The Mech Touch

The news shook the periphery of the Nyxian Gap!

For several months, the Larkinson Clan's fleet rampaged through Wreckage Paradise and Maynard Fields as if the pirates were just moles to be whacked. Several pirate bases and many individual pirate groups all succ.u.mbed against the might of this domineering new power from civilized space.

All of the pirates became both angry and afraid of the Larkinson Clan!

The local sc.u.m hated the clan for treating them as easy targets. Aside from the Battle of Ulimo Citadel, every other battle ended up with the Larkinsons wiping out their opposition with ease.

This kind of bullying went too far even for pirates!

"The amount of resentment that we have accrued is not something to be taken lightly." Calabast calmed down a bit after she announced the initial news. She chose to sit down on the side of Ves' bed this time. "The Nyxian pirates are normally selfish and prone to infighting. Even when the Peacekeeper outfits come in to threaten them, they usually celebrate any misfortune visited upon their fellow pirates."

"That is my understanding." Ves nodded. "Has that changed?"

Calabast let out a rueful smile. "The Nyxian pirates never unite under normal circ.u.mstances. There are few common interests among them and no one wants to risk their lives and freedom to do someone else's dirty work. There are no greater authorities or states that can unite the pirates either. Even the Allidus Alliance and the other core powers don't quite have the clout to unite every pirate group in the Nyxian Gap."

"Pirates mainly fight for themselves. Some are loyal to their organization or their leader, but that's probably brainwashing at work."

"While that's true, don't underestimate the mindset of these degenerates. They have their own pride. Despite fending off Peacekeepers outfits, adventuring fleets like ours and even the warfleets of the Big Two, the Nyxian pirates have always managed to survive everything that civilized space has thrown at them. This has inflated their confidence and caused them to develop a reputation for impunity."

"What has changed, then?"

"We cracked this reputation." She told him. "It has been going on for a while, but the pirates were barely able to hold themselves in because we've only been bullying the weak mostly. That has changed after toppling Ulimo Citadel. Unlike the other pirate bases we have overrun, Ulimo is one of the central and most iconic bases of Maynard Fields."

"What happened next?"

"The pirates believe their reputation has taken a hit. If they allow us to leave unchallenged, they fear that other fleets like ours will replicate our rampage. In fact, word in certain circles has already spread of other powerful mech forces assembling at the border of the Sentinel Kingdom and other nearby states. Now that the Big Two have quietly announced that they are willing to pay double the merits to destroy the arsenal of superweapons in the possession of pirates, a fair amount of big players want to join in on the action!"

"Most of them will probably have a bad time if they think they can replicate our success."

The danger of facing nuclear missiles, warship-grade cannons and other dangerous superweapons in battle was not trivial. Task Force Predator only managed to come out on top against the stronger pirate groups by taking advantage of Lucky and the Penitent Sisters.

"You're not wrong, Ves. The power players who are aiming to harvest a lot of merits are already aware of the risks. That's why they won't take a single step into the Nyxian Gap. Do you think every leader is like you? The real style of a leader is to dispatch others to do your dirty work while you stay safe and comfortable in the comfort of your heavily-guarded mansion."

"Those kinds of people are better at scheming than doing something that will actually allow them to rise above their station." Ves scoffed. "Our clan doesn't have the heritage or connections of these old powers, but we have already accomplished more in a year than the Tovar Family has accomplished in a century!"

Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but Ves really did look down on the old fogeys that were typically in charge. At least Ves put his money where his mouth was and shared in the fortune and misfortune of his own soldiers.

Calabast did not agree. "I really don't know what goes on in your head sometimes. You're a mech designer. A Journeyman. You are most valuable in the rear where you can work on your designs in peace."

"That's not the Larkinson way! I know I'm a bit odd about this, but I believe that mech designers like my Braves and I are best suited to experience the vagaries of mech combat in person. Only when we put your life on the line will we be pushed into designing our best possible mechs!"

The spymaster looked at Ves as if he was crazy.

"You already know my thoughts on this matter, so let's not talk about that right now." She moved on. "Tensions in and around the Nyxian Gap had already risen before we began our excursion. Skirmishes between pirates and state-backed forces have become more and more frequent. There is a war going on, Ves. It's unannounced and not well-known, but the struggle is very real at the highest level of both societies."

"What does that have to do with our situation?"

"We are seen as a group of hired thugs from civilized space. To be more precise, people seem to believe that your good relations with Master Willix hint that you have become 'her' person. Why else would the Larkinson Clan take so many risks and attack so many heavily-defended pirate bases? Everyone suspects that you have turned into an unofficial agent of the MTA!"

Ves blinked at that statement. This couldn't be further from the truth.

Sure, he was on speaking terms with a prestigious MTA Master Mech Designer.

Sure, he made some special deals with Master Willix that enabled him to exchange special benefits with the MTA.

Sure, he gleefully attacked powerful pirate bases that had been acc.u.mulating more and more taboo weapons such as Xiphard Base and Ulimo Citadel, earning an immense amount of merits in just a quarter of a year.

That did not mean that he had turned into a poster boy for the MTA!

He had broken so many rules and violated so many taboos that he would have put the Skull Architect to shame!

Even now, he constantly lied and withheld information from Master Willix. Partially, he wanted to protect his trade secrets, but mostly he just wanted to avoid exposing his numerous misdeeds!

Ves did not want to get too close to the MTA. That sounded as stupid as a career criminal moving into a house next to a police station. The two simply didn't get along!

"What are the consequences of being seen as agents of the MTA?" He asked with concern.

"Well, it's useful when we return to civilized space. Even if the MTA can't be bothered to confirm this rumor, it is very helpful to be associated with one of the Big Two in this way. Enemies will become even more reluctant to do anything against us. This will be especially helpful once we start to leave the Komodo Star Sector. We'll be strangers and foreigners in other star sectors. If there are rumors swirling around us that we are favored by the MTA, hardly anyone with malicious intent will want to take the chance."

"It's fake, though." Ves stated. "From what I understand the MTA, their sights are set so high that they don't care about individual people and organizations."

"That's true, but there are still benefits to keeping up the illusion. Perception can be as effective as truth under the right circ.u.mstances. It would help if you keep being seen as performing actions on behalf of the MTA."

"I already plan to do that to an extent. Any mech designer can earn a couple of thousand merits. It's a different story if we're talking about earning millions of merits!"

What could he do when the Big Two controlled every beyonder gate through the Gate Consortium? Just like how no one could avoid using the galactic net, Ves was forced to play by the rules of the Big Two in order to obtain passage to the Red Ocean.

If not for this ambition, Ves would have never gone out of his way to bootlick the MTA in order to earn a huge amount of merits!

Calabast went back to the current crisis at hand. "While gaining this reputation is beneficial to us in civilized space, it's the opposite in the Nyxian Gap. The pirates here don't fear the Big Two. As long as it comes to their own turf, they are confident that they can defeat entire battlesh.i.p.s!"

Normally, those who made this claim would be seen as absolutely mad. Yet the pirates of the Nyxian Gap were one of the few people in the galaxy who could make this boast without being ridiculed!

Now, it appeared that the pirates have all turned their ire on the Larkinson Clan.

Since they didn't even fear the Big Two, why should they shake in their boots whenever the Larkinsons came up? Letting the clan go scott-free after cracking open a pirate stronghold as important as Ulimo Citadel was a great shame!

"The result is that a few pirate alliances that are normally neutral or slightly hostile have all agreed that we need to be wiped out. The Allidus Alliance is the biggest driver of this initiative, but I have found some mention that there are other powers that are pushing for our downfall."

"Let me guess. The Hallowed Abyss Temple is one of them, right?"

"Yes." Calabast sighed. "It seems that our actions at Ulimo Citadel have riled them all up. The White Watchers and Grey Watchers that preside over the shrines that are spread across the Nyxian Gap have all begun to move. They're hiring dark mercenaries and making deals with local pirate groups to hinder or advance. They don't need to defeat us. They just need to slow us down. The less progress we make, the greater the chance the Allidus Alliance's punitive fleet will intercept our task force."

This was terrible news. Perhaps the Allidus Alliance wouldn't have been able to mobilize every pirate outfit by themselves, but it was a different matter if others joined the fray. Now that it had become a matter of pride, the pirates really didn't want to see the Larkinsons swagger back into civilized space!

Calabast briefly spent some time on explaining the various ways the pirates in their way could slow them down. From planting mines deep into random asteroids to poking at them from multiple directions at long range, many of these measures were very difficult to deal with, especially in a complex space environment where there were lots of asteroids for pirates to obscure their presence!

"We can't sit still and do nothing. We need to convene and develop some plans and countermeasures." Ves concluded. "I'll call a meeting to discuss everyone's proposals. Defending ourselves against guerilla attacks is important, but we also have to make plans to overcome the Allidus Alliance's punitive fleet. Do you know whether the pirate fleet…"

"It's as you have feared. The pirates have brought out several homemade warsh.i.p.s. Among them is a heavy cruiser that may or may not be the Gravada Knarlax."

Ves almost had a heart attack when he heard this name. This was the infamous warship that allowed the Allidus Alliance to rise into power!

The pirate warship was so powerful that her bounty reached as high as 4,500,000 merits! In fact, her current bounty should be double now that the MTA awarded twice as much merits!

Even though Ves drooled at the prospect of earning 9 million MTA merits at once, he wasn't stupid. A ship that carried so much bounty would never be taken down so easily.

What was worse was that the Allidus Alliance dispatched additional warsh.i.p.s as escorts!