The Mech Touch

Ves stood in front of the high windows that gave him an impressive view of downtown Krent.

To think this used to be the city where the Ylvainans put him on trial and turned him into the Bright Martyr.

Even now, if Ves lowered his gaze, he would see the crowd of pilgrims who had flocked to the entrance of the LMC's headquarters in order to catch a glimpse of the newest Martyred Follower.

Their constant presence made him uncomfortable. Though a vain part of him felt flattered to be the object of worship, Ves knew that it would only distract him from his path if he indulged himself too much.

The Ylvainans extended many offers to integrate himself further into their society, but Ves instructed Gavin to reject them all.

Now that he got rid of most of the shackles that tied him to the Bright Republic, it made little sense to embrace the shackles of another state!

Not even the immense amount of goodwill offered by the Protectorate was enough to win him over!

"My future lies within the Red Ocean, not the Komodo Star Sector." He whispered to himself.

The Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy continued to tempt his dreams and aspirations. There was a sense of convergence in his mind that caused him to care less about his home.

Though the Sand War and the Komodo War both had far-reaching effects, his mentality had long gotten past the point he was still invested in these conflicts.

This did not mean he stopped caring about them. It was just that recent events caused Ves to see how little these wars truly mattered, both to humanity and to himself.

Would he cry if the Friday Coalition smashed the Hexadric Hegemony? Not really. He was liable to celebrate, in private of course.

If the Hexers managed to trounce the Fridaymen, he'd celebrate as well. The side he picked managed to get the upper hand, which meant that Ves would make a lot of gains. Gloriana would be happy as well.

Yet.. Ves was anything but enthusiastic. Regardless who won or lost, he only paid attention to what he could gain or lose out of this struggle.

"Patricia is right." He whispered. "These conflicts are trivial in the eyes of the Big Two. In the greater scheme of things, the Sand War and the Komodo War is of absolutely no importance!"

He didn't know why he felt this way. Was it because he became increasingly more occupied with his upcoming grand expedition? Was it because he was already mentally gearing himself up to participating in a conquest against the native alien empires residing in the Red Ocean?

Whatever the case, Ves felt that his upcoming design project was his first true step towards preparing for his grand expedition.

There was no way he could embark on his journey to the Red Ocean if he didn't prepare enough forces to protect his assets!

Pirates would definitely swarm his expeditionary fleet if it attempted to set off with only third-class mechs as protection. At minimum at least half of his mechs needed to be up to standard.

Not only did he have to elevate the quality of his mech pilots, he also had to expand their quantity. It wasn't enough to field a couple of hundred mechs. He needed much more mechs in order to form an effective deterrent against any opportunistic raiders!

The upcoming modular mech platform he intended to design played an integral part in his development plan. He believed that designing this so-called two-and-a-half-class mech with an eye towards training purposes would definitely be able to speed up the development of his mech pilots!

This wasn't the first training mech he designed. The Young Blood and the Old Soul already provided him with enough experience to know what he needed to look out for if he wanted to stimulate his mech pilots into expanding their limits.

Of course, those two old designs were purely virtual and aimed at low-level mech cadets. The training mech he envisioned was going to be an entirely different beast! It was much more modern, much more powerful and much more expensive than the two virtual mechs he designed so many years ago. The complexity of a modular mech platform exceeded almost anything he designed before!

Even Ves shuddered a few times when he thought about tackling such a formidable concept. Plenty of mech designers failed to achieve their goals as they became swamped with the incredible amount of difficulties in reconciling different mech types in a single mech platform.

Though he set some conditions to limit the scope of his modular mech platform, he was fully aware that he would still be pushing the boundaries of his technical prowess.

If only he was still on good terms with Gloriana! She was much more proficient in tackling these technical challenges. While Ves was no slouch in this area, that was because he forcibly elevated his knowledge base through the System.

In truth, Ves never possessed much passion in pushing the limits of what was technically possible with mechs. He was much more interested in exploring his own way of strengthening mechs.

His methods just happened to have relative little relation with the technical and physical qualities of a mech.

Therefore, Ves wasn't very suitable to tacklee technically sophisticated design projects.

If not for his time constraints and his unusual circumstances, Ves wouldn't have embarked on such an ambitious design project!

"Hopefully, I can make it up with Gloriana. I really need her assistance."

"Meow."

"It's not my fault!"

"Meow meow."

Lucky settled onto the surface of the Larkinson Mandate while turning a part of his body intangible. The Golden Cat had lost her majestic air and rested helplessly in the gem cat's grasp as she enjoyed another unsolicited bath!

Nyaaa!

"Stop bothering our clan's ancestral spirit, Lucky. She's not your kid. Besides, she doesn't even need any cleaning!"

Predictably, Lucky completely disregarded those words. Ves approached his desk and dragged Lucky away from his book.

"Meow!"

"Sit still and don't disturb anyone. I have guests soon."

It didn't take too much time before a group of people entered his office. Seats unfolded from the floor, allowing everyone to sit facing the desk.

The guests had two things in common.

First, they were all mech pilots. None of the people Ves invited today were mech technicians or laymen. Only those who piloted mechs in battle had entered the office!

Second, the guests were all clan members without exception. The blood of the Larkinsons flowed through their veins, and their demeanors each exuded the pride and confidence of their heritage.

Among the veteran mech pilots that Ves invited today, a few of them were more familiar to him than others.

Commander Melkor was one of the youngest among the Larkinsons. Even though he was lacking in years and battle experience, that did not mean that Ves was prepared to dismiss his feedback!

Melkor represented the younger generation of both the Avatars and the Larkinson Clan. There were always differences in training standards and battle experiences between the generations. What a mech pilot had to prioritize in the past was not necessarily as important in the future.

New technologies, new paradigms and new design standards constantly evolved the parameters of mechs. Different mech generations excelled in different aspects.

For example, the current mech generation placed a bit more emphasis on laser weapons. Other weapon systems hadn't managed to catch up, which meant that laser-armed mechs were probably slated to become the kings of the battlefield in human conflicts!

A few other members of the younger generation attended the meeting. Chette Larkinson and Rhode Larkinson squirmed in their seats as they felt horribly out of place compared to the more impressive figures sitting next to them. They could hardly fathom that they would have a say in this meeting!

The other Larkinson mech pilots were much more at ease. Commander Magdalena Larkinson and Director Clinton Larkinson represented the middle and older generation of Larkinson mech pilots respectively.

That did not mean that the others were inconsequential. Many of the old and retired mech pilots enjoyed an illustrious career in their prime. People like Hager Larkinson, who was around 80 years old, used to be a distinguished mech captain of the Mech Corps.

Ves observed each and everyone of the Larkinsons and nodded in satisfaction. "Thank you for attending this meeting."

It wasn't as if they could refuse an invitation from the clan patriarch.

Fortunately, none of them were opposed to this meeting. The future of the Larkinson Clan might very well be decided by the discussion that would take place in this office today!

After Ves got the pleasantries out of the way, he got down to business.

"Everyone here should be aware of why I called you here." He waved his hand, causing a projection to come online. "I'm about to design a mech that is exclusive to our forces. While I'm also placing this mech at the disposal of my Avatars and other forces, make no mistake. My mech will mainly be a machine that is meant to strengthen our clan!"

The projection he conjured up showcased many successful modular mech platforms in history. All of the mechs that appeared in view shared many commonalities with other mechs of the same platform.

Clear differences existed, of course. A platform configured as a knight mech looked drastically different from the same platform configured as a rifleman mech!

Melkor raised his hand. "I have a question. Considering the nature of our discussion, shouldn't you be inviting Jannzi and Tusa?"

Before Ves answered his question, Clinton barked out a laugh. "Haha! Those two lucky youngsters are already beyond the scope of human ability. They're too good to understand our difficulties. What mech pilots like you struggle with on a daily basis are trivial issues to mech pilots at their skill level!"

"Director Clinton is right." Ves concurred. "While they aren't quite expert pilots, they are already too far ahead compared to the rest of you. I have no doubt that they have plenty of useful advice. It's just that their feedback won't be of much relevance to my current design project."

Once they got over this issue, Ves commenced the discussion in earnest. He introduced his goals and described what he wanted to achieve with his design. He also revealed some of the specifications he set.

"While it's important for us to retain some landbound combat capability, developing our spaceborn combat ability must be our primary focus. It is acceptable for us to be short on the former, at least for the first decade or so, but we MUST be able to defend against threats in space."

The grand expedition always needed protection in space. This would never change as long as Ves and the Larkinson Clan remained nomadic!

While Ves did not rule out the possibility that he would settle down on a planet, even then it was still essential to form a capable spaceborn defense force.

Therefore, the choice was obvious. His modular mech platform had to be a spaceborn mech design!

Most of the Larkinsons present understood his decision. They didn't object to his reasoning. However, this still presented a problem.

"What about our landbound mech specialists?"

"They'll have to settle for other products." Ves uncharitably answered. "Well, if possible, we can see if my modular mech platform can be converted into aerial or even landbound variants."

He preferred not to waste too much time on developing variants. If possible, Ves wanted to encourage his landbound mech specialists to gain some proficiency in fighting in space.

In fact, many mech pilots had already done so. The Sand War forced many of them to take a crash course in spaceborn combat at range.

Some adapted better to spaceborn combat than others. The Larkinsons possessed a clear advantage in this aspect. Their superior training and deeper foundation allowed them to adapt a lot faster than ordinary mech pilots!

Some Larkinsons didn't even require any supplementary training! They were just as proficient in space as on land!

It was due to the excellent quality of Larkinson mech pilots that Ves felt confident that they could handle a powerful and sophisticated mech like the one he envisioned!