The Mech Touch

Commanding a starship was difficult. As long as ships grew beyond the size of where a single spacer could perform all of the necessary functions, it became essential to rely on other people.

Back when Ves initially received the Barracuda, he witnessed how the corvette ran smoothly under the control of a small crew of close friends and comrades.

This was different.

The HHX-6963 was a beast with so much space, sections, compartments, components and other intricate systems that a crew of 2000 was only reluctantly able to keep her running!

Due to automation and the immense size of many ship components, it didn't take as many people as people thought to run a capital ship.

Naturally, relying too much on automation had its own dangers. After his jaunt aboard the Starlight Megalodon, Ves developed a healthy paranoia towards ships that relied too much on automation.

This was why he looked rather mixed as Captain Vraken began her tour at the most sensitive locations of the factory ship.

As one of the most crucial compartments of the vessel, security was paramount. The bulkheads were reinforced with thick, mech-grade armor. A permanent security detachment manned the checkpoint. Their heavy combat armor and their heavy assault rifles exerted a lot of deterrence towards anyone that strayed towards the heavy blast doors up ahead.

Ves and Gloriana showed no concern. Under the Grand Captain's lead, they subjected themselves to an extensive sweep and identity verification check.

The security checks were so thorough that the Miracle Couple even had to solve some randomly-generated design problems! This simple test practically closed the door to any infiltrators like Calabast. After all, how could a random spy ever possibly solve a Journeyman-level design problem within a very strict time limit?

In the absurd chance that someone dispatched a Journeyman Mech Designer who also happened to be trained as an infiltrator, there were other tests to make life difficult!

"As per your instructions, only you have the right to enter this critical compartment." Captain Vraken informed Ves. "No one, not even myself or your spouse has the right to pass through these blast doors. The only way we can enter is if you bring us inside."

Ves nodded in satisfaction as he underwent some other unique tests that he personally had a hand in designing.

After travelling through many places, he had witnessed many feats of exceptional tech. Just the capabilities the MTA and CFA had showed off was enough to make him dazzled!

While he could never guard against the might of the Big Two, he could still do his best to frustrate the attempts of anyone else from drilling inside this crucial compartment.

First, a security guard carefully approached and held up a device. Ves placed his hand on it. A small connection established from his finger to his implant.

"Implant verified."

After that, someone brought a scanning device that thoroughly scanned his chest.

"Organ verified."

Ves smirked. This was the identity verification procedure that Ves had devised with the help of Calabast.

It was almost impossible to replicate his Jutland organ. Sure, the CFA did so without effort, but that was because the fleeters possessed superior cloning tech and had ample access to monoexurite.

Other powers had to go through a lot more trouble. In order to clone or cultivate a Jutland organ from scratch, an exobiologist had to replicate the research performed by Dr. Jutland.

This was as difficult as trying to replicate Ves' design philosophy!

Even if someone accomplished this near-impossible feat, the infiltrator who implanted a perfectly identical Jutland organ also had to carry a highly-modified Archimedes Rubal 1002-Z Cranial Codex Implant!

The original advanced, first-class cranial implant may be a couple of centuries out of date, but it was still a product that was far out of the reach of any second-class power!

Only the Big Two and possibly the first-rate superstates were able to reconstruct the original implant.

Yet that wasn't enough. The implant had undergone extensive modification. Even if someone was able to reconstruct all of the updates and upgrades, they also had to store an immense cryptographic key in its storage space.

Aside from that, the cranial implant itself had bonded to his neurons and brain tissue in a very unique pattern. It was incredibly difficult to replicate the exact layout as each implantation attempt produced different patterns.

If anything went wrong, then the carefully-cloned or modified body that took immense effort to create had to be scrapped!

"What a devious set of hurdles!" Gloriana gasped as she observed the steps.

"Thank you." Ves grinned. "Although I don't expect this method to be infallible, it should stop at least 99 percent of our possible enemies. Besides, there is a final test that should account for the remaining 1 percent."

He approached a statue that depicted the ancestral spirit of the Larkinson Clan. He placed his hand on top of the head of the statue.

The statue was actually a totem that Ves had personally made. It not only served as an identity verification device, but also functioned as an alarm against any spiritual intrusions.

Ves had specifically designed it to guard against Lucky's mischief!

While he didn't possess enough B-stone to stop Lucky from phasing through all of the solid barriers, his cat wasn't capable of escaping the surveillance of the Golden Cat!

"Meow…" Lucky looked glum as he listlessly flipped his tail.

"Stop moping. I don't want you to sabotage what's inside and possibly ruin my brand-new factory ship. Just behave!"

"Meow!"

Ves turned his attention back to the statue. It only took a small amount of effort to excite the life contained within.

A powerful glow that made every Larkinson feel secure emanated from the totem!

If that wasn't enough, the two luminar crystal eyeballs shone in gold!

That was enough to pass the final test. Ves retracted his hand, causing the totem to fall asleep.

There may be infiltrators who were equivalent to Journeyman Mech Designers.

There may be infiltrators who possessed an exact copy of his Jutland organ.

There may be infiltrators who carried an exact replica of his Archimedes Rubal implant.

It may even be possible that someone found some way to fool the spiritual programming of his totem.

Yet Ves dared to bet that there shouldn't be anyone in existence who could pass through all four checks at once!

If some organization was powerful enough to defy his expectations, then what was the point? Anyone powerful enough to go through all of these hurdles might as well blow up his factory ship directly!

The heavily-armored guards deferentially stepped aside. "You are welcome to proceed, sir!"

"Good work, Battle Criers." Ves smiled. "Don't loosen your vigilance. Even if it's me, never skip any of the procedures."

"Understood, sir!"

Ves had entrusted the responsibility of guarding the interior of his factory ships to the Battle Criers. A lot of bonded infantry and security officers took up positions at crucial positions such as the bridge, the engineering bays, the production halls and so on. In short, the Battle Criers guarded over almost every critical section of his flagship!

He could have entrusted this responsibility to his other troops such as the Avatars of Myth or the Penitent Sisters.

However, he preferred to turn to the Battle Criers due to their dual loyalty guarantees. While the Larkinson Network guaranteed at least a basic degree of loyalty from his Larkinsons, it was mainly directed towards the clan as a whole rather than him as a person.

While the Battle Criers were subject to the Golden Cat's influence as well, they maintained a second form of loyalty, and that was their Kinner training.

Although Ves didn't actually know how the Kinners raised such hyper-loyal human products, he was very impressed by what he purchased. In the past couple of months, he purchased a lot of manpower from the Kinner Tribe.

While he hired a bunch of mech pilots and related support personnel, he was more interested in expanding his ground troops.

Of all the possible human products the Kinner Tribe sold, infantry soldiers was one of their most abundant offerings!

Ves had bought an entire elite infantry regiment at once. With over 2000 ready-made and trustworthy infantry soldiers at his command, he assigned them to his factory ship and some other critical vessels.

Of course, he did not put all of his eggs in one basket. He already prepared some contingencies in case the Battle Criers proved more fallible than he thought.

After Ves had passed all of the identity checks, several layers of blast doors finally peeled open.

Captain Vraken, Ves, Gloriana, Lucky and Clixie cautiously entered the highly-guarded vault.

They looked around. A lot of sophisticated databanks and computing equipment quietly hummed inside the metallic space. Specialized cooling solutions kept the temperature under control.

"Welcome to the primary data vault, otherwise known as the brain of the HHX-6963." Daria-Maria Vraken solemnly introduced. "It is here that much of the data of the ship is stored. It is also here that a lot of intensive data processing takes place. While these data banks and other hardware are some of the best the Hegemony has ever produced, the real prize rests in the center."

The group moved forward until they approached a pedestal placed in the middle. Two metal pillars extended from the deck and ceiling. They projected a strong energy field that caused a head-sized metal ball to hover in between.

Captain Vraken couldn't maintain her professional and unreadable expression at this moment. A look of sheer reverence briefly broke her mask!

"This, Mr. and Mrs. Larkinson, is one of the most valuable components on this vessel. This is the ASTERA Artificial Intelligence Core. On its own, this modestly-sized core already surpasses the capabilities of all of the surrounding data banks and processors! With this powerful core, you can perform the most powerful and intensive calculations without having to wait for an eternity to obtain your results. Compared to regular AI cores, this unit is up to 2000 percent more effective!"

This was an incredibly powerful AI core! With a super core like this, the HHX-6963 was able to break through powerful ECM measures, calculate precise long-ranged FTL traversals, perform incredibly detailed mech simulations, among many other benefits!

In truth, the regular data processing machines in the primary data vault were already sufficient to support the daily operations of the flagship. Ves specially allocated a generous proportion of his budget on acquiring the ASTERA when he saw the Hegemony was willing to put it on offer.

Its performance was simply too good to pass up! He knew that ordinary people should never have access to something as powerful as the ASTERA. If Ves and Gloriana hadn't impressed the Hexers with their impactful mech designs, then the shipyard that built the HHX-6963 would have never been allowed to integrate such a precious component.

"Where does the ASTERA come from, exactly?" Gloriana puzzlingly asked.

"The Hegemony redeemed it directly from the Common Fleet Alliance." Captain Vraken answered. "The invasion of the sandmen has led to the culling of many sandman admirals. The CFA has taken in many broken or inert sandman admiral 'bodies' and converted them into standardized starship AI cores."

"How could the CFA let go of something so valuable?!"

The captain smiled and shook her head. "You misunderstand the ASTERA's value. To us, it is immensely powerful. To them, it's a defective product. The CFA only demands the best. The fleeters have only kept the AI cores made out of the largest and most intact sandman admiral cores. As for this unit, it's actually made out of an incomplete fraction, a tiny shard if you will. It is a given that the CFA does not value such a weak AI core."

Ves, who intended to make full use of the ASTERA's amazing processing power, tried his best to suppress his tech envy. The CFA's AI cores were probably at least billions or even trillions times more powerful!

"We are more than happy to pick up their trash."