"Yes." The hooded figure responded in an impassive tone. "This is not an ideal state of affairs, but it still constitutes an improvement, so we have no intention of discouraging such behavior. This also makes it difficult to discern whether these mobilizations are truly aimed at the mutated voribugs or this escort fleet."
Ves rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "Even so, I don't think that they should be stupid enough to try to intercept our shipment. Our task force is strong enough that only a large fleet has a chance to succeed, and it will definitely suffer a lot of casualties regardless of the outcome. It is impossible to hide the origins of all of those forces. Those who are already in high positions have no reason to throw away their futures and doom their entire organizations by harming the interests of every major player. Those who are weaker simply do not have the strength to contest our task force."
He really did not understand how anyone could be both strong and stupid enough to take such an insane risk.
However, Secret Keeper Zariel-775 saw it differently.
"Do not underestimate the madness of the human race. There are certain individuals who view the Ixith Goliath as an existential threat to their class or their profession. Driven by ideology, they have already voiced their strong opposition to the possible proliferation of stolen resonance technology."
"Ah. I see."
Nobody had derived any useful applications from the Ixith Goliath at this time, but that did not stop critics from voicing their fears.
Many mech pilots including high-ranking ones hated the concept of stolen resonance.
The fact that it apparently relied on the willpower that had been forcibly taken away from existing expert pilots turned it into a forbidden method in their eyes!
Not only did stolen resonance give people a reason to cause harm to high-ranking mech pilots, the existence of this phenomenon also introduced a 'competitor' that could take away their jobs!
Even if stolen resonance would always prove inferior to true resonance, the former could be applied to many more devices, which meant that they could surpass high-ranking mechs in value!
The Red Fleet harbored this dream most of all. To them, the development of so-called artifact warships barely allowed them to maintain their relevancy in the Age of Dawn.
If the fleeters truly wanted to become a force to be reckoned with, then they needed to produce stronger vessels, either dreadnoughts or the newly theorized stolen resonance warships!
While the fleeters would be more than happy to explore the possibilities of stolen resonance to the fullest, the mechers may not harbor the same degree of enthusiasm.
Mech pilots especially had reasons to reject this advancement.
So long as they were powerful and organized enough, it may not be out of the question for them to spontaneously come together and form a hastily organized punitive fleet for the sole purpose of destroying the research specimen!
Ves frowned deeper and deeper as he considered this insane but strangely plausible possibility.
"So the real threat is not the native aliens, the mutated voribugs or even the Cosmopolitan Movement." He said. "What we truly have to be concerned about is a mob of fanatic mech pilots who are willing to undertake a suicidal missions to defend the status of mech pilots, is that what you are trying to convey?"
Zariel-775 nodded under his mysterious hood. "Correct. There is so much movement taking place within the Rubarthan Pact and the Red Ocean Union that we cannot trace every single movement of starships and mechs. If the hostile parties are competent in counter-surveillance and so on, they may very well succeed in avoiding our tracking and secretly prepare an ambush at a point along our route."
"If they actually manage to pull this off, what sort of threats do we need to take into account?"
"The quantity of hostile mechs is unlikely to be high, director. If the movements become too large, they will likely be detected in advance. Our escort fleet can simply take a detour. The superluminal travel speed of our vessels are high enough that we can avoid contact against all but the most modern human forces. However, our enemies do not necessarily have to outnumber us in order to complete their objectives. It is not out of the possibility to encounter numerous expert pilots and even ace pilots."
That caused Ves to frown even further.
High-ranking mech pilots were all men and women with honor.
Yet that also made them a lot more dangerous than other people.
What if their warped thinking caused them to believe that the Ixith Goliath would enable the spread of evil?
As long as they could justify it, these madmen were capable of anything!
Ves could very well believe that certain high-ranking mech pilots would be willing to throw away their bright futures and fight against his task force just to destroy the possibility of popularizing stolen resonance technology!