The Mech Touch

Chapter 6330  Security Risks

Yernstall had become a focus of red humanity.

During these trying times where the Red Tide Offensive managed to topple 3 defensive bands, people had very few good developments to look forward to. The news from the frontlines remained bleak as the native aliens continued to leverage their superior numbers and resources to fulfill their goal of eradicating all humans in their dwarf galaxy.

The founding ceremony of the Red Collective was meant to revive people's hopes and give them an extra source of optimism.

The Red Collective was not just a regulatory organization. It was also meant to become a dominant power, one that was meant to organize up-and-coming cultivators and shape them into effective combatants that could contribute to the Red War in their own unique ways!

The founding ceremony was therefore way more than a symbolic occasion. The Red Collective and its many supporters had prepared numerous initiatives meant to give the new superorganization a lot of momentum.

From expanding kinship networks to a greater share of the population to setting up RC-sponsored academies to educate the next generation of cultivators for its own purposes, the founding ceremony would give people plenty of reasons to rejoice!

The introduction of Carmine mechs to the public could be considered as one of those events, though the Red Association insisted on claiming jurisdiction over this new category of mechs.

It didn't matter. As long as Carmine mechs dispelled some of the darkness that had overtaken red humanity, it would still provide a beneficial change. Ves did not want his civilization to collapse, after all. He would let the mechers have their toys.

There was still plenty of other stuff for Ves to look forward to in his capacity as a major leader of the Red Collective.

In the previous sessions he presided over, the councilors managed to fully flesh out the hierarchy and organizational structure.

The Upper Council and the Lower Council decided the overall policies and direction of the RC, but they did not run the superorganization directly.

That was the job of the executors, the heads of all of the departments of the Red Collective. They were the day-to-day leaders that were responsible for executing the policies accepted by the two Councils.

Ves readily admitted that he had played a sizable role in empowering the executors. As a mech designer, he was far too busy to take charge of every single issue related to the RC.

If people wanted him to become the leader of the Upper Council so much, then they should at least allow him to do so on a part-time basis. He would never be willing to sacrifice his main occupation for other job opportunities.

So long as the right executors got selected and put into their high offices, they would make sure that the Red Collective would run smoothly and according to the will of the Councils. This should massively reduce Ves' obligations and allow him to spend more time on his own priorities.

While empowering the executors would inevitably weaken the power of the councilors to an extent, Ves still believed it was a worthwhile tradeoff. He was more than willing to sacrifice a bit of power to free up a massive portion of his schedule.

He didn't even care if this would weaken his overall prestige and leadership position in the Red Collective. He was already fine with wielding a moderate amount of power and influence. Accepting any more would vastly increase his work obligations and keep him mired with irrelevant duties.

Ves even managed to set up the Councils so that people did not even have to attend the sessions in person at the Red Collective's new headquarters.

They could continue to attend the meetings by remote provided that they could guarantee reasonably stable and secure communication channels.

Ves even argued that this was the superior option to forcing the councilors to move to Yernstall on a permanent basis.

"The Red Collective is supposed to be different from the Red Association and the Red Fleet." Ves argued during a past session. "Our Collective should maintain much closer ties to the grassroots that form its fundamental base of support. How better to ensure we remain connected to the masses if our councilors continue to live among them? Yernstall is definitely a great place if it has become known as the Sapphire of the Red Ocean, but in my eyes it is just a giant ivory tower. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the mechers and the fleeters."

He almost couldn't believe this argument actually worked. A lot of councilors bought this excuse and agreed that there shouldn't be any problems with continuing to hold important council sessions in a purely virtual setting.

They could even broadcast the virtual council sessions to show the Red Collective's commitment to transparency!

A lot of important decisions made by the RA and the RF happened behind closed doors. They had no interest in showing transparency, not necessarily because they were shy or arrogant, but because they probably discussed a lot of topics on confidential matters.

The RC would probably do that as well, but Ves at least wanted to broadcast the sessions where the councilors talked about more mundane affairs just to make a statement.

Long story short, as long as Ves successfully set everything up, he could look forward to sitting back and let the RC run itself for the most part.

Ves only had to attend and preside over the sessions of the Upper Council every so often in order to set a new strategic direction or modify the current ones.

However, there was no way for him to avoid the first gathering of important figures. He needed to be present in Yernstall to show up, claim responsibility and earn much of the credit for bringing an endeavor as massive as the Red Collective to life.

Before Ves moved to the Yernstall Central Star Node, he still had to take care of a lot of preparations.

"The journey from New Constantinople to Yernstall will not take long, but do not underestimate the risks." Jovy Armalon told Ves. "We are confident we have managed to prevent or stifle any potential leaks relating to our Carmine mechs, but we cannot guarantee that others have learned about what we are busy with. Those whose interests are on track of getting harmed due to the abrupt rise of Carmine mechs will have many reasons to spoil this launch."

That caused Ves to look concerned. "Are you saying… that enemies may try to attack our Bluejay Fleet in transit so they can assassinate me in the hopes of strangling Carmine mechs in the cradle?"

"It is… a plausible scenario." Jovy said with a concerned expression. "Our intelligence agencies have not detected any signs of a serious assassination attempt against you, but if such a plot is truly in the works, then the journey from New Constantinople to Yernstall is by far the best window of opportunity to take away your life. Our fleet will not be easy to defeat after we have received temporary reinforcements, but it is still easier to attack it in the middle of nowhere than to launch an attack in New Constantinople or Yernstall."

It was very difficult for any secret force to arrive on New Constantinople VIII in large numbers.

The Devos Ancient Clan did a good job at controlling the inflow of traffic to the busy planet, and always tried to limit the mechs and other destructive hardware that people wanted to bring to the surface.

Approaching Diandi Base where Ves spent most of his time was also a difficult prospect. It was located in a rural part of the planet where any hostile approach easily stood out from the terrain.

The mechers had set up robust defenses and detection systems that were effective enough to sniff out infiltrators. A lot of sneaky bastards got caught due to underestimating how many checks and layers the mechers employed to prevent anyone from posing a threat to Ves and his family!

Ves suddenly had a feeling that he needed to consult Ylvaine for any early warnings about a possible assassination attempt.

There were many reasons for people to claim his head.

There were Cosmopolitans who still wanted to reap the bounty offered by the Red Cabal.

There were paranoid bastards among the Red Two that feared that Ves was working towards reviving the Five Scrolls Compact in the new frontier.

There were supporters of the Starfighter Corps and members of the existing mech community whose interests would be fundamentally threatened by the rise of Carmine mechs.

There were also members of the Red Two and numerous other organizations that really did not want to see the rise of the Red Collective!

Any one of these groups or more could have designs on Ves' life. It was already bad enough if they worked by themselves to launch a credible assassination attempt.

It would be much worse if they somehow discovered each other and collectively prepared an ambush!

In any case, Ves needed to stay on his toes during the entire strip to the central star node. Only after he arrived in Yernstall would he be able to relax and remain secure.

Sure, Yernstall was an incredibly busy place that attracted a lot of mechers, fleeters, Terrans and Rubarthans, but that also merited a very strict security regime.

Even if a nefarious party managed to overcome the strict prevention methods and come close to harming Ves, he could still count on Saint Tusa and his Dark Zephyr to squash most challengers!

Ves was allowed to bring along the ace pilot of the Larkinson Clan as his main security detail. His high position, importance and known enemies practically mandated this arrangement.

Even if Saint Tusa and his powerful Dark Zephyr were not up to the task of repelling the enemy assassins, then the Evolution Witch would definitely intervene to avoid everything spiraling out of control!"

Ves truly assumed that none of his enemies would be able to lay a single hand on him so long as he remained under the protection of a god pilot.

He would become vulnerable once more after his Bluejay Fleet transported him back to New Constantinople VIII, but by then, it was too late to many of his enemies.

"I really hope those reinforcements are something, because I have a feeling we will need their protection. Will we gain the protection of additional ace mechs?"

"None. You can only bring your own to Yernstall. Our ace pilots are already spread thin, as you know. Maintaining the 4th defensive band is still a critical endeavor."

Ves looked disappointed. There was another Larkinson ace pilot in the form of Saint Commander Casella Ingvar, but he doubted whether it was worthwhile to bring her along. Her Minerva Mark I Revision B was still a quasi-first-class expert mech and lacked the raw power and sophistication to keep up with first-class battles.

"Ugh." Ves rubbed his face with his palm. "I have nothing against your Bluejay Fleet. I would rather like it if my own organization can take care of security. I will see if I cannot scrounge a coalition fleet together by borrowing from the escort forces of all of those friendly faiths."

This could wait for later. Ves continued to listen to Jovy explain his itinerary.

"Whatever you do, make sure you clean up and present yourself at your best before the critical moment. You need to make a professional sales pitch to achieve the greatest possible impact. Once you have ignited a new war, you may be permitted to retreat and remain out of sight."

"What if the native aliens actually dare to attack the Yernstall Central Star Node?"

"Then you should do whatever you can to help our forces vanquish against these powerful foes, Ves. Reinforcements are always present. You only need to buy enough time for them to come and step in. I suggest you invest in a better and stronger shield generator."

"I'm a phase lord. I do not necessarily need such a gadget anymore. I would rather outfit myself with a fitting raiment."

"...You can do that as well."