The Mech Touch

Ves was right about one thing.

The Magrins had become completely hooked.

After getting a taste of the transcendence glow from a mysterious 'alien' wreck, the Cenatus Prospecting fleet remained close to the mysterious site.

A few starships spread out in order to find whether other valuable alien relics were floating around.

More and more scientists and engineers had been transferred to the mysterious piece of ship debris. Each of them had been tasked with increasing their understanding of this separated ship section and figuring out how to get the latest alien artifact to reproduce the same effect that caused Saint Neville Magrin to spike his resonance strength.

The science teams tried to be as careful as possible. They did not dare to engage in any destructive investigation methods for fear of breaking the circumstances needed to make the alien artifact activate its special power again.

Though a number of scientists wanted to move the alien wreckage further away from its current orbit to the brown dwarf star, others objected to this proposal for fear of breaking anything important.

This caused the important wreck to remain in its current place, which meant that Otrus Magrin became extremely reluctant to pull back his fleet to a safer and more comfortable distance from the brown dwarf star.

As time passed by, Saint Neville Magrin began to look back on what he had just experienced. The more he revisited that fleeting moment of discovery and exposure, the more he began to think about the more dubious aspects of this situation.

He was not a suspicious person by nature, but it was the job of ace pilots to watch out for possible threats.

Saint Neville became increasingly more concerned as he reviewed his thoughts inside the cockpit of his active ace mech.

"The source of this second event is not the alien beast goddess that I have communicated with earlier." He stated with a frown. "He not only feels like a man to me, but he is also a lot less alien as well. That doesn't seem to match with the alien artifact. What is going on? Why is a single missing and damaged alien ship involved with two different powerful gods, one of which may be human?"

The possibility that the second god may be human could explain why Neville felt so stimulated at the time. He wondered whether the native aliens of the Red Ocean had managed to capture a human deity, and that the ship that produced this debris was involved in this extremely important affair.

However, he lacked the sense that hinted to him that he had stumbled upon a major development that was critical to humanity.

This told him that he may have been led astray.

The problem was that he didn't have proof that supported or rejected this conclusion. Saint Neville had far too little to go on and that was concerning in itself.

"Father?" Neville spoke over the private communication channel. "Have you ever thought that we are being plotted against?"

Otrus Magrin was quick to reply. "I did. It was the first thing I thought. I won't deny that it is possible, but so what? The two pieces of alien ship wreckage are completely authentic as far as my men can determine. The alien artifacts are priceless treasures. I have never heard or obtained anything that could do anything comparable. Even if we get nothing else, we can most likely earn a fortune from selling them to the right buyers!"

That was one of his strengths. He knew how to reach a large crowd of ill-informed buyers who had too much money on their hands but not enough sense to know they were being scammed.

Saint Neville was okay with this. His father desperately needed the money and the buyers always thought they got what they wanted. Mostly.

However, Neville's concerns extended beyond profit. The situation looked more and more fishy in his opinion and he wanted to know if his father recognized the same dangers.

"I have been thinking about what the Golden Skull Alliance may have possibly been doing in this star system." He said. "The Larkinson Clan is well known for selling mechs that can influence people's moods and emotions. I think we have even seen some of them at a distance in the past, but I have never examined one in person. I've read the descriptions, though, and they seem to match."

"What are you suggesting, son?"

"We may be getting fooled by their glows. Maybe that is why the precious two contact events only lasted a short time. We didn't receive enough time to properly study their effects on people. If this is the case, then I suggest we pull back most of our fleet and prepare to evacuate this star system."

Saint Neville unknowingly strayed quite close to the truth! Just because he was known to be an unflinching follower and supporter of his father didn't mean he was stupid!

Mech pilots who weren't clever or observant enough rarely made it as far as Neville.

"Neville." Otrus Magrin spoke. "You may be right, but you may also be wrong. Do you truly wish to give up on this small but promising chance to grasp greater strength because of your unfounded assertions?"

"True strength can't be gained through shortcuts." Neville reflexively said.

"That is not true. There are always opportunities that can help people do the unlikely and succeed. What is important is that they take the initiative to seek out these chances. Take god pilots for example. Who among them has lived a normal life? If you read their biographies, you will always be able to detect instances where they could have obtained an enormous benefit that has helped them bridge the gap between senior ace pilot and god pilot. All other Saints have fallen, but only this small minority managed to succeed. This tells me that ordinary ace pilots aren't able to advance on their own. They need help, and we may be on the cusp of obtaining it for yourself. I will not turn away from what may be the only possibility for you to make up for this gap! Carpe diem!"

Carpe diem might as well be the official motto of the Magrins.

Neville would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted. While his concerns still remained valid in his opinion, the thought of missing out on a chance that could help him survive the dreaded Mech Body Merger Process was too painful for him to accept!

Becoming his god pilot might not be his ultimate goal, but it would definitely help him fulfill it! Someone as strong-willed as a Saint was more than willing to brave a few risks if that was what it took to complete his most important mission.

He started to breathe heavier as he used the Unrelenting's sensors to look closer towards the alien ship wreckage that he was guarding.

Did it truly hold the priceless chance that his father referred to? Was the alien artifact locked inside the debris truly capable of helping him grow stronger?

His intuition didn't tell him no, so that was a reassuring sign. As Neville concentrated deeper, he felt that his father might be right after all. This ship wreckage might truly be able to facilitate his growth!

He and his father's men just had to figure out the right way to activate the earlier effect.

Whether they needed to plug a new power source to an alien mechanism or tow the wreckage away from the brown dwarf star, Neville didn't know. All he knew was that he wasn't willing to give up so easily!

"Besides." His father spoke up again. "Have you ever heard of a glow that can make mech pilots advance without any effort? Something like that is too ridiculous to ever contemplate. No human technology can possibly produce such a miracle. It is too absurd to even consider. If the Larkinsons have mastered such an amazing glow, then they would have been able to field ten times as many expert pilots and several ace pilots by now. There is no need for the Larkinsons to go out and explore this risky border region."

Saint Neville's concerns faded away. "I suppose you are right as always, father."

"That is why I am in charge and you are not. There is a place for caution, but I haven't managed to build my way up to this point by being timid. Remain on guard but try to figure out how you can get the alien artifact to activate its power again."

"Will do, father."

That ended this particular inquiry. Though Saint Neville still felt bothered to an extent, he obediently abided by the instructions of his father and busied himself with other matters.

Time passed by without much change. The scientists still hadn't made any progress as Neville continued to keep an eye on the empty star system.

The greatest threat he was taking into account was the Golden Skull Alliance, but even then the danger wasn't too great.

Even if the enemy fleet returned to the Ramage Repulsor System again, it wouldn't have been able to launch any attacks because they would have appeared far away from the Cenatus Prospecting fleet's current position!

As the Unrelenting went on another circuit around the fleet to make sure that there were no hidden threats sneaking up on the ships under the ace pilot's protection, his intuition suddenly began to sense something amiss.

"Neville!" Otrus Magrin spoke in an excited tone. "I don't know what our scientists have done, but they have briefly managed to activate the alien artifact once again!"

"They did?! What happened?!"

If the Unrelenting hadn't gone on patrol, Saint Neville would have been able to remain close enough to the second alien ship wreckage to sense what had happened.

"The effect is different from before." Otrus Magrin became a bit less enthused. "None of our people described that they felt closer to a breakthrough. Most of the scientists have told me that they felt a distinctly alien mind, while a few others also feels that this has something to do with phasewater."

"That… does not make any sense." Neville grew confused.

It was at this time that another development took place.

The ace mech stopped accelerating as the ace pilot frowned as he began to sense something dangerous approaching from afar.

He had no idea what had triggered his danger sense, but it was growing stronger by the second.

He hit an emergency button on his cockpit. This activated an emergency alarm throughout the entire Cenatus Prospecting fleet!

"What is wrong, Neville?!" His father asked.

Unlike before, Otrus Magrin exhibited genuine concern and maybe even fear this time. He trusted that his son would never hit the alarm without good cause.

"I sense danger, and not the vague kind like I did before." Neville spoke in a tone that conveyed the gravity of the situation. "It feels… alien. It isn't coming from the wreck. It is approaching… from a greater distance."

"Can you tell me where?"

"Not yet, but it will show up soon enough."

Otrus Magrin did not procrastinate. He instructed the mechs under his command to scramble en masse while ordering the rest to prepare for a battle or a hasty retreat.

The science teams stationed in the alien ship wreck all exited in a hurry while a bunch of mechs slowly dragged the alien ship debris into the cargo bay of the flagship of the fleet, the Seeker of Wealth.

As soon as the wreckage was concerned, the fleet proceeded to accelerate towards the nearest Lagrange point just in case it needed to run in a hurry.

It wasn't until some of the fleet's sensors detected a large, high-energy object rising from the brown dwarf star itself that Saint Neville finally figured out the reason why his sense of danger went haywire.

"That… that is an alien warship! An alien warship has just emerged out of that failed star!"

"Wait, the newly emerged warship is heading straight in our direction! We are detecting multiple heat spikes. That battleship is preparing to open fire with her main gun batteries!"

"How could we have missed such a powerful alien vessel?!"