The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5646 Visions of Doom

The Black Tide foretold a grim future for the Red Ocean.

Fully half of the dwarf galaxy had fallen under a tide of darkness!

Whether this tide was a literal or a metaphorical depiction, no one could tell. Not even Ves was all too clear about the exact meaning of this artwork.

"The side that has fallen under darkness also encompasses all of the territories that are currently claimed by red humanity." Jovy remarked. "It is not too difficult to guess that we may be the biggest losers in this future outcome."

Ves started to look doubtful. "It doesn't have to be. Since human-occupied space is so deep in this tide of darkness, it may depict the explosive expansion of human civilization across the Red Ocean. Don't you think this state looks awfully similar to the current state of the Milky Way Galaxy? The Black Tide may in fact show a possible future outcome where red humanity has come to dominate half of the new frontier!"

Somehow, neither Gloriana nor Jovy believed in this alternative interpretation.

"It sounds… possible, but implausible." Jovy judged. "The current pattern set by these illustrations convey negative outcomes. I do not think that the Black Tide is meant to reassure human viewers."

"Maybe you're right. Prophecies can be regarded as early warnings of sorts, so getting a glimpse of a future calamity is not necessarily a bad thing for us. The only problem I have with this work is that it is a redundant warning."

Anyone clever enough could determine without too much effort that red humanity was already in a bad place.

If people did not fight against the aliens hard enough, they would almost certainly get wiped out along with the rest of red humanity!

No matter whether it was the indigenous aliens from the Red Ocean or the extragalactic visitors from Messier 87, the dangers were very real.

Perhaps the only value of the Black Tide was showing the portions of space that might be spared from this vague calamity.

Ves most definitely recorded the image in his cranial implant so that he knew where he should run to if there was any possibility that this event might happen in reality!

Since an image like this did not really convey a lot of useful details, the group of mech designers did not stay for long and looked at the fourth prophetic vision that Ves happened to paint on one of the largest flat surfaces of the Zeal.

Gloriana looked a lot more appreciative at this time. "This is your best image yet. The level of detail is much higher, and I can see you have invested a considerable amount of time to accurately depict the dimensions of the subjects."

"They deserve it. As a mech designer, it would be an actual crime for me to do less than my best in depicting the majesty of these god mechs."

The fourth image actually depicted not one, but several god mechs in combat!

There was no way that the three mech designers could mistake the iconic god mechs. They all happen to look familiar to them, so the prophetic vision clearly did not take place too far in the future.

Ves had painted each and every god mech at such good angles and in such great detail that viewers could even distinguish individual modules and other surface features!

Though the god mechs did not look the same as they did during Operation Night Jazz, the differences could be chalked up to technological upgrades that improved the performance of the powerful machines but preserved their essence.

"This is interesting." Gloriana said. "For whatever reason, the Geneforger, the Heartpiercer and the Ultimate Controller have joined forces to fight against a singular powerful foe. I would have thought that this should be an issue that only concerns the Red Association, but the Spacelock has chosen to contribute despite the fact that he hails from the Rubarthan Pact."

"That is because the threat they are fighting against likely poses a threat to all of red humanity, not just the mechers." Ves guessed.

Jovy meanwhile fell silent as soon as he glimpsed the powerful opponent that the god mechs struggled to contain.

"Ves… I know this question is redundant, but I have to ask in order to be absolutely certain. When you painted this illustration, did you or Ylvaine ever purposefully alter or deviate the depiction of the opponent of these god mechs?"

"No way! I have far more integrity than that! When I had joined forces with Ylvaine, we both sought to translate the future glimpses into a fixed form without injecting our biases or preferences. I can't claim that this depiction is totally objective, but I can personally promise you that I did not attempt to lie or push a particular agenda."

Jovy let out a tired sigh. "I know, but thank you for answering. The… esteemed individuals that I am in contact with are not as familiar with you, so the reassurances that you have given are not redundant."

Even though Jovy never said anything about this until now, Ves already had a strong feeling that his impromptu art session had attracted attention from very high places.

He bet that at least two of the distant onlookers consisted of a Star Designer and a god pilot!

Though Ves felt it was a bit absurd for them to take the results of his improvised art session so seriously, this was not the first time he pulled off an extraordinary feat.

There was a high likelihood that a bunch of tier 1 galactic citizens were frantically trying to interpret his prophetic visions as if they might actually come true!

Ves tried his best not to let that pressure him too much. Whatever the case, Ves had already done the deed. It was up to other people to determine what they thought about his work.

The reason why Jovy and the people behind him had become so concerned about this image was because the adversary that occupied a central position in this piece happened to be another 'god mech'!

However, the subject in question looked like it had gone through a lot of changes since last time.

"Did you run out of bright paint over the course of making this artwork?" Jovy asked.

"Of course not! Our workshop is so well-stocked that it is impossible to run out of colors to paint."

The reason why Jovy asked such a stupid question was because he rejected the most obvious interpretation.

The enemy that the Evolution Witch, the Huntsman and the Spacelock fought against was… the First Flame.

Or at least a corrupted version of the oldest and most powerful god pilot in the Red Ocean.

During Operation Night Jazz, the First Flame demonstrated absolute dominance by transforming his god mech into a massive flaming bird-like creature!

This time, the Phoenix had made a return, but the mythical creature manifestation looked a lot more evil than before!

Its previously bright flames became a lot darker and more ominous. Pure malice radiated from the brilliantly detailed flames that made up the angry manifestation.

"What is the name of this piece?"

"The Suppression of the Dark Phoenix."

"..."

Jovy did not respond to this. His mouth remained shut and his expression remained impassive. The subject of this prophetic vision alarmed people at the highest level. If there was any truth to this depiction, then those leaders had to take as much action as necessary to prevent a scenario where the First Flame might actually turn against his fellow human brothers!

Ves had a strong hunch about what was going on in this image, but he did not dare to voice his thoughts for fear of offending one or multiple god pilots.

It would be stupid for Ves to get on the bad side of the First Flame!

He just had to trust that the mechers were smart and decisive enough to take this warning seriously and take real action to prevent this possible doom scenario from ever occurring.

No one spoke any further. This was strange as the remarkable detail of the depictions of the god mechs and the Dark Phoenix could evoke a lot of discussion among the three mech designers.

Unfortunately, the image triggered so many taboos that no one was in the mood to talk any further!

The three mech designers quickly moved to the next image.

Fortunately, the subject matter was not as controversial this time.

"This is an ancient phase whale." Gloriana described. "It is clearly in warp travel. The brush trails clearly convey this impression. However…"

"It is not a living creature." Ves added. "Can you spot all of the technological modules built across the surface? While they are all too small for us to discern any precise details, their overall aesthetics conform to a human style. Since this work is called the Whale Ark, this is probably an enormous planet-sized ancient phase whale carcass that has been converted into an enormous ark ship!"

The amount of work required to convert such an immense alien body into a half-biological, half-mechanical starship of enormous proportions was insane!

Who was rich and extravagant enough to complete this resource-intensive conversion, and what purpose did the Whale Ark serve?

Jovy spoke up this time.

"There are… rumors among higher circles that the Red Fleet is investing resources in a possible contingency plan. If… red humanity's position in the new frontier has become untenable, then we need a way out. It is possible that the fleeters are planning to convert at least one of the relatively intact ancient phase whale carcasses obtained from the recent operation into an ark ship that can preserve much of the essence of our race and civilization."

This definitely looked like a superproject that the fleeters would invest in! They loved big ships the most, and this was probably the most feasible way for them to obtain a vessel of unsurpassed proportions without ruining themselves in the process!

Nonetheless, the sheer amount of work and resources required to complete such a titanic conversion process was so much that it would probably take decades to complete at the very least!

"If the Black Tide ever comes to pass, perhaps we will all be grateful that a massive ark ship like this exists." Ves observed. "We just have to make sure we secure enough tickets for ourselves. I bet a ship as exceptional as this is not built to roam the shallow waters of the Red Ocean. This… may be the first vessel built by red humanity that can realistically traverse intergalactic distances."

In other words, the Whale Ark may very well be constructed for the purpose of reaching Messier 87 or one of its many orbiting dwarf galaxies!

This would truly free red humanity from the limited confines of their current environment and escape one of the many possible dooms that might befall the Red Ocean!

Gloriana frowned. "The Whale Ark does not have to depict a scenario where the final survivors of red humanity must hastily scramble away from the Red Ocean and seek refuge in another galaxy. It may just be a more innocent pioneering ship that is meant to build our civilization's first bridgehead in the periphery of Messier 87."

Her guess did sound plausible, but the stylistic choices that Ves had made caused the depiction of the Whale Ark to gain a desperate quality to it. This did not seem like a painting that was meant to inspire pride and awe in this grand feat of human naval engineering.

Jovy made another observation. "There are no markings or symbols on the visible surface of the 'hull' that can identify the name of the ark ship. It is also unclear who exactly is in control of the vessel. It could be the fleeters, or a coalition of human powers. It may just be a single fleet or faction among the fleeters that have occupied the ark ship."

"Perhaps… the Whale Ark was built in haste." Gloriana threw out a guess. "Her construction had to be rushed in order to give these people enough time to escape from a calamity that would soon befall the Red Ocean."

"Or… the fleeters gave up on our resistance against the enemies that stand against red humanity." Ves made a more ominous guess. "Do you think it is plausible that the fleeters would just give up at the first sign that red humanity will lose the Red War?"

That was a profoundly dishonorable act, and represented a betrayal of the highest order!

Yet… no one could rule out this possibility either!

Those cowardly bastards!