The Mech Touch

"Guuuu…"

Little Aurelia cutely rolled her body as Lucky and Clixie flanked the baby from both sides.

"Meow~"

After spending enough time in Aurelia's presence, the baby finally grew comfortable in Lucky's presence. His hard shell and his inorganic nature no longer surprised her anymore.

"Miaow~"

Clixie was radiating happiness as she watched over the precious baby. She licked her paw and rubbed the jewel embedded in her necklace in order to make sure she looked as groomed and pristine as possible.

While the cats kept Aurelia company, a pair of mech designers welcomed the arrival of their colleagues.

"You're finally here." Ves smiled as Ketis and Juliet entered the hotel suite. "What have you been up to lately?"

Ketis patted her sheathed greatsword. "I've participated in a couple of mech design tournaments the last few weeks. I also took part in a few personal combat tournaments, but those stupid organizers stopped letting me compete further."

Ves looked surprised. "What? Why?"

"The MTA told them to!" Ketis angrily complained. "Supposedly, it is unseemly for me to risk my life in the arena. I'm a mech designer, and that means I shouldn't be setting an awful example to wannabe's who want to follow my footsteps. Risking death and fighting with lethal weapons is a job for grunts, not support personnel. The MTA claims that the number of mech designers who specialize in designing melee mechs have signed up to personal combat tournaments in droves. The result is that a lot of wannabes leave the arenas with lifelong trauma."

That… was certainly a great concern. Ketis was so remarkable, powerful and multi-talented that it did not surprise Ves at all that copycats had already sprung into existence!

It was unfortunate that none of them could ever replicate what Ketis had accomplished. The main reason why she was able to become a swordmaster and a Journeyman at the same time was because she gained a companion spirit.

Sharpie quietly hummed inside the Bloodsinger. Ves could already sense that the weapon had changed even more since his last meeting with his former student. It appeared that its frequent usage in the tournaments that Ketis had participated in had fueled its growth!

"Well, the MTA does have a point." Ves said. "You're a Journeyman now. You're too precious to risk your life in battle. Think of what it will do to the Swordmaidens and the rest of the Larkinson Clan if you fall."

Ketis glared at him. "Don't patronize me. My swordsmanship is not an exercise. It's a way of life. If I want to design the best swordsman mechs in existence, I can't afford to dull my edge."

He didn't understand her at all, but he knew enough that her will could not be shaken on this matter. He quickly dropped the subject.

"Have you read the documents I've sent you?" He asked. "What do you think about the applicants?"

"They're both decent. The mechs they made during the Wild Brawl Bowl are both strong in their own ways. They clearly know what they are doing and they are all better than me in their own fields of specializations."

"Do you have a preference on which duo of Journeymen we ought to recruit?"

"Team Destiny." Ketis immediately replied.

Ves raised his eyebrow. "Why this duo?"

"Janassa Pellier and Tifi Coslone both excel in increasing the physical strength of their mechs. Do you know what that means? They can enhance the strength of any melee mech! Although my own mech designs should not be weak, I'll never be as good as them in this area. As long as I can work together with them, I can design much more powerful swordsman mechs that can break through defenses much easier than before!"

Though Ketis' design philosophy generally emphasized skill and control, that did not mean she dismissed the importance of raw performance. Higher parameters always made life easier for mech pilots.

If a mech could defeat an opponent by overpowering the guard of an enemy machine, then that was much faster and more convenient than outmaneuvering or outfighting the opponent!

Ves could easily imagine how fielding upgraded melee mechs with superior physical strength could easily change the tide of a battle. The great value of Pellier and Coslone was that their specialty was broad and could be applied to any mech regardless of their mech type!

Yet that did not mean this duo instantly earned his vote.

"Superior physical strength is useful, but defense is even more important to us." Juliet spoke up. "A lot of Larkinson mech pilots have died in previous battles because their mechs couldn't withstand enough damage. If the defense power of our mechs can be increased by 10 or 20 percent, we could easily halve our casualties in future battles. Sara Voiken is exactly what we need to fill up the gap in our design coverage."

The Penitent Sister mech designer had a good point as well. Before he arrived in Vulit, Ves had already set a goal of recruiting a defensive specialist. Not just knight mechs, but many other mechs could benefit enormously from a mech designer who excelled in making them tougher!

Sara Voiken's specialty was just as universal as that of Ves and Gloriana. She could not only be employed to toughen up the melee mechs, but could also beefen up the defenses of the Larkinson Clan's fragile ranged mechs!

Since ranged combat was so predominant in space warfare, allowing the Larkinson ranged mechs to resist more firepower could play a crucial role in dominating future battlefields!

Ketis scoffed and crossed her arms. "I admit that Sara Voiken is useful to us, but what about her brother? We don't need a spearman mech specialist in our clan! My swordsman mechs will become the premier offensive melee mechs of the Larkinson Army. You know what I can do. No other melee mech designer at my level can equal my efforts."

Her willpower surged a bit, causing her to exude more pressure over the others.

Ves put his hand on Ketis' shoulder to stop this argument from proceeding any further. "Let's not make too many judgements before we have met them, okay? Both duos will arrive soon. We can examine all four Journeymen in person so we can make a more informed judgment."

He had already interviewed them before and developed his own opinions on them, but he could not make up his mind. He decided he might as well involve his colleagues in his decision making process.

Gloriana, Ketis and Juliet all deserved a say in the matter. When mech designers like them collaborated with each other on a project, they needed to be comfortable with sharing secrets with each other.

The emergence of Alexandria and her sustainable design network allowed the Larkinson mech designers to cooperate much more effectively than before.

However, the act of establishing direct spiritual connections between different people was also risky.

What if the mech designers didn't trust each other?

What if they refused to share their proprietary methods?

What if they secretly held a low opinion of each other?

Not every network yielded a good result. Master Huron's own neural networks always demanded stringent selection of mech pilots in order to make sure they got along with each other!

This was why Ves eagerly wanted to see how the applicants got along with the Larkinsons. He could forget about recruiting the applicants if there was too much friction.

It didn't take long before the applicants arrived at the hotel suite.

Ves decided to bring in both Team Destiny and Team Voiken at the same time in order to generate a bit of competitive pressure.

If the applicants knew that there were others eying this opportunity, they might show more sincerity than last time.

Neither duos expected that they would be joined by other applicants.

"Miss Pellier. Miss Coslone. I did not expect to see you again." Dulo Voiken said while carefully schooling his expression.

"There's nothing wrong with working together with other talented mech designers." Janassa Pellier spoke as they all approached their seats. "I'm surprised the two of you are here as well. The two of you are already part of the Voiken Family."

"We Voikens are pretty open-minded. The family doesn't mind if we work for other companies. There are many more mech designers back in our old home. They won't miss our absence."

Once the two teams took their seats, Ves began the interview session.

"Good afternoon. You're all Journeymen, so I don't need to explain too much. After examining the applications of hundreds of mech designers, I've narrowed down my selection to just the four of you. Each of you meet the requirements that I've set, but that does not mean you are a good fit for our clan. In order to see whether we are all better off if we take you in, I want to see how you are able to get along with my fellow design partners. Gloriana, if you may start?"

"Sure, Ves." His wife nodded as she held her baby against her chest. She looked at the two teams with a critical expression. "Miss Pellier. Miss Coslone. Both of you have studied under a Master Mech Designer, correct?"

"Yes, madame." Pellier answered. "We received the tutelage of Master Deliz Corenay, a specialist in mechanical force exertion systems. Her melee mechs are famed in our home star sector because of their considerably greater physical might."

"Tell me about your prior education and how you became the direct disciples of Master Corenay."

Team Destiny's origins were rather simple. Pellier and Coslone both originated from the Ochre Mirim Star Sector that was situated in the galactic rim.

Ochre Mirim was a fairly old star sector and featured a lot of settled planets. Since so many people lived on them, a lot of conflict took place on them as well. This led to an increased usage of landbound mechs.

Master Corenay originally made her mark in this environment. Her mech models occupied a lot of niches due to their crushing strength. When armed with heavy weapons such as mauls, greataxes or poleaxes, even a mech pilot with inferior fighting skills could easily overpower the opposition!

Skilled and experienced mech pilots were even better off. When they piloted one of Corenay's products that were geared towards advanced users, the mech pilots could fully utilize a combination of brawn and skill to beat up other champions!

Throughout her career, Corenay also raised numerous direct disciples. She freely taught her craft to them and helped them get their footing in the mech industry.

Miss Pellier and Miss Coslone were her latest batch of disciples. What made this pair different from the other ones was that they decided to run off the Red Ocean instead of continuing their careers in Ochre Mirim or one of the neighboring star sectors!

"Ochre Mirim is our home, but that is also the reason why we needed to leave." Coslone stated. "Our Master already taught seven disciples before us. They have all gone and set up their businesses in the star cluster that Ochre Mirim is situated. We don't think we can add much to the local market when our predecessors are already doing a better job. We needed to get away from home so that we have room to develop our design philosophies in truly different ways."

This was certainly a reasonable motivation for them to depart from their homes. Their story made it clear that both of them were hungry to make their own achievements!

Gloriana nodded in approval as she figured that out. "Do you miss the Milky Way? Life is much different here. It is much more difficult to set up an independent business in the Red Ocean."

Pellier nodded. "Correct, madame. We… underestimated the challenges. We can't even set up a simple design studio without getting drowned in payments and bureaucracy. We concluded that the best way for us to go forward is to work for an established company like yours. When we learned more about your Larkinson Clan, we became a lot more impressed with what you have done. We want to become a part of your team. I think we can both help each other attain the heights that we are trying to reach."

Gloriana smiled. What she heard made her happy. Pellier and Coslone were both sound mech designers who possessed solid skills and received excellent orthodox education in the galactic rim. Their ties to Master Corenay might also be useful to the Larkinson Clan.

It also didn't hurt that Pellier and Coslone were both women. Even their Master was a woman!