The Mech Touch

6038 External Assistance

Captain Zonrad Reze spent most of his ton the Babylon Excavator that had recently beca part of Ves' permanent protection force.

The large and relatively self-sufficient reconnaissance cruiser had not formally joined the Bluejay Fleet, but simply hovered an awkward distance away from the warships belonging to the Red Association.

Although Ves did not call Sigrund on a daily basis, he had made sure to stay in touch every now and then. Both sides understood the importance of developing closer relations with each other.

Zonrad quickly accepted the call after he received the request.

"Ves." His physical projection spoke as he took a look around the parlor. "I see this is an informal occasion. What is your request?"

"I am not sure whether we can speak about it over a relatively insecure communication channel. Can you cdown here so I can explain my needs in person?"

"Very well, but it will take tforto reach your base. Ever since we upgraded the defenses of your facility, it has becimpossible for us to teleport directly to your location."

"That's fine. We can wait. I can use the tto retrieve important material and head over to a more secure meeting chamber."

Sigrund did not fail to recognize the hint that Ves had given. The clever hybrid AI already had a good idea on what this discussion was all about.

A short tlater, Ves and Gloriana both welcomed the arrival of Captain Zonrad Reze.

The RF captain greeted the two Larkinsons before setting his sights on the diminished bar of EE-343F-00334R.

The fleeter frowned when his gaze shifted between the super-

class alloy and Gloriana.

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"Oh, con, captain." Ves said in an exasperated tone. "How do you expectto maintain its confidentiality when I plan to incorporate it in an expert mech where my wife will take charge?"

Even Sigrund couldn't deny the difficulty of keeping all of the details concerning the use of this strategic material a secret.

"I understand what you seek from us, but I will need to consult with Fleet Admiral Argile first." Captain Reze said. "I will try to apply for limited permissions for your wife. For what purpose do you wish to make use of this alloy?"

"Letgive you a brief explanation."

Ves quickly summarized his thoughts on developing a much more powerful and effective version of the Instrument of Doom.

"...I don't know whether EE-343F-00334R can be applied to an energy weapon like this. As long as it is possible, I think it is worthwhile forto do so. Even if the use of this super-class material is overkill for the tbeing, I am sure that Venerable Davia Stark can grow to the point where she can fully leverage its extraordinary properties. What do you think?"

Sigrund did not look very optimistic about this plan.

"I do not possess any expertise on powerful exotic alloys, and I still need to investigate how much information I can divulge to you and your wife. Please givea moment."

The captain exited the secure chamber and only cback 2 minutes later. His expression looked a bit more relaxed than before.

"The fleet admiral agrees to your conditions. He is very pleased with how the Dominion of Man is shaping up to beca literal god ship. Compared to all of the radical changes that you have engineered on the dreadnought, the confidentiality of EE-343F-00334R is no longer as sensitive as before. Our research teams are already in the process of developing superior solutions that incorporate hyper materials."

As far as Ves was aware of, the Red Fleet was not able to replicate EE-343F-00334R. This meant that the Rubicon Spatial Transfer System and any tech that was reliant on it could not be repaired or maintained forever.

That was not necessarily a bad development. The Red Ocean offered an abundance of phasewater and brand-new hyper materials that had much greater potential than EE-343F-00334R. The fleeters just had to put in a lot of hard work in order to develop a version of the Rubicon based on phasewater technology and hyper technology.

"So will your researchers provide technical assistance in the development of the Instrument of Doom that incorporates this alloy?"

"Yes. We cannot provide unlimited support, but our researchers and developers are happy to guide you in the right direction." Captain Reze confirmed. "I do have to mention that the material scientists that are familiar with this alloy have warned us that it is not the most suitable choice to apply to a directed energy weapon. Do not getwrong. The effect of using a small quantity of this alloy on your Instrument of Doom will still produce radical improvements, but much of the potential of this powerful material will be wasted. You are using the primary gun battery of a dreadnought in order to destroy a shuttle."

That made sense, but Ves did not really care about the waste. He was aware that EE-343F-00334R was best used to develop a really fantastic teleportation system, but that sort of tech was completely beyond his current capabilities.

Instead of keeping EE-343F-00334R in his vault for several decades until he finally had the perfect opportunity to leverage its properties, Ves would rather make use of it now and strengthen his forces in the short term.

"I am fully aware of the implications of my decision, but I still want to go through with it." Ves affirmed to the fleeter. "As I have stated before, I think that Venerable Davia Stark will cto learn how to draw out the potential of EE-343F-00334R in her own way, especially once she becomes a Saint. I do not mind it if it remains underutilized for a long time."

That satisfied Sigrund. "As long as you are aware of it. I can understand your need to augment the firepower at your disposal. There are other solutions available, though. The Red Fleet is open to other fruitful exchanges. We can grant you access to powerful weapon tech and much more suitable materials in exchange for your own technological applications. Do not forget that we have invested much more R&D into energy weapon systems than the mechers. We are much more reliant on firepower to complete our missions, so our understanding of ranged weapons of any kind ranks at the top."

That sounded like it might actually be true, but Ves doubted it was that simple. There were numerous Star Designers in the Red Ocean that had managed to push the boundaries of what was possible with ranged energy weapons.

"Thank you for the offer, but I do not have any other immediate needs at the moment. I will contact you again if I require further services from the Red Fleet."

That was an obvious dismissal, so Captain Reze did not stick around for long.

Both Ves and Gloriana becsatisfied with this new cooperation. The fleeters would offer their essential technical support in integrating EE-343F-00334R into the Instrument of Doom. In exchange, they would be allowed to take a good peek at the design of the powerful luminar crystal cannon.

One of the reasons why the fleeters agreed to this exchange so easily was because they did not really give up anything too important.

Ves already figured out that the fleeters were working to make EE-343F-00334R irrelevant and obsolete. There was no reason to remain so uptight about protecting its secrets anymore if that was the case.

This meant that the Red Fleet undoubtedly picked up a bargain! The opportunity to get a close look at one of the powerful weapons of the Larkinson Clan and becinvolved in its development was a golden opportunity for the fleeters!

Still, Ves felt the exchange was worth it because he had absolutely no idea what to do with EE-343F-00334R if he tried to make use of it without any knowledgeable direction. The super-class material was so advanced that there were very real chances that he might accidentally blow up Diandi Base if he mishandled it in any way!

The only other use for this material that he could cup with was to feed chunks of it to Lucky, but the gluttonous cat already had enough in his opinion.

In the end, both Ves and Gloriana becsatisfied with this development.

"As long as our cooperation with the fleeters is successful, the Instrument of Doom will undoubtedly beca weapon that we can be proud of." Gloriana spoke with a satisfied expression. "It almost sounds sinful to expend such an impressive material on a 'mere' expert mech or ace mech, but that makes this so exciting. It is very rare that mech designers such as us can make use of an alloy that even the Red Fleet must take seriously. It makesfeel as if we have finally reached a height where we are truly allowed to design top-

tier mechs that can rank alongside other legendary mechs."

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Ves had the sfeeling as well. The planned improvements of the Instrument of Vengeance already sounded ridiculous enough, but to incorporate an extravagant material into the Instrument of Doom would definitely push the value of the Amaranto to an unsurpassed height!

He quietly apologized to Saint Tusa. His cousin thought that he had won the grand prize for obtaining the most powerful Larkinson mech to date.

Unfortunately for his cousin, it seemed like history was about to repeat itself.

Once the Amaranto Mark III took shape, the reinvented rifleman mech would completely outclass the Dark Zephyr Mark III!

It was not that the Dark Zephyr Mark III was weak.

The real problem was that the Amaranto Mark III would bectoo outstanding when it cinto existence!

Nobody would take a second look at the Dark Zephyr when the Larkinsons gained ridiculously powerful ranged mechs that could snipe targets that were light-seconds away or instantly overcthe energy defenses of powerful enemies at shorter ranges!

Saint Tusa would definitely feel completely outclassed once again when Davia Stark managed to destroy threatening enemies faster than he could reach with his pitiful light mech!

Oh well. Ves did not really care about the impact that the Amaranto Mark III would have on Tusa's psyche. The man was an ace pilot. He could take a few hits on his pride.

Now that Ves and Gloriana cup with a very clear and promising plan for the Amaranto Mark III Project, it was tfor them to take a closer look at the Riot Mark III Project.

The two initially went over all of the obligatory technological upgrades that should be applied to all high-tier expert mechs.

New and improved features such as sixth generation living mech, second generation god body method, archetech, the Energy Weaver Mech Ecosystem, a higher phasewater content and so on should all elevate the performance of Venerable Rosa Orfan's expert spearman mech to a much higher level.

Yet when it cto adding or improving the truly special and unique features of the Riot, Ves already had his own plans about how he could qualitatively transform the living mech's identity.

"One of the strengths of the Riot is that he excels at sowing chaos. I think it should be possible for us to amplify this aspect and turn it into the signature strength of the expert spearman mech. Yes, we have already reserved a tier 3 Destroyer spear for his usage, but that should not be the most defining strength of the Riot. The living mech has much greater potential than engaging in mindless destruction."

"How do you want to draw out the Riot's hidden potential, then?" His wife asked as she crossed her arms.

"By resorting to outside help." Ves smirked. "I am willing to 11:06

compromise the Riot Mark III's confidentiality as long as we can collaborate with an excellent mech designer who can definitely bring a lot of value to Venerable Orfan's machine. What do you think about inviting Jovy Armalon to participate in our mech design project?"