The Mech Touch

that they occasionally bumped into monster groups.
These beasts hadn ’t made it in time to join the first horde, so they congregated into a second one.
Before they joined the main group of monsters, they refrained from attacking any mechs.

However, defending themselves was another matter!

Venerable Foster cleverly dashed towards any grouping of monsters with her mech.
The Mackey Craic would then tap them with its sword, causing them to grow angry and defensive.
Since the beasts weren ’t smart enough to distinguish which mech belonged to which side, they indiscriminately attacked every mech in the vicinity even if it belonged to her opponents!

Several times, she successfully incited the beasts and sneaked away at a critical junction.
Though it didn ’t take much effort for her pursuers to put down the dumb beasts, they inevitably lost a lot of time!

One time, the Vandals decided to split up into two.
One group held up the beasts while the other group continued the chase.

”A chance! ”

Venerable Foster impatiently drew them away from the other group before pouncing on them! Before the Vandals could adjust their defense, the Mackey Craic already ran through six mechs in quick succession!

”Scatter! Don ’t engage Foster directly! ”

Only after a mech captain caught up and held her back did Foster turn around and continue her flight.
Venerable Foster knew very well that her mech wasn ’t strong enough to finish them off.

Her counterattack served as a deterrent! If the Vandals thought they could split up and cut off her escape route, then they were badly mistaken! The Mackey Craic still possessed sufficient reserves to finish off her pursuers if they dared to split!

”Come on, you pirates! Kill me if you dare! ”

She wasn ’t entirely in her right mind.
She recently experienced a break through and witnessed a traumatic event.
The recent transformation of her mind and life phase had left her in an exhausted state.
She desperately needed to rest, but the constant fighting forced her push against her limits!

”I can ’t rest until these pirates are taken care of! ”

Through her familiarity of the terrain and the occasional interference from the beasts, Venerable Foster managed to bleed her pursuers.
She picked off a couple of mechs each time they made a mistake.

However, an hour in her flight, the Mackey Craic rapidly reached its limit.
No matter how well she dodged, the shots coming from the rear occasionally landed a hit.
Some of the shots even started to damage her mech ’s internals, which directly impacted its performance!

In addition, the stresses she exerted on her mech slowly broke down its frame.
Cracks already started seeping in, which Venerable Foster compounded each time she forced the Mackey Craic to move past its limits!

”It ’s getting hot in here. ” She panted as she checked her heat and energy levels.

Typical to melee mechs, the Mackey Craic did not incorporate an extensive heat management system.
While her mech didn ’t accumulate as much heat as a laser rifleman mech, it didn ’t hold as much reserves or possess any means of dumping the heat in an expedient manner.

As for the Mackey Craic ’s energy reserves, the mech performed numerous extreme movements that expended large amounts of power.
This mode of operation was extremely inefficient, but Venerable Foster had no choice if she wished to maintain her superiority over the Vandals.
Each extreme technique wasted at least twice or thrice as much energy!

The Mackey Craic ’s energy reserves dipped below twenty percent.
This gave Venerable Foster very little leeway.
She realized that she wouldn ’t be able to shake off all of her pursuers during this time.

The only way for her to contest her fate was to fight upfront!

No matter how much she wore out her mech and her own self, she was willing to risk it all!

The Mackey Craic instantly turned around without warning and dove at the pursuing Vandal mechs with a vengeance.

”Starwalker Steps! ”

Her mech moved with great momentum as it weaved through most incoming fire.
Once her mech reached the closest enemy, its sword instantly flashed through a seam within the armor plating, cutting through a vital component related to the power management system!

”Redemption Slash! ”

While she wasn ’t a mech designer, her studies had given her an extensive understanding of the anatomy of a mech! Redemption Slash coordinated with the momentum of the mech to deliver a powerful vertical slash that could part through frontal armor with ease.

The only problem with this move was that it consumed way too much energy!

The Mackey Craic moved to the next Vandal and utilized a fast and powerful stab that poked through another universal weak point of her opponent ’s mech.
The sword punched through the armor with ease and penetrated a section of its engage, causing the mech to lose all of its mobility.

”Swallow Stab! ”

Venerable Foster piloted her mech with great effort, trying to spare as much energy as possible.
Vandal mechs pressed against the Mackey Craic on all sides.
If they managed encircle her and press against her from every direction, her mech would definitely lose all of its mobility!

”Get out of my way! Double Redemption Slash! ”

Slashing twice in quick succession while making both blows count was extraordinarily difficult for Foster.
If she wasn ’t an expert pilot, this move would have remained a possible dream for her.
Right now, she managed to fell two mechs at once with this move, providing her Mackey Craic some breathing room.

Though the Vandals constantly lost mechs in their attempt to subdue Venerable Foster, they didn ’t hesitate to throw in more mechs! These wave tactics forced the expert pilot to the brink.
Just as she finished off the latest mech that suicided into the Mackey Craic, her mech beeped out a dangerous alarm.

”What?! How can this be?! ”

The Mackey Craic ’s energy reserves had dipped below five percent and was diminishing towards zero at a rapid pace!

The console that projected her mech ’s current status provided her with the answer.
The Vandals had directly attacked the Mackey Craic ’s energy cells! Though most of them had run dry, the few remaining cells that still supplied energy to her mech had been punctured!

Before she could figure out how to escape, the Mackey Craic finally locked up! Its energy reserves completely ran dry!