The Mech Touch novel Chapter 710

The Flagrant Swordmaiden fleet left the Mortose System behind and ventured deeper into the frontier. After completing a transaction with the Church of Haatumak, they held no more intentions of meeting any of the other local pirate factions in the frontier.

From now on, the combined allied fleet intended to avoid as many pirates as possible while they navigated towards the elusive Starlight Megalodon. They jumped from the quietest star systems possible in order to minimize the odds of encountering others, but while the Faris Star System was nearly desolate, individual pirate vessels holed up nearly everywhere.

A month flew by as the Flagrant Swordmaidens settled into an uneasy routine. For some reason, many of them felt as if they were being watched.

Most Vandals aboard the Shield of Hispania thought that one or both of the major pirate blocs placed pirate scouts along their route to keep an eye on their course.

Only Ves knew where the feeling really came from. Having spent a month under near-constant observation, he became extremely proficient in acting as if someone wasn’t breathing behind his neck all this time.

What could he say? He apparently possessed a talent in acting considering how many times he behaved duplicitously.

The method he adopted worked best with the study materials related to ultracompact batteries and energy storage. That was why he focused his efforts on gaining a rudimentary understanding of this topic first before he turned his intellectual prowess towards stealth tech.

His progress with stealth tech proceeded slower because he possessed less diverse literature on it. His main gains came from his cooperative tinkering sessions with Chief Avanaeon.

The Chief Engineer exhibited an impressive grasp of applied sciences that synergized well with Ves.

If other duties hadn’t claimed the bulk of their schedules, they would have been able to spend more time with the stealth shuttle fragments. For now, their primary duties took precedence over their research into deciphering the workings of stealth tech.

As Ves walked back to his office from another collaborative session, he glanced at the Vandal mech technicians and ship ratings go about their work. The mood among the rank-and-file started to become more depressed the further they flew from the Bright Republic and civilized space in general.

The isolation and the realization that they were cut off from all forms of help had truly set in at this point.

As Ves returned to his office, he nodded towards Ketis who was tinkering with another miniature mech at this moment. After a lot of hands-on practice, she shook off her disdain towards so-called physical labor.

It was too bad her relations with the mech technicians aboard the Shield of Hispania remained a bit too tense for them to work together.

Compared to every other person on the combat carrier, Ketis held up the best against the creeping realization that they traversed an unimaginable distance from their homes.

To Ketis, Lydia’s Swordmaidens was her home, and their fleet was always a single shuttle ride away whenever they dropped out of FTL. No matter how deep the allied fleet ventured into uncharted space, the young woman always kept her spirits high.

Ves wished he could feel as unconcerned as her. Home was many light-years away and the awareness that uninvited guests made themselves at home in their fleet constantly burdened his mind.

"Fuel supply is sufficient for now, but a couple more months like this and we won’t have enough to return to civilized space. Other supplies remain ample considering we haven’t fought any battles. Crew morale is declining, but hasn’t tipped over into negative territory yet. Few still remember that our original mission is to find the Starlight Megalodon."

Ves switched from his log to status readouts of the entire mech compliment of the Vandal fleet.

"The condition of our starships are improving as patchwork repairs on their damaged armor belts has been progressing. Our mech roster is looking healthier as the revised designs I’ve disseminated to the other combat carriers are being realized by the mech designers and mech technicians."

Then he cast his mind on the cooperation shown so far between the Flagrant Vandals and Lydia’s Swordmaidens.

"Our two forces are growing closer and more comfortable to each other. A clear separation still exists, but the passage of time has fostered the growth of mutual trust between the Vandals and the Swordmaidens. At this stage in our journey, the Swordmaidens have taken over complete primacy over our route and our interaction with the pirate outfits we meet along the way. We are firmly operating in their backyard, and the border back to civilized space is so far away that the Flagrant Vandals are pretty much at their mercy."

That last point served as a point of anxiety in some of the more paranoid Vandals. They feared an inevitable betrayal from the Swordmaidens once they achieved their objective. It would be all too easy for the all-female pirate gang to stab them in the back and leave them stranded deep within the frontier.

Ves knew for certain that Major Verle and his inner circle made precautions against that eventuality.

The only problem was that they couldn’t prepare for threats they hadn’t foreseen. The continued presence of their uninvited guests from the Church of Haatumak continued to confound him over the last month.

He tried various means to tip off the Vandal officers, but they were too thickheaded to understand his hints. They all thought that Ves merely jumped at shadows. He wouldn’t be the first one as the frontier affected all of their nerves.

For now, Ves kept his suspicions to himself and tried to lay low. Instead, he allocated some time in experimenting with his Spirituality.

He knew that this Attribute could be applied in versatile ways. The problem was finding the right means to unlock a new application. It turned out that his reckless experimentation with his eyes was a fluke.

Every attempt to direct his spiritual energy to his nose, ears, tongue and other body parts ended in failure. They simply didn’t catch on and treated the rest of his body like air. Only his eyes reacted differently, but the exact reason why eluded him. His vision had never been anything special.

With no other choice, Ves experimented with injecting his eyes with his mental energy, alternating between each of them one at a time in case anything went wrong.