It did not surprise him at all that the fleet received a special visitor a few days laters.
At the next star system, a simple-looking frigate just happened to linger close to the coordinates where the expeditionary fleet erged.
The vessel quickly attracted a considerable amount of scrutiny, but every sensor that examined her claid that she was just a typical second-class vessel akin to the Barracuda that Ves once owned.
He didn't believe a single piece of data that all of the sensors spat out. He had been waiting for so kind of response ever since he managed to verify that the light beam attack mode was considerably effective at stripping the resonance shields of expert chs.
Though the prototype luminar crystal rifle that Venerable Stark utilized in the testing session was a high-quality weapon that only Ves could make, even mass-produced versions of the weapon would be able to inflict significant damage onto an expert ch when fielded in great numbers!
It didn't take long for Gloriana to catch on to the greater implications of this weapon. While she managed to hold in her enthusiasm for several hours as they wrapped up all of the data they collected from the testing session, she finally couldn't resist once they returned to their grand stateroom.
"Miaow…" Clixie yawned as she hopped onto a couch and began to slumber.
Gloriana on the other hand raced right in front of Ves and clutched his uniform with her small hands.
"Ves!" She hissed. "Do you realize what you have done?"
"Uh, slow down, honey. Before you get too excited, hear out first."
"YOU'VE FOUND THE KEY TO BEATING THE FRIDAY COALITION!" She shouted! "I've always worried about how to help the Hex Army overco the Fridayman. I was reluctant to set aside other opportunities to design Hexer chs in favor of designing our expert chs, but now that you have managed to develop such an amazing weapon system, I have no regrets anymore. This is exactly what we need to save our aggrieved sisters from unwarranted Fridayman aggression!"
'Unwarrented Fridayman aggression? Though Ves had expected her to beg him to transfer this tech to the Hex Army, he didn't think she could be that shaless! Who was it again that struck the first blow?
"Gloriana." Ves spoke in a firr tone as he took hold of her hands. "Listen to . I know you're eager to help the Hegemony. Even I don't want the Friday Coalition to get its way, but THINK for a mont. Do you realize what will happen if we hand over this weapon system to the Hegemony?"
"Uhm, the Hex Army will arm millions of ranged chs with your new crystal weapons and completely obliterate the enemy expert chs that have caused the Hegemony to give ground ti and ti again?"
"The tech will leak to the rest of human space!" Ves shouted. "If the Hexers can make the luminar crystal rifle, then so can others, including the Fridayn themselves! Damn the licenses and so on. The value of this revolutionary weapon system is too great. What do you think will happen once people have a way to easily strip one of the core defense layers of an expert ch?"
Ever since Ves and Gloriana began to work on multiple expert ch design projects, they gained a much greater understanding on how expert chs worked and how they perford in battle. While there was still much more to them that they had yet to learn, they at least understood their performance standards and their usage in battles.
Expert chs possessed much greater attack power, defensive capabilities and mobility than ordinary chs. When paired with expert pilots that were capable of resonating with them, they turned into imnsely powerful individual units that could collapse a unit of hundreds of chs on their own in the right circumstances!
The resonance shields that ca with every expert ch was one of the crucial elents to ensuring their superiority. While the upfront requirents were rather burdenso, as long as an expert ch possessed the right resonating materials, they enjoyed a huge defensive boost that was incredibly efficient against ordinary attacks.
The greatest advantages of resonance shields was that their defensive power was ridiculously high while the cost of maintaining them was very low. With resonating materials doing most of the work, the expert pilot only had to expend their willpower in order to maintain this protective barrier.
Even if a resonance shield eventually succumbed, the amount of ti and effort needed to take them down was so great that the expert ch and any friendlies could have accomplished a lot in the anti.
In normal battles, the only way to efficiently break a resonance shield was to attack it with resonance-empowered attacks. This was one of the many reasons why many people assud that only expert chs were able to counter expert chs.
If regular chs ard with crystal rifles were able to accomplish the sa, then enemy expert chs would no longer be able to act so rampantly on the battlefield anymore!
Only their high-quality armor systems would be able to fend off against enemy attacks, but this was a much less desirable circumstance as so sections were much more vulnerable than others.
For example, without the cover of a resonance shield, it beca a lot easier to target the flight systems of an expert chs. As long as their vulnerable fight systems incurred serious damage, their wings would be clipped and they would lose most if not all of their initiative.
Not even expert chs could survive getting bombarded by thousands of chs at a ti!
This was exactly what Gloriana wanted to bestow to the Hex Army.
"Who cares if the tech leaks out?" She frowned. "At most, the influence of expert chs will be diminished regardless of whose side they are on. Since the Fridayn depend a lot more on them than the Hexers, the forr will beco a lot more disadvantaged by this change! Once we manage to level the playing field, I'm certain that the Hex Army will be able to sweep the floor against their Fridayman counterparts!"
"I'm not talking about that, Gloriana! Think of what kind of disruption we'll trigger throughout the rest of the galaxy. Expert chs will beco less impactful. Expert pilots will die in greater numbers because their chs aren't as resilient against enemy firepower anymore. Less ace pilots will erge as a result of these consequences which also ans that less god pilots will erge from this diminished pool. Now, if you were standing in the shoes of the MTA, will you let this invention go on sale?"
Though Gloriana didn't think as much as Ves about the overall policies of an organization as big as the ch Trade Association, even she knew about its preoccupation with encouraging the rise of as many high-ranking ch pilots as possible.
AEveryone who was involved in the ch industry knew that the existence of ace pilots and god pilots was one of the few reasons why chs were able to obtain a asure of respect in front of warships.
Without powerful pilots and powerful machines, chs would have been relegated as toys with no hopes of surpassing the oppressive tyranny of warships.
Though the amount of expert pilots, ace pilots and god pilots were way too few to threaten every human warfleet in existence, this might change one day. As long as the ch industry continued to innovate, it would only be a matter of ti before soone achieved a breakthrough that allowed ch pilots to advance through the ranks with greater ease than before.
Until then, existing high-ranking ch pilots needed to be preserved as much as possible while still offering them plenty of opportunities to advance.
Right now, the current state of human civilization had struck a delicate balance. There was enough conflict to generate a steady stream of expert pilots, but the battles weren't deadly enough to cause them to die off quickly.
Only other expert pilots posed a considerable threat against them. While it was wasteful to allow them to kill each other, ace pilots and god pilots only erged in circumstances of great need and pressure. Coddling them would just cut them off from any chances of further advancent.
When Ves reminded his wife of the MTA's stance, she finally stopped and considered the issue from a broader perspective.
Her expression fell as uncertainty crept up in her mind.
"What do we do?" She whispered.
"We wait. If my guess is right, the MTA will issue a response. Let's not do anything drastic until we know the Association's stance."
In the end, it took several days later for the MTA to co calling. Though no one was able to tell that the small vessel was anything remarkable, Ves felt a faint degree of familiarity from the ship.
He had seen this vessel before. Though the mass, dinsions, material composition and design were completely different from any other frigate that he had seen before, he was certain that he was facing a familiar vessel.
Strangely enough, the frigate maintained its distance from the expeditionary fleet. She sat well outside of the security periter and did not attract too much scrutiny from the Larkinson Clan.
Even so, Ves did not let down his guard.
The truth soon ca to light when Ves received a direct ssage to his comm. He barely had ti to call Gloriana over to a private, shielded office before a group of individuals directly teleported exactly three ters in front of the couple!
"Mr. Larkinson. Mrs. Wodin-Larkinson. We et again."
Ves and his wife bowed. "Welco aboard the Spirit of Bentheim. We are honored by your visit."
The guards that surrounded Master Willix quietly swept the office and took up positions around the sides.
anwhile, all three ch designers sat down at the nearest available chairs. The fact that Master Willix took the ti to do so ant that her attitude shouldn't be too harsh.
"I find myself back on this ship much sooner than expected." The Master ch Designer calmly spoke. "Do you understand how much trouble you have stirred up? I had to pause my current projects and travel to this star cluster straight away in order to make certain that I will be able to handle this case. I can assure you that it is unlikely you will receive as much courtesy from my colleagues."
Ves lowered his head. He was afraid of this. The MTA truly had a problem with his latest invention.
Master Willix gave him a reassuring smile. "I do not disapprove of your actions. You rely did the best you could to develop better luminar crystals. The alien tech is the signature accomplishnt of an ancient race that preceded our rise. Our Association has collected plenty of evidence that the luminar race were capable of accomplishing great feats with their characteristic crystals. Even so, you have given the few of us who have beco aware of your latest invention a considerable amount of concern. Do you know why?"
There was no way for Ves to deny the obvious.
"Because… my weapon system has the potential to threaten the balance of ch warfare. Expert chs and expert pilots will beco a lot less relevant if my invention spreads."
The older woman nodded. "You are not the first ch designer who has developed a more effective counter against expert chs."
"Why haven't we heard about them, ma'am?" Gloriana asked.
"The answer to that is simple, young Gloriana. We regulate the ch industry and the ch market. From the beginning, we have always controlled the spread and growth of ch technology. If a ch designer or a developer ever invents a solution that has the potential to adversely disrupt the ch landscape, we take steps to prevent that from happening."
The ch market was never a free one. No one was able to sell any ch they liked as long as the ch Trade Association hovered over everyone's heads.
It did not surprise Ves at all that the MTA restricted applications that fell outside of the usual categories such as untested neural interface technology and weapons of mass destruction.
He just had a lot of trouble accepting the fact that he of all people had joined the 'exclusive' club of people who attracted the wrong kind of attention from the MTA!
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