Chapter 3187: Another Pitstop After finalizing the Vanguard Project and the Decapitator Project, the four Journeymen of the Larkinson Clan were ready to embark on their next fabrication attempts. They gathered in the design lab where they decided on a course of action. "We need to get these two expert mechs in action as soon as possible." Ves told the others. "We've almost reached the Smiling Samual Star Sector where I need to fulfill a certain task. Now, I'm not going to explain to you why we have to head into the Vulcan Empire, but I'm sure you know that the dwarves over there aren't exactly the friendliest bunch. If we can add two more expert mechs to our lineup, we will gain a bit of additional deterrence." "Will the dwarves really dare to touch us?" Juliet quietly asked. "You can never know." Ves honestly shrugged. "Our expeditionary fleet is already strong and we have a history of wiping out military strike forces and we are also entering their territory with the blessing of the MTA. There also shouldn't be a compelling reason for them to attack us. That said, the dwarves have a general hatred towards the so-called 'tall folk' and they are whipped up by their odd faith of theirs." Ketis snorted. "The Vulcan Faith is one of the most contradictory religions that I've encountered, and trust me, I've seen some crazy stuff. How is it possible for a dwarf-centric religion to worship a tall folk as their revered god of all of the possible choices? Whoever came up with this dumb idea practically set up the dwarves for failure! From what I've read about the Vulcan Empire, the infighting between those who believe Vulcan to be a human and those who think he's a dwarf has been raging on for many decades!" "Ahem!" Ves loudly coughed. "Ketis, don't talk about faiths in such a disrespectful fashion. Who knows whether you'll slip up in front of a dwarven delegation and draw a lot of trouble to us. We need to be more tolerant of the beliefs of others. This applies both inside and outside of our clan." Ketis crossed her arms. "I still think it sounds stupid. The dwarves might as well worship a giant lizard god or something. At least they aren't revering their historical oppressors who continue to discriminate against them in many ways." "You know, there might be a ploy behind the Vulcan Faith." Ves suggested. "It could be a clever, no genius ploy to keep the dwarves in check. Think about it. Dwarves have always been unruly due to their admittedly justifiable complaints about their ill treatment. Rather than deal with this headache across multiple star clusters, why not gather them up in a single star sector and rid the surrounding regions of their kind? In order to make sure they don't have any ideas about expanding outwards, introduce a source of conflict in their most sincere beliefs and voila, the Vulcanites are locked into constant internal strife that mostly keeps the dwarves occupied against themselves!" It sounded pretty devious now that he thought about it. As far as he was concerned, the inventor of this brilliant and effective plan deserved a pat on the back! Unfortunately, Ves was the only one who felt smug about what he said. The other three Journeymen did not look so convinced. "Uhm, we're not here to talk dwarves today, so let's move on." His wife said after a while. "The fabrication of a single expert mech is a strenuous event. Fabricating two of them at the same time or in quick succession is a great burden to us. Even if we take periodic breaks, we still have to work at least twelve to fourteen days in a row in order to complete these offensive machines." "What are you suggesting?" Ves frowned. "We should pour our total concentration into fabricating just one of the two expert mechs. This way, we won't get distracted by ideas that are only applicable to the other one. Our expert mechs deserve our full concentration. We should take at least a few days but preferably a week off before we embark on fabricating the other expert mech." "That will impose significant delays to our schedule." "We have to do this, Ves. I don't want to rush either of these projects. Venerable Orfan and Venerable Dise deserve better." Ves sighed as he activated his comm and called up the schedule. "Hmmm, I guess it won't hurt that much if we make another pitstop. I'll tell the chief ministers to make the arrangements and have our fleet stop at a port system near Smiling Samual where we can replenish our supplies and pick up another batch of recruits." After leaving the Pelsa Ryndover System, the expeditionary fleet pretty much traveled non-stop across the remainder of the Bardo Star Cluster as well as a significant portion of the Fermi Star Cluster. This was a huge amount of distance and it was inevitable that some of the vessels accrued a bit of wear and tear. This wasn't necessarily a big deal. Ships were built to last and they could travel on for many more light-years before some of their systems started to creak in a worrisome manner. The expeditionary fleet was already quite close to the lesser beyonder gate that was just a star cluster away, so the state of the Larkinson Clan's sub-capital ships took on less and less importance. The only reason for the Larkinsons to preserve their integrity was to keep their resale value as high as possible. What Ves did care about was the state of his fleet's capital ships. The only newly-built capital ship was the Spirit of Bentheim. Every system and module was still brand new and even the extended-range FTL drives pilfered from the Auralis were also relatively young. It was too bad that the engineers were still in the process of disassembling, inspecting and rebuilding these Fridaymen devices in order to make sure they were completely reliable. Aside from his flagship and the nearly-completed Gorgoneion and the Diligent Ovenbird, the remaining capital ships of the Larkinson Clan were second-hand goods. Each of them had already been in service for a couple of decades to half a century. This meant that they had around fifty years or so left where they were able to operate at their peak before many aging ship modules started to degrade in efficiency and reliability. This was a nearly unavoidable process and only a lengthy and expensive overhaul could stave off this process to an extent. What people weren't necessarily aware of was that constant or heavy use of ship systems wore them out a lot faster when they were supposed to. If they did not receive timely and frequent preventive maintenance, then multiple decades could easily be shaved off their total lifespan. This was especially dangerous in situations where a single major battle pushed many of these ailing systems beyond their limits. In short, the more his clan took care of its essential assets, the more they would have the Larkinson Clan's back when his clansmen needed them the most! After briefly conveying his intentions to his chief ministers, Magdalena soon sent back a reply. "Okay." He said to the others. "I've just been informed that the expeditionary fleet will make a pitstop at the Amswick Star System." "What kind of place is that?" "It's a port system of the Empire of the Lost." "That's an unusual name for a state." Gloriana grew curious. "Usually, people aren't eager to associate themselves with the notion of defeat." "According to what I've learned, the Empire of the Lost is actually not a traditional state of the Bertrand Obisidian Star Sector. It's actually occupied by the survivors who fled the dwarven takeover of the Smiling Samuel Star Star Sector. The strongest factions and organizations that managed to get out with as many assets and people that they could carry on their refugee ships had to find a new place to settle. They essentially flooded one of the existing states of Betrand Obsidian and forcibly took it over. This was the birth of the Empire of the Lost." The three women fell silent for a moment. This was a tragic history that hit Gloriana especially hard. She faintly saw the future of the Hexadric Hegemony in this sordid tale. "I see." Ketis murmured. "The state is named this way because the fled survivors have never reconciled with their defeat. They wear their badge of shame as a reminder of what they once were and keep their original homes in mind. I bet they are still plotting a way to get back their territory from the dwarves." None of the Larkinsons cared about the plight of the Lost. There were losers of conflicts everywhere in the galaxy. Whether their defeat was just or unjust, the fist was the final arbiter. What mattered was that the Amswick System was a good place to stock up on supplies and spend some time performing useful maintenance. Since it was a port system, the expeditionary fleet was already heading towards it anyway. The only difference from their current plan was that the Larkinsons and its allies would stop over for a while instead of leaving as soon as their FTL drives finished cycling. In the meantime, the mech designers made some additional preparations for their fabrication attempt. Ketis even came up with a rather outlandish idea. "You want us to what?!" "I thought I made myself clear, Ves. The Decapitator Project is an expert mech that will carry the hopes and expectations of the Swordmaidens as well as the Heavensworders in our clan. I want to pick out a large delegation from them that will stay inside the workshop and witness the creation of our first expert swordsman mech from afar. I will make sure that they won't disturb the proceedings in any way." "I don't know whether this is even proper." "This is the only other way I can think of to increase the chances of turning the Decapitator Project into a masterwork mech. I have to try! Please give this plan a try. If it works, then it's great, and if it doesn't, at least we are able to draw a couple lessons from the attempt." Ves did not relish the prospect of working in front of a large audience, but the benefits intrigued him. He briefly recalled the time where he set up a large ritual to birth the Superior Mother. Could he set up a similar ritual to augment the fabrication attempt of the Decapitator Project? It was worth a try. Even if all of the show and dance did not actually grant any solid boosts, it would still give Ketis a huge boost in motivation. That might be enough to push her into an inspired mood, thereby drastically increasing the quality of her output. "I'll allow it." He said. "In fact, I've got an even better idea. How many Swordmaidens and Heavensworders are in our clan right now?" "More than 40,000 last I checked." Ketis confidently replied. Her eyes lit up as she began to have an inkling of what Ves had in mind. "The numbers are probably even more now that we've gained some additional recruits, but the original numbers are at least that much. Each of them are strong supporters of myself and Venerable Dise." He smirked. "How about gathering as many of them as possible to cheer us on while we work? This will no doubt be a huge logistical challenge, but as long as we try hard enough, we can probably make something happen." It could also turn into a huge flop, but Ves didn't mention that at the moment. What mattered was putting Ketis in her best possible mood. From the moment he mentioned his bold idea, her eyes lit up and her force of will became a little sharper. Thinking about gathering so many sword enthusiasts together reminded her of the time she broke through at the First Sword Arena. The energy of so many people seemed to have filled up the giant sword-shaped arena and given her the push she needed to undergo apotheosis! An expectant smile appeared on her face. "Let's plan this out properly, Ves… We need a lot more space in order to make this work."