Due to the Piranha Prime’s proximity to the breached warehouse depot, Venerable Tusa could not risk a transmission.
The signals released by his mech would definitely tip off the unknowns of his presence.
So far, Venerable Tusa had been careful to travel low on the ground and let all of the widespread jamming and interference obscure his prime mech.
He had been careful to control the emissions of his mech. By outputting less heat, he not only conserved his energy, but also lowered the chance of getting spotted from a distance.
Still, against powerful opponents, this trick was bound to fail. Military-grade sensor systems were much better equipped to peer through jamming and spot anomalous signal patterns.
The fact that the looters failed to detect his Piranha Prime at its current distance suggested that the unknowns belonged to a private faction, but that made little sense.
“This is a pretty remote area. Why would a large outfit that controls at least two-hundred mechs be here in force? For that matter, what kind of wholesaler would erect a warehouse of this size when there are very few production facilities in the surrounding districts?”
It made much more sense for massive depots like these to be situated next to biomech growth facilities or something! The amount of containers for taking could probably supply a typical biomech production facility for months if not years!
The situation grew more fishy by the second. Venerable Tusa had encountered so many random groups of thugs and criminals that he found it jarring to stumble upon a cohesive force of organized biomechs.
Each of them possessed the same coating and color scheme, but the Piranha Prime’s sensors weren’t able to detect any prominent words or prominent symbols.
Most forces proudly marked their war machines in some way. Owning a powerful mech was a source of pride and strength to many people and organizations. His own clan gladly embraced pageantry for example!
He was so used to mechs making their origins clear that the sight before him simply did not look right.
“Anyone who tries to hide their affiliation is definitely up to no good!”
He carefully drew his mech back in order to minimize detection, but continued to observe the unidentified biomechs as much as possible.
The mechs were all coated in a plain gray shade and their transports shared the same color scheme.
His mech hardly spotted any people on foot. Instead, all of the loading was being done by mechs or beetles.
Clearly, the looters did not care too much about damaging the contents of the containers. It was highly improper to let mechs designed for combat pick up anything valuable with their own hands. They could easily crush whatever they held if the mech was not that precise and if the mech pilot was inattentive!
The unknown force was clearly in a hurry. From the way the mechs were handling the containers and how fast they were loading up their transports, they were very eager to hoard supplies for some reason.
“Are they making new mechs or are they acc.u.mulating reserves to sustain a long campaign?”
Tusa wasn’t able to figure out the answer. After several more minutes of observation, he finally stepped away. While he wanted to stick around longer in order to track the direction of their departure, he didn’t want to risk detection.
He had a hunch that these unknown grey biomechs were not hoarding all of these feeder stock in order to lock themselves inside a bunker stronghold!
Several hours later, his Ferocious Piranha carefully threaded its way back to Gentle Lotus Base. Though Venerable Tusa was tired and in a conflicted mood, he still answered his patriarch’s summons and entered the latter’s office.
“Meow.”
A pale bronze figure floated over to his side and began to circle around his head.
“Hey, Lucky.”
“Tusa.” Ves spoke from behind his desk. “How’s the city?”
“It’s a mess, as I’m sure you already know. The sights I’ve seen and the depravities I’ve witnessed has caused me to readjust my opinion of humanity. I never knew that people could go so low, especially from those who had the luck and privilege to grow up in a peaceful second-rate state. Even the sandmen are nobler than some of the thugs I’ve ended!”
Ves’ eyes grew sharper as they observed Tusa’s suited form. The expert pilot felt uncomfortable with being scrutinized like this. It was as if his cousin was able to peer right into his heart!
“You look troubled, Tusa.” The mech designer began to frown. “Let me guess. You encountered some unpleasant scenes and fell into a spiral of confusion and self-doubt, right?”
Venerable Tusa’s unstable force of will rippled. “How did you know?”
“I created you.” Ves dubiously boasted. “Proper after-market support is one of my most important priorities. I don’t want one of the two expert pilots by my side to turn defective when I most need your strength. No one else can pilot the Piranha Prime except you, Tusa!”
Though the expert pilot felt pleased at the concern shown by his cousin, he was not very comfortable with the wording.
“I’m not a product, Ves, much less yours. I am my own person. You may have helped me advance to my current rank, but I could have easily managed on my own. You’re pretty annoying whenever you act like we’re your assets. We are not items on your balance sheet. We are living, breathing humans who you should be treating as family.”
Ves continued smiling as if he completely didn’t hear what Tusa said. “Yes, yes, I understand. This conversation isn’t about me, though. It’s about you. Tell me what is plaguing you. Maybe I can lend a hand.”
This insufferable bastard. Venerable Tusa began to see why Jannzi thought that Ves was unfit to lead the clan he founded.
Venerable Tusa sighed and moved over to sit on the nearest chair. “I don’t know how to describe it. I feel like I have been too naive. Mech pilots like my fellow clansmen and I are all honorable soldiers. We swear an oath, obey our orders and abide by the rules, at least for the most part. I don’t think I’ve met a single mech pilot in our clan who is prone to descending into madness like the ones I’ve seen outside.”
“That’s because we are selective in our recruitment.” Ves pressed the tips of his fingers against each other. “At least until recently, we always screened our clansmen in order to make sure they conformed close enough to our core values. While we’ve been forced to put down our strict recruitment standards, I’m still not worried about our new mech pilots.”
“Why? What gives you the confidence that the mech pilots you’ve recruited from the refugee camps will behave?”
“We are small enough to monitor everyone. No one is able to escape the sights of our monitoring system. It’s different for a big state like the LRA. With trillions of citizens, it’s not possible to devote human attention to everyone. There are also too many ways for people to evade observation and get away with it in a large society.”
Venerable Tusa furrowed his brows. “That makes sense, but monitoring is only able to catch those who are already unstable. What if the former gang members and other unsavory figures go bonkers one day?”
“That won’t happen. At least, the odds are so low that we can pretty much ignore this possibility.”
“Do you believe in us that much?”
“I believe in our culture and our kinship. The heritage and tradition that we’ve inherited from the old family is one of our most valuable assets. Any organization can compose a set of rules to keep its members in line. However, it takes good leadership to encourage subordinates to play by rules because they want to, not because they risk punishment if they cross the line.”
The answer caused Tusa to fall silent. His force of will continually rippled as he tried to make sense of what he heard.
“Can order only be established through structure? Is there no alternative to rules and institutions that allows for greater freedom without everything turning into a mess?”
Ves faintly shook his head. “Let me ask you a question, cousin. Do you believe that humans are inherently good or inherently bad?”
This was a classic question, and one that had never been settled despite millenia of growth and progress.
Everyone had a different idea on the natural state of humans.
Some believed that humans started off as inherently good and honest, much like cute little children. They only turned bad because they experienced something awful in their lives or became affected by outside factors.
Others posited that humans were violent, brutish and selfish by nature. Only the threat of punishment and ostracization was able to keep the dark side of humanity at bay. The moment when all order collapsed, the beasts inside the hearts of people could no longer be contained!
Previously, Venerable Tusa believed in the former. He had always been in the company of good and decent people. Even the opponents he fought were honorable in a sense.
Yet now, he could no longer believe in this assumption. He lowered his head in defeat as he could no longer convince himself that freedom was universally good.
“I’m more inclined to believe that people are inherently bad.” Venerable Tusa sighed. “It doesn’t make sense for these pampered and privileged second-class mech pilots to devolve into beasts as soon as the Planetary Guard is too busy to lay down the law.”
“You’re not a sociologist or criminologist, Tusa. Just because you can’t come up with another answer doesn’t mean that your analysis is right. You should leave these complicated societal questions to the experts.”
“I CAN’T IGNORE THIS ISSUE!” Venerable Tusa flared!
“Meow!”
His outburst frightened Lucky, causing the gem cat to dart back to Ves.
“I’m sorry.” The emotional mech pilot took a deep breath. “I don’t want to attend a boring lecture or get flooded by jargon that makes no sense to me. I just want to find an answer that I can accept.”
Ves did not immediately respond. Instead, he maintained his silence for a while before he finally spoke up again.
“If you want to find an answer on your own, then you better hurry up. This is not the time to take a sabbatical. We are stuck on a planet that is in the middle of a revolution. Who knows if we’ll get attacked tomorrow.”
That reminded Tusa of the odd sight he saw a few hours ago. “Did you read my last report before I returned?”
“I did.” Ves nodded. “Those grey biomechs pose a serious threat to us. While they are not that close to our current position, the chance of bumping into them is greater if we choose to relocate to a nearby biomech production facility.”
“Have you been able to figure out their origins?”
“Our intelligence personnel are looking into it, but so far the answer eludes us. None of the local refugees and new recruits recognize these odd biomechs. Not just their colors, but also their models remain a mystery.”
The latter seemed especially suspicious to Ves. Any force that was able to employ or commission their own custom mech or biomech designs was definitely a cut above a typical mercenary corps!
All of the data so far suggested that these grey biomechs were part of a well-funded, decently-connected private organization, and a hidden one at that. For them to lay low for an unknown amount of years before moving out in large numbers suggested that they may very well be involved in the Supreme Revolution!
Ves did not want to clash against these people. While their biomechs weren’t as impressive as military-grade mechs, they were still better than the biomechs in his own clan’s possession.
“We don’t know who these people are and what they want.” He said after a moment’s thought. “That unsettles me. I need you to go on another run and try to track these grey mechs down. You need to find their base, figure out their plans and identify any possible allies and enemies. Can you do that?”
“I don’t know. I’m not in a good shape right now.”
Ves scoffed and crossed his arms. “Moping around won’t do you any good. Expert pilots like you aren’t meant to sit around. Wasn’t this what you alluded to me a few days ago? Just go out and do something useful. You’re a fighter, not a thinker! If all else fails, you can always drown your doubts in combat!”
“..I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
