The Mech Touch

Compared to gazing at an imprisoned cosmopolitan who wasn't in a condition to talk, Ves much preferred to spend his time on studying his spoils.

The first batch of treasures consisted of the separated forearms and forelegs of the first-class multipurpose mech that presumably fought for the cosmopolitans.

Though the main chassis of the incredibly valuable first-class mech had been blown to bits, the aforementioned limbs were in a remarkably good condition!

When Ves entered the workshop aboard the Antonio Cross that Master Benedict Cortez had converted into his personal tinkering space, the four limbs had been neatly placed in the middle of the compartment.

Each of them gleamed as if they had just been polished. Their metallic surfaces exhibited no scratches or impact marks. This was mainly because the first-class multipurpose mech had been covered by its exceptionally powerful transphasic energy shield throughout most of its duel against the Mars.

"Have you learned anything new now that you have a chance to examine them up close?" Ves inquired.

Master Benedict turned away from the exposed circuitry and channels of one of the mech forearms.

"I have learned many details, but none that can bring us closer to identifying the designers or the producers of the machine." The older man spoke in a disappointed tone. "There are no apparent flaws. Every step of the supply chain has been accounted for. The cosmopolitans are highly professional and thorough in their work. It is incredible, to be honest. Everyone tends to make mistakes. It only takes a single weak link to slip up, and in my experience that happens all too often."

Ves narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying?"

"The degree of skill, planning, forethought and discipline shown in fabricating and utilizing these pieces cannot be matched by a scruffy guerilla movement. Either the Cosmopolitans have managed to develop a parallel society that is far larger and more developed than we thought, or…"

"The Cosmopolitans are embedded in high circles in human society." Ves finished for the Master.

"I do not dare to make any statements on how extensive the cosmopolitans have infiltrated first-rate states, but… I wouldn't be surprised if that is truly the case."

Now that was an ominous thought. If traitors to the human race had truly managed to root in states such as the Greater Terran United Confederation and the New Rubarth Empire, then the cosmopolitans would have the access, funding, resources and most importantly connections to commit a lot of dastardly deeds!

However, what did this have to do with Ves? He was not a self-appointed guardian of human civilization. There was nothing he could do to affect the power balance between the Cosmopolitan Movement and the Mech Trade Association. He was still a small and trivial Journeyman Mech Designer!

Master Benedict didn't care too much about cosmopolitans either. After he discovered that figuring out the origin of the mech parts was not easy, he decisively gave up on this investigation and turned his attention to the potential applications of all of this gear.

"The alloys, circuits, modules and so on are all powerful." He told Ves. "In fact, they are close to the top-of-the-line pieces that you can expect from a modern first-class multipurpose mech. It's a terrible shame that the rest of the frame has shattered into damaged and partially salvaged pieces. We would have been able to construct a lesser-performing but still functional first-class mech if the pilot hadn't decided to self-destruct his machine."

Ves shrugged. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We are still second-class pioneers, remember? The moment we field a complete first-class mech, we automatically turn into first-raters, which will force us to play in a much more dangerous playground."

"Correct."

The only way to make good use of this equipment was to break them all up and use individual modules and materials to selectively upgrade their most valuable mechs.

Master Benedict grinned like a shark. "Compared to the salvage that we can obtain from the Tower of Babel, the specifications of these mech parts are all superior. That is not to say the alien battleship is an inferior product, but she is mainly strong due to her scale, not her material quality. When it comes to building any starship, it is too easy to run out of resources or blow past your budget when you use the best possible materials to build an entire hull. Not even the Common Fleet Alliance can afford to build kilometers-long capital ships at this level."

Ves nodded in understanding. "I know. The Tower of Babel may be largely built out of first-class materials, but most of them tend to be available in bulk. A good mech is different because it is a lot more affordable to build it out of top-of-the-line materials. A mech upgraded with salvaged materials from the first-class multipurpose mech will definitely outperform one that is upgraded with the bulk materials taken from the alien vessel."

That was not to say that the materials that their salvage teams were extracting from the hull of the Tower of Babel became worthless all of a sudden.

These materials could still be used to upgrade large batches of elite mech units or powerful mech lines.

For example, Ves already had a plan in mind to upgrade the Nullifier Battalion mechs so that they would become much better equipped to counter expert mechs and other extraordinary threats in the future!

As for the parts laying before him now, Ves was hungering to incorporate bits and pieces of them in future and existing expert mechs.

For example, the incredibly hard and tough exterior of the amputated mech limbs could be reformed in a thin, relatively light-weight but also extremely resilient physical shield for his upcoming Dullahan Project!

"How do we divide the loot?" Ves asked.

"I have already spoken with Marshal Ariadne Wodin about this subject. The Glory Seekers have no interest in claiming these parts. We can thank them for their contributions in the last battle by providing them with a greater share of phasewater."

"I can work with that." Ves spoke.

It was not as if the Larkinson Clan was short on phasewater these days. He much preferred to obtain a couple of these cutting-edge first-class mech parts so that he could power up his expert mechs as soon as possible. Too many of them have shown inadequacies as of late and urgently needed a boost!

The problem was that both Ves and Master Benedict wanted to claim all four limbs. It was quite frustrating to give up half of the limbs, knowing that they could produce incredible gear with so many high-quality materials and parts!

In fact, Ves even thought about ripping off a few armor plates so that he could upgrade his Unending Regalia. He estimated that he could multiply the damage resistance of his life-saving combat armor by at least an order of magnitude!

He glanced at the limbs with a more critical eye. There were significant differences between each individual mech limb.

The arms integrated more complicated components and also contained a number of miniaturized modules that could fulfill many useful functions.

The legs didn't contain so many gimmicks, but they were heavier, denser and more solid, which effectively meant he could convert them into a greater quantity of top-quality armor plating for his mechs and personal equipment.

"I want the legs." Ves announced. "You can have the arms."

"Hm, that is inconvenient, because I have my eye on my legs as well." Benedict spoke as he directed an ambivalent stare at the younger mech designer. "I need as much exterior armor plating as possible to provide the Mars with additional protection. As long as I can cover its most strategic sections with the strongest armor, its chances of winning a duel against another ace mech will increase by at least 50 percent."

"That may be true, but the expert mechs of my clan need the additional protection as well. Just a little bit can protect their cockpits and ensure that my Larkinson expert pilots will be able to live long enough to reach the threshold to the rank of ace pilot."

An uncomfortable silence descended on the workshop.

"Let's settle for an arm and a leg each."

"Works for me." Ves agreed.

Though there were substantial differences between every limb, the two didn't quibble much and used a random number generator to determine who would get what limb.

In the end, Ves came away with the left arm and the right leg of the first-class multipurpose mech. That provided him with enough high-quality armor plating and more delicate components to strengthen dozens of mechs.

Once he arranged them to be moved to his own ship, Ves continued to chat with Master Benedict on various topics.

The Master brought up an important request.

"We have gone through too much as of late. Though our efforts have granted us great rewards, I do not think it is wise to continue our expedition as it is. We need to go back to safe harbor and recuperate. At the very least, we need to process and dispose our rich salvage and patch over the most pertinent vulnerabilities that have become exposed in the last battles."

Ves furrowed his brows. "When we set out from Davute, I wanted us to get back in the saddle again. It is a bit too soon to end the expedition. Still… I agree with you that we could use another pitstop."

"We have obtained a lot of material rewards, but never had the time to do anything useful with them. Consider the parts we just haggled over. How soon can you convert them all into meaningful upgrades to your products?"

"It will probably take at least three months, maybe more depending on their complexity and ease of adaptability…"

"Exactly. There are also many other bulk materials that can only be used to upgrade the performance of our starships. It is not possible to overhaul our capital ships while we are on the move. We should at least return to Davute and spend enough months to equip our most important starships with enhanced hull plating that are strong enough to directly resist the damage output of warships… at least on a single side."

This was an incredibly useful upgrade and one that Ves wanted to implement now that the idea entered his mind. It would be much more reassuring for him to resume his expedition while traveling on a ship that could resist the powerful attacks from warships such as the Tower of Babel!

Otherwise, who knew whether his expeditionary fleet would suffer the same tragic fate as the Cenatus Prospecting fleet?

One of the biggest reasons why the latter folded so quickly was because none of their starships possessed any meaningful defenses against attacks of this level!

Ves sighed. "I suppose you are right. It would be stupid to continue our expedition when we still have an enormous backlog of upgrades. We still have multiple expert pilots who are unable to do anything but sit on their thumbs while their expert mech designs aren't even close to completion. We could really use the additional help in serious battles."

The Golden Skull Alliance had only commenced the Trailblazer Expedition for a short amount of time, but already the gains exceeded his expectations!

This was why he did not feel so bad about suspending the expedition and taking a well-deserved break.

"I have another suggestion." Master Benedict spoke. "Once we are ready to resume our expedition with our upgraded ships and mechs, I suggest we adjust our risk profile for the following years."

"What do you mean by that?" Ves suspiciously asked.

"Don't go head-long into the most dangerous and exciting regions of the Red Ocean. We have fought too many high-intensity battles as of late. This not only produces excessive stress among our people, but also distorts their growth and expectations of the future. We cannot let our men live in constant fear that they will have to be ready to fight for their lives."

"What is your proposed alternative?"

"Let us explore the quieter and less risky corners of the Red Ocean. We do not necessarily have to explore areas that have already been emptied by other pioneers, but we should not stray too close to the active frontlines to minimize the chances of encountering another alien warship or fleet."

Though the rewards would doubtlessly be lower, Ves could see that this might not be bad.

"Let's think about it and discuss this at a later date with all of the other leaders. If the majority agrees, then I don't mind going on a calmer tour."

Ves had learned so much that he was more interested in designing lots of mechs.

His personal goal for this expedition was to gather as much inspiration and ideas related to mech design, and it was clear that the events of the last few months abundantly satisfied this demand!