Chapter 6423 The Combat Role of Hunters

Chapter 6423 The Combat Role of Hunters

"There are soldiers and there are Hunters." Vice Director Redmond tried to keep his cool under the weight of all of the accusations. "Neither of them are any less necessary than the other. Both are doing what is necessary to defend our civilization. We Hunters may not publicize our 'battles' as much, but I will not allow you to devalue our accomplishments."

"I disagree! While I don't ascribe to your rigid Hunting Code, I am of the opinion that I am a much greater hunter than you, Talas! What hunts have you completed that can come close to the enemies that I have felled in personnel combat as well as the head of a large mech force? No one else in this headquarters aside from myself deserves to be called a hunter as far as I am concerned! You are all pansies who avoid conscription into the war by pretending that culling exobeasts is an essential job! Why haven't you ever turned your hunting weapons against the much more powerful native aliens?!"

"The Huntsman-"

"YOU ARE NOT THE HUNTSMAN!" Ves barked back! "You are pathetic wannabes who never follow him where it matters the most, which is hunting down the true enemies of red humanity at the frontlines! While you pampered Hunters keep hunting down the same kind of mutated beasts in the carefully tended gardens that you call hunting preserves, real soldiers are fighting to take down alien phasefighters, enormous alien warships and despairing powerful phase lords!"

"We value the contributions made by the servicemen who bravely fight to defend our borders, but our responsibility is no less important."

"It is not the same!" Ves scowled. "Unlike Hunters who have the luxury to downgrade their equipment so that they can gain a slight amount of thrill in their hunts, those mech pilots out there cannot afford to do the same! They are constantly outnumbered and overpowered by our real enemies! The fact that many of them are able to persist and even kill their formidable enemies under adverse conditions makes them the true hunters as far as I am concerned! Just admit it, Talas. You Hunters have been playing parlor games far away from contested territory, doing very little to help the real soldiers and hunters negate the threat posed by the native aliens. If our defenders falter one day, it will be because 'Hunters' such as yourself have been killing your prey for sport instead of duty!"

The vice director of the regional headquarters had a duty to defend the honor and the mission of the Hunting Association.

He found that to be increasingly more challenging as Ves a number of very pointed accusations.

While this was not the first time that a critic had lodged these accusations towards the Hunting Association, Talas Redmond still found it a lot more difficult to refute them than normal.

In most discussions, the vice director could easily intimidate his counterparts by showing off his many impressive hunts.

That was a lot more difficult to do against the only Senior Mech Designer who not only managed to fight against several phase lords in person, but also contributed to the deaths of several of these powerful foes!

Even though the circumstances of that recent battle could never be equated to a proper hunt or a formal duel, Ves was right that true combat was never fair or perfectly arranged in advance.

The old man eventually let out a sigh.

"Whatever you are attempting to do, it is not working, Ves. It is childish to think that a single outburst can magically make your problems disappear. You seek to shame us and guilt trip us into agreeing your concessions. That will never work because there is no direct relation between your accusation and the possibility of the Hunting Association agreeing to place itself under your Red Collective. We can address your points of criticism just fine without subjecting ourselves to the rules and regulations of another authority besides the Huntsman. We already have plans to participate more directly in the defense of our border with the native aliens. We only require more time in order to raise a large enough quantity of Hunters of notable strength to materially affect the war effort.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Ves openly laughed.

"This is not meant to be a joke."

"Well it sure sounds like one to me, Tallas! What the hell are a few million or even a few million 'Hunters' supposed to do? No matter how much stronger they have become with the help of your Hunter's Code, that doesn't change the fact that they are still stuck in their tiny human forms! Tell me honestly. Are these Hunters of yours strong enough to defeat a mech in single combat?"

"They can." The vice director defensively said. "Do not underestimate their power. The extent of their growth is greater than you can imagine. Every Hunter draws power from the prey they have slain. Complete enough hunts, and the power a Hunter is able to accumulate is expansive."

"Well, congratulations, then. You have just raised a Hunter that may or may not be able to beat a mech... up close... that chooses to fight a superhuman where it holds the least amount of advantages. The native aliens won't be as silly. They will take advantage of the superior firepower of their phasefighters and warships to blast all of your tiny and vulnerable hunters to pieces. As for phase lords, they can use their enormous bulk or their vast spatial powers to slaughter any formation of hunters."

Vice Director Redmond shook his head in denial. "We are Hunters. We are not soldiers. We do not seek to replace or imitate mechs. We are smaller and subtler. We are much more suitable to help the war effort by fighting as saboteurs as opposed to frontline soldiers. We can sneak behind enemy lines in stealth vessels so small that enemy detection measures cannot pick up their signatures. We are accustomed to operating in the wild with no backup and support structure, so we can infiltrate enemy planets and strongholds by ourselves and engage in all manner of sabotage and assassination before we exfiltrate as quietly as we came in. If we do this often enough, we can slow down and hinder the alien offensive and give our forces more time and space to repel the enemy attacks."

number of interesting traits.

First, the draft design consisted of a full biomech.

It did not contain any obvious mechanical or metallic components on the outside.

Second, it was humanoid in nature.

Its appearance was so lifelike that it looked more like a giant human rather than a biomachine optimized for warfare.

Third, the biomech appeared to have mutated to the point of assimilating the natural

weapons of several formidable exobeast species.

It featured serpentine eyes that could perceive a lot more detail than typical organic

optical organs.

Its left hand had mutated into a reptilian limb that featured long and sharp claws.

Its right arm had mutated into a biocannon that could launch energy projectiles.

It also featured a segmented bone tail that ended in a spike so sharp that it looked as if it could pierce right through the hull of a warship.

"What... is this monstrosity?"

"This... is the ultimate hunting mech. Ves grinned. "You Hunters take so much joy and satisfaction from absorbing the strength of your slain prey. However, it is impossible for this process to be 100 percent efficient. I bet that a lot of energy ends up getting wasted. Investing resources into your human self alone also requires lots of time to produce a truly powerful Hunter. I am confident I can design a living biomech that can do a better job at absorbing the tangible as well as the intangible resources of a dead exobeast. Not only will it be able to absorb a large proportion of the 'spirit' of the exobeast, but it can also assimilate and adapt the superior physical organs of the same prey. You are what you hunt. You discard or sacrifice the parts of the prey that are weak, but assimilate the parts that are stronger. Do this long enough, and your hunting mech will not only turn into a collection of trophies, but also a unique war machine that concentrates the best attributes of your strongest prey!"

The unnamed mech concept that Ves had come up with a whim was the first proper

biomech that he truly felt motivated to design!

Previously, Ves came up with several ideas for biomechs, but quickly argued that he could design an equivalent that worked just as well if it was based on conventional technology.

This was different. No conventional mech or cyborg mech could serve as a hunting mech

as well as a real biomech.

If the Hunting Association gave Ves a chance to realize this mech concept, then he would promise to give the Hunters a definite weapon!