The Mech Touch

　　"From what I heard, it's supposed to be both. The Enlightened Warrior works just like the Bright Warrior but it is supposedly able to make it seem like you're piloting the Quint."

　　"And the patriarch wants to sell it to the public?"

　　"Just a small batch, I think. The concept is new so it might not be able to live up to its promises."

　　"If what happened to that woman is any indication, the Enlightened Warrior model is definitely not ready for mass production."

　　Plenty of people were talking about the latest mech that the clan patriarch had cooked up. Its name and its presumed purpose generated a lot of interest, but the accident during its first testing session had doused a lot of unrealistic expectations.

　　Ves was fine with that. He did not want his Enlightened Warrior to explode onto the scene. He wanted his new mech to work steadily so that the rate of breakthroughs was only slightly higher than normal.

　　After working together with the Quint, he slightly revised the Enlightened Warrior's spiritual design. Even without the Quint or the transcendence glow, the variant should be able to provide a small amount of assistance to the mech pilot.

　　The role of the Quint would therefore be pared back. Incidences such as when the masterwork mech directly guided Jessica Quentin shouldn't happen again so frequently.

　　The reason why Jessica was able to talk with the Quint was because she was already highly accustomed to piloting living mechs. She knew what to do and also understood that she needed to immerse herself as deeply into the man-machine connection as possible to gain the most out of her piloting session.

　　Other mech pilots might not be able to do that, especially outsiders. The Enlightened Warrior should still be able to function in those situations.

　　That said, Ves did not phase out the role of the Quint entirely. In certain critical situations, the masterwork mech could give the mech pilot a nudge.

　　Ves could easily imagine this happening during intense battles and stressful moments. Mech pilots always connected deeper with their mechs when there was a lot at stake. They also improved a lot and pushed close to their limits.

　　Ordinarily, most mech pilots in this situation never managed to break through the barrier that kept them mortal. Whether their convictions weren't strong enough or their spiritual potential hadn't matured enough, they either died or returned home in a similar state as before.

　　Breakthroughs were seen as major events because they were the exception rather than the rule.

　　The Enlightened Warrior did not set out to change this, but it could still make a modest difference.

　　In instances where the mech pilots were close to breaking through, just giving them a bit of help might make a couple of them succeed where they ordinarily failed!

　　Ves was still unsure how many more breakthroughs would occur than normal. The difference could be as small as 0.1 percent to as large as 10 percent!

　　He would have to see how the Enlightened Warrior fared in practice before he could tweak the numbers further.

　　A second test proceeded soon after with a different volunteer. This time, the Enlightened Warrior performed within expectation. No accidents occurred as the Quint did not go overboard this time.

　　Though the actual results this time were small, Ves did not mind. Subsequent testing sessions proved that all of the changes finally stabilized the Enlightened Warrior to the point where he felt it was safe to move on to mass production.

　　"Are you sure you want us to suspend all of our current production orders in order to fabricate this new variant of yours, sir?"

　　"Yes."

　　"We'll start production as fast as we can, but we don't have enough raw materials to produce hundreds of copies of this model."

　　"I'll tell our Procurement Department to prioritize this matter. We've reached the Pellysa System now, so there ought to be sellers who are willing to supply the necessary materials."

　　"Have you taken a look at the prices here in Pellysa, patriarch? Any batch of materials that can be used to construct mechs, ships or structures gets picked up immediately. The prices are vastly inflated at the moment."

　　"I understand that, but there are always back doors if you know where to find them. I think there ought to be at least one trading partner over at Pellysa who is willing to get in bed with our clan."

　　In truth, he had no idea whether it was possible to accomplish this. He might have to resort to extra measures in order to fulfill this goal.

　　After he sent instructions to the relevant people, Ves finally put aside this matter. What happened next with the Enlightened Warrior shouldn't require his intervention.

　　Instead, he turned his attention to the Pellysa System. The port system governed by the THZ Consortium already attracted over a thousand trade vessels. While this was not as impressive as the other port systems he had visited, it was already a positive sign for the future.

　　Ves wanted to go down and have a look at what a developing frontier trade planet looked like.

　　Normally, he would have been a lot more reluctant to land on any planet given his experiences at Prosperous Hill VI, but he was covered by the MTA at the moment. Nothing should pose a threat to him or his clan.

　　In fact, the THZ Consortium already went out of its way to accommodate the Larkinson Clan given how it was accompanied by the Simile Halifax!

　　"The THZ Consortium has agreed to relax the restrictions that limit the amount of protection that we can bring." Shederin Purnesse said when Ves called the foreign minister. "Normally, active mechs can't be brought to the surface because any battle involving them can easily destroy precious and even critical infrastructure, thereby setting back the development of the colony. Rivals are known to employ this method to sabotage competing trade planets."

　　"What about us?" Ves asked.

　　"We can bring up to a full mech company down to the surface, including as many expert mechs as we want."

　　Ves looked surprised. "That last part is quite a big concession. I can't imagine the consortium or the companies behind it feeling happy about letting powerful mechs roam around their precious colony settlement."

　　"It is a gesture of goodwill towards us and an attempt to make them look generous in front of the Mech Trade Association. There is always a purpose to everything. Certain companies that are part of the THC Consortium have already expressed a strong desire to speak to you in person."

　　"Do they want to enter into a business relationship with our clan?"

　　"Shederin shook his head. "Don't take them too seriously yet. The companies are just exploring us to see if there is value in befriending us. Personally, I do not think we are large, strong or wealthy enough to enter into a relationship with the powers that govern this growing trade system. They can cooperate with many other business partners."

　　That was what Ves thought as well. Sincerity needed to be earned. Perhaps he could attract greater offers if he was willing to accept mech design commissions, but that was out of the question at the moment.

　　The Design Department was already running behind schedule. Ves had not done his colleagues any favors by ignoring all of his responsibilities in favor of completing the Enlightened Warrior.

　　In fact, he should be catching up to his stalled projects instead of going on a trip to the surface of the main trading planet, but he felt it was important to take advantage of these opportunities.

　　Ves constantly sought inspiration and a new environment provided plenty of it. He also wanted to take his family for a day out. Now that he had become a father, he should make more room for personal time.

　　Fortunately, Gloriana agreed. Even though Aurelia was too young to obtain too much benefits from visiting another planet, it was nice if they could start early.

　　"Hihihi! We're landing on another planet this time! Aren't you happy, Aurelia?"

　　"Hihihi… ghguwuaaagaaa…"

　　The baby was indeed pleased, though that was probably because her mother gave her attention.

　　"Meow meow."

　　Lucky was tired of staying cooped up on the Spirit of Bentheim as well. The cat flew around Ves as if to hurry up their departure.

　　"Hey, calm down. We're almost ready."

　　"Miaow."

　　Clixie on the hand remained calm. She lingered close to Gloriana and Aurelia like a cute but watchful guardian.

　　Once Gloriana settled down with their baby, she grabbed her coat and picked up her new Hoenbach handbag.

　　"Let us depart."

　　Ves felt sick as he saw her handbag again. Though the craftsmanship was truly impressive, he still couldn't believe it cost 120 MTA credits to buy it. He could make a close imitation to it with only a fraction of the price?

　　He idly wondered whether there was any puelmer leather for sale on Pellysa III.

　　Though puelmer fleets and settlements had become increasingly rare in the Magair Middle Zone, they still showed up every now and then. Before humanity invaded the Red Ocean, the puelmers were one of the sentient alien races that had already dominated it. Human pioneers still uncovered some of their hidden vestiges from time to time.

　　He shook his head. Why the hell was he thinking about buying the skin of a sentient alien? Did he want to make his own handbag to prove a point to his wife?

　　It was pointless!

　　He shed aside all of his thoughts about making his own handbags and gestured towards the exit. "Our shuttle is waiting for us. Let's take our daughter out for the day."

　　The family moved to the hangar bay where a heavily-armored shuttle already awaited their arrival. A mix of Avatars, Battle Criers as well as two expert mechs stood by to escort the shuttle to the surface and continue to shadow the patriarch and his wife as they explored the colony settlement.

　　While it was certainly extravagant to assign two expert mechs on protection duty per shift, the Larkinsons did not want to take any chances.

　　Even if the MTA protected the Larkinson Clan and even if the THZ Consortium promised to accommodate the new arrivals, Ves had been bamboozled too many times than he could count. Only his own troops remained trustworthy.

　　Ves glanced up at the Shield of Samar. Venerable Jannzi probably wasn't happy about playing babysitter to him, but she would do her duty regardless.

　　Accompanying the Shield of Samar for this first shift was the Amaranto. The brilliant-looking expert rifleman mech not only compensated for the expert space knight's lack of ranged solutions, but also enhanced the presence of the escort force.

　　Not everyone was allowed to land on the surface of Pellysa III with a sizable escort of guard mechs! Even fewer were able to muster a pair of expert mechs that were also masterworks!

　　Though it took a bit of time, the residents and visitors of Pellysa III were greeted to a magnificent sight.

　　An honor guard of security mechs from the THZ Consortium showed up first. Hundreds of mechs flew into the air and formed a rail-like formation that led straight to the spaceport.

　　The main Larkinson landing party slowly descended from the air. The escorting Larkinson mechs strained to control their descent into the atmosphere but they were just able to maintain stability despite the rapid buildup of heat generated by air friction.

　　What made the descent a lot more bearable for the Avatar and Battle Crier mechs was the assistance provided by the Shield of Samar.

　　"Let me help."

　　Venerable Jannzi resonated with her Shield of Samar, causing it to generate a large-area resonance barrier that partially acted like a giant windshield.

　　With that impressive display, the protected landing party steadily approached the surface with style.