The Mech Touch

Whatever he expected from the infamous Ronnie Blast, it wasn't this. The shouting brat who continued to yell at Ves to free him was different from his expectations.

He imagined a cowardly, craven bottom-feeder who became a pirate designer out of desperation. He believed that Ronnie Blast was a mech designer of poor mental fortitude who would crack the instant he came under pressure.

Instead, he encountered a loudmouth with poor volume control and a penchant for whining.

A lot of whining.

"YOU'RE A MECH DESIGNER, RIGHT?! I CAN TELL THAT FROM YOU! YOU HAVE THAT SMART AIR ABOUT YOU THAT REMINDS ME OF SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES IN THE PAST. WAS IT YOU THAT KIDNAPPED ME? WHY DID YOU EVER PICK ME UP?! I WAS WELL ON MY WAY TO—"

"—SHUT UP!"

When Ronnie Blast shouted, he came across as a blabbermouth.

When Ves shouted, he commanded attention.

There was a drastic difference between the two! Their life experiences, successes and training all shaped them in ways that led to drastically different directions.

No matter how obnoxious Ronnie appeared to be, his mouth instantly shut the moment Ves uttered his words!

It was at this time that Ronnie realized that Ves appeared less than pleased with his conduct. He looked sheepish, but quickly regained his bravado. He thrust out his chest as if he deserved to be treated like an equal!

"Mr. stranger, as a fellow colleague, could you please release me from this cell? I am not a danger to anyone. I'm just a mech designer!"

Ves couldn't help but jerk his mouth when he heard this phrase. He uttered these words so many times that it felt strange when someone threw it back into his face.

Though Ves felt inclined to oblige Ronnie's request, he quickly stamped it down. Though Ronnie came across as a fool, who knew what he was truly capable of? Anyone who uttered the phrase 'I'm just a mech designer' should be highly suspect!

"We'll be keeping you here for the time being." Ves unapologetically declared. "You are Ronnie Blast, a pirate designer of ill repute."

"WHAT?! THAT'S UNCALLED FOR! I WAS DRIVEN FROM CIVILIZED SPACE FOR SOMETHING I DIDN'T DO! IT WASN'T MY CHOICE TO GO PIRATE!"

Ves wanted to palm his face. He also wanted to activate the sound modulator in the cell in order to make Ronnie's shouting less grating on his ears.

"Don't lie to me, 'Ronnie'. I know this is not your real name, and I know you aren't native to the Faris Star Region."

"Why did you capture me?!" Ronnie demanded. "I've never done anything to you or any other mech designer for that matter! I always kept to myself while I was trying to survive in the frontier!"

"Did you, now?" Ves huffed and leaned his shoulder against the cell wall. "Does your Blue Paradisio design ring a bell?"

The pirate designer frowned. "Ehh.. you mean my spaceborn laser rifleman mech design?"

"YOUR design?!" Ves glared. "Do you have the temerity to claim that your poor excuse of a rip off is your original work?!"

"You.. I know who you are!" A light bulb finally lit up in his empty head. "You're Ves Larkison!"

Ves grinned. "I'm the original designer of the Crystal Lord, among other mechs."

"This.. is THIS WHY YOU NABBED ME OFF MY SHIP?! WHY ME? THERE SHOULD BE COUNTLESS OTHERS WHO BORROWED FROM YOUR WORK! I'M JUST A RANDOM MECH DESIGNER!"

"You're different! You not only ripped off my design, but also sold your mechs to a pirate gang that almost killed me! If I hadn't managed to deter them, then I might have suffered the indignity of getting killed by an exceedingly bad imitation of one of my own designs! That is a true indignity that has continued to haunt me in my nightmares!"

Ves really wanted to punch Ronnie in the face. He could do it, but he felt that would just sully him further.

He calmed himself and tried to find some way to see some benefit in keeping Ronnie under his thumb.

"YOU SHOULD FEEL HONORED FOR MAKING ME USE YOUR DESIGN AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION! YOUR DESIGN WAS SO GOOD AT THE TIME THAT I SIMPLY COULDN'T RESIST ADAPTING IT TO SPACE! EVEN THOUGH I SLIPPED UP HERE AND THERE, MY BLUE PARADISIO WAS STILL A FUNCTIONAL MECH!"

Ves grimaced even deeper. This dimwit was making it harder and harder for Ves to find any redeeming quality in him. There was no way he wanted to endure this buffoon any longer than necessary.

His plan to form a so-called 'Redeemer Design Team' made out of pirate designers who deserve a second chance fell through.

At the very least, Ronnie emphatically did not deserve a second chance!

As the pirate designer continued to shout, Ves drew out a long-neglected pistol from his belt holster.

The Peaceful Repose was a mastercrafted weapon, which was one of the main reasons why it had been so expensive.

However, its inherent tech and material levels were fairly low. While this was more than enough for a typical customer from a third-rate state, Ves was starting to encounter more formidable threats.

He needed something better. He took one good look at the Peaceful Repose before passing it on to Dietrich.

"This is for you. I've outgrown this weapon. I'll key it to your life signals and send you its custom ammunition later. I'll also hand you the Sparous Vize as well. It's a good suit of armor if you want to don something light."

Dietrich blinked as he held the unusually decorated ballistic pistol. "Really? This gun looks expensive! I don't want to mooch off you, Ves."

Ves grinned. "Relax. I'm anything but short of money these days, and I already have something better."

Nitaa already wore something better, fortunately. Ever since he reached the Kesseling System, the Scarlet Rose and all of her contents belonged to him. The Hexers hadn't taken anything away, which also included all of the gear that Ves managed to salvage!

Right now, Nitaa opted to wear a modified suit of heavy combat armor salvaged from the Scarlet Rose. Her main armament consisted of one of the impressive triple-type heavy assault rifles.

Crindon went over their software and security suites and cleaned up as many loopholes as he could find with the help of Calabast's hacking software and documentation.

Only Ves felt a bit incomplete as he hadn't managed to procure a proper suit of combat armor that suited him the most.

At least he already covered his firepower needs. He drew out a smaller pistol from a hidden holster in his business suit and pointed it straight at Ronnie Blast's forehead!

"W-WAIT A MINUTE! DON'T SHOOT! I-I-I-I CAN WORK FOR YOU, MR. LARKINSON! I HAVE LOTS OF CONTACTS IN THE DRAGON ALLIANCE!"

Ves sneered. With his fame and reputation, he could recruit fantastic young mech designers who were ten times smarter than this blathering punk. As for his supposed contacts, who cared about the Dragon Alliance these days? The sandmen completely devastated the Faris Star Region! No matter how powerful the pirate alliance used to be, the infamous Dragons of Void has become nothing but a pack of better-equipped refugees!"

A loud sparking noise cracked the cell as a bright beam instantly blasted Ronnie's entire head apart!

A headless corpse dropped onto the disarrayed bed. The smell of searing flesh only wafted in the cell for a second before the ventilation system quickly refreshed the foul odor.

"I can't say I blame you." Dietrich shrugged. "This guy has been grating on us all for months. We would have beaten him harder but we figured you wouldn't want to meet him when he's half-dead."

"Well, I hope the other pirate designers aren't as bad." Ves spoke as he holstered his small laser pistol.

He visited the adjacent cells in turn to see whether the pirate designers were worth salvaging.

Disappointingly, two of the pirate designers proved to be animals in human skin.

"I dislike your face. It's too dishonest." The Alloy Sculptor's silky smooth voice uttered as his head tilted in fascination. "Please return my tools for me so that I can rearrange your facial features. Your eyes must go and your nose must become pointed to reflect your many lies."

Yeah, Ves quickly blasted the maniac's head with a deadly laser beam after that. There was no way he would entertain a crazy mech designer who reminded him uncomfortably of the Skull Architect!

The Hand of Sin was worse.

"AUHHHH!" The genetically modified abomination struggled against the gravitic bonds that kept him pressed against his bed! "I WOO TAE U LIM FOR LIM! NO UN EVA CROS TA HAN O SIN!"

"Did you guys even pick up the right person?" Ves furrowed his brows. "He looks like a footsoldier instead of a mech designer."

"We checked the details a dozen times." Dietrich helplessly said. "He truly is a mech designer. Apparently, when he's not angry or in a battle, he can be quite.. 'eloquent', according to the intel. It's just that his reckless application of gene mod templates turned him into.. this. Whenever he's agitated, he'll continue to be like this for hours."

The man who became known as the Hand of Sin was a brute with mottled, cratered grey skin. His arms were uneven. One of them possessed normal proportions, but the other one was as thick as several legs!

The man continued to scream unintelligibly in the direction of Ves as if he wanted to do nothing more than to crush his captors with his oversized arm!

"Well, I've seen and heard enough." Ves spoke. "The frontier must be truly desperate if a defective product like him has managed to sell some mechs."

Ves did not even wish to sully his dignity by shooting the genetic freak. He waved his hand to Nitaa, who brought her heavy assault rifle to bear on the immobilized Hand of Sin.

A few weapon discharges later, nothing was left of this infamous mech designer aside from steaming piles of charred flesh.

There were only two more mech designers left. Ves hoped to meet someone within an acceptable range of normality for once.

Meeting someone like Mayra was ideal, but he could settle for someone like Ketis. Ves would be happy as long as the pirate designer possessed enough self-awareness to understand they needed to behave.

If someone failed to recognize the reality of their situation, then they were too stupid or insane to be worth keeping alive!

Was it too much to ask for a useful pirate designer? Did Ves set his expectations too high?

"I really hope the next one is better." He muttered.

"I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Merrill is the best-behaved captive we have so far. She hasn't given us any flack in the months we kept her captive."

When they entered the next cell, Merrill turned her gaze from the romance drama projected by the cell. She instantly waved her hand to flick it off and composed herself as best as possible.

"Good day, Dietrich."

"Good day, Merrill. This is Ves Larkinson, my boss. He's the one who decides your fate, so I suggest you be on your best behavior."

From the amenities in the cell, Merrill evidently behaved so well that she earned some rewards to make her stay more comfortable.

That and the spontaneous advice from Dietrich made Ves think that Merrill was truly different from the wastes of space he met before.

"So.. what makes you a pirate designer?"

"Didn't you read my record, sir?" Merrill smiled impishly at Ves.

He found it curious that the captive did not act meekly nor brashly. Instead, she adopted a comfortable and confident demeanor as if she was his friend rather than a captive.

He had to admit that it had an effect on him. After dealing with the likes of Ronnie Blast, the Alloy Sculptor and the Hand of Sin, it was surprisingly refreshing to deal with someone who conformed to his expectations of a mech designer.

It also helped that she was a woman.

"I've only skimmed the barest of details, which didn't tell me anything. Is any of it even true?"

"Good question." Merrill's smile turned devious.