The Mech Touch

Ves began to interrogate the remaining two prisoners that the Larkinson Clan had redeemed from the Santana Group.

He adopted different approaches for these interrogation sessions. Guided by Calabast behind the scenes, Ves employed different words and psychological techniques to apply the right amount of pressure at certain intervals.

While the two prisoners proved to be just as susceptible to pressure as Aruva, Ves couldn't prevent them from committing suicide out of guilt.

As soon as they spilled any information they deemed critical enough, these lower caste orvens no longer possessed the will to live and completely ended their lives through an unknown biological process.

Though the Larkinsons had taken measures to prevent these captives from pressing their metaphorical suicide button, humans simply didn't know enough about orven physiology to prevent this from happening!

After causing two more orvens to shatter their brains to mush and cause blue blood to lead from all of their orifices, Ves simply let out a deep sigh and started to gather his thoughts outside of the interrogation room.

"Did you get what you wanted out of these talks, Calabast?" He asked.

"I would have liked the orven prisoners to be more forthcoming. It was rather unfortunate for us that the last two alien subjects were older and considerably more alert than the first one. Couldn't you have bought more prisoners? Three simply aren't enough to obtain all of the puzzle pieces we need to build a more complete picture."

Ves grimaced. "No. The Santanas were already ripping us off. If we asked for more prisoners, we would not only affect their own plans for the captives, but also signal that we are willing to pay ten times as much as the price that we ended up paying. No matter how valuable it is for us to obtain these scraps of information, I do not want to engage in a loss-making transaction. As far as I'm concerned, the information we got out of the three is definitely worth more than 150 MTA credits, but it's not as if our situation has changed all that much."

They learned that the Palace of Shame was far more than just a pirate base. They learned that the Unspoken played a key role in preserving its greatest secrets. They learned that the Unspoken also answered to a possible multiracial coalition in order to fulfill an important mission.

The additional answers provided by the two older orven prisoners did give Ves a few more concerns.

That was because both of their answers related to the phase whales!

"What do you think about the repeated mentions of the so-called 'descendants of the Elder Gods'? Do you think those orvens treat the phase whales as a powerful alien race or do they view them in a greater light?"

"It is definitely the latter, though that may solely be attributed due to the great disparity in status." Calabast replied. "However, it is rather significant that all three orven prisoners refer to the phase whales by this archaic term. Normal orvens don't use this long and unwieldy phrase, mostly because the modern orven rulers do not want their underlings to worship gods of different species. This is why the orven race has taken to calling the phase whales by another set of alien terminology that matches closely to our own name for the aquatic race."

That made sense. The phase whales were probably the singular most powerful aliens in the Red Ocean, but none of the other alien races wanted to surrender under the rule of these aloof and extremely arrogant whales.

"The Unspoken are different from other orven groups in that its members deify the phase whales." Ves stated. "I don't know about you, but it is highly flattering to be called a descendant of an Elder God."

"Hehehe. I suppose you of all people should know." Calabast chuckled.

"Do you think there is any truth to this title?"

"No." Calabast immediately replied. "The existence of these supposed Elder Gods is a myth in the Red Ocean. Legend has it that an extremely powerful alien race once reigned over the Red Ocean and maybe many other galaxies. This precursor race was so powerful that it could even crush the Big Two overnight. The Elder Gods eventually grew bored with the current universe, so they eventually decided to move or ascend to a higher one. Before they left, they created the phase whales to serve as the caretakers of whatever legacies they left behind. Ever since then, the phase whales have quietly served their purpose while letting other alien races bloom and populate the stars under its supervision."

The story sounded rather fantastical, but there was still a possibility that it was true.

Ves simply snorted, though.

"That's a nice story, but there are too many holes in it. A race as powerful as the Elder Gods would have left far more traces of civilization behind than now. In addition, if these mythical Elder Gods were powerful enough to conquer the Red Ocean, then they would have been able to take over the Milky Way Galaxy as well, but no one in the old galaxy have ever heard of them. Finally, if the phase whales were meant to be the caretakers of their legacy, then they did a pretty bad job."

Calabast partially agreed with his judgment.

"Personally, I think this tendency to elevate the phase whales above the other races of the Red Ocean is due to the fact that they have mastered the applications of phasewater more extensively than others. Don't forget how the prisoners all referred to phasewater as 'godblood' in their native language. Many indigenous aliens believe that phasewater is the divine lifeblood of a god. One that has mastered it to the point where this exotic flows through the veins of the body matches the definition of a god in the eyes of the indigenous aliens."

This was a rather strange difference between the Red Ocean and the Milky Way.

Back in the old galaxy, there was no phasewater to be found, so all of the races that evolved from there developed myths and ideas about gods that were more abstract and maybe spiritual in nature.

Here in the new frontier, the aliens that evolved and developed in an environment rich with phasewater easily associated this strange but powerful liquid substance to the concept of godhood.

Once any alien began to imagine that phasewater was not just a naturally occurring resource but the lifeblood that old and powerful gods had shed from their bodies, then it was not much of a jump to equate any organic creature with phasewater in their bodies as demigods at the very least!

Ves recalled what he knew about all of the major alien races. "The phase whales are by far the organisms that most prominently infuse their bodies with phasewater, but they are not the only ones. I heard that the most powerful members of the other races such as the orvens, the puelmers and so on have all mastered technologies that can enable them to modify and augment their bodies to such an extreme degree that they have phasewater running through their veins."

"That sounds as mad as trying to inject poison in your body, but a material as special as phasewater all too easily evokes so many myths."

In the end, both Ves and Calabast concluded that the Palace of Shame likely possessed a strong relation to either phasewater or the phase whales.

The risk that a phase whale might suddenly show up out of the blue after humans attacked the Palace of Shame should be low.

The hypothetical multiracial coalition had much greater problems on its plate than the raid of one of its small and distant outposts that was doomed to be discovered by humanity sooner or later.

"In the end, humans like us are an outside context problem to the natives of the Red Ocean." Ves summed up his thoughts. "We are a problem and a threat that no one from this dwarf galaxy seriously anticipated and guarded against. When we arrived from afar to crash the party, it became abundantly clear that the major alien races that used to call all of the shots were woefully unprepared to form an effective response. Though they have started to shape up as of late, they have woken up far too late."

The complete lack of readiness of the indigenous alien races showed how poorly they were positioned to resist the invasion from the beginning.

Now that humanity already managed to conquer many different zones, it was far too late to kick the human race out of the Red Ocean!

At best, the older residents of the dwarf galaxy might be able to fight humanity to a standstill, but that was only a temporary condition.

The Big Two was far greater than the relatively limited amount of warfleets they transferred to the new frontier.

If the MTA and CFA were willing to pay a greater price, then they could easily double the amount of active warfleets operating at the frontlines and steamroll the opposition by relying on brute force!

Ves felt more confident about the upcoming assault. The indigenous aliens had proven time and time again that they were worse than humanity in every way.

Their technology, their numbers, their aggression, their contingency planning and even their gods all paled in comparison to their human equivalents!

Time moved on. The preparations of the Larkinson Clan did not fundamentally change in light of the intelligence obtained from the three orven prisoners.

It took hours before the Gemini Family finally decided that the time was right to launch the attack!

"Advance along this route! Take into account that every group will split up and surround the perimeter of the Palace of Shame from six sides."

"Put our civilian vessels in the rear and allow our more combat capable ships to take the lead!"

"Deploy at least a quarter of your mech force just in case! The alien pirate groups are known to bury hidden traps or warships inside unassuming asteroids."

"Once we pass this point, you are no longer allowed to back off! Any attempt to retreat from the field will be seen as a betrayal and a severe violation of our contract. We will only retreat when we have formed a consensus on the matter. Not before!"

Ves as well as many others observed all of the starships and mechs slowly threading through the periphery of the asteroid belt.

At some point, they would have to go deeper in order to reach the Palace of Shame. The environment where they would commence the impending battle was significantly different from the battlefields where the Golden Skull Alliance fought in the past.

Together with the strong magnetic interference produced by the local neutron star, it was clear that both sides had to do their best to adapt to the local circumstances!

While the alien pirate groups were undoubtedly a lot more prepared to fight in this complex environment, the human pioneering groups possessed more firepower and flexibility.

Every mech pilot prepared for a tough battle that was different from any of the others that they had fought before.

The only comparable opponent that the Larkinsons had fought against in the past was the Gravada Knarlax, the third-class heavy cruiser fielded by the Allidus Alliance.

The fight against the warship was in no way comparable to the one that the temporary coalition was about to start.

The difference in power, size, tech and numbers were simply too great!

"Luckily, we have our ace mechs." Ves smirked.

The Mars was but one of several apex machines that was warming up to confront the most powerful alien warships in open battle.

Though Patriarch Reginald Cross would rather duel another powerful ace mech, he did not mind the opportunity to smash alien warships instead!

"I hope you can last long enough to give my ARCEUS System a good workout." Reginald said as the eyes of his towering incarnation flashed with anticipation.