The Mech Touch

For once, the Larkinson Clan had a stroke of luck.

The random draw that determined their next opponent placed the dreaded Zpoeze Battalion as the final boss of the G-Aena League.

Practically no one thought the Zpoeze Battalion would falter in the semifinals and be forced to fight for third place.

Even if the Larkinsons managed to reach the finals only to get stomped by the pussies, it still would have been worth it! Losing against the Zpoeze Battalions would put them in second place, which was still worth 20 combat carriers!

Therefore, the Larkinsons absolutely had to win their next match. None of the clansmen involved in the tournament relaxed any longer. It was all hands on deck as they prepared to analyze their next opponent and make specific preparations to win the upcoming match.

During the following meeting, Director Raella put forth a suggestion.

"We have always been aiming to win either first or second place in this tournament. Although we only need to defeat one more battalion to reach the finals, it would be an enormous shame to stumble at this point. The prizes for third and fourth place are much smaller. After all we have done, I don't think that anyone here wants to return to our clan with just 10 or 5 combat carriers in our possession."

All of the Larkinsons in the meeting room nodded. They were all fighting to become the champion of this massive and prestigious event, but getting second place didn't sound so bad either.

"If that's the case, make sure to go all-out this time." Raella continued. "Whatever we have left, just use it if the moment is right. Don't think of hiding our strength for later."

"Is the Glory of Urthina Battalion that strong?"

Raella crossed her arms. "Yes. If you haven't watched the previous matches yet, you'll find that the only reason why they fumbled a match was because they fought against a highly mobile mech battalion that was able to evade their most powerful attacks. Most of our mechs can't do that, so we won't be able to fight the Urthinans at an advantage."

"What is their strategy, exactly? I've seen them fight, but all I see is their mechs launching an all-out assault."

"That's pretty much what they are all about." Raella responded. "The Glory of Urthina Battalion's mech roster is disproportionately slanted towards assault-oriented mechs. Their aerial wave consists of hundreds of lancer mechs, offensive knight mechs as well as light skirmishers that specialize in intercepting other light mechs. Aside from that, they also field a substantial lanndbound contingent of medium cannoneer mechs escorted by defensive knight mechs."

The aerial wave was the main attacking force that could already sweep some of the weaker battalions in the G-Aena League with just a single charge. The fairly mobile landbound ranged contingent that followed from behind provided firepower support just in case they bumped into tougher opponents.

"From what the Urthinans have shown up until now, their mech doctrine and mech roster is completely geared towards assault. They do not have the patience or desire to remain on the defensive, and they do not bother to set up the battlefield in their favor either. They're just obsessed with vanquishing the unbelievers."

"Sounds familiar." A Larkinson officer scoffed.

"We've fought our fair share of cultists and fanatics, so expect to fight against highly motivated mech pilots who will never break or show hesitation in battle. Don't think that they have more guts than skill. Since the Church of Urthina is powerful enough to enter the Red Ocean, its mech forces are definitely capable."

The Larkinsons in the meeting room studied the snippets of footage that Raella had prepared for them. They showcased the indomitable melee mechs flying forward and charging straight towards the first enemies in their sight.

It didn't matter if the opposition had prepared defenses. The Urthinan lancer mechs simply charged through any solid obstacle while the following mechs took advantage of the openings.

If there were any ranged mechs that were somehow out of reach to the Urthinan melee mechs, then the cannoneer mechs that always tried their best to keep up with the forward elements did their jobs and fired solid gauss rounds against tougher targets or expanding shrapnel rounds that could easily grind down elusive light mechs no matter how amazingly they danced in the air.

Commander Casella shared her own insight of their next adversaries. "One of the key reasons why the Glory of Urthina Battalion managed to defeat two of their opponents so easily is because its quick and overwhelming assault leaves little room for the enemy to think and form a response. By the time the overwhelmed defenders change their tactics, the Urthinan mechs have already broken into their core."

That was a scary scenario, but not an insurmountable one. The Larkinsons already knew what to expect, so it was impossible for them to be caught off-guard like this. That didn't mean they could allow the enemy to break through their lines.

Once the Urthinan mechs broke through the Larkinson Battalion's lines, it became a lot harder to get rid of the intruders! The Larkinson mechs would become less organized and make it easier for the Urthinans to cause further disruption.

"What I'm more worried about is that the Urthinans haven't shown their full capabilities." Raella said with obvious concern. "These Urthinans are fanatics, but that doesn't mean they're stupid. They might even be putting up an act to lull us in a false sense of security."

"What makes you say that, director?"

"Just look at the footage of their only defeat in the first round. They matched against a battalion that deploys mechs that are too fast for most of the Urthinan mechs to catch up. The complicated canyon battlefield also helped them out by limiting the movements of the lancer mechs and blocking much of the line of sight of the cannoneer mechs."

The Glory of Urthina performed rather brilliantly against two of its opponents, but lost so badly against another battalion that it was hard to respect the Urthinans.

Yet Raella presented the Larkinsons with an alarming theory.

"What if the Urthinans deliberately held back when they fought against this mobile battalion? What if they had looked forward and determined that they could afford to lose a single match? As long as no one else has managed to win 3 times, all of the battalions in the group will have to be ranked according to the tie-breaker rules. With their two overwhelming victories, it is already 90 percent certain that the Glory of Urthina will advance!"

This was a rather outlandish theory, but one that revealed an uncommonly high degree of cunning and forethought!

Commander Casella frowned. "If… if the Glory of Urthina Battalion truly calculated this result, then it should definitely be hiding its trump cards against stronger opponents. While it may be possible for the Urthinans to look down on us and set their sights on the Zpoezers, the chance is great that they will surprise us with powerful new surprises that they haven't shown in the first round."

"Do you understand why I'm telling you to go all out this time, commander? The Urthinans may sound like stereotypical religious fanatics on the surface, but their tournament strategy is highly rational. It's exactly what I would do if I was in their place. You guys may not realize it, but there is more to winning a tournament than smashing the enemy's mechs."

Once Raella convinced them not to take the Urthinans lightly, the Larkinsons properly respected their opponents this time.

Any battalion that could make it into the top 4 should not be weak, but even if the Glory of Urthina Battalion could not compare against the Zpoeze Battalion, the gap between the two was probably a lot smaller than most people thought!

"So how can we actually beat these opponents?"

That was an important question. The known battle strategy of the Glory of Urthina Battalion was relatively simple but already difficult to resist. No other battalion in the G-Aena League relied so heavily on lancer mechs as these crazies!

"Can our knight mechs withstand the charges of their lancer mechs?" A mech officer asked.

"No." A mech designer replied. "According to our calculations, the enemy lancer mechs can easily build up enough momentum to breach through the shields and armor of our Bright Warriors in knight mech configuration. Even if we make use of a tougher and more specialized knight mech model, the results are unlikely to be any different."

Everyone already suspected that this was probably the case, but it had to be said.

"What if we fight on more confined battlefields?"

"The lancer mechs can still penetrate through our defensive mechs. To be honest, the performance of our Bright Warriors in their more defensive loadouts are below standard in the Red Ocean. There are substantially tougher mech models in the market. Sure, they're not alive and they don't have any glows, but lancer mechs don't let any of that stop them from driving their weapons through our mechs."

This was bad news, though not new for some of the gathered Larkinsons. It still disappointed them that they could not rely on their defensive mechs as before. Many of their old workhorse mech models needed updates in order to bring them back up to standard.

Commander Casella voiced her greatest concern. "No matter what trump cards the Glory of Urthina Battalion has in store, it's useless to think about them when we cannot overcome the first hurdle. We need to ready an effective response against the charges of all of their lancer mechs."

"Ideally, we should make it so that they never succeed in impacting our mechs. We can do that by shooting them down before they get close or keep running so that their lances never hit their targets."

"We can't do the latter unless we field 500 Ferocious Piranhas, which we don't have." A mech officer stated. "Besides, committing to a full force of light mechs will waste a lot of our allowance tonnage. I don't think a full force of light mechs can defeat this assault-oriented battalion."

"What if we throw in a couple of hundred Penitent Sisters?" A captain from the same mech legion proposed. "We are quite interested in fighting against these Urthinans. They claim that Urthina is the greatest female goddess and that is an affront to the Superior Mother's majesty!"

A few Larkinsons groaned. They did not look forward to getting caught up in a religious dispute of all things.

Commander Casella cleared her throat. "I believe the Valkyrie Redeemers can be of great use in raiding the ranged contingent of the Glory of Urthina Battalion. The Hex Army often employs the Valkyrie models against these kinds of targets in the Komodo War. It is what they are made for and what they are good at. I think we should employ better solutions against their assault units, though."

The Valkyrie Redeemers excelled at flanking and raiding but fared less well in frontal combat against heavier units.

"If we can't rely on our Bright Warriors, Valkyrie Redeemers or Ferocious Piranhas to counter the Urthinan lancer mechs, then what do we have left?"

An awkward silence followed.

This problem was only able to occur because the Larkinson Clan's mech roster was too small and had too many holes. The need to expand the amount of mech models the Larkinsons could rely upon became especially acute at this time!

The Larkinsons shared several suggestions and explored different ideas, but none of the proposals sounded good.

Commander Casella was only able to choose between a number of imperfect solutions that all came with flaws of their own. It was just too difficult to present a better plan when the Larkinson Clan didn't possess the required mech elements!

Perhaps the Larkinson Army could respond more effectively to this kind of threat, but the Larkinson Battalion had to abide by the rules of the tournament. This condition restricted the Larkinsons a lot more than the other competitors!