The Mech Touch

Before the expeditionary fleet moved on to the gate system, it had to complete one necessary chore.

"We need to dump our excess ships and goods."

This was why the Golden Skull Alliance stopped at an extremely busy port system that was filled with starships.

At least half of the hulls were recently sold and had not yet gained a new crew that could bring them away.

Thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of sub-capital ships passed hands every day as a constant influx of pioneering fleets sought to trim down their ship counts before passing through the gate system.

The restrictive limitations imposed by the Big Two left the pioneers with no choice but to offload all of their smaller vessels!

Fortunately, the Larkinsons as well as the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan made preparations in advance. The expeditionary fleet calmly obeyed the instructions transmitted by traffic control and reached a moon orbiting a gas giant.

There, the alliance partners all pulled out their remaining personnel from their sub-capital ships. Ships such as the Scarlet Rose, the Barracuda and the Mother's Wrath that had served the Larkinson Clan well now became unwanted goods due to the inability to bring them into the Red Ocean.

Ves grew a bit melancholic as he witnessed the large-scale handover. Hundreds of combat carriers that used to carry at least forty mechs each soon fell into the hands of savvy ship vendors.

While the supply of sub-capital ships was excessive in Tarnished Crown, many other star sectors and star clusters desperately needed more of them. The second-hand starship traders earned insane profits by transporting ships to places like the Komodo Star Sector where the ongoing war produced an insane demand for vessels that could be used to evacuate a dynasty or group!

If Ves was a bit greedier, he would have attempted to do the same. It was folly to do so, though. The majority of ship thefts and hijacking incidents arose when opportunistic pirates tracked down and raided the empty carriers.

Without mechs or mech pilots, there was no way these valuable ships were able to fend off attackers!

The reasons why the established ship vendors succeeded where others failed was because they were able to invest more resources into protection and likely made implicit deals with the pirates in advance.

Although it was shady business, the ship vendors had plenty of reasons to collude with pirates.

All of this was why the Larkinson Clan never thought to transport their unwanted sub-capital ships to a distant star sector in order to earn a princely sum. The Larkinson Clan may be in debt but it didn't need to take so many risks to obtain a bit of relief.

Aside from risking pirate attacks, the Larkinsons also couldn't mobilize any trusted manpower to perform the trade.

If the Larkinsons really wanted to maximize the profits from the sale of their sub-capital ships, then they needed to fill them with their own personnel. They also had to retain all of their excess mechs and make sure that they were paired with mech pilots.

Yet which clansman was stupid enough to stay in the old galaxy when all of the excitement took place in the Red Ocean? The entire clan had come so far to reach this point. There was no way that any Larkinson wanted to get off this ride at this point!

Ves was also highly disinclined to leave any proper member of the Larkinson Clan behind.

As for leaving their former mechs and starships in the hands of so-called retainers or external members, no one in the clan seriously entertained this notion. The clan had to hire too much personnel to do a relatively thankless job. It just wasn't worth the hassle.

The consequence of all of this was that Ves and many other Larkinsons watched on as they said goodbye to all of their former assets.

It wasn't just the ships that they were losing. They also had to dispose of thousands of mechs, ranging from Bright Warriors to Transcendent Punishers. The nine capital ships in the hands of the Larkinsons simply couldn't fit all of the machines!

What was worse was that Ves couldn't allow the Larkinson-exclusive mechs to find new homes. They not only performed poorly when they were piloted by non-clansmen, but also contained numerous trade secrets and exclusive technology that he didn't want to spread.

Of course, Ves doubted whether models such as the Bright Warrior still retained any secrets after his fleet abandoned a lot of wrecks after the Battle of Fordilla Zentra.

"It doesn't matter. Larkinson mechs can't fall into the hands of others."

The Larkinsons had to make a painful choice. They had to put a premature end to the majority of their mechs. All of these living mechs had gone through numerous battles and developed slight but notable bonds with their assigned mech pilots. They didn't do anything to deserve this fate, but Ves did not budge from his stance.

"Even if it goes against my principles, I cannot needlessly expose my private work."

Ves moved to the production halls where the crews began to disassemble the mechs instead of assembling them. Though he immediately felt uncomfortable after seeing so many living mechs meeting their ends, he needed to own up to his decision.

The experienced production personnel not only dismantled the Larkinson mechs, but also destroyed or deformed all of the components. Otherwise, anyone who bought all of the salvage could easily piece the valuable mechs back together!

"Hopefully, this won't happen again."

The Larkinson Clan was only forced to destroy its own living mechs in order to pass through the beyonder gate. Once the Larkinsons arrived at the Red Ocean, Ves didn't think he would go back anytime soon.

This provided his mech pilots with lots of time where they could develop sincere bonds with their living mechs and grow alongside them. As long as the machines didn't fall in battle, each of them would eventually develop into powerful treasures!

As Ves continued to observe the deaths of his mechs, he was joined by an unexpected figure.

"Maikel! What are you doing here?"

"I… guess I'm here for the same reason as you, teacher." The mech design student answered as he walked up to the clan patriarch by himself. "It's like we've entered a slaughterhouse. These mechs are all being butchered, not by the enemy, but by their own side. It's sickening when you think about it. Couldn't we have stripped them down before selling them off? Even if they're half as strong, they would still be able to gain second lives."

Ves ruefully smiled. "I've already thought about that. I care for my mechs as well, but your suggestion is too unworkable. Our Larkinson mechs contain premium components that are licensed from the Hexadric Hegemony. We don't have permission to resell that tech to the public. Besides, our clan has stuffed plenty of goodies into those mechs as well. Putting them up for sale in the second-hand mech market was never an option."

Maikel looked sad. As a future mech designer, he was not ignorant of the practical reasons why the Larkinson Clan had to kill its own living mechs. As someone who already adopted the stance that every mech had to be treated as a living entity, what was taking place on this ship violated his principles!

Ves put his hand on Maikel's shoulders. "Don't forget that while mechs can be alive, they are still products that exist for a purpose, and that is to provide value to their owners and operators. If their existence no longer provides any use but instead becomes a burden, then don't let sentimentality get in the way of necessity. All of the other choices that we could choose from will only result in the weakening of the Larkinson Clan. If we all die because we insist on preserving these redundant mechs, then all of our other living mechs will perish! Neither of us will be able to design any new living mechs either, which means that all of humanity will miss the opportunity to experience our products. Do you understand?"

The younger Larkinson reluctantly nodded. "Emotionally, I still can't accept how we are treating our living mechs. Rationally… I understand that this is the best of our bad choices."

"Well said. I am glad that you are able to acknowledge our difficult circumstances. One day, you will have to make choices like these as well. All I can say is that you should always remember your priorities. The lives of our clansmen are always more important than the lives of our mechs. Naturally, I want to preserve both of them, but if I ever have to make a choice, then human lives will always take precedence. That is what it means to be a truly qualified mech designer."

Ves left Maikel alone after he gave the kid a valuable lesson.

Though his student was too young to truly accept this difficult course of action, once he gained more experience and exercised responsibility, Maikel should make the same choice.

Ves and many Larkinsons were glad when they finally put all of this behind them. Once the expeditionary fleet slimmed down to just the capital ships, the Golden Skull Alliance parted ways with the mercenaries and moved on to a star system that was just a stone's throw away from the Opalis System.

Due to the emergence of the Crown Uprising and the threat to the extremely precious beyonder gates, the MTA no longer allowed anyone to directly enter a gate system.

Even though it was extremely unlikely for anyone who had just entered a star system with a beyonder gate to deal any serious damage, the MTA did not want to take any chances.

At the very least, attacks on less-protected targets such as other pioneering fleets not only produced a considerable amount of disruption, but also damaged the prestige of the Big Two!

How could the most powerful authorities of humanity tolerate hooligans starting up fires on their front porches? The right way to prevent these acts of vandalism from happening was to set up a checkpoint at the front gates.

This was why the Golden Skull Alliance entered into a star system that used to be a rural backwater but had been transformed into an MTA outpost after the opening of the Red Ocean.

Ves observed the local situation on the bridge of the Spirit of Bentheim.

The expeditionary fleet already announced its plan and intentions to the MTA in advance. Even before the Golden Skull Alliance transitioned out of FTL, it already received a detailed set of instructions.

"Follow the track provided by the MTA and maintain the recommended pace. Inform me if any ship is struggling to keep up. We should do our best to avoid inconveniencing the inspectors."

Once Ves saw that his fleet and clan didn't encounter any immediate difficulties, he relaxed and studied the other ships and fleets in the star system.

The local plot was extremely busy. While congestion simply didn't exist in space, the sheer amount of starships waiting to undergo inspection boggled the mind. This was especially remarkable when Ves was able to see that the overwhelming majority of them were capital ships!

"So this is why capital ships are hard to find these days. They're all pouring into the Red Ocean!" Ves huffed.

Over a thousand capital ships were waiting for inspections in this star system, but this was only one of several outposts set up by the MTA. There were many other pioneering fleets heading to the Opalis System from different star clusters and directions.

Opalis was just one gate node in the galaxy. There were so many other comparable gate systems in the old galaxy that the total number of capital ships flooding into the Red Ocean every day must amount to a horrifying figure!

Ves became a bit more understanding towards the Big Two insistence that only capital ships should pass through the sole public greater beyonder gate.

If the Gate Consortium had to ferry all of the sub-capital ships of the pioneering fleets, then it had to corral millions of sub-capital ships every day!

"When will it be our turn to get inspected?"

"You better sit down for a long wait because there are 23 pioneering fleets that are still waiting their turn."

"Damn."