The Mech Touch

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The brown dwarf system that the Larkinsons tentatively identified as the probable hiding place of Lord Pearian Yorul-Tavik did not even have a proper name.

The chance to leave a legacy behind by naming a star system that would stick around for millions of years apparently wasn't enough of an incentive.

The border region hadn't been frequented much in the past and the few explorers that roamed the area in the past usually directed their attention to more resource and energy-rich star systems.

As such, the brown dwarf system showed up as SDDD-4343X-AER-232666410 in the MTA's official database.

As this was a rather unwieldy way to refer to a location, Ves decided to call it by a different name to make it easier to talk about the star system.

In any case, the Golden Skull Alliance would officially gain the right to name SDDD-4343X-AER-232666410 upon arrival.

That was still a few days away. The expeditionary fleet had just entered a rather boring uninhabited star system that was right next to their destination.

Hundreds of starships waited to cycle their FTL drives in order to get ready for the next leg of the journey.

Mechs launched from the hangar bays and set up an immediate perimeter around the vulnerable ships. Numerous expert mechs were among them, though it was unlikely that their help was needed as the initial sensor sweeps revealed nothing of note in the vicinity.

The fleet lowered its alert level and most people went back to their prior routines. Although the threat of attack was always present, it was unlikely for third parties to drop out of warp travel and launch a surprise attack.

Just in case there were any human or alien forces that were plotting to raid the expeditionary fleet, many individual combat carriers and scout ships had already begun to spread out in order to detect such approaches in advance.

Although there was no particular reason to be more afraid than before, Ves couldn't help but grow nervous.

The Golden Skullers had come incredibly close to the probable location of the missing first-class scion. If the Larkinsons had a way to find Lord Pearian Yorul-Tavik, then it was possible that other powerful groups might have their own ways of making the same determination!

Ves and everyone else depended heavily on collecting intelligence to identify possible threats and 'competitors' in advance.

It was unacceptable for the expeditionary fleet to get blindsided once again. Ves had personally instructed Calabast to dig deep into every pioneering fleet that was close enough to interfere with the search, retrieval and evacuation of Lord Pearian Yorul-Tavik.

This was why she had entered his office once again to deliver an exhausting report about what the Black Cats managed to find out about each nearby fleet.

Many of them sounded fairly boring and unthreatening. Regardless of the amount of mechs they could field, none of them enjoyed the protection of an ace mech as far as the available data showed.

As long as this was the case, the Mars should easily be able to crush the opposing mech forces by itself! The ace mech was just that powerful!

That still left a number of fleets that most likely had an ace mech at their disposal.

"We are not alone in the current star system." Calabast stated. "There is another pioneering fleet on the other side that has arrived from a different direction. It belongs to a private company called Cenatis Prospectin. As the name suggests, it is primarily occupied with discovering valuable resource deposits and mining them empty if the profit is sufficient."

That sounded a bit interesting.

Ves furrowed his brows while stroking Lucky's back. "Ordinary prospecting and mining fleets generally try to stay out of hotspots. Getting into fights with other pioneers is bad for business."

"That is not always the case." Calabast smirked. "Danger just means less competition to these mining companies. There is a lot of profit to be made in this border region. As long as their fleets have enough muscle, then they can guarantee enough safety to go about their day without interference. It is not as if most rivals have much interest in raiding a mining fleet."

That sounded about right, but Ves found it incredibly odd that a powerful mining fleet had roamed all the way out here. There shouldn't be anything too interesting in the surrounding star systems.

"Do you think that these guys are out here in order to find a hidden pocket of phasewater or something?" Ves asked in a deceptively light tone.

"I wouldn't call your attention to this fleet if I thought it was harmless." Calabast replied with a shrug. "There are several points that have set off warnings within my department. The most important concern is that Cenatus Prospecting is not 'just' a boring mining company. It is founded by a pioneer and gentleman called Otrus Magrin."

"Who is this fellow?"

"He's a self-made businessman, just like you. The difference is that he's not a mech designer or an inventor. He is just good at attracting investors and taking advantage of fleeting business opportunities. From what we have learned from third-party sources, Mr. Magrin is a cutthroat businessman who doesn't hesitate to drive hard bargains, coerce other parties into signing unfavorable deals and leave his trading partners out to dry when they no longer have any use. While he has made a lot of risky bets, he won more often than he lost, and this was why he has managed to fund the formation of a fairly powerful pioneering fleet."

This guy certainly possessed a colorful background. Ves grew intrigued and pulled up the man's record.

"Hm. He's from the galactic rim like us. Figures. Everyone who originates from the galactic rim tends to be scrappier than other people."

"We do have a reputation for seeking the limits more often than those who originate from the galactic heartland and the galactic center."

Pioneers who came from the more prosperous regions of the old galaxy could usually count on greater support from back home, but that also made them a lot less daring and willing to take risks.

Ves appreciated a man like Mr. Magrin. There were enough similarities for Ves to respect and understand the businessman's perspective.

"Wait." He suddenly said. "If Otrus Magrin is an unscrupulous businessman, then how has he managed to retain the services of an ace pilot."

"That ace pilot is one of his sons."

"Oh."

Otrus Magrin was actually a lot older than the typical pioneer in the Red Ocean.

Most people that sought to find new opportunities in the new frontier tended to be ambitious people who were generally less than a century old. They were not entrenched in the old galaxy and chafed at the restrictions of the rigid society and structures that prevented them from moving upwards.

A man of Otrus Magrin's caliber already enjoyed considerable success in his home star sector in the galactic rim. Perhaps the man still encountered plenty of hindrances over there, but he would have probably continued to do well if he stayed in his own neighborhood.

Then again, this man did not look or behave like a typical man that was over 250 years old. The intelligence collected by the Black Cats plenty of highlights about Mr. Magrin and his forces.

The fleet that belonged to Cenatus Prospecting had been in its fair share of fights. In some cases, it took the initiative to attack rival fleets in order to lay claim to a profitable resource point. In other cases, it had to beat off attacks because it had advanced where it didn't belong.

All of these descriptions sounded awfully familiar to Ves. The Cenatus Prospecting fleet was much like his own expeditionary fleet, but it was even more aggressive about taking advantage of profitable opportunities.

Ves pulled up the files that described the approximate strength of the enemy forces.

The Black Cats estimated that the fleet that belonged to Cenatus Prospecting could only field around 6000 to 7000 mechs.

While that was still a respectable number, the Golden Skull Alliance could field thousands more.

Still, this disparity in numbers meant little if the Mars lost against the opposing ace mech.

It was rather frustrating to many pioneers that victory or loss at the highest level would instantly determine the outcome of a battle regardless of any other factors. What were the regular mechs and expert mechs supposed to do when much of their efforts turned out to be meaningless in the end?

In practice, it wasn't always as straightforward as that. A huge number of regular mechs could still put a lot of strain on the defenses of an isolated ace mech.

At the same time, if the ace mechs of both sides entered into a stalemate, the other mechs could still play a huge role.

This was why Ves maintained a bit of caution towards the Cenatus Prospecting fleet, but not to the point of treating it as an existential threat.

"What are the chances that Otrus Magrin will decide to mess with our fleet?" Ves asked.

"The chances are not too high, but not too low either." Calabast issued her judgment. "Ever since he and his forces have entered the Red Ocean, his fleet has exhibited patterns of behavior that… can be described as aggressive. If he thinks that another pioneer is onto something good, he will latch onto his target and follow in the hopes that he snatch any opportunities."

Ves immediately frowned. "Are you saying…"

She pointed towards the map, which currently showed a route that began on a different side of the border region before slowly meandering in the direction of the current star system.

What was curious was that the route originally led to another destination, but suddenly turned in direction fairly recently.

"I take it this is the apparent route of the Cenatus Prospecting fleet." Ves remarked.

"Correct. If you look at the timing of this course change, you will notice that it has happened shortly after the conclusion of Operation Lighthouse. We along with several other pioneering groups have defeated a major alien force and plundered a rich amount of spoils. Though we have all taken the initiative to keep this matter confidential, it is impossible to maintain complete secrecy when so many different people were involved in the attack on the Palace of Shame."

If Otrus Magrin somehow learned about what went on in the Boryan System, then he should have definitely taken note of the participants!

Ves stopped with stroking Lucky's back. "Okay. I think I know what is going on now. This is a vulture fleet, right?"

"We presume so. This vulture just happens to have set its sights on our fleet. Vultures love to follow around forces that have already proven to be successful in their previous endeavors. Considering our short but illustrious record, we are probably treated as prime targets."

"...At least Mr. Magrin has good eyesight."

Vulture fleets were groups of ships that usually didn't have the courage to confront targets head-on. Instead, the vultures waited until their prey got into a fight or suffered an accident that caused significant damage.

That was when the vultures would swoop in and finish off their wounded and exhausted prey!

There were many times where the expeditionary fleet had suffered so much during a battle that it had fallen into a period of weakness for many days.

It was anything but simple to recover from a large-scale engagement. If a vulture struck the Golden Skull Alliance when many mechs and expert mechs were either destroyed or heavily damaged, then it was doubtful that the Larkinsons and their allies could muster more than 40 percent of their peak combat power!

In that regard, the 6000 to 7000 mechs of the Cenatus Prospecting fleet sounded a lot more threatening than before!

"We need to discourage this vulture fleet from pursuing us." Ves stated.

"That is not going to be easy, Ves. As long as we try to talk with Otrus Magrin, he will know that we are nervous about his fleet. It will be easy to deduce that we don't want his forces to be around because we are about to engage in a lucrative activity. There is not much we can do to scare him away. Intimidations and warnings will make him more suspicious. Turning away from his fleet will be seen as a sign of weakness or submission. Ignoring him entirely will give the impression that we are scared of his interference. In fact, pretty much anything we do will give the man a reason to believe that it is worthwhile to follow us around."

"..."