[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 170: Hunting Platoon

Afterwards, Lord Kaine discussed the finer details. He wanted to keep Ves close in order to avoid another desertion.

Ves didn't object to Kaine's strongly worded suggestion, but he wanted Melkor to stay with him. He already found his cousin's presence to be a boon. Even if the other mech pilots didn't respect him, they acknowledged Melkor's strength.

"The Ark has a berth available for your cousin's mech." The leader of the expedition answered after a few seconds of thoughts. "I'll allow him to accompany you, but you'll have to leave behind your weapons."

"Very well."

They hashed out an elaborate set of responsibilities and conditions. Ves would transfer to the Ark Horizon and work full-time on improving the hunting platoon's mechs. The fleet carrier came with a compact but modern mech fabrication workshop, outfitted by his predecessor.

Treachery aside, the man spent his ample budget well. The 3D printer in particular almost matched the Dortmund in speed and precision. For now, the mech technicians used the printer in order to fabricate new replacement parts, but hopefully Ves would make much better use of the machines.

Along with access to the workshop, Ves also had the right to draw on the carrier's well-stocked raw material reserves. In order to make sure he didn't squander his reserves, Lord Kaine assigned a minder who kept watch over his activities.

"I'm okay with that." Ves replied. He knew that Lord Kaine didn't trust him very much. He'd keep a close watch on Ves anyway, so they might as well get it out of the way.

They also discussed the deployment of the Barracuda. As a fast and fairly modern corvette, she would function as an ideal scout. Lord Kaine wanted to bolster her crew with his own men but Ves put his foot down on that point.

"I don't want too many foreigners on my ship. She's extremely valuable."

Ves suggested that Lord Kaine post a single liason on the Barracuda. He acceded to the demands to restrict the FTL drive and the quantum entanglement node with special hardware as long as they didn't permanently disable the modules.

"Very well. We shall have to leave it at that." Lord Kaine finally conceded. The Barracuda wouldn't be straying too far from the main fleet as a consequence.

After coming to an understanding on his role, Ves bid Lord Kaine farewell and left the stateroom. As they came out of the reinforced hatch, they returned their comms to their wrists and picked up Lucky.

A young uniformed attendant greeted the pair as they wondered where to go. "Mr. Larkinson? I'm Ensign Jules D'Amato, and I've been assigned to be your guide."

Ves expected some kind of grizzled old veteran who took no bullshit from anyone. Instead, he got a polite and friendly minder who behaved suspiciously friendly.

"Can you take us to our quarters? We brought some luggage but we left it behind in the hangar bay."

"Your luggage is already brought to your new quarters. This way, please."

They traversed the corridors and went down to the bottom decks. Overall, most of the ship's operations happened in the upper decks. The activities pertaining to mechs occurred at the lower decks.

The Larkinsons started to see more crew members donning various different uniforms. Ensign D'Amato explained who they were. "Half of the Ark Horizon's complement of mechs are owned by mercenaries."

"Why isn't Lord Kaine filling up the hangar bays with his own mechs?"

Ensign D'Amato adopted a pensive look. "House Kaine is currently burdened by many obligations. Lord Kaine is unwilling to draw away too many mechs on a lengthy voyage to the galactic rim."