The Mech Touch

Ves did not reject the arrangements made by the Streon and the Devos Ancient Clans because he was not eager to meet with one of his former Mastery hosts.

He also did not want to speak with General Axelar Streon without sufficient preparation.

The huge amount of information and insights he gained from his extensive examination and exchange with the Ouroboros had given him a lot of food for thought.

Ves had only been able to conduct a superficial analysis of the state of the Ouroboros for the time being!

This was far from enough to talk about the Ouroboros in a more productive and helpful fashion.

He needed to spend a lot more time on analyzing the exact deficiencies of his old work and figure out effective means to unlock its potential.

It might already be too late to undo all of the damage, but Ves believed he should be able to develop other solutions that could help the Ouroboros unlock the shackles that were holding it back.

As Ves left the underground hangar and rejoined his family, the evening banquet had already come to a close.

The Devosans clearly understood that it was no longer suitable to entertain their guest of honor any further, so they told Ves to take a good rest before they returned the next day.

This was more than fine for Ves as he remained almost fully engaged in his latest preoccupation.

Gloriana practically rolled her eyes when she saw him in this state. "Not again. Has he fallen into his old habits again, Lucky?"

"Meow." The gem cat confirmed.

"Will we be able to shake him from his one-track mind?"

"Meow meow."

"Typical."

The family along with their cats were already accustomed to this. They left Ves to his own thoughts as they moved to a highly secure villa that was tightly surrounded by the first-class mechs of the Bluejay Fleet.

The villa was located well within the campus of the Eden Institute, making it easy and convenient for Ves and his family to stay on New Constantinople VIII during their visit.

While Ves always had the option of teleporting back to the Tarrasque in high orbit, he hated the frequent use of teleportation. There were so many possible ways that it could go horribly wrong that he found it crazy that the first-raters trusted it so much!

A restless night went by as Ves only slept for a short time.

He spent more time on thinking about all of the complexities involved with the Ouroboros that he couldn't bring himself to stop for a long time.

Even though he had not made any agreements with General Axelar Streon, Ves wanted to fix the Ouroboros somehow.

All of his other thoughts and considerations about the old living mech and its pilot went out of the window as Ves became fixated on a single overarching purpose.

"I have to fix this mech!"

It would have been okay if Ves only ever saw the Ouroboros from a projected image.

Yet now that he had come close enough to reconnect with his old work, there was no way he could allow its glaring deficiencies to persist without making any attempt to fix so many obvious mistakes!

There was no deep or complex reason behind this compulsion. It was simply a part of his nature as a mech designer and a service provider.

His principles and the tenets of his design philosophy made it unthinkable for him to leave the Ouroboros to its own devices. This was especially the case when it actively reached out to its progenitor to make it right again!

At this point, Ves longer cared as much about the implications of this course of action.

He originally wanted to maintain his distance and take Miss Alexa Streon under his wing so that she could gradually learn the skills needed to correct the Ouroboros.

While this was still a viable solution, it would take far too long to fix living mech in distress.

If 'saving' the Ouroboros was the greatest priority, then it was much faster and more efficient for Ves to take action instead!

Besides, it was his responsibility to begin with. His unfortunate design choices and actions during his past Mastery experience had caused a living mech to grow up without proper guidance and direction for so long.

Even if Ves hadn't taken the Ouroboros all that seriously at the time, its remarkable growth and survival up to the present day forced him to acknowledge this living mech!

A lot of different mech designers up to the Grand Mender had worked on its design over the years, but Axelar's decision to retain its living traits meant that the Ouroboros still belonged to Ves in the end.

As far as he was concerned, Ves had designed the essence of the Ouroboros and brought it to life.

All of the other mech designers that came afterwards only worked on the less essential aspects of the increasingly more powerful living mech.

Ves was thankful to all of those mech designers for respecting his original vision and intent.

Even though these Terran mech designers did not know him at all, the people of their profession were still able to understand each other by analyzing their works.

Ves felt a strong urge to find a way to get in touch with the Grand Mender so that he could hear her thoughts on the Ouroboros!

In any case, as long as the original essence of the Ouroboros remained alive, Ves knew that he had a bit of room for manipulation!

As morning dawned, the Devos Ancient Clan clearly wanted to resume its engagement with Ves and the Larkinsons.

Ves did not maintain as much interest in dealing with the Devosans as before, but he knew that he needed a lot of buffer time before he was ready to engage with General Axelar Streon.

This was why he tolerated the schedule set for him. He tried his best not to put too much of his mind on the Ouroboros as his current hosts sought to make up for what happened yesterday.

When Ves got in touch with Alexa Streon once again, the young lady briefly explained how the two ancient clans quietly resolved their differences.

"We have to pay significant reparations to the Devosans in a way that makes it clear that we have suffered the consequences of our blunder. Before this happened, it may have been possible to arrange an early introduction between you and my grandfather, but that is completely out of the question at the moment. The Termite Hill isn't even allowed to linger in orbit of New Constantinople VIII to prevent any further incidents."

Of course, Alexa mainly referred to the possibility that the Ouroboros might take unilateral action once again. There was no way that General Axelar Streon would make such a mistake.

Ves found it a pity that the Ouroboros was being moved away from him, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would get in touch with his old work once again.

"I understand. Has this accident inconvenienced your ancient clan a lot?"

"Initially, we thought so, but our leaders are trying to make the most out of this unanticipated development. There is an opening for our two ancient clans to build a closer relationship and expand our business ties. With the war against the native aliens heating up, it has become increasingly more important to expand our base of support. With this incident as an impetus, we can make extensive gains by cooperating with the Devosans. It is just that the other party will profit more from this due to our mistakes."

This was how the Terrans preferred to solve a disagreement. Neither side wanted to deepen their animosity towards each other as that would only drain their resources for no good reasons.

Since it was in their best interest to cooperate with each other instead, the Terrans were able to set aside any impulsive ideas and work towards a more desirable resolution.

Ves admired the way the Terrans resolved their differences so effectively.

"This doesn't happen often, professor. It is just that the Devosans are in a weak and vulnerable position. Their ancient clan is not strong to begin with, and the new age has put them in a particularly precarious position as the Agamemnon Upper Zone is too close to the frontlines."

In other words, the Devosans were much more desperate for allies that could back them up in the difficult times ahead!

It was easy enough to understand how the Devos Ancient Clan benefited from a closer partnership, but what about the other party?

"How does your clan benefit from this outcome?"

"1 cannot divulge the full details, but 1 can tell you that our clan seeks to build a coalition among the Terrans. It is no secret that my grandfather has always sought to reform a newer, more modern and more dynamic Terran state. The Devosans are likely much more willing to play along because they can gain the protection of our powerful armed forces."

"I see."

Due to General Axelar Streon's strong commitment to the Red Ocean, the Streon Ancient Clan had definitely invested much more in its colonies than the other Terran clans.

The 1st Streon Mech Army at full strength was one of the strongest backbones of the Streons in the new frontier!

Even though it was highly troublesome and expensive to maintain and update the 250,000 mechs that were dispersed throughout Terran space, the collective combat power of this renowned mech army was enough to make the Red Two nervous!

The Devos Ancient Clan had not invested nearly as much in the Red Ocean. While the Devosans could raise large mech armies comprised out of inferior mechs with relative ease, it was impossible for them to form a strong mech army with more elite specifications in a short amount of time!

Ves suddenly widened his eyes.

He suddenly realized that there were many golden opportunities for him to do business with the Devos Ancient Clan!

Before the Great Severing occurred, the Devosans took a more measured and laid-back approach to colonizing the Red Ocean.

Not only had they entered the new frontier relatively late, they had also been taking their time on building up their colonies.

This had many adverse consequences.

Their armed forces were not only smaller in number, but many of the military mechs weren't the best.

Their population was lacking in comparison with the other ancient clans.

The Riston Territory was smaller and did not offer as much resources.

There weren't enough elite mech academies and other educational institutions to meet the demand of the armed forces in the future.

Ves had always held the image that the Terran Ancient Clans were all so powerful, thorough and meticulous in their actions that they hardly ever needed any outside help.

This might not be wrong back in the Milky Way, but it was substantially different in the Red Ocean!

This was the new frontier!

This was a place where Ves felt much more at home than all of these stuffy and high-minded Terrans!

Ves suddenly sharpened his eyes.

"Alexa?"

"Yes, professor?"

"I would like to receive your rundown on the state of the Devos Ancient Clan." He said with renewed purpose. "You don't have to share any dark secrets about the Devosans to me, but I would like to receive more extensive information than what I can gain through common channels. I will consider it a favor if you satisfy this request."

Alexa Streon was smart enough to guess what Ves had in mind. She paused in thought as this was not the kind of matter that she could decide on the spot.

A dozen or so seconds passed before she eventually nodded.

"My grandfather has just given me permission to do so." The young lady responded. "This is a time where the Terrans must come together as much as possible. If you can meet the needs of the Devosans and earn their trust, then that will facilitate greater trade and cooperation in our region of space. Perhaps it is good for a third party to come in and shake up the status quo in advance."

Ves grinned at that "I like the way you think "

Even though Ves and Axelar Streon had yet to meet in person, they had already formed a tentative blueprint of cooperation, all without speaking directly with each other!