Chapter 3936 Return to Home!
When the Simile Halifax finally returned to the expeditionary fleet, Ves teleported back to the Spirit of Bentheim.
"I'm finally home again!"
The Larkinsons were already aware that their patriarch had personally visited the big MTA battlecarrier for a time, so they did the best they could to handle the aftermath of the Purgatory Campaign.
A lot of hours had passed since he disappeared. Ves knew that a lot had changed, but right now he wasn't in the mood to preside over the situation.
"It's already night time." Ves tiredly sighed as he quickly referenced the time.
Task Force Fisherman's evacuation from Purgatory and the MTA's successful capture of Moby Dick marked the end of the crisis period. freewebnoveℓ.com
Ves already noticed that the fleet had stood down from red alert to yellow alert. The only possible threat that could happen was if the remaining fish-whales from Purgatory suddenly managed to break out and chase after the expeditionary fleet.
The chances of that happening was so low that Ves practically dismissed the possibility.
"The MTA has already laid claim to Purgatory, so this is none of my business anymore."
The excitement had passed. Ves had already made the decisions that mattered. He was more than ready to return to his stateroom and take a long and deserved break.
Soon enough, his honor guard arrived and verified his identity before taking up their usual positions.
As Ves studied the equipment of his guards and wondered how he should upgrade them in the future, he headed back to his place of rest while contacting various people.
He first called General Verle to learn how his forces were faring.
"The mech pilots who were lucky enough to advance to expert candidate or expert pilots are all being monitored at the medical ward of the Dragon's Den." Verle answered. "We had to leave a large amount of non-essential hardware and assets behind in Purgatory when we departed in haste, but we did not abandon anything truly important aside from our damaged and destroyed mechs."
Ves furrowed his brows. He recalled that after his forces along with the Evolvers defeated the Phaser fish-whales, they left behind a lot of salvageable and repairable mech frames.
All of those living mechs could have been saved and returned into service, but the dire situation did not give the Larkinsons enough time to retrieve the fallen mechs.
This left a sour taste in his mouth. He wouldn't have felt so conflicted if they were ordinary mechs, but each of them were alive. They had already started to develop their unique characters and had the potential to become formidable legacy mechs in the future!
He inwardly shook his head. Casualties were unavoidable. Both mechs and mech pilots accepted the risk that they might never return once they stepped on the battlefield.
Rather than agonizing over the living mechs that his forces had cruelly left behind, he would rather focus on the ones that had gained a greater degree of importance than before.
"Have our troops preserved the mechs piloted by the clansmen who succeeded in breaking through during the last battle?"
"Our protocols already provide instructions on what we should do. I have made certain that the mechs in question are separated and put under special guard. The biggest issue is that many of the mechs have incurred substantial degrees of both external and internal damage. Our mech technicians have tried their best to prevent the damaged machines from deteriorating any further, but they have made sure not to make any unnecessary alterations."
This was an important instruction. If Ves' suspicions were true that many of the mechs involved in breakthroughs had either evolved into third order living mechs or at least come closer to it, the machines in question were all invaluable assets!
Ves could do a lot more with living mechs that had become a lot more powerful and developed than before!
"That is good to hear. Keep the mechs in place and don't allow too many to get close to them. If any of their mech pilots recover, you can allow them to approach their machines."
"Understood."
"What is our fleet doing at the moment?"
"We are currently resuming our journey to the edge of the Garimel System. We are already trying to determine whether it is safe to transition into FTL travel a few days later. The… destruction of the planet of Auralis has produced minor disturbances and disruptions in the orbital movements of the star system's satellites. This has produced gravitic ripples that have likely made any form of superluminal travel more turbulent than normal."
"Will we have to delay our departure?" Ves asked with a frown.
After going through a lot of events in this star system, he was eager to leave and return to civilization!
"From what I hear, it won't be necessary to do so. The gravitic ripples are already subsiding. By the time we are able to begin our departure, everything will return close to normal. We are merely investigating to make certain we have not overlooked any risk factors."
After asking a few more questions, Ves was satisfied with the state of his clan and fleet and closed the connection.
He called a few more important figures and received reassuring news. Nothing had exploded while he was gone.
Once he finally stopped before the entrance to his stateroom, he completed his final call and loosened his shoulders.
"I'm back."
He finally stepped inside and noticed that the lights were dimmed before his arrival. He smiled as he quietly moved to his daughter's bedroom.
Since Aurelia was in deep sleep, the lights stayed dark. He slowly moved towards the crib and gazed lovingly at his sleeping baby.
Clixie, who happened to be laying beside her body, stared up and lifted her paw.
"Miaow…"
"Shhh. I'm just here to check up on my baby girl."
Ves leaned down to plant a kiss on Aurelia's head before he softly caressed her head. The baby remained absolutely undisturbed. Her expression was so cute that he had to resist the urge to pick her up and give her a deep hug.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Mech Touch