The Mech Touch

ation methods.
A simple mental command was enough to compose a short message or transmit a predetermined code!

”Silent William, return to your post! ” Melkor admonished.
”You ’re disobeying orders! ”

Even as Melkor rebuked the disobedient mech pilot, he secretly hoped his words fell on deaf ears.

He really wanted Harvey to get rescued, and so far only Silent William had the guts to leave formation.
How could Melkor not be pleased?

The only disappointment was that Silent William wasn ’t really his own man.
Ves made it clear that this odd mech pilot was only here to reforge himself in battle.

Nonetheless, Silent William had gained every Avatar ’s acceptance for his bravery and silent support.

Melkor looked on with hope even as he pretended to rebuke Silent William.

The foreign mech pilot, who showed no signs of acknowledging the instructions from Melkor and the commander of the Agon Chevaliers, finally reached Harvey ’s mech before it had drifted too far away.

Even though numerous sandmen took potshots at both Desolate Soldiers, somehow Silent William managed to cope with the damage.
His Desolate Soldier spun around at various angles in order to spread out the laser fire over the entire frame.

Once his mech reached the disabled mech, the former first stopped the latter ’s spin.

Then, Silent William ’s mech temporarily put aside its Sandbreaker rifle in order to sink its hands into the damaged rear of Harvey ’s mech.

Since time was short, Silent William couldn ’t afford to be delicate.
The hands of his own mech started to incur damage as he put them under a considerable amount of stress.

The hands of a melee mech weren ’t designed to exert so much force!

Fortunately, the Desolate Soldiers weren ’t very tough to begin with, and its rear armor happened to be the thinnest.
It did not take much effort to pry off the flight system and armor panels that should have blasted away in order to make room for the cockpit ’s ejection.

While Melkor still tried his best to provide cover fire for the rescue attempt, he switched half his internal vision to a feed of Silent William ’s mech.

He watched carefully and studied the damaged exterior of the cockpit.

”Silent William! The damage to Harvey ’s cockpit is too severe! You ’ll have to pry it out of the torso of the mech and carry it back to the Greenfeather.
Can you do that?! ”

Though Silent William did not transmit any acknowledgement, his mech already started to pry the cockpit out, managing to succeed as not all of the systems of the cockpit had failed.

”Success! Bring him back! ”

The Desolate Soldier piloted by the guest among the Avatars flew back with certainty while cradling the cockpit like a piece of furniture.

Though several sandman drones fired at the vulnerable rear and flight system of the retreating mech, Melkor and the Avatars instantly targeted the offenders and sprayed them with Sandbreaker rounds.

Eventually, Silent William ’s mech managed to make it back to the light carrier of the Avatars!

Melkor silently smiled while quickly turning back to the battle.

By now, the swarm had been reduced by a third.
The threat they posed against the defenders had lightened considerably, which meant that there was less chance that other Avatars would suffer the same fate.

”My Avatars are too precious to die here. ” He muttered to himself.
”I have to make sure everyone gets back alive! ”

He knew that this went against the intentions of Ves, but right now he simply couldn ’t care about his instructions.

His Avatars were his comrades.
They fought side by side and supported each other without fail.

Even Silent William, who wasn ’t technically an Avatar, did not hesitate to put himself at risk to rescue Harvey ’s life!

Fortunately for Melkor, the battle ended without any suspense.
With the military ’s Novabreakers soaking up the bulk of the damage at the front, the rest of the mechs and starfighters endured considerably less damage.

The modest sandman swarm hadn ’t managed to pierce past the thick, compressed armor of the latest military mech model that spread among the mech regiments!

As the mechs flew back to their carriers once they made sure to kill every lingering sandman drone, Melkor briefly glanced at one of the Novabreakers returning to its mothership.

The entire surface of the mech looked scorched and deformed as a hundred or so light laser beams had tried to fell the machine.

Though it appeared that the Novabreaker suffered moderate internal damage, clearly that wasn ’t enough to cripple the tough and durable mech.

For a moment, Melkor felt jealous.
Why weren ’t the Avatars allowed to pilot a Dawnbreaker or better mech? Why did the Avatars lose several comrades over the course of their deployment at the front due to the lack of defenses of the Desolate Soldier model?

”It ’s because Ves is in charge. ” He answered his own questions with a sigh.
”As long as he calls the shots, he is in control of our lives. ”

With a heavy heart, Melkor ’s Desolate Soldier returned to the Greenfeather ’s hangar bay.

Once he emerged from his mech, he lowered himself to the deck and walked towards a small procession of happy mech pilots.

”Hooray for Silent William! ”

”Thank you for saving my butt! ” Harvey thanked the silent foreigner.
”I owe you one! ”

Once Melkor arrived, the Avatars shut up and turned to their commanding officer.

”Silent William. ” He began.
”You disobeyed orders. ”

William Urbesh met Melkor ’s shielded gaze without any hesitation or remorse.
In fact, he didn ’t communicate any message at all!

Melkor held out his hand.
”For what it ’s worth, I support you. ”

Silent William shoved aside Harvey and moved past Melkor without accepting the offered handshake.

The foreigner from a different star sector left the hangar bay, leaving the rest of the Avatars perplexed.

”He ’s a weirdo. ”

”At least he ’s our weirdo. ”

Though Silent William never socialized with others, none of the Melkor took offense at his antisocial behavior.

That was because his battlefield performance was enough to win the Avatars over!

As Melkor lowered his arm and watched Silent William leave, he frowned for a moment.

”Why is he so strange? ”

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