[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 321: Powerlessness

The entire surface of the Glowing Planet had turned into a salvager's paradise. The amount of damaged and destroyed wrecks reached a mind-boggling number that would make any scavenger salivate at the prospect of unearthing this hidden wealth.

Yet at this moment, nobody spared a glance at the valuable remains. Neither the pirates nor their adversaries put the wrecks in their eyes as they steadily maneuvered in low orbit.

"At least three major pirate armadas are heading in our direction!" Ves concluded loudly. "Get the spaceborn mechs ready. We're going to need their protection very soon!"

The mech technicians obediently quickened their servicing of the two mechs. One of them actually consisted of Dietrich's old Harrier. Though it had been designed as an aerial mech, it still functioned decently in space.

The Little Boss himself walked over to Ves. "Is the Harrier in good shape?"

"Good enough for your purposes. I made some last-minute tweaks that will push more speed out of your mech. How are your wounds?"

Dietrich padded his recently regenerated arm. "The Mech Corps used their best facilities on hand to clone my arm. It's going to take a year to work it in, but it won't affect my accuracy when I'm back inside the Harrier."

A mech pilot interfaced with their mechs with their minds, not their muscles. In theory, a brain in a jar could also pilot a mech.

In practice, the state of the pilot's body had a profound influence on the connection between the pilot and the mech. A pilot with an imperfect body often carried his ailments through the connection, thereby affecting the ultimate performance of the mech.

Ves refrained from mentioning these facts to Dietrich because it went over his head. He let his friend keep his delusions in order to retain his confidence. It wouldn't do to pop his bubble just when he was about to sortie.

"So many pirates have come to spoil our escape." He sighed. "I never knew there would be so many pirates in the Komodo Star Sector."

"You haven't even seen the tip of their numbers. I can tell you there are way more pirates in the frontier and the Nyxian Gap who haven't taken the bait. Most pirates are cowards, you see. Brawling out in the open like this isn't their style."

"Even then, it's still ridiculous to see so many pirates sporting so much hardware. Even if their ships and mechs are scraping the bottom of the barrel, they still brought enough numbers to overrun a major region of stars. Why haven't they carved out their own state with their firepower?"

Dietrich laughed a that question. "That's because they never see eye-to-eye with each other! Except for the Dragons of the Void, all of those other pirate groups can't manage to keep a hold of more than a few hundred mechs. The moment they try to subjugate more pilots, they'll all rebel and break apart."

The mention of the Dragons of the Void caused Ves to frown. "Those guys again. Who are these people? They're able to brainwash so many pirates it's a wonder they're still around. I would have thought the other pirates would have ganged up on them already."

"It's the same story. Pirates are fundamentally cowards and they never get along with each other. It takes a massive pirate horde to wipe them out, which is something that will never happen. Even now, those three pirate alliances heading to intercept the Mech Corps are guarding against each other as well."

Ves hadn't noticed that, but as he eyed the plot, it started to become clear. The pirates made sure to approach from opposite directions and follow trajectories that didn't intersect with each other.

"I'm not sure this will help us right now. The pirates seem content to stay out of each other's way."

Multiple predators of the same race wouldn't quibble with each other in front of their prey.