The Mech Touch

Hours went by as the Hexers and the Golden Skullers continued to assault the feeble defenses that stopped them from plundering the wealth of Pima Prime V.

Many mech pilots that had recently fought a battle in orbit only enjoyed a brief rest before they had to get back into their cockpits and fight other battles.

Many settlements of Pima Prime V turned into ruins as the invading forces focused on ruining years worth of investment in just a single day.

Plenty of people were enjoying this moment. Practically every Hexer mech pilots vented their frustrations towards the Fridaymen during this time and eagerly spread as much destruction as possible!

In contrast to the violent and destructive Hexers, the troops of the Golden Skull Alliance didn't exhibit as much uncontrolled behavior.

Aside from the Glory Seekers who acted a bit more heavy-handed than normal, the Larkinsons and the Crossers did not harbor any overwhelming animosity towards the Fridaymen.

They were much more focused on earning a profit rather than kicking enemies while they were down.

The planetary assault presented an excellent opportunity for the Larkinsons and Crossers to obtain rare and precious valuables on the cheap.

The Larkinson Clan had already made an abundant amount of preparations for their raids.

The Black Cats played a key role in securing all of the plunder. Hundreds of intelligence operatives along with many more informers had gone to work weeks before the invaders arrived in the star system.

These well-trained and well-equipped agents scoped out important facilities in advance and infiltrated them in order to pave the way for future raids.

The agents had put a lot of effort into identifying and securing as much valuable and strategic goods as possible.

The Black Cats of today were incomparably stronger and more numerous than years before!

Calabast had personally made sure to persuade the Larkinson Clan to invest a lot of money and resources into building up its own intelligence network and spy organization.

Once it became clear that the Golden Skull Alliance would take part in Operation Saturday Market, Calabast knew that the time had come to prove to Ves and every Larkinson that her Black Cats were not as impotent as in the past!

"So why are we here?" Lanie Larkinson asked as her Lucid Rage entered one of the academic districts of Ardam. "There aren't any factories over here. There are only schools in this neighborhood."

Though her Lucid Rage got banged up quite a bit during the battle in orbit, the mech technicians only had to patch it up a little bit to ensure it wouldn't malfunction in the short term.

"The academic district holds more than schools." A Larkinson mech officer spoke as he led a unit of Avatar mechs into the quiet and peaceful district. "There are labs, workshops and libraries in this place. The patriarch himself has designated several numerous sites as priority targets. Raiding these facilities is even more important than plundering the factories in his opinion."

"Why?"

"Because those labs and workshops might contain a lot of valuable research. According to the reports, the Black Cats have already infiltrated them in advance and prevented the staff from destroying everything they couldn't immediately take away."

Lanie looked skeptical. "The Fridaymen have put a lot of effort into taking away the most valuable materials like phasewater. I doubt we'll ever be able to find a single drop in this district."

"You're probably right. Our agents might be good, but they're not that good. The Gaugers would have taken all of the phasewater and other high-value materials by force if any delays took place. This was why our Black Cats waited until the evacuation troops brought out the most critical materials."

"What did they do, then?"

"They prevented the staff from destroying the valuable hardware and clearing out all of the data. The Black Cats probably haven't been able to save everything of value that is left, but as long as they managed to preserve just 10 or 20 percent of this stuff, then that is enough to make our patriarch happy."

Lanie smiled. Though she didn't understand the value of obtaining all of this science crap, she could get behind the goal of making Ves happy. She owed far too much to the Larkinson Patriarch already. It was finally time for her to pay back her benefactor.

The group of mechs eventually reached a fancy-looking modern building that belonged to a high-end research and development institution.

"What is special about this place?" Lanie asked as the Larkinson mechs bumped into a few scattered defenses.

"This is the main R&D facility of TXQ Phase Tech. It's one of the top research companies on the planet. The elite researchers and developers who used to work here have already been dragged on one of the first ships to evacuate from this star system, but at least some of their work should still be left. Our job is to break into this place and retrieve the goods. We're about to engage the defenses, but whatever you do, don't go overboard."

"Understood."

TXQ Phase Tech possessed a substantial presence in the research and development sector of the Friday Colonies.

If not for the fact that the arrival of so many hostile troops threatened the entire planet, the Fridaymen would have put a lot more effort into securing or destroying this research facility!

As it was, there were so many fires that the local forces needed to put out that they simply couldn't spare the mechs or manpower to take care of a bunch of labs.

The staffers and security personnel who worked in a research institution like this should have been the ones to clear it out, but the Black Cats produced enough interference to hinder these efforts!

"According to the maps and intelligence that we have received, this research institution is guarded by twenty medium-powered turrets along with other defenses. Our saboteurs claim to have neutralized them, but be careful when you approach. We will destroy them just in case they are able to go back online."

Lanie found it strange as she and her fellow Larkinsons approached this valuable research facility.

She expected to encounter a lot more opposition from the Fridaymen, but aside from sweeping a couple of hundred security bots, the Larkinsons failed to meet any significant opposition.

"Huh. The turrets are all offline."

"That makes it easier for us to take them down. Be careful when you do. Don't damage the main buildings and don't trigger anything dangerous."

The ranged mechs didn't attack the disabled turrets for fear of producing collateral damage.

It was up to melee mechs such as the Sword Warriors and Lucid Rages to destroy these potential threats.

Once the Larkinson mechs completed this chore, they moved further into the grounds of the research institute and continually kept their sensors peeled for any other threats.

In order to detect hidden defenses or spaces that hadn't been mentioned in any of the intelligence gathered by the Larkinson Clan, the Avatars borrowed a Light Hunter mech from the Flagrant Vandals.

The light scout mech was too weak to pose a threat against other mechs, but it possessed an abundance of sensors and scanners.

The Samasel Orb Directional Scanning Module came in extremely handy in situations like these. The powerful active scanning system was able to sense anything built underground as well as expose the interior of the main research buildings.

Numerous hidden defenses, tunnels and other curiosities became visible to the Larkinson mech unit.

Though the Light Hunter did indeed uncover several more hidden nooks and crannies, none of them presented any acute threats to the introducing Larkinson mechs.

In the end, the Larkinsons easily managed to gain control over the research facility. There were still staffers and security personnel left who had been attempting to wipe out all of the data banks so that there would be nothing left for the invaders to steal, but they only partially managed to accomplish their goals.

"You're finally here." An agent hiding in stealth spoke as he revealed himself before the Larkinson mechs. "We need your help in breaking open a pair of data centers. Both of them are highly fortified. We can't breach them with our current means."

"Won't that risk destroying the data stored inside?"

"We managed to disable those precautions, though we can't guarantee that we have neutralized every measure. This is why both of us need to work together. This will be a delicate operation. I need a mech that is powerful enough to breach the fortified walls but also possesses enough precision and control to avoid further damage."

"That's me." Lanie spoke as her Lucid Rage took a single step forward.

The intelligence operative directed a skeptical look towards the tonfas of her mech. "Those clubs of yours aren't exactly what we have in mind."

"That's not a problem. Can anyone here lend me a sword?"

Though the Lucid Rage was designed to fight with a pair of tonfas, nothing stopped it from wielding a bladed weapon.

Once it was armed with a sharp mech sword, the Lucid Rage proceeded to break into a structure and carefully utilize its weapon to pierce through a reinforced vault-like structure.

Lanie had to be exceedingly careful when digging through the reinforced wall. She could not push too hard for fear of triggering a contingency measure or inadvertently damaging some of the data banks inside.

Fortunately, she and the Black Cats meticulously kept the situation under control. It did not take long for the Lucid Rage to slowly pry open a wide enough hole!

The infiltration team had already utilized their various gizmos and computing systems to control whatever was inside. Their hacking suites and other measures neutralized a lot of precautionary measures and prevented the precious research data from going up in smoke!

It was only after a couple of operatives stepped inside and came back out while carrying several storage devices that they announced the good news.

"We succeeded. I have personally confirmed that this data center contains encrypted research and development files related to the development of high-end transphasic weapons and transphasic armor systems. It's highly likely that at least some of this research had recently been applied to the Sundered Phalanx's expert mechs that we recently fought against."

"Are you sure about that?!"

"We still have to decrypt the files once we have returned to our fleet, but we think it is probable that we have stolen the secrets behind the development of those powerful Fridayman expert mechs!"

This wasn't the only intact data center of this site. There was also another data center that stored files related to different applications of phasewater technology.

TXQ Phase Tech might be a relatively new company in the Friday Colonies, but it was founded by numerous powerful influences of the Gauge Dynasty.

The Sundered Phalanx, numerous Master Mech Designers as well as a group of industrialists had invested in this company. Their goal was to fund the research and development of a lot of powerful and useful transphasic products!

TXQ Phase Tech probably wasn't as small as Melmen Advanced Systems but wasn't quite up to the level of Morton Tech.

Even so, it was still an indispensable institution to the Gauge Dynasty. It wasn't just the local mech industry that benefited from the R&D conducted by TXQ Phase Tech.

A lot of important mech designers and other people back in the Komodo Star Sector depended on the work of TXQ Phase Tech to decipher the properties of phasewater on their behalf.

It was incredibly difficult to bring back large quantities of phasewater back to the Friday Coalition in the old galaxy, so many interested individuals and groups back home had little choice but to set up research institutions in the Red Ocean to study phasewater in earnest.

Now, all of the money and effort that people such as Master Huron poured into TXQ Phase Tech had gone on to benefit the thieving Larkinsons.

Even if the clan couldn't digest all of this advanced research and development data by itself, there was always the option of passing it to friendly development companies such as Melmen Advanced Systems in exchange for favors!