The Mech Touch

To be honest, designing the Bright Warrior Mark II was rather boring to Ves. As someone who enjoyed coming up with unique and creative visions for his mech designs, this design project felt too much like a retread.

He was adopting many of the same design choices as before. While there were plenty of challenges in trying to design a second-class version of the Bright Warrior, none of them were particularly stimulating to him.

It was as if designing the original was a rehearsal for the current project. Since Ves and his partner already overcame most hurdles, they didn't have to spend as much effort in jumping through the same hoops.

Even though the passage of time slowly pulled him out of his low state, his creative juices simply weren't flowing. His passion remained cold as he approached this project with the mindset of going through the motions.

It was too hard to get excited for an achievement that he had already accomplished. Designing the original Bright Warrior stimulated him a lot. It took quite a lot of thinking and ingenuity to design a base platform that was compatible with four different mech types.

Now that he had solved these interesting problems, there was nothing left to maintain his interest. His passion for the Bright Warrior Mark II Project never lit up beyond the size of a candle flame for this reason.

Was this bad? In some ways yes.

Was this enough of a reason to scrap or overhaul the project? No.

"Even if designing this mech is a chore, it's still necessary for the Larkinson Clan to obtain a versatile mech platform."

Designing the Bright Warrior Mark II was the same as designing four different mechs at once. Of course, the downside was that the four mechs in question were destined to be boring, mediocre and lacking in features.

It even lost the main redeeming feature of the original, which was its class-transcending armor plating. There was no way Ves was willing to clad the Mark II with Unending alloy or other first-class materials. Fabricating just a couple of mechs would probably bankrupt him outright!

"I need to save all of the best materials for my upcoming expert mech designs."

That was another area that Ves needed to address. Since he had started up six design projects, there was no room for any expert mech design projects.

Master Willix had to call him in person about the delay.

"The longer your expert pilots go without an expert mech, the longer they stagnate. It is very difficult to sustain their progression if they are continually constrained by their mechs."

Ves looked helplessly at her physical projection. The Darkbreak module continued to serve as his private channel to his new patron within the MTA.

"I want to do it right the first time, and that takes time." He answered. "I am not confident yet in my ability to design high-performing second-class mechs. I need more practice in order to become proficient in all of the quirks surrounding these kinds of mechs. Also, I have to obtain more high-quality materials first. Due to their rarity and difficulty in procuring them, I don't think it is wise to design an expert mech first. Who knows if we end up with a design that I can never build."

Master Willix actually looked approvingly at Ves. "You are quite prudent. This is good. My earlier words are still valid, however. When an expert pilot emerges, there is a certain window of time where they continue to grow their resonance strength. This will continue for a year or a couple years depending on the genetic aptitude and the potency released by the breakthrough. However, once this natural growth runs out…"

"The expert pilot can no longer grow that easily." Ves answered. "I'm familiar with this rule."

"Then you should know that your expert pilots are on the clock."

"Six months. Please give me half a year. I am confident that my team and I are ready to begin with designing not one, but multiple expert mechs."

This was quite a lot of time, but not too much considering the current situation. Master Willix carefully weighed his answer and faintly nodded.

"Very well then, Mr. Larkinson. Six months it is. Please be ready to take part by that time. My time is limited and I should not be at your beck and call. The sooner I complete my obligation, the better."

If Ves was in her place, he would feel annoyed as well. He wouldn't think about making life difficult for her if she was a faceless Master from the MTA, but it was different now. While they weren't quite friends, they were bound by mutual interests. She was not going to break their deal just because he wanted to delay his homework.

They began to discuss some preliminary matters about their upcoming expert mech design projects. She pointed out some areas that he needed to pay special attention to such as the need to include resonating materials.

Since Ves was already talking to a Master, he felt he might as well take advantage of the situation. While Master Willix was fairly open as a teacher, her patience wasn't endless. He rapidly thought over the questions that he might want to ask. He selected two which he really wanted to hear an answer from someone high in the hierarchy of the MTA.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but if it isn't too much trouble, can I ask you whether the MTA has ever succeeded in developing a method that allows standard mechs to defeat expert mechs?"

Though Master Willix's demeanor and posture hadn't changed, Ves instinctively felt more pressure from her projection. As someone who was very sensitive to life, he guessed he must have touched a nerve.

"What an interesting question to ask." She slowly drawled. "Are you asking this question because you wish to develop a solution to the Hexadric Hegemony's predicament in the Komodo War?"

Ves coughed. "I know it is unlikely that I will be able to succeed in designing a mech that can cause significant harm to an expert mech, but I'd like to know what others have accomplished."

Master Willix frowned. "First off, while we have extensively explored these ideas, I cannot tell you the results. Such research is highly confidential. You are welcome to perform your own original research, but don't think about obtaining any tips from us. Secondly, too many mech designers have tried to accomplish this. I think you know quite well how little they achieved. The only feasible way to defeat an expert mech without one yourself is to field a mech of a higher class."

A first-class multipurpose mech could easily demolish a third-class expert mech. There was absolutely no doubt about this outcome. As for smaller gaps, the answer was still in the air. It depended on the strength of the mechs and the strength of the mech pilots.

Her answer and attitude fell in line with his expectations. The MTA certainly poured a lot of research in this subject. Whether they succeeded or not, they did not want these methods to spread. The importance of high-ranking mech pilots to the Association was too great!

As for allowing Ves to research this topic on his own, this was only because Master Willix held no confidence in his ability to find a solution. Even if he somehow did, Ves bet that the MTA would come knocking on his doors to take away his research data and forbidding him from disseminating his results.

Even after receiving the answer he expected, he wasn't done yet. Ves asked a follow-up question.

"What if I take a step back. Instead of threatening an expert mech, what if there is a way to hinder or inconvenience them. For example, if it takes an extra second for them to destroy an enemy mech, then that can already change the results of the battlefield!"

"There are proven methods that can hinder expert mechs." Master Willix relaxed. It seemed that Ves had steered her towards a safer subject. "There are mech designers with abnormal specialties that can develop products that minutely affect some of the functioning of powerful machines. There are very abnormal exotics that can be used to disturb or weaken some of the functions of expert mechs. There are even a number of universal approaches that any mech designer can employ."

"Can you give me a specific example?"

"You will have to figure this out for yourself, Mr. Larkinson. I have already revealed too much. If you cannot extrapolate a viable method given the information I provided to you, then perhaps I overestimated your ingenuity."

Damn!

The communication session ended soon after that. Once Master Willix's projection disappeared, the Darkbreak module went dormant again.

Ves turned around and returned to the design lab. He ignored his assistants and fellow lead designers. They were all absorbed in their own work anyway.

Once he sat down behind his own terminal, he began to call up a document that contained all of the specifications for his second mech design project.

Since the Bright Warrior Mark II Project was such an uninspiring chore, Ves hoped that his other project might inflame his passion. He did not want to spend the next half year like a zombie!

"Let's see. How can I design a Hexer mech that can materially hinder the performance of an expert mech?"

He wracked his brains for ideas. None of them sounded very good. For example, he had already witnessed what would happen if he designed a mech that was meant to dogpile an expert mech to the ground.

"The designers of expert mechs have already taken these common situations into account. I need to find a trickier angle!"

Several minutes went by as he tried and failed to come up with a good angle.

Eventually, a different idea came to mind.

"Wait a minute. Why do I need to do all of the thinking myself? The galactic net must have considered this question a lot! There are bound to be some good suggestions!"

Though he despised gaining inspiration from the galactic net, he allowed it this time.

The key here was to find the right platform and source to gain his information. The galactic net united an unimaginably huge amount of humans, but that simply meant they uploaded an unimaginably huge amount of nonsense every day!

Ves first needed to identify a channel for quality information. It had to come from verified and reputable sources such as other mech designers.

"Browsing Commbook doesn't cut it." He muttered.

He came up with two different choices.

First, he could enter a closed club that gathered a lot of mech designers such as the Rim Exchange.

Second, he could browse the forums frequented by mech fanatics.

"Let's go with the latter for a change." He chuckled.

Aside from mech designers, mech fanatics knew the most about mechs. These nerds and fans of mechs could recite entire spec sheets by memory and boast about viewing hundreds of thousands of different mechs in person.

The mech fanbase was indisputably the biggest collective in human space!

Forget about religion. Forget about states. Forget about ideologies. No matter whether someone was a Rubarthan or a Brighter, chances were both of them shared the same passion for mechs!

As was usual with fans like these, they tended to talk endlessly about their love for mechs. They also came up with a lot of theories and swapped very odd ideas with their fellow compatriots.

Due to their lack of technical and engineering knowledge, most of these ideas were too unrealistic or impractical.

However, that also meant that mech fanatics were free from the mental blocks that constrained the thinking of actual mech designers.

Since they didn't know what was possible, mech fanatics simply sprayed out all of their ideas no matter how stupid they sounded!

As Ves frequented a random forum, it didn't take long for him to come across a viable idea!

[Expert mechs are much more powerful than normal mechs. Every part and every material is better. However, have you ever considered that the leap in performance is different for every element? Take defense for example. Expert mechs are notoriously hard to kill because their makers stuff them with the toughest materials they have. Can any other aspect be improved as much? No! Think about the specs that can't be improved that much, such as limb strength, power throughput, heat management and so on. In order to debilitate a mech, target these weaker aspects.]

[Pix or it didn't happen!]

[You fool! You fail to comprehend the majesty of expert mechs! They are invincible and inviolable. No mortal can ever hope to defeat a demigod!]

[You can blind them! Unless the expert mech utilizes sensors that are an entire class higher, they're not so easy to harden and improve. The resonance shields of expert mechs can negate a lot of attacks, but I doubt it can do much to stop against ECM attacks!]

Ves sat up straight in his chair. "That's it! ECM!"

In other words, the answer he might be looking for was to blind the enemy expert mechs!

His enthusiasm suddenly faded.

"It can't be that easy."

If some random mech fanatic could think about it, then the designers of all of those expert mechs could come up with the same possibility. They would definitely do everything possible to equip the best possible sensor systems onto their expert mech designs!

Was there a way for him to accomplish this feat without designing the most expensive electronic warfare mech in the star sector?