The Mech Touch

A month went by as the Larkinson Clan slowly completed its preparations.

The new crew members of the Spirit of Bentheim and the other second-class vessels supplied by the Hegemony had worked hard during this period. While they were far away from attaining mastery over their vessels, they gained a sufficient amount of control to embark on a normal journey.

A lot of supplies, mechs and goods had poured into the Cinach System. Not all of these goods ended up in the hands of the Larkinson Clan. The Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan were making their own preparations.

In just a single month, the Golden Skull Alliance had become more formidable.

The Glory Seekers received more Valkyrie Interceptors. The former mech pilots of the Wodin Warriors had adjusted well to the Valkyrie mech that was optimized for space battles. The female mech pilots cherished the opportunity to get closer to the Superior Mother while their male counterparts made do with other Hexer mech models.

As for the Cross Clan, the activity that took place in their fleet almost rivaled that of the Larkinson Clan!

A lot of ships underwent emergency repairs. The Crossers also got rid of their damaged and broken mechs and obtained replacements from other sources.

Some of the mechs were commercial second-class mechs, but many more appeared to be derived from new designs.

When Ves studied the new mechs, he recognized the distinctive emphasis on efficiency. As someone who had worked directly on the Skull Architect's mech designs, he instantly concluded that the Cross Clan's new guest designer was hard at work.

Overall, Ves was happy to see the Cross Clan recover some of its might. As long as the Crossers were allies, their strength was crucial to fending off enemies.

After an entire month, the time had finally come. Even as the Design Department calmly progressed its six design projects, the other Larkinsons had finished their preparations in time.

Some Larkinsons grew more reluctant to leave. As the day of departure came closer, the natives of the Komodo Star Sector felt scared of abandoning everything they knew in favor of plunging straight into the unknown.

Ves did not tolerate any second-guessers. He had issued orders to monitor these problematic people. The clan had to do everything in their power to keep every Larkinson onboard with the upcoming journey.

As Ves greeted the morning of this historic day, he calmly went through his morning routine. After cleansing his body and shaving his stubble, he met with his wife in the dining room.

Both of them began to enjoy sumptuous breakfast while their cats partook in their own meal.

"Miaow~"

Clixie's tail joyfully wagged as her head dove into a bowl of highly nutritious fortified meat.

"Meow."

As for Lucky, his teeth effortlessly crunched the nuggets of medium-grade exotics that Ves had especially reserved for this day.

If not for the fact that Ves was too stingy, he would have pampered his gem cat with high-grade exotics instead!

"Damn, you're such a glutton, Lucky." Ves muttered as he gulped his coffee. "Have you forgotten your true job again? It's been months since you've last given me a surprise!"

"Meow!"

The complaints did not spoil Lucky's mood. The mechanical cat paid no regard to Ves and steadily enjoyed his rare delicacy.

A hesitant expression appeared on Gloriana's face. The exquisite croissant she bit hardly brought her any enjoyment.

"Ves…"

"Yes, honey?"

"Are we doing the right thing?"

He stopped and looked in her eyes. He sensed her ambivalent mood.

"We already talked about this. The grand expedition will happen no matter what. The gun is already loaded. We just have to pull the trigger. It's way too late to reconsider."

"I know that, Ves. It's just.. I feel guilty for leaving my dynasty and state behind. The Komodo War has deteriorated even further, you know. With the Fridaymen beating back the Hex Army, the enemy has almost reached the border!"

That worried Ves at well, but mostly because his mother's wellbeing was at stake.

"We don't have to stay in this star sector in order to influence the Komodo War." He gently replied. "We are already doing the best we can by designing new Hexer mechs. Our three projects have smoothly entered into the later stages. Aside from handling a couple of thorny issues, the Hegemony will soon obtain a lot more tools. The Blinding Mech alone is enough to change the current trend."

"That is if it is able to do its job. We haven't proven its effectiveness yet. There is still a chance it will turn into a dud. I'm afraid we might ruin Hex Army because of our failure!"

Gloriana continued to twitter her worries. Her nerves seemed to be getting to her as she struggled to reconcile her departure with the setbacks suffered by the Hexers.

Unlike his wife, Ves was not as conflicted. If it truly came down to it, the death of the Hegemony did not necessarily spell the end of the Hexer people.

He had no doubt that the Wodin Dynasty and plenty of other wealthy Hexers would be able to flee from the Komodo Star Sector with their ships.

Just like the Cross Clan, these Hexer dynasties and organizations must have prepared some evacuation plans. They may have even dispatched some Hexers elsewhere beforehand as a precaution.

This meant that as long as enough Hexers lived, the Superior Mother would always be able to maintain her existence.

Some of his design spirits were doing fine despite receiving very little spiritual feedback. For example, up until now, Bravo was only being fed by Vincent Ricklin. Goldie also sustained herself with less than a thousand Larkinsons in the early days of the Larkinson Clan.

If the Hexadric Hegemony was ever on the verge of defeat, Ves could easily imagine millions of Hexers fleeing the state in droves. Many of them should definitely worship the Superior Mother. In fact, in desperate circumstances like these, the frightened Hexers should be pleading to the Supreme for protection even more!

Even if all of these fleeing Hexers abandoned the Superior Mother, then Ves could still rely on the Glory Seekers and the Penitent Sisters to keep the faith alive.

The biggest downside to this was that the Superior Mother would probably be forced to take on a starvation diet. Ves could not predict how much damage that would deal to a design spirit that previously enjoyed an abundance of spiritual feedback.

Therefore, Ves was still on the side of the Hegemony. As long as the Superior Mother could harvest the spiritual feedback of trillions of Hexers and a considerable amount of expert pilots and ace pilots, a significant portion of those benefits would eventually pass on to his real mother!

This was the key to keeping Cynthia Larkinson alive and well. Ves would not be able to leave the Komodo Star Sector in peace if his mother's life came under risk again!

He took a deep breath. "Look, a part of me is afraid as well. I'm not letting that stop me, though. There are too many reasons why we should step into the greater cosmos and venture into a new frontier. If you truly care about your mother and the Wodin Dynasty, you should embrace our new opportunities. Just think about it. Who can help your state more, a timid girl who stayed home all the time and steadily advance to Master before exhausting her potential, or a courageous woman who boldly explores new phenomena and advanced to Star Designer in record time?"

There was no way that Gloriana would be able to become a Star Designer in record time. The Polymath had already set such a ridiculously fast record that hardly every mech designer in human space gave up on surpassing her glorious achievement!

Even so, his flattery seemed to have an effect. Gloriana's eyes lit up as she became more caught up in her delusions. Ves had no doubt that she was imagining that she had become a Star Designer before celebrating her 100th birthday!

Her fantasies stoked her passion and her yearning for success had pushed away her doubts. "You're right, Ves. I'll just become another average Hexer Mech Designer if I stay in this region. There is nothing remarkable here that can propel me to the ultimate height. As far as I know, not a single Star Designer reached their rank through steady development. From the very start, they pushed their boundaries and pursued bolder dreams. If I want to surpass the Polymath, I cannot be inferior to her in any aspect!"

Though Ves wanted to temper her expectations, he knew it was useless. At the very least he managed to wipe away her doubts. That was what he was aiming for in the first place.

As they finished their breakfasts, they readied themselves for the busy day. Both of them wore fancier clothes than usual. Ves looked quite heroic in the formal version of his clan patriarch uniform. Gloriana meanwhile looked lovelier than usual due to the multi-layered blue dress she wore.

She looked like a blooming rose to Ves. She smelled like one as well. They approached each other and shared a loving kiss.

"Hmmm." She smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "We are finally starting our journey. Once we depart, it might take centuries before we go back. Do you ever want to go back, Ves?"

Hell no! This rotten star sector had given Ves plenty of grief! Aside from helping his parents, there was no reason for him to return!

Of course, he couldn't be so blunt. He carefully composed his reply.

"We have outgrown the Komodo Star Sector. It's in one of the furthest reaches of the galactic rim. If we want to reach the apex of the mech industry, we need to move to the regions that are right at the heart of it. The galactic heartland, the galactic center and the Red Ocean are much more developed. We can design much more exciting mechs and reach a much greater market if we enter the more prosperous parts of human space. Who knows, we might even be able to uplift ourselves into first-raters!"

Gloriana shared his dream. She wouldn't have supported his grand expedition if she did not have ambitions of her own. Her desire to keep her relatives company did not exceed her desire to become a Star Designer!

"Let's head out, Ves."

"Very well."

The pair left their grand stateroom. Together with their cats and bodyguards, they steadily moved to the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim.

They arrived early. The grand expedition wouldn't depart until noon, but the combined fleet had already moved to the nearest Lagrange point in the Cinach System.

As long as any ship wanted to depart, they could instantly slip into FTL travel.

Gloriana wandered off to a nearby communication station in order to check up on the Glory Seekers.

Ves approached the opulent chair at the rear of the bridge and took his place. His personal chair was located in the back in order to provide him with a clear overview of the bridge while preventing him from getting in the way.

Grand Captain Daria-Maria Vraken already noticed his arrival. She rose up from the throne-like captain's seat placed in the center of the bridge and marched over until she reached his side.

"How is the fleet, captain?"

"We are performing our final checks, though they are largely redundant. We have already double-checked our ships, mechs, cargo and other assets. While we have detected a number of inconsistencies, they are not serious enough to justify a delay. We have also counted all of our Larkinsons. All of our clansmen are accounted for. Anticipation is high but so is everyone's nerves."

"I know. I feel nervous and excited as well."

Both of them looked ahead.

A giant projection depicted the hundreds of ships that comprised the Larkinson fleet. With the Spirit of Bentheim at the center, the fleet resembled an army that was about to march off to the battlefield!