The Mech Touch

None of the three mech divisions looked like pushovers. They were well-funded and enjoyed the backing of a state that always emphasized strength.

If the Ferrils wanted to surpass the wealthier and more powerful provinces of the Vulcan Empire, then they were obligated to invest in their military forces!

It would be a farce if the Ferril Province thought it could climb on top of other provinces if it didn't have the troops to support its ambitions.

As Ves and the others began to read through the extensive information package provided by Calabast and other intelligence sources, they all gained a depressing outlook towards their probable opposition.

"These dwarven troops are no weaker than the mech regiments we barely managed to overcome during the Battle of Reckoning." General Verle judged. "The quality of the dwarven mech pilots may be worse, but they are better organized since they are being deployed as complete mech divisions in proper fleets."

The opposition the Larkinsons faced during the Battle of Reckoning was special because the enemy performed a deep strike attack. The Fridaymen were operating far beyond their usual territory and had no choice but to limit their troop choices and send them out in specialized deep strike fleet carriers.

This time, the enemy was operating on their home turf. Even if the expeditionary fleet only intended to fly along the outskirts of the Ferril Province, the provincial army didn't have to work under difficult circumstances.

The only real problem was the lack of preparation time. The dwarven troops had to ready themselves for battle without much time to form targeted countermeasures against the Golden Skull Alliance.

Despite this little detail, the odds still didn't look good for the Golden Skull Alliance. The expeditionary fleet may be able to muster 23,000 second-class mechs at this point in time, but the enemy task force brought at least 7,000 more mechs to the party!

This difference was quite big and could not be overcome with ease.

As the mech designers in the meeting, both Ves and Professor Benedict focused their attention on the mech models employed by the three mech divisions.

One of the first points that stood out to them was that the Molten Hammers and the Slug Rangers were all oriented towards a single combat purpose.

The mech regiments of the 7th Mech Division all fielded a variety of heavy mechs, defensive mechs and other machines that supported its siege breaking function.

The mech regiments of the 34th Mech Division did not field any significant number of melee mechs. Their mechs all consisted of ranged mechs as if they did not worry at all about needing their vulnerable machines from close-ranged attackers.

This was a typical setup for war-oriented units. By eschewing diversity and narrowing their focus to their singular purpose, the mech units became extremely good at the job they were supposed to fulfill, which was extremely helpful in wars and large-scale battles.

Of course, the downside of this was that the mech divisions concentrated so much on a single approach that they crashed really hard if the enemy did not play the same game.

The dwarven generals were not ignorant of this vulnerability. This was why they assigned the newer 67th Mech Division to the ambush force as well.

At first glance, the Hivar Roarers looked like a metal menagerie. The 67th featured an eclectic mix of bestial mechs that were based around a variety of animal shapes. Most of them were avian but there were also tiger mechs, turtle mechs, spider mechs and more exotic machines.

Though it was a lot harder for the Hivar Roarers to excel in a single purpose, the variety and diversity of their bestial mechs allowed them to respond to many different situations.

"I don't see many other ways for a task force that consists of these three mech divisions to attack us in anything other than a straightforward frontal assault." Ves noted as he pointed at the depictions of the armored but relatively sluggish mechs of the 7th. "A mech force moves as fast as its slowest element. The Molten Hammer mechs are so slow that they can't do much except accelerate forward if they want to catch up to our fleet."

"The Slug Ranger mechs are also slow for their type. Their ranged mechs are thicker than the norm, but that comes at the cost of mobility. They're not dogfighters. They're armored gunners." Professor Benedict added.

General Verle smiled. "This factor limits the tactical flexibility of the opposing force. The dwarves probably won't split their forces and attempt to attack us on different flanks. They don't have the speed to envelop our ships."

The common attributes of the Molen Hammers and the Slug Rangers made it incredibly obvious on how the Ferrils planned to attack the expeditionary fleet, but that didn't offer much reassurances to everyone.

The Molten Hammers were too tough and could bull through any defensive lines by relying on brute force! As long as they were able to employ all of their strengths, then it didn't matter if their strategies and tactics lacked finesse. A single knock-out punch was enough to defeat an opponent!

Various people made a few more remarks about the enemy mechs. Although they didn't have any access to insider details, the Vulcanites weren't shy about parading their military forces. Like peacocks, they regularly showed off their combat troops in public in order to show how impressive they were. The Ferril Provincial Army was especially guilty of this, so the Black Cats managed to harvest a lot of recent and accurate public sightings of the dwarven combat assets.

There was one issue, though.

Venerable Brutus brought the matter to everyone's attention.

"I do not see much material related to the expert mechs and expert pilots of the Ferril Provincial Army."

Calabast shook her head. "The Vulcanites are much more careful about exposing the details of their high-level combat assets. We cannot say with confidence how many expert mechs each enemy mech division is able to field. In our more pessimistic scenarios, we expect each dwarven mech regiment to field one expert mech in battle."

That amounted to 15 expert mechs which was more than double the amount of expert mechs that the Golden Skull Alliance was able to field!

Ves silently groaned. This was the Battle of Reckoning all over again but worse. Since the Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers were outnumbered by 7,000 mechs, they didn't have any extra assets to spare to block and whittle the surplus enemy expert mechs!

Though this wasn't enough for him to give up on this battle straight away, the mood in the conference room had definitely plummeted despite the fact that only Ves was physically present.

Patriarch Reginald did not look as pessimistic. He looked as if he still had confidence in winning the battle despite the heavy numerical disadvantage.

"I see you still managed to obtain details about a handful of their expert pilots."

Calabast nodded. "The Ferril Provincial Army has to put at least a number of its notable champions in the public eye in order to inspire the population. Expert pilots make for good heroes and are always able to boost recruitment. We believe that they are all the strongest of their respective mech divisions."

She began to present the dwarven heroes one by one, starting with a dwarf with a rich brown beard who was known to pilot a formidable expert space knight.

"Let's start with what will likely be our strongest individual opponent. Venerable Orthox De Massie is one of the few active expert pilots who took part in the rebellion that led to the founding of the Vulcan Empire. He is not particularly devout but he is a vocal dwarf supremacist. As an older expert pilot who experienced true war, he has only grown stronger ever since. Though no sources have ever confirmed that he is a high-tier expert pilot, it is likely that he has reached this level of strength. His expert mech, the Gatecrasher, is much more imposing than typical machines."

The two expert pilots in the meeting studied Venerable Orthox's information in great detail. The dwarven expert pilot's record featured a lot of impressive accomplishments, though much of them happened early in his career. Despite the long period of relative peace, neither Brutus nor Reginald felt the dwarven expert pilot had stagnated after the rebellion.

"He's a true warrior." Patriarch Reginald issued his judgement. "He's not a battle maniac but a crusader. He believes in his cause with all his heart and is willing to fight to the utmost of his ability to achieve his goals. This level of conviction is rare even among other expert pilots. I can see it in his eyes that he is not any weaker than myself."

That was a heavy announcement and one that further depressed the confidence of Ves and the others.

They all hoped that the enemy mech force would only dispatch ordinary expert pilots. Not so. With at least one expert pilot that was able to match Patriarch Reginald, the Cross Patriarch wouldn't be able to leverage his impressive martial prowess against weaker opponents!

When everyone studied Venerable Orthox's expert mech, some of them became even more discouraged.

"That's an impressive high-tier expert mech." Ves couldn't help but admit. "It is the most wonderful implementation of an offensive knight mech that I have ever seen."

As someone who designed an offensive knight mech or two, he knew what they were all about. The Gatecrasher might be shorter and stockier than normal humanoid mechs, but that also turned it into something akin to a giant projectile that could charge and smash straight through nearly every solid obstacle!

The thickly-armored space knight that was coated in lava red was clearly not designed to remain passive and soak up attacks. It exuded pure aggressive as its powerful but well-protected flight system excelled in accelerating the Gatecrasher on a straight trajectory.

Its designers obviously gave up on making maneuverability its strong point. Instead, the dwarven mech designers tried their best to turn the Gatecrasher into a literal battering ram! Whether it slammed in a formation of mechs or a solid ship hull, there was little that was able to block its thunderous charge!

"It's like a supercharged version of a lancer mech but without a sharp and pointy tip." Venerable Brutus commented.

"Not quite." Professor Benedict disagreed. "While the Gatecrasher is indeed designed for charges, its close-combat dueling capabilities are also formidable. Both its hammer and shield can be used to bash and bludgeon any opponent in range. If the enemy is too fast, then it can launch its special grappling hooks mounted on its frame to catch an elusive opponent."

Ves nodded in agreement. "I don't think our expert light skirmishers will be able to eliminate it by targeting its weak points. It is more mobile than an equivalent defensive space knight and its rear is much better armored than necessary. It's a mech that can hold its ground even when it is attacked on all sides."

The Gatecrasher's concept sounded very familiar to him. It reminded him of Venerable Orfan's Riot.

Both expert mechs attempted to perform the same role, though the Gatecrasher was much better at its job.

"Does it have any weaknesses?" Marshal Ariadne asked with a troubled face.

"It doesn't appear to be armed with serious ranged weapon systems." Ves answered. "It might carry a backup pistol or something but there is little about the design that suggests it can keep up with other expert ranged mechs. That said, its defenses are so high that it can endure any bombardment for a long amount of time."

If the Gatecrasher couldn't be taken out early, then the Golden Skull Alliance had no choice but to fight against Venerable Orthox on his terms! There was no other solution to neutralize the Gatecrasher's threat except to block it with another expert mech, one that was powerful enough to constrain an expert pilot and expert mech of this caliber.

Patriarch Reginald looked increasingly eager to test his skills against another formidable warrior.

"Venerable Orthox is mine. You do not need to concern yourself with him. I will never allow the Gatecrasher to penetrate our lines as long as I still stand.. That is a promise."