The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5821 Flapping Limbs

His visit to Ector V had come to an end.

When Ves looked back at the aquatic-themed city, he certainly did not intend to go back anytime soon.

A lot of stuff had happened while he stayed on the planet. While the sum of it all resulted in a clear net positive gain to his interests, Ves actually preferred it if he hadn't been put on the spot.

Was the Red Collective necessary? Yes.

Did he have to be the one to stick his neck out and propose its formation? No.

Ves missed the days where he could still somewhat fly under the radar. All of the fame he earned from designing excellent second-class mechs never generated much of a storm in the past because all of the high-and-mighty mechers and fleeters never paid that much attention to space peasants in the first place.

It was only after the Survivalists forced him to become a first-

rater and adopt a high-profile development strategy that he turned into the most famous and notorious mech designer of his generation.

Even now, Ves constantly felt as if there was a target on his back. The longer he stayed in a city filled with lots of people and mechs that were outside of his control, the greater the chance that stuff could go wrong.

Perhaps that was partially the reason why he jumped at the opportunity to colonize a planet. If the Larkinsons had a star system of their own, then they could control the environment a lot better.

The best solution was to simply go back to living inside a starship like he did in the past. There were even more reasons for him to stay mobile than before.

Now that he had gained two immensely valuable orbital shipyards, his dreams of forming a first-class expeditionary fleet were no longer fantasies anymore!

Together with the captured archeship, the upgradeable Spirit of Bentheim and the fleet carrier pledged by the Eternal Vulcan Empire, Ves would finally gain a measure of true safety and independence in a dwarf galaxy besieged by alien foes.

"Goodbye Ector V."

"Meow!"

Lucky appeared to be in a much better mood. Eating a chunk of ATC-A alloy satisfied him more than eating literal tons of other exotics. It was clear that he was becoming a lot pickier with his meals.

Ves reached out and patted his cat on the head.

"I'm glad you enjoyed your last feast, but don't expect to obtain similar stuff anytime soon. I paid 10 kilograms of phasewater to get my hands on that prototype alloy. I hope that you have truly improved your ability to phase through energy shields."

"Meow meow meow!"

"Oh, really? Let's put that to the test, shall we?"

He utilized his phase lord powers to project a simple spatial barrier in front of him. Although its principles were different from a transphasic energy shield, there were enough similarities to serve as a viable test case.

"Meow." Lucky arrogantly lifted his head before he tried to phase through the spatial barrier.

The good news was that he did not crash into the spatial barrier.

The bad news was that he somehow got stuck midway!

"Meeeeoooooow!"

The cat looked incredibly pathetic as he somehow got tangled up between folded dimensions to the point where he couldn't squirm his way out anymore!

His limbs ineffectually slapped around as if that would help him gain more purchase.

"It looks like your new ability either needs a lot more work, or you haven't eaten enough ATC-A to upgrade your entire body."

"Meeeeeeoow!"

Ves reduced the strength of his spatial barrier until Lucky finally managed to push his body all the way through.

The gem cat looked both defiant and embarrassed. His tail squirmed as if he would rather never boast about his new abilities in the first place.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Meow meow meow. Meow meow meow!"

"Uh huh. I will test you again in a month. If you claim to be able to fully master your new capabilities by then, then you should be able to pass through my spatial barrier. I am not sure how strong it is, but I am sure that it is at least comparable to a segmented transphasic energy shield of a typical alien warship."

If Lucky couldn't get past his spatial barrier, then he sure as hell wouldn't be able to infiltrate an alien warship that had fully activated her energy shields!

An alert sounded. Ves braced his body even though it was not necessary and soon found himself and his cat teleported to the flagship of the Bluejay Fleet.

"Welcome back to the Tarrasque." Jovy Armalon greeted. "We are ready to begin our departure."

"How are the new reinforcements?"

"They have joined up with our fleet without issue. Three additional light cruisers will give us more punch while also allowing us to scout further. The two combat carriers are very welcome. Each of them carry 20 first-class multipurpose mechs based on combat-tested models that are renowned for their versatility and customizability. Each of them are capable of equipping a wide variety of loadouts that allows them to excel in different missions."

"I see."

Ves was familiar with the concept as his Bright Warriors and his Fey Fianna adopted similar concepts.

The new RA mechs probably did not excel in any mission, but their amazing versatility meant that they could fare well against any enemy, regardless of whether they were human mechs, alien warships or phase whales.

"I'd like to take a look at them myself if possible." He requested. "I have no intention of spoiling the work of other mech designers. I just want to get a better understanding of how the Red Association approaches its own mechs. I also want to know what sort of machines I am entrusting my life to. Are they equipped with support link technology?"

Jovy smiled and nodded. "We wouldn't dare to skimp on that. The new combat carriers are designed around this high technology. It is one of several major reasons why their mech capacity is so small. First-class mech combat has always revolved around quality over quantity."

The two continued to chat as they made their way out of the teleportation chamber. Lucky scurried off to do who knew what. Nobody was concerned about his activities as he knew better than to take a bite out of the heavy cruiser's superdrive.

Instead of visiting the lounge, Ves and Jovy entered a large office space where dozens of staffers working for the Larkinson Clan and the Red Association threw themselves into their work.

The latest acquisitions came with so much paperwork that it would take months to handle all of the administration. Not just any ordinary person could set up and Operate an orbital shipyard in the Yernstall Star Node and the middle of the Inferno Spear Principality.

Ves did not worry about whether anything would happen that would abort the transactions. A deal was a deal, and there were too many powerful individuals and groups that would take offense if anything went wrong.

"Hello, sir."

"Good morning, professor."

Ves greeted his staffers and briefly inspected their progress. He did not understand all of the administrative requirements that he and his clan suddenly had to meet in order to operate a shipyard and such, but it was not necessary for him to delve into the minutiae.

It was enough for him to know that his people had a firm grip on the situation.

"Sir, one of the secretaries working for the Evolution Witch is asking us where you want to ship the Otalon Sprius. Should we request the mechers to withhold it until we have founded a new colony, or should we tell them to transfer the juggernaut to Diandi Base on New Constantinople VIII?"

That was a difficult question. A part of Ves wanted to get his hands on the Otalon Sprius right away.

However, doing so would not only add a huge distraction in a period where he was already swamped with work, but also make his ostentatious juggernaut vulnerable to theft and sabotage.

"Please tell the secretary that we are not in a hurry to take the Otalon Sprius in our possession." Ves quickly decided. "

He understood his tendencies well enough to know that he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to obsess over the Otalon Sprius. It was a first-class juggernaut that was packed with outdated but still powerful technologies!

He had a powerful hunch that once he sank his teeth into it, he would become beset by so much inspiration that he would not hesitate to set aside all of his other priorities until he reshaped the entire juggernaut into a living monstrosity!

While Ves had plenty of reasons to look forward to this fantastic outcome, this was not the right time for him to tackle such an immense project.

His comprehension of first-class mech design was not yet up to standard, and he needed to clear up his schedule before he could fully devote himself to this ambitious endeavor.

There was no pressing need for a juggernaut at the moment. The Otalon Sprius was a land monster, so it was only really useful once the Larkinson Clan finally built a colony settlement in the Caesarion Upper Zone.

"Wait." Ves suddenly paused.

Who said that juggernauts were only useful when deployed on land?

While juggernauts were typically associated with surface combat as warships largely outclassed them in space combat, that did not make the humanoid titans useless in vacuum conditions.

The new technologies that came out in the last few mech generations had the potential to radically boost their combat effectiveness in space!

A full-sized superdrive not only granted them the ability to speed up their infamously slow traversal in space by generating a warp bubble, but also granted them the ability to travel to other star systems without needing to get carried around by a cargo hauler.

Azure energy shield generators massively increased the survivability of juggernauts that had little hope of evading attacks by utilizing their limbs.

Transphasic hyper weapon systems increased their lethality by so much that the upgraded Otalon Sprius could probably crush any alien sub-capital ship by itself.

All of this and more promised to turn a juggernaut that was originally designed to operate exclusively on land into a much more fearsome space monstrosity!

Ves clamped down on all of the wild ideas that sprung from his imagination.

This was not the time for him to indulge in his juggernaut fantasies!

He shook his head to clear his mind and tried his best to focus on other matters.

"Is the fleet ready to traverse the route that I have specified?"

"Every ship is ready to leave the Ector System and head closer to the frontlines." Jovy said but soon began to frown. "Is it truly necessary for you to venture closer to the border regions? We may not arrive at the hotspots, but we will make ourselves much more vulnerable to ambushes, especially if our route has been leaked to malicious parties."

Ves smirked. "Our enemies will regret it. Relax. I have a deal with the Red Fleet. This is important for both of us. I am not allowed to tell you what is going on, but I need to reach the destination quickly in order to conclude my deal with the fleeters."

The Survivalist mech designer stared at Ves for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

"We are not your parents, so we will trust you to know what you are doing. The primary mission of the Bluejay Fleet is to protect you against any threats, so if the fleeters attempt to make a move on you, our troops will do their duty without question. I only hope that your actions do not lead to an outcome where we are forced to send them to their deaths."

Ves shook his head. "Don't bother. None of your mechs and warships can make a difference at the place where we are going. Not that anything will ever happen. I'm too important to the fleeters nowadays. This trip will prove my worth."