The Mech Touch

6927  The Vulcan’s Glory

Obtaining the Tortuous Scream was a big development for the Larkinson Clan.

The firepower of her primary gun batteries was enough to devastate entire cities.

Naturally, the fleeters paid closer attention to how the Larkinson took control over the alien battleship.

Although the current war climate had made the Red Fleet a lot more preoccupied than before, that did not mean that Ves could abuse the power of the 3.6 kilometer-long warship as he pleased.

High Captain Gilbert de Raanvanchas along with an extensive number of security officers made sure to monitor the entire vessel and prevent anything untoward from happening.

All of the gun batteries had been locked down and physically cut off from any power sources.

The tubes of the large torpedo launchers and the smaller but more numerous missile launchers remained completely empty and sealed.

The only weapon systems that could be activated in a hurry were the tertiary gun batteries.

Despite their numbers, their threat level remained limited due to their paltry effective ranges and their small calibers.

Still, Ves received multiple reminders from various different people that he needed to wield the power of a warship carefully.

He personally thought it was a little ridiculous. A bunch of first-class multipurpose mechs already possessed the power to destroy a small settlement. Half a regiment of them could already turn a major city like Sandan into ruin once they managed to overwhelm the Titan Shields protecting all of the districts.

Yet just because mechs were individually smaller and weaker, many people automatically overlooked the enormous amounts of collateral damage they were capable of inflicting during major engagements.

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Yet just because mechs were individually smaller and weaker, many people automatically overlooked the enormous amounts of collateral damage they were capable of inflicting during major engagements.

Ves had lived through battles where structures collapsed around him and where mechs could randomly fire a powerful laser weapon that could drill right through a wall and vaporize his entire body at any time. He knew better than to understand a mech's capacity for destruction.

Still, he begrudgingly admitted that the caution towards warships was not entirely unwarranted.

Mechs may be capable of destroying entire cities, but warships that were large and powerful enough had the potential to crack entire planets.

Even if they could only do so by relying on extremely powerful antimatter warheads, just the fact that the vessels received dispensation to carry armaments that were large and destructive enough to ruin entire continents forced everyone to treat them with a mixture of respect and vigilance.

Ves actually felt rather good about grasping this power for himself. Even if he had become a little underwhelmed by the Tortuous Scream's relatively poor suitability in most general space battles, he still appreciated the fact that he could command her formidable primary gun batteries to send a wave of destructive attacks in any direction of his choosing!

Although the Bluejay Fleet already possessed numerous warships, their primary guns weren't as big as that of the Tortuous Scream.

Ves also did not command them directly. If he wanted them to fire at a specific target, then he had to convince Admiral Gori Tensen and Commodore Zonrad Reze of the necessity.

Now that he gained control of a relatively modern orven battleship, he could skip all of that hassle and directly demand a cataclysmic round of orbital bombardment on any targets deemed 'acceptable'!

Ves had plenty of fun stuff in mind for the Tortuous Scream. He did not intend to put a heavy emphasis on upgrading his main warship, but if he was not able to obtain a better warship anytime soon, then it may be worth it to apply incremental upgrades over time.

Days after the arrival of the Tortuous Scream, other important vessels arrived.

One of them happened to be the second capital ship of the Premier Fleet.

"Vulcan's Glory has arrived."

The Eternal Vulcan Empire did not shirk its promise towards Ves.

Even though Ves had not talked directly with the Iron Emperor for a long time, his incarnation Vulcan was constantly being worshiped in every corner of the dwarven state.

It was a pity that a certain Rion Aaden did not hold much reverence towards Ves. Their complicated history made it impossible for the emperor to look up to the man who accidentally set him on his current path.

Rion did not even wear the Imperial Crown that Ves had painstakingly crafted for him. Vulcan possessed a direct connection to the masterwork crown, which enabled him to hear and observe anything that took place within its presence.

Unfortunately, the wiley dwarven leader clearly understood this truth, so he made sure to carefully lock up the Imperial Crown in a thick and isolating vault outside of ceremonial events.

The Iron Emperor mostly relied on the imposing mass and presence of his large and bulky suit of armor.

He even upgraded his suit of armor with a small mount of high-grade superdimensional alloy plating!

Even if the concentration of superdimensional matter was relatively low, it still made him look a lot stronger and more intimidating!

In any case, the addition of the Vulcan's Glory to the Premier Fleet pleased a lot of mech pilots.

The new 2.8-kilometer long fleet carrier was a truly modern capital ship that was able to accommodate 320 first-class multipurpose mech during extended campaigns.

As was typical of Vulcanite carriers, the Vulcan's Glory hosted more mech workshops than normal. She also possessed roomier cargo holds in order to accommodate a greater amount of supplies and plunder.

The downside was that she was also a little slower than other fleet carriers of the same length.

This was a concerning issue as Ves ideally wanted his fleet to remain fast and mobile enough to run away if it ever encountered enemies that were too powerful to confront.

Fortunately, the modern design and tech of the Vulcan's Glory meant that she was not as sluggish as she appeared. She could still keep up with the rest of the Premier Fleet and Bluejay Fleet if she overstrained her sub-light propulsion systems for a time.

As accepted the invitation to go on a tour in the modern Vulcanite fleet carrier, his family chose not to accompany him this time.

Instead, Trent Aaden had graciously offered to accompany Ves. The Vulcanite mech designer and liaison had multiple reasons to speak to Ves.

"Welcome aboard the Vulcan's Glory, sir. We are pleased to be able to hand over this fleet carrier to your possession."

The Vulcanites had organized a large and formal handover ceremony for Ves and the Larkinson Clan.

They forced Ves to participate in a lengthy ritual before they truly handed over control of the fleet carrier.

After that, Ves was finally allowed to tour the interior of the fleet carrier while the new crew arrived by shuttle and started to take over the most essential stations.

Ves looked up to the ceiling. "I am glad you dwarves did not make the ceiling too low for us humans. I am actually surprised at how much headroom we have."

Trend Aaden, the 'son' who was actually the test tube descendant of Rion Aaden, responded with a friendly smile.

"We are not as petty and impractical as the puelmer race. We do not deliberately need to lower the ceiling in order to discourage enemy tall folk from boarding our ships. Besides, the Vulcan's Glory is explicitly built to enter service in your clan, so we made sure to follow standard human naval design principles whenever possible."

The mech designer that studied how to design living mechs in the Design Department for a number of years diligently gave Ves a brisk tour through the fleet carrier.

He proudly introduced the well-equipped mech workshops that were more than capable of servicing or even fabricating advanced first-class multipurpose mechs.

He also introduced Ves to one of the 60 bunkers of the Vulcan's Glory.

"Only 35?"

"Yes. What the Vulcan's Glory lacks in numbers, she makes up for it by offering superior defenses to any bunker mechs."

While that sounded nice, Ves grew disappointed when he noted that there was no way to hook up the bunker mechs to the power network of the fleet carrier.

That was the rule, not the exception. Ves needed another RF Warship Token in order to make it legal.

He wondered how many groups would still bother to adhere to this rule once the Terran Alliance and other conspirators hatched their succession plan.

Perhaps Ves might follow suit as well once the Red Fleet gave up on enforcing its rules.

For now, the bunkers remained purely defensive in nature, though the bunkers of the Tortuous Scream were also impressive.

Aside from these features, the Vulcan's Glory did not offer too much novelty to the Larkinson Clan.

As the tour continued, Ves only paid cursory attention to the different facilities. It was all relatively high tech, but he had already become rather bored of this kind of stuff. The bridge, the data room and so on all promised excellent performance without offering anything too special or different.

The only exception was a rapid deployment system that had attracted Ves' attention from the beginning.

"This is the Gravitic Rapid Battlespace Deployment Catapult." Trent Aaden introduced with a more enthusiastic voice and expression than before. "This can be considered as one of the more uncommon specialties of this fleet carrier. The Gravitic Catapult occupies a notable amount of space in the hull, but there are good reasons for that. The sole purpose of this contraption is to launch individual mechs or protected containers of supplies to a distant location on the battlefield. Compared to launching mechs or shuttles from the hangar bays, the Gravitic Catapult can deliver its payload across greater distances in a matter of seconds rather than minutes!"

This truly sounded useful to Ves. He could see a lot of potential in it. The Gravitic Catapult could be used in many different ways.

For example, it could be used to launch the Superdimensional First Sword Mark III straight at a greater phase lord that thought he was safe in the rear of his own lines!

The Gravitic Catapult could also be used to launch E-MULES that had just replenished their energy reserves and urgently needed to return to their mech units in order to give them a second wind.

The Vulcan's Glory could also utilize her catapult to launch containers filled with ammunition canisters, missile racks and other essential supplies to the mechs that were deployed on the other side of the battlefield.

Though none of the dwarves mentioned it, Ves knew that another possible way to make use of the Gravitic Catapult was to launch a formidable explosive warhead to a distant target.

All in all, the Gravitic Catapult granted the Vulcan's Glory a core capability that the Tormented Scream lacked.

"This is extremely useful." Ves complimented the Vulcanites for their ingenuity. "Being able to launch mechs and other stuff at more distant locations on an active battlefield can be a life saver in many situations. Cutting down on travel time is always useful."

"We are pleased to hear that, sir, but please remember that the Gravitic Catapult can only launch one object at a time. It requires a considerable amount of time to reset and accumulate energy for another launch."

That somewhat constrained the usage of the Gravitic Catapult. It could not be used to send an entire mech battalion to a distant location all at once or in quick succession. It also consumed a lot of energy per launch.

Most of the mechs stationed in the Vulcan's Glory were better off launching from the hangar bay and make their way to their target destinations by relying on the power of their own flight systems.

Despite all of these limitations, Ves did not lose his appreciation for the Gravitic Catapult.

He even began to consider another possible use case for this feature.

"Is it possible for the Gravitic Catapult to launch a human phase lord… like myself?"

"..."

"According to the data on your true body, your height exceeds the ceiling of the launch tunnel. You will not be able to fit in the Gravitic Catapult, especially if you are wearing rigid armor."

Ves grinned. "That is only when I am standing upright. What if I lie down and launch from the tube like a superhero?"

"We… will need to investigate that further.

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