The Mech Touch

An empty star system welcomed a rare visitor. The Serendipity flew silently through dust-laden space. After reaching a desolate coordinate, two mechs launched from the frigate.

The Star Dancer flew splendidly through the particles of sand and dust that filled the local space.

A more mundane rifleman mech followed the expert mech. They flew several hundred kilometers forward until they suddenly came to halt.

The two Hexer mechs floated in silence while their sensors observed the site with exacting detail.

"I thought there would be more." Davia Stark eventually spoke through their private communication channel. "There is not a single trace of the sandman emperor."

Brutus grunted. "There is no debris. The CFA warfleet must have swept the battlefield for every piece of ship components that the sandmen have managed to knock loose."

The CFA broadcasted their attack on the capital of the sandman empire on the galactic net, allowing many people to witness the near-debacle.

No one thought the sandmen race had transformed an entire planet into one of the biggest sandman amalgamation ever known!

Not even the arrogant Fridaymen and Hexers could remain calm against such a horrifying threat!

The CFA's punitive attack almost ended in failure. If the CFA warsh.i.p.s weren't so powerful, they would have been crushed by the living planet!

Fortunately, the might of one of humanity's apex organizations was much more formidable than the sandman emperor could cope with. The CFA warsh.i.p.s survived the sneak attack and the alien planet suffered their wrath!

Now, only a huge cloud of inert sand remained of this huge amalgamation.

The sight of the sandman race's biggest loss did not provide Davia with the satisfaction she desired.

A profound sense of emptiness and disappointment ran through her body. She had dreamt so long about visiting the grave of the sandman empire. Unfortunately, the CFA left nothing behind! Their vengeful warship shattered every piece of rock that was larger than a fist!

Even so, the two mechs lingered in the orbit of the former planet. Half an hour passed as Davia and remained introspective.

Brutus eventually broke the silence.

"Are you satisfied?"

"No. Not at all."

"This is the fate that aliens deserve after attacking humanity." Brutus spoke. "From the moment that the sandmen crossed our border, they were doomed to die."

"They died too late. The MTA and CFA ignored our pleas for help."

"That's true."

"The Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony ignored our plight as well." Davia accused in a more acid tone.

"That is true as well." Brutus readily admitted. "I do not deny the callousness displayed by my state. I have already explained our considerations to you. My fellow Hexers never took the sandmen seriously. They care even less about the lives of the third-raters."

They held this argument many times. While Davia was willing to travel along with Brutus, that did not mean she was ready to join the Hegemony.

In fact, she felt even more repelled at the thought of joining the Hegemony! From the beginning to the end, the Hegemony never lifted its finger to assist the border states in fending off the sandmen!

She saw the Hexers in the same light as the other arrogant people who possessed the power to help, but didn't! The Fridaymen, Hexers, mechers and fleeters all earned her ire for abdicating their responsibility to defend humanity against alien threats!

"At least Ves Larkinson has done his best to resist the sandmen!" Davia suddenly cursed. "A lone third-rate mech designer has done more to save the citizens of our neglected states than any of you 'superior' folk!"

"Calm down, Davia. Your emotions are boiling over! Your mech is transmitting worrying telemetry about your mental state!"

"How can I calm down after traveling through so many star systems scoured by the sandmen? How can I keep my composure when I realize how much forewarning that humanity has received about the invading sandmen. Even when this race uprooted its entire empire to descend upon the Vindmar Republic, none of you have dispatched anything more than scouts and disaster tourists! Are we not human? Do our lives not matter?"

"I am disappointed in my state as well. I'm sure that many of my Hexers wanted to help. It's just that we don't have a voice either."

"That's a lie!" Davia angrily barked. "Every human has a voice! No matter if you're a first-rater or a third-rater, every human is supposed to be treated with dignity. Yet none of that is true? To many of you, the cries of a single first-rater is louder than the screams of trillions of third-raters! None of you bother to open your ears to the latter because you don't care about us! All you Hexers think about is winning your stupid rivalry against the Fridaymen. All the MTA cares about is winning their pissing match against the CFA. Does no one care about protecting our race against external threats?!"

"I do care, Davia! Please don't mistake us as unfeeling. The Hegemony is filled with loving mothers, caring sons and helpful daughters! From the outside, we are known for our strength, but within our borders, we love each other and constantly work to achieve our ideal society."

"Hah! You haven't refuted my point at all! You Hexers only care for yourselves." She hissed. "You have so much wealth and power. For over four centuries, you sat in the most prosperous territories of our star sector, and yet what did you do? You Hexers hoarded all of your riches, letting none of it flow out to the underdeveloped third-rate states that could have used some help! How much wealthier would we be if you second-raters shared just a fraction of your wealth?"

"We do contribute to the development of lesser states, Davia! Our government invests 0.0006 percent of its annual budget to charitable causes. We have educated millions of repressed women in the less prosperous parts of the star sector. While I admit that we could have done more to help your compatriots out, we are not as heartless as you think."

"DO NOT DECEIVE ME, BRUTUS! I know what your people are like! I have spent months on the same ship as you. Do you know how your crew are looking at me? Not with respect, that's for sure! Even the 'boys' on your ship view me as an insect rather than a human."

Her mental activity became more and more unstable. Alarms began to ring in the c.o.c.kpit of her mech, but Davia didn't care about her own health. She had witnessed too much ruin during the journey to this star system!

"How many years have passed since our race has reached the stars? How many alien empires have we toppled in order to stop the threats against our own people? How could we have failed to learn the lessons of the Age of Conquest? Four hundred years after the end of human genocide, we are still consumed by the same obsessions that have haunted us in the past! All you care about is fighting against our fellow humans. Do you know how sad that looks to me? We have not progressed a single step as a race!"

Even though Brutus tried to tamper her down, Davia no longer registered his words! The mech she piloted began to swing its rifle around as if it was ready to shoot!

"Why did our race develop in this way? When did we stop caring about the threat of aliens? When did we begin to see each other as archenemies? Doesn't anyone in charge care about the weakest of our civilization? I hate what people like you have turned into. I hate how little regard the Big Two possesses towards the plight of those they call 'space peasants'. I hate how mechs are used to fight against fellow humans ever since they were first invented!"

Brutus reacted with shock at her statement! While he had guessed that Davia acc.u.mulated some grievances, he had underestimated the depths of her fury.

This was not a normal outburst! Her damaged mind amplified her pain and magnified her rage!

"Is this what mech pilots like us are for, Brutus? Are we solely trained to fight against other humans? We are better than this! Our power can be used for so much more! The Sand War may have been terrible, but many humans who are weak and inconsequential in your eyes have summoned the courage to stand up against the sandmen! That is true courage! That is true honor! That is true glory! In this measure, Ves Larkinson is a thousand times more noble than a pampered boy on a leash like you! The only Hexer who deserves my respect is your sister! At least she contributed, unlike the trillions of other Hexers in your powerful state!"

"Davia.. I know you're angry, but please calm down. Your mind will collapse if you keep this up! The doctors on my ship are very alarmed!"

"SHUT UP! You Hexers don't care about any third-raters! Our society is flawed. From what I see, greed is rampant and selfishness is the norm. I don't blame you Hexers for clinging onto your wealth and power. I have been disappointed too much by people like you to expect any true compassion. In the end, despite the belated intervention of the Big Two, it was third-raters like us who held the line! We don't need your help! Those of us who were born in poorer states can take care of OURSELVES!"

The moment she spoke those words, her emotional activity had reached a limit!

The Star Dancer visibly jerked back from Davia's mech as it began to erupt!

A vague red glow began to surround the rifleman mech. Brutus watched with astonishment as the outcome he had been hoping for finally became a reality.

Davia had regained her power as an expert pilot!

Not only that, but Brutus could visibly feel that her resonance strength was growing rapidly!

Yet this was not how he wanted to see her restored!

Throughout all of the days they spent on the same ship, Brutus had always sensed a kindred spirit in Davia Stark. Even as broken as she appeared, the Hexer expert pilot sensed her inherent compassion and urge to protect her fellow people.

He thought that as long as he healed her back together, humanity would regain another noble expert pilot!

Yet now, it looked as if Davia Stark had undergone a drastic transformation!

This was something that he had never heard of. Expert pilots weren't supposed to change their nature! Yet somehow, the resentment and fury that Davia had acc.u.mulated completely engulfed her original conviction!

The resonating glow around the standard Hexer mech solidified, signifying that Davia Stark had successfully regained her strength as a demi-god.

Yet this was not what he sought!

Brutus quickly glanced at the resonance sensor. Davia Stark's resonance strength had peaked at 18.74 laveres, which was much stronger than he expected!

That was more than Brutus had ever achieved! He remembered that his own peak strength reached just 15.35 laveres, and that was when he was in his best state!

Of course, he was a lot younger than the middle-aged woman he tried to help, and he doubtlessly possessed a lot more untapped potential.

Yet from Davia's sudden growth, Brutus momentarily feared what she might become. How would she use her strength? Who did she want to fight against?

The grudges she held against the powerful had become the source of her strength. Brutus was afraid that the only way for her to develop as an expert pilot was to deepen her ire against immensely powerful states and organizations!

The forced resonance surrounding Davia's mech quickly faded. The mech quickly turned dormant, signifying that Davia had suddenly lost consciousness.

It seemed that her breakthrough was a lot more volatile than she could handle!

The Star Dancer hovered silently next to the frozen mech. Eventually, the expert mech carefully grasped Davia's machine and brought it back to the Serendipity.