The Mech Touch

"Our attempt to push our Desolate Soldiers onto the Bentheim Planetary Guard has succeeded. They're so enthusiastic about our new mechs that they'll soon be fielding thousands of them across the planet and in orbit!"

The LMC deliberately courted the Bentheim Planetary Guard due to its strong authority and heavy presence on Bentheim. Any mech model adopted by this pivotal peacekeeping force would doubtlessly attract a lot of attention!

Once the Planetary Guard adopted the Desolate Soldier model, they practically marketed it on behalf of the LMC. Not only did they field the mechs everywhere, allowing many people to experience their auras, their authoritative status lent a lot of credibility to the products they used!

It was no surprise to Ves to hear from Gavin that other Planetary Guard forces followed suit. The auras of the Desolate Soldiers simply met their needs too well for them to ignore!

As for the potential accusations of brainwashing or improper mental influence, who cared? The Bright Republic was on the precipice of destruction and needed to pull out all the stops! The authorities couldn't care less about the potentially dangerous repercussions right now!

In any case, they could always revisit this issue after they repelled the sandmen.

"Hahaha! You should see the tears of the snobby Ansel mech designers!" Gavin laughed over the comm. "Professor Pendleton and their ilk has been leading the wave of criticism directed at the LMC's mechs. Even though he published a long diatribe that warns against the dangers of the Desolate Soldier, his influence is not as great as before!"

Ves smiled as well. "As long as the Bentheim Planetary Guard uses my mechs, they're effectively vouching for them. The biased opinions of a couple of snooty Seniors simply can't compare to the weight of a seemingly-neutral institution."

Was the Bentheim Planetary Guard devoid of politics? No! It took sides like any institution run by humans. It was just that their political character wasn't very obvious. In order to maintain its reputation, the Bentheim Planetary Guard did its best to appear neutral and fair.

Now, the LMC essentially piggy-backed on the Guard's stellar reputation to legitimize their Desolate Soldier model. This deliberate strategy effectively mitigated most of the controversy surrounding the LMC's products!

Gavin and the LMC believed that enacting this plan was incredibly pivotal to the wider adoption of the Desolate Soldier. Unlike the Ylvainans who exhibited no misgivings about the Holy Soldier, the Brighters were much more cautious and sober.

The LMC could still work with that as long as they published a mech with an X-Factor as strong as the Blackbeak or the Crystal Lord.

Yet the Desolate Soldier was different. Its X-Factor put it in the same range as the Aurora Titan and Transcendent Messenger, but its affordability meant that it became much more widely available.

If people started fearing the Desolate Soldiers, their ubiquity might provoke a very ugly backlash.

"The hardest part is behind us." Gavin continued. "Now that so many Planetary Guards have adopted our Desolate Soldiers, there is no way this trend can be reversed, at least in the Bright Republic. Recently, our marketing focus has shifted to foreign markets. The Coman Federation, the Reinald Republic, the Independent State of Pillis and the Council Stars of Lisv are all fertile ground for our Desolate Soldiers!"

The LMC already possessed a moderate presence in those states. They only left out the Vesia Kingdom for obvious reasons.

As Gavin transmitted some reports for him to peruse, Ves started thinking deeply. He initially found it hard to believe in the LMC's rosy projections.

How could his mech company suddenly take a huge leap from selling a couple of thousand mechs a year to selling more than 100,000 mechs in a single month?

It sounded far too unrealistic, yet as more and more orders poured in, Ves began to waver in his assumptions.

What if the LMC estimated correctly? What if the LMC really managed to sell so many mechs?

Ves could scarcely imagine the consequences!

"It's too bad that we've outsourced most of our production." Ves sighed. "If we possessed greater production capacity, we could have profited more from this trend."

In the last week, the LMC resumed construction of its second manufacturing complex on Bentheim. This time, the planetary government even lent some assistance to hurry up construction. The faster the site went up, the sooner it started churning out mechs.

"We may be missing out a bit this time, but we'll definitely be in a better position next time."

Ves and Gavin talked extensively about the market reception of the Desolate Soldier over the comm. Though Ves always put his guard up towards his assistant, that did not change their current working relationship.

So what if Flashlight hooked their tentacles into Gavin? He was still a very capable and insightful adviser and attendant.

In any case, the current crisis transcended any friction between Ves and Flashlight.

After Ves finished receiving his daily update from Gavin, he ended the call and met up with Gloriana. They briefly enjoyed their breakfast before heading to the workshop compartment of the Stellar Lancer.

By this time, their combined fleet had already reached the territory of the Reinald Republic. Even if he was passing by, Ves had the feeling of entering a familiar stomping ground.

In fact, after crossing the Reinald Republic, their route ran straight through the Vesia Kingdom!

Normally, Ves would never dare to enter this state on his own accord!

Yet everything was different now that he travelled together with Gloriana. There was no way the Kingdom would have the guts to stir up trouble against a prominent Hexer escorted by a powerful second-class mech unit!

"It feels good to shelter under Gloriana's umbrella sometimes." He mused.

As Ves and Gloriana continued to work on their collaborative design project, they both got to know each other better on multiple levels. Not only did they learn from each other's specialties and adjusted their design styles to each other, they also got to know each other better as a person.

For example, Ves asked a very important question that had been nagging at him for a while.

"Gloriana, what do gods mean to you? Sometimes, I have the feeling you don't view them with as much reverence as I think."

Though both of them had been seriously working on an increasingly more sophisticated custom mech design, they also looked rather silly together. The identical cat ears atop their head made them look as if they were a couple on a date!

"Haven't I told you about the six phases of existence before?"

"Yeah, but I don't understand the significance of these phases."

Gloriana patted his forearm. "It's not that hard to understand. Adherents of hexism believe that existence can be expressed in six phases, each of which are interconnected. One flows to the other. A god is simply someone who has ascended to power. We consider god pilots and Star Designers to be among that level, but they are only the most obvious gods in existence today."

"Is a living god pilot a man or a god?"

"Both. A person can encompass multiple phases at once. That's how interconnected they are, Ves."

"Is there a ranking?"

"Of course! Women fall under the most supreme phase of existence! Every follower of hexism believes that it is better to be a mortal woman than a male god!"

"What?!"

What kind of nonsense was this?!

"Hexism doesn't call for worshipping gods. We merely respect them, that's all, and only if they're female."

"Does that mean you would rather be an average female mech designer than a powerful male Star Designer?"

"Yes!" Gloriana replied without hesitation. "Women are supreme! We are the wisest and most enlightened half of humanity! I know it sounds hard for you as a man to learn that you're inferior to us, but that's what we're here for. Under our guidance and protection, we make sure that men behave and know their boundaries."

She spoke with so much conviction that Ves had no doubt that she believed what she said. Her subtle green eyes radiated such intense focus when she spoke about her beliefs.

There was no way that Ves could ever talk some sense into her! He would have to break her mind in order to get rid of this aspect of hers, but that was far too cruel for Ves to ever contemplate.

For better or worse, his girlfriend was an unrepentant Hexer.

"So how do you view my so-called "proto-gods'?" Ves shifted the topic.

"They're very interesting." She answered admiringly. "Though I have no idea how you're able to manipulate them, the ease in which you do so shows just how interconnected they are to us. Gods aren't necessarily aloof or immortal and they aren't condescendingly watching over us from some higher plane. They're merely… special."

Though her answers surprised Ves, he rested a little easier now that he knew her attitude on gods. He was afraid that she might have been inclined to worship them or something. She differed from the Ylvainans in this regard.

"What do you think about the design spirit I created for the Desolate Soldier?"

"It's.. adequate. I think it does a good job fulfilling the role it is meant to fulfill, but…" She grimaced. "It's very masculine. In fact, most of the proto-gods I've sensed in your design are male. That's very bad, Ves!"

She playfully swatted Ves' cheek as if he was a naughty boy!

"Gloriana! Gender doesn't matter! A god is a god!"

"It does! Don't think I haven't noticed that the proto-god residing in the Aurora Titan is more powerful than the rest. She's the only female among your little collection of proto-gods, so that proves that female gods are more powerful than male ones!"

Her warped explanation made Ves sick. How could she possibly use Qilanxo's strength to justify her beliefs! The most powerful spiritual fragment that he managed to get ahold of just happened to come from a female Sacred God.

It would have made no difference if Ves obtained a spiritual fragment from a male Sacred God!

As for his other design spirits, most of them were men because Ves was a man. He never really consciously thought about the genders of his images and spiritual products, so they all defaulted to men because that was what he was familiar with. That they happened to be weaker was because it was too difficult for him to replicate Qilanxo's spiritual strength!

Though her strange beliefs weirded him out, Gloriana was mindful enough to keep them to herself. According to her, she had all the time in the galaxy to convert Ves to hexism.

"You'll see the light one day! Hihi!"

Ves could only respond to her claim with a brittle smile.

He would rather let his mother suck his Spirituality dry than to convert to a religion that blatantly discriminated by gender! At least the Ylvainans kept gender differences out of their beliefs!

Nonetheless, Ves wasn't sure if he could maintain this equilibrium with Gloriana. As their intimacy grew, a difference in beliefs might become an obstacle.

How much hexism was Ves prepared to tolerate?

How long could Gloriana keep up her indulgence towards his rejection of her beliefs?

As if guessing what he was thinking, Gloriana swatted his head again.

"You're thinking too much, Ves. Regardless of what we believe, we are meant to be together. Our differences won't pull us apart so long as we value things we share in common. We're far from the only couple with differences."

"You're right." He sighed. His parents came to mind. "We should get back to work. We're making very good progress right now."

Both of them had poured a lot of effort into transforming the Desolate Soldier from a standard mech design into a highly-customized work of craftsmanship.

While Ves excelled in shaping the custom mech's spiritual framework, Gloriana showcased her ability to elevate its technical aspects!

When both of them combined their strengths to the fullest, the outcome reached a level that neither of them had ever managed to reach on their own!

So far, the progress they made proved Gloriana's assertions right! Their design philosophies complemented each other!

In fact, Ves also spotted signs that their design philosophy cooperated with each other on a deeper level…