The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2959

Chapter 2959: Pinched Face

The Larkinsons who survived the calamities on Prosperous Hill VI received a warm welcome once they reached the heart of the Larkinson Clan.

Though the progress of their return had stalled a bit due to the dubious space worthiness of some of their biovessels, the entire Golden Skull Alliance moved forth in order to receive their clansmen, both old and new.

Ves had already recruited thousands of new clansmen while he was on the surface. Each of them had pledged an oath to join the Larkinson Clan, but they never really developed a good idea of what they were getting into while they were all stuck on the surface.

All of that changed now that they beheld the massive fleet that would become their home now. Though the former Lifers among them felt rather disturbed by the abundance of metal objects and lack of organic machines, they had already received plenty of forewarning about this situation.

Anyone who made the decision to leave their state had to grapple with the reality that biotechnology was not ubiquitous in the rest of human space. They had to do their best to adjust to the galactic standard and be able to stay cool even when surrounded by cold, hard metal.

Fortunately, there were a few sights in the expanded fleet that gave the Lifers some comfort.

The Larkinson Clan had not been idle while its fleet lingered in the Life Research Assocation. Even when its patriarch remained inaccessible, the various leaders who stayed behind continued to work on fulfilling the priorities they set before.

They not only continued to recruit a lot of mech pilots and biotech experts, but also managed to expand the fleet by acquiring a small number of quality biovessels.

It was easier than usual to acquire them during the civil war. The devastation that had taken place on planets like Prosperous Hill VI not only led to massive loss of life, but also ruined a lot of companies. So many of them went bankrupt that a considerable number of their bioships were put up for sale.

Though the difficult times had put a premium on the price of starships, it was not that difficult for the clan to outbid the locals who were all earning less due to the war.

General Verle did not go crazy, though. He only decided to acquire a total of five organic combat carriers and ten organic support ships. This was a relatively hefty flotilla to normal people, but trivially small to the Larkinson Clan.

Of course, these sub-capital ships were not enough to impress the Lifers.

The Golden Skull Alliance already possessed a handful of capital ships from the beginning. The Spirit of Bentheim, the Indigo Tremor, the Hemmington Cross and the Antonio Cross all served as the anchors to hundreds of sub-capital ships.

Yet compared to a month ago, the fleet welcomed two new void giants to the fold.

After trading away the valuable but risky Auralis that the Larkinsons had managed to capture from the Fridaymen, the clan received two second-hand but decently serviceable capital ships in return.

The Graveyard turned into the new flagship and headquarters of the military wing of the Larkinson Clan.

Since she came into operation, she not only housed the Military Bureau, the Hall of Heroes, the Mech Pilot Management Bureau and several other military institutions of the clan, but also entered the Larkinson fleet's battleline due to her prodigious defensive properties.

Of course, all of that mass on her hull caused her to become quite ponderous, but there was little that anyone could do about it. The lumbering defensive ship single-handedly dragged down the average sub-light travel speed of the entire expeditionary fleet!

The only consolation was that her lack of mobility only mattered in realspace conditions. As long as the fleet primarily engaged in FTL travel, then she did not have to rely on her barely adequate propulsion systems to traverse distances.

This meant that the fleet would not suffer any slowdowns as long as it hopped from star system to star system without bothering to approach any planets.

Ves cared a lot about this because he did not want his journey to the nearest beyonder gate to suffer any further annoying delays.

Of course, the thousands of Lifers that had joined the Larkinson Clan only spared a brief glance at the Graveyard. Though she looked impressive in her own way, there was no getting around to the fact that her exterior consisted of scrap! The Lifers who were most repellant of modern metallic aesthetics couldn't stand the sight of this practical but messy starship!

Instead, their eyes drew towards the Dragon's Den. Though the large capital ship was only half-organic in nature, she was clearly designed with Lifers in mind. Designed and built by a local shipbuilding company, the vessel once sailed the stars under the flag of the Life Research Association.

Strangely enough, the capital research and beast transportation vessel entered the second-hand market after her former owners got caught with performing illegal experiments that violated several taboos.

That seemed to happen a lot in the Life Research Association.

In any case, the Dragon's Den now became the property of the Larkinson Clan, and the former Lifers among the clansmen eagerly embraced the ship that resonated the most with them. Though her hull incorporated plenty of metal components, her exterior was largely made of flesh and bone.

This made the Dragon's Den rather easy to maintain outside the LRA as much of her most critical elements utilized conventional ship parts that could be procured in any modern second-rate state.

As for the organic components that were mostly visible on the surface of the bioresearch vessel, the Dragon's Den contained a modest biogrowth facility. Though the production capacity was not much, it nonetheless allowed the capital ship to grow additional biomechs, bioship parts and other assorted bioproducts.

This was quite useful to Ves! Though he did not intend to adopt biomechs on a wide scale, he was not willing to give up on them entirely after he discovered that organic components were exceptionally compatible with his design philosophy.

Besides, he also had some future projects in store where the capability to grow organic products was indispensable. He already started to grin when he thought about combining those ambitious experiments with the serum in his hands.

"Wow. Is that going to be our new home?"

"You betcha. I told you that the Larkinson Clan welcomes anyone. We're an open-minded bunch of people. We even make room for different faiths."

"I'll miss my home, but I wouldn't want to miss this opportunity. I'm about to travel to an entirely new galaxy!"

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