The Mech Touch - Chapter 7433: Preliminary Invasion
Chapter 7433: Preliminary Invasion
Chapter 7433
The Larkinson ace pilots had fought long enough to come up with a lot of demands for upgrades and improvements.
Ves entertained the personal requests but did not substantially go into them. This should be Gloriana’s responsibility. They had too little time on their hands to satisfy every whim, so they had to be careful about picking and choosing which demands to meet.
He soon ended his talks with the ace pilots after catching up with them. As much as he wanted to learn more about their experiences, he still had to meet with a lot of other people.
Half an hour went by as Ves continued to chat with one dignitary after another.
Of course, not everyone possessed the qualifications to chat him up. He was a tier 2 galactic citizen, after all. A combined staff of both Terran attendants as well as his own assistants stationed around him and gently sorted out the people who deserved a moment of his time.
Gavin knew his preferences well enough to pick a variety of interesting individuals to converse with. Many of them consisted of mech designers, scientists, engineers, business magnates and a few oddballs in between.
Ves particularly enjoyed his conversations with various cultivation scientists. They possessed strong perspectives on relevant subjects such as hyper materials and E-Technology.
“I am one of the founders of a research institution that is sponsored by the Red Collective.” The bookish-looking fellow stated. “You probably have not heard of us, but I believe our work is important nonetheless. We are tasked with studying and exploring possible connections between the Red Ocean and Messier 87.”
Ves slightly raised his eyebrows. “What sort of connections?”
“Not regular ones, to be certain.” The lead researcher responded. “We believe, though without sufficient proof, that there is much about M87’s exotic radiation that we do not understand. We have only just begun to explore the tip of the iceberg. Our central assumption is that there exists a means for the inhabitants of both galaxies to interact with each other beyond the limitations of distance, the speed of light and other physical constraints. Either E energy radiation or the much more obscure R particle radiation can serve as a potential bridge for one side to make contact with the other, either in real-time or with a delay.”
That sounded incredibly serious.
Most people would have dismissed this notion out of hand. Without extraordinary measures such as constructing greater beyonder gates, it was inconceivable to imagine that anyone could reach out across hundreds of thousands of light-years of distance.
However, Ves knew better.
He had never forgotten about the time that the mighty Subjugation King managed to hijack a tribulation event and forcefully tried to crush the evolving Dominion of Man!
Even now, the alien God King managed to plant a soul mark of sorts onto Ves.
Though Ves had little evidence that it influenced his thoughts or debilitated him in any way, its mere existence practically ensured that the Subjugation King would always be able to track him down no matter the distance!
Its existence alone not only confirmed the research institution’s central assumptions, but also proved the native aliens of Messier 87 mastered the ability to extend their influence across intergalactic distances!
Of course, Ves felt incredibly reluctant to share the details. He believed that the founder as well as other related people may have already gathered enough clues to justify their research activities.
“Our civilization has a shallow understanding of the forces that are intrinsic to Messier 87.” Ves spoke. “Is there no danger in trying to explore these supposed connections? We are like babies in front of adults. What if we inadvertently reveal more about ourselves to our distant alien enemies?”
The researcher smiled back. “Those possibilities exist, but that is not a reason for us to remain blind, deaf and ignorant. If you are correct about the enormous disparity between civilizations, then those distant aliens may be observing us right now through the rivers of exotic radiation that is coursing through our dwarf galaxy. Will they spy and manipulate us less if we willingly turn away from these powers? I do not think so. I am a firm proponent that we must be dauntless and explore the unknown despite the fact that we are stepping on the homeground of our enemies.”
The man sounded a bit reckless, but his intentions sounded noble enough. Ves agreed with the overall sentiment, though he also had to take into account that the research could easily take a very wrong turn.
However, if the Red Association sponsored the research institution, then it should have been placed under adequate supervision. No one sane would allow these overly curious scientists to peek at Messier 87 without putting enough safeguards into place.
“Have you and your colleagues produced any actionable results?”
“Not per se, but we have developed many theories and hypotheses that have kept us busy. I am personally involved with researching the intangible apparitions that spontaneously emerge at the sites of large battles. They are fascinating… creatures. Despite their resemblance to the human and alien lives that have been lost at those locations, they exhibit none of the memories or behavior of their former selves. I theorize that they may be derived from unknown parasites that lurk inside exotic radiation and latch onto any dead or dying sapient organisms when the right conditions are met.”
Ves had heard about that, though he had not interacted with any of these so-called apparitions in person.
“You are referring to the deathborn phenomenon.”
“Correct. We have been able to deal with them with relative ease, but there is no guarantee that will remain the case. You see, we have ascertained that the deathborn are at their weakest in their initial stages, but are able to grow continuously over time, presumably by harvesting the abundant energies released after the demise of numerous humans and aliens. There are enough battlefields where neither side is able to establish strong control. The deathborn that emerge in these gaps are able to feed to their heart’s content, thereby becoming larger, stronger and more intelligent in the process.”
Growing larger and stronger did not necessarily sound concerning. That just turned them into intangible versions of mutated beasts.
What did concern Ves was the possibility that they could grow smarter and more rational in the process.
“Do you have proof of the latter?”
“We have collected data that lean towards this direction, but not enough to survive scrutiny.” The researcher admitted. “This phenomenon is too new, and most of the encounters between humans and deathborn have led to the total elimination of the latter. It has been difficult to convince the soldiers in the field to deliberately keep the ghosts alive and observe them long enough to study their gradual evolution. This is especially the case when we lack the means to confine them or recover any of their remains when slain.”
The deathborn may be new and unfamiliar, but their hostility was not in doubt. They exuded a strong sense of negative energy similar to demons and always displayed hostility towards both human and alien units.
The soldiers responsible for defending the populations of nearby planets could not permit any threat to survive in the vicinity. Their duty compelled them to wipe out the deathborn rather than allow them to persist and pose a greater threat over time.
Ves had a feeling that the deathborn would continue to grow into a major threat if they were not being cleaned up. Yet with the immediate threat posed by the native aliens and the mutated voribugs, red humanity simply couldn’t allocate enough units to wipe out the deathborn in every single location.
Oh well.
“Since your research institution is focused on finding connections between M87 and the Red Ocean, do you have any suspicions about how the deathborn are tied to our distant alien neighbors?”
The researcher nodded. “We have… ideas. Frightening ones. The worst possibilities are notions that the deathborn are either proxies of powerful M87 aliens, directly controlled by them or transferred directly to our galaxy through arcane means. If that is the case, then the deathborn can be considered the first concrete invasion attempt by the source of exotic radiation in the new frontier.”
All of this sounded incredibly frightening indeed. Fortunately, all of it remained baseless speculation, so there was no solid proof that any of them could be true.
Yet there was no way to completely rule out these dangerous possibilities either. This was why it was so important for red humanity to conduct proper research into these strange intangible but unambiguously hostile entities.
“I will make sure to check whether the Red Association is giving your research institution enough support.” Ves sincerely promised to the man. “Your work is important. Even if the idea that the native aliens from the M87 are already capable of launching a serious invasion into the Red Ocean is outlandish, we cannot overlook this possibility. It is true that our current alien enemies warrant much more of our attention, but I have little doubt that the natives of the much larger supermassive galaxy will turn into our future adversaries. Their methods are almost entirely unthinkable to us. Who knows what they are truly capable of. It is too careless to make presumptions based on our own limitations.”
The researcher appreciated the words. “I am glad to hear that you are not a member of the shortsighted fools who think that Messier 87 is too far away to worry about. The natives of the Red Ocean must have held the assumption before the humans of the Milky Way sought to colonize their dwarf galaxy. Unlike the Red Cabal, I do not believe we are able to activate an escape mechanism as grand as the Great Severing.”
They chatted a little more, but Ves already heard what he needed to know from the fellow.
He remained concerned even as the meetings died down.
Everyone began to move to the exquisite banquet halls and gardens situated close to the core of the tree-like space station.
They all sat down at their designated seats. Ves sat alongside his immediate family as well as a gathering of important Terrans.
Dishes made out of natural leaves and wooden bowls descended from above before landing at their designated spots.
The children became enamored by the little show. Every dish left behind a trail of pixie dust which formed into different patterns before disappearing.
“Yum!” Andraste’s eyes lit up as she began to bite into an exotic fruit salad.
While the attendees began to dig into the appetizers, musicians and dancers appeared on the front stage.
Each of them began to ply their craft in new and enchanting ways.
The Age of Dawn had changed every facet of human society.
The performing arts particularly experienced a revolution.
The musicians did not just produce sounds.
They broadcasted their intense emotions through them. Every melody evoked an emotion. Every lyric produced a memory in the minds of the audience. The musicians exquisitely manipulated both sound waves and E energy in order to produce a compound harmony that ended up amplifying both!
As for the dancers, they channeled the power of E energy to perform maneuvers that would have been impossible to replicate by baseline or even moderately empowered humans!
Every move created a sense of energy and dynamism that caused many viewers to feel exhilarated. It was as if they were the ones who were jumping and spinning around!
“Impressive.” Gloriana couldn’t help but compliment the show.
The acts had not been chosen at random. Each of them were related to one Terran cultural story or myth or another.
The Terrans clearly wanted to showcase their culture and sophistication. They demonstrated their advancements while at the same time proving that they remained connected to their roots.
Ves suspected that the Terrans had a greater goal in mind. They were priming their audience for their big reveal.
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