The Mech Touch

　　Sure, there were certain structures and facilities that exhibited impressive tech that was far beyond the reach of average pioneers, but the overwhelming part of the city was still made out of cheap alloy prefab structures.

　　Another trait that caused Pejana to stand out was the obvious defensive works.

　　Whereas the defenses of Chance Bay were mostly invisible in order to avoid disturbing its peaceful and prosperous aesthetics, Pejana's defenses were considerably more ostentatious.

　　Turrets, bunkers, tunnel networks, depots and more were strewn throughout the urban landscape. Though the architects made sure that they did not stand out too much from the civilian structures, they were definitely noticeable to those who were sensitive to security.

　　The THZ Consortium was hardly the only organization looking to dominate trade in the Magair Middle Zone. Competition was harsh and it was not uncommon to hear about attacks on large trade systems by jealous rivals.

　　Aside from that, alien raiders also posed a threat. Though rare in these parts, errant alien fleets did show up on occasion and attacked the colonies that had been built on top of their ancestral planets.

　　Even if these alien fleets were quickly hunted down and eliminated, it did not stop the nunsers, puelmers and other alien races from exacting revenge at any cost.

　　These incidents showed that the aliens were taking the invasion of the Red Ocean pretty badly. Plenty of alien leaders who saw their home planets, star nations and people being overrun en masse went crazy and irrationally sought to reciprocate the cruelty that had been dealt to their civilizations.

　　They would have been better off if they consolidated all of their forces and either formed a united front or fled the Red Ocean entirely.

　　Yet instead of doing their best to preserve their remaining assets and numbers, a lot of individual alien leaders either sought to conduct guerilla warfare or plainly wanted to go out in a last blaze of glory for whatever reason.

　　This was why the people who lived in the Pellysa System never fully relaxed. There were so many different threats in the new frontier that the people here needed to be on guard and have their weapons close at hand at all times.

　　"It's a different life." Ves remarked as he looked out of the window of the hotel that the Larkinson Clan had reserved in its entirety. "Pellysa isn't even situated that deep in the frontier but the culture and attitudes here are already different."

　　The people in Vulit were much more relaxed. With the Big Two watching over everyone, no one had any fear about getting wiped out. As long as they had money or belonged to the organization, they could enjoy life in the Red Ocean just like they did in the old galaxy.

　　Ves felt fairly torn about this to be honest. He knew that he would do fine in a safe and protected environment, but if he wanted to bring the best out of his design philosophy, he needed to get out of his comfort zone and explore new sights.

　　That said, he wasn't in a hurry to reach the frontlines of the ongoing invasion. The zones where the Big Two had just taken from the aliens were still too fresh and filled with plenty of hazards. Only the strongest and most daring pioneers explored these areas first.

　　Though the bounties they harvested from the fresh and smoldering ruins often made many of them rich overnight, their survival rate was anything but high!

　　Given the current strength of the Golden Skull Alliance, it was better if it made up the latter waves of scavengers and explorers.

　　Even if most of the truly valuable substances such as phasewater and high-grade exotics had fallen into the hands of those that came before, there should be just enough treasures left to make the trip worthwhile.

　　What Ves was really looking for was remnants of alien culture and society. Just as with the luminars, he hoped to stumble on tech or methods that synergized well with his design philosophy.

　　"In fact, it would be best if I can stumble upon an intact alien settlement!"

　　The chances of stumbling upon them was rare because the Big Two always paid bounties to pioneers who wiped them out. Still, if the expeditionary fleet moved forward enough, there was always a chance of encountering one in small and obscure star systems.

　　"Bwa…. guuuawaawaaaaaaaa…. WAAAAAA.. WAAAAAHH!"

　　"There, there, Aurelia. Don't cry. Mommy's here. Are you hungry? I have your nutrient solution ready for you. Shh shh shhh."

　　Ves turned and smiled as he drank in the sight. Marrying someone and having a kid had also played a role in his decision to exercise a bit of restraint.

　　Though he simply couldn't give up on his ambitions, he increasingly took his daughter and his future children into account when he made important decisions.

　　This was why he was contemplating an intriguing business offer at the moment.

　　Though Ves remained committed to his decision to not allow the Larkinson Clan to establish a permanent presence on any planet, there were ways to get around this restriction.

　　For example, a local manufacturer offered to produce and sell the Larkinson Clan's mechs. Though the business deal wasn't large in scope, it represented a new beginning.

　　So far, the Living Mech Corporation practically conducted no business in the Red Ocean. What activities it performed were mostly directed towards their legacy operations back in the old galaxy. The company also handled and coordinated a portion of the logistics of the Larkinson Army.

　　Chief Minister Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson had never failed to remind Ves that the LMC was becoming increasingly more marginal the longer this went on. The Red Ocean should be the mech company's new focal point, but the current plan made it difficult for the company to get its footing in the local market.

　　"The biggest problem is that we're constantly moving around. Right now, I'm unsure if our mechs will remain as effective when we have moved deeper into the Red Ocean. We might have to exchange more merits for PPs."

　　That was a difficult and expensive prospect, especially if Ves wanted to procure one for each of the Journeymen of the Larkinson Clan. The price was too prohibitive for him to seriously consider this option.

　　Perhaps he might limit the purchase of PPs to himself and Ketis as they were the two mech designers with the best commercial prospects. The others had to make do with designing mechs for the clan for the time being.

　　Of course, Ves wouldn't stop them from trying to earn MTA merits through their own efforts in order to pay for their PPs.

　　"Well, that's something to consider for later."

　　He first needed to know whether Pellysa was a good place to start up a business venture. He turned away from the window and approached his wife to give her a kiss on the cheek. Then he leaned down to plant a soft kiss on his daughter.

　　"Guuuuu…"

　　Aurelia had already stopped crying now. Her belly was filled with precisely-formulated nutrients and her eyes were already nodding off to sleep.

　　Her healthy, almost glowing skin and her young but vigorous spirituality continued to reassure Ves that she remained healthy.

　　"Miaow~"

　　Clixie contently flicked her tail from side to side as she was never far away from Aurelia. The cat had vigilantly kept watch over the baby even though her protection strictly wasn't needed. Her ornate collar looked well taken care of. Its surface gleaned in the light and the jewel set in the center looked especially lustrous.

　　Maybe even too lustrous.

　　"Are you ready for your meeting?" Gloriana asked as she settled their sleeping daughter in the floating crib.

　　"Yes. This will be an interesting day. There are multiple organizations that have approached our clan in order to explore forms of cooperation. The impression we made with our living mechs and masterwork expert mechs has been pretty significant. The number of people that have requested us to develop masterwork mechs for them number in the hundreds."

　　"You turned down all of these requests, right?"

　　Ves nodded. "We're not Masters who have become good enough to pump out masterworks on demand. While I admit that some of the rewards they are offering sounds attractive, I don't want to be on the hook in the event that we can't please our customers."

　　"If I can become a Senior… I might be able to do something about that." Gloriana smirked. "With the progress that I am making, I think I don't need to become a Master in order to regularly produce mechs that have reached the second rung of the craftsmanship ladder. All of those masterwork mechs we made before have given me a huge advantage."

　　The same applied to Ves, but his core design philosophy did not obsess over it that much. Masterworks were of considerable interest to Vulcan, though.

　　"We'll see how much we can do once we've reached this point. For now, we should stick to more basic operations since we are still Journeymen. What will you be doing by the way? I hope you're not going out shopping again."

　　His wife looked offended. "Do you think that I'm only here to drain our bank accounts of money? I can be productive as well! If you must know, I'm meeting up with a couple of mech designers based in Pejana. We all have ties to the Mech Supremacist Faction so there is a basis of cooperation."

　　"Really?" Ves skeptically asked.

　　"Really."

　　He didn't believe her. This was probably a social call or something. Right now, Gloriana was far too busy to start any projects. It was also difficult for her to exert her full strength when designing mechs by remote.

　　After bidding goodbye to his wife and daughter, Ves took Lucky out of the hotel and entered an armored shuttle. The vehicle slowly rose up and flew to the outskirts of Pejana under considerable escort.

　　This time, the Dark Zephyr along with the Riot were on guard duty today. Though neither of them were masterworks, they were still impressive nonetheless and showcased the greater variety of the Larkinson Clan's mech designs.

　　Both Gavin and Shederin were in the shuttle as well. They had already prepared for the upcoming meeting with the company they were about to meet.

　　"Benny, Tell me what you found out about Zachren Bilitsa." Ves began.

　　"Zachren Bilitsa is a large industrial company that is originally based in the Night Orfolk Star Sector in the galactic rim." Gavin promptly explained. "The production site that they have erected in Pellysa is actually one of their branches. They are one of the bigger players in this star system and they are not entirely beholden to the THZ Consortium."

　　"That's interesting." Ves said.

　　Not everyone who settled on Pellysa III were smaller players. There were bigger ones as well who saw promise in the trading system and didn't mind setting up a branch in this region. The THZ Consortium welcomed their presence as they usually attracted a lot of business.

　　"Zachren Bilitsa or just Zachren in short is a relative newcomer in the Red Ocean, having arrived in one of the later waves. As such, many successful competitors have already claimed all of the low-hanging fruit. Zachren's rivals have already claimed many prime production sites and also forged exclusive trade agreements with established powers. From what it looks like, Zachren has decided to pursue a more long-term strategy of partnering up and investing in less obvious business partners. We are one of the many prospects that they have contacted in recent months."

　　"I see."

　　Though Ves did not like the fact that he was just one in many on Zachren's list, that didn't necessarily mean he should turn away from this opportunity. Business was business, and as long as this industrial company was sincere enough, he didn't mind establishing a limited form of cooperation.