The Mech Touch

The mood at Task Force Predator slowly recovered from a low point.

Even though the prospect of facing not one, but several pirate warships worried the Larkinsons to no end, the threat only galvanized them into working harder.

To some, every second counted. Finishing repairs a day sooner meant that the Larkinsons would have more mechs to field at the time of the decisive battle.

An interesting dynamic took place. Even when it looked as if they had restored plenty of mechs, the mech technicians kept dragging up wreckage to restore to working condition.

Ejections typically happened quite a lot in battle. The ejected mech pilots would usually fly back to their motherships and mostly sit around until the battle had ended.

Not this time. The casualties suffered by the Larkinsons gave them much greater leeway to build up a reserve. Ves even decided to make more room on his carriers by dumping out the least valuable loot.

With the most difficult battle of this run on the horizon, no one cared about bringing home riches or earning an extra bonus. They just wanted to get back home alive.

For this reason, every material aboard their ships became accessible for use in various applications.

For example, the Larkinsons salvaged a lot of wreckage that used to come from the Penitent Sister mechs that had succumbed in the previous battle.

Though the grey mechs pounded their internal parts to pieces, much of their armor plating still remained intact or in pristine condition.

The enterprising mech designers and chief technicians eagerly claimed this armor and crudely installed them on specific mechs such as Aurora Titans or other defensive mechs.

The hasty jury rigging did not look elegant at all. The low-ranking mech designers neither had the time nor the skill to implement more cohesive modifications. They just wanted to give their mech pilots a greater chance to withstand enemy fire.

"Come on, boys! These mechs aren't going to armor up by themselves! We still have three more mechs to reinforce by the end of this week."

Whether these actions would help remained to be seen. If the Gravada Knarlax fired her main cannons at any of the crudely-upgraded mechs, a bit of extra second-class armor plating wouldn't meaningfully change the outcome.

Still, the extra armor would definitely come handy when the Larkinson mechs fought against the pirate mechs. The strong layers also allowed the mechs to last a little longer when targeted by secondary gun batteries.

Nobody thought this was enough to tip the scales of the fight. Ves knew he had to do more in order to give his task force a meaningful chance of defeating the enemy punitive fleet.

He had already begun to do that by promising to upgrade the mechs of the expert candidates in the clan. He even offered to upgrade the Shield of Samar, though how he would do so still remained to be seen.

As a real expert pilot, Jannzi's role in the coming battle might ironically be eclipsed by the expert candidates.

Jannzi had already broken through. No bottleneck stopped her progress anymore. Though her smooth growth was good for the clan in the long run, it was counterproductive in the current crisis.

Expert pilots without expert mechs were only capable of channeling a fraction of their strength.

The lack of resonating materials in the inventory of the task force was a very sore point to Ves. Even if he couldn't develop a complete expert mech for Jannzi, having some resonating materials at hand would have given her some additional strength in the coming battle.

"I guess she'll have to make do with a mildly-upgraded Shield of Samar."

Ves intended to replace her shield with one made out of Unending alloy. This was the fastest, simplest and most convenient way to upgrade the Shield of Samar's strongest aspect, which was defense.

All he needed to do was to find some way to carve out a large, rectangular chunk of this material out of the statue of the Unending One. Hopefully, Lucky would recover quickly, because the cat was the only cutting implement that Ves knew of that could damn well chew through anything!

"Lucky can probably drill a hole through the hull of a CFA battleship if he wanted to!" Ves joked to himself.

If Lucky still remained sick, then Ves would just drive his gem cat to work. No one in the fleet who could be of use was allowed to slack off at this time!

As Ves arranged many matters and laid out several bold plans, he also took the time to meet with the Penitent Sisters.

Instead of requesting Commander Chancy to meet him aboard the Scarlet Rose, he decided to go to her instead. He took a shuttle and traveled to the Surly Cockatrice. The large Hexer combat carrier did not exactly look inviting to Ves due to her six-sided interior, but the mood among the Penitent Sisters wasn't as hostile as before.

Months of fighting along with constant companionship had a way of turning any strangers into battle buddies. While the Penitent Sisters weren't exactly friends with the Larkinsons, they implicitly trusted each other to cover their backs.

This was very welcome progress to Ves, but he wasn't satisfied with that. This was why he met Commander Chancy in an empty conference room. Juliet Stameros, the resident head designer of the Penitent Sisters, sat by her superior's side.

"Mr. Larkinson." Chancy greeted with a neutral tone. "I believe you wish to talk about something of great import."

"I do." Ves nodded and casually sat on one of the available chairs. "As you know, our task force is facing a great threat, but we are not about to roll over and let the pirates have their way with us. No matter how small the odds, we will fight them to the end."

"We share the same sentiment." The leader of the Penitent Sisters smiled. "If we put in our all, we might be able to take down some of the pirate smaller warships. Ridding the galaxy of a pirate destroyer or a couple of pirate frigates will hopefully be enough for us to achieve redemption."

She spoke as if her death and the death of her subordinates was already set in stone.

Ves raised his chin. "What if I told you there is a way to accomplish more? What if I told you there's a chance of winning the upcoming battle?"

Perhaps other people would be fooled by his confident boasts, but the Penitent Sister Commander was well aware of the overall strategic situation.

"That is very unlikely."

"You'd be surprised." Ves smiled. "After all, didn't we accomplish successive miracles in the previous battle?"

"That was just a fluke." Juliet Stameros interjected. "Venerable Jannzi has earned all of our respect. Her dedication to her mech is admirable and has put many of our fellow Penitent Sisters to shame. Of all of the mech pilots in your clan, she is the only one who is worthy to achieve perfect resonance."

Ves slowly shook his head. "You know too little. The Shield of Samar isn't my most brilliant mech in our fleet. The Quint is considerably more potent. What do you think will happen if Joshua breaks through? What if all of our other expert candidates break through as well with the custom mechs that I intend to provide?"

Both Penitent Sisters tried to imagine the sight. If it worked out the way that Ves hinted, they might be able to witness more miracles!

Commander Chancy recognized that she was being caught up in Ves' rhythm. She quickly calmed herself down and regained her composure. "While I welcome any development that increases our odds of victory, what does this have to do with us? Why have you come, Mr. Larkinson?"

This was the moment where Ves revealed his ambitious proposal. "I want you and your Penitent Sisters to accept some of my arrangements. While some of them seem radical, it is in our best interests to augment your strength as much as possible before the decisive battle starts. It will be hard on you all, but if any of you survive, I promise to let you join the Larkinson Clan."

"Pardon?!"

"Are you serious?!"

"I am absolutely serious." Ves spoke with a straight face. "Aside from Gloriana and Ranya, I refused to let any other Hexers join my clan. However, considering your valiant service during the time that you have stayed with us, I am willing to make an exception on account for your great valor and contributions in battle. Even if the Hexadric Hegemony doesn't want you back, you have already redeemed yourselves in my eyes."

Both women looked very conflicted. Emotions such as disgust, confusion, repulsion and other negative emotions flitted through their faces.

Juliet settled on confusion. "Why.. why would you think we want to join your clan? Ever since our fellow Hexers have forced us to seek our penance, we have been working towards earning our penance. All we have ever wanted was to return to the Hegemony and be welcomed with open arms."

"While I don't claim to understand you Hexers well, I know enough that they will still consider you tainted no matter what you do." Ves stated while crossing his arms. "You were a problem that the Hexers needed to get rid of. Why should they want you back?"

"Chasing after an unattainable dream is better than settling for less."

"My clan is not any lesser than your former state. In fact, as long as we are able to sustain our current rate of progress, we might far exceed the Hegemony one day."

Valerie Chancy looked skeptical. "That is unlikely. Even if you do manage to accomplish this, it has nothing to do with us. We're Hexers, not Larkinsons. The prosperity of your clan is as irrelevant as the wealth and splendor of the Terrans and Rubarthans."

"You are wrong, commander. I have already revealed so much to you over the course of this excursion. Let me remind you of a true Hexer."

Ves did something he would ordinarily never do. He concentrated his mind and reached out to the dormant Superior Mother.

Even if the still-transforming ancestral spirit had entered a state of hibernation, Ves was still able to interact with her to a degree.

He attempted to channel a portion of her presence through his body. He wore his mother on his mind like a mask and deliberately tried to amplify her strong, motherly glow.

The process unexpectedly went smoothly. Ves somehow felt that he was incredibly compatible with the Superior Mother. It was as if his mother embraced her son!

Of course, another reason for their incredible fit was because Ves was the Superior Mother's progenitor. It was a given for his mother to embrace him because she was his child.

The effect he managed to induce immediately took over the conference room.

Both Valerie Chancy and Juliet Stameros became gobsmacked as Ves radiated the same vibe as the statues of the Superior Mother that the Penitent Sisters had started worshipping.

For a moment, both of them were barely able to process what they were sensing from Ves. They already suspected that Ves had some ties with the Superior Mother, but this was the first time they directly witnessed his relation to the revered Supreme in such a direct fashion!

"You are blessed by the Supreme, no, you are truly her son!"

"How can this be?! You're not a Hexer, yet.. It's as if you are more of a Hexer than us! This is impossible!"

Though Ves loathed to play the role of a charlatan, he really needed the Penitent Sisters to be fully onboard his plans. He did not hesitate to sell out his principles in order to bring the exiled Hexers fully under his heel.

"The Superior Mother is my birth mother." Ves boldly claimed. "You may take that as figuratively or literally as you wish, but I am her only envoy in the material realm. Do you know what this means?"

"Ummm.."

"Let me ask you a question." Ves held out his palm. "Would you rather earn the redemption of the Hexers who rejected you and cast you out of the Hegemony?"

He held out his other palm and concentrated some of the Superior Mother's glow onto it. "Or would you rather receive your absolution from the greatest Hexer Supreme?"

A shocked silence swept through the compartment.