[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 51: Test Pilot I

They quickly made themselves home by violently displacing the local interests group of a nearby planet. As their advanced mechs and other equipment was expensive to maintain, they did as many other outsiders had done and demanded excessive 'taxes' from the local populace. A few riots and bloodshed later, the Mech Corps finally smashed their remaining ship and much of their mechs apart.

Naturally, that wasn't the end of the story. A couple of individual mechs aboard private shuttles managed to escape to FTL range and transitioned to other star systems. It didn't matter which one, they only cared if it had no presence. If the Mech Corps had to split up and hunt them all down, they had to waste a massive amount of time.

Better to employ bounty hunters like Caruthers to do the dirty work for them. Though the risk of facing a superior mech was substantial, Caruthers trusted his team to beat this foreigner the same way the Mech Corps smashed their whole group. With teamwork and superior numbers.

The cockpit rumbled a little. Sounds from the outside made it clear the shuttle Caruthers boarded with his mech had finished landing.

"Let's get this show on the road."

He pressed the red gem in the middle of his console and made his mech come to light. Bright red colors unfolded in his projectors like a flower coming to bloom. The entire cockpit lighted up as Caruthers breathed deeply and let his brain sink into the neural interface.

The warm, familiar presence of his personal mech embraced his return. Despite owning the Phoenix Cry for a few weeks, Caruthers already considered it to be his home.

"You're also likely to be my last mech." Caruthers endearingly spoke to his mech as he caressed the console's surface. "I'm too old to go out and hunt the scum of the galaxy. Let's have a blast and make it to the end."

The Marc Antony model progressed through its startup with rapid efficiency. As Caruthers finished booting up his mech, he connected to the audio channel where his six teammates were already present.

"Miley, how's your big one?"

"I'm still hearing creaking from my left knee. I swear the grease monkeys have been slacking off again!"

The other pilots in the channel exchanged their own usual banter. Caruthers paid little attention to them as he reviewed the information his sources had gathered once again. "Pipe down, boys and girls. Let's go over the job. We've got a tip that there's a Red Feet squirreling away in an abandoned mine in whatever fucked up place this is called."

"Don't you think you should call him a Red Foot?"

"Ah, whatever." Caruthers waved his hand. "Despite being cornered, the Red 'Foot' that's in the mine has enough knowledge to use the abandoned gear inside to build himself a makeshift fortress. Any attempts by the local militia to oust this Foot came back with a bloody nose and millions worth of damage. Don't be too complacent. This guy's a tough cookie."

"What's his loadout?"

"That's the troubling thing. This guy's mech is all set for extended engagements. His machine is a medium rifleman with a souped up laser rifle. And before you hope he's run low, he took away the husks of the mechs he downed and scavenged all their energy cells. And that's not taking into account whatever energy he could scrounge up from all of the mining equipment available."

All-in-all, it sounded like a bad situation. With a powerful laser rifle pointed in the only entry point of the mine, no casual group of mercenaries could take on such an opponent and come out ahead.

Too bad Caruthers encountered plenty of bastards in his career, many of whom pulled much worse out of their horrid bag of tricks. Holing up in an abandoned mine in the middle of nowhere was nothing special.