The Mech Touch - Chapter 7125: A New Strategic Partnership

Chapter 7125: A New Strategic Partnership

The mood in the garden courtyard had grown warmer.

Both sides were satisfied with the initial promises they obtained from each other.

Although they still had to hammer out the details in a formal agreement, they had already completed the most important steps. The lawyers and the other bureaucrats only had to follow the lead of their principals and make sure the legal terms aligned with the verbal commitments.

Ves knew that as long as both sides completed the contract and signed it, the Larkinson Clan would become a lot more aligned to the Red Fleet than before.

The nature of their relationship would change. Ves and the Larkinsons had long maintained a special relationship with the Red Association for obvious reasons.

Now, their relationship with the Red Fleet was bound to catch up in a massive way.

The fleeters wanted living dreadnoughts badly in order to make up for the heartbreaking loss of the Dominion of Man.

In order to satisfy this priority goal, the fleeters were finally willing to drop their caution and suspend many of the annoying rules that used to play a useful role but had now become impediments to their recovery.

The fleeters were generally a lot more hesitant about cooperating with third parties than the mechers.

Ves applauded their willingness to change this stance and gather the courage to entrust vital responsibilities to external parties.

Naturally, the Larkinson Clan was not willing to do all of this for free. Even though he and Astrid did not go into the specifics during this conversation, the negotiators from the Larkinson Clan would definitely fight hard to secure as many concessions on the wish list as possible.

High technology, warship designs, super-class materials, RF Warship Tokens and training quotas were all up for grabs.

Since the Larkinson Clan lacked a naval tradition, then why not remedy that and build one from scratch?

It was probably impossible to ever catch up to the Red Fleet or one of the major players, but that was way too extravagant of a goal.

Ves would already be happy if the Larkinsons were able to field a single proper warfleet!

What was more important was that his daughter could be the one that led this initiative.

It might take a few decades to realize this grand plan, but once it bore fruit, Aurelia would effectively be in control of one of the military arms of the Larkinson Clan!

That could serve as her springboard to become the next matriarch of the clan, though it was not strictly necessary for her to take over leadership.

If the Larkinson Clan failed to maintain its impressive growth rate, then it may be better for Aurelia to stick with the Red Fleet and rise up the ranks by serving on its warships.

It would be great if she could find a way to get assigned to a living dreadnought.

Out of the 7 that still remained in the hands of the Red Fleet, Ves believed that the Grail of Eternity fit her best. She could make excellent use of her talents and extraordinary capabilities so long as she occupied a high enough position.

The Grail of Eternity was the ultimate flagship. The dreadnought was such a powerful command and support vessel that any fleet could win extremely lopsided battles, just like the Premier Fleet!

Was it possible for Aurelia to become the high captain of this precious warship one day?

Ves did not dare to dream about this possibility. He knew that it would take many decades for her to earn consistent merits and climb up the ranks.

Besides, there were many other RF officers whose qualifications were vastly superior. None of them wanted to give up on this precious opportunity. They never stopped investing in themselves. They took extra courses, studied in their free time and made significant contributions that placed them higher on the list of candidates.

It was unrealistic to expect his daughter to be able to overtake all of these seasoned fleeters.

The only way she could beat all of them while she was still relatively young was to become more competent than all of them. If she truly wanted to take over command of the powerful dreadnought, then she needed to develop a special skill or ability that synergized extremely well with the massive vessel in question.

If she mastered a unique ability that could increase the combat effectiveness of a dreadnought by 50 percent or more, then that would definitely be a compelling reason to put her in charge!

This was not an impossible scheme. Even if Ves had no clue how to accomplish this goal, he still had plenty of years to think about it. As far as he knew, the RF should not have a rule that prevented him from giving his daughter additional aid.

A better way to approach this problem was to persuade his mother to lend her formidable expertise.

So long as she agreed to work with him to develop a special solution, Aurelia would definitely be able to develop a powerful ability that could secure her place within the ranks of the fleeters!

Of course, that was assuming that she had any desire to join the RF.

Ves turned back to his daughter. She appeared enthused about the prospects of attending a naval academy.

“Are you still onboard with this, Aurelia?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I am more and more convinced that this is the right path for me. As attractive as it is to become a mech commander, I do not think I am cut out to pilot a Carmine command mech, even if it is a custom one designed by you. I lack the warrior mindset that Andraste has in abundance.”

“I see. You don’t necessarily have to stick to a single choice, you know. Once you think you can afford to divert enough time for it, you can always come back to request a Carmine mech of your own. We will always be ready to design one for your needs.”

Aurelia was not certain whether she would accept this offer.

It was not unheard of for the Red Fleet to field their own mechs, just like how the Red Association fielded its own warships.

Both superorganizations recognized that mechs and warships both had a place in their lineup.

That did not mean they had to like it. The fleeters avoided mechs out of principle whenever possible. Even the introduction of Carmine mechs did not change that. If their potentates possessed enough conviction to never make use of their favorable genetic aptitudes, then their norms should be no different!

Unless the Red Fleet suddenly decided to embrace Carmine mechs for whatever reason on a large scale, it would be politically disadvantageous for Aurelia to pilot her own Carmine mech, even if she did so on a part-time basis.

Oh well.

Ves felt a bit regretful if Aurelia did not make use of her meager but still valid genetic aptitude.

The ability to pilot a Carmine mech might come handy in emergencies and other situations.

At the very least, Ves would feel reassured if she had an escape option. A superdimensional Carmine mech equipped with a cruise drive should easily be able to flee the battlefield and make it back to safe harbor by itself.

Then again, an interstellar shuttle could do the same, so it was not strictly necessary for Aurelia to pilot a Carmine mech.

As Ves and Astrid continued to exchange words, the latter seemed pleased enough to make an additional promise.

“Seeing that you are willing to entrust your daughter in our care, we will do our best to increase our presence in your Bluejay Fleet.” The lieutenant-commander said. “Commodore Zonrad Reze and his small squadron hail from the Admiral Mieli of the Seventh Light Fleet. I am sure that he and his men have comported themselves well while being assigned to your escort force, but the Babylon Excavator and her escorts are rather light on firepower.”

“Does that mean you will try to transfer a battleship to the Bluejay Fleet?”

“We cannot make any promises, professor. The Red Ocean is undergoing rapid changes, and so is the Red Fleet. Battleships are still vital to the defense of many star systems, though we are enduring mech less pressure than before after we have withdrawn our fleets from Terran and Rubarthan space. If there is any time to transfer a battleship to your Bluejay Fleet, it is now. However, you will have to add this demand to your wish list in order to make this happen. I highly recommend you do. It would be too dangerous for you to travel across the Red Ocean without sufficient protection.”

He took her words seriously. Ves was also rather dissatisfied that the RF maintained a very small presence in the Bluejay Fleet.

A battleship, especially one that was designed and built by the fleeters, possessed great significance.

This was a vessel that could intimidate many humans and aliens. Its presence also conveyed a lot of indirect protection to Ves. Few people wanted to mess with a mech designer that had received so much appreciation that the RF was willing to dispatch a real battleship to keep him safe!

Of course, the addition of a battleship would also piss off the Red Association. Ves did not look forward to straining his relationship with the mechers, but he felt it was important to diversify his contacts and strategic partnerships.

If the Red Association began to fracture as he suspected, then Ves needed to lean on another powerful patron in order to keep him and his clan safe.

Although Ves did not keep up with fleeter politics, he had the feeling that the RF’s factions had much less reasons to fight against each other. At most, their ideologies and favored strategies might clash against each other, but Fleet Admiral Argile and Fleet Admiral Jameson had too much to lose if they split up with each other. They would lose the economies of scale and find it difficult to support their overhead. Just thinking about divvying up their assets and personnel was enough to keep them stuck for a long time!

Ves and Astrid finally addressed the final topic of the agenda.

The latter placed her hand on Athena Jameson’s shoulders. “Do you have enough time to impart a custom companion spirit for her? The earlier you can do so, the better. It would be ideal if her companion spirit is mature enough to be productive straight away.”

Blinky had been spending much of this time examining Athena very closely. The Star Cat thoroughly understood the young fleeter’s spiritual condition.

“You were right to bring her to me.” He told her. “She possesses remarkable talent. Her spirituality is strong enough that it should be easy to give her a complete companion spirit as opposed to a seed that needs time to develop her power. Can you explain your requirements to me? I need to know what sort of companion spirit you want to commission.”

Astrid turned and faced her niece. “Athena, share your request. A companion spirit is a deeply personal matter, so it is only right for you to specify your own demands.”

The young girl nodded in gratitude before she faced Ves with a serious expression on her youthful face.

“To my understanding, companion spirits can possess different inclinations than their human counterparts, is that correct?”

“Yes.” Ves confirmed. “This applies to the cultivation method as well as elemental affinity. Your companion spirit can follow a completely different route from your own, allowing you to create excellent synergies with yourself. You can also choose to double up on your existing inclinations, allowing you to deepen your comprehension and mastery over a single specialization. What do you prefer the most? Broadening your capabilities or deepening your mastery?”

Athena considered this question for a brief moment. “The latter. A warship is not crewed by a single individual. It is not necessary for a spacer to become proficient in dozens of different areas of expertise. What is more prized among the Red Fleet is becoming hypercompetent in a single specialization. Redundancy is important, but there are always enough crew to satisfy other responsibilities.”

“Good answer. Let me see what I can do, then.”

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