Venerable Tusa spent enough time in the LRA to know that much of the special cells and tissue that made up biomechs were derived from all manner of exobeasts.
Even the most humanoid-looking biomechs were actually stuffed with beast DNA!
Although Tusa was not versed in biology, he still suspected that some of the bestial traits of biomechs were contagious. That, or the Life Research Association did a really poor job of educating their mech pilots!
Everything he had seen so far pointed out the perils of freedom. In a way, for all of its strictness, the LRA granted too much freedom to its mech pilots.
Now that the Supreme Revolution broke the traditional hierarchy and granted every single serving mech pilot to choose which order to obey, far too many of them decided to fight for less-than-noble causes!
Though he hadn’t clashed against them yet, Tusa held an even worse regard for the mech pilots who served in the Planetary Guard or other government institutions.
Millions of citizens in the outskirts needed their help. Yet instead of doing the right thing, the protectors of people instead chose to abandon their responsibilities in order to fight for a nebulous political cause!
When granted the choice to do what they wished, too many mech pilots from all walks of life chose to abandon their duties.
Instead, they became consumed with plundering wealth, eliminating rivals, pursuing their grudges and more! They also became more prone to getting bewitched by ambitious leaders who did not care for the harm they caused in order to fulfill their personal ambitions.
"People can’t be trusted with power." He concluded.
It was a damaging admission and one that Venerable Tusa did not want to settle upon. However, the truth was there for him to see. Even though he knew that his fellow Larkinsons were vastly different, that did not alter the fact that there were plenty more people who abused any measure of freedom they could grasp!
The Piranha Prime grew more turbulent. While its presence hadn’t collapsed entirely, Venerable Tusa did not feel so good about himself anymore.
Reality had dealt a harsh blow to his illusions.
"What is freedom?"
"What makes me worthy to make my own choices?"
"How much do other people deserve to be free?"
"Does absolute freedom even exist?"
All of these questions and more began to swirl in his mind. His will became clouded and his confidence began to falter.
A small alarm sounded from his mech. Venerable Tusa temporarily pulled himself out of his conundrum. He realized that he was approaching the storage depot.
The site was just as large as the female worker described. Thousands of containers and other goods were stacked indoors and outdoors.
What Tusa found notable about the site was that another group had already overrun the defenses. Numerous security mechs lay broken and fallen on the ground as the unknown assailants were in the process of loading up their transports with looted feeder stock!
The expert pilot frowned. Normally, he would barge in and eliminate the looters, but he could not deny the fact that he and his clan were thinking about doing the same!
"There’s also too many mechs."
The Ferocious Piranha’s passive sensors weren’t able to provide him with a complete picture, but his mech estimated that there were upwards of 200 mechs at the site!
"What the hell are so many mechs doing here? Who is fielding them and why are they after so much feeding stock?"