The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5924 Equal Weight

"Isn't this too impulsive?" Sigrund couldn't help but open his mouth.

Both Sigrund and Captain Argile couldn't believe that Ves would settle such a deep and profound decision by flipping a Battleship Token as if it was an ordinary coin!

That was a Battleship Token! Its material composition and design were already valuable enough, but the permissions associated with it was the real prize!

Anyone bestowed with a proper Battleship Token had the right to field one of the strongest and largest warships that humanity could build!

So long as Ves did not go too far by trying to build his own dreadnought, he could gain a battleship that was no worse than the battleships employed by the Red Fleet!

Anyone who understood the significance of a Battleship Token would never treat such a symbolic object in such a frivolous and disrespectful manner.

This was especially the case for fleeters, who revered battleships to an enormous degree.

Sigrund always aspired to command a real battleship. The Babylon Excavator was merely a reconnaissance cruiser that wasn't designed to participate in standing battles. He would never dare to take any matters concerning battleships lightly for fear of ruining his chance of working with them in the future.

Dread Captain Volkert Argile was a lot older and had already climbed his way up to his most ideal position. However, it was exactly because of all of the blood, sweat and tears he put into his career that he understood how much an officer needed to outcompete so many rivals in order to earn a limited battleship assignment.

To fleeters as serious as the two captains, flipping a Battleship Token as if it was a coin was such an enormous faux-pas that it broke their minds!

Unfortunately for them, Ves did not care. He was a mech designer, not a naval officer or a shipwright. He inherently possessed less reverence towards battleships.

"Why not?" Ves practically taunted as he casually tossed his new Battlecruiser Token in his hands. "I needed a quick and convenient way to make up my mind. I don't have a coin in my pocket, so I grabbed the nearest acceptable substitute. These tokens look like big coins, and their mass distribution is roughly even, so they can be flipped just like normal coins."

Dread Captain Argile looked pained at how extensively Ves violated decorum.

"Let us set aside the issue of using a Battleship Token to guide your decision. I am concerned that you are making a hasty decision. Have you considered all of the variables? I have yet to explain the full support package that the Red Fleet is willing to attach to the Battleship Token. You do not possess a full understanding of how much we are willing to fund and assist in the development of a battleship."

Sigrund backed the dread captain up. "Your decision affects far more than yourself. It has enormous ramifications for your clan. Since Captain Argile did not mention a time limit, you do not have to claim a Warship Token right away. I suggest you go back to your clan and solicit the opinions of your clansmen. You can inform the Red Fleet of your definitive answer once you have conducted a systematic cost-benefit analysis based on an extensive prognosis of your clan."

Ves shook his head in rejection. "There's no need to go through all of that trouble. I am not stupid. I know enough about warships and the circumstances of my clan to understand the ramifications well enough. In my opinion, both tokens hold equal weight to me. Their pros and cons may differ from each other, but when I add them all up, their scores are so close to each other that there is no obviously superior choice. Since that is the case, I might as well let fate decide. I am fine with either outcome."

He revealed that he did not treat this situation as frivolously as the two captains thought.

While his judgment and decision-making process were both highly questionable, his logic was pretty reasonable.

Perhaps he may be the only human in the Red Ocean who was willing to forgo a priceless opportunity to acquire and field his own battleship, but Ves did not care about the opinion of others.

He was sure he could make good use of his new Battlecruiser Token.

He may even be able to develop and apply enough new and revolutionary technologies to close the performance gap between a battlecruiser and a battleship!

Several minutes passed by as Ves repeatedly confirmed his decision and rejected any offer to reconsider.

The Red Fleet really did not like it that he chose to settle for a Battlecruiser Token.

The fact that Ves ultimately claimed this token because of a 'coinflip' was especially galling to the fleeters!

Alas, there was no way to change the outcome now that Ves had made up his mind.

Ves grew tired of all of the pushback.

"Look, if you want me to accept a Battleship Token, then don't attach so many conditions to it. At least remove the sketchy requirement that my battleship must partially be crewed by your own personnel. I am deeply uncomfortable with entrusting my safety and the safety of my clan to crucial personnel that answer to a different master."

He was not opposed to renegotiations, but the Red Fleet refused to budge on this matter.

"Opinions are divided within the Red Admiralty." Captain Argile ultimately explained. "Fleet Admiral Argile is more willing to relax the conditions, but Fleet Admiral Jameson insists on greater supervision. You have to realize that battleships not only carry enormous weight in our organization, but are also tainted with stigma due to the twilight of the Age of Conquest. There are good reasons why we have never seen fit to award a Battleship Token to any outsider in the past."

Ves crossed his arms. "That makes me want to stick with a Battlecruiser Token even more. Battleships evoke so much fright and concern among people due to the centuries-long propaganda against this ship class. Battlecruisers are able to destroy entire cities just as easily as their more massive counterparts, but they don't sound nearly as scary. Everyone seems to downgrade their threat level because they are always known to be easier to repel or destroy. I am fine with that. The development of azure energy shields has made warships significantly less dependent on their armor belts for protection."

The shipbuilding sector of red humanity was increasingly diverging from classic human warship paradigms.

The shortage of high-end resources and the growing possibilities of phasewater technology caused many members of the naval industry to pivot away from armor.

Ves and the Larkinson Clan might as well follow the rising trend and put greater emphasis on azure energy shields as the primary form of defense of their future flagship.

Once Ves had definitely proved that he had no intention of reconsidering his choice, the Red Fleet had little choice but to respect his will.

As much as the fleeters wanted to cooperate more extensively with Ves and 'learn' his unique technologies, it was more important to maintain a friendly and cordial relationship.

Perhaps there may be other opportunities to collaborate with him in the future. The Red Fleet just had to stay on his good side to make that happen.

Since an unrestricted Battlecruiser Token already represented a huge amount of value in human society, the Red Fleet saw no need to grant additional rewards to Ves.

It had already cost the fleeters quite a lot by giving away so much extra EE-343F-00334R!

This was an experimental super-class alloy that the fleeters were unable to reproduce under the current conditions!

Ves tactfully expressed his satisfaction of the two prizes and did not push for more.

"Let us discuss follow-up arrangements." Dread Captain Argile spoke next.

This was a rather brief and boring talk. There was no need for Ves to stick around anymore, but the fleeters wanted to make sure that Ves would be willing to provide answers and clarification about the transformed Dominion of Man if asked.

The Carmine dreadnought gained so many extraordinary traits that it was impossible for the fleeters to decipher every new feature!

Since Ves was partially responsible for all of the changes, he did not object to this demand.

It was a good way for him to keep up to date with the evolution of the powerful living warship.

As far as he was concerned, the Dominion of Man served as a partial test bed for numerous critical technologies that he intended to integrate into his future battlecruiser!

"We have no more pressing matters to discuss." The dread captain said as he stood up from his seat. "Since we must depart from this star system with haste, we shall not demand your presence any longer. Captain Zonrad Reze here will serve as our spokesperson while he remains in your company. Much of our correspondence shall go through him while he remains assigned to you. Do not hesitate to bring your questions, requests or proposals to him if you need to contact the Red Fleet for any reason."

"Understood."

They shook hands for a final time before they finally ended this impactful meeting.

Ves put his shiny new Battlecruiser Token back into its original protective case before tossing the small container into the Vault of Eternity.

With that taken care of, he and Sigrund both got teleported to the primary hangar bay of the Dominion of Man.

The large and expansive space had incurred a decent amount of battle damage, but a lot of repair crews and bots were already working to restore everything.

Both Ves and Sigrund boarded a docked frigate that quickly lifted off and departed from the dreadnought.

The journey back to the Bluejay Fleet was quiet and uneventful. It was rather amazing to see the star system return to tranquility when it previously hosted one of the largest and most violent tribulation storms in the Red Ocean!

Once the frigate approached the Tarrasque, Ves finally relaxed now that he had exited the immediate reach of the Red Fleet.

"Meow meow meow!"

Lucky instantly arrived and flew around Ves' body like an overeager puppy!

"Hahaha! I missed you too! I suppose you can smell it, right?"

Lucky nodded so vigorously that it looked like he had been 10:12

starving for multiple years!

"Be patient. I need to give an accounting to the mechers before I can take care of you." He said as he gently pushed his gem cat away.

"Meooooow!"

Jovy Armalon, Vector Loban and Kelsey Ampatoch all behaved as if they greeted a superstar.

None of the people on the Bluejay Fleet had missed the massive and explosive tribulation event!

Even when the RA warships were only able to observe what was happening with the help of remote sensor probes, the data and footage was already enough to blow their minds!

Every mecher who had the privilege of witnessing the entire spectacle was filled with questions.

Ves smiled at his fellow mech designers. "I'm not allowed to explain everything, but I can give you a brief explanation on what I have been able to engineer in these past few days."

"That would be most welcome, Ves." Jovy cordially responded before turning to the additional guest. "Would you like to introduce us to this fleeter?"

"Ah, this is Captain Zonrad Reze. He's a friend that is also assigned to me as a liaison. He's actually the captain of a fairly big cruiser. I believe he needs to speak with Rear Admiral Tensen about having his warship join up with our fleet."

That did not sit well with the two mechers. The Bluejay Fleet was fully in the control of the mechers. It would mess up their coordination and cohesion if they were forced to add an RF warship to their formation.

Ves did not really care too much about this tension. The mechers and the fleeters had proven their ability to work and fight alongside each other plenty of times during the Red War.

"Play nice, please. I like the both of you, and I have no qualms with maintaining friendly relationships with both the Red Association and the Red Fleet."