The Mech Touch

still holding out! ”

The expeditionary fleet possessed a lot of assets, so the betrayal hadn ’t managed to threaten the Ark Horizon.
However, the pirate fleet led by a menacing pirate gang called the Dragons of the Void had begun to swoop in for the kill.

Instead of shying away from a fight, Lord Kaine decided to directly put his powerful fleet carrier into play.
The entire expeditionary fleet redirected their course in a direct heading towards the pirate fleet.

Lord Kaine intended to bull right through the enemy ’s formation!

Ves wanted to curse at his client ’s recklessness.
”Let me help! I ’m a mech designer.
I ’m good with anything that involves mechs. ”

”I ’m sorry Larkinson, but the last thing we need is another outsider butting in where he doesn ’t belong.
Your place is here.
If you want to help, then ask Chief Ramirez for something to do.
Whatever you do, don ’t leave this department. ”

The woman turned around before Ves could say anything else.
He missed his opportunity to make a difference.

He wanted to cross over to the other side of the hangar bay and help work on the spaceborn mechs that started to deploy into space.
Ves had never come close to seeing an actual spaceborn mech, let alone perform any maintenance on these special mechs.

An hour went by as more than half of the mechs in the hangar bay had left.
The mechs that remained all waited for their turns to deploy.

Over time, damaged mechs started to fly back into the hangar.
Their damaged frames passed through the security screen that acted as a membrane to keep all of the air and pressure inside the hangar stable.

Even if the security screens malfunctioned, everyone had already changed into hazard suits, including Ves and Melkor.
These hardened vacuum suits provided their wearers with a lot of protection against explosions, shrapnel and radiation.
Their boots possessed a strong magnetic sole that helped everyone stay on their feet even at zero-G.

Ves spent most of his time helping Chief Ramirez securing the workshop and mech stables for any loose ends.
The two Ajaxes especially remained vulnerable.
Most of its heavy armor plating that protected its delicate internals had been placed to the side.

If a pirate happened to drop by and fired a volley of shots from a regular infantry rifle, he ’d be able to do a massive amount of damage.

”Keep attaching as much armor as you can! ” Chief Ramirez frantically yelled at his henpecked technicians.
”I ’ll dock your pay if I see a single exposed section in an hour! ”

Everyone frantically raced to put some measure of cover on the exposed Ajax frames.
Even though it might not help that much if a missile went off, it would at least limit some of the shock damage.

Throughout all of this chaos, Melkor stood largely forgotten.
As a mech pilot and bodyguard to Ves, he lacked access to both a mech and a personal firearm.
The expedition ’s admittedly justified caution towards outsiders relegated him to the role of an observer.
His only job these days appeared to be keeping hold of Lucky.

The cat happened to detect something strange.
He loudly meowed and tried to catch his owner ’s attention.
Melkor tried to stifle the cat due to the commotion he caused, but Lucky remained undeterred.

Ves had learned to trust his mechanical companion.
”What ’s wrong, Lucky? ”

The cat stretched his paw towards one of the entrances of the hangar bay.
The harness prevented him from utilizing his full range of motion.

”Okay, enough of this crap! ” Ves turned around and borrowed a cutting tool from a work table.
He turned it on and carefully cut apart the restrictions that kept Lucky largely immobile.
Once all of the shackles broke, the cat quickly lunged in the direction of the nearest entrance.

”Hey, what are you doing? That pet is not allowed to roam free! ” Ensign D ’Amato yelled and pulled out his laser pistol.

Even if D ’Amato hadn ’t aimed his pistol at anyone, Ves still raised his hands.
”Hey, I don ’t mean any harm! My cat has a really good nose.
He might have detected something fishy! ”

”That ’s ridiculous! ” The ensign exclaimed with an incredulous expression.
”The Ark Horizon is the flagship of this fleet! Every compartment and every corridor is monitored day and night.
Nothing that can threaten the ship and her crew can ever get close! ”

It all came down to trust.
Ves hoped that his stay aboard the Ark had proved he could be trusted to advance the interests of the expedition.
Ensign D ’Amato went beyond his job as an observer and frequently helped out Ves by providing his own insights.

Yet as soon as Ves crossed the line, D ’Amato acted like someone pressed his reset button.
It hurt a bit to be treated like a stranger and a potential threat after so many days of camaraderie.

Melkor already stood in front of Ves.
”Calm down, the both of you! Ensign, Lucky is not a toy.
I believe in Ves when he states that Lucky is capable of sniffing out any threats.
I suggest you warn whoever is in command on this deck to prepare for the worst. ”

Just as Ensign D ’Amato was about to reply, a large explosion near the entrance interrupted his words.
The blast knocked all of the spacers off their feet and blew away various pieces of junk in the vicinity.
Some of the mech technicians who still remained standing even got hit by cabinets and unsecured tools!

Another explosion triggered close to the security screen, instantly disabling it.
The entire hangar bay suffered from explosive decompression as all of the air inside the massive bay departed into space.
A few more loose components flew off into vacuum.

”Lucky! ” Ves called as his hazard suit sent out an alert.
His suit came with two hours of oxygen, but his stress caused him to deplete his reserves faster.
”Lucky, where are you?! ”

Vacuum transmitted no sound.
Ves couldn ’t call out for his cat.
He disregarded the wounded and hobbled over towards the first blast site.

A shiny bronze cat appeared from nowhere.
The cat appeared frazzled.

”There you are! ”

Ves grasped Lucky ’s body and inspected him for damage.
He sighed in relief once he saw his cat only suffered a glancing blow from a random piece of shrapnel.

Melkor and D ’Amato raced to his position and beheld the carnage around them.
The blast hurt a fair amount of unsuspecting mech technicians.

Just as it appeared that things couldn ’t go worse, a strange, damaged mech coated in red descended onto the hangar bay.

”Pirate mech! ”