The Mech Touch

After they finished touring the manufacturing floor, they headed down to the lab and workshop floor of the Mech Nursery.

Gloriana quickly scowled when she inspected the lab equipment. "Trash! I can't believe you are working with these cheap machines!"

"They are all standard equipment in the Bright Republic!" Ves innocently raised his hands.

"They're unacceptable! Luckily for you, I've already anticipated this problem. When I shuttered my Flawless Mech Workshop, I packed up all of my equipment and loaded them onto Stellar Chaser. I'll order some men to install them here. As for your old machines, you can directly scrap them as far as I'm concerned. I don't want any of them to taint my workplace any longer!"

Ves loudly coughed. "My workplace, you mean."

"Our workplace." She emphasized with a grin. "I'm a lead designer of the LMC as well now."

While she was right, that didn't give her the power to rearrange his private sanctum within the Mech Nursery.

He quickly halted his protests, though. He knew that Gloriana probably owned some very powerful lab and workshop equipment. His old equipment simply couldn't compare.

Since Gloriana generously lent her high-quality equipment to the LMC, Ves gained massively from this development.

He'd be a fool to resist his girlfriend, especially when he knew that she would never give up this fight!

They quickly left the floor and headed down to the vault. They only spent a brief time there as Ves hadn't stored many valuables. He only showed off a couple notable items to inform Gloriana of their importance.

"These are my P-stones." He showed off the four P-stones. He left the fifth one at his Cloud Estate so that he could periodically deposit his excess spiritual energy. "They're one of the most important exotics I own."

"What do they do, Ves?"

"They're.. containers. They possess the capability to store some very good stuff."

That wasn't enough for her. She frowned at him. "You're being vague again. Stop that."

"Sorry, Gloriana. I'm used to keeping secrets. Let's just say that the P-stones are capable of storing.. the stuff I put in my mech designs."

Ves provided her with a very shallow introduction of his P-stones, F-stone and B-stone lockbox.

As usual, Gloriana instantly interpreted his explanation in relation to divinity. He was used to that. He only wanted to inform her of their value and their utility.

"The exotics you've collected is quite remarkable." She stated as she picked up a P-stone that was partially filled with excess spiritual energy. "This rock kind of feels like you, in a way."

As soon as she picked up the P-stone, Ves' spiritual fragment reacted a bit. This lent some credence to his claim that she sensed his spiritual energy.

Nonetheless, he insisted she put it back. The P-stones were far too precious to leave in Gloriana's possession. What would she even do with one that stored some of his spiritual energy?

Though his girlfriend looked unwilling, Ves offered her an option to get what she wanted.

"I'm very short on these three exotics." He walked to her side and hugged her side. "If you really want a P-stone that reminds you of me, then help me obtain more. As soon as you bring your new lab equipment, I'll allow you to perform some detailed examinations on my stuff. If you can discreetly reach out to your supply network and obtain something identical, it would help me a lot. With more P-stones in my possession, I'll be much more willing to leave one in your hands that carries some of my energy!"

Her eyes instantly brightened up. "Really?"

"Really."

"I'll do it!" She hugged him back and pecked him on the cheek. "While it's difficult for me to get in touch with my old suppliers now that war has broken out, I am not entirely cut off. I'll see what I can do."

Ves placed his hand on her shoulder. "Make sure to be discreet. Don't disclose what these exotics can do. In addition, don't make it obvious that we need them. If others learn that we specifically need these exotics, they'll collect them first and rip us off by charging ten times their usual price!"

In fact, that was just an excuse. The real reason why he wanted to keep this search quiet was to avoid tripping off those who were also searching for these materials.

Any person or organization who sought for them specifically were entities that Ves did not want to meet!

Seeing how much importance he attached to this condition, Gloriana nodded. "I understand."

"Don't delegate the search to Melody or anyone else on your staff."

"I get it, Ves."

After he showed off his exotics, he hesitated a bit about showing off something else stored in his vault.

Eventually, he decided he might as well introduce it to Gloriana so she became aware of its danger.

"The last item in my vault is a bit more special than the others. It's also a lot more dangerous. Maintain your distance and don't inspect the object too closely. That means no concentrating!"

Though Gloriana looked confused, her face quickly became turbulent the moment Ves retracted the Ancient Sarcophagus.

"Is that an alien relic?!" She gasped. "Wait, what's inside? And what is this pressure I'm feeling?"

"This is the Ancient Sarcophagus. It contains the dead body of some alien. Some treasure hunters retrieved it from the depths of the Nyxian Gap. The reason you are feeling this way is because a portion of the alien still remains alive. Do you want to know where I get my spiritual components from? Well, the Ancient Sarcophagus here is one of my most important sources!"

Gloriana quickly realized what he meant. "Ves! Don't tell me that there is a god locked inside this coffin!"

Though Ves did not feel that the entity inside deserved to be called a god, he didn't bother to correct her terminology.

"Nyxie."

"What?"

"I call it Nyxie, on account of its origins."

She frowned. "Is the alien male or female?"

"I'm pretty sure it's a male, but I'm not sure. Nyxie possesses the temperament of a male at the very least."

"I see." She replied flatly. Her interest in the Ancient Sarcophagus and what it held inside instantly faded! "That explains the cruelty, aggressiveness and dominance I am inexplicably sensing. Nyxie is a very angry god, it seems. A very male god."

Ves shrugged. "I don't blame him. I did cut off one-fiftieth of its essence and heavily processed it in order to create the spiritual component for my Desolate Soldier design."

"Well, please get this filth out of my sight. Your imprisoned male god is ruining my mood."

As long as Gloriana knew not to mess with the Ancient Sarcophagus, Ves didn't care what she thought about Nyxie. He did wonder what would happen if Nyxie turned out to be female.

Would Gloriana demand he free the trapped spiritual entity or something?

He shook his head. Not for aliens. God or not, the Hexers at least didn't worship aliens.

They left the vault shortly afterwards. They returned aboveground and calmly walked across the grounds. They quickly reached a small fortified base that housed the Avatars of Myth.

Different from last time, it was a lot more emptier since his last visit a year ago. Most of the Avatars of Myth had transferred to the Living Sentinels, thereby leaving his original mech force with the best and most loyal mech pilots.

"Melkor! Good to see you again!"

"Sir." Melkor nodded stiffly to Ves before directing his visor to his girlfriend. "I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Gloriana. I'm Melkor Larkinson, Commander of the Avatars of Myth and Ves' cousin."

"Ah, I'm already familiar with you." She smiled and eyed his physique like a tailor eyed a client. "We planned to design a custom mech for you, infact."

That was new to Melkor. "Did you?"

Ves sighed. "I wanted to design a laser rifleman mech to reward you for your services, but…"

"The sandmen eat lasers like breakfast. I understand, sir. Other projects take priority."

"I'm glad you don't have any hard feelings."

"How can I be upset at something I've never enjoyed? I can wait. Besides, I'm not sure I should be the first Avatar to receive a custom mech designed by the two of you. While I don't have a lot of Avatars left, the ones that remained are very skilled and dedicated. I've even recruited some amazing talents recently that will certainly grow to become our elites!"

The group walked to the administrative building while they talked.

"How many Avatars do you have right now?" He asked.

"Enough to field eighteen landbound mechs and sixteen spaceborn mechs. I'm trying to get those numbers back up to a full mech company each."

"How is recruiting?"

"It won't be as slow as before. Different from last time, our foundation is solid now. Our structure is mature and the mech pilots I have right now form a very solid cadre that can keep the Avatars cohesive even if I double our numbers in a matter of months. I hope to fill out our mech roster within a month."

"A month?!" Ves reacted with surprise. "That's pretty fast! Are you sure you are maintaining our standards?"

Melkor chuckled. "It's not as hard as it sounds. The Avatars of Myth is not as obscure as before. What's more, I expect some of our new recruits to consist of Larkinsons. Young Larkinsons."

Once they reached Melkor's office, Ves met with Crindon again.

"Sir."

"Hello Captain Crindon. How are you doing in the Avatars of Myth?"

"Commander Melkor has been showing me the ropes." His Kinner bondsman responded. "Overall, it's clear that I have a lot of work in store."

Upon his return to Cloudy Curtain, Ves decided to transfer Crindon to the Avatars of Myth.

While he could have opted to keep Crindon on his direct staff, Ves needed someone trustworthy to take charge of the Virtual Security Department of the Avatars.

Only someone as impeccably loyal to Ves as Crindon was suitable for this position!

The newly-instated captain of the Virtual Security Department explained what needed to be done.

"Many experts that formerly worked at this department have transferred to the Living Sentinels, thereby leaving us deprived of skilled hackers and security experts. I've only recently started recruiting, but it will take some time to bring this department up to par. As per your instructions, I'm being exceedingly careful about the loyalty and trustworthiness of new recruits."

Ves nodded in satisfaction. "I hope you can do a good job. There is no hurry. I would rather you take it slow than to make too much haste and risk introducing a traitor in our ranks."

Once he finished discussing matters with Crindon, the Kinner left the office.

"How is our guard infantry department? Is that old dog Coyin Larkinson still around?"

"Captain Coyin Larkinson still leads our sole guard infantry company." Melkor replied with a thin smile. "Our uncle is a little hard to work with, but he's taking a liking in leading his own unit with much more autonomy than he ever enjoyed in the military. Do you want to talk to him, perhaps?"

Ves quickly waved his hands. "No, thanks! I don't need to talk to all of your men. I think you're doing a good job so far. Even with the reduction in numbers, the Avatars still remain promising. Anyway, let's get down to business. Checking up on the Avatars is only one of the reasons why I'm visiting."

"I know." Melkor said. He activated his desk terminal and projected a map of the Bright Republic. "It's time we discuss the deployment of our Avatars of Myth and our Living Sentinels."

"How many Avatars and Sentinels are willing to be dispatched to the front?"

"Well, it's mandatory for the Avatars, so all of us will go. As for the Sentinels, you should speak with their new commander to hear the details. From what I've heard, about half of them are willing to do their duty."

"Just fifty percent?" Ves frowned.

With all of the Desolate Soldiers in their mech roster, he would have thought the Sentinels would be glad to do their duty!

Melkor shrugged. "You know what these mech pilots are like. Even if they are willing to do their duty, they cherish their families."

Even the Desolate Soldiers could only do so much to compel people to do their duty!