The Mech Touch

Shederin Purnesse's appointment as the chief diplomat of the Larkinson Clan did not result in immediate changes.

Ves understood it would take a lot of time for the Foreign Relations Department to produce noticeable changes when their role wasn't so big at the moment.

Most of their current work entailed facilitating the Living Mech Corporation in opening up new markets and forging important deals with local business partners.

The Foreign Relations Department was also tasked with cooperating with the military and logistical wings of the clan to help with procuring additional supplies and hardware.

Ves hoped that Shederin would be able to accelerate the long and torturous acquisition process of additional capital ships.

It was already difficult for private organizations to get their hands on brand-new capital ships. The strategic shipyards that were capable of constructing these huge and complex machines were obliged to meet the needs of governments and powerful stakeholders first.

Foreign customers had to join the end of the line, which happened to have lengthened considerably now that more people recognized the value of greater protection.

It was virtually impossible for the Larkinson to get their turn fast enough if they followed the normal process. The only way to skip the line and get their critical capital ships fast enough was to find a way to go through the back door.

This entailed a lot of persuasion and horse trading. Ves did not envy Shederin Purnesse for having to negotiate with lots of foreign shipyards and officials in order to place an order.

"At least I don't have to devote any time to this issue myself anymore." He muttered.

The integration of the Purnesse Family in the Larkinson Clan would hopefully reduce a lot of headaches for Ves. The rapid growth of the clan always produced more issues for him, so he truly needed a large influx of directors, executives, managers and other officials to lighten his own load.

Though Ves still held some concerns about entrusting newcomers with so much power and influence, he knew he could count on Goldie and Calabast to watch out for anything untoward.

In fact, either of the two should already be sufficient enough, but the two of them together should ensure that no one should be able to slip the net.

Ves made Gloriana happy again by returning to the design lab and placing his full attention on his work.

Time continued to pass. The Disruptor Project moved past the halfway mark and became more and more complete with every passing day.

The minor interruptions failed to stall their momentum. Gloriana had become more demanding than ever but the assistants and the other lead designers rarely failed her expectations.

Each of the Journeymen continued to deepen their influence in the expert mech design projects.

One of the more interesting moments during the design process was when Gloriana invited Venerable Tusa to the design lab. Since the Disruptor Project was so closely tied to a single pilot, it was essential for Tusa to make himself available for additional measurements and request his input on various influential design choices.

For example, should the Disruptor Project carry a spare pistol or carbine or no ranged weapon at all?

Should the expert light skirmisher add additional boosters or strive to maintain as much protection as possible?

These decisions and more were quite personal and every mech pilot had a different idea on what their ideal mechs should look like. While the mech designers constantly made a lot of smaller and less important decisions on Venerable Tusa's behalf, it was improper not to cut the expert pilot out of the loop entirely.

Hence why he became a frequent visitor of the design lab. He drew attention whenever he showed up and his force of will exerted a considerable influence on the assistants.

Fortunately, the design lab was big enough to lead Tusa to a separate room in order to discuss important matters without disrupting the work schedule. This was one of the many benefits of operating on a capital ship.

During one particular visit, Ves and Gloriana provided their client with an overall update on the Disruptor Project. The first iteration of the expert mech design was 75 percent complete. The projection already displayed a remarkably complete wireframe diagram that allowed laymen like Tusa a pretty good idea of what the end product looked like.

The pleased expression on his face already made it clear that he was optimistic about the outlook of this design project.

He never enjoyed such luxurious treatment in his mech piloting career!

"Do you have any questions about our work?" Gloriana sincerely asked.

"Yes." Tusa turned to Ves. "I still haven't heard anything solid yet about the abilities that I can expect to use when I am finally able to pilot this expert mech. All I've heard are vague promises and uncertain answers."

Ves helplessly shrugged. "I can't really help you with that because I truly don't know what I'll be able to accomplish until I integrate it all into an actual mech frame. I'll give you a proper explanation once we are ready to begin actual trials. I can reassure you that I have completed most of my preparations."

He already formulated the designs of the spiritual constructs that he had in mind. However, the more important step was to create the design spirits that would lend their unique strengths to the expert mech.

Ves intended the Inexorable One to become the main design spirit for the Disruptor Project. The former avian dark god should possess a high affinity for light mechs and speed-based machines. Though the Inexorable One also stood out for her wind-based abilities, perhaps this might add an extra surprise to the expert mech.

Arnold was also supposed to play a key role in empowering the Disruptor Project. The chubby little exobeast had been enjoying Calabast's affections for too long.

It was time for the little critter to pay his dues and contribute to the Larkinson Clan as the design spirit as he was meant to be. With his extraordinary ability, Arnold had the potential to supercharge one of the Disruptor Project's key resonance abilities.

Perficious Steel bestowed the expert mech with the capability to confound distant opponents, but what about up close?

The closer the range, the weaker the illusion. This was where a short but extremely effective decoy ability could give the Disruptor Project an edge against nearby opponents!

In fact, this was just the basic expectation that Ves held towards adding prime resonance to an expert mech. What he was really looking for was to merge a resonance ability with a prime ability.

The results were completely unpredictable and could even blow up in his face. However, if Ves successfully managed to pull it off…

His body shuddered with excitement, which inadvertently caused him to look a bit creepy in front of Tusa!

What kind of deviant thoughts did Ves have in mind for the Disruptor Project? Tusa suspected that he might not want to hear the details!

Gloriana leaned over and placed her hand on the expert mech's shoulder. "Don't worry, Tusa. Ves often tries to hide the truth, but he usually delivers."

"What if he doesn't?"

She adopted a vicious grin. "I'll make sure that Ves succeeds."

The threat of punishment from Gloriana was enough for Ves to make sure he succeeded! He did not want to see what happened if he failed to earn a passing grade.

The three Larkinsons continued their discussion. Tusa asked for additional clarification and the mech designers obliged.

Even though many details were still unclear, Ves and Gloriana comprehended their design well enough to be able to provide accurate guesses on some of the future performance parameters.

It was already clear that the baseline acceleration and agility of the Disruptor Project was insanely high.

"Let me put it this way. The Piranha Prime resembles a chicken while the Disruptor Project is more akin to an eagle." Ves said.

"Is the difference that big?" Tusa raised his eyebrows.

"Heh, we stuffed a lot of goodies in your mech design. While it has been a pain to squeeze so many high performance parts in a slim and narrow frame, the results are worth it. While there are other expert light mechs that can boast even faster speeds, they usually have to sacrifice a lot of direct combat power in order to maintain their supremacy in this area. We have chosen to develop the Disruptor Project in a different direction, so it can absolutely hold its own in a duel between expert mechs."

This was their original goal. The Larkinson Clan had many different ways to solve a large number of standard mechs. Ves just needed expert mechs to keep the enemy's own ones in check.

"Will I be able to name my mech?"

"Of course. Although we are the ones who are putting our heart and soul into realizing this fantastic machine, you are ultimately the person who will entrust his life to it. If bestowing a name to your future expert mech will make you feel better, then we won't insist onto this right."

In truth, it was usually the mech designers who named their products. The only instance where customers had the opportunity to make this decision was when the mechs were tailored for their use. The naming of an expert mech was a sacred ceremony in the mech community and it was a great honor to be the person who defined the identity of such a great machine!

Tusa perked up a bit. "Will I also be able to customize the paint job and the look of my expert mech?"

"Uhm, let's not get too overboard." Ves quickly held up his palms. "Trust in our design ability. I'm quite a good artist, you know. None of the mechs that we've designed for the clan looks bad."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I guess I should leave it to the professionals. By the way, how long do I have to wait until I can enter a new cockpit?"

"We're not sure yet." Gloriana calmly replied. "Although we have stated that the design is close to becoming feature complete, that doesn't mean it is the definitive version. We still need to spend more time on testing and optimizing it. We're heavily disadvantaged by the fact that it is economically unfeasible to perform tests on prototypes. Many of the expensive materials we use are non-recoverable."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that once we use up the expensive resonating exotics and other remarkable materials on a mech, we can't easily recover it by scrapping the machine. Basically, it means we need to perform most of our tests through simulations. We will try to devote as much processing power as we can in order to run all of these simulations, but with our current means it will take at least a month to refine your expert mech. If there is anything amiss, don't be surprised if we delay the completion of this project by a couple of weeks."

"That said, just because we are finally ready to fabricate your expert mech doesn't mean that development has ceased." Ves added. "Your expert mech doesn't have to be perfect right out the gate. We can continue to refine and update the design over the course of its service."

"AHEM." Gloriana coughed and jabbed her elbow against his side.

"Err, I mean your mech will certainly be exactly what you need at the time of its release, haha! It will be absolutely perfect for your current needs!"

That seemed to be the better answer as Gloriana slowly subsided.

Of course, Ves made sure to allude to Tusa that the Disruptor Project's suitability might degrade over time. People changed, technology advanced and circumstances constantly evolved.

A mech that used to be perfect yesterday might no longer provide the right solutions tomorrow. This was why it was essential for the Design Department to keep the expert mech in active development.

If done correctly, the Disruptor Project would continually be able to keep up with Tusa's growth!