The Mech Touch

The journey home proceeded in a much different fashion.

The mechers originally used a small and modest frigate to bring him to the Survivalist conference.

That was no longer the case. It was far too dangerous for a tier 3 galactic citizen to traverse a vast distance on a relatively small and weak armed starship.

Ves truly began to experience the treatment of a tier 3 galactic citizen. He still found it difficult to process the fact that the Red Association found it worthwhile to assign a small chunk of warships for the sole purposes of keeping him safe!

No matter whether Ves decided to go on another expedition or simply hang back in the Vulit Central Star Node all of the time, he could rely on his new protectors to single-mindedly discharge their responsibilities without any hesitation!

He understood the logic of this investment. The mechers essentially assumed that Ves could provide far more value to them than the expense of having this costly fleet shadow him in the years to come.

Ves had no reason to agree with this assessment. He even felt a lot more motivated to develop further contributions just so he could avoid the suggestion that he was wasting the resources of the Red Association!

Shortly after he settled into his oversized and luxurious quarters within the flagship of his new escort fleet, he spent a bit of time on passing on a report through the Larkinson Network.

While he had received plenty of warnings about what he was allowed to say and what he should keep to himself, he tried to pass on enough critical information in order to give his clansmen plenty of warning of what was to come!

He could already foresee a lot of important discussions once he returned home. His wife would probably explode with happiness once she learned what Ves had managed to bring back from the highly eventful conference.

He still needed to deal with more immediate priorities, such as getting to know the properties of his new first-class escort fleet.

Jovy stopped by his quarters with two important figures that Ves would probably cooperate with for a long time.

"Ves! Let me introduce you to the head of the fleet and the mech force of your new protection detail. Rear Admiral Gori Tensen has just been appointed as the commanding officer of the 306th Bluejay Escort Fleet. It may sound strange to you, but our Association has plenty of career spacers in our ranks. The admiral comes highly recommended. The Mace of Retaliation himself has assigned this important mission to him. He and his men have fought against plenty of alien forces in both the Milky Way and the Red Ocean, so they are more than ready to confront any enemies that seek to target you directly."

Ves immediately understood the unspoken message that Jovy did not get to pick the admiral as he was supposed to. Instead, the group centered around Fist of Defiance managed to place one of their own to this crucial position!

That was not necessarily a point of concern, though. Stuff like this happened all the time. So long as the Mace of Retaliation's handpicked personnel did their jobs without any complications, Ves had no reason to complain.

Ves and the admiral shook hands. "I look forward to cooperating with each other in the years to come. I believe you should already know that 1 am not as passive as the other mech designers. I am definitely thinking about taking part in at least one deep strike operation. It is practically expected of me, and I cannot afford to pass up the opportunity to become a warlord."

Admiral Tensen clearly understood his charge well, as he did not bother to dissuade this incredibly important tier 3 galactic citizen from going on a reckless adventure.

"We shall endeavor to preserve your life wherever you may go. It is not our mission to restrict your movements or tell you what to do. You retain full autonomy of your own choices. While we are ready to fight against any hostile alien forces no matter the circumstances, our overarching priority is to preserve your life, even if it comes at the cost of victory."

"I understand. I hope that it will never come to that." Ves seriously replied.

They chatted a bit more. Ves learned that the good admiral was just over 2 centuries old and had served extensively in the Milky Way Galaxy in the past.

Though Admiral Tensen did not particularly sound particularly inspiring, he exuded a strong sense of stability and competence that reassured Ves.

The 306th Bluejay Escort Fleet would remain rock solid under the command of such a steady and experienced admiral.

After the short chat had concluded, Jovy introduced the other officer to Ves.

"This Major Simon Jankowski. He is the most senior mech officer of the 306th Bluejay Escort Fleet. The Xenotechnician recommended him to accept this new assignment in lieu of deploying to the frontlines."

So this was the Xenotechnician's lackey. His group certainly pushed forward an interesting fellow.

Compared to the admiral that Ves just met, Major Jankowski was much larger, athletic and poised for combat.

Ves would not be surprised if he was a fan of the Fist of Defiance, but it turned out that he was aligned with the much more restrained and compromising Xenotechnician instead!

Major Jankowski possessed a much firmer handshake than the admiral.

"I have heard great things about you, Professor Larkinson, or do you prefer to be addressed as patriarch instead?"

"Either is fine. Just stick to professor as that seems to be the only title that you mechers acknowledge."

"Very well. Our escort fleet isn't able to bring along as many first-class multipurpose mechs as I have hoped, but our mechs are as modern as they come. Each of their designs are close to current and pack an offensive punch that is roughly equivalent to one of the second-class ace mechs that you are familiar with. Their defenses are even better as they are all equipped with shield link receiver array modules. They can operate in any spaceborn, aerial and landbound environment. Some are even rated to operate underwater and in the upper layers of a gas giant so long as they undergo light modifications."

It was never easy to compare the performance of a first-class standard mech to a second-class ace mech. There were too many specifications that diverged from each other that straightforward comparisons were impossible.

Nonetheless, it was undeniable that the tech advantage of first-class multipurpose mechs was so immense that the ace mechs assigned to the expeditionary fleet would struggle to compete!

The most overpowering advantage of the RA mechs was their shield link receiver array modules.

Ves did not need any explanation to know that this effectively enabled all of these first-class multipurpose mechs to borrow a portion of the massive energy shields of any nearby supporting starship!

This neatly solved one of the greatest disadvantages of mechs, which was how easily their standalone crumbled after being subjected to overpowering strikes.

With the help of shield link technology, the mechs and warships of the 306th Bluejay Escort Fleet could effectively share defensive resources with each other. While there were clear limits to how far the mechers could push these features, that still granted them a huge advantage against forces that lacked this powerful tech!

"How many warships and mechs are assigned to my new escort fleet, exactly?" Ves directly asked. "1 kind of got teleported to this ship without having an opportunity to take a good look outside."

"The 306th Bluejay Escort Fleet consists of 9 warships in total." Jovy happily answered this question. "The flagship is the Tarrasque, which is also the sole heavy cruiser of this fleet. Don't underestimate her size. She is equipped with a complete anti-capital ship configuration. She can punch far above her tonnage. The rest of the fleet consists of 2 light cruisers, 5 destroyers and 1 ultra-fast corvette that can be utilized as a scout, courier vessel and potentially an escape vessel."

The paltry number of hulls did not sound nearly as big or impressive as his expeditionary fleet, but Ves understood extremely well that the disparity in numbers meant nothing!

The 9 warships assigned to protect him could easily demolish the entire expeditionary fleet from a comfortable distance!

Even though Ves briefly felt a little disappointed that the escort fleet was a bit lacking in heavier ship classes, he understood that it was too extravagant to redirect any battleships and battlecruisers away from the frontlines.

This was not supposed to be a fleet that was meant to annihilate all opposition by relying on overwhelming force.

It was merely set up to smack aside weaker enemies while buying enough time for Ves to escape to safety if any stronger adversaries showed up. This was why the mechers bothered to include a super small but incredibly fast corvette to the lineup.

Jovy activated a projection that displayed the appearances of the warships as well as the mechs they carried in their modestly-sized hangar bays.

"Our main concern is defending you from alien warships, so we deliberately formed a fleet with full warships. It is actually much more typical for us to field hybrid warships that possess reduced armaments in order to make more room for mechs, but we rejected this approach because we believe that you will be able to build up your own carriers and first-class mechs in the future. This is why the Bluejay Fleet is only able to carry and support the operations of 45 first-class multipurpose mechs in total."

That was a clever and thoughtful choice. Ves did not mind the lack of mechs as it was much easier for him to add another first-class carrier vessel to his personal fleet than a serious warship!

"Can you tell me more about the mechs?" Ves asked. "Do I have the right to modify and upgrade them if I ever have the desire to do so? I'm an honorary member of your Association after all..."

All three mechers smiled as if they expected such an inquiry.

"It is against protocol to allow a Senior Mech Designer to tinker with our tightly engineered first-class multipurpose mechs without express permission from a relevant authority." Major Jankowski responded in an officious tone.

"Even 1 am not permitted to work on the mechs, Ves." Jovy shook his head. "You can earn this right later on when you have become a first-class mech designer and proved that you can adequately design mechs at this level, but you will probably have to advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer to make this happen. Alternatively, you can also design and fabricate a first-class multipurpose mech of your own. So long as its performance is high enough, you can present it to our mech pilots, who can choose for themselves whether to make the switch. I should warn you in advance that the cost of materials of a typical first-class multipurpose mech of our standard can easily exceed hundreds of millions of MTA credits, and that only applies to a foundational model."

The Red Association along with many other first-class powers generally prized quality over quantity. They invested a lot in training a comparably smaller group of talented mech pilots and equipped them with expensive mechs to make the most out of every unit!

The cost of a first-class multipurpose mech belonging to a top power like the Red Association was beyond belief, but the performance was always worth it in the end!

In any case, even if Ves managed to become a first-class mech designer, procuring the expensive materials needed to fabricate high-tech components was a challenge in itself!

"Wait. Is this ship equipped with a design lab and mech workshop?"

Jovy nodded. "That is correct. It is supposed to be assigned to me, but I think that the higher ups already expect you to make use of my facilities whenever you want. The materializer and all of the other production equipment are impressive. I have been told that the Polymath bequeathed the instruments herself."

"That is... generous."

Even the disgraced Star Designer made sure to sink her hooks into Ves.

Oh well. At least he didn't have to worry about upgrading to a better mech workshop anytime soon.