[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 317: Last Stand

The evacuation began in earnest the next day. The Mech Corps had already shuttered its mining equipment and loaded their transports with exotics the days before, but now they started to dismantle and pack in their high-value assets.

Most of the objects that took up a lot of space but wasn't actually valuable would be left behind. This consisted of things such as prefab structures and walls. Though they incorporated a fair amount of exotics, they relied more on their thickness than their material quality to withstand enemy attacks.

Compared to low value bulk goods, the Mech Corps would rather load up their transports with more exotics. Even filling up their remaining cargo space with junk exotics made more sense than to retrieve their walls.

The other outfits followed suit. They placed a high priority on shipping out their haul. Bringing back their mechs came at a close seconds. A fair amount of landbound mechs entered the carriers and strapped themselves down.

Due to the recent battles, many of the berths had become free. Their owners cleverly filled up the remaining space with additional containers of exotics.

Still, they couldn't put away every combat-ready mech. The massive movement attracted the attention of the surrounding pirates.

Their prey planned to make a run!

The pirate alliances pounced on the base without any explicit attempts to coordinate their attacks. They merely followed their instincts and acted on any signs of weakness.

The sudden but expected attack necessitated a strong defense. Many landbound mechs remained stuck on the planet and had to fight back the pirates that constantly swarmed their lines.

At a certain field of rocks and cliffs, the Stanislaw huddled forward with its rifle radiating a fair amount of heat. The rifleman mech looked like it had seen better days. Significant amounts of armor had peeled away from all of the lasers and explosive shells that had glanced off the frame.

"Incoming squad of pirate mechs!" Melkor reported, though his mech had already sent the telemetry of his sightings to the Blood Claws. "One light, six mediums, one heavy!"

"Say again, did you just mention a heavy?"

"It's a salvaged artillery mech! They'll likely deploy it on the high ground up ahead and bombard the walls from a distance!"

The Blood Claw operator on the other end of the channel cursed. "We've already depleted our stock of missiles and we don't have anything that can outrange a heavy artillery mech. We'll be sending out an oversized squad to take care of the threat. Hold your position and guide the squad to the artillery mech when they arrive. Can you do that?"

"Got it. My mech still has some fight left into it. I have to pay them back for scratching up my Stanislaw."

On a more open side of the battlefield, the pirates deployed their mechs in significant numbers. A swarm of mechs raced forward to overwhelm the defensive lines.

Raella, Fadah and Walter stood before the walls along with the rest of the Blood Claws and their affiliated groups. They had been tasked with keeping this patch of wall steady, and for the sake of their massive haul, they promised to defend this wall to their deaths.

Whether the Mech Corps believed the vow or not was another question.

In any case, the Blood Claws made their stand, and the pirates came running to challenge their conviction.

"Careful, lads. Not all of the pirate mechs are carrying undercharged energy cells. Aim for the upper torso or the legs if possible. Avoid the waist and lower back as much as you can. Ranged mechs, aim high and focus on knocking off their heads if possible. They're much easier to disable once they lose their main sensors."