The Mech Touch

Chapter 3307: High-Quality Stock

Ves grinned so darkly that Calabast and Arnold both looked disturbed.

The mutated beast shivered and used his eight legs to crawl behind Calabastʼs boots.

”Squeak!”

After the clan patriarch finished indulging in himself, he quickly regained his composure.

”How many prisoners?” He asked.

”We are currently holding 734 Ferril servicemen in our cells.” Calabast answered. ”We used to hold several hundred more, but when our stealth shuttles and disguised rescue parties retrieved them from their broken mechs and ships, their condition was poor and our medical personnel failed to save them. The good news is that the survivors have all pulled through. Even the most heavily-injured ones have returned to health after receiving intensive treatment from our Lifer doctors. Iʼm not sure whether it was worth the expense to go so far, though. These dwarves…”

Ves smirked. ”Oh, itʼs worth it. I need them in their best condition. I donʼt have much use for half-dead dwarven prisoners. This is the first time that I have high-quality experimental test subjects at my disposal. These proud, ferocious, disciplined soldiers are far superior to the pirates and scum that I used to work with! The stronger they are, the better my test results!”

”You…”

He turned to the reluctant-looking woman by his side. ”Weʼve been cooperating for a long time, Calabast. I donʼt believe for a second that you donʼt know what Iʼve been up to with my prisoners.”

”Heh, youʼre no fun.” Calabast shrugged as she dropped her reluctant act. ”As a matter of fact, I do have a good idea what goes on when prisoners enter your experimental chambers but never seem to come back out. I suggest that you keep me in the loop from now on. You donʼt have a security and intelligence background so there are still gaps in the methods you use to prevent leakage of information.”

Ves thought about it and didnʼt immediately reject it. The people who worked alongside him for years already knew he was unusual. Even if he did his best to hide his secrets, people like Calabast werenʼt stupid.

”Very well, then. You can accompany me this time and take care of security matters. What Iʼm about to do next is probably going to be so controversial and impactful that I really donʼt want anyone else to know my intentions.”

After they established this agreement, Ves quickly returned to business. He moved over to another cell and spotted another listless dwarf.

”Tell me more about the prisoners.”

”Of the 734 prisoners of the Ferril Provincial Army, 212 of them consist of mech pilots and 522 of them are ship personnel. The mix of ship personnel is fairly even but the majority of captured dwarven mech pilots hail from the Molten Hammer and Hivar Roarer mech divisions.”

Ves nodded in understanding. During the post-battle rescue operation, he had secretly ordered the Black Cats to go out and smuggle as many dwarven prisoners as they could underneath the noses of the enemy fleet.

The Black Cat retrieval parties did not dare to travel too close to the intact enemy fleet. They could only scour the outskirts and the zones closer to the expeditionary fleet to fulfill their objectives.

If the Black Cats didnʼt need to hide, then they could have easily captured double or triple the amount of prisoners!

”Do the Ferrils know we have their men?”

Calabast gave him a sidelong glance. ”If youʼre asking whether we will suffer any negative repercussions for capturing these prisoners, then no. My Black Cats have been discreet enough to avoid direct exposure. I can reasonably guess that the Ferril Provincial Army knows we took their men, but they shouldnʼt have any direct proof or they would have presented it already. After the end of the battle, the beaten dwarven mech divisions were too preoccupied with other matters to be on the lookout for anyone absconding with their own survivors. None of them expected that you would go after their own men.”

The unspoken implication was that Ves must be crazy to capture enemy prisoners when there was no apparent meaning to doing so. It was too bad that he didnʼt care. He had greater priorities in mind and these precious dwarves would play an essential role in his next plan.

As Ves and Calabast continued to walk through the narrow corridor, Ves continued to peer through the one-way screens that kept the dwarves locked in isolation.

”Have you done what Iʼve asked?”

She nodded. ”We did. As soon as we took them into captivity, we began to pressure them in different ways. Aside from putting them in long-term isolation, we also stimulated them by limiting their food intake, varying the level of artificial gravity at random times, cutting off their light sources for days on end and broadcasting irritating noise in their cells. Although we have carefully controlled the intensity of these measures to avoid too many breakdowns, a number of dwarves failed to endure our trials. See here for example.”

Calabast led Ves a few cells over. When they peered through the other side, they spotted a haggard-looking female dwarven mech pilot who was rocking on her cot like a bot whose programming had gone stuck.

”I want to go home…”

”I want to go home…”

”I want to go home…”

When Ves inspected the poor dwarven soldier with his other senses, he could sense the despair had broken what little spirit she possessed. It would take a disproportionate amount of effort to restore her sanity.

”A pity.” Ves said with a touch of sadness. ”Sheʼs not as valuable in this condition. Still, you canʼt make an omelet unless you break some eggs. Do you have dwarves who have managed to do well in resisting their treatment?”

”Of course. Iʼm actually impressed with these dwarven individuals. Their hatred and defiance has reached the level of elite soldiers. The Ferril Provincial Army has trained them well.”

Calabast brought him to another cell. The burly dwarven soldier with a beard that stretched to his knees looked completely different from the previous prisoner.

Not only was he keeping himself in shape by performing pushups, his eyes constantly burned towards the one-way screen. It was as if he was ready to escape at a momentʼs notice as soon as the restrictive barrier went down!

Ves couldnʼt help but grin as he sensed the strong will and survival urge from this defiant Vulcanite serviceman!

”This fellow over here isnʼt anyone special.” Calabast explained. ”Heʼs an ordinary security officer who specializes in demolitions. One of our team managed to capture him when he was trapped aboard a crippled combat carrier that had drifted away from the main battlefield. He didnʼt catch our attention at first, but as our treatment continued to put pressure on the prisoners, he was one of a small group of dwarves who did not surrender to our attempts to break them down.”

Ves smiled. This was a truly valuable test subject!

”How many unbroken dwarven prisoners do we have?”

”Of the Ferril servicemen who have managed to endure all of our trials, only 34 mech pilots and 56 support personnel did not succumb to them. Their psychological states are still strong and it is unlikely that further deprivation will change that. These are the toughest dwarves that you can find.”

”Good.” Ves grinned. ”I need to examine and categorize all 734 prisoners in person. The data that you have on them is quite complete but I need to make detailed observations in order to divide them into relevant groups.”

”Very well. The prisoners arenʼt going anywhere so you can examine them at your leisure.”

Ves spent several hours moving from cell to cell. He already opened up a new database file in his implant to register the properties of each individual dwarven prisoner.

The month in captivity had not been kind to them. None of the dwarves looked happy and comfortable after they endured the friendly ʼhospitalityʼ of the Black Cats.

However, there were still enough professional soldiers who relied on their heart and will to resist. These rare individuals were all gems as far as Ves was concerned. He eagerly studied them and paid special attention to their spiritualities.

After he completed his survey, Ves tallied his results.

It turned out that 17 of the 34 unbroken mech pilots possessed spiritual potential. Of the non-mech pilots, just 13 of 53 possessed spiritual potential.

Ves wasnʼt surprised by these results. Those with spiritual potential possessed advantages that others did not possess. It was easier for them to condense their will and cling on to their existing identities. Mech pilots were especially good at this because they always received the most training resources.

The defiance and strength exuded by these spiritually activated dwarves was impressive considering how little hope they received during their month of captivity. Ves grew more and more excited when he thought about how he could make use of their strength.

He silently composed a list that classified the dwarven prisoners into different categories before transmitting the file to Calabast.

”I need a large and absolutely secure experimental chamber to conduct some experiments.”

”The Blinding Banshee will definitely be able to fulfill your needs.” Calabast answered with a smile. ”How much space do you need?”

Ves thought about it for a moment. ”I need enough space to hold the dwarven prisoners. I also need enough room to accommodate a mech with plenty of space if possible.”

Calabast frowned. ”The former is doable, but the latter is more challenging. The Blinding Banshee is not designed to carry mechs or other large objects. We will need to empty a cargo bay and increase its security level.”

”Do that, then. In the meantime, I need your men to transport a number of high-value cargo from the Spirit of Bentheim to this ship to conduct my experiments.”

”How long will this take?” Calabast frowned. ”If you need several days to perform your activities, it will become harder to hide what you are doing.”

”I donʼt intend to stay too long, so donʼt worry. According to my current experimental plans, Iʼll be done with the dwarves by the end of the day. Hopefully I can get back to the Spirit of Bentheim quickly enough to catch dinner with my wife.”

Calabast suspected that she wouldnʼt have to worry about bringing the dwarven prisoners back to their cells. Their current accommodation would no longer become occupied once Ves was done with his experiments!

For a moment, she wanted to speak up and question what Ves was doing with the prisoners.

Then, she thought about all of the success that Ves had achieved in the span of a couple of years and decided to remain silent.

Power never came without a cost. Even if she harbored misgivings about her strategic partners conduct, she couldnʼt argue with the results.

From the moment she decided to hitch her wagon onto Ves, she already made a choice. It did not make sense to change her mind just because of her doubts. She had already gone too deep into the rabbit hole to go back.

”I will prepare the experimental environment according to your specifications and ready the prisoners with utmost discretion.” Calabast promised to Ves. ”Iʼll be making use of as many secure and vetted systems as possible to minimize the amount of clansmen who get involved. It may take some time because I need to take action myself in order to secure the cargo bay to the best of my ability.”

”You do that, then. Make sure that there is as much separation between the prisoners and my experimental area. What I am about to do will probably affect a wide area so I donʼt want any of my test subjects getting exposed ahead of schedule.”

Ves spent a few minutes passing on detailed instructions and specifications based on the schematic of one of the cargo bays of the Blinding Banshee.

Though the espionage ship was a lot more cramped than other capital ships, she was still a sizable vessel in her own right.

Soon enough, Ves was able to commence his first experiment for the day.