Ever since the Golden Skull Alliance became aware of the possibility that they might be in proximity of a hostile nunser warship, the entire expeditionary fleet immediately raised its alert level.
Many civilians temporarily lost a lot of privileges and weren't allowed to roam freely aboard their starships anymore.
Everyone was forced to wear protective clothing such as vacsuits, hazard suits or protective armor in case the expeditionary fleet came under attack.
The atmosphere across the Larkinson Navy had noticeably become a lot more serious and subdued. Nobody wanted to make a mistake or get caught off-guard.
More mechs went on patrol while many expert pilots reduced their free time to ensure they could respond quickly to any crisis.
As all of this was taking place, the mech designers of the Larkinson Clan largely continued their duties as much as possible.
"Meow."
Lucky floated over to a suited Ketis, who had just arrived in the main design lab and took a seat at the main table.
Before the gem cat could snuggle up to one of his favorite humans, Ketis' companion spirit sprung out of the Bloodsinger and playfully greeted her 'friend'.
"Sharpie! Sharpie!"
"Meow meow."
The miniature spiritual copy of Sharpie hopped onto Lucky's back and pretended to ride a mount.
"Sharpie! Sharpie! Sharpie!"
While that was taking place, a couple of other Larkinson mech designers took their seats.
"So why did you call us over, sir?" Sara Voiken asked. "As far as I know, our services aren't needed for the time being."
Ves nodded. "That is correct. The Black Cats and other other departments are carefully trying to gather more information about the ship that is lurking inside the brown dwarf star. They must work carefully because they cannot use any obvious methods of investigation. So far, we are pretending to search the planet as well as the surrounding asteroid fields for anything suspicious. If the possible captors of Lord Pearian have maintained the ability to observe what is taking place outside, then we want them to think that we know no better."
That caused Ketis to look skeptical. "Are you sure that we can hoodwink a group that is powerful and advanced enough to hide one of its starships inside a brown dwarf star?"
"Well, all of us are wearing our protective suits in case we got it wrong." Ves replied while knocking his armored fist against the surface of his recently repaired Unending Regalia.
This safety rule made for a rather strange sight in the design lab. Both Ves and Ketis had opted to wear their combat armor, causing them to look more at home in an infantry barracks!
Gloriana and Sara Voiken looked much more at home in this environment. Their hazard suits were relatively thin and functional while still offering plenty of protection against lab accidents and other typical hazards.
They also happened to look stylish!
Though Ves had suggested his wife to switch to wearing a bulkier and more protective hardsuit, she refused to compromise fashion in exchange for greater function!
"How much time will it take to gather the necessary information?" Gloriana impatiently asked.
"No one can say for sure. From what I know, Master Benedict Cortez and his engineers are quickly trying to cobble together probes that are robust enough to withstand the pressure and radiation of the outer layers of a brown dwarf star while possessing the ability to blend in its environment well enough to escape detection."
"That sounds difficult." Sara Voiken stated. "I can tell you that I am unable to design a mech that can fulfill the same requirements. I can reluctantly develop a mech that can temporarily survive the hostile environment, but it would not be difficult to detect its presence. The demand to make the machine as undetectable as possible is too unreasonable. I don't have anything close to the tech and materials available for the job."
Gloriana turned to Ves. "You've become a lot more proficient in stealth systems as of late, right? Why aren't you involved in this project?"
"My services aren't needed, Gloriana. Master Benedict is the best man for the job, so he is in charge at the moment. I offered to lend my assistance, but the probes won't be making use of traditional stealth technology."
"Why not?"
Ves sighed. "Sara is right that probes that make use of active stealth systems simply aren't tough enough to survive the punishing circumstances of the brown dwarf star. The probes only need to be tough. As long as they are small enough, it will be difficult for sensors to detect their existence amidst all of the radiation and other strong activity."
"That won't help with preventing them from getting detected while on approach to the brown dwarf star." Ketis pointed out.
"They don't have to do that, Ketis. DIVA has agreed to transport the probes as close to the stellar object as possible with the help of its stealth shuttles. They will most certainly take a lot of damage in the process, but they will only require an extensive repair cycle before they can be put to use again."
"That is convenient. I can see now why our assistance isn't needed. We would only get in the way."
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