The Mech Touch

"I'll keep looking into Professor Benedict and the contacts he's made, but I wouldn't worry too much if I were you." Calabast said as she leaned back on her seat.

"Hmm?"

"The man is a shrewd operator." She told Ves. "He's not going to do anything that disadvantages him. Ruining his relationship with you or risking the breakup of the Golden Skull Alliance is not in his best interest. As long as he values you and your potential, he won't jeopardize his chance to become a powerful Master."

Advancing to Master was one of Professor Benedict's greatest obsessions. Not only that, the man wasn't happy with his current design philosophy. After seeing what the Larkinsons were capable of, he wanted to reinvent his design philosophy and upgrade it to a whole different level.

Hardly any other mech designer could give him the help and inspiration he needed to attain his extremely ambitious goals. Even if Star Designers and other impressive figures were able to assist him, these great dignitaries had no reason to pay attention to a random Senior!

In short, Professor Benedict needed Ves, and that made him predictable to an extent.

Ves had no concerns if the second pillar of the Cross Clan behaved in a completely rational fashion.

The problem was that the man whose crimes used to earn him the moniker of Skull Architect could not possibly be so rational!

In their numerous talks, Ves recognized a part of himself in Professor Benedict. Passion and obsession fueled the man's growth. The Senior would do anything to advance, and not even the laws that constrained people's behavior could stop him from getting what he wanted!

"How confident are you in your evaluation of him?" Ves skeptically asked.

"He has already tasted failure beforehand. He's being much more careful this time. We all recognize that the Red Ocean is a much bigger and considerably more dangerous playground than the regions back in our old galaxy. Trust is one of the most valuable currencies in the new frontier and our Golden Skull Alliance has built up enough of it to keep us together."

Ves sighed. "It's too bad we failed to find additional alliance partners. None of the people and organizations we've looked into are suitable."

This was one of the other big objectives that Ves wanted to solve. The Golden Skull Alliance was still a relatively small player in the Red Ocean. Expanding it would not only give the Larkinson Clan a bit of added safety, but would also expand the overall capabilities of the entire expeditionary fleet.

Hardly anyone seriously responded to the solicitations of the Larkinson Clan, though. Most pioneering organizations simply weren't interested in joining a 'weak' alliance that originated from the galactic rim.

Even if Ves, Ketis and numerous other Larkinsons excelled in various tournaments, that was not enough to persuade powerful leaders and decision makers from going all out on the Golden Skull Alliance!

Sure, the Larkinsons received numerous offers from interested parties, but they all fell into one of two categories.

The first group consisted of pioneering organizations that were too weak or dysfunctional in his eyes. They were just looking to leech from the alliance while contributing far too little to tolerate their presence.

The second group consisted of organizations that were too strong, powerful and wealthy.

They essentially demanded to take over the Golden Skull Alliance rather than settle for becoming an equal partner.

Suffice to say, their proposals were absolutely unacceptable to Ves! Part of the reason why he went through so much trouble setting up his own clan and making sure it gained primacy in the alliance was because he did not want to answer to any higher ups! Why would he choose to go back to serving as a pawn for other people's whims?

Though Ves did not hesitate to reject all of these nonsense offers, it left the Golden Skull Alliance without any significant expansions. The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers still had to rely on themselves to achieve success in the Red Ocean.

"We still have time, Ves." Calabast reassured him. "That 2-year protection period that you have managed to negotiate from the MTA should have already gone into effect. We can use the time we have left to roam the Red Ocean and find potential partners in the wild. Don't forget that Vulit is often the first destination for every second-class pioneer. Each of them come with big dreams but not all of them recognize the cruelty of reality beyond the safety of the Big Two. I bet we'll be able to encounter numerous pioneering organizations that have faltered and need rescue out in the deep."

She made a good point. Ves looked intrigued as he thought about the possibilities.

"It sounds nice, but the Red Ocean is still a big pond. The chance we'll stumble into this scenario is too small. We would have better luck finding potential new alliance partners in one of the made trade systems spread throughout settled space."

The colonization of the Red Ocean already produced a lot of successful results. Many new colonies backed by powerful forces had already reached a level of development where they started to open themselves up to trade and commerce.

These places all sought to imitate places like Vulit. Unfortunately, they weren't run by the Big Two, so they simply didn't possess enough prestige and they weren't able to guarantee absolute safety.

Another problem with these emerging trade systems was that many of them were actually owned by the Terrans or Rubarthans!

The richest and most powerful pioneers all knew how to make the most out of the opportunities available in the Red Ocean. Compared to taking huge risks by exploring the depths of the Red Oceans, it was much safer and also far more lucrative to find a nice port system, take it over and earn a sustainable income through fostering lots of trade and industry!

If Ves really wanted to, he could take his fleet to one of these rising trade systems and lease a patch of ground in order to build a manufacturing complex.

"Have you already figured out what we'll do during our protection period? It would be a shame for us to stick to the safer zones while we are under the MTA's protective umbrella. We could go much deeper and explore more interesting locations without needing to worry about ambushes."

Ves shook his head. "Let's not get too excited. That MTA protection blanket only deters human attackers. It will do nothing to prevent aliens from attacking us. Whatever route we take will not take us in too deep. I'm fine with exploring places that others have visited before. I'm particularly interested in visiting star systems that were previously occupied by aliens."

"Why?"

"Because I can derive more inspiration from studying alien tech. Just look at what we've managed to do with luminar crystal technology. We could also scavenge through the ruins to see if we can dig up any valuables that previous pioneers have missed."

The Red Ocean was all about phasewater and alien civilizations as far as he was concerned. The chance of bumping into the former was small, but the latter was much more ubiquitous!

After discussing a few more miscellaneous matters with Calabast, the spymaster finally left.

Ves thought about all of the intelligence he obtained. The new Journeymen all possessed interesting backgrounds.

Though their mixed backgrounds and controversies might complicate their integration into the Larkinson Clan, Ves did not expect everything to go smoothly.

"It will be pretty hard to integrate four new Journeymen into the clan at once, but the rewards are too good to pass up. We can design double the amount of mechs in the same period of time once the newcomers get up to speed!"

That was the greatest reward that he could gain from this move.

The final days passed by. The Larkinsons that had previously been enjoying their time on the moon settlement known as Chance Bay reluctantly said goodbye to the arenas, the bars, nightclubs, the casinos, the shops and other entertainment establishments before they returned to the fleet in high orbit.

The expeditionary fleet looked a lot different than before.

The capital ships all underwent minor refits. Although none of them received any comprehensive upgrades due to lack of drydock space, it was still possible to apply minor upgrades to their systems.

Their crews had been busy with installing new sensor systems and other easy-to-install modules.

Of particular note was local necessities such as anti-voribug countermeasures. The alien bugs were a menace in the Red Ocean and could chew through all kinds of hardened materials if left unchecked.

Even though it wasn't too cheap to install these modules throughout the hulls of large and voluminous capital ships, Ves would rather not wake up one day and find out that giant insects had turned his precious assets into swiss cheese!

Before Ves returned to his flagship, he paid a brief visit to the new fleet carrier awarded by the Wild Fighter Association.

Engineers and technicians hailing from both the Wild Fighters and the Larkinsons worked around the clock to transfer the pre-owned ship to the Larkinson Clan.

The Wild Fighters pulled out a lot of sensitive and important goods and parts from their capital ship. The Larkinsons had to see whether they had to fill up the gaps while also trying to master all of the controls of their big and powerful fleet carrier.

Fortunately, the experienced spacers and naval officers within the Larkinson Clan gained enough control over the new fleet carrier to be able to keep up with the expeditionary fleet.

This meant that she was ready to be christened with a name and identity.

As Ves stepped aboard her biggest hangar bay, he became impressed by the scale and size of this cavernous hall.

Hundreds of mechs had already been placed inside the new fleet carrier! With a total mech capacity of 650 mechs, this vessel was destined to play a key role in any battles going forward.

A trio of legion commanders soon arrived to welcome their patriarch.

"She's an impressive ship, isn't she?" Commander Sendra of the Swordmaidens grinned.

"That she is." Ves responded as he looked around and studied the modern, high-tech equipment of the hangar bay. "I can definitely see why she is a heartland-level fleet carrier."

Commander Firelight of the Flagrant Vandals noticed what the patriarch was looking at. "The support facilities aboard this ship are much better than what we have handled before, but the learning curve is significantly higher. Our mech technicians and naval personnel are still having a hard time understanding the expanded capabilities of all of this tech. We still have a lot to go before we can utilize 100 percent of what this vessel has to offer."

Ves already understood that. He had handled a lot of different tech back in Chance Bay. Those experiences made him realize that there was a good reason why a lot of people despised the galactic rim. The tech level in the backwater regions in human space was simply too poor!

Once he recognized this discrepancy, Ves became more eager to catch up to the galactic standard. Mastering the new fleet carrier was an important test for the Larkinson Clan!

He glanced back at the three legion commanders who had apparently made themselves home aboard the new ship.

"I see you guys have already decided upon the allocation of our fleet carriers."

Commander Valerie Chancy of the Penitent Sisters nodded. "The Avatars of Myth, the Living Sentinels and the Battle Criers have decided to keep the Gorgoneion as their shared flagship. The Flagrant Vandals, the Swordmaidens and my Penitent Sisters will be taking up residence aboard this new fleet carrier. Given her history and her former usage, it seems appropriate."

The Wild Fighters had peculiar ideas on how fleet carriers should be employed. Compared to the Gorgoneion, the new fleet carrier was a bit lighter but considerably more maneuverable.

The three mech legions that chose to transfer to this vessel did so because they were attracted to the new fleet carrier's aggressive character!