[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 1: Age of Mechs

They called this era the Age of Mechs.

It was not as if the introduction of mechs replaced other weapons of war. In the galactic war against the alien races that sought to wipe out humanity, warships and weapons of mass destruction still played an essential role.

Yet a nuclear bomb was too destructive if used against humans. Alien races could easily pick up a bargain if humanity constantly weakened themselves to settle internal grudges.

These pointless wars would only end when humanity united all of its separate fiefs. Many visionaries have attempted to do so, and succeeded, up to a point.

Peace never lasted.

The human race had an inborn tendency to fall apart. The grand enterprise of unity failed time and time again.

So people separated, still loosely allied by their common ancestral heritage, but with nothing else in common. Wars continued, but a complex web of treaties limited the destruction of essential war materiel. The human race stood a better chance of resisting alien incursions once it stopped destroying their own settlements and warships.

"It's all fine and dandy to conquer your neighbor's planet. At the very least, don't bring out the big guns and please lease the expensive stuff in space intact."

Not the best solution, but somehow humanity muddled through.

With the stagnation of naval battles, ground warfare took on new significance. Infantry, tanks and artillery enjoyed a resurgence of popularity as the fractious human race fought over their own territory.

Naturally, any invaders didn't have it easy. Forced to operate on enemy soil, the conflicts often devolved into wars of attrition.

Even if the invaders painstakingly triumphed over their enemies, was it worth the effort? They would find out in dismay that they lost more money from their army than what they gained in territory.

Most of the warmongers realized that waging war was a money-losing business.

"Just as planned."

The pacifists thought as they patted their backs. The treaties had been extensively drafted for just such an outcome. Without the tools to threaten a planet into a quick surrender, the warmongers had to rely on old and inefficient technology in order to conquer territories.

It turned out the peace lovers celebrated too early.

Ever since the legendary Mack Liu first stepped on the battlefield with a giant humanoid machine called a 'mech', war had changed forever. It advanced into a whole new paradigm.

Able to perform ably in even the most inhospitable planets, the first mechs made a mockery of the slow-paced and static way of war of traditional armies.

"The human body is the best weapon of humans."

One of the lead inventors of the modern war mech remarked after the first models blitzed half a massive nation's territory.

"Everyone knows that infantry is flexible but fragile while tanks are tough but clumsy. So one day we thought, why not make a new weapon that takes the human form and simply scale it up?"

It resulted in a revolutionary weapon that charmed humans across the galaxy for its evocative look and inspiring capabilities.

Faster than infantry, more flexible than tanks and able to carry a variety of weapons, they nonetheless required much less supplies to keep them running. Their logistical footprint was a fraction of what a conventional army gobbled up. This alone ensured that mechs dethroned all other service branches.