The Mech Touch

As the unclean whale slowly lost more and more battle strength, the human pioneering groups that had temporarily united together under a single cause were already beginning to show their divisions.

Ves had read many stories in the regional publications about allies and coalition partners falling out due to disputes concerning safety and loot.

It just so happened that the current issue related to both of these issues.

To the people who respected and feared the phase whale race, the unclean whale that had emerged from the depths of the Palace of Shame was an extremely powerful threat.

Phase whales firmly occupied the top of the hierarchy in the Red Ocean. Even a delinquent member of this renowned and poorly understood race could still launch all manner of lethal attacks when it appeared to be in an infirm state.

Everything that Ves had learned during his stint in the System Space had given him a much greater understanding of the strengths of creatures whose bodies carried significant amounts of phasewater.

The locals considered them to be gods for more than just historical reasons!

Now that he had become a qualified exobiologist, he could think of too many possibilities for the unclean whale to hide a lot of surprises. It was impossible for the pioneering groups to control a massive beast that had so much phasewater and biomass at his disposal!

Ves wanted to complete the goal that he had been trying to realize for several months. He spent more time on trying to end the unclean whale as a threat that he could not accept an outcome where he left the job half-finished!

"Minister Shederin." He turned to the projection of his diplomatic leader. "Tell me why the Gemini Family along with the Santana Group and the Lehrer Foundation are so eager to keep this extremely dangerous alien powerhouse alive."

The older man did not need to look up any information to supply his answer. "It's quite simple, sir. None of the leaders who are in charge of the respective fleets are stupid. They understand the risks involved, but the payoff of keeping the phase whale alive long enough until the MTA takes over custody is extremely rich. You should already have an estimate of how many MTA merits we can earn for submitting a living phase whale to the mechers. The value of this particular specimen is even greater because it is a rare unclean whale variant."

This was not the first whale that Ves surrendered to the MTA. The Golden Skull Alliance already received a generous bag of MTA merits and others after the Purgatory Campaign.

Though Ves definitely did not object to the idea of earning millions of MTA merits, he had endured enough risks in one battle.

"What else is motivating those three pioneering groups to vote in favor of keeping this blasted whale alive?"

"The motives of the Santana Group and the Lehrer Foundation are simple enough. They are primarily interested in profit and research, respectively. The Santanas want to maximize their profit, and a living phase whale is many times more valuable than a dead creature. The risk that the Santanas lose all of their mech forces if they have made the wrong gamble is an acceptable risk in their eyes. The Lehrer Foundation is driven by the need to study such a rare and valuable specimen up close in order to understand their biology."

Ves deduced the underlying context of Shederin's words. "Ugh, so the Santanas and the Lehrers won't back off so easily?"

"Don't forget that the Santana Xenoarchaeology Division Fleet and the Lehrer Expeditionary Fleet are treated as the expendable arms of their respective organizations. It is their job to brave danger and incur risks in the hopes that their folks back at headquarters can reap all of the benefits. Their risk-benefit analysis is different from ours because their top executives aren't risking their own lives to secure a massive prize. That alone tends to skew every consideration towards greater risks. I think you should learn from their model."

In other words, if anything went wrong, the Santana Group and the Lehrer Foundation would only lose one of their many fleets!

"What of the Geminis?" Ves asked. "What drives these incestuous twins to take so many risks? They have been pushing us all to attack all this time."

"The Geminis are also interested in maximizing their yield, but not for the sake of money alone. The wealth gained from capturing a living phase whale and obtaining as much alien plunder as possible is likely reserved to fund the expansion of the colonies of the Gemini Family."

"Are you saying the Geminis aren't enough with the star system that they have colonized and wish to found their own state!? That's crazy! There aren't enough colonists who are willing to adopt their unique cultural practices!"

Minister Shederin was not as pessimistic about this ambition. "You would be surprised how many people are willing to abandon their principles and values in the face of a tempting reward. The greater the strength and prosperity of the Gemini Family, the greater the ability to build a regional powerbase. The Geminis have great ambition and think they can succeed as long as they can harvest enough rewards from this venture."

"What is your judgment? Do they have a chance to succeed?"

"They have." Shederin replied. "Their odds are greater than you think. Just look at the Hexers. The Red Ocean is big enough to accommodate all kinds of ideologies and beliefs. By the time the new frontier is filled with so many different human states that the only way to obtain territory is to take it from others, the state founded by the Gemini Family should already have a solid foundation. This is what the Geminis are banking on. The more they invest in their own private kingdom at an early stage, the greater their chance of establishing a successful state. Do you understand now why they are so desperate to secure greater rewards?"

"I do…"

Operation Lighthouse played an essential role in helping the Gemini Family become the rulers of a large and thriving colonial state. This had become such a driving obsession to the Gemini leaders that they were probably willing to take unreasonably risks to earn a big payout!

While a part of Ves definitely sympathized with their situation, he did not see the need for him and his clan to suffer for other people's mistakes!

He still had plenty of MTA merits on his record and his clan wasn't short on capital either. It did not really make that much of a difference for the Larkinsons if they were able to keep the unclean whale alive.

Now that Ves learned that half of the temporary coalition was more than willing to play with fire, he needed to know whether there was enough counterweight.

"What do our allies think, Shederin?'

"Well, the Glory Seekers are fully in favor of minimizing the risks while the Cross Clan is indifferent. They will follow our lead as long as we express a strong opinion to neutralize the threat."

Ves smiled. He could always count on them to have his back.

"That is good to hear. What about the remaining two coalition partners? Have they expressed their stances?"

"General Herman Foraine has already sent us a missive stating that the Adelaide Mercenary Company is opposed to the Gemini Family's proposal." The foreign affairs minister replied. "Mercenaries tend to be highly sensitive towards risk considering that they must put their lives at stake on a constant basis. The best ones tend to learn when they should put down their greed and let go. They wouldn't be able to last that long if they blindly pushed to do more."

"It is good to hear that the Adelaides have regained their senses. What of the Boojay Family?"

"The Boojays have yet to formulate an official answer to us, which is telling in itself. We can still make inferences. The Boojays have yet to colonize their own planets. They are currently nomads just like us. They have even concentrated most of their assets in a single fleet. This tells us that the Boojays should not be enthusiastic about keeping the whale alive."

"Better follow up on that, Shederin. It is best to obtain a strong commitment from their corner. In any case, if all of what you have said is true, then both sides will enter a deadlock where neither of us can get our way."

Minister Shederin grimaced. "Not quite, sir. The balance of power is skewed towards the side of the Geminis. They not only have one more ace mech at their disposal than us, but they also have the best whale and ship-killing ace mech on their side. You cannot deny that the Thunderer Mark II has played the leading role in defeating the massive beast. If the talks between the two sides ever deteriorate past a critical point, the opposing side can exert much greater leverage than us. They will keep the whale alive by force if necessary."

Those were indeed good points. While it was doubtful whether the two sides would come to blows, the Golden Skull Alliance along with the Adelaide Mercenary Company and the Boojay Family simply didn't have the strength or numbers to push their stance.

Perhaps he was being a bit paranoid about worrying about all of the tricks that the unclean whale had up his sleeve, but Ves simply felt it was bad news to keep such a hostile beast alive.

Perhaps he could go behind everyone's back. He could discreetly instruct his new cyborg cat to destroy the alien brain of the massive unclean whale, but doing so would definitely get traced back to the Larkinson Clan.

"I do not think it is as difficult as you think to persuade the coalition into slaying the unclean whale." Minister Shederin said in an encouraging tone. "We merely need to take a closer look at the different parties and their motives."

When the man outlined his analysis and action plan, Ves felt that it all made sense. He became eager enough to try out the foreign minister's proposal!

"Let's do it your way, then." Ves grinned. "Do I need to talk to any of the leaders in person?"

"You do. Not all of their representatives will take me seriously, especially under battlefield conditions. Only you can speak for our entire alliance."

"Understood. I guess I will have to pull out my old Devil Tongue again." Ves sighed.

Time was of essence so he did not delay any further. He opened a private communication channel to the Thunderer Mark II which had slowed down its rate of fire by this time.

Its potential of destruction was great enough to topple over the unclean whale's defenses, but now that capacity for mass destruction had become a costly liability at this stage of the battle.

Saint Osenring no longer had to devote as much attention towards attacking the final remaining foe, so he readily accepted the communication request.

"Thank you for altering my ace mech, patriarch." The ace pilot charitably began. "I had my doubts about the changes that you have enacted through that little expert mech of yours, but the results do not lie. Your actions may have saved us today."

Ves smiled at the grateful Saint. "Are you enjoying the new enhancements to your ace mech?"

"I do. I have only scratched the surface of what you have done to my Thunderer Mark II, but if I can retain this level of penetration power, no ace mech or warship will be able to resist attacks for long. Are these changes permanent?"

"That… depends."

The ace pilot narrowed his intense and steely eyes. "On what, exactly?"

"On whether the suits in charge of your fleet are willing to make a transaction with our clan." Ves smirked.