The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5832 She’s Too Big

The Bluejay Fleet finally arrived at its destination.

The trip did not take that long, but every day that passed was wearing on Ves' patience.

While he tried his best to remain productive during the journey, he remained concerned about his wife's latest antics.

He also worried whether he would leave this star system empty-handed. This was a serious possibility given that he agreed to conduct an experiment that was unprecedented in many ways.

When the warships of the Red Association entered the star system, it was clear that they were not the big boys in this location.

That honor went to the warships of the Red Fleet.

A massive warfleet had clearly settled into the star system for a few days. Dozens of mining vessels were eagerly harvesting more resources from the local planets and asteroid belts.

Dozens of patrols consisting of frigates and destroyers covered the outer systems.

Meanwhile, a large concentration of cruisers, battlecruisers and even battleships hovered protectively around one of the largest human warships in the Red Ocean.

"When you informed me you scheduled a rendezvous with the fleeters, I did not expect you to converge upon the Dominion of Man." Jovy said in a deceptively mild tone. "Are you aware that this dreadnought has enough firepower to demolish the Tarrasque and all of our escort vessels with a single volley of her main cannons? Even if she is designed to function more as a titanic troop carrier rather than a traditional battleship, none of our defenses, and that includes the secret measures that you are not supposed to know about, can hinder this monstrosity of a warship in any way. We are all completely at the mercy of the fleeters as soon as we enter this star system."

By all rights, Ves should have recognized that he had fallen into a dangerous situation. He hated it when he put his life in the hands of others. His relationship with the fleeters was quite mixed, and he had strong enemies among them who would not mind erasing his entire existence from this reality.

Yet despite all of these factors, Ves did not show any signs of concern.

"Relax. Nothing will happen. The Dominion of Man is a dreadnought that should never be under the control of the Fifth Enforcement Fleet. She is an inherently offensive tool that is fantastic at capturing hostile starships, defensive installations and maybe even entire cities. The dreadnought is firmly in the grip of the Second Main Fleet."

The Tarrasque exchanged a lot of messages with the unquestionable flagship of the fleet.

The mechers who crewed the warships of the Bluejay Fleet displayed obvious reluctance when they received instructions to advance towards the inner system. The more they moved forward, the more the fleeters had the ability to control their life and death.

The tension was clear in the bridge of the Tarrasque. The mechers had no choice but to comply as Ves was keen on meeting his appointment. The Red Association and the Red Fleet were not at war with each other, and it would be foolish to start a scuffle during a time where every human needed to form a united front against the aliens.

Ves actually enjoyed the fact that his decision to meet up with the fleeters caused a lot of consternation among the normally confident and unflappable mechers.

It showed that they were still human like everyone else. No amount of transhuman augmentations could protect them against the fury of overwhelming firepower.

While the Bluejay Fleet cautiously closed the distance to the dreadnought that had played a pivotal role in capturing an intact Tide Station during Operation Night Jazz, Ves manipulated a projected screen and sought out one warship in particular.

"There she is." Ves grinned.

The Babylon Excavator was easy to overlook since there were so many other cruisers in the neighborhood, but the reconnaissance cruiser was clearly a lot different from every other RF vessel in the star system.

Knowing that Sigrund would be around to guide him while he visited one of the most powerful assets of the fleeters, Ves relaxed and waited for the trip to finish.

Hours passed by. Before the Bluejay Fleet was able to come any closer, the fleeters commanded it to a stop.

A fast frigate flew alongside the Tarrasque and commanded Ves to transfer aboard.

"This is the end of the line for our ships." Rear Admiral Gori Tensen announced from his command seat. "None of us are permitted to proceed any further. The fleeters have given us stern warnings of what might happen if one of us crosses the line. Professor Larkinson, we have readied a shuttle for you. We will not lower our anti-teleportation safeguards just to make the transfer more convenient. You will have to transfer to their vessel through conventional means."

Ves shrugged. "That's okay. Can I take Lucky along?"

"The fleeters have made it clear that they will only permit a single person. No pets allowed."

"Damn. No wonder those guys are so stiff and serious all the time." Ves grumbled.

He was at least allowed to carry all of his gadgets on his person, not that it would make a difference.

Phase lord or not, the Dominion of Man was one of the top warships that humanity had ever created.

Although the Common Fleet Alliance eventually deemed its dreadnoughts to be failures, that was just because the arrogant bastards were aiming way too high.

As Ves transferred to the fast frigate and gained permission to enter a small observation chamber, he patiently waited until the comparably tiny vessel came closer to the massive construct of metal and fire.

"Amazing."

Seeing her up close with his own eyes granted him a much more profound impression of the famous dreadnought.

There was no comparison between seeing the Dominion of Man in reality as opposed through a live feed.

The lower the distance, the more Ves was able to observe the exceptional properties of this marvel of human naval engineering.

There was nothing about the Dominion of Man that screamed failure to Ves. The humongous hull that was made out of the finest defensive alloys developed by the human race were supposedly designed to withstand direct attacks from god mechs.

The immensely thick hull plating had most definitely grown even tougher than a few years ago due to being refitted with hyper technology.

So much high-grade hyper materials had been added to the 18 kilometer long hull that Ves wondered how long other RF warships had to wait their turn to receive their hyper tech upgrades.

Whatever the case, it was clearly worth it, because the Dominion of Man absorbed so much E energy from the environment that it had virtually formed void in her immediate surroundings.

No other warship or mech could wrestle any E energy while they remained in proximity of this titanic vessel. That was how powerful this dreadnought had become!

As the fast frigate deliberately slowed down in order to give Ves a scenic tour of the exterior of the pride and joy of the Red Fleet, Ves gazed down at the massive letters that proudly proclaimed the name of the dreadnought.

DOMINION OF MAN

Even the lettering had been made with the highest quality materials that the fleeters could muster. There was so much force and power behind this label that it seemed to empower the identity of the massive warship.

In fact, when Ves utilized Blinky to study the spiritual characteristics of the dreadnought, he realized that she had already begun to transcend her existence as a material existence.

The broadcast of Operation Night Jazz had turned the Dominion of Man from a semi-secret existence into a universally recognized symbol of the Red Fleet!

Even if the Dominion of Man had to share the attention of the public with seven other massive hulls, there were still billions if not trillions of humans that regularly hoped that the most powerful troop ship in human hands would protect them all from the threat of the native aliens.

The power of collective human belief was so strong that it had affected the hull of the Dominion of Man in mysterious ways.

Unfortunately, it fell short of producing any noticeable improvements. Blinky observed the warship's spiritual signature closely, but did not detect anything too obvious.

It was as if the Dominion of Man tried so hard to become a totemic existence for red humanity, but far too little had been done to make it happen.

The problem was two-fold.

First, red humanity has not worshiped the dreadnought long enough.

Second, the amount of accumulation needed to transform one of the biggest warships in the Red Ocean was immense!

It was like trying to form a planet by having everyone donate a grain of sand every day.

Even if trillions of humans contributed to this noble effort, it would take decades if not centuries to form a small planetoid at this rate!

In the end, most humans were too weak to increase their contributions. The population of red humanity was also terribly small relative to the titanic size of the dreadnought.

Ves shook his head. "This is clearly an inefficient process."

He wondered what he could do to speed up her transformation. The Dominion of Man was an impressive warship and one that could play a vital role in the Red War. Anything that made her stronger would be helpful.

Before Ves could analyze the dreadnought further, he received a notification from his current ship.

[Docking is imminent. Please stand by while our frigate docks inside the primary hangar bay of the Dominion of Man.]

The Dominion of Man was just so enormous in scale and volume that a frigate was able to enter the massive dreadnought's hangar bay without needing to squeeze between any cramped spaces!

Multiple other full-sized vessels had already been resting inside this huge, city-sized bay.

As the frigate finally touched down on the deck, a projected line came into view that guided Ves to the exit hatch.

Once he stepped out of the frigate, he was graced by a small welcoming party consisting of armored marines and a few officers.

It felt a bit lackluster compared to the grandeur of the Dominion of Man. Hundreds of other fleeters working in the enormous hangar bay merrily performed their work duties as if nothing special was happening.

It was clear that the fleeters did not wish for his arrival to attract too much attention.

That was fine with Ves. He already earned enough acclaim to last him for years. There was no need to paint an even bigger target on his back.

"Captain Reze! You're here!"

The AI in the guise of a human officer smiled at Ves. "You have broken countless protocols on how you are supposed to step aboard a dreadnought of the Red Fleet, but we are forgiven towards invited guests such as yourself. Walk with me. The captain of this fine warship has requested to meet with you as soon as it is convenient."

"Ah, okay."

The small procession moved to the exit, but would take quite a while to exit the hangar bay considering how huge it was. The dimensions of this ridiculously huge dreadnought were so excessive that it might take an entire day to move from one end to the other end of the hull!

Naturally, there were more convenient means of getting around. The main corridors were so tall and wide that several mechs could easily move through them without issue.

All of that space was needed because a huge amount of personnel moved through shuttles and land vehicles.

As Ves and his fleeter escorts boarded a specially marked shuttle, he finally gained an opportunity to chat with his old 'friend'.

"So are we proceeding with the original plan?"

"We are." Captain Reze responded with a small nod. "Not many officers have been informed why you are here, but those who are aware of the plan have expressed serious doubts and misgivings about your planned 'experiment'. Do not be concerned. The admirals involved are adamant that you be allowed to make the attempt. My fellow colleagues will grumble, but they will abide by their instructions. I only hope that you do not cause a destructive accident. Any significant damage you produce that compromises the performance of the Dominion of Man is a grave crime."

"Uh, okay. I will make sure to be careful."