The Mech Touch

The most skilled and powerful mech pilots of the Larkinson Clan each entered the Scarlet Rose's conference room.

It was rare for the expert candidates to actually gather in a single room. Usually, they were confined to their own cliques within the Larkinson Clan. Aside from their elevated piloting ability, they didn't share much in common.

That said, they weren't strangers with each other.

In addition to the expert candidates, Ves also invited Venerable Jannzi to attend the meeting.

Her presence instantly dominated the conference room upon entry. Even if she didn't deliberately exert her force of will, her aura worked similarly to glows. No matter who was in her presence, people couldn't help but become affected by her strong will.

Norms with weaker, unempowered wills were most susceptible to this effect. If most expert pilots weren't so noble and principled, it would have been easy for them to abuse their auras for unscrupulous purposes.

In fact, some people argued that the expert pilots of Vicious Mountain had already crossed this line. Their obsession with earning glory in battle had warped the lives of everyone who lived in the star sector.

Fortunately, the people attending the meeting all possessed strong wills of their own. As expert candidates, Joshua, Tusa, Commander Orfan and Commander Dise all possessed the ability to remain true to their own selves when faced with external pressure.

Ves may not possess the empowered wills of the rest, but he was a Journeyman with some very strong ideas of his own. Mech designers at his level never lost sight of their ambitions.

"Please take your seats." He spoke.

The three chosen of Qilanxo opted to sit together. For some reason, Orfan and Dise both sat besides Venerable Jannzi as if they were flanking the expert pilot.

Though this seating arrangement made sense from a mech piloting standpoint, the differences in age was difficult to accept.

Joshua and Tusa both sat in their own corners of the conference table. While they were acquainted with each other, they weren't particularly close with each other either. Their lives hardly intersected and their interests diverged.

Curiously, Joshua did not sit next to his supposed girlfriend. Perhaps this might be due to the professional context of this meeting, but Ves couldn't help but be concerned.

Joshua was one of the most valuable mech pilots to Ves. With his rare life domain, his compatibility with LMC mechs was nearly perfect. Keeping him happy and ensuring he remained committed to the clan was an important priority.

If Ves wasn't so swamped with responsibilities, he might have chosen to meddle with their relationship.

"Alright, everyone is here, so let's begin. The reason why I have invited you to this meeting is because I want to make sure that each of you are at your best when we confront the Allidus Alliance. I am sure that you have witnessed or heard about the experiment that I have conducted on the Bright Warrior mechs of the Avatars of Myth. Though the tests haven't entirely gone smoothly, I have gathered enough data and proved enough theories to support my next initiative."

It didn't take much thinking to realize what he was talking about.

"Are you applying this new invention of yours to our mechs?" Commander Orfan asked.

"Not exactly. You are correct that I will be making full use of my latest innovation, but I won't be applying it to most of your mechs. One of the conditions of my newly-developed trick is that I can only apply it to my own mechs. Venerable Jannzi doesn't strictly need any help, and Joshua's Quint has already received the necessary treatment."

"I don't entirely know what has changed, but from what little I've experienced, it's as if the mech that I was familiar with has truly come alive." Joshua remarked. "I just feel so frustrated that my session was cut off!"

"It's for your own good, Joshua. I don't want you to release your pressure prematurely."

Joshua let out a frustrated grunt. "I'm pent up, sir! I feel like I'm backed up! Do you know what kind of torture it is to look at the Quint but be prohibited from piloting it? And why did you take away my permission to pilot other mechs? I'm so itchy!"

Ves threw a flat look at the young man. "Hold it in. Don't you dare let go. If it helps, I can allow you to pilot some of the salvaged pirate mechs we have picked up from the previous battle for some reason. Only the cheaper ones, though. I don't want you to pilot anything too powerful."

"What?! That's hardly better! Most of them are trash!"

"That's the point, Mr. Joshua. Piloting a bad mech may be a better way for you to keep your skills sharp. You've been too pampered by the Quint and my other excellent mech designs. While I am glad that you are able to master each of my products, you should broaden your horizons."

Joshua's horrified face expressed everything he thought about this suggestion.

In truth, Ves wanted to use this method to build up Joshua's desire to pilot the Quint again. The greater his yearning for the masterwork mech, the more impressive his eventual breakthrough would become! Frustrating him a bit by forcing him to pilot awful pirate mechs with not a glimpse of life within them was a good way to build up the anticipation.

Ves wanted Joshua to explode as violently as possible.

He smiled at Joshua in a patronizing manner. "It's for the good of the clan. We need you at your absolute best, so don't be in a hurry to obtain your satisfaction. I promise you that your release will be greater than ever! While I can't make too many modifications in a month, I will be sure to upgrade several key aspects of your mech so that it can fully support your efforts in the battle that will decide our fate."

"What about us?" Orfan asked.

"Those of you who don't pilot an LMC mech can keep using your current machines. Just keep in mind that you won't be piloting them in the decisive battle. Unless something has gone wrong, I will be passing heavily-modified Bright Warrior mechs to the three of you. Each of them will be upgraded and customized to fit your preferred fighting style."

The three expert candidates who were the targets of this program looked surprised.

"Are you crazy, Ves?!" Orfan erupted. "Switching mechs isn't trivial! Even if we're expert candidates, we still need a couple of hundreds of hours of drilling and practice to understand how to use our new machines to the fullest! Without this preparation, we'll never be able to perform at our best!"

"I understand the downsides, but I am confident that you'll be able to adjust quickly. The performance of the custom Bright Warriors will definitely exceed that of your existing mechs. They're still third-class mechs, after all. The base model of the Bright Warrior design already exceeds most of their parameters."

Commander Dise frowned. "There is more to a mech design than the numbers on the spec sheet. Some designs simply don't match my fighting style. I don't want to pilot a mech that is too awkward for me to employ my sword style."

"Ketis will assist in customizing your new mech. The two of you can work closely to make sure that the modifications complement your fighting style rather than detract from it. Will that assuage your concerns?"

The Swordmaiden leader visibly relaxed. "I trust Ketis. As a fellow sister, she knows exactly how I prefer to fight. Just make sure to listen to her recommendations. The Bright Warrior in its swordsman mech configuration is decent, but… it's clear you only possess a superficial understanding of swordsmanship."

Ves accepted her light critique. "I'll address this shortcoming in due time, but I am inclined to let Ketis handle everything related to swordsman mechs."

"What about my machine? You haven't made any spearman mechs." Commander Orfan stated.

"Your mech requires a bit more work. Are you comfortable with piloting a lancer mech?"

She shook her head. "Lancer mechs are too inflexible. Now, don't get me wrong. I love how they can punch through anything with their charges. It's just that it is not my style to conduct hit-and-run attacks. I like to get into the fray and dual my opponents up close."

"I see. Then just like Commander Dise, I will start with the swordsman mech configuration and work my way from there. I understand that wielding a spear is different from wielding a sword in battle, so don't hesitate to review my work and tell me what aspects need to be changed."

"If this is the best that you can do, then okay. I can live with this as long as my new mech is good enough."

With Commander Orfan placated, Ves turned to the final expert candidate. "Tusa, your case is the most difficult of all. I truly don't have a suitable light mech in my mech catalog, so I can only take a Bright Warrior and overhaul its structure and armor scheme."

The light mech specialist looked ugly. "These conversions rarely succeed. Medium mechs are simply built differently from the ground up. Even if you remove a lot of fat from a Bright Warrior, the bones can't be thinned so easily."

"That is.. correct."

"I have witnessed these situations several times." Tusa smiled sardonically. "Some mech designers believe that all you need to produce a light mech in a hurry is to tear out a lot of armor and other parts from a medium mech. It never quite works out because the mechs often end up in between."

"I'm aware of the challenges. Although I haven't designed any serious light mechs, I am confident I'll be able to work something out. The light mech that I'll deliver to you next month will certainly satisfy most of your demands."

"Just make it fast. I don't care about armor or weapons. As long as its acceleration is top notch and its agility is good, I can cope with the rest."

This was not a light demand especially due to the situation that Tusa had just described. Ves would have to perform some pretty deep modifications to Tusa's custom mech in order to fulfill this major demand.

Ves believed he was up to the challenge.

"Gloriana will be assisting our efforts by remote. With her participation, each of your mechs will be sound. Aside from that, these mechs will be more responsive, more complementary and more welcoming than your current mechs. You can just ask Joshua or the other Avatars if you want to hear the benefits of my latest innovation."

"What is this exactly supposed to do for us?" Tusa asked.

His reluctance to this initiative was the greatest. He possessed the least amount of confidence that his new custom mech would meet his requirements.

Seeing that the other expert candidates needed some convincing as well, Ves decided to be open about it. "Each of you is on the cusp of breaking through. What if I tell you that I think that pairing you up with your new custom mechs can guarantee that you'll be undergoing apotheosis?"

Everyone except Joshua looked shocked!

Even Jannzi looked a little startled!

"Is that true, Joshua?"

"I don't know. All I can say is that it works for me, but then again the Quint isn't a normal mech. I've already bonded a lot with it. Who knows whether this will work when you pilot your new mechs for the first time."

"He's not wrong." Ves admitted. "There is no guarantee that this measure will work the way I intended. Still, it's better than letting you keep your remaining mechs. A small chance of breaking through is better than no chance. Now, do you still doubt the necessity of replacing your current mechs with my customized works?"

No one raised any more objections.