The Mech Touch

Objectively speaking, making a masterwork mech was many times harder than making a masterwork crown.

The two product types were incomparable in terms of scale, complexity and resource investment.

The bigger and more difficult an object, the harder it was to make a masterwork out of it. That was the general rule.

This was also why masterwork starships and masterwork space stations were practically unheard of. While it was technically possible to make them, the fact that the CFA didn't even put any effort into making them was enough proof that it was too impractical to chase after these unicorns.

Then why did Ves possess a lot of confidence in his next two projects?

It was because he was a mech designer.

As much as he enjoyed the process of making a masterwork crown, this was ultimately a side project to him. He did not intend to specialize in making crowns at all. His interest in them would not last forever and it was conceivable that he would quickly lose his passion for crowns over time.

"It doesn't matter if I dabble in other product categories for a time, but I will always return to mechs in the end."

He was already itching to apply all of the gains he made towards his upcoming expert mech design projects. The Bulwark Project and the Chimera Project were both close to completion, but he still had the urge to apply some changes to insert more of his own style into them. He had made too many compromises that reined in some of the more extreme aspects of these designs, and that was not optimal as far as he was concerned.

He could think about that later. First, he needed to wrap up this enlightening session with his host.

After Rion and a couple of other faceless dwarves confirmed without a doubt that Ves had made a masterwork crown that already possessed legendary properties, they all moved over to the throne room.

The decor was still as drab and martial as before. The gunmetal grey bulkheads and the various banners hanging over their heads did not convey a sufficient amount of grandness to the ceremony that Rion insisted on holding.

However, a better venue wasn't available at the moment. The Iron Emperor would be a fool to travel to the Uriburn Province and enter the true throne room of the Vulcan Empire.

With his own state burning all around him, Rion had already made his decision to get away as quickly and quietly as before. He had already implemented plans to evacuate his core group of loyalists from Smiling Samuel a long time ago, so there was nothing tying him down to this wretched state.

As a result, Ves found himself compelled to take part in a shabby but important ceremony.

He had suited up in his Unending Regalia again. His antigrav backpack came online as well in order to help him cope with the heavy gravity that was affecting the rest of the ship.

Saint Yila Mayorka had already flooded the entire dwarven frigate in her domain field again. The ace pilot's omnipresent will and presence paid close attention to both Ves and the crown that he was holding between his gauntlets.

The dwarven emperor's Praetorian Guard all stood at attention as they left open a path to the throne.

"You may approach." One of their officers instructed.

Ves slowly stepped forward. His metal boots clanked softly against the deck as he did so. Even though Saint Yila clouded his spiritual senses with her powerful force of will, Ves could still judge that every single dwarf in this compartment paid close attention to him at the moment.

No. That wasn't quite correct. They were all staring at his crown.

If Ves could straighten his back further, he would have. He felt inordinately proud and satisfied for capturing the imagination of the dwarves. The crown possessed a special charm to their kind that a human like Ves would never be able to experience.

The crown gave the impression that anyone who wore it possessed the unquestionable right to rule over the dwarves. This was a deliberate psychological suggestion that Ves had programmed into the object in order to facilitate Rion's purpose.

It looked as if he did a good job of implementing this idea. Only Saint Mayorka possessed the will and discipline to maintain a sober and even suspicious attitude towards the crown.

When Ves reached the foot of the steps, he stopped because a pair of armored guards had barred the way forward. Their black rifles crossed against each other as if they formed a gate.

Ves looked up at the giant armored form that had seated itself on the throne.

The Iron Emperor looked more dignified than normal. This was an important day to him. Not only did he reunite with 'Vulcan', but also managed to persuade him to craft the symbol of authority that he so desperately needed to change the trajectory of the dwarven species!

"You may ascend."

The crossed rifles retracted, allowing Ves to climb up the bȧrė metal steps as if he was a supplicant.

The journey was slow, silent and solemn. Even though this ceremony was so shabby that Ves didn't see the point in holding it, the dwarves didn't think this way.

They all treated this moment as if it was the culmination of their greatest dreams. Though Rion had secretly been recognized as emperor, the title was largely empty if he didn't rule over a corresponding empire.

No matter how well-spoken Rion sounded like, his nȧkėd ambition caused him to make many extreme decisions. His willingness to give up temporal power over the Vulcan Empire said a lot about his determination!

Only by leading the dwarves out of the reach of humanity would he be able to give his subjects a proper home!

The short but important coronation that was about to take place was a critical turning point for Rion. The reason why he and the other dwarves attached so much importance to it was because of the special identity of the person holding the crown.

Which ruler could claim with a straight face that a god had personally crowned them? In order to be able to claim with utmost seriousness that Vulcan himself had invested him with the authority to rule over the dwarves, Rion did not dare to take this ceremony lightly.

"VULCAN." The powerful dwarf boomed.

"Your Majesty." Ves responded in a more formal attitude than before.

"DO YOU SUPPORT OUR CAUSE?"

What a tricky question. Ves didn't really care that much about the dwarves at first. Even though he had awful experiences with the Vulcanites, that was mostly his fault. The citizens of the Vulcan Empire were not representative of the attitudes of other dwarves.

However, that didn't mean that Ves was supportive of the dwarves. Rion plotted to split up a portion of humanity in the name of racial inequality. No matter whether he was able to succeed, such a major event would definitely inflict a lot of damage to human society.

Yet now, he found that his opinions had changed. By creating this powerful crown, Ves became involved in Rion's masterplan. If the Iron Emperor could truly pull it off, then Vulcan would become an indispensable part of the lives of a divergent civilization!

As a result, Ves did not have to lie in order to provide a favorable response.

"I do." He smiled as he spoke his honest thoughts without reserve.. "I support your cause. It shouldn't be this way. Human civilization is supposed to stand up for all people, even dwarves that were originally derived from baseline human stock. It is a pity that human nature is much more cruel and ignorant than we wish. Every species possesses flaws, and our faults are particularly obvious towards individuals who look differently from us. Dwarves will never gain true acceptance from humans because the latter can't look past our physical differences."

This was a painful admission to make for a modern human. People spent a huge amount of effort over many years to move humanity past the stage where they judged each other on the color of their skin, their gender identity, their parentage, their state and so on. Though most of humanity had definitely made a lot of progress, people had never been able to shake off this ugly side completely.

Rion happened to agree with this interpretation. The dwarf's eyes looked heavy.

"DWARVES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TREATED AS SUBHUMANS BY THOSE WHO MADE US. TO THE MASTERS WHO LOOK DOWN ON US TREAT US AS HUMAN RESOURCES RATHER THAN INDIVIDUALS. OUR WORTH HAS BECOME TIED TO HOW MUCH LABOR WE CAN PROVIDE. AS LONG AS NOTHING CHANGES, DWARVES WILL FOREVER STAY IN BONDAGE TO THE HUMANS THAT DENY US EQUAL OPPORTUNITY."

The Iron Emperor gained momentum as he mentioned the grievance that had motivated him to fight for the dwarves.

The dwarf raised an armored fist.

"SINCE THE BEGINNING OF OUR CREATION, WE DWARVES HAVE NEVER BEEN TREATED FAIRLY. TOO MANY OF OUR PEOPLE THINK WE MUST PLAY THE GAMES OF HUMANS AND INTEGRATE INTO THEIR POWER STRUCTURE IN ORDER TO CHANGE OUR LOT. EACH OF THEM ARE FOOLS. HUMANS WILL NEVER GIVE UP THEIR TOTAL CONTROL OVER THEIR OWN SOCIETY. DWARVES WILL FOREVER BE TREATED AS LESSERS."

"You have decided to take matters into your own hands."

"INDEED. IF THE HUMANS WILL NOT GIVE US JUSTICE, THEN WE SHALL TAKE IT WITH OUR OWN HANDS! WITH THE HELP OF YOUR DIVINE PROVIDENCE, I CAN WAKE UP MY FELLOW DWARVES AND CONVINCE THEM THAT WE MUST UNITE TO FULFILL THE DREAM OF AN INDEPENDENT STAR EMPIRE. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT I REQUEST TO BE CROWNED WITH A WORK OF YOUR OWN MAKING. PLEASE BLESS OUR MISSION AND ALLOW ME TO ASCEND TO MY TRUE THRONE."

Ves saw that as a signal to perform the most important act. His face remained utterly serious as he stepped closer.

Since Rion's giant armored form was in a seated position, Ves did not need to levitate himself to place the crown on his exposed bald head.

Slowly but surely, Ves slowly extended his arms. Everyone's breath had stilled as the large and impressive piece of craftsmanship lingered just above a broad and dark-skinned head.

"By my power as the God of Dwarves, Mechs and Craftsmanship, I invest you as the Emperor of All Dwarves, the ruler of the Eternal Dwarven Empire and the voice of Vulcan!"

Rion's entire form glowed with the light of Vulcan as soon as the crown finally rested on his head!

Each and every dwarf in the compartment knelt in front of the throne. They solemnly bent their heads in order to convey their allegiance to the leader who promised to lead their race to a brand new future!

Though the Eternal Dwarven Empire didn't even exist, not a single dwarf thought that it would remain that way. As everyone basked in the strengthened presence of the newly-crowned emperor, they each believed with all of their hearts that they would live long enough to step foot in a real dwarven nation!

Ves quietly stepped aside. While he ostensibly held the most noble identity of all, their thoughts towards Vulcan was quite distant and ambivalent.

In contrast, the leader that won over their personal loyalty was the real star of the show today! Seeing Rion fulfill one of his greatest wishes had made them happy for their leader.