[401-600] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 454: Caught in the Web

"The Vandals think that Lowenfield has rescued them from ruin. It's the opposite. She's leading them to eventual damnation."

The worst thing about it was that Ves had no means of conveying his suspicions to the Mech Corps or anyone else back home. If he had access to his personal comm and the System, he might have been able to covertly send a message to the right people, but without his toys, he possessed very little means to halt this dormant but threatening crisis.

"It's like boarding onto a passenger ship from orbit, only to find out that she is slowly descending into atmosphere and will eventually crash onto the surface of a planet. It's a one way trip, and all the escape pods are tightly guarded by the whole crew who are intent on riding this ship to her final destination."

If Ves threw all caution to the wind, he might be able to storm the communications center in the restricted area with the help of the Amastendira. The dematerialized weapon was his only hidden asset, and could deal an awesome amount of damage, enough to pull off a surprise attack, but only once.

He quickly discarded the idea of pulling off such a hairbrained gambit. The Vandals would surely kill him even if he got his message out.

He was like a fly who got entangled in the web of a spider. Colonel Lowenfield would never let anyone go, least of all Ves. His only choice was to wait for an opportunity.

The next couple of days, Ves continued to act as if he hadn't realized anything. He played the dutiful mech designer who occasionally assisted the planners in getting the right supplies to the right people.

The overhauled mechs took shape. With almost all of the mechs in the fleet configured anew, the anticipation building up inside everyone's heart had almost reached their bursting point.

The mech pilots of the Inheritors particularly enjoyed the rare enhancements, even if most of it turned out to be illusionary. Ves personally paid a visit to the revamped mechs and found that though extremely weak, they at least held a shadow of a presence in the imaginary realm.

While it hardly made a difference, the Inheritor pilots celebrated even a minor increase in performance. How could they not, when they had been deprived for so long?

Still, many mech pilots were rearing up to go against the Vesians. Morale couldn't get any higher. They needed an outlet soon, or else this temporary increase in battle spirit would be wasted.

"What's it like for the Wolf Mother to enter into an active battlezone?" Ves asked Alloc one day during breakfast.

"That rarely happens, but this isn't a usual raid." Alloc grunted as he formed his thoughts. "It's nerve-wracking. Even if the chances of getting directly attacked are low, it still happened a couple of times in the past. Stealth technology being what it is, there are many ways the Vesians can circumvent our patrols and sneak up to the hull of our factory ship."

Ves knew how different stealth technologies worked when utilized by mechs, but he didn't have a good grasp on their effectiveness in spaceborn combat.

"Is it easy for an inflitrator ship to come close?"

It's easier to approach a small ship than a larger one. It depends on the scanners, really. The Wolf Mother possesses an excellent array of sensors, but most are geared towards detecting minerals. While they can still be repurposed to detect approaching infiltrators, most of them are constructed out of non-metallic composites. Together with other stealth technologies, and it becomes damn hard to spot any infiltrator trying to come up alongside our ship."

That explained the ease in which some of the last ships Ves had travelled upon had been boarded so easily.

"Is there a downside to this?"