The Mech Touch novel Chapter 966

The Flagrant Vandals made their way back to the Bright Republic without any incident by following the main commercial space routes between the frontier and the Bright Republic.

Many ships plied this route, and the Bentheim System formed an indispensable link in one of the main trade routes from the frontier to the coreward side of the Komodo Star Sector.

All of this traffic meant that the Flagrant Vandals constantly passed through well-trafficked and well-guarded star systems, precluding the chance of any attacks from pirates or Vesians.

While plenty of risks still existed, the Vandals already planned for their return trip. Nothing dangerous of note ever sprung in their faces during their long way back to the Bright Republic.

Ves breathed a little easier once the Flagrant Vandals actually passed through the borders. Now that he finally returned home, he didn’t have to worry as much about being jumped by unknown forces trying to steal the lockbox they retrieved from the Starlight Megalodon.

Instead of heading to the Bentheim System or the Tarry System, the Vandal fleet instead traversed to the New Foundation System, the second-most important star system of the Rittersberg region!

While the capital of the Bright Republic formed the nexus of the Rittersberg region, the New Foundation attracted almost as much attention due to the sole fact that it housed the headquarters of the Mech Corps!

As a star system occupied by the military, several mech divisions constantly stood by or patrolled the system and its occupied planets. Countless fixed defenses, minefields and orbital defense platforms constantly defended the headquarters and all the other important military infrastructure of the Bright Republic’s main military branch!

"Is this your first time to the New Foundation System?" Laida asked.

"Yes."

"Huh. I figured a Larkinson like you would have been familiar here."

"I’m not the average Larkinson."

Many Larkinsons passed through the New Foundation System at some point or another. It hosted the bases of many elite mech regiments on its various fortified planets.

If Ves ever bothered to look the information up, then he’d probably be able to learn that over a dozen Larkinsons were stationed in this military star system right now!

Of course, Ves couldn’t casually lift his comm and call them up. Right now, the war still raged on and many active duty service members possessed a comm just like his which completely restricted any outside communications.

"I miss my CFA comm."

Compared to the magical capabilities of that highly-advanced device, the replacement comm he received from the Wolf Mother’s armory was like a toy to him. Each military-issue comm was a toy, actually, but Ves once again went back to square one by receiving the most basic one that didn’t do more than take notes and answer calls from officers.

His exasperation regarding his current comm aside, Ves did look forward to his visit to the New Foundation System. As the ships of the Flagrant Vandals took up orbit over one of New Foundation V’s moons, Ves and a large number of Vandals transferred into shuttles that brought them all the way down to the surface!

New Foundation V not only housed the headquarters of the Mech Corps, but also housed many other institutions falling under their umbrella. The soldiers picking up the Vandal officers never told them where they were being transferred, but from what little Ves could observe, his shuttle flew all the way to the surface and entered a guarded tunnel that led deep underground.

The lack of windows, projections and other sights made it difficult for Ves to be sure. The only information he had to go on was the slight noise, vibrations and air pressure carried over to the interior.

After this lengthy trip, the shuttle finally touched down upon a landing pad in a vast underground parking hall which housed numerous shuttles and even transports. The hustle and bustle of all of this traffic showed that this place saw significant traffic.

It was only after Ves observed the emblems affixed to the walls of the massive hall that he learned where they landed.

"This is the Bureau of Sector Affairs!"

"Correct." Major Verle said as he stepped out next to him. "Sector Affairs is responsible for any deployments, commands and other matters of the Mech Corps outside the borders of the Bright Republic. In short, that means that most military expeditions outside our borders falls under their purview. We will have to account for our actions during the mission today, but remember your instructions. Your back is already covered, so feel free not to answer any questions that you don’t want to answer."

Ves and the other Vandals saw little of the neat and brightly-lit interior of the Bureau of Sector Affairs. Instead, armed security personnel led them all through a familiar parade of debriefings and interrogation.

Having gone through this particular rodeo many times, Ves answered the questions that he didn’t mind answering and kept his mouth shut on matters that he would rather not voice.

Of course, that didn’t earn him any favors from BuSecA, as the bureau was sometimes called in shorthand. Still, the attempts at applying pressure on Ves mostly fell flat because they both knew the interrogators were toothless.

After several days of mostly pointless questioning and an endless amount of repeating himself, the people of BuSecA finally gave up on Ves and kicked him to a waiting area which housed various servicemen visiting the Bureau for some reason or another.

After spending a few more days in limbo with the rest of the Vandals that survived the inquiries, Ves and the rest of the Vandals were finally summoned again, this time to attend a closed award ceremony!

Major Verle clapped his back. "This is a good sign. It means all the bureaucratic boxes are ticked and all of the questioning is over. The most important point is that we fulfilled our mission and successfully handed over the lockbox to BuSecA, who will make sure its contents will be transferred over to Rittersberg where it will be immediately put to use."

Ves nodded in understanding. "Some lucky geezer will probably see a new lease in life, then. Is that right, sir?" _{free𝑤ebnovel.com}