The Mech Touch novel Chapter 233

Once Ves set his mind on his destination, he moved quickly. He browsed the galactic net for holiday options and selected a vacation package catered to the rich.

Ves booked a ticket aboard an advanced aquatic cruise ship that provided guided tours around Moira’s Paradise. He paid 300,000 credits for the lowest-level package, which provided him with a basic cabin that nevertheless exceeded the standard of any 5-star hotel on Cloudy Curtain.

The tier above that offered him a roomier berth, a higher priority on visiting the various sights and premium service aboard the cruise ship. That sounded nice and all, but anyone who wanted to take advantage of these luxuries had to cough up 5 million credits a pop.

"That’s not even considering the upper tiers."

Moira’s Paradise attracted a decent amount of tourists from the neighboring states. The ocean planet worked hard to diversify its ecosystem to the point where it became a regional attraction. It offered a handful of unique exotic creatures that couldn’t be found elsewhere in the Komodo Star Sector.

"There’s also the aquatic mechs to consider. I’ve never been exposed to that scene."

An entire subculture developed around aquatic mechs. Any settled planet with oceans of water or other liquids required a whole different paradigm if you wanted to invade or defend it. Any regular mechs that fell into a boundless ocean quickly sank to the bottom until the increasing pressure crushed it like a can.

Aquatic mechs had to comply with two essential demands. First, it had to be able to handle the crushing pressure. Second, it had to be waterproof. This led to the adoption heavily armored fish or mermen-shaped mechs propelled by powerful jets as the norm in aquatic combat.

Weight formed less of a concern than elsewhere, allowing aquatic mech designers to stuff their mechs full of goodies that would have slowed a mech on land to a crawl.

In addition, aquatic warfare often occurred within knife-fighting range. The only viable form of long-range combat consisted of flinging torpedoes at each other. At close ranges, railguns, harpoons and ballistic rifles became viable, but not ideal. In third-rate states, melee combat dominated the oceans.

Having booked his ticket, Ves packed up his bags and brought along Lucky and Raella for the ride. When she heard he wanted to take her along for the ride, she looked a little put off.

"It’s great that you’re finally bringing me away from this boring as hell planet, but why aren’t you going somewhere exciting? Moira’s Paradise is a tourist trap! Hardly anything happens over there! Even the BLM doesn’t bother with the place."

"It’s either you or Melkor, and he’s already had his turn. Besides, don’t you want to see the aquatic mechs up close?"

"Who cares about those fish mechs? Besides, my Vektrix is absolutely useless without solid beneath her feet. I won’t be of any use to you."

"Just come with me. I need someone I trust at my side."

With some reluctance, Raella eventually relented. She exacted a promise from Ves to bring her along if he went on another adventure. Ves privately thought she might have to wait for years, as he didn’t plan to risk his life anytime soon.

They boarded the Barracuda and made their way to Moira’s Paradise on a direct FTL transition. As a binary star system, it possessed a powerful pair of suns that made it relatively easy for the Barracuda to hone in on its coordinates. The corvette traversed the distance in a matter of days before reaching the edge of the star system.

Another day went past as they corvette made its way to the inner system and descended onto one of the few artificial islands dotting the surface of Moira’s Paradise. They made it well in time before their cruise ship debarked from the island’s port.

The massive submersible cruise ship looked like a starship with a streamlined shape. When Ves first caught sight of the Nautilus of the Deep, he found its scale to be as impressive as the luxury passenger ships plying the stars.

Ves, Raella and Lucky joined an orderly line of well-dressed passengers before the ramp. Considering the ticket price, none of the people possessed average backgrounds. The line moved quickly as an army of attendants processed their tickets and checked over their belongings.

Raella had to leave her pistol and her knife behind. The crew of the Nautilus took responsibility for their security for the most part, though Ves heard of tales where passengers resorted to fists.

"Mr. Larkinson?" A uniformed attendant called once he boarded the ship. "My name is Georgina Black. I’ll be your first point of contact for your stay aboard the Nautilus of the Deep. If you have any concerns or requests, feel free to contact me in person or through my comm!"

They exchanged comm contacts before Georgina led him to his cabin in the lower decks. For 300,000 credits, the room he appeared sufficiently lavish. It’s blue-gold embellishments added a deep-sea ambiance to the place. Ves and Raella handed their floating coffers to the cabin bots, which automatically sorted out their clothes and other belongings.

"The Nautilus will depart in two hours. Please make your way to the middle observation deck at that time. We’ll be commencing the first part of our tour at that time."

After mentioning a few other points of notice, Georgina left the guests to their devices. Raella already started to yawn. "It’s dull in here. Let’s visit the shopping boulevard!"