The Mech Touch

5014Reward Program

Human history changed forever!

To the people of the Milky Way, the Age of Mechs continued to prosper like always. Their race maintained a dominant position in their home galaxy.

Sure, the Red Ocean and all of the manpower and assets invested into it had disappeared, but the loss did not result in a drastic weakening of human civilization.

At most, human civilization was set back by a century or so. It would probably take at least that much time for society to compensate for all of the warships, Star Designers and god pilots.

Perhaps all of the relatives of the missing colonists of the Red Ocean may mourn for the loss of contact, but life eventually had to go on. New families would arise over time while the impact of the people that had gone missing would continually fade over time.

Worse tragedies had taken place in humanity's long history. The total amount of human lives lost during the end of the Age of Conquest far exceeded the amount of Red Ocean colonists that had disappeared from the Local Group!

It may only take a single generation for human society in the Milky Way to forget about the absence of the Red Ocean. People would get back to spending time on building their careers, making power plays and seeking to Improve the performance of mechs by another 5 percent.

Not many humans would realize how much danger and excitement they missed out on by remaining behind in their home galaxy!

"Master..." Oleg Vorn spoke in an uncertain tone.

The young and talented Journeyman Mech Designer looked crushed as he entered the well-equipped design lab. He still couldn't fathom the loss of so many people and colonies.

The Friday Colonies had disappeared entirely!

The Big Two did not publish too many announcements related to the abrupt disappearance of the Red Ocean.

Only well-connected insiders had the right to access more information.

"They are still alive." Master Carmin Olson flatly said as she continued to puzzle over a high-level design problem. "They will adapt. They will survive. It is possible that one day, they will return and reunite with us. It is too premature to assume they will perish in the Virgo Cluster."

The Fridayman Master Mech Designer thought about all of the explosive information she had managed to obtain from the Mech Trade Association.

Messier 87, exotic radiation, red humanity, the Age of Dawn.

All of these words and phrases were enough to detonate a bomb among the upper echelon of human society!

Through the intergalactic communication channels that still remained operational due to various special reasons, much of humanity's upper ranks became excited by all of the new developments in the Virgo Cluster.

The red humans had inexplicably become the vanguard of humanity's invasion of another full galaxy, one that was much larger and more massive no less!

If the red humans succeeded in obtaining a foothold at Messier 87, then that would definitely benefit the original humans who remained behind in the Milky Way as well!

Even if a distance of 50 million light-years could never be bridged within their lifetimes, Just the exchange of technological information was enough to enrich people's lives in the Milky Way!

Master Olson's expression grew mixed. In face of all of this excitement, a faint but undeniable sense of longing welled up in her heart.

"How do you think Ves Larkinson will fare?" Oleg asked.

"I cannot say. From the information that I have obtained, the Age of Dawn may benefit his work much more than that of other mech designers. He is likely to thrive as long as he can survive the threats that all of red humanity must overcome."

The pressure of survival in the Red Ocean had become countless times higher than in the Milky Way!

While the people in the Milky Way dazedly tried to move on with their normal lives after the strange disappearance of the Red Ocean, the displaced humans welcomed the third day with an entirely new mindset!

Tlie Age of Mechs had ended for red humanity!

The Age of Dawn had arisen!

After the Lord of Thermodynamics and Fleet Admiral Stanley Argile announced their shocking revelations and declarations, the colonists of the Red Ocean gained a lot of answers but also generated a lot of new questions!

Tlie contents of the public address may be enough to resolve everyone's greatest doubts, but they did not go into too many specifics!

This was why the Red MTA and the Red CFA published a whole host of documents on the morning of the next day.

These documents went into much more detail about the science of E energy radiation, the adjustments to established regulations and vague explanations about the philosophy of the two dominant organizations going forward.

Just as Ves was digesting all of the dense documentation, General Verle suddenly contacted him out of the blue.

"Sir! You need to read the latest announcement published by the Red CFA! The news has already begun to generate a lot of controversy in public!"

"Hmm?"

Ves had not even spent any time on reviewing the stuff published by the Common Fleet Alliance. He was a mech designer after all. What business did he have with the fleeters?

His expression changed as soon as he skimmed through the first page of the latest virtual document.

"Bounties? Warship tokens?"

It turned out that the rumors surrounding the Red CFA's intentions to ease the taboo related to the prohibition against warships were true!

Ves did not know how much arguing and politicking went on behind the scenes, but for the Red CFA as well as the Red MTA to eventually agree to loosen their long-held duopoly on warships that they maintained with an iron grip since the start of the Age of Mechs!

"This changes everything!" Ves gasped!

This may be one of the driving reasons behind the decision to establish the Age of Dawn.

The taboo against warships emerged as a consequence of the many horrors of the Age of Conquest.

It had become a defining characteristic of the Age of Mechs. So long as this era persisted, the vast majority of humans were never permitted to get in touch with armed starships!

Tlie Age of Dawn was different.

The circumstances had changed, so the rules had to follow.

In this brand-new age where red humanity had to confront the realistic threat of extinction, it did not entirely make sense to suppress the war-making potential of the majority of the population in the new frontier!

"It is only a possibility, but I agree with you, sir." General Verle said through the still active communication channel. "Out of all of the powers based in the Davute region, only we have a prior history of defeating phase whales and phase lords. We are much better suited to complete these bounties than many of the states and pioneering organizations in the Krakatoa Middle Zone!"

Just because the Red CFA was willing to relent on a taboo did not mean that everyone was free to build their own warships all of a sudden!

The Red Big Two still feared a return to the bad old days of the Age of Conquest.

In order to better control the numbers as well as the allocation of both privately owned and state owned warships, the Red C.FA established a Warship Quota Program to manage these permissions!

The only parties permitted to own and field warships were states and pioneers. They were already vetted and already maintained existing ties with the Red Big Two.

As long as both of them fulfilled the right conditions, they were able to exchange their deeds to the Red CFA for a Warship Token!

This token was basically a license that granted its registered holder permission to own a warship that corresponded to a specific type.

A Destroyer Token permitted its holder to own an armed destroyer!

A Battleship Token granted its holder the right to own a full battleship!

"Damn! These CFA Warship Tokens are bound to become one of the most valuable assets in this age!" Ves predicted. "Countless people will go crazy for these rewards!"

General Verle agreed with his patriarch. "It is a rather clever incentive from the Red Big Two. We predicted that the mechers and the fleeters would seek to discourage Internal conflicts between human states. The greater beyonder gate can no longer make up for the decline in population by supplying the new frontier with an endless stream of immigrants. Abolishing internal wars outright is the most direct solution to preserve human lives, but it will generate so much resistance and opposition that the Red Big Two's rule will become unstable in a time where they can least afford any challenges."

That was true. Ves had traveled far and wide. He witnessed the full range of human nature in so many different regions of space.

Humans were greedy, ambitious and prone to competing against each other. The Big Two's policies during the Age of Mechs not only did nothing to suppress these tendencies, but deliberately magnified all of these bad habits!

That might work in an age where humans had already gained dominance and needed to keep each other busy, but it was no longer suitable under the new circumstances!

It was better to promote change by using the carrot Instead of the stick.

The newly announced Warship Quota Program was one of the first big carrots that the Red Big Two dangled in front of the masses!

Ves eagerly read the redemption requirements for these tokens.

Tlie new reward program was still in its Infancy at the moment, so the Red CFA only established a single way to earn a coveted CFA Warship Token.

That was by redeeming the bounties to the Red CFA!

"It appears the Red Big Two really want to get rid of the phase whales." Ves remarked. "I would have thought that they might want to find an opportunity to make peace with indigenous aliens. Tlie phase whales are the only aliens that can realistically bring us back to the Milky Way."

"The aliens would never agree to that." General Verle retorted. "The Great Severing is an act of desperation. It shows their utter determination to prevent humanity from conquering their dwarf galaxy. Now that we have moved in Messier 87's neighborhood, it is likely that the indigenous aliens will do whatever they can to wipe out our colonies while we are still cut off from the support of the Milky Way."

Ves began to look skeptical. "If that is the case, it is not going to be easy to earn these Warship Tokens..."

According to the current version of the reward program, the only way to earn these tokens was to hunt phase whales and phase lords!

As the chief culprits and the main actors responsible for pulling off the Great Severing, these native gods still posed an enormous threat to red humanity!

Ves became increasingly more dazzled by the rewards associated with the bounties.

[Irregular phase whale or lesser phase lord: Up to 1 billion MTA merits or 1 CFA Destroyer Token.

Phase whale or greater phase lord: Up to 10 billion MTA merits or 1 CFA Light/Heavy Cruiser Token.

Ancient phase whale: 1 trillion MTA merits -1 CFA Battlecruiser Token.]

"Can we claim a reward from the Red MTA and Red CFA at the same time?"

"It does not appear to be the case. You need to choose from one or the other. You can either settle for earning MTA merits, or obtaining a CFA Warship Token." General Verle responded. "Keep in mind that the tokens are non-transferable and only give you the right to field a warship. You still need to find a shipbuilding company and fund the construction of a warship by yourself."

That sounded like a considerable hurdle for most smaller organizations, but it should not be a problem for a fairly well-connected organization like the Larkinson Clan.

Ves scratched his head. "Are the CFA Warship Tokens distinguished by tech class? I haven't seen any mention of it anywhere in this document."

"Tliis does not appear to be the case. As long as we have a token, we can choose to obtain a second-class or a first-class warship of the corresponding type. We only have to abide by the strict technological restrictions set by the Red CFA."

Just because the fleeters were willing to loosen this taboo did not mean they wanted to get upstaged!

The warships that pioneers such as the Larkinson Clan could potentially add to their own fleets would never be allowed to grow strong enough to challenge the might of the Red CFA!