The Mech Touch

Ves explained his intentions to form some kind of way to pool the minds of the Swordmaiden mech pilots through mysterious methods.

Since he didn't really know yet how to accomplish this unprecedented feat, he failed to articulate his complete vision.

It couldn't be helped. Much of what he intended to do was related to spirituality. Though he didn't really care about the MTA's insistence on keeping 'psionic power' secret, exposing it to Commander Dise would only complicate the situation.

Unfortunately, Dise saw through his obfuscation.

"You're talking about something dangerous, aren't you?"

"Uhmm… it's largely theoretical, but there is still a solid foundation behind it. Think about what has changed ever since you joined the clan. Have you ever thought it was odd that you feel a lot more close to your fellow non-Swordmaiden clansmen than you normally should?"

She frowned. "Ketis said something about Golden Cats and whatnot. I don't really understand what is going on, but I know that this is anything but normal."

"We're all connected to an invisible network." Ves succinctly said. "This network doesn't do much other than affect our perception towards our fellow clansmen. However, I have barely scratched the surface of this network. I can do much more with it, though I still need to work out the details."

"That sounds very vague. Maybe it will help if you explain what exactly you want to accomplish."

"Are you familiar with Master Huron? Probably not. Let me explain his work to you. He has been a great inspiration to me. If I wasn't exposed to his design philosophy, our clan would have never become so cohesive at this time."

When Ves showed the Swordmaiden Commander what Master Huron accomplished, she looked impressed.

"I can see how this can help. I admit that I'm impressed with these neural networks." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't see what this has to do with you, though. You are not a Master Mech Designer. You are not Master Huron's apprentice. In fact, if any of this involves modifying neural networks, then I will immediately end this conversation. Don't think I am unaware of some of your experiments on Aeon Corona VII!"

Ves awkwardly coughed. "This is different. I would never treat your Swordmaidens like I did the dwarves at Aeon Corona VII. Your Sisters are valued people. I haven't forgotten about your sacrifices at Kesseling VIII. It's because I value your Swordmaidens so much that I want to grant them all a means of gaining greater power."

He finally managed to sway Dise to an extent.

"I'll have to discuss your proposal with my fellow Sisters. Nothing will happen unless we all agree to take part in this.. Experiment. While we are eager to gain more power, we don't want to throw away our lives."

"I don't want any of you to die. This is why I'm urging your Swordmaidens to take part in this experiment. My network is different from that of Master Huron, but the benefits should be similar."

"I will think about it and discuss it with my subordinates."

That was the best that Ves could accomplish. Contrary to the superficial image of the Swordmaidens, Commander Dise wasn't the type to mindlessly take action. She couldn't afford to be as reckless as some of her subordinates when the future of her mech troop was at stake.

The pirate outfit founded by Commander Lydia had suffered so many successive setbacks that less than a single mech company was left. Until their trainees graduated from their years-long training regime, the Swordmaidens weren't going to expand in numbers anytime soon!

Due to the very limited number of mech pilots among the Swordmaidens, each of them were irreplaceable treasures. Neither Ves nor Commander Dise wanted to lose the irreplaceable heritage that every surviving Swordmaiden mech pilot possessed, but the desperate circumstances left them with little choice.

Aware that the Swordmaidens in their current form wouldn't be able to play a major role in the upcoming battle, Dise reluctantly decided to take this suggestion seriously.

Once Commander Dise left, Ves met with the final expert candidate of the clan. Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson did not look content.

"So now it's my turn." Tusa crossed his arms. "Did you deliberately put me at last?"

"What? No! I just wanted to speak to you last because the mech I intend to prepare for you requires a lot more work."

"Oh. I see."

Ves summoned two separate projections. It depicted the Bright Warrior mech in both its swordsman mech and rifleman mech configurations.

"As you can see, the swordsman mech configuration is an excellent melee combatant, but it is too heavy to fit in the lightweight class. The rifleman mech configuration features a considerably slimmer profile and is much closer to what I intend to shape for your custom machine. The problem is that its musculature and overall layout is optimized for ranged combat."

"What does this mean?"

"As I have said, your mech requires much more work to make than others. I have to redesign a lot of aspects right down to the deepest portions in order to shave off mass. Unless you are willing to pilot a medium mech, I will have to spend a lot of time to design and implement all of the necessary changes. It might be possible that I won't be able to finish your new mech at the time the enemy pirate fleet forces us into battle."

Tusa reacted nonchalant at that. "If that is the case, then so be it. I'm already familiar with piloting my current machine. Getting a better one is nice, but not entirely necessary."

"I'm glad you are so accommodating. For what it's worth, I don't intend to leave you hanging. I haven't spent as much time on you as I did with some of the other expert candidates."

"We light mech pilots are used to being ignored." Tusa sardonically remarked.

"Ah, that won't be the case for long." Ves quickly replied. "I intend to design a very good light skirmisher for the Larkinson Clan in the near future. The Flagrant Vandals have been requesting one for a while, but I'll make sure the rest of the clan has access to the new model as well. I'll definitely make sure that yours fits your piloting inclinations like a glove."

"I'll take your word for it, Ves. It's about time for our clan to receive a powerful light skirmisher. My fellow light mech specialists feel as if you don't acknowledge their existence. In fact, if not for me, they might even doubt you are aware that our clan has mech pilots who prefer to pilot lighter machines!"

Obviously, Tusa shared the same sentiment. Ves could feel some of the edge in the expert candidate's nascent force of will. It became a bit more agitated, which meant that Tusa likely spoke from his heart.

Ves looked apologetic. "I will truly make it up to you all. The wait will be worth it as all of the improvements and innovations that I have made in the last couple of months will all be applied to your new light skirmisher mechs. Unlike the Bright Warrior, our new light skirmisher design will become a full second-class mech design. This means that once you and your compatriots obtain your new mechs, you'll be able to stick with them for many years. They'll easily stay relevant, and if that's not the case I'll publish a minor revision to the design to elevate its performance."

The hefty promise finally placated Tusa. The expert candidate wanted to stand up for his fellow light mech specialists, and he accomplished his goal. There was no reason for him to put up a tough exterior anymore.

"Thank you. Ves. You're a fantastic mech designer, and from what I know, you have always abided by your promises."

"My word is gold. I always mean what I say."

Ves realized that he needed to hurry up with replacing all of the non-LMC mechs in the clan with his own mech designs. While it took a lot of time to represent all of the essential mech types, he would just have to expand the role of his design teams.

"Oh, by the way, don't just design a single light mech and leave it at that, Ves. There are more light mech types than light skirmishers, you know. Not everyone remembers this detail. Even if the other varieties of light mechs are rarely used, they can be very powerful under the right circumstances. I know for sure that the Flagrant Vandals will request more varieties of light mechs."

"I'll take that into account, but generally speaking we can't neglect medium mechs either. In our situation, medium mechs are our mainstay mech models. We aren't short on funds or resources, which means we can invest in more durable mechs. In fact, we are much more limited by our available pool of manpower. Each Larkinson mech pilot is precious. Putting more of our mech pilots into light mechs is not desirable."

"I don't want to see that either." Tusa said. "Piloting light mechs is a calling. Those who aren't cut out to pilot them are better off with frontline mechs or something. It takes a special kind of daring and courage to entrust your life to a machine that can shatter into pieces after suffering just a couple of serious hits."

Ves respected the mech pilots who chose to pilot light mechs regardless of their glaring weaknesses. They were the true daredevils of the mech community.

When Ves finished his enlightening discussion with Tusa, the round of meetings had finally ended.

He gained a good impression of what the expert candidates wanted to see in their custom mechs.

These designs were vital and Ves expected to spend much of his time on developing them all. He was even prepared to put aside most of his workload related to the Design Department's ongoing design projects.

Gloriana was very understanding towards him. With his life, it didn't matter if it took an extra month to finish the Valkyrie Redeemer design.

Besides, it wasn't as if those projects stalled the moment Ves shifted his priorities. Gloriana and the design teams were more than capable of completing the projects by themselves.

Ves only needed to stop by every couple of days in order to clean up and direct the spiritual development of the developing mech designs. He also had to flesh out their other spiritual properties, but that didn't demand too much of his time.

More and more, he felt like he needed multiple copies of himself to handle his increasingly growing workload.

He even thought about ordering Ranya Wodin to cultivate a couple of clones of himself.

Since the spiritual version of Ylvaine was able to breathe life into the physical copy of Ylvaine, Ves vaguely guessed that he might be able to do the same.

If he could develop a technique that was similar to his mother's incarnation ability, then he might be able to control additional instances of himself!

How great would it be if he could make more copies of himself, each of which were capable of handling as much work as his original self?

Ves slapped the side of his head. "This is a stupid idea!"

First, some aspects of his body couldn't be replicated. Some aspects of his Jutland organ had become completely unique, and clearly he wouldn't be able to gain another implant as good as the Archimedes Rubal.

Aside from these practical constraints, Ves also feared what would happen if his clones somehow gained independence. What if they didn't want to work for the real Ves anymore? What if they wanted to live their own lives?

Just the threat of such a rebellion was enough to deter Ves from following up on this idea.

"It's probably impossible to accomplish such an unreal feat." Ves muttered.

He would have to be a god to be able to make this work, and he was clearly not a divinity.

He was just a mech designer.