The Mech Touch

The Larkinsons weren't the only people who made good use of their stay in the Cinach System.

Though the Hexers hadn't attracted any publicity aside from their remarkable identity, they hadn't been sitting idle.

For example, the Glory Battalion surreptitiously borrowed some of the best mech servicing facilities on the planet to restore and repair the mechs that got wrecked during the Battle of Kesseling VIII. They hadn't been able to restore them during the voyage to the Sentinel Kingdom, but it was different now that they had access to proper industrial machines.

The Penitent Sisters hadn't attracted any attention either, but their presence still loomed heavily over the planet. Able to field hundreds of mechs on land and in the air, they were definitely the most powerful non-military force in the star system!

Certainly, the local noble houses could probably defeat them if they pooled all of their household troops. Yet the cost would be ruinous. Not only would they lose thousands of mechs and mech pilots to achieve a pyrrhic victory, but also completely ruin their relationship with the local dominant power in this side of the star sector!

There was no way the nobles would be stupid enough to try anything funny! In fact, if even a single descendant of their uttered such madness, they would instantly be muffled and be taken somewhere very far away where they would never be seen again!

These what-ifs scenarios described the enormous regard the Sentinels attached to the Hexers.

No matter how much the Sentinels tried to take pride in themselves, they couldn't change the inescapable fact that the Komodo Star Sector only had room for two second-rate states.

The resource endowment that often served as the basis of a state's potential was not that remarkable in the territories of the Sentinel Kingdom.

In fact, it wasn't much better off than the Bright Republic and the Vesian Kingdom!

The only difference that allowed the Sentinel Kingdom to develop further than other third-rate states was its access to some of the resource endowments of the Nyxian Gap!

Though infested by pirates, the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association often ventured to the Nyxian Gap and returned with a number of bounties and rare exotics!

These activities may have increased the strength and prosperity of Sentinel over the years, but a true second-rate state like the Hegemony still dwarved over it to an overwhelming degree!

Within the heart of every Sentinel, they knew they were ultimately subordinate to the Hexers. If their patron state ever won the Komodo War, then the locals knew they were in for a lot of changes in the way they treated their men and women!

A sense of helplessness suffused the Sentinels with regards to this uncertainty. Many of them, especially the men, secretly rooted for the Friday Coalition to win the war!

Yet even if they held such treacherous thoughts, they never dared to voice them out loud.

For their part, the Hexers didn't care what the lesser states thought. There would be plenty of time after they won the Komodo War to reshape the Komodo Star Sector in their image!

Until then, it was best to maintain a light presence and treat the lesser people with at least some cordiality.

It was for this reason that Dr. Ranya didn't insist on entering the marketplace of the local branc of the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association straight away.

Instead, she made a modest request and went through all of the procedures before receiving permission.

As an exobiologist, she studied the wonders of life and biological systems. What delighted people of her profession the most was encountering exotic new lifeforms that had evolved under very rare conditions!

This meant that an anomalous region like the Nyxian Gap always held more attraction to her than a normal ecosystem. Why would she waste her time on something boring when the galaxy was filled with unknowns just waiting to be explored?

To advance her research and achieve unique results, she needed to move beyond the confines of the mundane.

The thought of taking a close look at all of the varied exoplants and rare exotics that the Peacekeepers retrieved from the Nyxian Gap made her incredibly excited!

For this visit, she invited both Gloriana and Brutus to accompany her to the Peacekeeper branch.

Though both of them were considerably busy with their own responsibilities, they nonetheless accepted her offer.

The three Wodins along with a number of bodyguards quickly boarded the Serendipity to travel from Cinach VI to Cinach XII.

Situated much further away from the local sun, Cinach XII was not exactly the hottest planet in the star system.

Still, through clever terraforming, the global climate was still within human tolerance!

As their shuttle was just about to reach the campus of the Peacekeepers, the two female Wodins comfortably chatted while Brutus remained stoically silent.

"It's rare to see you out of your design labs these days."

"Designing mechs isn't easy, Ranya. While one of our projects is easy enough to leave to our assistants, the other mech is considerably harder to pull off. Ves and I still have to exert the utmost of our design capabilities to ensure its performance remains within acceptable bounds!"

"That's the Hexer mech project you were talking about, right?"

Gloriana beamed. "Even though Ves is in charge of the project, I think it holds a lot of potential! While many of his mech ideas sound outlandish, I have to admit that the one we are currently working for truly possesses the potential to swing the war! The only issue is to make our mech gain acceptable by the Hex Army. That's something that will largely depend on whether my boyfriend can make good on his claims about the potential of our mech."

Ranya regarded her cousin with a suspicious look. "Why do I get the feeling that your mech has the potential to spark an upheaval in our state? Look at what Ves has already done. Whether directly or indirectly, his intervention ultimately trashed the Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate!"

"He's not that bad, Ranya. The two states you've mentioned got exactly what was coming for them for siding with the Fridaymen! Our state won't make that mistake because we are smarter!"

Ranya nodded in agreement. By now, even she fully recognized the incredible value that Ves could bring. Gloriana did the Hegemony a great service by snatching him away from the influence of the Fridaymen!

As the two continued to chat, Gloriana inquired about her latest research.

"I haven't achieved much results." Ranya admitted with a sigh as she raked her hand through her plant-like green hair. "I spent almost half a year preparing for your boyfriend's stupid implant operation. Not only that, he now expects to prepare over a dozen full augmentation plans for his assistants and his students! That will take forever to complete!"

"Are you angry that you are taking orders from a boy?"

Ranya shook her head. "Not as much. I'm already getting used to the way the galaxy outside of Hegemony space works. It's just infuriating that I'm always expected to complete these errands just because I'm the most qualified exobiologist in the fleet!"

"Well, ever since Ves' pet exobiologist attempted to kill him, we haven't been able to hire a replacement, so you're the only one available."

That was a pretty ugly event. Ranya had been in the same operation room when the betrayal happened, and she had no clue that something like this could occur!

"We need more dedicated geneticists and implant surgeons to take over my workload. While I have managed to pass on some work to the medical specialists of the Glory Battalion, they are mostly trained to treat battlefield injuries and various afflictions, so they're of limited use in procedures that involve improving humans. A lot still rests on my shoulders, and I have a feeling that Ves will want to augment a lot more people aside from his mech designers!"

"Don't worry about that." Gloriana reassured her cousin. "From what Ves has told me, the clan is already in the process of hiring some promising biotech experts. It will take a long time to entrust them with greater responsibilities, but you'll soon be able to get back to your pet projects."

"No offense, but the specialists from the Sentinel Kingdom won't be as good as me. Ves expects his chosen people to receive the same treatment that Hexers enjoy, so I am still expected to play an essential role in the augmentation process."

"I'll discuss the matter with Ves a bit further, but I think it would be hard for us to hire a geneticist and implant surgeon that is up to standard."

"We've arrived, ladies." Brutus suddenly announced.

The shuttle landed in the VIP section in the middle of the campus. The three Wodins emerged from the shuttle and showed no hint of appreciation of the architecture and scenery of the local branch of the Peacekeepers.

A female public relations director from the Peacekeepers personally came up to greet the Hexers.

"Honored guests, on behalf of the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association, we welcome you to our premises. While our humble branch doesn't offer a lot of amenities, we shall do our best to accommodate your needs."

"We're not interested in anything else aside from the goods that you have to offer."

The director already expected this request. "Please allow me to guide you to the trading halls. While our branch doesn't offer the largest selection of Nyxian goods, we have already been authorized to open our internal stores for you. Regular guests aren't allowed to enter our most coveted halls where the Peacekeepers trade between themselves."

When Ves visited the branch during his first visit to Sentinel, he already guessed the Peacekeepers kept the best goods to themselves. Only when the Peacekeepers and the nobles affiliated with them got their pick would the remaining goods be offered to the public.

When Gloriana and Ranya entered the first internal trading hall, their eyes instantly lit up! Gloriana became interested in the weird and unidentified chunks of minerals lying around while Ranya immediately turned her gaze towards the small but very varied collection of exotic plants!

Since this was Ranya's initiative, they visited the plant section first. A lot of the plant organisms retrieved from the Nyxian Gap had already died, but there were plenty of them that were kept alive by storing them in precisely-configured self-contained climate chambers.

Though she was only at the start of her career, Ranya could already imagine the possibilities when she studied the brief details of the items on offer.

From space-faring purple vines that extracted nutrients from asteroid to leafy black trees that absorbed energy from radiation, the diversity of exoplants on offer already dazzled her! Only the Exobiology Department of Kelma University dwarfed the current selection, but she never received permission to work with those valuable samples.

Right now, that wasn't the case! Every product obtained by the Peacekeepers was for sale! As long as she paid enough hex credits, she could get any exoplant she wanted!

Her breath started to heave as she tried to pick out the plants that would be useful to her ambitious research. She had never even seen some of the plants at her alma mater!

"Don't go overboard." Gloriana warned. "Right now, our financial situation isn't as healthy as it used to be. I'll only allow you to purchase a few valuable goods."

"Aw. Can't you give me some slack, cousin?"

Gloriana shook her head. "The clan still needs most of the money to pay all of its bills. I won't allow you to spend our money frivolously either. You need to explain to me what you want to do with the plants you want to buy. Your purchase has to benefit the clan in some way."

Ranya's face soured. "That's ridiculous! I am still at the beginning stages of my career! I have to perform a lot of basic and fundamental research before I can delve into the finer applications of my work! It can take years before I develop a useful plant-based augmentation!"

"Who holds the purse? Me." Gloriana smirked. "Remember who you work for. If you don't like it, you are welcome to walk away and start your own business!"

"It's fine." Ranya grumbled.