The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4153

It did not take much time for his first meeting with his core advisors about his new expedition to hit a stumbling block.

Ves already took into account that the risks of approaching the active frontlines of the invasion would be greater.

The chances of encountering enemy elements, both human and alien, were significantly greater.

However, the possibility that General Verle brought up was highly realistic.

As much as Ves wanted to deny or downplay this risk, he had looked up enough news to know that plenty of scavenger fleets met their untimely ends at the hands of frontline alien fleet elements!

This was also the reason why many of the most powerful pioneering fleets chose to keep their distance from the frontlines.

The toughest and most intractable fleets fielded by the nunsers and the puelmers had developed a terrible reputation among the pioneers and frontiersmen.

The nunsers fielded massive 'ships' that were also concentrated in huge 'fleets' that were more like floating cities!

The puelmers adopted a similar approach but concentrated more on equipping their ships with advanced technology rather than aiming for maximum quantity.

Regardless, any ordinary pioneering fleet that got targeted by the nunsers or puelmers rarely managed to get away!

Ves fell silent as he idly stroked Lucky's back. The cat had grown a lot more concerned as well when he heard the new plan.

"Meow meow."

"I'm working on it. Let me think."

As Ves tried to come up with an answer to the problem presented by General Verle, the Director of the Black Cats took the initiative to speak her thoughts.

"While I have my own doubts about this new venture, we can significantly decrease the risk of encountering unpleasant surprises by beefing up our scouting operations." Calabast said. "If you study all of the cases where pioneering fleets were struck down by frontline alien troops, you will find that the former never put much effort into scouting and risk assessment. They only dispatched a perfunctory amount of scouting vessels to neighboring star systems and did not thoroughly research the alien territories they intended to strip of valuables."

This was not necessarily because the scavenger fleets were led by stupid or incompetent leaders.

Their means were just too limited. The availability of starships was still horrendously limited, which meant that any new arrivals would find it incredibly difficult to expand their initial fleets.

Without access to enough wealth, military strength, influence and allies, there was no way for these fresh pioneering fleets to convince a shipyard to accept their order.

This left these groups in a tight spot. They could either make do with what they brought over from the Milky Way, or they could risk everything on a single throw of the dice and head towards danger in the promise of obtaining a huge haul of precious materials and advanced alien tech.

As Ves recalled the articles that he read, Calabast indeed made a good point. The majority of pioneering fleets that got suckered by alien warfleets were incapable of deploying scouting ships.

Without spreading enough corvettes and other observer ships to neighboring star systems, it was much harder to gain an accurate impression on how many enemies might be lingering in the region!

The situation was much different to the Golden Skull Alliance.

"We are in a much better position in this regard, Ves." Minister Shederin Purnesse provided his opinion. "Our recent successes have raised our profile and made us much more reputable in the eyes of major players. It has become significantly easier for us to commission ship orders at shipyards that previously closed their doors to our inquiries. While we are unable to order any capital ships from them, it should not be troublesome to commission modest batches of corvettes."

Ves looked surprised. "Is that true?"

"More vendors are willing to do business with us." Shederin confirmed. "It's not just us. The Cross Clan have also found it a lot easier to place priority orders at major shipyard companies. Everyone is eager to please an ace pilot, you see. At the very least, these people do not want to leave an impression that they deliberately snubbed the Cross Clan due to petty reasons. There is no way to predict the reaction of an ace pilot that has a well-known history for being volatile and impulsive."

In other words, now that Patriarch Reginald Cross had grown into a big and powerful bully that could always decide to flip the board if he got triggered for whatever reason, a lot of companies took the initiative to offer their tribute through this manner!

This was the benefit of acquiring a notorious reputation!

"What of the Glory Seekers?" Ves curiously asked. "Since the local shipyards are already beginning to offer their services to us and the Crossers, I don't think they have much capacity left to help our remaining allies."

"The Glory Seekers have their own channels, Ves. The Hexer colonies may be overwhelmingly preoccupied with building up their settlements, but now that they have overcome the initial hurdles, they are much more secure in their own positions. That means that the Hexer dynasties are becoming more willing to supply the Glory Seekers with mechs, starships and other war materiel."

Though there was no way to mitigate every possible risk, the plan became a lot more feasible after the inclusion of a few more measures.

Calabast especially found it important to raise her voice this time. "Information is power, Ves. I have always told you that because many people constantly have a tendency to forget about this truth."

"You have made that point clear to me already. What do you want this time?"

"I need more funding and allowances to expand the Black Cats." She plainly stated her demands.

"Hasn't the recent funding increases been enough for you to expand our spy department?"

"This is different, Ves. We have invested much of the money and resources that we have received from the clan into building up local and regional spy networks. We have spread an extensive amount of agents and informants throughout Davute and many other star systems. It costs a lot of effort and money to do the job correctly. If you want our Black Cats to increase our ability to collect vital intelligence on the less-explored star systems that are closer to active war zones, then we must expand in a different way."

Ves sighed before waving his hand. "Fine. You will get your funding. It is not a big deal to give you an extra 100,000 MTA credits. The only thing I ask is results. You and your Black Cats have overlooked numerous dangers in the past. I'm aware that is because your means were much more limited then, but we have no excuse this time."

His strategic partner smirked. "Don't worry, Ves. Previously, it was difficult to do much because we were constantly on the move while working with limited resources. This time is different. We aren't short on funds and we still have plenty of years to make proper and adequate preparations. Trust me when I say that I do not want to make another major blunder. Not when my life is on the line as well."

That was one of the more positive aspects of keeping everything important in a single fleet.

Every core member of the Larkinson Clan was on the same boat, both literally and figuratively!

Any mistake they made would directly impact their chances of surviving the upcoming expedition.

As Ves thought about other matters, Shederin brought up another major point.

"This is a major development, Ves, one that will affect our entire clan as well as our closest allies. If you want everyone to work towards your goals in a united fashion, then you will need to drum up strong support. One of the ways you can do that is by naming our upcoming operation. Have you come up with any suggestions that you like and can effectively communicate what we will embark upon in a couple of years?"

"Hmmm… let's call it the Trailblazer Expedition. This time, we must truly venture closer to the territories that have yet to be plundered and occupied by other human forces."