The Mech Touch

Chapter 6660 The Arrival of the Amaranto Mark III

The Carmine Revolution had two completely different meanings to different people.

To the humans of the Milky Way, the Carmine Revolution evoked a mixed response. The very topic of Carmine mechs provoked a lot of controversy and polarized a lot of opinionated individuals.

The Carmine Revolution was responsible for fulfilling the dreams of billions if not trillions of people, but it also amplified the existing fault lines in human society and created new ones in record time!

Compared to the intensive division caused by the sudden introduction of Carmine mechs in the Milky Way, the people of the Red Ocean remained remarkably well-behaved when faced with the prospect of allowing norms to pilot mechs!

The much smaller size of human-occupied space in the Red Ocean, the extensive cooperation between Ves and several factions of the Red Association, the differences between the Yellow Jackets, the Auto Heretics and the institution of martial law and the alternative means of self-empowerment through systematic cultivation all contributed to a remarkably low incident rate among red humanity.

However, the biggest reason why Carmine mechs hadn't resulted in so much chaos and instability was because the Red War loomed over everyone's heads.

Every norm that decided to bond with a Yellow Jacket would automatically get drafted. There was no way that states would allow these civilians to play around with Carmine mechs in their backyards when they could make a material difference in the war effort after a few years of rushed training!

Therefore, those who wanted to fulfill their childhood dreams of becoming a mech pilot would be able to do so, but only with the realization that they would soon get marched into a training camp and be forced to become a soldier if they wanted to keep piloting their Carmine mechs!

These reasons and more were why the Yellow Jackets generated much less of a buzz among red humans.

Still, people's attitudes towards Ves' invention was a lot more uniformly positive. He had torn down the genetic aptitude tyranny and given everyone the option to become a dignified soldier.

The only question now was whether the native aliens would give them enough time to complete their basic training.

That appeared less and less likely as the fourth defensive band was on the verge of collapsing!

It only took a short amount of time for the situation in the Viola Magnifica System to become much more dire than before.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The native aliens had already overrun other adjacent strategic locations across the Torald Middle Zone. The recent departure of ace pilots across every middle zone had caused gaps to form in the defenses of many fortified star systems.

Despite the efforts of the Red Three to compensate for these defensive loopholes, it was too late to stop the native aliens from launching concerted attacks led by formidable phase lords.

In the face of the native gods of the Red Ocean, massed firepower and the desperate resistance of expert mechs could only do so much to slow them down!

As the fortified star systems around Viola Magnifica crumbled within a matter of weeks, the mood within the fortified star system where the expeditionary fleet as well as the 77th Warborn were stationed had turned grim.

Preliminary evacuations had already begun. The Red Three along with many other forces transferred away much of their non-essential personnel that they could spare.

This had a significant effect on the recovery rates of damaged mechs and hardware. The departure of many mech technicians, engineers, electricians and so on meant that the mechs and defensive installations would not be able to get back into fighting condition in a short amount of time.

Not that it mattered all that much. The alien presence in the Viola Magnifica System was constantly growing with every passing day.

Now that many other points on the fourth defensive band had fallen into enemy hands, the aliens were able to divert spare assault fleets to this location in order to remove the final obstacle before they could safely begin their attack on the fifth and final defensive band.

There was no question anymore that red humanity would lose control over Viola Magnifica.

The only question was how much the defenders who remained at the key planet and stronghold were willing to make the invading aliens bleed before they finally beat a

retreat.

Both sides already had plenty of experience of how bloody these takeover battles could become.

As the defending side, the red humans enjoyed an inherent advantage, but they were bound to suffer a lot of losses while getting beaten back time and time again.

The native aliens had to be more proactive and purposefully send their phasefighters and warships into killboxes where they would have to endure massed firepower from multiple angles at a time.

However, as long as their accompanying phase lords were willing to lead the charge, they could rapidly destroy a lot of vulnerable hardware, thereby creating gaps in the human defensive lines which they could use to create more space for subsequent attack runs.

This was one of the reasons why the adjacent fortified star systems collapsed so quickly in the past few weeks!

The remaining defenders all knew what they had to do. It was impossible to defend Viola Magnifica to the death, so they did not even bother to aim for this result.

Instead, they needed to stall the native alien advances long enough for all of the defensive guns to do their work and demolish a lot of alien hardware.

The more phasefighters and starships they managed to destroy, the fewer the enemy would have left to assault the fifth defensive band, at least for a time!

Killing lots of native aliens also helped to slow down the Red Tide Offensive.

While most of the aliens drafted into the war possessed very little individual agency and power, major setbacks and losses always caused their fleets to become more reluctant to engage in further attacks.

The alien commanders could not treat their subordinates like emotionless pawns. They had to pay attention to morale and give the troops enough time to recover,

With that in mind, the Larkinsons along with many other soldiers geared themselves up

for a grueling fight.

They would most definitely get pressured in the decisive battle that everyone knew was coming. Many of their comrades and fellow clansmen may end up dead by the time the expeditionary fleet withdrew from this doomed star system, but at least their sacrifice had made a difference, however small.

Very few soldiers who were still stationed in Viola Magnifica had lost their nerve. Most of the mech pilots and other servicemen had gone through enough fighting to adopt a

veteran mindset towards the conflict.

They all knew what they were fighting for. They risked their lives and exposed themselves to the attacks of phase lords and warships so that their families and their fellow humans in the rear could remain protected against these threats.

As the remaining forces made their final preparations, the champions that were left to put up a final stand against their alien counterparts geared themselves up for their greatest challenge since the start of the Red Tide Offensive.

"Welcome back, Davia."

The woman who many people expected to experience a breakthrough in the near future

made a curt nod towards Joshua and Ketis.

"I came back just in time, I see." The guest pilot of the Larkinson Clan remarked. "What is the progress of the alien buildup?"

"You're better off asking Commander Casella Ingvar or one of the many other senior officers." Joshua shrugged. "I don't pay attention to the intelligence reports anymore. Knowing how many alien warships and phase lords have arrived from afar is unsettling. I am better off if I am focusing on my own game. I need to work towards my

breakthrough. My wife here has offered a huge amount of help with that, though I wonder whether she has gifted me a blessing or a course."

Venerable Davia Stark slightly smirked in amusement. "I heard. You have gained an unruly new sword or shall I say scimitar. An expensive one as well." "That's an understatement." Joshua let out an exasperated sigh. "Did you know that if I want to charge up the blade, the Bitter Scimitar burns through at least 100 grams per activation?! You don't know how many people complained when I got so excited about cutting through transphasic alloys like a hot knife through butter that I activated it

three times in a row!"

Ketis dramatically shook her head in disapproval. "We did not choose to augment the Bitter Scimitar with phasewater-charged technology just so that you can single-handedly drain all of our phasewater reserves within a matter of days." Though Joshua had definitely become convinced by the power of the new Bitter Scimitar to the point where he was willing to put up with its evil and hostile personality, he still suffered regular complaints about his profligate resource wastage!

At least he and his battle partner learned first-hand how easy they could cut through obstacles that they normally considered impregnable or difficult to assail.

"Can I take a look at your new weapon?"

"Sure, but it is currently stored in a safe container. I will show it to you next time I

deploy into the field. I want to take a look at your newly upgraded expert mech. So this is the Amaranto Mark III, huh?"

"Yes. She has definitely undergone a metamorphosis. I always knew that my decision to

serve your clan and its patriarch would pay off. I do not think a finer expert marksman mech exists that can compliment my lethality even further." Venerable Davia Stark

smiled with pride.

The Amaranto still retained her slender dark red-coated mech frame, but

received a lot of obvious improvements, from the switch to a special combination of archemetal to the huge reinvention of the Instrument of Vengeance.

Compared to the first iteration of the iconic marksman rifle, the current iteration looked like a much bigger and more formidable crystalline beast!

It was larger, thicker and most importantly featured a considerably longer barrel than

the original Instrument of Vengeance.

The application of luminar crystal technology reached greater heights as Ves and Harry Kaikkonen utilized their combined expertise to elevate the tangible and intangible qualities of the formidable weapon.

"I heard that your new weapon received an Ultimate Module in the form of an internal chamber." Joshua said with evident curiosity in his voice.

"That is correct. The Two-Step Execution Crystal is amazing, but I have yet to test it out

in a serious capacity. I want to keep its true capabilities a secret against the native aliens. Their lack of preparation against its capabilities may give me a large advantage in the upcoming battle. I will make sure to use it to strike a decisive blow when the aliens think they are safe from my sights."

The grin on her face suggested that she intended to make a very loud statement with

her newly upgraded expert mech!

As Joshua and Ketis admired the much more powerful rendition of the extreme

firepower concept, the former asked another question.

"I don't see the Instrument of Doom around here. Did it get upgraded as well?"

"Sadly, that is not the case." Stark responded. "The Design Department didn't have time

or something. I am fine with that. The Instrument of Doom may be more suited against our current foes, but the Instrument of Vengeance is the original firearm that Ves has paired with my Amaranto. The two are designed to work perfectly in tune with each other. I do not believe my performance will be any inferior if I only make use of this rifle.

The upgrades have improved firepower so much that I do not think there is any need to bring out the outdated Instrument of Doom."

While Venerable Joshua certainly admired the Instrument of Vengeance, he was pretty

sure about one thing.

The Bitter Scimitar that his wife had mysteriously forged and presented to him all of a sudden was probably a lot more lethal than the Instrument of Vengeance! How could he tell? Joshua couldn't feel a strong but intensely hostile life inside the extreme luminar crystal rifle!