The Mech Touch

While Master Willix clearly wasn't prepared to consider Ves' sudden request, her eyes quickly cleared up. She looked as if she just realized something that explained why he felt the urge to go on a sight-seeing tour in a star sector claimed by dwarves.

"I shall look into it." She slowly replied. "As far as I am aware, only long-standing associates are eligible to obtain the passes you are referring to. Each normal human that enters the Smiling Samuel Star Sector is another source of instability. The local heavy gravity variant humans do not take pleasure in hosting another guest from outside, particularly when the visitor is of the taller variety."

"If you can't arrange a pass for me, I'll find another way to get in. I'm not giving up on Smiling Samuel so easily. I might be leaving the Milky Way for good, so I want to experience at least a couple more interesting places in my native galaxy before I depart for another one. I've heard that there are other organizations who can arrange free passage to third parties."

Willix frowned. "Do not act too hastily, Mr. Larkinson. Smiling Samuel is of significant interest to our Association. A number of my other colleagues have long presided over the developments that take place in this special star sector, so they hold jurisdiction over any matters related to it. They will not be pleased if I approach them with your request."

In other words, Smiling Samuel was someone else's turf. Even if Master Willix held more prestige within the MTA, it was not a trivial matter for her to approach another department.

Just like every other trans-galactic organization, the Mech Trade Association was split up into many different branches and hierarchies. It was impossible to centralize so many different operations and impose total uniformity in every single branch.

This meant that the regional bosses who were in charge of specific branches still possessed considerable autonomy in their seats of power. As long as the MTA branches exercised all of their necessary duties, they possessed some latitude to pursue their own policies.

The general idea behind this approach was that those on the ground knew better than some faceless bureaucrat sitting in a luxurious office 100,000 light-years away.

While that wasn't a wrong assumption, the distance between the sector headquarters and the core institutions of the MTA could easily give the former an opportunity to take some liberties.

While Master Willix didn't say any of this out loud, her troubled response caused Ves to imagine what must be going on behind the scenes.

Even if his guesses weren't entirely accurate, they should at least touch upon the truth. Ves already knew that the MTA was divided into rivalling factions. This proved that for all of its greatness, the Association was still prone to the same shortcomings that plagued any organization run by humans.

As long as humans were selfish, they always pursued their interests even if they weren't supposed to. Ves did it all the time.

After issuing his request, the call eventually ended. Ves didn't particularly enjoy chatting with his patron from the MTA, and he was sure that Master Willix had better things to do with her precious time.

Before he left the Scarlet Rose, Ves paid a brief visit to compartment G-13 which still held the 'automated' Breyer alloy production line.

Even after Ves used many months worth of accumulation to construct the dazzling prow of the Spirit of Bentheim, the 'renewable' source of Breyer alloy still churned out tons of useful material without interruption.

As Ves gazed at the escape pod that effortlessly slid inside the hot forging machine, he came no closer to lifting the veil of its creepy occupant.

"Who is Cassandra Breyer?"

This wasn't the first time he asked this question. The more he thought about it, the more he had the feeling that he was neglecting a very serious matter.

Yet no matter how closely Ves tried to examine the escape pod and the mummified corpse inside, this not-quite-dead witch kept mystifying him. Her existence and the fact that she continually regenerated without fail was a complete aberration to his life. She showed up without warning and haunted him for reasons that he couldn't even begin to guess.

His Spirituality grew stronger and he developed a bit more insight into the nature of spiritual energy. He developed a deeper comprehension of life and became more adept at manipulating it with his growing toolbox.

Yet despite all of this growth, he came no closer to answering this lingering question.

"How long can this continue?" Ves wondered.

Years? Decades? Centuries?

He did not dare to think he could keep exploiting Cassandra Breyer's powers for more than a decade, let alone a century.

"In a century, I can probably buy Breyer alloy in bulk. There is no need for me to rely on this absurd loop to spit out valuable materials."

What would happen if he decided to shut down this production line?

Would Cassandra Breyer enjoy a reprieve that allowed her to take revenge against Ves?

"I won't let that happen!"

His experiences with dangerous entities like Nyxie taught him that he needed to solve them one way or another. If he gave them too much time, they might be able to turn the tables.

Still, Ves was not at that point yet. Breyer alloy was still useful to him and he could still benefit from having free source of this material.

"I'll decide what to do with you when I am close to entering the Red Ocean." He decided. "I don't think I can smuggle you through the beyonder gate without getting noticed by the authorities."

The Gate Consortium and the Big Two thoroughly swept every starship that was slated to pass through the beyonder gate. This was a necessary procedure as the massive but incredibly precious beyonder gates weren't immune to damage.

It would be a tragedy if terrorists managed to blow up the only gate that allowed humanity to enter the Red Ocean!

While Ves was sure the Big Two gathered enough phasewater to build another gate by now, it was immensely costly to do so. So far, the Gate Consortium hadn't published any plans to build another greater beyonder gate.

Ves returned to the Spirit of Bentheim and went about his work. He invested a lot of time in fleshing out his revised mech designs.

Meanwhile, the Golden Skull Alliance continued to travel further and further away from the site of the battle.

It didn't take long for the expeditionary fleet to complete its previously-planned detour through the Vicious Mountain Star Sector. After curving around and passing through another sector border, the damaged and diminished armada of starships officially entered Majestic Teal!

This was a different environment. While Vicious Mountain was dominated by a single regional superpower in the form of the Garlen Empire, Majestic Teal was split up into smaller states that were usually called associations due to their origins.

In the view of people like Ves, Majestic Teal came under the sway of corporate-like entities.

While the local second-rate 'states' such as the Life Research Association, the Heavensword Association and the Harmony Association weren't run like companies, they still retained traces of their past incarnations.

"What is interesting about Majestic Teal is that no local state is truly dominant." Major Verle explained to him during a meeting. "There is nothing comparable to the Garlen Empire here. In addition, the star sector split up into greater states like the Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony. What we have instead are more than a dozen small-to-medium-sized states that are strong enough to hold their own but aren't threatening enough to swallow the entire star sector."

Ves found this odd. "It's rather amazing that this has lasted for centuries. I would have thought that at least one of those states would have succeeded in taking over their neighbors before launching a war for supremacy."

"Majestic Teal doesn't have a tradition of waging total war. It's quite similar to Vicious Mountain in that regard. The reason why this is so is different, though we don't need to explore that considering we are just passing through."

They didn't meet in order to discuss the history of Majestic Teal. Instead, they gathered in order to discuss the impending arrival of the mercenaries that they contracted on an expensive monthly contract.

"Tell me about the fellows who will be arriving soon."

Major Verle waved his hand, causing a projection to appear that depicted the logo of the mercenary organization.

It depicted a purple star field where a man was walking off into the distance with his back facing the viewer.

Ves had no idea why such a symbol represented the name of a mercenary organization with a fixed base of operations.

"The Star Strider Security Group is a massive commercial enterprise that offers security solutions to clients on both a short-term and long-term basis." Verle began. "It's a reputable and upright mercenary organization that has never acted shady, at least that we know of. Its headquarters is located in the Grand Loxic Republic, which is a very powerful second-rate state in the Winged Serenade Star Sector."

That last part was important. Winged Serenade was the administrative center of the Yeina Star Cluster. It received greater investment than its neighboring star sectors so its development level was considerably higher.

This also meant that any organizations that were rooted there possessed a lot of power and influence. This was one of the many reasons why no one wanted to stir up trouble with the Star Striders.

"Do we know which unit within the Star Striders are assigned as our bodyguards?"

Major Verle nodded. "We do. The Star Striders informed us that they have dispatched their 14th Fleet, otherwise known as the Infinity Guards."

"That's an audacious name to take. What are they like?"

"As their name suggests, the Infinity Guards are defense-oriented. While they are lacking in mobile and flexible mech units, they are known for fielding an abundance of medium and heavy mechs that excel at defending fleets or fixed positions."

"Ah. I see. We can't ask them to perform raids or act proactively, but they are very difficult to dislodge as long as they stand their grounds."

"That's the Infinity Guards in a nutshell. What is reassuring is that the 14th Fleet has successfully completed many assignments but only failed four times throughout their entire existence. The main reason for those exceptions is because they got caught up in larger conflicts where their enemies weren't cowed by the deterrence exerted by the Star Striders."

No mercenary outfit was completely successful all the time. A few failures was normal and completely acceptable. Ves was completely assured by the low failure rate of the Infinity Guards.

"How many mechs are we talking about?"

"The Infinity Guards comprise a total of 2 mech regiments or around 4000 mechs. Their fleet consists of around 60 combat carriers with expanded capacity, so they are able to carry 60 mechs each. The flagship is a fleet carrier called the Indefatigable. She's nowhere comparable to the Auralis, but she's considerably cheaper and easier to maintain. According to the galactic net, the Indefatigable is a second-hand starship that the Star Striders happened to acquire from a state that sought to dispose of her. She's aged but well-maintained."

Even if the Star Striders were based in Winged Serenade, it was a bit of a stretch for them to make use of assets comparable to military-grade hardware. The Indefatigable was still an overpowering fleet carrier against any non-state entity, and that was enough for the mercenaries.

"All of this sounds fairly impressive, but how much do they cost on a monthly basis?"

"When converted to hex credits, their base pay amounts to 17 billion hex credits."

"..."

"You wanted the best we could get on short notice, Ves, remember? While it is higher than the prevailing market rates, the service provided by the Star Strider is the real deal."

Ves slowly sighed. "That's true. If we get what we paid for, then we shouldn't be afraid of any threat as long as the contract holds."