The Mech Touch

5922 The Red Fleet's Generosity

A huge sense of relief overcame Ves.

He had no idea what kind of change would ensue once he completed another Supply Mission, but it was sure to expand his options.

Ves desperately needed the help, especially now that he got soul marked by a God King who hated his guts!

There was only a limited amount of time for Ves to prepare for the inevitable arrival of the extragalactic invaders.

He could not afford to be too restrained in his use of the System anymore. He had to be more proactive in earning Ascension Points and spending them on enlightenment fruits, items and other benefits.

As long as it facilitated and sped up his journey to become a Star Designer, then everything was permissible!

Ves needed to spend a long time surveying his available means and devising a revised development plan that would help him survive the storms to come.

Before he was able to do that, he first needed to conclude his meeting with the fleeters.

Once they left the vault, Dread Captain Argile invited both Ves and Captain Zonrad Reze to one of his private offices.

Now that the Dominion of Man had lowered her alert level, the dread captain finally saw fit to exit his cumbersome Dread Armor and return to wearing his uniform.

Ves found it rather interesting that Sigrund got invited to this meeting as well.

The alien hybrid AI looked excited. Many of the changes applied to the Dominion of Man and the Brain Trust in particular had taught him a lot!

If he had any choice, then he would have definitely preferred to stay on the ship for a few years and thoroughly study all of the changes in the programming of the dreadnought's primary control system.

Alas, Sigrund still had to captain his own ship. The Red Fleet still had many other AI specialists in their employ who could do the same job.

Since the fake human aspired to become a fleet admiral, it remained crucial for him to serve as a line officer. The stodgy fleeters did not have a strong tradition of promoting staff officers to the highest ranks.

"Have you prepared a report on your findings?"

"I have, but it is not yet complete. There are still many more novel changes to the ship's control system that I have yet to examine in great detail."

"Then write a report that contains your recommendations to the experts dispatched by high command. Once this meeting has come to an end, you are instructed to take Professor Larkinson back to his fleet and remain with him until the Babylon Excavator has caught up with you. Since you have already formed a good relationship with him, the Red Admiralty has designated you as our official liaison. You are charged with representing the interests of the Red Fleet while you remain in his company."

Captain Reze did not betray any hint of emotion as he took in his latest orders.

There was no doubt that these orders disrupted his own plans.

However, there may be other opportunities if he joined up with Ves.

What was important was that the orders from above did not give Sigrund any choice in the matter. There was only one possible response he could make.

"Acknowledged. I shall endeavor to improve Professor Larkinson's impression of the Red Fleet."

"Good. You are intelligent enough to deduce our expectations for you. That said, you shall receive a more thorough briefing at a later date."

The dread captain turned to Ves.

"Much has changed. It will take far too long to explain how much of a shockwave your dramatic actions have produced. You will learn a part of what you have wrought on our organization later on, but much of our deliberations will remain behind closed doors. There is not enough time for us to go over the information that I am allowed to share with you. We must depart from this star system with haste as the native aliens have undoubtedly noticed the magnitude of what transpired here. Our highest priority is to transfer the Dominion of Man to a highly secure location where our best shipwrights and naval engineers can examine our dreadnought from top to bottom."

Ves nodded in understanding. "It is best to be safe and sorry, but don't forget what I said earlier, captain."

"We shall not neglect the needs of our dreadnought, especially now that she has become 'alive'. There is no need to burden you with any further information on our future plans related to our ship. The main purpose for inviting you here is to grant you your remaining rewards for going above and beyond what you promised to deliver to the Red Fleet."

The good stuff was coming. Ves grew more and more eager to hear what the fleeters decided to award him with. It had to be a really massive reward in order to make the transaction more equitable!

Captain Argile's expression turned deep as he retrieved two different decorative boxes from his desk drawer.

"The Red Admiralty has put considerable thought in what you are entitled to receive from us. The admirals initially considered more mundane rewards such as CFA merits, exclusive tech or materials, but they quickly concluded that you should not be short of them. The Red Association can already satisfy most of your needs, so we must present you with a reward that only we can issue"

He opened up both boxes to expose the heavy metal medallions resting inside.

Ves' eyes immediately lit up as he recognized these iconic objects!

"Warship Tokens! Two of them!" He uttered in excitement! "Since these tokens are considerably larger, heavier and more expensive than my Frigate Token, I can already surmise that they correspond to much larger ship classes!"

The dread captain raised his palm. "Ah, before you get too excited, let me inform you that you are only permitted to leave with one of them. The Red Admiralty has seen fit to give you a choice."

He tapped the slightly smaller and less ostentatious token.

"This is a RF Battlecruiser Token that is already preregistered to your identity. Owning this token gives you the right to own and field your own battlecruiser in combat. Do take into account that we are not giving you a battlecruiser outright. You will have to make separate arrangements to purchase, construct or capture a warship that conforms to the requirements."

Ves was already familiar with the rules relating to Warship Tokens, so he immediately waved Argile to continue.

The old captain tapped the largest Warship Token that Ves had ever seen!

"This is an RF Battleship Token that is also preregistered to your identity. It gives you the right to own and field your own battleship in combat. You should already be aware of the differences between battlecruisers and battleships. The former has the firepower but not necessarily the defenses of the latter. The advantage of battlecruisers is that they are much cheaper and easier to build and maintain. Do not underestimate the price disparity. A battlecruiser can be up to 100 times more affordable than a battleship!"

Ves knew enough about warships to know how outrageous it was to fund the construction of a proper human battleship!

Just as how the armor system was often the most expensive element of a mech, a similar rule applied to warships, but to a much more exaggerated degree!

It was practically impossible for private individuals and organizations to completely fund the development and construction of a modern battleship. The amount of money needed to procure billions of tons of high-grade exotics and other top-end materials in bulk was so insanely high that Ves had no confidence in financing such a prestige project!

However, that did not deter his attraction towards the RF Battleship Token.

As far as he knew, the Red Fleet had yet to award the most coveted and luxurious Warship Token to anyone at this date!

Ves may very well be the first private individual to earn a Battleship Token through pure merit!

He suddenly frowned.

"If the admirals are willing to give me a Battleship Token, why give me an alternative choice in the form of a Battlecruiser Token? Are you guys afraid that I won't be able to finance the construction of an entire battleship? Perhaps you are correct about that, but according to the rules, RF Warship Tokens can also be tied to warship of a lower class than what they permit."

If Ves owned a Battleship Token, he could still use it to build a smaller and more affordable warship such as a heavy cruiser or even a tiny corvette!

He could always wait a few decades before he finally built up enough infrastructure to support the construction of a proper battleship.

By that time, he could either retire the stopgap warship or bind it to another Warship Token.

The dread captain probably knew what Ves was thinking, so he quickly offered further clarification.

"These tokens are not as simple as they appear. The Red Admiralty has decided to attach additional conditions to the Battleship Token. You are permitted to receive it as long as you involve our shipwrights and naval engineers in the design and construction of your own battleship. We also require you to accommodate our guest officers on your new battleship once she is commissioned."

What?!

"In exchange for these concessions, we are willing to provide extensive financial and technical support for the entire project." Captain Argile continued. "We offer millenia's worth of expertise that can help you develop the strongest possible battleship of her tonnage. You can also negotiate with us to make use of our best capital-grade shipyards. To summarize, we can remove many of the barriers that make it much more difficult for you to obtain your own private battleship."

Ves looked pensive as he processed the terms of this offer. His excitement for the Battleship Token had dropped to an enormous extent now that he learned that the fleeters wanted to get involved every step of the way.

There was no way he and his clan could design and build their own battleship in peace!

Much of her secrets would become exposed to the fleeters!

Though Ves did not really mind it if the Red Fleet deciphered a lot of details about his possible battleship, the premise to this was that relations remained friendly!

As soon as the fleeters turned into his enemies, their thorough understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of his personal battleship may turn into a massive vulnerability!

"Let me guess." Ves spoke up in a bitter tone. "The Battlecruiser Token that you guys present as an alternative does not come with as many strings attached."

The dread captain adopted a slightly apologetic expression. "We already calculated that you would not find the terms surrounding the Battleship Token palatable. This is why we are mindful enough to give you the option to claim a Battlecruiser Token with no additional strings attached. The terms are almost identical to the Frigate Token that you already possess. As long as you do not make use of the formidable firepower of your warship to slaughter humans on a large scale or violate any other taboo, you are free to employ your Battlecruiser as you see fit."

"I see. That is much more to my liking. Yet… it is really hard to resist the allure of a Battleship Token."

Ves was faced with an incredibly difficult decision. Each token had the potential to drastically change his life!

A Battleship Token would allow him to field a warship that was superior to any other vessel aside from a dreadnought.

The security offered by a human warship was indescribable. The cost of building one may be extravagant, but Ves could definitely count on the massive vessel to endure punishing attacks for an extended duration!

Combined with all of the shenanigans Ves could pull off to make the battleship alive, he would definitely become much better equipped to fight and survive against the toughest alien enemies in the new frontier!

The Battlecruiser Token did not provide him with nearly as much assurance.

Battlecruisers were still formidable capital ships, and their capacity to mount battleship-grade gun batteries allowed them to punch far above their weight!

However, the bulk exotics used to construct their entire hull were significantly more fragile and less resistant towards damage.

Even if the Larkinson Clan was partially able to compensate for this weakness by installing excellent azure shield generators, that was not enough to provide total security.

Ves knew that if he ever ended up in a difficult battle, he would come to regret the decision to pass up the opportunity to obtain his own battleship!

Yet… if he resisted the temptation and settled for a Battlecruiser Token, he would be able to keep much of the details of his future flagship confidential.

It had been rather fortuitous for him to acquire E-66 Experimental Yard a relatively short time ago. Since he fully owned this fantastic Rubarthan shipyard, it would be much easier for him to prevent the fleeters or anyone else from figuring out the full details of the battlecruiser!

This was incredibly important to Ves. Owning his own shipyard allowed him to go to much greater extremes to augment his private battlecruiser with controversial and maybe outright forbidden technologies!

Even if the mechers or the fleeters obtained a few clues that all was not right with the ship, it wouldn't matter so long as they continued to value Ves!

"Ugh… you guys are not making this easy for me." He grunted. "I thought that I was already done with making difficult decisions. You just had to present me with another headache-

inducing dilemma…"

That said, he would happily suffer a hundred more headaches like this in order to secure his own Warship Token of this caliber!

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