The Mech Touch

The Parma Imago's observation chamber served as a large and spacious venue for Ves and to interact with his in-laws. Since Ves and his new wife might not ever have the opportunity to meet with the Wodins, Constance insisted the newly-weds to accompany her for an entire day.

Gloriana enjoyed spending time with her mother. She acted deferentially and listened to almost every word her mother said. She also grouped up with her older brothers and sisters who each wanted to pamper the youngest for one last time.

As Gloriana giggled at the teasing of her sisters, Constance had brought Ves and Brutus to a quiet garden that featured a tranquil three-dimensional lake.

Similar to what Ves had seen in the Ubiquitous Force, the Hexers installed sophisticated antigrav modules that precisely kept several large bodies of water suspended in the air. Fish swam from one body to another by passing through moving tunnels. Luminescent exoplants drifted lazily in the water, causing portions of the floating ponds to look like sparkling jewels.

As the three sat down on some floating chairs, Constance gazed thoughtfully at her son-in-law and her youngest son. Her elegant dress made out of multi-layered black fabric featured moving purple hexagons of different sizes. Their moving patterns were a little distracting to Ves. Her status and stature made it difficult for him to look at her in the face.

"Brutus, my boy. Are the Glory Seekers prepared to accompany the Larkinson Clan in its journey?"

"We are ready, mother." Brutus answered with a prim and proper voice. "Even if an emergency occurs that forces us to depart straight away, we have everything we need to sustain ourselves for years."

"You will have to prepare some more. Matriarch Xiaphna has approved the transfer of the Parma Imago to the Glory Seekers. In order to represent the might of our dynasty, we cannot have you and your fellow Glory Seekers limit yourselves to sub-capital ships. As the Larkinson Clan acquires its own capital ships, our people must also possess a bulwark!"

Both Brutus and Ves looked shocked at her announcement!

It was not a trivial matter to transfer an entire capital ship from one unit to another. Their great value and enormous cost meant that they had to be treated very carefully.

"Which vessel?" Brutus asked.

"The Indigo Tremor. She is one of our newest fleet carriers. We are already in the process of refitting and resupplying her so that she can keep up with any long expeditions."

Ves raised his hand. "Can I see her specs?"

His mother-in-law obliged. She transmitted a single document that contained a summary of the fleet carrier's properties.

The Indigo Tremor was indeed a fairly recent acquisition. Bought in preparation for the Komodo War, the Wodin Matriarch instead decided to transfer her to the Glory Seekers shortly after the wedding.

With a length of 2.5 kilometers, her long and fairly broad hull was not as unwieldy as the Hemmington Cross, nor as fast and nimble as the Antonio Cross.

The Indigo Tremor possessed balanced properties and could carry up to 600 mechs or even more in an emergency. This was not an exceptionally high amount considering the large internal volume of the fleet carrier, but Ves had recently learned that these capacity numbers were guidelines more than anything.

For example, a 1.8 kilometer-long vessel such as the Antonio Cross was nominally rated to carry 240 mechs, but she offered plenty of additional space in her hull. Normally, that space was taken up by cargo bays, fuel tanks, spare parts, ammunition and even internal fabrication units.

If Patriarch Reginald Cross wanted to stuff more mechs in the slender fleet carrier, then the crew could remove ship components, cargo goods and supplies to make room for more than a hundred mechs!

They wouldn't be stowed as safely and securely as the standard complement of mechs, but at least they got in, which was better than nothing!

However, under normal circumstances, the fleet carriers were designed to accommodate other functions related to supporting a fleet or mech force. The Indigo Tremor was a decent example of that as she featured a good amount of cargo space for supplies and higher-than-usual mech workshops and even some fabrication facilities to produce new parts!

As Ves studied the schematics of the new flagship of the Glory Seekers, he realized that she was quite suited for frontier expeditions. She carried a good amount of mechs and her rounded capabilities enabled her to service her mechs without relying on logistical ships.

Overall, the Indigo Tremor formed a powerful addition to any fleet. If such a capable fleet carrier joined his expeditionary fleet, its safety and security would definitely receive a powerful boost.

It was just…

"While I appreciate this kind gesture, the beyonder gate…"

Constance bore deeply into his eyes. "I am sure that a lovely son as you would not object to our dynasty's kind gesture. With the addition of the Indigo Tremor, you can spare the cost of acquiring another capital ship, which will certainly help you in the long run. Though our Glory Seekers will run the Indigo Tremor, she is meant to safeguard my daughter, and by extension you and the rest of your clan. It is only proper for you to include her in the quota of any eventual beyonder ticket."

Though Ves appreciated the addition of a fleet carrier, especially at the earliest stage of his expedition where he could only count on a factory ship, the fact that he had to surrender one of his quotas was very upsetting!

If he didn't earn any more MTA merits in the following years, he would only be able to count on a quota of 7 or 8 capital ships. Ves already formed some plans on how to allocate those slots.

The surrender of one of them to welcome a fleet carrier that was not under his control meant he might have to scrap a fleet carrier of his own. He originally planned to obtain two or three of them, but in light of this development he would have to settle for less.

The only way to compensate for this loss was to try to earn more MTA merits in order to increase his clan's quota!

Ves wasn't sure whether he would have the opportunity to do so. He had already learned how hard it was for Journeymen to earn millions of MTA merits in a short amount of time. He had already sweared off performing any further high-risk missions such as the ones that lured him into the Nyxian Gap.

Without an easy way to make massive contributions to the MTA, Ves would likely have to accept that he wouldn't be able to bring more capital ships to the Red Ocean.

"Ma'am.. thank you for the offer, but our Larkinson Clan is already capable enough to build its own fleet."

Constance peered at Ves in a familiar manner. Gloriana stared down at him like this as well when he was being obstinate.

"The Glory Seekers must have a strong base of operations in your fleet. Their combat carriers cannot adequately serve this role. After all, once you reach the inter-galactic beyonder gate, it is not worth it to bring these sub-capital ships to the Red Ocean. Considering the difficulty of acquiring new ships in the new frontier, we cannot allow you to leave Gloriana's honor guard deprived of ships and mechs."

Damn. That ruled out one possibility to neuter the Glory Seekers.

Ves coughed. "A high-quality fleet carrier such as the Indigo Tremor must be an expensive vessel to maintain."

"Our dynasty takes full responsibility over the Glory Seekers. You do not need to concern yourself over the funding and management of the Indigo Tremor. The crew we intend to provide for her is fully capable of running a Hexer fleet carrier."

Constance shut down any opportunity for Ves to reject the Indigo Tremor's addition to the Glory Seekers. She verbally cornered Ves until he had no choice but to gift the Wodins one of his precious ship quotas!

She smiled in satisfaction once she secured his commitment. "You have made the right choice, my son. Make no mistake. Our two organizations are bound to each other. No matter how far you go, our dynasty will always support you. Each of us hope that my youngest daughter will be able to succeed alongside you and rise up to become a pillar for our dynasty in the new frontier."

"We don't need a lot of help." Ves replied in a feeble tone. "We can take care of ourselves."

"We shall see. Know that you can always turn to us should you require funding, technical assistance or any other help that we can supply to you from a distance."

"Thank you for the offer. I will keep your generosity in mind."

"Speaking of generosity, I hope that you will keep your second family and mind and give us some due consideration." Constance leaned forward. "For example, your clan has developed some unique and exceptional products that cannot be obtained from any other source. We have produced a good amount of Valkyrie Redeemers and variants ever since we received the right to field them from the Hex Army."

"I hope those Valkyrie Redeemers will serve your dynasty well. They are great mechs. Gloriana and I made sure of that."

"Before you go, we would like you to pay a visit to this vessel's hangar bays and draw the Superior Mother's blessing upon them. Our new mechs could dearly use any support they can get before we deploy them to the frontlines."

Ves narrowed his eyes. "As long as they are authentically made, every version of the Valkyrie Redeemers already carry the Superior Mother's blessing. That should be clear from the glows they project."

"We expect more out of them. Since our dynasty is allied to your clan, it is in poor taste to withhold your secrets from us. Gloriana has already told me that you have a tendency to leave your best innovation to yourself and your clansmen."

There was no way Ves could deny that!

"That's true, but…"

Constance raised her palm to interrupt his excuse. "As soon as Gloriana married you, she became a Larkinson in the truest sense. At the same time, your union with my precious daughter has made you a part of the Wodin Dynasty. Whether you acknowledge that or not, we deserve to be treated as your family as well."

What kind of twisted logic was this?! Didn't Ves agree with Gloriana that she was explicitly marrying into the Larkinson Clan without requiring him to reciprocate?

Even though this was legally the case, it was very hard for him to deny the existence of an invisible bond between him and the Wodin Dynasty.

"Gloriana will be sad if you do not help us in our time of need. Several of her cousins will be piloting your Valkyrie Redeemers in battle in the coming months. As you are the main reason why these mechs have glows, it is only right for you to maximize their performance and bring forth what you have withheld from the public."

In the end, Ves acquiesced to Constance's request. Venerable Brutus brought him down to the hangar bays of the Parma Imago so that he could call upon the Superior Mother to enhance the spiritual foundations of the brand-new Valkyrie mechs.

This was a fairly quick process that did not need much effort on his part. In fact, he was able to do this procedure by remote if needed.

The hardest part to him was to call the Superior Mother's attention and prompt her to donate some of her strength in order to empower the mechs in question.

Surprisingly, the Superior Mother easily accepted his request. Love flowed through their spiritual connection while the Superior Mother gently empowered every Valkyrie mech he designated.

She even listened to his instructions and capped the strengthening to 25 Ves!

In order to give the Wodins the impression that he was actually doing something, he boarded each and every mech and tinkered with some random settings in the operating system.

"It's done." He said as the Superior Mother receded.

Venerable Brutus appeared doubtful. Though he sensed some elevated activity in all of the mechs, he expected something more.

"Is that it? You hardly did anything."

Ves shrugged. "I didn't withhold much from the mechs. I just had to raise some limits. You Wodins will discover the difference in time."

Hopefully, his new mother-in-law would be happy with this little contribution!