The Mech Touch

Ves did not mind coming up with questions that he couldn't answer with his current level of understanding.

As an innovative researcher and mech designer, he never feared the unknown!

In fact, in his perspective, running out of questions was a much more frightening prospect!

If Ves was no longer able to come up with interesting questions, then he was no longer a qualified innovator. Clinging too strongly to what he knew was a sign of complacency and lack of ambition.

How could he ever surpass his current self if he no longer possessed the curiosity to explore new phenomena?

This was why he went through with his plan to create a spiritual product that could potentially pose a great threat to him. Compared to the risks he incurred, the potential gains he could make was much greater!

The birth of Lufa already provided him with a wealth of observations that he could study for weeks!

Studying the Angel of Tranquility directly also yielded several new insights to Ves. The young but powerful spiritual product slowly mastered his powers. Much of it was centered on blocking, dampening and suppressing all sorts of spiritual phenomena.

Thanks to the universal life energy that Ves had painfully contributed to his birth, Lufa was already strong enough to replicate the effects of a typical B-stone.

This was a remarkable result!

"If you think about it, there are many similarities between the two! They share the same roots!"

To Ves, Lufa's abilities essentially turned him into a sentient B-stone! Unlike an ordinary B-stone which was completely passive, Ves was able to manipulate Lufa in various ways, causing his latest spiritual product to selectively express his powers.

This was exactly what he needed for the Sanctuary!

Better yet, Ves could even borrow Lufa's powers in a more personal capacity! It was as if he created his own pet B-stone!

"If only I grabbed more phantoms during the temporal anomaly incident!" Ves lamented while smacking the side of his head. "If I didn't waste so much time, I could have grabbed at least three more phantoms with my current level of strength!"

The restraint-attributed energy that Lufa wielded with increasing proficiency came from the spiritual restraints that kept the grey phantoms alive, trapped and in pain.

Without obtaining more of these spiritual engineered products, it was unlikely that Ves would be able to create more helpful life forms like Lufa.

If he was able to breathe half-a-dozen more Lufas to life, then Ves might not need to build an armored suit made out of B-stone anymore. He could just surround himself with his 'angels' and rely on them to withstand any hostile spiritual attacks!

"Well, there's no use getting hung up over lost opportunities." He sighed.

Rather than getting upset over an outcome that was already fixed, Ves preferred to look forward and consider matters that he could still affect.

When Ves briefly peeked into the imaginary realm, he only observed a calm flow of corrosive energy that was devoid of anything remarkable.

It was too much to hope to encounter any trapped grey phantoms. Perhaps the only way to get into contact with them was to enter into another anomalous hazard.

"There's no way I'll expose myself to such a dangerous experience again!"

In order to avoid getting caught in any further anomalies, Ves wanted to leave the Nyxian Gap as soon as possible. Before he did so, his task force had to finish off one more target.

The attack on Ulimo Citadel was scheduled to start within a week. The reason why it took a lot of time was because the Black Cats were already beginning to sneak up and tamper with the outlying vaults that held a lot of weapons of mass destruction.

Before attacking Ulimo Citadel, the Larkinson Clan had to neutralize as many superweapons as possible!

Despite their relatively crude tech, nuclear bombs and upscaled weapon mounts possessed enough power to overwhelm the defenses of second-class mechs!

Not all of the sabotage could be done by human infiltrators. Shortly after the birth of Lufa, Ves entrusted Lucky to Calabast. As soon as the gem cat wore the Misfortune Harness, he began to turn into one of the most effective saboteurs in Maynard Fields and possibly the rest of the Nyxian Gap!

Even so, the Black Cats did not dare to take too many risks in dispatching Lucky to sabotage various critical systems. The Dry Snakes remained on high alert and its various subordinate forces performed frequent ranging patrols, especially around the asteroids that hosted the dangerous vaults.

"Are you sure your stealth shuttle will remain undetected?" Ves asked with worry.

"We already managed to keep it hidden when we initially placed it in the periphery of Ulimo Citadel. We kept it within the range of enemy long-ranged sensors for days as we kept it on standby in case the Mirror Raiders ever became exposed."

"We pulled it back, though."

"That's because the pirates can't be fooled forever. It takes only one mistake to expose our most important infiltration tool."

This was understandable, though it was different now. For some reason, the Black Cats were much more active in their attempts at infiltrating and tampering with some of the perimeter defenses of Ulimo Citadel!

"What has changed?"

Calabast smirked. "With the help of the Mirror Raiders, we have gained a better understanding of our adversary's scanning and sensor technology. A Dry Snake mech won't notice anything if our shuttle flies in front of it! As for the Xona Stalker mechs, they're a bit trickier to fool, but the risks are manageable."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm the expert in these matters. If I am sure about something, I won't act modestly."

Ves peered at her suspiciously. "You've been acting a bit circ.u.mspect recently. I know you're up to something. Ever since you presented Ulimo Citadel to us, you have been behaving as if you can't wait to bring it to heel. What is it that you are after, exactly?"

"A girl's got to have some secrets, you know."

"You are hardly a girl."

"Oh, Ves! How cruel! I am still in the prime of my life, you know."

"Old hag."

"Naughty boy."

"Hey! Don't call me that!"

She pressed her finger forward and poked his nose. "You are the definition of a naughty boy. Your unscrupulous experiments on pirates are the embodiment of a Hexer's greatest nightmare!"

"Don't change the topic to something irrelevant." Ves angrily pushed away her finger. "Just tell me directly. What are you chasing after? Why is it so important to proceed with this attack?"

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Calabast chuckled and stretched out to ruffle his hair. "That's not for you to know. Not now. Not when everything is still uncertain. The situation can change at any moment. Just trust me. With my help, breaching Ulimo Citadel's defenses is not impossible."

Ves hated spies and their penchant for keeping secrets. If the power dynamic between him and his strategic partner wasn't so weird, he would have used his authority to coerce her into opening her mouth.

As it was, Ves eventually gave up and allowed Calabast to play her games. He left to inspect the other preparations.

He visited the Redfeather in order to check up on the Avatars of Myth. As soon as he stepped aboard the ship, he noticed that the loss of the Nova Krakow and her entire crew still affected the Avatars to some extent.

Despite Major Verle's efforts, it was not so easy for Avatars to forget about the lives of hundreds of brothers and sisters.

When Ves talked to Jannzi and Joshua, they both expressed their feelings.

"I could have done something to prevent the Nova Krakow from disappearing." Jannzi lamented. Her calm facade broke as soon as she talked about the tragedy. "My body was stuck in time, but my mind was still working. If I exerted some more, I might have been able to break the freezing effect on my body."

Ves looked skeptical. "Anomalous hazards are far more powerful than you think. Let alone an expert candidate, even an expert pilot can't withstand the cosmic forces that are responsible for causing these reality-warping eruptions. There is no need to feel guilty, Jannzi."

"Even the Big Two can't do anything about these anomalies." Joshua concurred and placed his hand across her shoulder.

"Let's focus on the Larkinsons we can save in the attack that we'll launch on Ulimo Citadel." Ves urged. "If you keep moping like this, you won't be fighting at your best. I'm not telling you to let it go, Jannzi, but there are plenty of Larkinsons who escaped this calamity. Will you let them down because of a past regret?"

"...No." Jannzi said. She slowly began to regain her fighting spirit. "You're right, Ves. Mourning the lost should never get in the way of protecting the living. I know what to do now. Thank you for your concern."

"No problem. You are one of our most important champions. Fight well. If I have some time in the future, I'll upgrade the Aurora Titan to a full second-class mech design based on the upgrades that I have applied to the Shield of Samar. Your mech won't be fitted with a dinky polarizing module anymore. I'll try my best to fit it with a fully-fledged shield generator."

Her Shield of Samar was still a very strong defensive mech. However, as the Larkinson Clan gained more second-class mechs, the Aurora Titan-derived mech became increasingly less relevant.

Many Bright Warrior mechs were able to fend off almost just as much attacks as Jannzi's custom mech!

Both of them were clad with copious amounts of Breyer alloy. The Shield of Samar possessed a greater advantage due to its larger frame and its thicker shield, but it was woefully inadequate as a whole.

"I am still pleased with my mech. You don't need to go out of your way to upgrade the Shield of Samar immediately."

Ves smiled. "Strengthening your mech will strengthen you. Strengthening you will strengthen our clan. Don't neglect your value."

"Will you upgrade the Bright Warrior design as well? A lot of Avatars have already reached the standard of a second-class mech pilot. The Bright Warriors are constraining us at this point."

"Oh? Your Avatars are that eager to pilot better machines?"

"Despite the comfortable glows of our machine, some of our mech pilots would rather pilot a more powerful virtual mech. We can barely satisfy our craving for powerful mechs in simulations. They're not realistic enough."

That was an interesting development. While it was still impractical to supply his upgraded mech pilots with ready-made second-class mechs, they seem to be doing okay by resorting to virtual solutions.

"Be patient, Joshua. The Bright Warrior is still a young design. I need to gather more data and observe the long-term use of this mech by its pilots before I'm confident in tackling the Mark II version. I want to do the Larkinsons justice with this product line. The Bright Warrior mech is the future backbone of the Larkinson Clan!"

As a modular mech platform that came in four configurations, the Bright Warrior served as the base of Major Verle's mech doctrine. The mech was both powerful and versatile enough to meet most of what the senior mech officer sought!

"We can also use more variety." Joshua requested. "Our Larkinson Clan still needs a light skirmisher. Tusa has been complaining to me almost every day. He's pretty jealous at us because we both pilot your mechs on a daily basis."

He almost forgot about that. Ves had exchanged his precious DP to learn more about light skirmishers, but so far he hadn't done anything with what he gained.

"I'll speak to Tusa later." He promised. "It will probably take a year, if not two for him to obtain his own mech. We'll make it worth it, though."

The Larkinson Clan urgently needed to add more light mechs in its mech lineup!