The Mech Touch

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The struggle at the flanks took a turn from the worst as soon as the odd turtle mechs showed up. Though the Larkinsons had always been on guard against these hardy machines, it was only now that the expeditionary forces truly experienced what this ranged mech was able to accomplish!

"Those cannons hit too hard!"

"Our ranged support can't take them down!"

"Calm down! We need to charge up to them and destroy them up close."

"We can't! The other Hivar Roarer mechs are screening for their turtle mechs!"

It was only now that the main strategy of the Hivar Roarers came to life. The tiger mechs, avian mechs and other bestial machines merely served as bodyguards for the turtle mechs at the moment.

Their only role was to prevent enemy melee mechs from getting close enough to crack open the turtle shells!

When Ves saw how much impact the turtle mechs were making, he immediately became alarmed.

"What the hell are those mechs?"

He quickly called up the intelligence and the various analysis reports compiled by other mech designers.

Apparently, the turtle mechs were called the Crumbleshells. They were the signature mechs of the elite Mokabe Bombadiers mech regiment.

Even though the Bombardiers wasn't classified as an elite mech regiment, it shared several similarities with the Steel Rain.

The most notable aspect of the Crumbleshells was their odd shape and the advantages they bestowed. They were designed around their shells which offered plenty of internal volume while at the same time not displaying a large profile towards an enemy.

THese turtleshells were as thick and resilient as the armor of a medium space knight. They could withstand a lot of attacks head-on, but they were highly noted for their even thicker side armor.

By concentrating a lot of armor at the sides which would usually face towards the enemy, they were much harder to damage and disable than humanoid space knights.

"This armor design is quite ingenious actually."

Aside from the vulnerable gun ports, the turtle mechs did not possess any other exterior weak points! The top, bottom and sides of the Crumbleshell design were all thick and well-protected, but not to the point that it affected its mobility too much.

Defense wasn't the turtle mech's only strong point. Unlike space knights, the Crumbleshells were able to output a moderately high amount of damage at medium range. The gauss cannons that took the place of the limbs of a normal turtle were all of medium caliber.

This did not sound impressive at first, but the Crumbleshell's main armament were designed according to much different specifications from the cannons of the Steel Rain's iconic Cracker series.

The special cannons were characterized by relatively low accuracy, low firing rate, respectable impact damage and most notably access to a lot of ammunition!

The Crumbleshell was not a heavy mech, but due to the reasonable size of its cannons, it was able to carry a large amount of ammunition and energy cells. In addition, its large bulk and plentiful armor allowed it to absorb a lot of heat.

Although the Crumbleshells weren't accurate enough to perform long-ranged bombardment, their threat level rose drastically as long as they came closer to their targets. By employing their distinctive spinning maneuver, they were able to fire their four cannons in rotation at the same target, thereby putting any enemy in their sights under a huge amount of pressure.

If the mech being targeted couldn't find any cover or if no one forced the Crumbleshell to interrupt its action, the poor machine was bound to get crushed!

This was what was happening at the moment. The Crumbleshells did not work together to concentrate their firepower on a single target. While this allowed them to destroy individual mechs at a faster rate, they instead picked their own targets and therefore maximized the amount of human mechs that came under heavy pressure.

Instantly, the tide had turned. Though the Valkyrie Interceptors urgently used their pulse submachine guns to hit back at the Crumbleshells, the rapid streams of pulsed particles simply bounced off the exterior of the turtle mechs without accomplishing anything except chipping the outermost layer!

It was more than obvious that the Crumbleshells functioned similar to a lighter version of Doom Crawlers in space. They were practically invincible at medium range.

The only way to slaughter them in an efficient manner was to attack them at point-blank range!

Anyone could see that while the Crumbleshells completely sacrificed every form of melee combat capability. They did not even have articulating limbs which meant they weren't able to employ claws or wield handheld weapons that could help them fend off attackers.

In fact, the firing angles of their four gauss cannons were also very awkward. As long as a mech managed to land on the top or bottom of their shells, there was nothing the Crumbleshells could do to fend off their slayers!

Yet no matter whether it was the Ferocious Piranhas, the Bright Warriors or the other swordsman mechs, none of them succeeded in breaking through the ranks of the other Hivar Roarer mechs.

Though the dwarves were more than happy to go on the attack, they excelled at defense! As long as they had to defend a fixed position or an important unit, they were able to employ numerous tactics that were highly effective at preventing breaches.

The hardiness of their mechs also played a good role at this time. The general dwarven design philosophy always put a lot of emphasis on defense. Even the Hivar Roarers which was supposed to be the lightest and most mobile mech division of the Ferril punitive fleet did not go too lightly when they formed their mech roster.

Now, all of the bestial mech regiments of the Hivar Roarers had stopped trying to advance at all cost. Instead, they formed a stubborn defensive envelope that matched its pace with the slow advance of the Crumbleshells.

It was as if the Hivar Roarer mechs had combined into a moving fort! No matter which angle the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers tried to attack them from, the fort was able to orient its mechs and guns quickly so that an offensive push would quickly get repelled!

Though the mechs of the expeditionary forces managed to down plenty of bestial mechs in these failed pushes, the fact of the matter was that they were losing mechs at a faster rate than the Hivar Roarers!

What was even worse was that since the Crumbleshells took action, only a handful of them had been repelled!

Occasional support fire from the distant Transcendent Punishers and other ranged mechs managed to overwhelm the defenses of a small amount of turtle mechs, but the cost was too great.

The low profile of the Crumbleshells along with their ability to move meant that it took a disproportionate amount of effort to take them down. A Transcendent Punisher could have destroyed at least two Steel Rain heavy artillery mechs with the same effort it took to take down a Crumbleshell, and that also took into account the difficulty of breaking through bunkers!

"Gloriana, those Crumbleshells are tearing up our wings!" Ves contacted his wife from the bridge. "Have you found any of their critical vulnerabilities yet!?"

"No! What makes you think I'll be able to come up with something? Those Crumbleshells are impeccably designed. I didn't expect the dwarves to be so good at designing defensive systems. The only way to take them down with ease is to fire into their gun ports while they have exposed their cannons."

Ves shook his head. "That's too difficult."

Any Crumbleshell that came under heavy fire could instantly adopt a defensive posture. They were able to retract their short-barreled cannons and close the gap with armor curtains. Though this solution prevented the Crumbleshells from attacking, it was highly worth it to increase their durability and buy time for other turtle mechs to maintain their own attacks.

Ves shifted his eyes to the left and right wings. The situation for both of them wasn't so good now that the Mokabe Bombardiers had shown their might.

Still, there was one mech legion on the flanks that had yet to take action. The Swordmaiden mechs had been hanging back. They functioned as reserves that should only take action if the Larkinsons needed a breakthrough.

Should the Swordmaidens be put into play at this time? The situation did not look ideal. Usually, the Swordmaidens were extremely effective at attacking enemy units from the flanks or behind. Their lethal offensive capabilities allowed them to mow down a huge amount of mechs in quick succession as long as their enemies weren't prepared.

This was not possible right now. The bestial mechs of the Hivar Roarers guarded the Crumbleshells from every direction. There was no proper 'front' or 'rear'.

Attacking a prepared defensive formation from the front was not the best use of the Swordmaidens. General Verle knew that as well and did not order them to go forward at this time.

"We still need to find a solution." Ves hummed and rubbed his smooth-shaven chin.

There was one solution that he knew would definitely force a breakthrough. His gaze shifted over to the friendly forces on the right wing, which was a little stronger than the forces stationed at the left wing.

As long as Venerable Dise and her elite Swordmaidens activated their battle formation, they could instantly slice through a lot of dwarven mechs, especially the Crumbleshells which had closed up in a tighter formation due to the need to form an effective defensive envelope.

"They're not tight enough enough, though."

Ves was reluctant to resort to this option because the Hivar Roarers were still too dispersed for his liking. The thousands of mechs deployed by the enemy meant that they naturally spread out over a wider area.

He decided to discuss this matter with General Verle. He activated a private communication channel and shared his ideas.

"I've been told that Venerable Dise has not been idle during this time." General Verle said. "She has made rapid progress in developing her own sword style. She has developed numerous new extraordinary sword techniques, many of which can be performed in combination with the First Sword or the Swordmaiden battle network."

Ves' eyes lit up. "Has she developed any wide area attack techniques?"

"She has, but… she hasn't performed them under these conditions before. No one can estimate the power and range of her new technique. There is a substantial chance that the broad attack will leave many enemy mechs functional if in a damaged state."

The two fell silent for a time.

"Should we do it?" Ves tentatively asked.

"...Let us be patient. Their expert mechs have yet to emerge. I have been trying to keep this card in reserve for the enemy's expert mechs. If we put it into play against ordinary mechs, we will lose a powerful option that can immediately wipe an enemy expert mech off the board."

This was certainly a critical priority, but Ves also saw that the battle at the flanks couldn't continue in this way. His forces were learning how to deal more damage to the Hivar Roarer defensive formations but the latter were still in a winning posture.

He needed to play another card. The question was which one he should use to disrupt this awful situation.

He briefly raised his newly-made hammer. Was this the right time to perform his charade? He judged that he would be able to achieve a much better effect after he played his other trump cards.

After all, it was a lot easier to pretend to be a powerful god if his mechs had all displayed extremely powerful abilities that were far beyond the capabilities of ordinary machines!

"Sir, our center units are about to collide against the Molten Hammers!"

Ves quickly directed his attention to the middle of the battlefield. After both sides steadily approached the center, the mechs began to speed up a bit so that they could cross weapons with the enemy!