikes at the target?”

“Not all of them.” Ves replied. “They will still be able to yield useful data if the odds are stacked in our favor. The Rubarthan scientists will not be able to figure out too many secrets, let alone hold them for long periods of time. I estimate that we need to plant at least 20 sensor spikes in order to gather enough details.”

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