The Mech Touch

4984 Saintess Ulrika Vraken

A new ace pilot arrived in the Davute System!

This was a massive event as the identity of an ace pilot was just too sensitive.

In an age where the Big Two designated weapons of mass destruction as taboos, the only deterrent that most human states and powers had access to were ace pilots and their accompanying ace mechs.

A lot of people in Davute grew nervous and hopeful.

As long as the recently founded colonial state managed to rope in another powerful ace pilot such as Patriarch Reginald Cross, the probability that Davute would win its upcoming war against Karlach would rise by another few percentage points!

Unfortunately for the government, the stakeholders and the citizens of Davute, the newly arrived top-specced combat carrier ignored all incoming nails.

The vessel did not even obey the instructions and guidelines of the port system's traffic control authority.

The aggressively-named Fist of the Maiden flew straight towards Davute VII in the straightest possible trajectory, caring little about all of the starships belonging to other organizations that happened to be in the way!

The behavior of the Fist of the Maiden generated a lot of chaos and confusion among the spacers and their superiors.

Of course, the chances that the combat carrier would physically collide against another starship in the vastness of space were miniscule, so the ship's rude behavior was not that alarming.

The real reason why she caused distress was because every ship was supposed to possess a wide allotment of space.

Collisions may be improbable, but there was no reason to tempt fate. With at least a few kilometers or hundreds of kilometers of empty space between different vessels, it became a lot more difficult for ships to get exposed to accidents and more concerningly deliberate terrorist attacks.

Davute already suffered greatly during the founding ceremony that took place half a year ago.

Ever since then, Davute immediately strengthened its security regulations and invested a lot more resources into its security services!

The problem with Davute was that there were certain parties that had gained so much power, leverage and prestige that they became virtually untouchable.

The Larkinson Clan had attained this special status. Although the members of this strange organization did not go out of their way to defy the colonial state's authority, they were not shy about ignoring the rules if they became too inconvenient.

The Fist of the Maiden was not a registered vessel of the Larkinson Clan, but clearly had ties to it. That combined with the fact that she carried an actual ace pilot meant that every ship that was remotely in the vicinity of her route made sure to stay well enough away from this dangerous combat carrier!

As the Fist of the Maiden took advantage of her superdrive to rapidly traverse towards the inner system of the busy port system, her continued lack of communication became increasingly more intolerable.

The Larkinson Clan had little choice but to step forward and assuage the concerns of the government. The Fist of the Maiden and her important passengers were not trying to provoke any trouble with the colonial federation.

The Glory Seekers were simply welcoming their latest 'guest' from their home state!

It initially seemed that once the Fist of the Maiden reached Davute VII, she would descend from orbit and land straight into Kotor City.

Upon the strong urging of the Larkinson Clan, the Hexer in charge of the Fist of the Maiden eventually agreed to stop in high orbit and link up with the Glory Seeker Fleet.

"You should have agreed to the original plan and let the Fist of the Maiden journey straight to the Cat Nest." Gloriana complained to her husband as she held Aurelia and Andraste's cute little hands. "We needed to give the Davutans a reminder that we are not to be trifled with. Showing them respect is a sign of weakness."

Ves shook his head in disagreement as he held Marvaine in his arms. "We have already become too high-profile for our own good. Our expeditionary fleet is about to depart from this star system anyway. Let's not make life too difficult for Uncle Ark and the Davute Branch."

Thp elan patriarch and hi