The Mech Touch

Today was an important day.

The much-diminished expeditionary fleet spent several days in wait as it moved along a winding track that caused it to move closer to the inner system.

Many different ships and fleets followed their own tracks that brought them far away from everyone else. With at least several light-minutes of separation between the different groups, there was almost no chance that any Crown terrorists or other malcontents could threaten others.

All of these maneuvers and security precautions took up a lot of time, but it couldn't be helped.

During the second day of waiting, the sensor plot detected several detonations within a fleet that was undergoing their first deep scans. Three third-class capital ships, including a respectable fleet carrier, suffered major internal damage as bombs detonated across their length!

"Incidents like that happen every once in a while." Calabast's projection explained to him as they both observed the aftermath of the premature detonations. "The Big Two have become increasingly more proficient at detecting and preempting terrorist attacks in advance. Even if it is difficult to detect the sleeper agents at the moment, don't forget that they are ultimately humans. Without explosives or access to critical systems, the amount of damage they can do is limited."

Ves nodded in understanding as he sat back on his observer's seat and stroked Lucky's back.

The cat lazily yawned as he enjoyed the attention that only a gem cat like him deserved. No matter how many cats the family gained, he was always the first!

"Meow."

"Well, all of the incidents that happen in other fleets are none of our business." Ves nonchalantly said. "As long as everyone else keeps their distance from us, their troubles won't blow over to our fleet."

Only a few organizations had the capital to feel unbothered by the Crown Uprising. The unfolding crisis that had caused both the old galaxy and the new frontier to be clouded by fear and uncertainty presented almost no threat to the Golden Skull Alliance due to its kinship networks.

Calabast's projection shrugged. "We shouldn't be too complacent. Our internal security is high, but we can never completely guard against every possible external attack."

She was right, but Ves still did not feel much concern. As long as the Larkinsons kept to themselves and stayed in their fleets, there was no way they could get close to any Crown terrorist.

Minimizing physical contact and isolating from outsiders was the best way to avoid trouble, not just from Crown terrorists, but also other malcontents.

Time passed by as the MTA efficiently dealt with the explosions. The damaged ships got towed away and the third-class pioneer who hoped to bring them to the Red Ocean had no choice but to delay his long-awaited trip.

This was one of the reasons why there were a lot of pioneering fleets lingering in this region. Too many of them suffered from one form of trouble or another. Whether it was getting hit by Crown terrorists, an inability to gather enough MTA merits or dysfunction within a group or alliance, there were quite a lot of pioneers that couldn't enter the Red Ocean right away!

Ves hoped that the Golden Skull Alliance wouldn't get embroiled in anything that could affect the timing of its gate passage.

"Well, with just 16 starships in our fleet, it's a lot easier to maintain control over our assets."

The departure of all of the sub-capital ships caused the Larkinson fleet to shrink enormously. This not only simplified the command and control of the remaining capital ships, but also led to an enormous reduction of active mechs.

Unfortunately, this also led to a situation where around 200,000 clansmen had to be stuffed inside just 9 different vessels!

This was not as big of a problem as it sounded, though. Each capital ship was as large as a metropolis. Although much of the capacity of a vessel was taken up by hull structure and massive ship systems, there was enough available space across all of the decks to accommodate tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of personnel.

The Spirit of Bentheim only became moderately more congested as a lot of passengers came aboard. Most of them remained idle on the 8th deck and other decks allocated to living spaces, so the ordinary crew didn't usually bump into the civilians and furloughed servicemen.

This was not a long-term solution, though. A lot of skilled personnel weren't being utilized and there was only so much the clan could do to assign them with available tasks.

If this went on, their skills would not only atrophy, but they would also grow discontented due to lack of purpose and inadequate management.

Once the Larkinsons entered the Red Ocean, they had to find new starships immediately in order to put all of the idle ship personnel and mech pilots back to work!

"We need to pass the inspections first before we can tackle this problem." Ves reminded himself.

The MTA's inspection methods were extremely thorough. No matter how hard the Crown terrorists hid their sabotage, the mechers possessed too many high-tech means to discover even the most obscure software sabotage!

Due to getting found out, the Crown terrorists hidden aboard various fleets detonated whatever destructive methods they had prepared in advance. Roughly 1 in 3 pioneering fleets suffered from this kind of attack.

"The leaders in charge of these fleets haven't been thorough enough." Calabast adopted a disapproving expression. "They really should have swept their capital ships before they arrived here. If they don't have the tools or expertise to secure their own vessels, then they could have hired one of the many virtual security companies that have set up shop in Tarnished Crown as of late. Now, their negligence has not only resulted in significant damage, but also caused them to earn the MTA's ire."

Of course, the Larkinson Clan had no need to resort to external services. The Black Cats already fulfilled this particular role.

An eternity seemingly passed by before the Golden Skull Alliance finally received its turn.

At first, only a handful of MTA frigates approached the expeditionary fleets. They maintained a safe distance of at least twenty kilometers before they began to put their giant, oversized sensor arrays to work.

"Sit still and make sure your systems are unpowered or at rest." General Verle notified the clansmen through a clan-wide broadcast. "The scans that you will be subjected to are highly invasive and you will feel it through your flesh and bones. However, there is no cause for concern. The scans are harmless to our physiques and will not result in any detrimental effects. Make sure to control your pets or put them in enclosures. They might panic if they don't understand what is happening."

Ves sat up straighter in his seat while he tried his best to convey absolute confidence. A clean and innocent person should have no reason to become nervous when undergoing a mandatory inspection.

Soon, he began to feel it, and so did every other life form aboard the Spirit of Bentheim. A ship that was much smaller than the factory ship outputted far more power through her first-class scanning array, allowing the MTA to perform a deep scan that left no stone unturned!

Though Ves still had plenty of reasons to worry about what the MTA might discover through this unstoppable and overpowering search, he also had reasons to feel at ease.

He just hoped that his measures were sufficient for him to get past this hurdle.

As one of the MTA frigates kept bombarding the Spirit of Bentheim with powerful investigation methods, Ves felt more and more sick.

Even though the mechers promised to the public that their scanning method was completely safe, Ves nonetheless felt as if he was being bathed by a flood of radiation.

He could even feel his Jutland organ absorbing a significant chunk of scanning energy. His half-alien physique allowed him to tolerate the deep scanning a lot better than other Larkinsons!

"Ughh…"

"I can't hold in my stomach!"

When Ves looked around the bridge, everyone looked as if they had become seasick! Several operators and officers with weaker bodies even had to relieve the contents of their stomachs in pre-prepared bags!

The torture ended after over two minutes of deep scanning. The MTA frigate only paused for a few seconds before subjecting the Andrenidae to a round of deep scans.

As everyone aboard the Spirit of Bentheim slowly recovered from their ordeal, Ves shook his head and tried to clear his mind.

"This is just the beginning of the inspection. We still have a lot more steps to go through!"

"Meow."

Unlike everyone else, Lucky experienced no discomfort at all. As a mechanical life form, he was not susceptible to the weaknesses of the flesh.

Ves had contemplated ordering Lucky to remain intangible throughout the entire inspection process, but he decided against it. The mechers weren't fools and they knew damn well that he was often accompanied by a remarkable mechanical cat.

Once his fleet passed the inspections and entered the Opalis System, Ves was definitely certain that the MTA would keep a close eye on every visitor. Lucky could not sustain his intangible form forever and had to turn solid sooner or later. The MTA would definitely discover that Ves attempted to smuggle an odd and unchecked cat through the beyonder gate.

Rather than attempting such a stupid trick, it was much better to stay honest and let Lucky be scanned like everyone else.

After MTA frigates completed their initial scans, the next steps of the inspection process took place.

Thousands of bots and human inspectors directly teleported inside all of the capital ships and began to scan and investigate anything that had caught their attention.

While this took place, Ves brought Lucky out of the bridge and moved over to his personal workshop where the other three Journeymen of the Larkinson Clan had already gathered.

According to the appointment that he had made with the MTA, a distinguished figure was about to arrive.

Ves briefly broke his emotionless facade when he approached his wife and child. He leaned over to kiss Gloriana on her cheek before looking down at his daughter.

"Try and behave, alright? Keep Mana under control."

"…Buuuu… googooowaababa…"

"Don't worry, Ves. Our daughter is well-behaved. She won't act naughty." Gloriana reassured.

"Of course she won't. She doesn't even know what that word means."

"…Uuuuu… Bababawaa…"

Ves played around with his cute daughter for a while until numerous new figures teleported into the workshop.

Just like in previous instances, most of the arrivals paid no notice to the gathered Larkinson mech designers. They only had eyes for mechs, and right now two excellent masterwork expert mechs demanded their attention!

These mech nerds became completely consumed by their need to scan, inspect and touch the Larkinson Clan's latest masterwork mechs. Both the Shield of Samar and the Everchanger were powerful and unique expert mechs that possessed numerous traits that couldn't be found in the MTA's own machines!

As the technical personnel performed their duties and satisfied their curiosity, two figures floated forward and approached the Larkinsons.

Ves noted to his surprise that the younger one looked highly familiar to him. Though he didn't have a lot of contact with Jovy, the talented MTA Journeyman had made a strong impression last time they spent time together.

"Mr. Armalon! I didn't expect to see you all the way out here."

Jovy responded with a friendly smile. "I told you that I'm traveling around. I never intended to stay in the Komodo Star Sector forever. In fact, you might see me again on the other side of the beyonder gate."

The two young Journeymen would love to chat further, but business came first. Ves directed his attention to an older male MTA Master who immediately made it clear that he was in charge of this show.

"Mr. Larkinson." The black-bearded figure spoke up. "Master Willix has spoken much about your exploits… I am Master Vendar Patricus Bouderon, and I shall be handling your case today."