The Mech Touch

The cyborg cat silently moved through the solid floor until she had reached right underneath the seat of Arthur Pennylane, the Chief Executive Officer of the Pennylane Planetary Shipping Company.

While Ves did his best to pretend that he was listening attentively to President Yenames Clive's speech, he silently apologized to the innocent CEO.

In order for his plan to work, he needed a high-value sacrifice. Arthur Pennylane definitely met his requirements.

Besides, the old man was already getting on in his years, and he had already raised a bunch of qualified successors. The overworked CEO would probably appreciate the opportunity to go on an early retirement!

After completing his apology in advance, Ves gave the greenlight for Veronica to make her move!

The hidden cat's purple eyes gleamed as she exerted a tiny amount of her power.

Myaow!

"...Every Davutan must play his part in our struggle to defend against the aggression of the Karlachs. Whether you can pilot a mech or not, each of you--"

Bang!

"--can contribute to the survival of our precious colonial state..."

President Yenames Clive almost interrupted his speech after he received an emergency notification, but he managed to maintain control well enough to keep going without skipping any beat.

On the other hand, Block M quickly descended into panic as the body of Arthur Pennylane spontaneously burst into pieces!

"HE'S DEAD!" The executive sitting next to him rose to his feet in horror as blood and flesh spilled over from a body that should have been whole. "HE'S BEEN ASSASSINATED!"

The dramatic and explosive death of Arthur Pennylane triggered immediate reactions from a host of people!

President Yenames Clive may be carrying on with his speech while maintaining the same unflappable bearing and demeanor as always, but to say he was upset was an understatement!

The man did not want this strange assassination to completely ruin the most important occasion of his extensive lifetime.

A part of his mind already transmitted numerous urgent commands through his cranial implant. He wanted his subordinates to handle the situation right away and keep the disruption to a minimum!

Meanwhile, Block M became a lot more disarrayed as soon as a body burst apart as if a bomb had gone off inside his body.

It wasn't just the fact that someone spontaneously exploded that triggered so much panic and screaming.

It was the fact that it happened to an individual that should have been protected against assassination that truly shocked the people seated in Block M!

Strangely enough, the guests sitting at the other seating blocks hadn't actually noticed anything, which was exactly the result that the authorities wanted to keep.

This was because shortly after the powerful monitoring systems detected that an important guest had lost his life at Block M, a powerful projection overlapped the surface of the energy shield, depicting a simulated image of the guests while they were completely fine!

Nothing unusual seemed to have happened and Arthur Pennylane looked as if he was still completely healthy and breathing.

The founding ceremony therefore continued to proceed without getting marred by any awful accidents.

While the government officials were happy that it managed to prevent this incident from spilling over, that still didn't make up for the fact that one of their VIPs died under their watch!

A lot of activity took place within the false projected image.

For one, practically everyone rose from their seats as if they feared they would be next!

A lot of clever people had already guessed that the attack may be positional in nature. For example, a tiny bomb may have been planted beneath their seats.

For this reason, they not only relocated elsewhere, but also floated in the air so that they at least had a chance of detecting an incoming attack.

The security guards moved into action as well. Those that were closest immediately raced forward to examine the immediate area and determine whether there were any other explosives in the vicinity.

Dozens of other guards poured in from the other sections of the seating block. They either moved to calm down the panicking guards or fanned out to inspect the emptied seating areas.

Seconds later, a powerful Saint Kingdom engulfed the entire seating block.

"The Shotgun Shogun has arrived!"

"Get us out of here!"

"We demand restitution!"

"SILENCE." The amplified voice of Saint Shogi thundered into everyone's ears!

Though the heavy willpower of the ace pilot did much to calm and silence the VIPs by force, many of the invited guests were anything but average people!

Leaving aside the children and spouses that accompanied their important family members, the true VIPs were all highly intelligent or highly competent leaders in their own fields.

Their mental strength and determination were considerably higher than average. Though the prospect of death was enough to scare them out of their wits, they were not willing to allow an ace pilot to cow them into submission!

This counted double for the Crossers! A part of their leadership consisted of current or former mech pilots. The rest received some measure of combat training as the Garlen Empire where they originated from was an incredibly martial state where strength was admired.

It did not surprise anyone that the Crossers therefore exhibited the best reactions in response to the recent events.

At first, they flew out of their seats and spread out to prevent themselves from getting taken out at once by a single explosive attack.

Then, they started to converge into groups of 6 to 10 people. The most competent warriors among the Crossers surrounded the young and the vulnerable with their bodies.

Although there was not much they could do without their mechs or combat equipment, not all of them were as weak as they appeared on the surface!

Those with combat-oriented implants and genetic modifications could be surprisingly deadly under the right circumstances.

Not even the arrival of a powerful ace mech could sway them from their determination to bring themselves and their families to safety!

"It is not safe here anymore."

"We need to evacuate from this deathtrap as soon as possible!"

"Unlock the exits or get this damned energy shield out of the way!"

An ace pilot paired with a good machine may be more than capable of challenging enemy ace mechs and alien warships in a head-on clash, but Saint Shogi was not equipped to deal with the massed objections from hundreds of VIPs!

Many of these individuals controlled or contributed to a significant part of Davute's commercial, logistical, industrial and military sectors.

If too many of them lost their trust in the ability of their hosts to protect them or decided to take their business to another colonial state, then that would inflict an unimaginable amount of damage to Davute!

The state that President Yenames Clive dreamed of building was one that became strong due to accepting as much trade and commerce as possible.

If a large number of disgruntled groups pulled out their investments at once, then that might hinder the Davute Project's development plan and cause the once-promising state to falter in a war against the much more solid Karlach!

One of the reasons why Saint Shogi had been assigned to patrol the seating blocks was because he was not a single-minded brute that only knew how to solve problems by blasting his ace mech's formidable shotgun at them. He could be mindful when he needed to be and he was also frank enough to admit his own shortcomings.

"CALM DOWN. ADDITIONAL FORCES ARE ALREADY ON THEIR WAY TO SECURE THIS STRUCTURE. YOUR SAFETY IS OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY. NOTHING WILL HAPPEN AS SOON AS OUR ELITE TROOPERS ARRIVE. I HAVE ALREADY EXAMINED THE ENTIRE SEATING BLOCK WITH MY SAINT KINGDOM. I HAVE NOT DETECTED ANYTHING THAT CAN POSSIBLY POSE A THREAT TO YOUR LIVES."

The answer along with the powerful strength exuded by Saint Shogi made it difficult for the VIPs to directly challenge his words.

Though there were a number of CEOs or board directors that looked ready to step up, it was at this time that Master Benedict Cortez rose up and offered a retort.

"How can we possibly trust in your ability to detect danger when you have swept our seating block multiple times before? I know for certain that you have examined our location several times when Mr. Arthur Pennylane was within the range of your domain field. For you to be unable to detect anything amiss in his body or his immediate surroundings is a failure of the highest order. The CEO of one of the most largest and extensive transportation companies on the planet entrusted his safety to you and the security detail, but what has that got him? His body has fallen apart and his head has shattered to the point where we cannot preserve his brain anymore!"

Master Benedict had already entered into high alert from the moment that Ves sent him a cryptic warning.

Though Ves was not exactly the sanest mech designer he knew, the young Journeyman was a wiley survivor and had likely possessed an excellent sense for danger.

The warning along with the dramatic death of Mr. Pennylane had completely awakened a beast that the Master Mech Designer previously locked up in the depths of his being.

Benedict had roused the Skull Architect part of his life again. As a mech designer who had been forced to live the life of a pirate lord for a number of decades of his life, he had learned how to question everything.

"MASTER CORTEZ, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, I HAVE EXAMINED YOUR SEATING BLOCK FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AT FULL POWER. THERE ARE NO BOMBS, TRAPS OR ANY OTHER SOURCES OF THREATS IN THE AREA, IF THERE WERE ANY AT ALL. PLEASE--"

"Do not speak empty platitudes!" The Master Mech Designer shot back! "Your security measures have already failed once as any assassin that has sought to kill us has been able to circumvent them despite your best efforts. How can we expect that a repeat event will not happen when the circumstances have not fundamentally changed? You are still using the same tech and the same people to inspect our seating block! If the input remains similar enough, the outcome is unlikely to change. The probability that another person among us will die in spite of your raised alertness is still too high!"

The two kept arguing against each other. Saint Shogi wanted to placate the VIPs, but Master Benedict kept demanding to evacuate this cursed seating block.

This was unacceptable to the Davutans as it would ruin the perfectly choreographed founding ceremony!

"The only circumstance where we feel adequately protected is if you permanently stand guard next to our seating block." Master Benedict attempted to offer a compromise. "If your Saint Kingdom covers us for the remainder of this phase of this ceremony, you may convince us to return to our seats."

"I AM AFRAID I CANNOT DO THAT, MASTER. MY MISSION IS TO PATROL, INSPECT AND GUARD EVERY SEATING BLOCK. I AM NOT MEANT TO SERVE AS YOUR PERSONAL GUARD."

"Bring over another ace mech, then!"

"ALL OF OUR CURRENT ACE MECHS ALL HOLD IMPORTANT REPONSIBILITIES. THEY CANNOT BE REASSIGNED."

"Then let our clan recall our own ace mech! Saint Reginald Cross and the Mars are stationed not too far away in the same district. Bring him over so that we can take care of our own security!"

"YOUR SAINT IS NEEDED THERE. HE IS NOT PERMITTED TO APPROACH THE CENTER OF THIS DISTRICT."

Just as Master Benedict was ready to respond with another counter-argument, a series of dramatic events took place in a matter of seconds.

It started when the strong interference field that engulfed the center of the Government District malfunctioned all of a sudden.

"What happened?"

"I feel a lot more comfortable?"

Master Benedict knew enough about what had disappeared. He widened his eyes in alarm.

"The spatial interdiction fields responsible for blocking warp travel, teleportation and other forms of spatial manipulation have disappeared!"

By the time he finished that sentence, a large crowd of exobeasts of varying shapes and sizes appeared right in the middle of the plaza down below!

This eclectic swarm of exobeasts immediately went berserk and started to rampage in every direction!

What was worse was that this was not the only group of alien beasts that managed to get loose.

More clusters of violent and dangerous exobeasts had been teleported to multiple different streets throughout the Government District!

"Ahhh!"

"Where are the guards?!"

The heart of Davute had come under attack by an unlikely category of hostiles!

As alarms rang in the air, three of the oddest-looking beasts suddenly turned into different directions and opened their maws.

Each creature released a supremely powerful transphasic heat beam that was targeted towards three seemingly random seating blocks!

One of them happened to be Block M!

Even as two of the heat beams overcame the energy shields protecting Block E and Block Y with disturbing ease, the Shotgun Shogun had placed itself directly in front of Block M and utilized all of its formidable defensive capabilities to block the third heat beam!