The Mech Touch

The mood aboard the Hemmington Cross had changed since his last visit to the large fleet carrier.

Ves could sense an increasing degree of pride and strength from the mech pilots and crew. The Crossers had been falling and losing strength ever since the remnants of their clan fled from Vicious Mountain. They lost so much after this frenzied period that it was hard for them to feel assured of their own future!

All of that had changed. The Cross Clan ceased trending downwards and instead began to grow again. The prosperity offered by Professor Benedict Cortez and the constant fighting spirit shown by Patriarch Reginald Cross had become the twin pillars that supported the clan after its precipitous fall.

Yet not everything went fine. The Crown Uprising and the surprising actions of a few traitors in their midst shattered the wave of cautious optimism that had swept the Crossers.

Many Crossers died unjustly as the ships they were stationed on blew up without warning. The former Garleners had to bid farewell to the deceased by sending empty coffins in space because it was too difficult to salvage any remaining body tissue from the debris fields!

After performing an intensive investigation, the Crossers discovered that the traitors who managed to rig extremely powerful explosives on their ships did not consist entirely of recent recruits.

A considerable proportion of traitors who were almost certainly involved in preparing for the terrorist attacks were old-timers who had spent their entire lives in the Cross Clan!

It was very hard for the loyalists to imagine how one of their own blood kin could become a shadow agent to some dark and hidden organization. Wasn't it already great for them to be a part of the Cross Clan? There shouldn't be any reason for them to pledge their loyalty to another state!

The only viable answer to the traitors in their midst was that they had been brainwashed against their will. The tech already existed. It was just rarely seen and very taboo in civilized space.

That did not mean that this phenomenon simply didn't happen in the more secure and civilized parts of the galaxy. Clearly the only way for these loyal and content Crossers to turn themselves into suicidal fanatics was because evil people kidnapped them and forcibly reprogrammed their brains!

Ves was well aware that not just the Crossers, but many other people affected by the Crown Uprising believed in this theory.

He was a bit more skeptical though. The Five Scrolls Compact was immensely powerful and was very good at spreading its tentacles everywhere. The unconventional power it offered to people was extremely alluring to individuals who weren't born with extraordinary talent or ability.

Regardless, a lot of organizations were already trying their best to root out the dormant crown terrorists that were assuredly still present among the general populations. Yet whatever means of 'brainwashing' the mysterious organization utilized, no scanning method succeeded in identifying a clear and common marker!

The brains of the few crown terrorists that had been caught in stasis before they could unleash their deadly attacks were pretty much normal for the most part. They exhibited none of the stress and signs of intensive data transfer that ordinary brainwashing methods typically left behind.

If not even the Big Two could preemptively identify crown terrorists, then the Cross Clan certainly wasn't better off! This explained why the Crosser crew members also looked a lot less cheerful and a lot more grim.

They were proud soldiers, but it was difficult for them to keep their chins high when they knew that not every brother and sister at their side was loyal.

As Ves walked through the long and spacious hallways of the Hemmington Cross, Patriarch Reginald noticed what his guest was trying to observe.

"Please do not mind this shameful sight." The gruff, older man spoke in a rare display of shame. "My men are not as assured as yours. Even if there are only a handful of traitors left alive in my fleet, their presence has already ruined the cohesion among my people. As soldiers, we Crossers have been trained to place our unreserved trust in our fellow comrades. This approach has always served us well because every fighter who bears the Cross name can always be counted upon in battle. Now that this assumption has come into question…"

The older patriarch did not need to say anything more. His usually-boisterous force of will had actually deflated quite a bit as he admitted this frailty.

Under ordinary circumstances, Patriarch Reginald shouldn't be talking about this at all. The only reason why he felt compelled to do so was because Ves needed to understand exactly what he needed to solve. If the promised kinship network did not address this fundamental trust problem, then that would have been a waste of a transaction!

The contrast between the Larkinsons and the Crossers couldn't be more clear.

The former still acted as if they were taking part in the greatest venture of their lives. Their dreams were slowly coming true with each step they took towards the Red Ocean.

The Crossers acted as if they had traveled back to the bad old days of the collapse of their original territory. They were beset by enemies on all sides and even their own relatives and core personnel abandoned the failing clan in droves in order to save their own hides!

Perhaps this prior trauma caused the Crossers to appear a lot more morose than other people. Their first-hand experience with treachery and attacks from within caused them to evoke unpleasant memories.

"It's not your fault." Ves softly spoke as he continued to walk by the patriarch's side. "Our clan would have been in the same position in any other case. Everyone else in human space is gripped by the same fears and uncertainty that your people are suffering from right now. As this crisis continues, I'm sure that everyone will eventually toughen up and get used to it all. Life has to go on, and humans are adaptable."

"I hope that will be the case."

His bodyguards and Lucky were silently trailing behind him in order to give the two leaders space to talk frankly.

As they ventured deeper and deeper into the upper decks of the Hemmington Cross, they encountered fewer and fewer crew members. They stopped before a fortified checkpoint where over forty elite infantrymen stood guard before a thick and massive gate.

If that wasn't enough, numerous heavy turrets offered additional insurance against intrusion. Ves could already glean that these turrets were all manually operated and completely closed. Even if the rest of the fleet carrier was failing, the defense of the inner shrine would still be guaranteed!

Ves mentally scratched his head at the sight. The allocation of all of this hardware as well as forty extremely well-armed footsoldiers was a considerable commitment even to the Cross Clan.

All of the manpower and resources spent on bulking up the security of a purely ceremonial compartment could have been spent on improving the defenses of the bridge or the engineering bays!

The shrine was just an elaborate grave for an ace pilot that had almost driven the Cross Clan to extinction. How much honor did he really deserve?

They went through a mandatory security check before being allowed inside. Since entering the inner shrine was an extremely solemn honor that was reserved for only the best and most exemplary Crossers, Ves had to leave his cat and everyone else behind.

As soon as the pair of patriarchs stepped through the opened gates, they both entered a space where the air was different.

Ves first looked around the wide open hall.

"How glorious." He couldn't help but comment.

The entire hall was set up like a museum dedicated to exhibiting the accomplishments of Saint Hemmington Cross.

Statues, carvings and projections displayed the most notable phases in the ace pilot's life. His graduation from the mech academy, the aftermath of his first battle and the moments of his numerous breakthroughs were all immortalized in one form or another.

Another purpose of the shrine was to showcase the many trophies that Saint Hemmington Cross had claimed from his long list of defeated foes. Tattered banners of fallen mech regiments hung from invisible flagpoles. Burnt and shattered pieces of defeated expert mechs were proudly put on display. Ves could read the backstory behind each of the battles where the expert pilot fell before the former leader of the once-ascendant Cross Clan.

The ace pilot constantly fought and challenged himself. The Garlen Empire was filled with warlords that all sought to earn glory in battle, so there was never any shortage of battles in this massive but divided state.

Patriarch Reginald gazed at these trophies with pride.

"When my father was my age, he already defeated multiple times more expert mechs than myself. Do you know that challenging other expert mechs is the best way for true warriors like us to advance?"

Ves turned around in surprise. "I haven't heard of that."

"I'm surprised. Doesn't your clan have a rich heritage of expert pilots as well."

"We split off from our original family. Most of the original Larkinsons who moved away with me are..less well-versed in the traditions regarding expert pilots. It may be that my uncle and grandfather know more, but haven't passed their knowledge to us. The alternative is that they don't really know this rule on a conscious level. Perhaps they just think that serving in the military and defending our state against invaders is how we are able to find our true calling."

He was much more inclined to believe in the latter. The Larkinson Family, while fairly impressive in the past, was just a relatively modest military family of a simple third-rate state.

The Cross Clan was the equivalent of a noble house of a massive second-rate state! It not only possessed a lot more direct and indirect members, but also held vast swathes of territory. With so many professionals working for the clan, it was certain that the Crossers knew a lot more secrets than the original Larkinsons!

"It's not an important detail to know." Patriarch Reginald shrugged. "Expert pilots and those who are committed to earn glory will eventually get confronted by an expert mech sooner or later. Facing them directly is a life-changing event, especially to those who have yet to make any progress to becoming an expert pilot. Many mech pilots break. Others come away with an incurable sense of awe towards the demigods they fought."

"Isn't that normal?" Ves raised his eyebrow as he briefly turned away from a display that showed off a piece of wreckage from a high-tier expert mech. "Everyone in the galaxy looks up to expert pilots. The only ones who don't are high-ranking mech designers and mech pilots."

"You don't understand, kid." The older man tiredly shook his head. "Not everyone can become an expert pilot. Fanboys can never become the idols they admire. No matter how much they try, they can only become a pale imitation at best. The truly successful mech pilots are all warriors or soldiers who possess the heart of courage. Only by boldly confronting the strong is it possible for mech pilot to become someone greater. The moment you bend down, concede or give in to your fears, you lose the qualifications to become anything more than a normal mech pilot."

Ves nodded in acceptance. From his own understanding, mech pilots with spiritual potential didn't always succeed in drawing out their hidden strength. Their willpower had to be strong, and maintaining your sense of defiance in the face of a vastly more powerful enemy was a good way to stimulate that potential!

He once heard that Venerable Ghanso once walked this path after surviving an encounter against a hostile Vesian expert mech.

A special display suddenly caused Ves to pause. The display was put in a central position and featured a lot more security precautions than usual. He could even sense an active energy shield!

The large display only exhibited a mangled finger of a humanoid mech. Compared to the other pieces of wreckage, this one was a lot more special. The material quality as well as the craftsmanship were much more impressive than what Ves encountered from a typical expert mech.

"Is that…?"

Patriarch Reginald looked solemn. "It's as you guess. It is one of the few remnant pieces that we have been able to retrieve from my father's ace mech after his final fatal battle."

This single mech finger was the real deal. Ves could tell, because he could feel something special from this broken remnant!