The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2938

Chapter 2938: Orphidor Citadel

Pretty much every star sector within human space possessed an MTA and CFA presence.

As the most powerful public trans-galactic organization that meddled in human space, the Mech Trade Association always sought to plant their flag in the most central and notable locations in a given star sector.

For example, in the Komodo Star Sector, both the Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony coveted the Centerpoint System during the start of the colonization period. It’s great location, abundant exotics and energetic suns could all provide enormous boosts to any nascent state looking to supercharge their industrial development!

Yet from the moment the MTA dropped in and claimed Centerpoint for its own purposes, the Fridaymen and Hexers obediently avoided the location and fought for the surrounding star systems.

This pretty much happened in every star sector.

It was one thing if the MTA claimed the desirable and centrally-located star systems in recently-opened star sectors.

It was another thing if the MTA claimed a star system that was already developed by an existing state!

This happened to a lot of states during the rise of the powerful association and the onset of the Age of Mechs.

At that period, the devastation across human space and the might of the recently-established Big Two left the weakened states with little choice but to give up their prized star systems!

The Morgana Deltor System happened to be one of them. Situated in a highly desirable location in the center of the Majestic Teal Star Sector, the state that preceded the Harmony Association invested a lot of money, resources and manpower to develop its economic, military and cultural might.

Yet just as the modest state started to earn a return on its investment, the end of the Age of Conquest and the emergence of a powerful new organization that sought to make its mark on human civilization abruptly changed this trajectory!

The predecessor state to the Harmony Association had no choice but to acquiesce. It ’voluntarily’ gave up its capital system and its greatest jewel in exchange for a large infusion of cash and rare exotics.

While this compensation was very sumptuous by the standards of the galactic rim, the permanent loss of territorial potential proved too much of a loss! The predecessor state fell and the weaker and more modest Harmony Association rose in its stead.

Ketis found this story to be rather intriguing as she and her massively-expanded Swordmaiden fleet entered this heavily-regulated star system.

From the moment her ships emerged in realspace, every one of them became buffeted by strong radiation. Despite the immense distance from the center of the star system, the seven suns that were orbiting complex trajectories all outputted their energy at the same time!

"Damn, that’s bright!"

When the MTA took over the star system, they added a few extra stars to the mix. As a result, a whopping seven stars of different sizes, masses and luminosities illuminated the immediate space with an abundance of hot and very lethal radiation. The dense Dyson swarms that enveloped them all helped a lot in blocking too much energy from melting everything in the inner system, but regular starships simply could not survive a single trip to the interior!

In order to reach her destination, Ketis had to transfer to a space station situated at the edge of the star system and wait for a specially-designed MTA passenger vessel to bring her to one of the massive artificial starbases located close to all of the suns.

Ketis, who decided to make the trip by wearing her modest dark green Living Mech Corporation uniform instead of her ostentatious swordmaster dress uniform, looked wondrously at the projection in the center of the luxurious passenger ship.

"Why would the MTA allow the local stars to keep blasting the inner system with heat?"

"It’s a natural defensive measure against invasions." A distinguished-looking man replied as he curiously eyed the floating sheathed greatsword hovering behind Ketis’ back. "They say that all of the suns generate so much gravity, electromagnetic radiation and other forms of energy that it’s virtually impossible for starships to use any form of FTL to drop inside the inner system. Those that do make the attempt will likely get shredded."

"Won’t that block the MTA’s own starships from using their portals to get to their destination quickly?"

The older man gently shrugged. "I don’t think they mind the inconvenience as long as it provides them with a bit of peace of mind."

"Who are they guarding against, though? The nearby alien civilizations aren’t that strong. There is no one in this region of space that can challenge the MTA’s might."

"You’re not entirely right, young lady. Who is humanity’s worst enemy?"

It didn’t take long for Ketis to come up with the answer. "Ourselves."

"Indeed. The MTA isn’t worried about the local states. Even if all of the military forces of the Harmony Association, the Life Research Association, the Heavensword Association and so on gather together, the MTA’s mech forces can easily wipe them out from a distance. The MTA is actually on guard against another organization, one that not only matches them in scale, but also excels at anything related to ship-based combat."

"You’re talking about the CFA."

The talkative man nodded. "The Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance are often lumped into a single category, but they’re like brothers fighting over the same inheritance. Just because they are kin to each other doesn’t mean that they will turn their weapons against each other. While the probability of this happening is not great, it’s best to be on guard, hence why the MTA went through the trouble of relying on a natural countermeasure instead of a technological one. Machines can be disabled, but massive natural satellites like stars are virtually unassailable."

The man took one last look at the projection of the star system before wandering off to the shopping and dining section of the passenger ship.

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