The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4329

Now that Operation Saturday Market had progressed past its most dangerous and risky phase, Ves and many Larkinsons in the fleet no longer remained on high alert.

That did not mean that they let loose every precaution and treated this trip to Pima Prime like a holiday, but at least no one needed to act as if the Fridaymen could start a fight at any second.

The intelligence operatives dispatched by the Hexers and the Larkinsons gained an excellent grasp of enemy movements and activity. The defeat of the Sundered Phalanx in orbit combined with the chaos and disruption that took place on the surface opened up a lot of vulnerabilities that agents took advantage of in the last few days.

The local Fridaymen didn't even know that a part of their command centers had already been bugged!

This was why Ves possessed a high degree of confidence that nothing on the surface could threaten his main fleet at this stage.

The only serious danger that he needed to take into account was the possibility that a large mech army was quickly heading towards Pima Prime V under warp travel.

However, the Hex Army already took that possibility into account. They had seeded every corner of the star system with probes and listening devices whose sole job was to track warp travel activity.

Every warp drive and minidrive worked by bending the surrounding space to form so-called warp bubbles that allowed mechs and starships to reach their destinations faster.

The disturbances and fluctuations generated by these powerful drives were as obvious as observing the ripples of a lake.

Even if the fast-acting reinforcements dispatched by the Fridaymen managed to avoid the detection of all of these warp detectors, the Hex Army already deployed a web of warp inhibitors in every direction.

This prevented the newcomers from dropping their ships and mechs right on top of the invading fleet! _{frёewebnoѵēl.com}

With all of these precautions and more in place, Ves decided to relax and enjoy the good news that his troops regularly transmitted from the surface.

He moved back to the main design lab and began to study the abundance of data generated by the battle in orbit.

There was so much interesting footage and data that Ves felt as if he had entered a paradise!

He casually waved his hand and activated a projection that showed a globe representing Pima Prime V.

The augmented map not only showed the fantastic terraformed landscape of a colony that the Gauge Dynasty once regarded as one of its crown jewels, but also tracked the activities taking place in different settlements.

The city of Ardam turned into a particularly busy hotspot as at least a half of the mechs that landed on the surface had infested the place!

"It's beautiful." Gloriana remarked as she held a dozing Marvaine in her arms. She had taken her eyes away from the battle footage of the Mars to observe the globe as well. "Look at all the cities that are burning. The Hex Army is as decisive as ever."

The Hexers specifically brought out striker mechs armed with flamethrowers and artillery mechs capable of firing flammable shells to burn as much construction as possible.

Though engulfing the cities in flames took quite a lot of effort that the Hexers could have spent on breaking open more fortified areas, the Hexers eagerly wanted to make Pima Prime V as unlivable as possible.

The main reason for the Hexers to spread so many fires wasn't even centered around setting back development or trying to destroy as much value as possible.

The Hexers wanted to spread fear and apprehension in the hearts of the Fridaymen. By wiping out their homes and workplaces, the Hexers sent their archenemies a clear and open message.

It was conceivable that it would become a lot less popular for the Fridaymen in the old galaxy to immigrate to the new frontier!

After all, the Fridaymen recently gained control over an entire star sector. The Friday Coalition reigned over Komodo Star Sector and did not have to worry about getting attacked by hostile neighbors.

The Friday Colonies were in a different situation. Not only were the colonies a lot less developed than any population center back in the old galaxy, but the colonists also had to take into account that the Hexers might drop by and ruin the party at any time!

Ves shook his head in disapproval. "Don't talk like that in front of our kids. Our conflict against the Friday Coalition is old news. The two of us might still harbor hard feelings against the Fridaymen, but I don't want children to get caught up in a spiral of revenge."

He directed a loving gaze at his suited daughters who were sitting on a mat while playing with their cats.

"Miaow~" Clixie purred as Aurelia scratched the cat behind the ears.

"Meow." Lucky jumped up in the air and caught the ball that Andraste had flicked above her head.

Both girls noticed their father's attention and beamed in his direction.

"Papa!"

"I'm aware of that, honey, but I already have an idea on how to handle that. I think these corrosive fluids pair best with organic mechs. In fact, it might even be possible to design a biomech that contains an organ that can automatically produce a specific formula as long as it is fed with the right materials!"

Ves didn't know why, but he felt the strange urge to design a scorpion-based mech.

Perhaps it was because one of his proudest and strongest works got destroyed by the Skorpion Kommando.

Even though the circumstances behind the Shield of Samar were unconventional to say the least, a defeat was a defeat.

Perhaps a normal person would have developed an animosity towards the Skorpion Kommando for killing off such a powerful and valuable living mech, but Ves was different.

As a mech designer, he respected and admired any mech that was strong enough to beat his own work.

Ves even wanted to call the Viper and hold a constructive exchange with her in order to understand the design of the Skorpion Kommando.

It was unfortunate that he probably wasn't on speaking terms with the Masters of the Gauge Dynasty. Many of them probably hated his guts for defeating so many of their works!

"How is the Mars doing, by the way?" Ves asked.

"Shouldn't you be asking this question to the Crossers?"

"Master Benedict probably wants to deepen your involvement in its development. I haven't received any news about the Mars lately. Did he invite you to tweak the Mars further?"

"In fact, he did." Gloriana unabashedly grinned. "The Mars revealed so much about itself during its duel against the Neo Amadeus. It also evolved so much over the course of the fight that we need to survey all of the changes and understand how elements such as the Endex System and the god body system will continue to affect its performance. I already have a few follow-up ideas in mind to optimize its configuration as a second skin mech as opposed to a traditional living mech."

"That's… nice."

Ves was not jealous. Seriously. He was just happy that his wife continued to receive further opportunities to participate in the ongoing development of the only ace mech in the Golden Skull Alliance.

It might even be for the best that Ves didn't waste his time on a mech that no longer had much to do with him anymore. He gained so many new ideas from the recent battle that he could easily pack his schedule with lots of interesting design projects.