The Mech Touch

e against a possible sandman incursion? ” He asked.

”Not great. ” Magdalena answered glumly.
”Though we have hundreds of Living Sentinels stationed on this planet, not all of them are up to standard or adept at spaceborn combat.
Don ’t expect us to perform as well as the Avatars or the Mech Corps in combat.
I ’ve been drilling my people more frequently now in order to make them get used to the pressure of fighting back-to-back battles, but we simply don ’t have enough depth to sustain a prolonged campaign. ”

The Living Sentinels mainly existed to guard LMC assets.
Fighting off pirates, troublemakers and an occasional incursion was doable, but it would be too much to ask them to endure the same pressure at the front.

”Beef up the Sentinels. ” Ves ordered.
”Even if most of the Living Sentinels opted out of volunteering to fight at the front, the sandmen won ’t be stuck there forever.
If the frontlines are ever breached, then Bentheim and Cloudy Curtain will certainly come under assault.
This is our home.
I won ’t accept abandoning everything I ’ve built here to the aliens. ”

”It will be difficult to increase the strength of the Living Sentinels any further, sir.
Every mech pilot that is available has already been snapped up.
Those who remain free have already fled the state.
The only way we can elevate our fighting strength is if we have better mechs than the Desolate Soldiers.
Although I understand why you ’ve designed them to be cheap and easy to produce, their lack of resilience has led to elevated losses against abnormal sandman fleet configurations. ”

He knew what she was referring to.
Having studied the footage and after-action reports of many battles in the front, Ves was aware that armor wasn ’t completely useless in the Sand War.

Whenever the sandmen employed a swarm configuration or any other configuration that encouraged massed laser fire, the better-armored mechs always fared better.

Unfortunately, Ves did not have a good response at this time.

”I ’m sorry commander, I don ’t have a better alternative on hand.
While the Militant Soldier that I ’m working on is much better armored and equipped to face the sandmen, it ’s a model that ’s exclusive to the Mech Corps.
With all of the proprietary hardware and standards incorporated in its design… ”

As a veteran of the Mech Corps, Magdalena needed no further elaboration.

”Am I allowed to procure better mech models sold by other mech companies? ”

Ves casually waved his hand.
”I ’ve never prohibited the Avatars and Sentinels from purchasing external models.
While I have great faith in my products, I ’m well aware that my mech catalog is far from complete.
If you need to fulfill a role in your mech roster, just base your decisions on what is best for the Living Sentinels. ”

”Thank you, sir. ” Magdalena answered with a hint of relief.
”I think we ’ll have to draw more money from the LMC to invest in a few mech companies of midrange or premium mechs. ”

”Feel free to invest as much as you need to strengthen our combat strength.
Money is one thing we aren ’t short of, and it ’s rapidly growing more worthless anyway.
I ’d rather be sitting on a pile of mechs than several hundred billion bright credits. ”

They spent some time discussing how to expand the LMC ’s strength.
Aside from buying mechs, the Sentinel Commander also wanted to beef up the fixed defenses of the LMC.

A lot had to be done before Ves was happy.
”At least we don ’t have to shoulder the responsibility of defending Cloudy Curtain alone.
The government will definitely station a garrison force here soon.
We ’re so close to Bentheim that it would be a disaster if the sandmen overrun our star system. ”

Even so, Ves would never place his life in the hands of others.
The periodic setbacks and defeats at the front already showed that the Bright Republic was not infallible.

Worse yet, the situation was worse in many other states.
The Reinald Republic for example had already lost a significant chunk of territory, while the Vesia Kingdom was hard-pressed to hold the line.

”The Vesians aren ’t doing so well. ” Magdalena bitterly smirked.
”The Mech Legion may be stronger than the Mech Corps, but they ’ve been a bit slower than us in deploying starfighters.
Their divided nature and lack of central direction has come back to haunt them.
By the time the royal house gained enough authority to command the state, the sandmen are already hitting the Vesians hard. ”

”It doesn ’t help that the spatial geography is much more unfavorable for the Vesians. ” Ves remarked.

On a star map, the Bright Republic resembled an apple while the Vesians resembled a mango.

If the narrow side of the mango faced the direction of the sandman invasion, then the Vesians could easily defend this narrow front.

Sadly for the Vesians, their state was oriented on the side, which meant that the sandmen crashed against the entire length of this extended front!

The Mech Legion and its auxiliary forces had to stretch themselves thin to cover a huge territory! Breakthroughs already occurred in some places, and the Vesians had to expend a lot of effort to plug the gaps!

In fact, Ves even read in the news that the rebels in the state had all received similar deals to the Bentheim Liberation Movement.

Organizations such as the Vesian Liberation Front received full amnesty and many other concessions in return for lending their strength.

The value of strength trumped anything else!

In any case, the Vesian rebels who agitated against the nobles had no problems burying the hatchet this time.
This was because they fought on behalf of the commoners, all of whom were under grave threat!

Between getting oppressed by nobles and massacred by sandmen, the rebels did not hesitate to choose the lesser of two evils!

Recalling the Vesian rebels made Ves think on how a certain mech designer in their camp was doing.

”I haven ’t been in touch with Iris Jupiter for so long.
I wonder how she ’s doing? ”

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