The Mech Touch

"Permission to come aboard, sir."

"Permission granted."

A CFA officer shook off the slight physical discomfort that always came after routine teleportation.

He had exercised his body as of late in order to increase his tolerance of frequent exertions. He also exchanged a hefty amount of CFA merits to optimize his genes and increase his endurance to unnatural levels.

All of these augments along with his vastly improved work ethics over the years provided a reasonable explanation why he was able to shoot up the ranks all of a sudden.

In order to make the best possible impression on the first day of his new assignment, he especially grew a neat, tight-cropped beard.

It was not as flamboyant as the exaggeratingly curled gray mustache of the captain of this fine warship, but the commanding officer already showed indications of greater appreciation.

It was small moves like these that helped to accelerate a junior officer's career.

The two officers first completed all of the official procedures. The former executive officer of the Nudamu Striker received a promotion after two decades of diligent service and moved on to greener pastures.

That left a serious hole in the hierarchy of the fairly modern armed destroyer. Many ambitious officers coveted this position, not just because it was an excellent opportunity to transition to an independent command, but also because the Nudamu Striker was about to be reassigned to the Red Ocean!

Practically every ambitious CFA officer wished to go on deployment to the dwarf galaxy. An entirely new wave of distinguished and proven frontline combat spacers emerged from the invasion that started over half a century ago and already made waves within the organization.

The Red Ocean War also exposed a lot of incompetence. A lot of officers who slowly managed to move up the ranks by relying on nepotism and peacetime achievements performed quite disappointingly in the heat of the action.

Many CFA officers who had long remained stuck in the lower end of the hierarchy saw hope of breaking through the inertia of their stalled careers. They weren't cut out to work quietly for several centuries and slowly make their way up to a senior command.

Compared to keeping the peace in the relatively quiet Milky Way, it was a lot better to take part in the action in the Red Ocean!

In past eras, such incompetence could still be brushed aside by maintaining a network of backers, but the introduction of the neutral, objective and impartial Independent Evaluation System changed everything.

The days where an old boy's network of closely-acquainted officials could hand out juicy assignments to their friends and family were over. Not humans, but a vast and incredibly powerful calculating intelligence monitored and judged the performance of every spacer in real-time.

Through a combination of both objective measures and comparisons between others peers, the IES was able to make thorough judgements of an officer's actual performance. This methodology completely disregarded the subjective and often biased evaluations of human superiors.

This was how a CFA officer with a relatively poor track record until recently managed to get back on the fast track. He understood quite well how the IES made its judgements, so it was easy enough to game its algorithms!

After a hard struggle, a certain reformed member of the grand Novilon Spaceborn Clan managed to earn the spot.

Once Captain Parvus Onterey fully keyed his new executive officer to the Nudamu Striker, he finally loosened up to an extent.

"Walk with me, commander."

The two left the bridge of the powerful destroyer and moved to an observation chamber that provided an augmented view of the surrounding space.

The two gazed at the distant greater beyonder gate that was bringing hundreds of privately-owned capital ships to a distant dwarf galaxy. Although the Nudamu Striker was situated too far from the marvel of engineering to provide a clear view of the portal with the naked eye, the displays automatically patched into a remote feed that provided a closer and far more detailed view.

"Let me be plain to you." Captain Onterey spoke up after a while. "I preferred to see a different candidate take up your assignment. I argued hard to put a younger and more promising man under my wing. He is younger, but has already shown brilliant performance. Unlike you, he hasn't squandered his first chances and has always put his all into completing his tasks. His only fault is his relative lack of experience, but that is what my mentorship is supposed to rectify. In just one or two decades, I would have been able to provide the CFA with another high-flying captain. Instead… I have you, Commander Zonrad Reze. Your mixed record leaves much to be desired."

Commander Reze did not let the captain's judgment affect his mood. He continued to maintain a polite smile.

"We all work at the behest of the Common Fleet Alliance, sir. As far as I am aware of, there are no exceptions to the judgments of the Independent Evaluation System. Since its introduction and continued updates, the overall efficiency and productivity of our entire organization has risen by 7 percent on average. This is a massive gain that has allowed us to become more competitive to the Mech Trade Association."

Everything the newly-appointed executive officer said was true and factual. Yet the underlying meaning and intention of his message was not as benign.

Commander Reze knew what he could get away with. In order to beat every competitor and earn a coveted spot under one of the more famed and renowned mentors in the CFA, he offended plenty of patrons by squeezing aside their preferred candidates.

So what? The only backer that junior officers like him needed to please was the Independent Evaluation System.

Though fleeters weren't religious as a rule, if they were, then they would certainly worship the IES as their god!

Its continued success and all of the benefits it brought had led to a rising trend of outsourcing more decisions to AIs.

Although the grand admirals of the Common Fleet Alliance were careful to maintain human control over all of the critical levers of power, there were plenty of situations where human intervention was clearly inferior to automated decision-making.

"You new brats who trample over tradition are changing the CFA and not in a good way in my opinion." The captain snorted. "I won't say that the Independent Evaluation System makes terrible decisions, but it sees humans like us as interchangeable components. For all of their efforts, none of the brilliant programmers and software engineers under our employ has ever been able to give the IES a more human touch."

Commander Reze twitched his smile. "That would require them to create a sentient AI. Our research teams are at least several centuries away from accomplishing a breakthrough."

"And how would you know that, commander?"

"I've recently oriented my specialization from gunnery to programming and AI systems, sir. It turns out that I have always neglected my true talent until recently. The scheduled automation-oriented refit of the Nudamu Striker is one of the reasons why the IES has selected me to become your executive officer. You will require assistance to make use of the new cutting-edge predictive combat control systems that are designed to counter the trickier alien opposition that we will encounter in the Red Ocean. Their use of phasewater makes them tricky to pin down."

Captain Onterey's expression darkened. Although he hated to admit it, he was no longer at an age where he could keep up with the constant pace of technological advancements so easily.

This was why line officers tended to retire from frontline service after passing a certain age range.

Though gene optimization treatments and life-prolonging treatments typically allowed most senior officers to live for at least 400 years, aging came in multiple forms, not just physical.

After nearing two centuries of living, Captain Onterey was already coming close to retiring from field service.

With his record and competences, it was hard to imagine that he could make a successful jump to the rank of commodore or higher.

The gulf from single ship command to multi ship command or equivalent was a critical watershed in the Common Fleet Alliance. It took more than gradual accumulation and steady service to obtain true power within the powerful organization.

The CFA had been born in a time where irresponsible leaders gained more power than they could responsibly wield. Even in a time before the introduction of the IES, the admirals had always been strict about the officers who were eligible to join their ranks.

Aside from lacking major accomplishments, one of the other reasons why Captain Onterey's chances were poor was because he struggled to keep up with all of the recent innovations related to automation.

He didn't understand why advanced AI and computer systems made it harder for him to control his own warship. Weren't they supposed to make everyone's work easier?

The Common Fleet Alliance was changing. The Nudamu Striker was changing as well. Captain Onterey was observant enough to recognize the rising trend. He hoped to pass on command of the Nudamu Striker to a promising, talented successor who might be able to break the barrier to becoming an admiral some day.

Much of that hope was lost with the appointment of Commander Zonrad Reze.

"You sound as if you have a passion in AI development." The captain commented. "With your certifications and intellectual prowess, you could easily apply to become a junior researcher in one of our prestigious research departments. Why have you not applied for a reassignment?"

Commander Zonrad Reze slightly shook his head. "Because a researcher cannot become an admiral."

"Is that important? The status of a top researcher in our Alliance is almost equivalent to a grand admiral. The lead developers of the Independent Evaluation System have become tier 1 galactic citizens."

"Galactic citizens cannot take command." Conrad Reze retorted. "Admirals do, and no one can countermand the orders of a grand admiral. The command track is the only valid choice for me. I can innovate, but I would rather lead. I hope to learn that from you, captain."

"And you shall receive my instruction."

Captain Onterey had little choice. A CFA officer like himself was accustomed to accepting the decisions from above. This honest moment was the only time he would allow himself to vent his honest thoughts and frustrations. After today, he would go back to acting as a professional who dedicated almost two centuries of his life to serving the Alliance.

The clever commander knew that as well and revealed his own ambitions.

Despite the obvious friction between them, both of them had to make their new working relationship work. After sharing each other's thoughts for thirty minutes, they began to develop a basic degree of respect in each other.

No CFA officer who reached their ranks were truly petty or incompetent. The constant monitoring of the Independent Evaluation System made sure of that.

"Hehe." The new executive officer of the Nudamu Striker chuckled under his breath.

"What is so amusing to you, Mr. Reze?"

"Ah, I believe I have just spotted a familiar acquaintance passing through the gate."

The captain looked dubiously towards the augmented view of the greater beyonder gate. A plethora of first, second and third-class capital ships briskly advanced through the shimmering dark blue energy curtain.

"A space peasant?"

"A galactic citizen and also a galactic pioneer to boot."

A contemptuous expression appeared on Captain Onterey's face.

"They're all jumped-up space peasants. There is hardly any value in these indigenous landlubbers. The MTA thinks they have potential and can be trained, but our Alliance knows better. Remember who you are and what you represent. Only the true spaceborn are eligible to rule over the boundless space around us. Not the space peasants, not the first-rate superstates and definitely not the MTA will be able to deny our right to dominate the stars. Never forget that, Mr. Reze."

The executive officer nodded with a serious expression… "We are the sovereigns of the sea of stars."