The Mech Touch

5749 EE-343F-00334R

Ves had always planned to make contact with the Red Fleet in order to get his hands on at least 2.353 kilograms of an experimental alloy called EE-343F-00334R.

He had no idea what it was made of. He had no clue about its purpose. He did not know what was required to make this material.

All he knew was that it was so difficult to obtain that there was probably no other way to obtain it than to knock on the door of the fleeters.

Ves grew nervous as Sigrund considered the unusual request.

The three-way hybrid most definitely had no familiarity with EE-343F-00334R. Most fleeters did not need to know the exact material composition of all of the advanced tech that made their warships powerful. They just needed to operate the equipment and perform light to moderate repairs if necessary.

From the scant amount of information provided by Master Goldstein, Ves was afraid that the existence of EE-343F-00334R was so sensitive in nature that the mere mention of it would produce red flags.

It was a giant risk for him to ask about it when he had yet to develop a solid bond of trust with the Red Fleet, but Ves had decided to take a calculated risk.

He couldn't wait. As the prophetic visions had already hinted at Ves, several crises loomed over red humanity. The best way to forestall these possible future calamities was to become more proactive and preempt these disasters as best as possible.

That essentially meant that he had to take matters into his own hands. If he had to risk the disapproval of the mechers and pursue active cooperation with the fleeters, then so be it. He would take any help he could get.

Ves was even willing to break some of his principles and work together with a former sandman admiral who was direct and indirectly responsible for killing Commander Lydia, wiping out a lot of good Flagrant Vandals, sparking a genocidal war that killed trillions of innocent civilians and utterly erased any form of civilization on Bentheim.

A part of him felt ashamed for his refusal to address these old grievances. A more principled person would have confronted Sigrund about his many war crimes by now. The slaughter that the rogue sentient AI unleashed was not only excessive, but completely needless.

If Ves had been an expert pilot, he would have taken already. It should not be too difficult to utilize his full power and tools at his disposal to block Sigrund's personal teleporter, smash through his personal shield generator, tear away his weapons and pin him down.

He was not an expert pilot like his uncle or grandfather, though. He could be pretty stubborn when he wanted to, but what was important was that he could also be flexible when he needed to be. This was definitely a situation where he could best further his interests by adopting a pragmatic as opposed to a principled mindset.

While he continued to harbor doubts about his decision to treat Sigrund as a potential partner, the possible gains were far too great to ignore.

The previous System upgrade vastly exceeded his expectations. He believed the subsequent ones would open up powerful new functionality that could give him another edge against what was coming.

Sigrund finally offered a response at this time.

"I have consulted my extensive internal database and I have found no match of this alloy." He said. "Mind you that I do possess information exceeding that of a typical warship captain of the Red Fleet."

"I am not surprised. My… source… has informed me that it is extremely high-end. I am unclear about its purpose or its composition, but I need to get my hands on it. I am willing to offer substantial compensation for a few kilograms of it. Since its name is unfamiliar to you, I suggest you discreetly contact your superior. It is likely that Admiral Chelsea Mieli might not have heard about it either, but she should be able to dig deep enough until she has obtained the necessary information."

The AI who took on the guise of Captain Zonrad Reze nodded. "You are likely correct, but depending on the sensitivity of this material, the mere mention of it may trigger an overreaction from our internal security services. I am unclear how important this is, but given your proclivity for troublemaking, I fear that any investigation into EE-343F-00334R may trigger an overreaction."

Ves let out a sigh. "This is important to me. I cannot explain why, but please just trust me on this. You would be doing me a favor if you can tell me whether the Red Fleet has any of this material in stock. If not, then at least tell me whether you can produce it or share its formula with me. I am sure I can come up with enough concessions to make this trade worthwhile. The mechers may have forced me to share a lot of goodies with them, but they haven't taken everything."

"I believe you." The RF officer spoke with certainty. "You have come a long way since your start in the Komodo Star Sector. I know more about what you are capable of than most people. Unlike most people with power and abilities, you have proven yourself to be trustworthy and reliable. That is I am inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt. I will look into EE-343F-00334R, but I can only do so when I return to the nearest stronghold of the Red Fleet. I need to make use of a secure communication chamber so that I can speak with my superior in complete confidence."

Ves expected as much. He waved his arm. "Go, then. I can wait. Please return with as much relevant information as possible."

Sigrund nodded and promptly turned around to leave the heavily shielded and jammed office.

The environment was so thick with interference that the hybrid AI felt as if he had entered into a room filled with unbreathable gas. He clearly experienced a lot of relief when he stepped away from all of the necessary security measures.

The RF officer could use a breather. The highly momentous conversation and reunion had given Sigrund a lot of food for thought. The meeting held an enormous amount of implications, many of which remained ambiguous due to lack of solid answers.

Nonetheless, both Sigrund and Ves determined that they had enough common ground to establish a more substantial form of cooperation.

This was another reason why Sigrund could use a recess. He needed to get back to his superior and formulate a strategy on how they should cooperate with Ves. It was not every day that the Red Fleet established a partnership with the most prominent mech designer of his generation.

As Sigrund left, Ves felt apprehensive as he reviewed his conversation and questioned his decisions.

Meeting the former sandman admiral had been a surprise, so much so that Ves threw away his plan and utilized his familiarity with Sigrund to establish an immediate relationship with the fleeters.

"I hope it works."

Ves had a lot more questions about Sigrund and what he had been doing as of late, but none of that was as important as the benefits he could gain from the Red Fleet.

"Lucky."

"Meow?" The dark gem cat raised his head.

"I need you to inspect the periphery of this room. I know you have already scanned it for any bugs, but I am not entirely sure whether that is enough to keep out the mechers. I really don't want them to eavesdrop on my conversation with Sigrund."

"Meow meow meow!"

"I know it is excessive on my part, but it is better to be safe than sorry. Just do it. Who knows. Maybe I can obtain more EE-343F-00334R than I need for my purposes."

"Meow?!"

Ves smiled back at his pet. "I don't think I need the rest, so you can devour the excess."

"Meeeow!"

He hadn't forgotten about the fact that Lucky managed to devour the bits of Timpala Steel that was left after he completed his first Supply Mission.

Given that EE-343F-00334R was at least on the same caliber as Timpala Steel, Lucky already started to salivate at the thought of devouring this top-end alloy!

Lucky became a lot more enthused about performing his duties after that. His diligence became so exemplary that it was hard for Ves to believe that his cat could be so obedient.

It took two hours for Sigrund to return. The lengthy delay signified that the RF captain had definitely yielded a lot of results.

It remained to be seen whether they were favorable to Ves. The grave expression on his face hinted that the matter surrounding EE-343F-00334R was so sensitive that an investigation into it had probably alarmed the fleeters.

When the office door closed, Sigrund brought out a much more elaborate set of jamming equipment. The jamming devices and other equipment looked so high-tech that Ves was pretty sure that a typical RF captain should not have access to this kind of hardware!

"Please understand that what I am about to tell you must not fall into the ears of others." Captain Reze spoke in a serious tone. "I will likely have information that is so classified that only fleet admirals and top researchers responsible for developing our best technologies know about it. I had to swear oaths and sign numerous non-disclosure agreements to gain access to this information myself."

"So it's that serious, huh? Well, get on with it then. What documents do I have to sign to obtain the information that I need?"

"We will not force you to sign any contracts, Ves. Such agreements will not bind you. According to our analysis of your personality and behavior over the years, we believe that a serious verbal promise is enough to guarantee your cooperation. Will you give me your word that you will never divulge the confidential information that I am about to convey to you? You may not share it with anyone, especially the mechers, the Terrans, the Rubarthans and even your own clansmen. If we discover that any leak has occurred, we know where to find you. Not even the mechers will be able to protect you from our wrath."

Seeing that Sigrund was utterly serious about this issue, Ves had no choice but to reciprocate. He stood up and straightened his back. He also gave a signal to Lucky, who automatically made himself scarce.

"I promise not to divulge the sensitive information that you pass on to me today to any person. I will take extra precautions to prevent any of it from leaking to the mechers, the Terrans and the Rubarthans. I have no intention of betraying your trust."

Sigrund stared intensely at Ves before he nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you for cooperating with us. Just so you know, this was not my idea. Admiral Mieli insisted on it. She does not know you personally, so she requires a more explicit promise."

"It's okay. I just hope that all of this secrecy is worth it." Ves replied.

Now that the formalities were out of the way, there was nothing hindering Sigrund from passing on what he knew.

"Our investigation went just as you predicted. Admiral Mieli attempted to look into EE-343F-00334R, only to get blocked and locked out of her systems. I won't tell you what happened next. All I can say is that the admiral eventually managed to receive a secure data chip that contains a small amount of information that is highly relevant to you. She only transferred a small part of its contents to me. The data came in such a densely encrypted format that I had to make use of one of my one-time ciphers to decrypt it. Once I read the text, I understood the need for secrecy."

Ves leaned forward. "Well? What is it? What can it do, exactly?"

"The good news is that we do have a small quantity of EE-343F-00334R in our possession." Sigrund slowly announced. "The bad news is that it is an exceedingly valuable strategic material. Based on the description that I have received, it is used as a vital material for a key ship component that is located in the heart of the Dominion of Man. I am told that… the alloy's powerful properties are partially responsible for the dreadnought's powerful teleportation functions."

"I… see…"

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