When the Hexer officers sat on the opposite side of the oval table, they curiously studied Ves and Calabast.
For some reason or another, the Wodins immediately recognized that Calabast was a fellow Hexer. Yet the smirk the spymaster showed to them signalled that she was not on their side.
As for Ves, he looked quite unassuming outside of his public addresses. The Wodins should have watched his latest press conference. There, wearing his Unending Regalia, he came across as larger than life!
Now, wearing his relatively plain clan patriarch uniform that was devoid of any ostentatious medal, it was hard to place him as a brilliant mech designer and a notorious warlord.
Only Mech Colonel Alexandria retained her composure. Ves had already secretly accessed some archives through his implant. He found out that Alexandria was a member of a side branch of the Wodin Dynasty like Ranya Wodin.
What was special about this 90-year old mech officer was that she had continually proven herself. While she was actually rather mediocre at piloting mechs, she had proven to be a competent and steady officer.
It was no wonder that the Wodins put her in charge of the reinforcement fleet. A Hexer commanding officer that was not as aggressive as her peers was the most suitable choice to lead a force in a notoriously dangerous region.
Ves grew tired of this staring game.
“Thank you for coming.” He broke the silence. “Please forgive our lack of amenities. We are still operating under wartime conditions. We’ve learned the hard way that we can never let down our guard in the Nyxian Gap.”
“Understandable.” Alexandra lowered her chin. Her blond hair tied in some martial Hexer pattern shifted a bit. “We have received orders to escort you and your men back to the Cinach System promptly. The sooner we bring you out the Nyxian Gap, the lower the risk of any further complications.”
Ves smiled a bit uneasily at them. “I agree. There is just one minor issue. It’s not enough to bring us out. We would also like your help in escorting our captured warships back to civilized space.”
The faces of some of the Hexer officers grew ugly.
“That sounds preposterous!” One of them burst out! “Such destructive machines ought to be scuttled as soon as possible!”
Unspoken was the fact that the Hexers probably thought it was extremely dangerous to leave the warships in the hands of boys.
Ves remained unyielding. “We have already made the necessary arrangements with the relevant authorities. Truthfully, the MTA is quite interested in the pirate-built warships that have fallen into our hands. We will eventually hand them over to Master Moira Willix after we are done with using them as props for my upcoming wedding.”
He mentioned two important reasons why they should help bring the ships back.
First, he deliberately mentioned Master Willix’s first name. Since a powerful woman was involved, the initial resistance from the Hexers instantly halved.
The mention of the wedding also caused the Wodins to lower their objections.
“Is it a good idea to parade savage warships in your upcoming wedding?”
In some way, she was right. Weddings were usually prim and proper occasions. Parading warships, especially the huge and heavily-damaged Gravada Knarlax, was no different from displaying the corpses of his defeated enemies.
It was unseemly!
Yet despite this fact, Ves did not change his mind.
“Nothing impresses the prestigious guests that we have invited more than parading these prizes. Wedding or not, both of us will be able to project an immense amount of strength. This is ultimately helpful to our stature.”
“We shall see. With your permission, we will dispatch some of our officers and engineers to your prize ships.” Alexandria offered.
Ves hesitated a bit. He did not look forward to Hexers crawling over his possessions, but the Gravada Knarlax was in such bad shape that she truly needed all the help she could get. In her horrendously-damaged state, numerous systems glitched and malfunctioned with every passing day.
“Please do. Make sure to dispatch your best engineers to the Gravada Knarlax. She’s a half-crippled mess that urgently requires repairs that we are not able to perform with the equipment and supplies we have left. We expended too many resources on the pirates.”
“Understandable.”
This was just an initial discussion. The Wodin officers could discuss the details with the Larkinson officers later.
They discussed some other matters, such as how much time it would take to bring them out and how much medical support they could offer to treat the most severely-injured soldiers.
Ves did not encounter any hostility or rejection from Colonel Alexandria. This was quite refreshing as he expected to put up with the usual biased behavior he had come to expect from her kind.
At some point, Alexandria displayed an increasing amount of interest in the final battle.
“So you call it the Battle against the Abyss? That is quite the name.”
Ves shrugged. “It’s just what my clansmen have come up with. As far as they knew, they fought the toughest opponents the Nyxian Gap had to offer. The enemies we’ve faced were unquestionably strong and evil.”
“Can you elaborate, Mr. Larkinson?” Alexandra leaned closer. “What exactly happened that caused so many of your mech pilots to break through?”
“I am not at liberty to say. When I reported to Master Willix, she commanded us to keep much of the details confidential.” Ves lied.
That instantly shut her down. While Hexers did not exactly hold the MTA in the highest regard, they recognized the power it held over the galaxy. No sane Hexer dared to defy the Association.
Though Ves expected such a reaction, he didn’t realize how convenient it was to wave the MTA’s flag until now. Perhaps he should take more advantage of the MTA’s notoriety in these kinds of situations!
“Say, may we speak with your expert pilots and candidates? We would like your permission to take a look at their mechs as well if possible.”
Ves shook his head. “I’m sorry, but Master Moira’s instructions are very clear. Please do not disturb our honored expert pilots as they are acclimatizing to their newfound powers. As for their mechs, you can take a look at them if they deploy in space, but make sure to keep a distance.”
“Very well.”
In the following minutes, Colonel Alexandra sounded a bit less engaged. It seemed that she was truly disappointed that her Wodin Warriors wouldn’t be able to study the mechs that played a pivotal role in the battle.
Ves silently glanced at Calabast. She nodded back with her characteristic smirk.
It seemed his spymaster was right. The Wodin Warriors were mostly interested in the mechs that had made a lot of people excited lately. Colonel Alexandria gradually turned cold as Ves continually denied her requests to poke around.
Even if Ves used the MTA as an excuse, the Wodins still felt snubbed.
He decided to offer her an olive branch. “Progress can be slowed but not stopped. The MTA may slow some matters down, but eventually they will recognize that the benefits outweigh the costs. Naturally, the first beneficiary of our exclusive enhanced mechs is our own clan. Second on the list will likely be the MTA if it ever has an appetite for our modest work. Third-in-line is doubtlessly your dynasty. We have not forgotten all of the support your Wodins have offered to us. My future wife and I will be happy to fulfill some of your needs.”
“It pleases us that you acknowledge that we are allies.” Colonel Alexandria smiled again. “Miss Gloriana has chosen well. I predict that both the Wodin Dynasty and the Larkinson Clan shall rise to greater heights. It is a pity that you are determined to bring your clan away from this star sector.”
“You have seen my talents. Together with Gloriana, we are capable of designing revolutionary mechs that are highly desirable no matter where we go. The Komodo Star Sector is my home, but eventually every son must depart and live on his own.” He said.
“Not in the Hegemony.”
“It’s just a metaphor.”
“Please consider settling in our grand and well-run state. While we are in the midst of a war at the moment, crushing the Friday Coalition is only a matter of time. If you prefer to settle your own planet or star system, I am sure we can arrange one for you after the war. Once we have swallowed up the territories of the former Friday Coalition, there is plenty of available real estate that needs redevelopment.”
Not again! Colonel Alexandria sounded a lot more reasonable before she uttered this spiel. What was it with Hexers and their constant disregard of Fridaymen?
Right now, the Komodo War was no longer swinging in the favor of the Hexers anymore. With the appearance of more and more targeted counters, the Blessed Squire no longer granted the Hexers as much help as before.
“Our plans are already set in stone. It is too late to change our course.” Ves replied in a firm tone.
As the discussion grew a little awkward, they eventually decided to end the meeting.
The Wodins stood up and headed back to the hangar bay. Ves had already passed on the contents of the meeting to Major Verle in order to get the ball rolling.
“You were right.” He told Calabast after the guests had left. “The Wodins are truly greedy for my latest innovation.”
“This is why it’s important to keep it close to your chest. I don’t know how effective it is, but don’t pull out all of the stops from now on, okay? We can still muddy the account of the Battle against the Abyss by putting the blame on other factors such as the abnormal circumstances of the Nyxian Gap, but if expert pilots start popping up left and right, we’ll attract far more scrutiny than we can handle.”
“You don’t need to remind me. I’ll be very cautious about spreading my enhanced mechs. The problem is that we can’t deprive other people of them entirely.”
The cat was partially out of the bag. He needed to satisfy everyone’s curiosity, so he already intended to release some weaker mechs.
He wanted to see how many more breakthroughs took place if he filled a mech up to 1 percent saturation. If that was too much, then Ves would probably pare it down to 0.1 percent.
As long as the actual result turned out to be a lot more subtle than people initially thought, Ves would probably lose some of the heat.
Of course, Ves had to convince his audience that he wasn’t deliberately holding back for some reason.
“Well, if you don’t require my assistance anymore, I’ll be heading back.” Calabast spoke. “I’ve got to keep a close eye on the Wodin Warriors, after all. Just because Colonel Alexandria said she would leave your special mechs alone doesn’t mean she won’t try anything underhanded.”
An ugly possibility came to mind. “Do the Wodin Warriors have any stealth vessels?”
“It’s a possibility.” She admitted. “The Wodins might not employ them against your forces, though. The consequences are very severe if they get caught. In fact, if I ever detect any impropriety, I will likely warn them off silently.”
Ves frowned. “I’m in charge here. You should ask for instructions before you make such a decision. What if I want to confront the Wodin Warriors?”
She reached out and pinched his nose with her long and sinuous fingers. “Don’t be silly, kid. You’re about to marry Gloriana soon. The last thing you want is to ruin her wedding by entering into a spat with her relatives. Let auntie Calabast watch over your household for you so that your marriage proceeds smoothly.”
“Stop that!” Ves angrily swatted her finger away. “Whose side are you on?”
Calabast chuckled and swayed her hips as she headed for the exit. “I’m on your side Ves. That has never changed.”
Why did Ves feel as if that was never the case?
