The Mech Touch

"Are you proud to be a part of the Friday Coalition? You willingly married some loser in order to gain citizenship, after all. Now, you're an accessory to a kidnapping. You used to be a Brighter! How could you do something like this?! Don't you have any honor?!"

His provocative question did not fluctuate Patricia's mood at all! She directed a pointed gaze at Ves as if she saw through his attempt to rile her up. This wasn't the first time he poked her with his poisonous tongue.

"Pride is irrelevant. I am a mech designer. The boundaries between states and the machinations of its people are inconsequential. We are meant to fulfill a greater role than participating in the petty power plays of those who can not see the forest from the trees."

Ves blinked at Patricia.

"You sound like a sage from the MTA. I don't see how you can pretend to be lofty when you abandoned the state that nurtured you in order to become a gold digger in a more prosperous state!"

Patricia sighed and leaned back on the chair in his quarters. "I am forced to play by the rules as well. It was never my intention to be caught up in these matters."

"If you don't want to dirty your hands, you could have just stayed put. Instead, you chose to become a sellout!"

"I know you are angry, Ves. You have a right to be. I don't want you to get consumed by it. Regardless of what you think of me, I do not approve of human conflict. I would much rather be a part of the struggle against alien civilizations."

"Too bad you're not a part of the MTA. Did they reject your application?"

"The MTA is very strict when it comes to hiring mech designers." Patricia replied in an indirect answer to his question.

In fact, even the most talented and brilliant mech designers might not necessarily be able to become an internal of the MTA!

While the MTA maintained a rather open recruitment policy, their exact hiring criteria were very random! No one who applied knew for sure whether the MTA took a liking for what they had to offer!

Otherwise, how could a mech pilot such as Charlotte Hoffmeister enter the MTA while countless second-class mech pilots fail?

"Well, since the MTA hasn't deemed you worthy, I don't see why you should care about the Big Two's mission. You should let the big guys worry about defending humanity."

Patricia began to look annoyed at Ves. This was a rare occasion as she always controlled herself carefully.

Ever since he encountered her when he studied at Rittersberg, Patricia always gave off the sense that she existed on a different plane than everyone else. It was as if she was the only galactic citizen in a mob of space peasants!

Her refined conduct and reserved behavior drew a lot of admiration from everyone else.

That was all in the past. While Patricia still acted as if she was holier than thou, Ves had grown up from the naive little boy who had nothing to go on but his passion for mech design.

Her charm no longer impressed him. After falling for Gloriana, every other woman fell short in his eyes.

In fact, the more he interacted with Patricia, the more he started to grow suspicious about her origins.

Was she even a Brighter? Who were her parents? Why was she so smart? Why did she study at an average mech university like Rittersberg as opposed to Ansel? Why stay in the Bright Republic at all when she was clearly capable of studying at Leemar?

Patricia never elaborated about herself. Whenever he attempted to satisfy his curiosity, she flatly disregarded her inquiries.

Fortunately, she was more than willing to talk about other matters, which made her much more bearable.

The main reason why he insisted on talking to her was because she was a font of information about the Scarlet Rose!

While Ves did not have the courage to pump Aisling for information, he was not as apprehensive towards his old acquaintance.

For her part, Patricia did not put up her guard against his questioning. Like Aisling, she was completely assured of their security!

Ves was not only alone, but also under their control! There was no way he could do anything to change his fate!

Sadly, none of the Fridayman on the Scarlet Rose could ever anticipate that Ves wasn't alone! Not only did he have Lucky and his smuggled gadgets, he also had more potent trump cards in reserve!

Therefore, Ves took his questions a lot more seriously than Patricia, who apparently saw no harm in elaborating about the Scarlet Rose.

"The Scarlet Rose operates under the jurisdiction of the Coalition Reserve Corps. The CRC is one of the few organizations of our state that is allowed to operate throughout the Coalition."

"That's because the Friday Coalition is still a coalition of different groups." Ves sneered. "Even after four centuries, the coalition partners still haven't managed to unify! The only reason why the nine partners turned into six partners is because the weakest ones got devoured!"

"Regardless, the CRC is not involved in the rivalry between the partners. The Gauge Dynasty has no more say than the Puffer Clan. This is by design as the Friday Coalition cannot tilt the balance any further towards the powerhouses."

"Why does the CRC even need a ship like the Scarlet Rose?"

"The CRC is one of the main organizations which organizes the mech designers of the Coalition in the event of war or any state-wide mobilization events."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that during the Komodo War, any mech designer who isn't exempted from service or working for one of the mech militaries must follow the arrangements of the CRC. As Lady Curver is not a part of the Sundered Phalanx, she is obliged to contribute to the war in a different fashion. Mobile supply frigates such as this ship exist to facilitate her work in many different circumstances."

"That sounds like overkill for a simple monitoring mission."

"You're not wrong. A simple corvette is sufficient, but don't forget that Lady Curver represents the Coalition when she's on assignment. A corvette is too small to make the locals take her seriously. A capital ship is too excessive, but a sophisticated frigate-sized vessel is just right."

That made sense, but that didn't explain why the Scarlet Rose featured a full-sized mech workshop. This was far from standard when it came to other frigate-sized vessels!

Ves pretended to buy into Patricia's explanation.

"What makes the Scarlet Rose so great for this purpose?"

"A monitor is supposed to be a non-threatening presence in the state they are permitted to stay in. In line with a diplomatic treaty that the Friday Coalition has signed with a collective of third-rate states, a monitor is only allowed to bring a limited escort. That is why the Scarlet Rose can only field four mechs at most."

"That sounds dangerous. What if some ambitious mercenary corps covet this ship?"

She snorted dismissively. "Just because the Scarlet Rose has limited protection doesn't mean it's vulnerable. The four mechs we carry are very high-quality mechs! While the treaty limits the quantity of mechs we can carry, it says nothing about the quality! The mech pilots themselves are highly-trained elites!"

"That.. sounds a bit strange to me. With the Komodo War raging like a firestorm, how come the CRC is able to get their hands on elites?"

While the Friday Coalition is a lot larger and more populous than the Bright Republic, the standard for second-class elite mech pilots was incredibly high! A second-rate state only had so much elites, and Ves figured that all of them were needed to battle the Hexers!

"The elites aren't as you imagine. They aren't military. Instead, they're drafted from the private sector."

"You mean they're mercenaries?" Ves raised his eyebrow.

"Some of them are. Others come from personal forces or security companies. A significant portion are even mech athletes! Most of these mech pilots won't fit in the military, so the CRC offers them an alternate way to contribute to the state."

"Are the mech pilots of the Scarlet Rose any good?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I'm not sure. I don't interact with them. They keep to themselves. They don't respect anyone on this ship except for Lady Curver."

Ves felt rather indignant that Patricia wasn't afforded the same treatment! How dare they!

"It sounds like they all need a good kick in the butt!"

"They are only here to deter opportunistic pirate raids. Everyone else doesn't dare to lay a hand on us. The Scarlet Rose represents the entire CRC, which in turn represents the Coalition as a whole. There have been a few times in the past where 'unknown forces' attacked our monitor ships, but each time the CRC moved in full force to investigate these incidents! The people or states responsible have never escaped the CRC! They paid a very heavy price for their transgressions!"

That.. sounded rather bad to Ves. He had to admit that the CRC intimidated him a bit. If he truly succeeded in his hijacking attempt, he would definitely provoke a counterattack from the CRC!

This meant that Ves had to make some very careful choices. He also had to form a followup plan. If he failed to prepare an escape route for himself, he would surely fall victim to the Coalition's revenge!

"It sounds like no one dares to provoke CRC. We should be safe, right?"

Patricia confidently nodded. "The Scarlet Rose is nearly as fast as the Barracuda. Your corvette is a purely civilian vessel. The CRC is a paramilitary organization, so our mobile supply carrier is built with slightly better tech and materials. Her FTL drive cycles nearly as fast as that of your corvette, so the Scarlet Rose is fully capable of escaping nearly any opponent that can threaten our safety!"

"What about pursuit by a Hexer force?"

"That's unlikely. The Bright Republic and the surrounding states are all aligned with the Friday Coalition. The CRC and Coalition organizations keep track of any Hexer elements in the region. If any of them tries to intercept our ship, we'll know well in advance. Besides, it will only take eleven days until we enter the Friday Coalition. We will be absolutely safe once we return to our territory!"

Eleven days! Ves felt some urgency when Patricia revealed how little time he had left!

In fact, his safety margin was even less considering that a ship would be travelling to a Coalition-owned star system a few days before this deadline!

While it was possible to interrupt the FTL drive and throw a ship back into realspace, this was extremely dangerous and sometimes led to disintegrating the entire vessel after suffering the equivalent of a dimensional crash!

"Is there any chance you could drop me off along the way?"

Patricia shook her head. "I don't know why you keep asking this question. Lady Curver is determined to have you. I suggest you accept your situation. It is not all that bad."

"Hehe." Ves chuckled. "I'm done with people telling me what is best for me. Even if I'm wrong, I keep my commitments!"

She looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"I truly don't know what is going on in your head these days. You are so much different from the classmate I used to know at Rittersberg."

"I got better."

"I doubt that. To me, you've regressed. The fact that a man like you still supports the Hegemony over the Coalition is proof of faulty judgement."

"Is that an insult?" Ves grinned. "I never thought you of any people would employ snark against someone."

"It's tiring to argue against someone like you. Every time I talk to you, I feel as if you are dragging me to your level."

"Why do you keep coming back, then?" He cheekily asked.

"I don't know." Patricia whispered, looking a bit lost for a moment.