The Mech Touch

Miss Calabast kept smirking as she sat across the desk.

A gadget strapped to her bulked-up infiltrator suit radiated an incredible amount of interference in the office, to the point of distorting the air and bombarding their ears with noise. It was in fact the original signal jammer that inspired Ves to develop a knock-off version.

So far, Ves vaguely judged that Calabastʼs signal jammer was a lot more refined than his own version. This was a piece of extremely advanced technology and worked on principles that he didnʼt entirely understand.

It signified another area where Calabast enjoyed an advantage. Whoever she worked for must be an extremely powerful and well-funded organization. None of her gear looked cheap, including her armored infiltrator suit.

As someone who recently became enlightened in stealth tech, he recognized the masterpiece of her infiltrator suit. Developing something like that was absolutely not simple, and even if Ves studied this field for ten straight years, he still wouldnʼt be able to design something as potent without taking up a huge amount of space.

”Are you finally willing to get to the point?” Ves asked after he centered himself again.

Now that he put his mind into a state of moderate concentration, he shouldnʼt be as emotionally affected to her taunts as before.

Miss Calabast crossed her arms and tapped the ground with her foot. ”You possess an interesting mind, Mr. Larkinson. No wonder youʼve shot up ever since you became a mech designer. That makes me glad Iʼve approached you out of all the alternatives.”

”What are you up to?”

”Nothing much.” She casually shrugged. ”I merely wish to extend an invitation to you to visit the Starlight Megalodon with me. There is something I need to retrieve from the battleship, but I need your help to get past the hurdles.”

Ves stared at Calabast as if she was crazy. ”Are you kidding? Me? Enter the Starlight Megalodon? For heavenʼs sake, Iʼm not some kind of super spy like you! Besides, thereʼs no reason for me to abandon the Vandals and join you in your wild trip to a place which immobilizes everything that gets close and drags them straight to who-knows-where.”

”The Starlight Megalodon hasnʼt harmed your precious Vandals and Swordmaidens, if thatʼs what youʼre asking. The immediate area around the crashed capital ship has been turned into a safe zone. Those who enter wonʼt be able to exit at will, but at the very least they are treated as guests.”

”And Iʼm supposed to take your word for it?” Ves raised his eyebrow.

”This is critical information, especially in light of what I have to say next.” She spoke, adopting a seemingly sincere expression. ”The Flagrant Swordmaidens on the ground stand no chance in the coming battle against Lady Amaliaʼs forces. Your defeat is set in stone.”

”Forgive me, Miss Calabast, but Iʼm not gullible enough to take the word of a foreign intelligence operative at her word. Even if the Flagrant Swordmaidens is disadvantaged, I still have faith theyʼll pull through somehow. Iʼve survived too many crises with the Vandals. I can survive one more.”

Miss Calabast shook her head. ”If you are aware of what I know, you wouldnʼt be so confident. I can say with a hundred percent certainty that the Flagrant Swordmaidens will face defeat. Itʼs only a matter of when. The only hope you have left of surviving the coming massacre is to come with me to the Starlight Megalodon. As soon as you enter the safe zone, even ten-thousand Vesians wonʼt be able to lay a hand on you. Perhaps youʼll even have the opportunity to be reunited with the only surviving Vandals and Swordmaidens on the surface of this planet.”

The devious woman expressed so much confidence and sincerity in her claims that Ves felt inclined to believe her words. As much as Ves wanted to resist her pessimistic prediction, in his heart he strongly agreed with her sentiment.

Her poison was spreading!

”Do you have any proof?” Ves gritted his teeth as he tried to resist being swayed by her argument. ”Iʼm not going to abandon my comrades on hearsay alone. Not when it comes from a snake like you.”

At least with Talkative Jimmy, they shared some common ground. Miss Calabast on the other hand constantly shrouded herself in smoke. Ves still hadnʼt pinned down her loyalties. Did she work for the Vesian royals? Did she work for a foreign state from a neighboring star sector? Who knew.

”Even if I tell you the reasons and serve you up with proof, youʼll only cast doubt on them.” Miss Calabast accurately pointed out. ”Let me just state that whether you believe it or not, youʼll come running to me the moment the Vandals and Swordmaidens are defeated on the battlefield. Iʼm gracious enough to forgive your current skepticism. When the time comes, run towards these coordinates near your camp.”

Miss Calabast passed him a composite print etched with a set of very specific coordinates that he could feed in his comm.

While Ves didnʼt want anything to do with Miss Calabast, her words planted a seed of doubt in his mind. If her prediction came true, wouldnʼt it be prudent to prepare an escape route? Since she was generous enough to provide him one, he might as well keep the option on hand. He could always choose to disregard the coordinates if the Flagrant Swordmaidens won the battle.

”No matter what youʼre going to say, Iʼm sticking to my comrades.” He declared.

”Men.” She sighed. ”Very well. I respect your determination, childish it may be. In any case, I suggest you prepare to bug out sometime within the next twenty-four hours. While Iʼm not completely certain when the Vesians will launch their attack, they have already begun their final preparations.”

As much as Ves wanted to believe the Flagrant Swordmaidens would prevail, Miss Calabast made a lot of sense. If nothing happened, then Ves only wasted some time. If disaster truly struck, then heʼd be instantly ready to leave without any delay.

”Iʼll take your advice into consideration.” He replied neutrally. ”You sure seem well-informed of the Vesians. Are you spying on both our forces?”

”Our eyes have never left sight of your ground expeditions the moment you landed.”

That sounded ominous. It sounded like a bluff, but Ves could very well imagine that someone as devious as Calabast planted spies among the Vandals and Vesians.

Perhaps he could take advantage of her spying operations.

”If youʼre so well-informed, do you know whatʼs going on with Venerable Karol Xie? Heʼs the expert pilot weʼve picked up in the frontier. He originally hailed from the Dark Plasma Star Sector and claims to have turned a new leaf. I have reason to believe he is not as committed to the Vandals as he appears.”

”Ah, your stray expert pilot. Heʼs an interesting man.” Calabast smirked in amusement. ”Iʼll give you a freebie. Weʼve observed your esteemed expert pilot entering into a clandestine meeting with a Vesian spy. While Iʼm not privy to their conversation, the fact that this meeting took place at all should be enough to know his intentions.”

If either Talkative Jimmy or Miss Calabast claimed that Venerable Xie turned his coat, then Ves would still hold his doubts. Yet if both of them separately came up to him with this claim, then Ves couldnʼt cling to his skepticism any longer.

The odds that Venerable Xie might truly be colluding with the Vesians became a very real possibility!

It would be one thing if the Flagrant Swordmaidens lost their only expert pilot. It would be another thing if Venerable Xie turned the Pale Dancer against them! The expert pilot probably wouldnʼt spare Ves either if that was the case!

Ves believed the Vesians would certainly field at least one expert pilot in the coming battle. If the Flagrant Swordmaidens couldnʼt constrain the enemy expert pilot, the battle might certainly be lost before they knew it! This might be the main reason why Miss Calabast expressed absolute confidence in their defeat!

”Obviously, you want something from me.” Ves spoke, sure of his guess. ”Since you approached me in such a friendly manner, I bet that you wonʼt be able to get what you want from me through force. Whatever you need me for at the Starlight Megalodon, is it because of my mech design expertise?”

Miss Calabast smiled at Ves but declined to respond. Perhaps Ves was on the track, or perhaps made a completely wrong guess and she wanted him to stick to his wrong assumptions.

”Whatever the case, I bet youʼd rather have my willing cooperation. Maybe it has something to do with the so-called safe zone you just talked about. After all, you canʼt force me to do anything if you arenʼt able to make good on your threats.”

”What a clever boy.” She chuckled, as if she was praising a precocious little kid who attempted to impress her. Ves really wanted to smack her incessant smirk off her face. ”I believe in win-win situations. In exchange for saving your life and arranging a way back to your fleet, I merely want you to lend your services to me at the Starlight Megalodon. I get what I want out of the battleship while you wonʼt get captured and tortured to death by the Vesians. Sounds like a good deal, no?”

Ah. Ves and Miss Calabast entered into another negotiation. The entire reason for her friendly approach and her seemingly generous terms was because she really wanted something that only Ves could provide.

While Ves possessed plenty of special qualities, he struggled to come up with a reason why Miss Calabasat wanted his help. If she needed a mech designer, she could have approached someone else.

”Why arenʼt you approaching one of the many Vesian mech designers with your offer? What I can do, they can probably do as well. If they are fully equipped for this mission, then they doubtlessly sent down a genuine Journeyman Mech Designer to accompany their ground forces.”

”Nice attempt at fishing for information.” She smirked, instantly seeing through his ploy. ”It is true that the Vesians sent down mech designers that have entered my shortlist. You are simply at the top. However, donʼt misunderstand your value. If you arenʼt willing to play along, I still have plenty of alternatives. They are just a bit more troublesome to convince. After all, itʼs not every day a mech designer is about to go down with the crashing ship that is the ground forces of the Flagrant Swordmaidens.”

”Even so, Iʼd like to obtain some more sincerity from you. As long as you agree to lend me some favors, Iʼll be much more inclined to cooperate with any schemes you have in mind.”

”Oh? Tell me what you have in mind.”

”First, if the Flagrant Swordmaidens are truly fated to suffer a defeat on the ground, I want to bring someone along with me. Maybe two.”

Miss Calabast immediately shook her head. ”Itʼs already a strain to sneak you away from Vesian pursuit. As soon as they win the battle, theyʼll be scouring the camp and the surroundings for any fleeing Vandals and Swordmaidens. I may have a lot of tricks up my sleeve, but even Iʼm not capable of hiding more than you and I from their carpet search.”

”I really need this. I trust in your capabilities. Either you promise me this, or Iʼll rather take my chances with the Vesians.”

In fact, Ves was bluffing. He tried his best to compose his face and give nothing away, but so long as Miss Calabast rejected his request, he was willing to continue to play along.

If Miss Calabast knew his lack of determination, she didnʼt show any sign of it. Instead, she contemplated the demand and seemingly reluctantly nodded.

”I think I can make some adjustments to our means of escape. As long as you donʼt bring too much gear, I think I can squeeze an extra person.”

Ves smiled for the first time in their talk. ”Good. You donʼt know how much this means to me. Even if I can let go of everyone else, I canʼt abandon the only person I care about in this expedition.”

Even if Miss Calabast rejected him, he planned to bring along Ketis to the coordinates anyway. If the vixen still rejected bringing Ketis along, then Ves was willing to take his chances with using force to save them both.

”Is there anything else youʼd like with your order?” Calabast asked with a somewhat irritated voice.

”Yes. For my second request, I hope you can do something specific for me.” He said. ”Since Venerable Xie is committed to betray the Vandals, then we might as well stab his back first. Can you assassinate Venerable Xie for me?”