The Mech Touch

We can ’t rule out that he will arrange some circumstances behind the scenes to give you a boost in your career. ”

”Thereby giving his political opponents a reason to drag me down. ” Ves realized.

Even though he felt that it wasn ’t unjust to award him those prestigious medals, there was no doubt that this was also an attempt by Camden Tovar to manufacture a heroic mech designer!

”You ’ve learned.
Good.
You desperately need to get your political acumen up to speed now that you ’ve attracted the attention of Senator Tovar.
I don ’t know enough about the other founder families to guess their stances, but it ’s known that the Tovar Family are in bitter opposition against the Ramzi Family.
Their rivalry isn ’t necessarily based on politics or philosophy.
They just hate each other ’s guts. ”

”Great. ” Ves said mildly.
”Hopefully I don ’t catch their attention. ”

Now that the benefactor of the mission expressed his gratitude to the principal people responsible for extending a new lease on his life, the stay at the headquarters of the Bureau of Sector Affairs came to an end.

They only enjoyed a single night of sleep before they transferred out.
Major Verle and Captain Orfan received orders to head to the Tarry region where the Flagrant Vandals currently recuperated well behind the frontlines.

As for Ves, he finally received transfer orders taking him to a confidential location somewhere in the Robach System in the Green Nebula region.

The Green Nebula region was situated somewhere in the middle of the Bright Republic, between the Rittersberg region to the left and the Bentheim region to the right in most standard two-dimensional maps.

That basically meant that nothing really important went on in the Green Nebula region, as the other two regions overshadowed it.
Still, Ves knew better than to underestimate this region ’s importance.

Before they left, Ves met with Verle and Orfan one last time to say farewell.
After bidding off Captain Orfan, Verle took Ves aside so she wouldn ’t be able to overhear them.
”Make sure to cherish the opportunity given to you.
Colonel Lowenfield and I called in some favors, but after yesterday I think we shouldn ’t have bothered, because Senator Tovar has likely pulled some strings. ”

”Will this be the last time we see each other, sir? ”

”Probably. ” Verle nodded.
”Flashlight is very large and expansive.
You should read up on its history and familiarize yourself with its customs if you can.
Remember my previous advice.
Try to make some friends there and make sure you get on the good side of at least one of your superiors. ”

”You keep hammering on that point, yet you also warn me not to get involved with the Tovars. ”

”Flashlight is a military intelligence agency. ” Verle stated.
”Do you realize what a difference that makes? It means that compared to the Republic ’s foreign and domestic intelligence agencies, we are allowed to get away with more.
We don ’t want to piss off the other states, and we have to respect the rights of our own citizens, so our spies can ’t go too far.
It ’s different when the intelligence activities directly change the course of the war. ”

Ves understood his message.
”So Flashlight is allowed to go to further extremes than the other agencies, is that what you ’re saying? I guess I ’ve already internalized this lesson with my time with the Vandals. ”

”Good man.
When you ’re at Flashlight, I won ’t be around to give you these kinds of pointers, so make sure you get close to someone who ’s willing to take you under their wing.
This can literally save your life. ”

”Is it that dangerous at Flashlight? ”

”To paraphrase Senator Tovar, only for the inept. ” Major Verle smiled in a mocking fashion.
”Flashlight is a large organization that employs many kinds of people, the most significant of whom are either sharks or wolves in sheep ’s clothing.
You ’re not a careerist, so you won ’t have any say in the agency, but that also means the people there generally won ’t bother with you too much, as you ’ll be out in a few years anyway. ”

After some more sage advice, Ves finally said goodbye and followed a guide to a shuttle in the underground parking hall.

The shuttle took him back up to orbit to transfer him to a military supply ship carrying supplies and personnel to the Green Nebula region.

The ship only offered basic facilities to its passengers, most of which consisted of mech pilots and various support personnel.

Now that he was out of the headquarters of BuSecA, Ves could finally pack off his dress uniform along with his gaudy medals in exchange for a more sober work uniform without any ribbons or shiny pieces of metal.

He didn ’t attract too much attention when he mingled with the other servicemen this time, and that was exactly how he liked it in this setting.

Of course, he received the usual disdain reserved for drafted mech designers, but that quickly faded as Ves displayed some of the habits and mannerisms of someone who went through hell and back.

Soldiers possessed the remarkable ability to recognize the similarities in each other.
At some point, Ves gained enough qualifications to enter into their circle.

It helped that his Larkinson background already made him familiar with their traits.
The only difference now was that understood their perspective because he personally lived through some of what they experienced.

Meanwhile, the military supply ship accompanied a convoy headed for the Green Nebula region.
Weeks went by as the slow vessels transitioned from system to system along the way.
Some ships separated from the convoy as they reached their destination while many others still had more hops to go.

Almost two weeks went by until the convoy finally arrived at the Robach System.
The military supply ship separated from the convoy and flew to a military space station orbiting Robach III, the only habitable planet in the system.
From there, a secret shuttle covertly slipped him and a handful of other passengers out to a secret base dug deep inside Robach VI, a cold and uninhabitable planet.