The Mech Touch

Chapter 6650 Carmine Mech and Conventional Mech Cooperation

"Hahaha! This is so much fun! So this is what it is like to be a mech pilot! It is so much fun! It is as if I am fighting with a supersized version of my body! There is no comparison between piloting a mech and piloting a shuttle. My Auto Heretic has truly become my second body!"

"Damn, these mercenaries are too good. They can take down two or three of our own before they finally go down. We are losing Carmine mechs left and right. Will we have any left by the time this battle is over?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Don't get cold feet! If we lose, you will lose your Auto Heretics anyway, so we might as well go all-out!"

The losses suffered by the haphazardly organized and poorly coordinated Auto Heretics were considerable.

Nonetheless, the locals enlisted by Herzog Kadan possessed a lot of enthusiasm, and enjoyed the process of piloting an actual mech in an actual battle.

Their performance was terrible when they were fighting on even numbers.

What was worse was that they outright collapsed within a minute if they were ever caught outnumbered by their opponents!

However, as long as they concentrated their numbers, the mob of Carmine mechs seemed to gain courage from each other's presence. The greater the amount of mechs, the more encouragement the amateurs gained!

Greater numbers placed much less attention on the qualities of each individual mech. The rookie Carmine mech pilots felt much less embarrassed about their bad to mediocre performance if it was hardly noticeable among a crowd of similar mechs.

The Carmine mech pilots also derived more confidence from each other when there were many friendly mechs by their side. The chances that the enemy forces would focus any individual down had become much smaller, thereby giving the Carmine mech pilots the reasonable belief that they wouldn't be targeted first.

All-in-all, the Carmine mech pilots fighting for Herzog Kadan were so new at this that they were forced to invent a range of new mech doctrines on the fly!

After the mob of Auto Heretics had mopped up a number of isolated enemy troops, the mech pilots fighting for Macky Incorporated wised up quickly.

They no longer focused on attacking many dispersed targets at once and rapidly congregated together in order to hold a decisive battle.

The ensuing fighting no longer took place in any populated areas, but this only caused both sides to become a lot more unscrupulous when fighting against each other!

The mercenaries hired by Macky Incorporated performed much better during this final engagement. Having been taken by surprise by the large quantity of Auto Heretics, theft

quickly adjusted their formations and tactics to prevent themselves from getting swarmed by a mass of inferior mechs.

That did not deter the Auto Heretics too much. The ones with ranged configurations simply maintained their distances and took potshots at their distant end foes while hoping they would not get attacked in turn.

As for the ones with melee weapon configurations, they did not fight by themselves but gathered together around squads of conventional mechs piloted by the employees and retainers of Herzog Kadan.

Many of the latter weren't even full-time employees of the established company. They were private mech pilots who only agreed to answer the call and fight when Herzog Kadan truly needed their services.

Though these contractors were reluctant to commit their lives to such a serious battle, they still had an obligation to abide by their contracts.

Besides, they didn't like the upstarts of Macky Incorporated at all! There were many retainers that fought in order to keep their planet devoid from too much off-world influence.

The problem was that all of these local mech pilots were inferior in skill and real combat experience compared to the high-priced mercenaries hired by Macky Incorporated. Not only that, the mechs used by the off-world soldiers of fortune were also better!

"If we can't win by quality, then we can only win by quantity!"

The forces fighting for Herzog Kadan ultimately decided to take a bold risk and go on the offensive!

If they maintained a defensive posture, they might be able to entrench themselves, but they would also cede all of the initiative to their much more experienced opponents. Staying in a single place and letting the enemy dictate the timing of its attacks was a good way to wear down the morale of low-quality mech pilots.

The mental fortitude and the willingness to fight off complete amateurs who used to be civilians a few weeks ago were very questionable.

Instead of letting them stew in place and lose their fighting spirit when the enemy sought to pressure them, it was better to whip the Carmine mech pilots into a frenzy and dispatch them in an all-out attack!

"Charge, you sorry excuses for mech pilots! Conquer your fears and fight for your right to pilot your own mech! Herzog Kadan promises to you now that as long as we win this battle, we shall transfer ownership of the Auto Heretics to their bonded Carmine mech pilots! If you have lost your Carmine mech in battle, then we will deposit 50 percent of what your machine is worth directly into your account, but only if we win. If you want to earn your Auto Heretics, then you better fight like your life depends on it! Victory or

death!"

Though the amateurs lost confidence quickly as soon as they realized that they were at a disadvantage, they were also remarkably easy to drive mad as long as they were given the right words and incentives!

A large amount of Auto Heretics strode forth without much of a semblance for

formations.

The only sign that proved that they were at least somewhat able to coordinate with each other was that many of the cannon fodder machines actually held up large slabs of

cheaply fabricated alloy in front of their mech frames.

These were makeshift shields repurposed from spare materials and industrial scrap!

While their quality left anything to be desired, they were still somewhat useful in soaking up enemy fire.

As makeshift shield after makeshift shield shattered, the exposed Carmine mechs rapidly backed off and used other mechs as cover!

While this was a rather shameless and desperate tactic, it actually worked to stem the losses and prevent Carmine mech pilots from turning back into powerless norms!

Due to the heroic effort of these Carmine mechs, the stronger and more well-equipped conventional mechs of Herzog Kadan were able to advance to the enemy positions with minimal exposure!

Aside from intermittent artillery fire, the enemy failed to handle the real threat!

The fighters of Herzog Kadan did not know it at the time, but they had become part of a much greater movement to formulate entirely new mech doctrines surrounding the use of Carmine mechs.

By relying on the superior numbers of Carmine mechs to provide cover and support to a smaller core of conventional mechs, the two types of mechs generated an incredibly degree of synergy!

They were able to cover for each other's weaknesses to an extent while also amplifying

their strengths.

This became evident on this seemingly inconsequential battlefield as the two sides began to meet each other at close range.

While the off-world mercenaries hired by Macky Incorporated still retained their superiority in individual martial might, the mechs fighting for Herzog Kadan exerted a huge amount of pressure!

Part of that was because the surviving Carmine mech pilots were still hyped by the latest

pep talk. Both fear and excitement warred in their minds, but so long as there were enough friendly mechs by their side, they still possessed just enough courage to commit to their

attacks!

Different from before, the amateurs cooperated a bit better with their professional

colleagues.

Having learned plenty of lessons from the initial clashes, the Auto Heretics no longer took the lead and confronted the mercenary mechs.

Instead, several Auto Heretics had been attached to a single friendly conventional mech. The latter took the lead and issued instructions to the amateurs when necessary.

The latter only really needed to do two things.

First, they needed to follow their assigned leader unit!

Second, they should spread out and assist in attacking any enemy mech attacked by

their leader unit!

While it was possible to make better use of the Carmine mechs if they employed more sophisticated formations or engaged in more convoluted flanking maneuvers, there was no way a bunch of amateurs, even ones that had played a lot of mech piloting simulation games, to be able to follow such complex instructions!

Issuing simple orders to them had been the right decision. While their actions and decision-making were distressingly inconsistent, they still managed to help out their leader unit by removing pressure and launching opportunistic attacks that always

inflicted at least a decent amount of damage!

"Hah!"

Many of the melee Carmine mechs wielded spears as opposed to swords.

Spears were much simpler to operate and execute as the Carmine mechs only really

needed to stab their weapons forward. The extended range was also nice as it kept the flightful amateur mech pilots out of trouble for the most part.

One Herzog Kadan mech resolutely marched forward and confronted a pair of

mercenary mechs.

While the former stood no chance against the latter, the story was different when the Herzog Kadan mech was accompanied by 4 additional Auto Heretics!

The mech pilots of the Carmine mechs might not really know what they were doing, but they were already doing more than enough by repeatedly stabbing their spears forward! By relying on the basic skills of their own living mechs, each spear strike posed a considerable threat that could not be ignored. The HALMS may not be able to outfight any conventional mech anytime soon, but they at least did not make any egregious mistakes that a clever enemy could exploit.

This was enough!

By repeatedly stabbing their spears while avoiding any obvious mistakes, the Carmine mechs successfully kept the two enemy melee mechs busy while the Herzog Kadan was finally able to gain the upper hand!

With several spears striking out at one of the mercenary mechs, the latter was unable to

fend off all of the attacks from the local mech pilot.

Once a sword managed to cut off one of the arms of the mercenary mech, it found itself

unable to fend off much of the follow-up attacks.

The two adjacent Carmine mechs took advantage of the damaged enemy mech's

weakness and rapidly stabbed their spears forward!

Even though none of the attacks inflicted any heavy damage, they nonetheless managed

to pierce through the armor and damaged nearby internals.

What was worse was that the Herzog Kadan mech took advantage of the pressure

exerted by the Carmine mechs and went in for the kill!

With a single stab through the chest and into the cockpit, the swordsman mech pilot managed to inflict a fatal blow!

"Die, you mercenary scum! Serves you right for trying to invade our planet!" Other teams of Carmine mechs following a single conventional mech employed much of

the same tactics across the battlefield.

Though the Carmine mechs eventually suffered elevated losses due to their inability to cope with flanking and enemy mech pilots who were skilled enough to outplay the HALMs, ultimately the numbers were against the mechs fighting on behalf of Macky

Incorporated!

This proved decisive. Many norms who were lucky enough to be among the first. Carmine mech pilots on their planet had already lost their precious opportunities as their living machines got crushed.

However, there were still enough surviving Carmine mechs left to provide adequate

support to the regular units of Herzog Kadan.

Ultimately, the battle reached a tipping point.

"The mercenaries... they are pulling out. They are fleeing back to their combat carriers! They don't think this battle is worth fighting for anymore!"

"Now let's finish off the mechs owned by Macky Incorporated and teach these upstarts

the consequences of consorting with off-worlders!"

"We've won, hurrah!"

The war between Herzog Kadan vs Macky Incorporated had come to an explosive end!

Macky Incorporated held most of the advantages and should have won the battle for economic dominance on the rural planet.

However, because the former made a much larger bet on Carmine mechs, Herzog Kadan

ultimately defended its throne and completely managed to drive Macky Incorporated away from its planet.

"These Auto Heretics are much more useful than I thought! Sure, they are individually

awful, but the best part about them is that a mech pilots needs virtually no training to

become useful on the battlefield. As long as there are professionals around who can give them direction, their threat level becomes much greater!"