Once Captain Byrd approved his research proposal, the Vandals moved quickly. They stopped avoiding the tribes and instead tried to seek them out.
The only challenge was trying to identify which wildling possessed the power to interfere with the operation of mechs.
Was every wildling that rode atop a godling a potentate?
Besides offering up their mechs, the Vandals weren't quite sure. In the end, they decided to kidnap the most formidable-looking dwarf and let someone else sort out the problem!
Of course, the Vandals declined to use their mechs to kidnap the dwarves. Not only was it massive overkill, none of the mech pilots wanted to experience the same humiliation of being defeated by a dirty savage on foot!