The Mech Touch

4984 Saintess Ulrika Vraken

A new ace pilot arrived in the Davute System!

This was a massive event as the identity of an ace pilot was just too sensitive.

In an age where the Big Two designated weapons of mass destruction as taboos, the only deterrent that most human states and powers had access to were ace pilots and their accompanying ace mechs.

A lot of people in Davute grew nervous and hopeful.

As long as the recently founded colonial state managed to rope in another powerful ace pilot such as Patriarch Reginald Cross, the probability that Davute would win its upcoming war against Karlach would rise by another few percentage points!

Unfortunately for the government, the stakeholders and the citizens of Davute, the newly arrived top-specced combat carrier ignored all incoming nails.

The vessel did not even obey the instructions and guidelines of the port system's traffic control authority.

The aggressively-named Fist of the Maiden flew straight towards Davute VII in the straightest possible trajectory, caring little about all of the starships belonging to other organizations that happened to be in the way!

The behavior of the Fist of the Maiden generated a lot of chaos and confusion among the spacers and their superiors.

Of course, the chances that the combat carrier would physically collide against another starship in the vastness of space were miniscule, so the ship's rude behavior was not that alarming.

The real reason why she caused distress was because every ship was supposed to possess a wide allotment of space.

Collisions may be improbable, but there was no reason to tempt fate. With at least a few kilometers or hundreds of kilometers of empty space between different vessels, it became a lot more difficult for ships to get exposed to accidents and more concerningly deliberate terrorist attacks.

Davute already suffered greatly during the founding ceremony that took place half a year ago.

Ever since then, Davute immediately strengthened its security regulations and invested a lot more resources into its security services!

The problem with Davute was that there were certain parties that had gained so much power, leverage and prestige that they became virtually untouchable.

The Larkinson Clan had attained this special status. Although the members of this strange organization did not go out of their way to defy the colonial state's authority, they were not shy about ignoring the rules if they became too inconvenient.

The Fist of the Maiden was not a registered vessel of the Larkinson Clan, but clearly had ties to it. That combined with the fact that she carried an actual ace pilot meant that every ship that was remotely in the vicinity of her route made sure to stay well enough away from this dangerous combat carrier!

As the Fist of the Maiden took advantage of her superdrive to rapidly traverse towards the inner system of the busy port system, her continued lack of communication became increasingly more intolerable.

The Larkinson Clan had little choice but to step forward and assuage the concerns of the government. The Fist of the Maiden and her important passengers were not trying to provoke any trouble with the colonial federation.

The Glory Seekers were simply welcoming their latest 'guest' from their home state!

It initially seemed that once the Fist of the Maiden reached Davute VII, she would descend from orbit and land straight into Kotor City.

Upon the strong urging of the Larkinson Clan, the Hexer in charge of the Fist of the Maiden eventually agreed to stop in high orbit and link up with the Glory Seeker Fleet.

"You should have agreed to the original plan and let the Fist of the Maiden journey straight to the Cat Nest." Gloriana complained to her husband as she held Aurelia and Andraste's cute little hands. "We needed to give the Davutans a reminder that we are not to be trifled with. Showing them respect is a sign of weakness."

Ves shook his head in disagreement as he held Marvaine in his arms. "We have already become too high-profile for our own good. Our expeditionary fleet is about to depart from this star system anyway. Let's not make life too difficult for Uncle Ark and the Davute Branch."

Thp elan patriarch and hi<s immediate family waited in front of the hatch of their armored shuttle.

Once the vehicle successfully docked inside the hangar bay of the Fist of the Maiden, the Larkinsons could finally step aboard the Hexer combat carrier.

The familiar architecture annoyed Ves a bit, but he soon shoved those feelings aside when his eyes gazed at one of the most powerful mechs in the star systems.

Andraste immediately tried to pull away from her mother and run forward!

"Wow! It's so cool! It's thinner than the Mars, but it can hit just as hard!"

"Be patient, girl." Gloriana admonished her second daughter. "It is rude and dangerous to approach an ace mech without asking for permission. Let us meet with the pilot first."

Lucky and Clixie trailed after the Larkinsons Both cats sniffed the air and looked around in case there were any threats in the vicinity.

"Meow."

"Miaow-"

When they detected that there was no cause for concern, they started to run around and explore every corner of the hangar bay.

The Larkinsons meanwhile stopped in front of a small entourage of Hexer officers and officials.

A representative of the Vraken Matriarchal Dynasty stepped forward and began to initiate the commencement of the latest agreement between the Larkinson Clan and the Hex Federation.

"...According to the terms that we have set, the Supreme Son shall gain the limited ability to issue orders to our Saintess in combat. She shall retain the right to accept or refuse your orders based on a test that judges whether they are reasonable or negatively affects the interests of the Hex Federation. You shall also gain the right to examine, repair, modify and upgrade the Macharia Excelsia under active supervision of either the resident chief technicians or one of its main designers. You may not implement unrestricted changes to the Macharia Excelsia without the consent of our Saintess, our chief technician and one of the Master Mech Designers that still remain in charge of the project."

Although Ves and the Hexers had already agreed on these terms in advance, it was still useful for the both of them to go over them once again in order to preempt any misunderstandings.

Anything related to an ace mech was delicate. It was unthinkable for the owners of an ace mech to grant a third party so much access to such a powerful strategic asset!

Once Ves confirmed that he understood and agreed with all of the terms, the Larkinsons finally met with the powerful Hexer ace pilot that would be taking part in the coming expedition.

A relatively tall and silver-haired woman in uniform strode forward and stopped in front of Ves.

The air around her seemed to freeze as the woman's extraordinary willpower caused her to impose a feeling of desolation in the vicinity.

Despite her stiff back and her arch-typical Hexer demeanor, her eyes expressed a lot of expectation towards Ves.

"It is an honor to meet the son of the Superior Mother." The fairly young ace pilot spoke and stretched out her hand. "The Macharia Excelsia shall be in your care for the following months. In exchange, I shall terminate any human or alien threat that dares to lay a hand on you, your wife and your children."

Ves stiffly raised his own arm so that he could shake her slender but firm hand. "It is a pleasure to have you with us. Your matriarchal dynasty has not transmitted too much information about your ace mech. Would you like to introduce your battle partner to us, Saint Ulrika?"

"It is Saintess. Please use our people's form of address." The Hexer ace pilot insisted before she turned around and approached her mech. "You may examine my Macharia Excelsia as you wish. I am told that you are more than capable enough to upgrade her combat power to an impressive degree."

Ves and his family became more and more awed as they stepped closer to the red-coated ace mech.

The Macharia Excelsia was an ace rifleman mech that was built for an ace pilot who broke through during the later stages of the Komodo War.

Ves could immediately determine without reading through any documents that the Macharia Excelsia was a machine centered around high mobility mid-range warfare. It was a lot closer to the Promethea and the Star Dancer Mark II rather than the Amaranto in configuration.

The Vraken ace mech might not pack the greatest punch at range, but it could rapidly maneuver across the battlefield and attack sensitive enemy positions at uncomfortable angles.

It also appeared to be a capable dueling machine. It possessed enough mobility to maintain its distance from other ace mechs, and if an opposing machine ever got close, it could still put up a fight hy pulling out its plasma sword.

"The Macharia Excelsia is a relatively simple ace mech that is largely based on what I piloted back when I was still an expert pilot." The Saintess began to explain. "The Hexfire Transphasic Positron Assault Rifle is its primary weapon It is an energy weapon that boasts a high rate of fire and is highly effective at close to middle ranges. It can still be fairly precise at longer ranges, but it cannot match the performance of dedicated sniper rifles."

Ves nodded in understanding. The Hexfire Rifle incorporated the best Hexer tech and materials and was truly formidable, even against other ace mechs.

"How good is its penetration power?" He asked.

"It is a transphasic rifle, so it should easily be able to penetrate non-transphasic and low-transphasic defenses. It will lose its advantage when employed against enemies that are more up to standard, but my mech has a solution for that. The main resonating material of my ace mech is Menask Alloy. Resonating with it allows me to impart the damage output of my Hexfire Rifle with an erosion factor. The first strikes may not be able to deal significant damage onto a target, but subsequent attacks will continue to wear down the defenses."

Gloriana's eyes lit up. "I see! Menask Alloy allows for weak but high-frequency attacks to damage resilient enemies as long as the Hexfire Rifle continues to land its positron beams. Is this resonating ability effective against energy defenses as well as physical defenses?"

"My Erosion Fire ability can indeed take effect on energy shields and resonance shields, but it will take multiple times more attacks in order to erode the defenses to the same degree as physical armor."

That sounded a lot less useful against the most threatening opponents that Ves expected to face in the deep frontier.

Alien warships did not put that much stock into their hull armor. They relied much heavily on their multi-layered and segmented transphasic energy shields!

Nonetheless, this was not an insurmountable problem to Ves. He gazed at the ace mech's Hexfire Rifle with a critical eye.

Whether he converted it into a luminar crystal rifle or not, Ves had plenty of ways to dramatically increase the ranged combat effectiveness of the Macharia Excelsia!

"Does the Macharia have any other resonating exotics worth noting?"

"It does not." The Saintess shook her head. "The Menask Alloy plays a key role in enabling my ace mech to overcome any enemy, including first-class multipurpose mechs if it ever comes to that. What you need to know is that the erosion effect applies to the target of my attacks. This means that every ally benefits. As long as we encounter an enemy that is too strong and tough to take down with ease, I can lead the attacks and erode the target's defenses to such an extent that the other mechs on our side can materially contribute benefits. As long as we encounter an enemy that is too strong and tough to take down with ease, I can lead the attacks and erode the target's defenses to such an extent that the other mechs on our side can materially contribute to the battle by attacking the weakened defenses. That is the true purpose the Macharia Excelsia."

"That... that is exactly what we need in our expedition!" Ves gasped!