[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 331: Ambitions

Traveling to Bentheim took a lot less time and effort than trying to navigate towards the Glowing Planet.

A lone planet swinging through space without a star or anything else that could act as a lighthouse meant that ships had to be really close to make the final jump.

In contrast, the Bentheim system formed the largest lighthouse in this stretch of space. Even an outdated ship like the Happy Jelly could easily fix in its coordinates from the border of the Bright Republic.

The journey lasted six days in total. When the Mech Corps and many of the outfits that allied with the Republic arrived at the edge of the star system, everyone let out a relieved breath.

They had finally reached safe harbor.

Anything could happen in space. An unlikely chance still existed that an unknown group figured out their route and intercepted them midway by disturbing the local space along the route with a strong and intense gravitic field.

Just like how the passage of the Glowing Passage had pulled a trade convoy out of FTL, an artificial gravity field could achieve the same effects.

Nothing of the sort came to pass, which let many people put down their worries. Their ships and their harvests also enjoyed the protection of the Mech Corps within the System. Virtually every outfit accepted the same deal the Whalers had signed, so their cargo already belonged to the Republic.

A handful of ships refused to follow the vast majority of the ships towards the inner system. Instead, they jumped back into FTL as soon as their FTL drives finished cycling.

"The idiots. They're going to get ambushed a couple of light-years away I bet." Ves remarked to Melkor as he transferred to the Barracuda.

"They might have something up their sleeves. Those who are confident they can sell their payloads by themselves won't be taking the standard trade routes. Pirates will have a hard time trying to predict their routes."

Now that they arrived to safety, Ves parted ways with the Whalers. The Barracuda flew close to the Happy Jelly in order to receive the Stanislaw and a shuttle carrying the two Larkinsons.

During the previous campaign, the Mech Corps employed the Barracuda as a forward scout. They stationed the corvette in the surrounding star systems in order to keep tabs of any ships that used those planets as their stops.

The job didn't sound glamorous, but it had to be done. At least it put the Barracuda well out of the way of any battles. Nimble as she might be, she could not take a lot of hits.

Ves first entered Captain Silvestra's office. Besides listening to her report, he also wanted her input on something else.

"Captain, you and your crew have been exemplary employees to me so far. Considering the rapid growth of the LMC, your responsibilities will only increase in the future. Therefore, in addition to the hazard pay you're owed, I'm also setting aside a pot worth several million credits to be spent on training. I have plans, and I need a capable crew to run my ship."

The woman blinked. "That's very generous of you, sir. This is much more than what we are owed."

"Nonsense. I've already dragged the Barracuda into two perilous expeditions. I can't promise you there won't be another one in the future. Even if she's mainly used as a scout, it doesn't change the fact that I'm subjecting you to a lot of danger."

"Admittedly, this isn't what we've expected when we initially agreed to work with a mech designer." The Captain reluctantly said, though Ves faintly suspected she acted timid on purpose. "We started our careers in the civilian sector by entertaining men aboard yachts. At no point have we ever trained to serve in a war theater."