The Mech Touch

bility to fight against humans comes from the integration of his experimental processor core with the ship ’s systems.
Once the Starlight Megalodon and all of her systems break, Sigrund will be rid of these software shackles! ”

The three finally managed to reach the research lab where Ves holed up Qilanxo.
The sacred god had already entered into a state of mild panic due to the instability she felt from the ship! She already battered against the bulkheads keeping her locked within her huge cell, but they hardly suffered a dent.

Only when Ves sent out a command to release the locks did the massive form of Qilanxo finally liberate herself from her cell.
She roared at Ves with panic!

”Qilanxo! The Starlight Megalodon is falling apart! We need to get out, but to do that we need your help! ” Ves spoke.
He retrieved a bulky gadget from his toolbelt.
”This is a short-ranged teleporter that can instantly bring you outside the ship! While it ’s range is shorter than mine, its powerful enough to bring you far enough away to escape this calamity! ”

Back when Ves realized that he wouldn ’t be able to stay on the Starlight Megalodon for much longer, he spent his remaining merits since it wouldn ’t be of much use anyway.
This short-ranged teleporter he redeemed from Levitt only possessed a range of fifty kilometers and didn ’t work well with even mild dimensional instability.
However, the redeeming factor of this one-use teleporter was that it possessed enough power to transport large vehicles and mechs!

Ves didn ’t entirely know why he spent his merits on redeeming this short-ranged vehicle teleporter when he could have traded his merits for more useful high-tech gadgets from the armory instead.

Sentiment had a way of affecting his decisions.
It made him care about others.
It also distinguished him a bit from Calalabast, which reassured him somewhat.

He didn ’t have to secure an escape route for Qilanxo, but he did so anyway.
Ves was half thankful for this because the teleporter also secured her full cooperation.
The sacred god knew as well as Ves that staying aboard this ship was a death sentence!

”Come on! Work with me! Our escape depends on you, Qilanxo! ”

Qilanxo roared out her confusion and panic.
She didn ’t understand his instructions!

”Look, all you need to understand you can get us all out of here if you stabilize the surrounding space! ”

It took several minutes for Ves to explain what he wanted her to do.
All the while, the clones kept coming closer as the hatched that Ves locked behind him were slowly unlocking due to Sigrund ’s control over the ship ’s systems.

Even though Qilanxo would easily be able to stomp on the army of clones, the distraction alone would draw too much time away to arranging their escape!

The ship kept shuddering and some lights and systems started to fail as the sandman mothership started to crush and grind its way through the corridors and compartments.
Even the laboratory became affected by the slow collapse of the ship as their footing grew unsteady.

Under the prodding of Ves, Qilanxo began to apply her abilities in a completely different fashion.
Rather than fold space into a shield, she spread out her powers over a much wider area around her in an attempt to exert her dominion over it.
Her lack of knowledge in the sciences made it extremely difficult for her to understand what she needed to do, but Ves constantly corrected her and set her on the right path.

”Yes! That ’s it! This is the way! Smooth out the shaky bits and calm down the surrounding space! ”

It helped that the anti-teleportation field engulfing the Starlight Megalodon started to weaken upon the ship ’s slow collapse.
The shifts in space made Qilanxo sensitive to the field.

Ves kept his eyes peeled onto his Squalon ’s sensors that possessed a limited capability to measure the instability that blocked their teleports.
When the interference forcefully smoothed out due to Qilanxo ’s strenuous efforts, the safety margin became acceptable enough that Ves couldn ’t wait any longer.

”This is it! Teleport now! ”

Ves activated the vehicle teleporter he attached to Qilanxo ’s body on a ten-second delay.
In the meantime, Ves, Ketis and Miss Calabast all activated their own EPTs, with success this time as the devices could easily cope with the remaining instability in the surrounding space!

Within a span of three seconds, it was as if they materialized out of the lab.
This was their most vulnerable period as anyone could put a random object through their bodies and cause it to fuse with their organs upon emergence at their destination.

Fortunately, nothing came to spoil the crucial teleportation process!

As Ves and Ketis materialized close to a cave in the middle of some rocky terrain nearly a thousand kilometers away from the Starlight Megalodon, both of them immediately collapsed.

This was the first time they experienced teleportation, and it was as if the entire process broke their bodies down and built them back up at their destination!

Of course, Ves knew that the EPTs didn ’t work like that, yet that didn ’t matter as he tried hard not to vomit out his stomach.

”Bleh! ” Ketis almost hurled out her lunch.
”I swear the EPTs were trying to kill us! ”

”I think the teleportation went rougher than normal due to the moderate amount of spacetime distortion that is still affecting the planet. ” Ves said as his Squalon automatically injected some stimulants and medicine in his bloodstream to stabilize his roiling stomach and balance.
”The most important point is that we finally managed to emerge from the ship! ”

An intense feeling of relief overcame Ves as he realized he succeeded in getting away! He made the right choice in redeeming the EPT instead of something shinier.
Nothing was more valuable than saving his own hide!

Nonetheless, Ketis didn ’t seem enthused.
She looked around their surroundings and saw no one else.
”Dise isn ’t here.
Your Captain Orfan isn ’t here either.
Did they manage to escape?! ”

A tense mood fell upon them.
Would the others manage to escape the calamity that had befallen the Starlight Megalodon?