The Mech Touch

Ves glanced at the time. He knew he had to wrap up his lecture soon.

This was not necessarily because he was close to reaching the end of the time block for this lecture. He still had a lot of time to spare to hold a question and answer session after he wrapped up his presentation.

He already dropped enough bombshells for today.

He presented so many subversive ideas to these sheltered Terran students that they needed time to process his words before he could address any other related subject matters.

However, the more acute reason why he was eager to bring his inaugural lecture to a close was because the status quo on the battlefield was on the verge of breaking!

Although both sides managed to inflict serious damage on each other's starships, the enemy held a more decisive advantage due to their superior mobility characteristics.

Each time his mechs invested a lot of effort into breaking the defenses of an alien ship, the vessel in question would quickly retreat and pull away at a speed that the Spirit of Bentheim could not match!

This scumbag-like behavior frustrated Ves and the Larkinsons to no end because the alien vessels would always be able to restore their transphasic energy shields in peace before returning into battle again!

Only three yurzen destroyers had been forced to make a permanent exit in the running battle. They had opted to get closer in order to bring their shorter ranged armaments to bear, but that granted the Macharia Excelsia better opportunities to strike them with repeated heavy piercing blows!

The remaining alien vessels had learned their lesson from this incident and maintained a healthy distance from the human starship. This conservative approach drastically extended the duration of the ongoing pursuit, but it was the best way to preserve their numbers while guaranteeing victory over the long term.

The aliens bet that their persistent attacks would slowly grind down the defenses of the Spirit of Bentheim. From the way this lengthy fight had progressed so far, their gambit was about to pay off unless the Golden Skullers took action to turn the tides!

Ves proceeded to finish his current story.

"There are two more 'resources' that merit greater attention." He told his remote audience. "As mentioned before, technology, or rather knowledge, is our greatest advantage over the aliens. It can act as a powerful force multiplier that will enable us to defeat hundreds of alien warships with much less troops on our side. The battle that I am currently invested in is a typical example of that. Better tech can allow us to use much less resources to defeat many more numerous opponents."

He was right in a sense. Even if he also enjoyed an advantage in superior high-level manpower, the Spirit of Bentheim and her contingent of mechs clearly used up a lot less materials than their current adversaries!

The disparity in mass and volume could have become even greater if the professor employed proper first-class mechs and starships!

"Technology is one great advantage that we can leverage against our alien opposition." Ves spoke with a smirk. "The other is a powerful resource that few people know how to tap into. Our relative proximity to Messier 87 has given us access to exotic radiation. While I can't say anything about R particle radiation, we humans already possess a head-start in knowing how to leverage E energy radiation. It shares a complex relationship with mechs as well as other disciplines that are a bit more obscure. Let me ask you another question. Compared to the other resources that I have mentioned, what is the greatest advantage of E energy radiation?"

A fourth of the students who enrolled in the course raised their hands. Klaus did likewise at this time.

However, he did not get picked this time.

Professor Larkinson looked at another fourth-year student with greater interest. "I can sense you have a special relationship with E energy radiation, Mr. Sebastian Elkmar. Why don't you share your insight about this phenomenon with everyone."

Klaus knew his classmate fairly well. Sebastian was a member of the Elkmar Ancient Clan. He used to be a rather typical highborn Terran, but he has changed a lot since he returned after the start of the latest semester.

His entire vibe had undergone a huge change and his personality became different as well.

As Sebastian steadily stood up, he supplied a brief but correct answer. "E energy radiation is abundantly available. It can be accessed in any part of the Red Ocean. It can freely be drawn upon without paying any cost aside from depriving it from other nearby users. Its supply is virtually endless."

Ves nodded in agreement. "Correct. E energy radiation is almost the opposite of phasewater in that sense. It is a strategic resource that can act as an incredibly powerful force multiplier. However, the main limitation that prevents most of us from tapping into its potential is lack of technology rather than extreme scarcity of supply. We are literally being flooded by it day and night, but almost all of it is going to waste because too few people know what to do with all of this stuff."

This was true. Klaus and many of his classmates had yet to take any classes related to this new phenomenon because it was just too new!

Their professors were all working hard to figure out its properties and how to apply it in their existing works.

All of this took time, so the students had to wait at least a semester before the Eden Institute would be able to introduce courses on this new type of energy!

Sebastian Elkmar decided to ask a question this time.

"E energy radiation is widely available, but also challenging to control. How do you propose we make use of this resource, professor?"

Ves grinned once again. "There are many possible answers. Let me give you one that aligns most closely with my passion and my principles. E energy radiation is the most generous gift to the common folk because anyone can theoretically draw upon its power. As a mech designer, I am working hard to design mechs and other inventive solutions that can enable our population to make use of E energy radiation. Most people may be individually weak and not all that competent in this practice, but their power can reach frightening proportions once they form a collective. Let me give you a practical example of how clever usage of this resource can grant us an immense advantage in our ongoing war against the aliens."

He turned around and opened a few communication channels.

"Let's proceed with the next step of the plan."

"Acknowledged."

Although the current state of the Spirit of Bentheim looked dire, Ves did not enter this battle without preparing a few extra cards.

Part of the reasons why he did not use them sooner was because the purpose of this operation was to keep Stingray 2 and a significant chunk of yurzen starships away from the main alien raiding fleet.

If the Spirit of Bentheim did not show enough vulnerabilities to give the aliens enough hope of taking her down, the enemy vessels might turn back prematurely.

This was no longer a concern. When Ves switched his gaze to another projected feed, he could see that the main expeditionary fleet was finally about to close in and surround the original ambush site.

Stingray 1 and all of the heavier and less mobile yurzen warships would soon get attacked by a vastly superior allied mech force!

Even if Stingray 2 and her entourage of lighter yurzen warships turned back on this instant, it would be too late for them to make a difference!

As soon as Ves issued the command that many of his men were waiting for, a major event set in motion in a completely different zone.

Back in the Hex Federation, billions of Hexer colonists gathered together into organized groups and began to kneel in unison in front of projections of the ongoing battle.

The live feeds that were broadcasted throughout all of the settlements of the Hex Federation all centered around the Macharia Excelsia!

Right now, almost every single male and female Hexer prostrated and began to pray for victory for one of their ace pilots!

"ALL HAIL SAINTESS ULRIKA VRAKEN!"

"ALL HAIL THE PROTECTOR OF THE HEX FEDERATION!"

"ALL HAIL THE BLESSED CHAMPION OF THE SUPERIOR MOTHER!"

The rituals and prayers were not entirely consistent, but the massed prayer activity across an entire colonial state was so enormous in scope that the Hexers actually managed to induce a vague and mysterious reaction!

As Saintess Ulrika Vraken fought hard to deplete the transphasic energy shields of the enemy vessels, she began to feel a surge of power.

Her eyes widened a bit as she noticed that her exhaustion no longer dragged her down as much as before.

As the power surge continued to affect her in unknown ways, she felt that she had barely managed to tap into a pool of energy that was just begging to get used!

The problem was that Ulrika did not feel she was capable or suited to tap into this enormous well of energy.

As she tried to tap into this friendly but highly uncontrollable energy, her eyes began to glow like a goddess!

She experienced an enormous degree of strain that was so overwhelmingly powerful that she could feel something inside begin to break!

It was dangerous for her to remain in contact with the power of the collective hopes and prayers of the Hexer people for long!

Ulrika gritted her teeth and utilized her supremely strong willpower to forcefully endure the pain and concentrate on forming multiple firing solutions against the enemy ships that had no clue what was coming.

The ace pilot had been exchanging fire with them for several hours. She had long grown familiar with the movement patterns of each individual vessel. It took far less effort to prepare her firing solutions than at the beginning of the fight!

The Phase King also took action at this time. He invested all of his effort into amplifying the transphasic properties of the Macharia Excelsia's mech rifle to an even greater extent than before.

Once Ulrika was ready, she chose to pull the trigger of her supercharged Hexfire rifle not once, but six times in rapid succession!

"HEXERS SHALL REIGN SUPREME!"

Six bright explosions took place as the overcharged energy beams not only punched straight through the struggling transphasic energy shields of the targeted yurzen light cruisers, but also bore straight through their hulls and destroyed so many compartments and essential ship systems that the alien vessels got crippled at once!

The amount of operational alien vessels that were in the process of besieging the Spirit of Bentheim had dropped to just 12 all of a sudden!

This was not all. The plan prepared by the Golden Skullers included more than just the Hexers.

While Saintess Ulrika Vraken and her Macharia Excelsia demolished the yurzens, Ves had already shifted his attention towards Stingray 2.

He had long built up a lot of animosity towards this fiendishly advanced alien warship.

"Stark! Amaranto!"

"We are ready and waiting."

When Ves formed a connection with his most accurate long-ranged masterwork mech once again, he quietly transferred Blinky to the other side.

"Mrow!"

The mysterious gem set on the forehead of the Star Cat began to glow as the companion spirit tapped into Ves' accumulated Worclaw energy!

Though Ves still knew far too little about the nature of this foreign energy type, that did not stop him from using it to his own advantage.

Venerable Stark and the Amaranto were already somewhat acquainted with this extremely potent and violent type of energy.

They proficiently charged up the Instrument of Vengeance and channeled as much true resonance to it as possible!

Not only that, but the Illustrious One also came down and tried to bless the prime luminar crystal rifle as much as he could!

The energy vortex around the Amaranto grew larger and more active as the masterwork expert mech attempted to pile up as much energy in the supercharged attack as possible no matter the kind!

Once the weapon had reached its ultimate limit, Venerable Stark steadily pulled the trigger of her weapon as she had already formed her own firing solution.

"It's over." Stark whispered with absolute certainty in her voice.

A bright energy beam that looked and felt a lot different from the most recent volley of attacks surged out of the muzzle of the Instrument of Vengeance with fatal power.

The beam quickly zipped across space before anyone could blink their eyes and followed an arching trajectory before they collided against the multi-layered transphasic energy shields of Stingray 2!

Due to enduring a large quantity of attacks in the preceding hours, the defenses of the puelmer heavy cruiser were no longer in their prime condition.

Nonetheless, the intelligent aliens made sure to maintain a sufficient buffer in order to cope with any surprises.

Yet for all of their calculations, none of the puelmers expected the Amaranto to fire a shot empowered by a completely foreign energy type that was never included in their databases!

The power of this empowered composite energy beam attack was so great that it not only punched through all of the energy shield layers, but also struck a portion of the main thrusters of the enemy vessel before burrowing deeper inside the hull!

Due to the arcing trajectory of the energy beam, the strike damaged so many important ship systems that the vessel suddenly suffered a serious loss of firepower, defenses and mobility.

Although Stingray 2 still retained a part of her fighting capabilities, the sudden drop in comprehensive performance caused the alien ship to become heavily disadvantaged all of a sudden!

Meanwhile, everyone who witnessed all of this taking place from the auditorium of the Eden Institute became shocked at what had just occurred!

The Terrans had never witnessed such an unexpected turn of events in an ongoing battle!

Once Ves took in the outcome of these latest gambits, he smiled in satisfaction and turned towards his audience.

"That is how you beat the aliens. If you want to learn how to design mechs that can potentially produce comparable results, then I invite you to enroll in one of my other courses. Any questions?"