The Mech Touch

As the remnants of Task Force Predator and the Wodin Warrior fleet both entered FTL travel, Ves constantly kept himself appraised of the condition of the travelling warships.

While the Larkinsons had lost all of their quantum communication nodes, the Wodins had plenty to spare. It did not burden them too much to lend some to the Larkinsons so that they could be mounted on pirate-built vessels.

With the help of these nodes, the prize crews who ran the captured vessels constantly transmitted their status to the rest, thereby reassuring everyone of their continued existence.

No accidents took place during the first traverse. The Gravada Knarlax remained stable despite missing large chunks of her hull. The state of the smaller warships remained stable as well.

In less than a single day, a large number of ships emerged at the edge of a nameless star system.

From the large Parma Imago to the smaller Scarlet Rose, every single vessel successfully reached true civilized space without any accidents!

While many of the Larkinsons celebrated their successful departure from the Nyxian Gap yet again, Ves was one of the few who did not join in the celebrations.

As he studied the projection of the local plot, he noted the presence of a handful of very powerful vessels.

Though the frigate and destroyer-sized ships didn't look impressive, their quality far surpassed anything the Larkinsons or Hexers owned!

Ves gulped. A heavy weight fell on his shoulders. He recognized Master Willix's Ubiquitious Force.

This time, she brought company.

Even without communicating with the recent arrivals, the ships already activated their powerful propulsion drives and quickly approached the sides of the Gravada Knarlax and other pirate warships.

"Don't panic and don't do anything stupid!" Ves quickly broadcasted to all of his clansmen. "We already have an appointment with the MTA. Just stay put and don't make any aggressive moves."

No sane person would ever launch an attack on the MTA, but who knew how trigger-happy his men might be. The rapid and alarming approach of the Association's ships might bring up bad memories.

Fortunately, no incidents took place. Most of this was because the Larkinsons and Wodin Warriors only deployed a minimal amount of mechs after exiting FTL travel.

Normally, this was not enough to protect so many ships, but the presence of MTA vessels already guaranteed that no one would stir any trouble.

Ves received a short message from the Ubiquitous Force. It stated that he should be making his way to the advanced frigate.

His face grew ugly. He really did not want to talk to Master Willix on her home ground. With all of the technology packed inside one of the most modern vessels of human civilization, it was far too easy for him to expose himself.

Nonetheless, the commands of the MTA were absolute and Ves saw no way out of this predicament.

He exited the bridge and returned to his stateroom. He changed his clothes and left some sensitive articles behind.

"Meow."

Lucky woke up and looked at Ves while swishing his tail.

"I'll be going out for a short time. Don't stir up any trouble. Hold yourself in, okay?"

"Meow meow."

"You could offer me some sympathy, you know!"

"Meow!"

Was his cat looking forward to seeing him get screwed?

"Whatever!"

Once he checked himself over for the final time, he addressed his bodyguard.

"You can't come with me this time, Nitaa. Just stay on this ship and guard the vault."

"Understood."

He had grown so used to her silent presence that he felt disconcerted that she was no longer covering his back.

Even though he had never ended up in a situation where he needed her protection lately, he still knew that many people were out for his head.

"Well, it's not like any of foes are lurking around the corner here. I only have one that is staring straight at me right now." He muttered.

He entered his shuttle in a fatalistic mood. The vehicle boosted out of the Scarlet Rose's hangar bay and steadily approached the Ubiquitous Force.

Ves noted from the local plot that a number of other shuttles launched from the ships controlled by the Larkinson Clan. He already received word that one of the other MTA vessels issued an invitation to the expert pilots.

Venerable Joshua, Venerable Jannzi, Venerable Orfan, Venerable Dise, and Venerable Tusa all made their pilgrimage to the MTA. Doubtlessly, the mechers wanted to interrogate them in private while checking whether they legitimately broke through to their current ranks.

Perhaps the MTA suspected that the Larkinsons had resorted to dangerous and improper means to force out the potential of the expert pilots.

"Mr. Armalon!"

"Just call me Jovy, haha!"

The proud but capable MTA Journeyman floated over to Ves with an eager expression. Once he reached Ves, he offered his hand.

Ves tentatively shook hands with Jovy. He hadn't expected to meet him again so soon.

"Uhm, I was expecting to meet with Master Willix."

"She's occupied right now." Jovy answered as he gestured to Ves to move forward. "While she is very interested in your case, she can't abandon her current obligations. She carries a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders."

"How long until she's free to talk."

"I can't say, but it will only take a few hours by my reckoning. Let me keep you company in the meantime. I've heard all about your adventures and I'm dying to hear what you've encountered!"

"Oh, it's not as exciting as you think. We only fought against a couple of shabby pirate gangs. Just look at the ships we managed to haul back. They're shambling rafts compared to your Association's sleek and powerful vessels."

Jovy chuckled. "That's why they're so interesting! The Gravada Knarlax looks so quaint. How the Allidus Alliance believes they could deter our Association with this primitive toy is beyond me. Oh, no offense to you. I heard it was a tough fight for you. How did you manage to defeat the pirates in the end?"

Ves nonchalantly shrugged. "I'm not so sure myself. We had some lucky breakthroughs and a friendly alien dropped by as well."

"Can you describe the alien who helped you? I haven't read any descriptions."

"She looks like a giant humanoid alien. There are scales over her form and she also wears something similar to a robe…"

As Ves continued to answer Jovy's seemingly-casual questions, he knew that the interrogation had already begun.

He had to admit that the MTA was quite shrewd. Ves had entered the Ubiquitous Force filled with tension. Yet just a single minute of talking to Jovy, he no longer felt much apprehension.

Compared to his first meeting with Jovy, the talented Journeyman was much easier to talk to. Either the mech designer had gone through special training or he simply regarded Ves with more respect.

Perhaps both were the case. As they reached some sort of lounge and entertainment compartment, Ves sensed that his MTA counterpart genuinely admired him for going on such an exciting adventure.

Jovy sighed in admiration. "I really envy you, Ves! The life you live is exciting and fit for a drama. With everything that you have gone through, it's no wonder you're making so much progress."

"Why don't you enter the Nyxian Gap yourself, then?"

"There are too many rules limiting what I can do. Besides, the Nyxian Gap is special hazard zone to us. Not even Master Willix is allowed to enter!"

"Really?!"

Jovy offered Ves a wry smile. "Our Association already lost too many talents to this abyss."

"So the MTA is powerful enough to keep the first-rate superstates in check, but it isn't even capable of overcoming a single anomalous region of space?"

"Oh, if we wanted to crush the Nyxian Gap, we would have. It's just that it takes too much effort to do so. Anomalous space regions such as the Nyxian Gap are uncommon but not rare in the galaxy. There are so much of them and the resources we need to mobilize to crush all of them are so much that it isn't worth the trouble. It's a thankless job and we'll only drain ourselves in the end, allowing the CFA to get ahead."

"I see."

To Ves, it sounded as if the MTA was a cleaning bot with a limited charge. Instead of doing its job of cleaning up the messes that people left on the floor, it would rather do nothing so that it had energy to butt heads against another bot that was supposed to tidy up the exterior.

The two mech designers continued to chat casually about various topics. They didn't talk about anything important. Instead, they were merely querying each other what they did in their daily lives or which mech types they liked best.

While Ves let himself be lulled by the discussion, a portion of him still remained alert. He felt that Jovy was deliberately trying to relax him and make him feel at ease.

The decor of the lounge only reinforced his urge to release all of his tension. The warm interior and tasteful ornaments along with the impressive artwork made him feel as if he was Jovy's honored guest.

While Ves expected Jovy to steer the conversation back to the Battle against the Abyss or something, the MTA mech designer instead brought up something completely different.

"You know, the Ubiquitous Force is quite an impressive little ship, but she doesn't offer much in the way of excitement. Would you like me to bring you to Design World?"

Ves grew confused. "Design World?"

"Why?"

"It sounds like doing anything in Design World is expensive. Besides, I'm not a mecher. Bringing me there is like taking a space peasant into the Galactic Mech Council. Attracting scorn or receiving looks of disdain from your fellow mechers doesn't sound like fun to me. Is that enough?"

Jovy did not look deterred. "Every mech designer who heard of Design World wants to enter it, you know! Do you realize what kind of opportunity you are rejecting?!"

"Oh? What's so special about it? Is it more than a virtual theme park?"