The Mech Touch

"Why do you think the patriarch called us over?" Imon Ingvar asked.

"I know as much as you do, sir. I still don't know why I've been summoned from my school. I'm years away from graduation."

Lanie Larkinson looked very out of place in Ves' personal workshop. She was still a teenager who hadn't piloted a second-class mech for real. While she tried out some virtual mechs, the gap was still too big for her to display any battle effectiveness with such a formidable machine.

At her current level, she was only reluctantly able to pilot third-class mechs. The Chiron had truly helped her in building up her fundamental piloting skills.

Yet that was far from enough from piloting a Bright Warrior mech like the pair that were standing idle a short distance away!

While Ves hadn't arrived yet to explain why they were here, Lanie already formed some guesses.

She threw a glance at the older mech pilot standing next to her. While Imon Ingvar was not as well-known as her sister, he was still an expert candidate in his own right.

Imon was currently one of the strongest and most skilled mech pilots in the Larkinson Clan! The only mech pilots who were able to beat him flat in simulation and live practice sessions were expert pilots.

The former noble noticed her stare. He smiled goodnaturedly at the mech cadet.

"How is your training progressing? Is the clan's mech academy to your liking?"

"I'm doing really well in my studies!" She grinned. "In fact, I'm close to the top of the rankings in my class. While I'm not the best in terms of marksmanship or swordsmanship, my combined scores are the highest of all of my fellow cadets. Maybe that's why the patriarch called me up. These mechs.. they're the next Bright Warriors, right?"

"That is unmistakably true. This newer version looks a bit different, but the relation to the older one is still clear. I've piloted the original Bright Warrior for an extensive amount of time. I even fought a number of battles with it. I still miss it in a sense. Its armor was really good so it didn't matter if I made a bunch of mistakes."

He was obviously disappointed by the decision to move away from Breyer alloy. The new Bright Warrior was stronger in every aspect, yet the feature that Imon loved the most was reduced!

While he no longer needed a huge buffer to keep himself alive in a battle, he still missed what he could do with the old one. He wasn't the only mech pilot who felt this way.

Yet what could they do? None of them controlled the supply of Breyer alloy. They didn't know where it came from, how much it cost and what they needed to do to buy this fantastic material.

Mech pilots didn't understand anything about the logistical aspects of mechs. They just created wish lists and tried to see which mech ticked most of the boxes.

"How do you pilot the Bright Warrior effectively?" The young lady asked.

It was very rare for mech cadets like Lanie to get close to an expert candidate. How could she not ask for some tips?

"I can only speak about the original version." He replied and jerked his head towards the two late-stage prototypes. "I haven't had the pleasure of piloting this new version yet. If the replacement is close enough to the older model, then it won't be that difficult to pilot. It's kind of a vanilla mech."

"Vanilla mech?"

"It's a good mech, but it's not a mech that decides how you should fight. It's an open-ended mech that stands at the middle of what mechs can do. This makes it difficult to steer it into becoming strong in any single area."

Lanie looked fascinated as she listened to the experienced expert candidate. "What do you mean by that, sir?"

Imon smiled. "The Swordmaidens dislike the Bright Warrior. Even if it comes in a swordsman mech configuration, those sword-mad women feel like the mech holds them back from performing their favorite and more extreme moves. It's the same for rifleman mech specialists. They would rather pilot a Crystal Lord than a Bright Warrior because the former is much more compatible with their fighting style."

"I see. The Bright Warrior can do everything, but that's also the reason why it doesn't excel at anything."

"That's just what is obvious from the surface. If your thinking only stops at this point, then you won't perform as well as you should." Imon gestured his arm towards the pair of Bright Warriors. "The mech doesn't push you into fighting in a specific or preferred way. I told you before that it's an open-ended mech. What I mean by that is that the mech is as strong as you make it. You need to find your own way to make the Bright Warrior work. The mech won't do this on your behalf like other mechs. For example, when you pilot a Valkyrie Redeemer, you're pretty much stuck with performing flanking and charging attacks. You can't employ it as a rifleman mech or a traditional spearman mech."

Lanie gleefully absorbed Imon's insights. While his advice wasn't too specific, he presented an approach to mechs that she had never considered before.

Instead of allowing the mech to define her performance, she should instead seek to impose her own mark on the mech!

Of course, this insight only applied to versatile mechs like the Bright Warrior.

Eventually, Ves entered his workshop. Both Lanie and Imon fell silent as they watched their leader approach.

The patriarch held the Larkinson Mandate in his hands. He looked at it with a smile before directing his attention to the mech pilots he invited for this occasion.

"Imon Ingvar, Lanie Larkinson, thank you for answering my summons. I'm sure you are wondering why I brought the two of you here. Let me begin by stating that I have not made a mistake. I truly need you both in order to prove something that I have been developing for some time. Due to the sensitivity of this new invention, I can only ask for help from those who I can trust and can keep a secret."

Both Lanie and Imon felt flattered from his words. Obviously, the fact that he selected them both meant that he trusted the two out of thousands of other Larkinson mech pilots. That was a great honor!

Still, there was something fishy about this situation. Lanie slightly narrowed her eyes.

"Sir, does this test of yours involve putting me in the cockpit of your new Bright Warrior?"

"Correct. You're quite astute." Ves generously praised. "The two prototypes you see before you are pretty much the final version of this new mech design. The problem is that the Bright Warrior design lacks a final element that can truly make it special. You are here today in order to help me see whether my attempts to put an extra touch to the design actually works out. While I can't promise you that this little test is safe, the implications for our clan are massive if every Bright Warrior can exhibit the same function!"

Lanie looked increasingly more skeptical.

"Uhm, sir, I can understand why you would want Mr. Ingvar to help you out, but I don't think I belong here. I'm just a mech cadet."

"I know." Ves grinned at her. His enthusiastic stare disturbed the aspiring mech pilot. "It's exactly because you're not a full mech pilot that you're a suitable te—ahem, volunteer for this little operation. The more immature the mech pilot, the greater the contrast to an expert candidate such as Mr. Ingvar over here. If I invited someone older and more capable, then the gap wouldn't be as big. That makes it harder for me to see whether my new invention has made a difference."

He didn't babble on for too long. Time was tight and his schedule was already packed. There was no need for him to explain every detail of his experiment.

Once the mech pilots changed into their piloting suits, Ves commanded them to fly up to the cockpits of their assigned Bright Warriors.

While Imon did so without hesitation, Lanie still looked reluctant.

"It's okay." Ves softly said. "I would never hurt you. This will be good for you. I promise. Please get into the cockpit so you can get this over with and return to your academy."

Even though she felt some misgivings, Lanie did what she was told. After all, she couldn't say no to the leader of the entire Larkinson Clan.

As the mech pilots strapped themselves into their piloting seats, Ves set up his workstation in order to record and display the readings he cared about.

Several minutes passed before he completed his setup and checked whether his mech pilots were in good condition.

Once those steps were out of the way, he formally initiated his test.

"Imon, you go first. Activate your mech and interface with it. Don't do anything else once you're done."

"Will do, sir."

No problems occurred as the mech booted up. Imon was an experienced mech pilot who quickly adjusted to the experience of piloting an updated Bright Warrior.

"Alright, Lanie, it's your turn now." He transmitted. "I know this must be an intimidating experience for you, but it's not that bad as long as you don't try to do anything. I've already locked the controls of the mech so that you won't be able to move and damage something by accident."

Lanie reluctantly activated her mech.

Every time a mech pilot interfaced with a new mech, they first went through an adjustment session.

The first time was always the most magical for this reason. Lanie became mesmerized as she felt as if her mind was wrapping around a mech that was much stronger and deeper than the Chiron.

The latter was deliberately designed to be as light and accommodating to pilot as possible.

The Bright Warrior IB was different. It was designed with well-trained mech pilots in mind. While it was supposed to be easier to pilot than Ves' more advanced mechs, Lanie soon discovered how much strain the grownups had to endure in order to pilot the Bright Warrior!

"Gnn.."

Ves noted her increased strain but saw she was reluctantly able to hold her own. Once the lengthy adjustment session finished, the Bright Warrior no longer pressed on her mind as much.

"I'm okay, sir."

"I know. Please take some time to center yourself. I need you to be in your best possible condition before I start my test."

Several minutes passed by as Ves performed various checks. Once he was sure that everything was okay. He brought forward the Larkinson Mandate.

"I need your help, Goldie."

Nyaaa!

The Golden Cat began to do something with the Larkinson Network. As Ves switched to his spiritual vision, he noticed that she was attempting to form a new bond.

Usually, every bond in the network passed through Goldie. She functioned as the server and gateway of the network. While there was nothing wrong with this, it did not allow any Larkinson to connect directly to another Larkinson.

This was different. By forming a direct bond between Lanie and Imon, the two would soon be able to exchange thoughts and other mental signals with each other.

This was very dangerous, but also very promising!

Ves theorized that this was the best way to enable a demanding ability like Ancestral Possession.

According to his guess, the reason why this ability never worked in the original Bright Warrior was because the channel was too limited.

The answer therefore was simple. He needed to forge a direct connection between the source and the recipient of all of the piloting skills. There were less barriers in the way and the bandwidth was also considerably higher.

Of course, this also meant that the damage would be much worse if anything awful happened!

"I feel something!" Imon stated. "Why do I feel.. Lanie, is that you?"

"Ahh!" Lanie immediately tried to grasp her head. "My head is pounding! It's as if it's about to burst apart!"

"Keep concentrating!" Ves quickly said. "Don't lose your focus. You need to stay in control. I know you can do it, Lanie!"

"I.. will.. try!"