The Mech Touch

While Vincent and Raella tried to come up with a way for the Larkinson Clan to participate in one of the open arena competitions, other clansmen engaged in calmer pursuits.

Expert pilots had access to additional venues compared to normal people. The Larkinson expert pilots each received recommendations on the special destinations they should visit first.

Before they all decided to split up and go their own way, the Larkinson expert pilots initially chose to enter a place called Absalon Garden as a group.

Absalon Garden was essentially a club that was exclusively reserved for expert pilots. Despite its short existence, it had already become famous for enabling powerful soldiers and warriors to meet, befriend and exchange stories with each other.

It was hard for expert pilots to connect with ordinary people as their drastic changes in mentality caused them to become more removed from the human norm. To many of them, they could only treat other expert pilots as equals.

Absalon Garden was one of the few communities on Chance Bay that gave these alienated expert pilots a chance to express their true selves in front of their peers.

None of them had to worry about dealing with any mortals as none of them were allowed to step foot in it. In fact, they weren't even allowed to fly high enough to reach the exclusive club!

The floating garden flew at such a high altitude that it gave its visitors the illusion that it was located on a heavenly plane.

The luxurious venue relied completely on bots and other forms of automation to service its privileged clientele. Well-dressed but completely lifeless humanoid bots served free drinks and provided relaxed massages to the notable guests.

Venerable Joshua, Venerable Jannzi, Venerable Tusa, Venerable Orfan and Venerable Dise all wore their uniforms as they passed through the gates of the airborne venue.

Once they entered the expansive front garden, they attracted immediate attention from other visiting expert pilots.

Some of them wore the uniforms of their pioneering organizations while others dressed in more casual outfits.

No matter how they looked or what they were doing, none of the expert pilots looked weak!

Some of them even possessed overt domains that influenced the space around them in a strong way. They were mainly high-tier expert pilots who didn't see the point of restraining their influence.

It didn't matter too much, anyway. Other expert pilots possessed enough mental strength to resist their pressure while the service bots completely ignored these shenanigans entirely.

"Venerable Davia Stark should have accepted our invitation." Venerable Joshua lamented as he beheld the large and peaceful environment. "She would have loved it here, I think."

Venerable Jannzi shook her head. "Some people simply don't want to relax or socialize. Venerable Stark already has her own plans. She's older than all of us, so she doesn't need our concern."

"Jannzi is right." Venerable Tusa agreed with her for once. "Besides, Davia isn't really a member of our clan, so it's fine if she decides to skip all of our group outings. We can already represent the clan by ourselves."

They not only came to Absalon Garden in order to relax and make new friends, but also find a way to provide assistance to their clan.

They didn't have any specific plan in mind to accomplish that, but they figured that showing up as part of a single organization would help send the right message.

So far, no one approached the Larkinsons, but this was just the beginning. They had plenty of time to connect with the other expert pilots who were relaxing or grouping up in their own little cliques.

Tusa looked up in the air. "Hey, is that a floating pool? That's cool!"

The impulsive expert pilot lifted off into the air. At the same time, he issued a command to his uniform so that it disassembled itself before turning into a thick pair of swimming shorts.

Plop!

Tusa soon immersed himself into the giant floating cube of water. He swam freely and already began to approach a group of other swimmers.

The rest headed deeper until they reached a cozy bar where dozens of expert pilots were already enjoying their drinks.

Once the remaining Larkinsons ordered their own beverages, they looked around and studied the other guests.

None of them looked familiar to the Larkinsons. They wore completely foreign outfits and didn't appear to come from any of the star sectors that the clan had visited in the past.

There were no Fridaymen, Vulcan or any other old enemies present, which provided the Larkinsons with a lot of relief.

Then again, the lack of familiar faces made it hard for them to approach anyone right away.

"Look at that group." Venerable Joshua gestured his head towards the corner. "Those black-uniformed expert pilots are less scrupulous than others. They must come from an aggressive state."

Jannzi's lips curled downwards as she perceived the nature of these rambunctious soldiers. "They resemble pirates more than soldiers. They're like Garleners but much worse."

Not every expert pilot was noble or honorable. There were exceptional mech pilots who possessed different characters, either because they lived in a different environment or because they fell in a different crowd.

The black-uniformed expert pilots were the exception rather than the norm, and no one else took the initiative to approach these fellows.

After a minute, Venerable Dise stood up from her seat. "Hmm, I think I've found someone that I can connect to. I can sense her love for swordsmanship."

She picked up her drink and approached a different table where another female expert pilot watched over with challenging eyes.

The two expert pilots began to hold a silent competition by colliding their wills against each other.

This was an aggressive but more direct way for expert pilots to introduce themselves. Their extraordinary willpower represented the purest and most important aspects about themselves. Their strength was also a good measure of their progression.

Immediately, Venerable Dise found herself on the backfoot. The other woman's resonance strength was substantially stronger and more developed.

Despite the differences in strength, both of them sensed how much they had in common. They not only dedicated their lives to further their swordsmanship, but also fought to protect their fellow people.

They were roughly the same kind of people.

Eventually, the woman who gained the upper hand had retracted most of her presence. She extended a hand.

"Welcome to Absalon Garden. I'm Yerilda ab Metaslon of the Germund Family. We came from the Sleepy Reikan Star Sector of the galactic heartland."

Venerable Dise raised her eyebrow when she heard the other swordsman mech specialist came from a more developed region of the old galaxy.

"Dise Larkinson of the Larkinson Clan. I guess you can say that we come from the Komodo Star Sector of the galactic rim."

To her credit, Venerable Yerilda didn't look down on the new arrival. "Komodo Star Sector, huh? According to my implant, that's a frontier star sector. You've come a long way."

"Heh, that's an understatement."

"Oh? It sounds like there's a story behind your journey."

"You should use your implant to look up the Larkinson Clan on the galactic net. I can guarantee you won't get bored."

The two soon hit it off. Venerable Yerilda became a lot more interested in Venerable Dise once she learned of the amazing battles the Larkinson Clan had fought. The mechs might be a bit more basic than the ones used in the galactic heartland, but the clan's diverse combat methods were unusual even in the more prosperous parts of the Milky Way!

Of course, Venerable Dise also inquired about Venerable Yerilda's career.

"Our Germund Family hasn't fought any major battles." Yerilda said. "Our leaders are much steadier and have already made proper arrangements for their journey to the Red Ocean. Prior to this, I used to serve in the military of my state. That is where I saw the most action."

"From what I can gather of your name, you're not a blood member of your new family."

"That's right." Yerilda nodded. "The Germund Family are mainly into business and trade. They already retain a formidable amount of guards but they are lacking in elite soldiers. They recruited me and a large number of veterans after receiving permission from our state."

"And your state just agreed to let a valuable expert pilot like you run off to the Red Ocean?"

"The Germund Family still maintains ties with our original state back in Sleepy Reikan. You can say that we are sponsored by the government. We not only receive help in the form of funding, research and access, but we can also join forces with other pioneering groups from our state."

It turned out that the Germund Family was not on its own. The help that their original government could provide was limited, but what was much more relevant was becoming a part of a greater community of pioneers who shared a common background.

This was not a unique pattern among pioneers. Most of them came from fixed states. When they all entered the Red Ocean, they didn't become strangers to each other all of a sudden.

Instead, they grew closer. Former rivals and competitors all put down their old animosity and more often than not formed new alliances with each other.

The reason for that was because the Red Ocean was filled with strangers, many of whom were more powerful and more dangerous than any previous rivals.

In a dwarf galaxy that became host to an increasing number of ambitious pioneers and adventurers, it was always a good idea to join forces with the few people who shared the same culture and were already familiar with each other to an extent!

With the old government working as a facilitator and mediator, different pioneering fleets teamed up with each other in order to form a united front and project more strength when they began to explore the new frontier.

"What's the point of all of this?" Venerable Dise asked.

"Don't you already know?" Yerilda raised her glass to her lips. "The goal is for us all to find a good region of space and build colonies next to each other. As long as we can survive and support each other for a couple of years, we'll be able to band together and form a colony state that will continue to be backed by our old government."

This was a fairly standard approach to building new states. It was mostly adopted by fairly smaller and weaker pioneering organizations that didn't have the confidence to found a state by themselves.

Now that Venerable Dise thought about it, wasn't this what the Fridaymen and Hexers were trying to do as well?

Though she hadn't encountered anyone from the Komodo Star Sector so far, she was certain those old acquaintances were around somewhere.

"Has your Germund Family never thought about founding and ruling your own state?"

Venerable Yerilda chuckled. "We know our limits. If we go by ourselves, we'll get swallowed by rivals in a heartbeat. There is safety in numbers, Dise. While it is true that our Germund Family wants to obtain more power and wealth, we don't want to gamble with our lives. We'll become a lot less susceptible to attacks if we form an alliance with at least twenty different pioneering groups. Each of us come from the same state so anyone who wants to betray us has to think twice."

Not only would the remaining alliance members crack down on the betrayers in the Red Ocean, the original state could also make a move back in the old galaxy!

Venerable Dise became a bit envious at the situation of the Germund Family. The Larkinson Clan lacked a close relationship with a second-rate state, so it couldn't band together with natural allies.

The Larkinsons had no choice but to seek out alternative alliance partners from pioneers who did not maintain ties with their existing states.

These people were much more ambitious and much less reliable, so the Larkinson Clan had to make sure it chose its partners carefully!