The Mech Touch

The Gorgoneion. The Diligent Ovenbird. The Graveyard. The Dragon's Den.

Four different capital sh.i.p.s. Four different roles. Four different investments.

It wasn't easy for Ves to make decisions on the four sh.i.p.s. Each of them were attractive to him but acquiring them and crewing them was anything but simple.

Fortunately, the acquisition of the Spirit of Bentheim taught the Larkinsons plenty of lessons. They were familiar with many of the complications and pitfalls associated with purchasing such an enormous asset.

With an excellent shipwright like Vivian on staff, Ves wasn't concerned that his clan would botch the process.

Ves talked a bit further with Vivian. Since he wasn't good at managing these kinds of affairs, he simply decided to delegate everything to his subordinates.

"I'd like you to be involved in every step of the way, Miss Tsai." He spoke as he stood up. "Don't hesitate to call or message me directly if something urgent has come up. I am relying on you to manage the acquisition of the Graveyard and the Dragon's Den as well as the construction of the Gorgoneion and the Diligent Ovenbird. I know it will take a lot of money, manpower and resources to add all these huge vessels to our fleet, so you won't be working alone."

General Verle, Fleet Coordinator Ophelia, Speaker Ovrin, Doctor Ranya and many other leaders had to get involved. The military wing of the Larkinson Clan had to fit the Gorgoneion and the Graveyard in their battle lineup while the productive wing had to make the other two vessels work.

All of this involved trillions of credits and tens of thousands of personnel. Ves didn't even know where to begin to organize it all, so he decided not to bother with it at all. He simply set a goal and told the rest of the clan to get it done.

This was not something new to Vivian. "We are already corresponding with each other about these matters. We have already formed a committee of sorts that convenes whenever we need to make major decisions on how to solve the problems that you have mentioned."

"Good. Keep me in the loop but don't bother me with insignificant details. I have a busy schedule and I am much more in my element when I am working with mechs rather than starsh.i.p.s."

They set some basic rules before he left. Ves didn't want to get flooded by queries,but he still wanted to be in the loop. He just wanted to make sure he had a say in the decisions he cared about the most. Every capital ship had to conform to his vision for his expeditionary fleet in order to serve as a pillar of his core fleet.

While the prospect of filling his quota of capital sh.i.p.s filled him with happiness, he also became a bit concerned about running out of them too quickly.

There was no way he wanted the Larkinson Clan to settle with 7 capital sh.i.p.s forever. It would be great if he could earn a few extra million MTA merits so that he could squeeze at least one additional vessel.

"If not, we can always look into acquiring capital sh.i.p.s after we have reached the Red Ocean." He muttered.

Unfortunately, demand vastly exceeded supply on the other side of the beyonder gate. Ves had little hope of being able to get his order accepted by any of the shipyards that had gone into operation in the Red Ocean.

The only practical way to acquire capital sh.i.p.s would be to build them or to capture them from others.

He just needed to get into a legitimate feud against a rival in order to excuse his attacks!

"The Fridaymen are excellent targets for this!" He grinned as he exited Vivian's office. "We can hunt them all down and take their assets for ourselves. Isn't this a great idea, Lucky?"

"Meow." His cat responded as he floated in the air.

"You'll have to play an indispensable role, of course. You're the perfect infiltrator and you still need to earn your keep."

"Meow!"

Lucky did not look forward to risking his life at all, but Ves didn't care. Ever since Lucky's gem production rate had dropped even further, he continued to be a significant drain on the clan's resources.

"Don't complain. The more big sh.i.p.s we have, the lower the chance we'll do badly in subsequent battles. Do you prefer to live on the edge of your seat each time we bump into opposition?"

"Meow meow meow."

"I know, I know. Once this duel stuff is over, we will begin development on our expert mechs right away. I hear that Gloriana has already started to lay the groundwork for the pivotal projects."

While the pair hadn't been consistent in applying this agreement, Gloriana definitely did not accept anything less than absolute control for the following projects!

Designing expert mechs was one of her biggest obsessions. In their prior projects, she had shown a great amount of patience and forbearance when Ves rammed through his design choices over her objections.

This time, it was his turn to let his wife have the final say on every matter.

As someone who had long been in charge of every design project, Ves found it difficult to accept that he would be surrendering control.

No mech designer liked to be relegated to the side. Designing mechs was something intimate and a labor of love to people like Ves. Letting someone else push through a decision that clashed with his personal vision was not easy to stomach!

"Still, I don't have any choice."

Gloriana's need for control was greater than his in this case. While Ves excelled at coming up with mech concepts that would play well with large groups of people, Gloriana was unquestionably better at tailoring a mech to an individual mech pilot.

There was nothing standard about expert mechs. Each of them were personalized to varying degrees in order to maximize the performance of every expert pilot. His usual approach to mech design would not yield the best results, and Ves knew it. He was willing to put his trust in his wife, if only just this once.

"If it doesn't work out, I can always take back control." He reassured himself.

He didn't think it would get to that point. With a Master Mech Designer acting as a consultant and contributor to their expert mech design projects, it was impossible for Ves and Gloriana to screw up. His wife might not listen to him, but she would definitely listen to a female authority like Master Willix.

As Ves walked back to his temporary living quarters in order to clear his mind, someone deliberately sought him out and met him as he walked through Gentle Lotus Base.

"Patriarch! Patriarch Ves, can I have a moment, please?"

"Why certainly, Mr. Melin."

The Ylvainan expert candidate walked up to Ves and saluted him. "Thank you for meeting me. There is an issue that is currently plaguing our group. Ever since the Living Prophet left our side, we had to take charge of recruitment ourselves."

Taon Melin went straight to the point. He clearly explained the difficulty in persuading the new recruits to convert to the Ylvainan Faith and how the group of believers were concerned about remaining relevant in the clan.

Ves quickly understood the situation. He always felt uncomfortable with religion, but it was undeniable that the Ylvainans contributed much to his clan. Not only had they done much to help him in the past, but they were also a vital part of his clan in the future due to their unique strengths when paired with ranged mechs such as the Transcendent Punisher!

Therefore, while he did not want the Ylvainan Faith to dominate his clan, he didn't want it to atrophy either!

Without a sufficient number of believers, it would become harder and harder to staff all of the Transcendent Punishers and other fantastic Ylvainan mechs he might design in the future!

There were only several hundred Ylvainan mech pilots in the clan. This was barely adequate for now but vastly insufficient once additional capital sh.i.p.s entered into service!

"What do you require of me?" Ves asked as he continued to walk forward. "I doubt you decided to approach me because you wanted me to become aware of your situation."

"That is correct, sir. In truth, one of the solutions we have decided upon is.. to ask you to aid in our recruitment. If you can speak to the recruits on our behalf, then we are confident that your oratory talent can sway those who seek answers in their life."

"..."

Taon started to have a bad feeling about this. Would the Bright Martyr agree?

Ves had slowed down as he contemplated the request. He remained silent for over half a minute before he slowly let out a deep breath.

"It is not suitable for me to speak on your behalf." He slowly answered. He purposefully kept his emotions in check. "James is indeed best at this, but that doesn't mean your group should be flailing after losing him. Asking me to take over his role is no different from cheating. Every faith must have the capability to sway others. If you don't develop this yourselves, then you will always be deficient in this area. You cannot expect others to keep bailing you out."

"Then.. you won't help us?"

"I did not say that. I just think that it is counterproductive for me to speak on your behalf. Instead, I am open to facilitating your own efforts in expanding your faith. One of the ways I have in mind will doubtlessly help."

"What solution do you have in mind, sir?"

Ves hesitated for a brief moment. He had been thinking about this for a while, but it was only up until now that he saw that it was necessary to proceed.

"I think.. it is time for you and your fellow Ylvainans to organize yourselves. I'd like you to form a new mech force that is centered around Ylvainan mechs like the Transcendent Punisher. This is the best way forward as the needs and circ.u.mstances of your mech pilots are different from that of the Avatars and Sentinels."

"This!" Taan stuttered.

The expert candidate was stunned! He didn't expect to be confronted by this initiative so suddenly!

"What do you think, Mr. Melin? Are you interested?"

"We need to discuss this amongst ourselves. We never thought you would make this offer to us so soon. Personally, I am in favor of this, but we will have to spend a great amount of time and effort to organize everything."

"The rest of the clan will help you out. You are not alone in this. Just make sure that once all of the infrastructure is set up, you will be able to take care of yourselves. I rarely hear complaints from groups like the Flagrant Vandals and the Penitent Sisters, and I expect your Ylvainans to be the same."

"We will step up, sir. As long as we enjoy a sufficient amount of support from the clan, we will make it work, one way or another."

Ves nodded in satisfaction. Taon expressed enough determination, and that was enough.

"You should also think carefully on how to name yourselves. This will be the label which every Ylvainan mech pilot will carry in the future."

"I understand. We will pray to the Great Prophet for guidance."