The Mech Touch

　　The mech directly distorted the perception of the enemy mech pilot!

　　The Larkinsons were somewhat familiar with this concept due to the existence of the Dark Zephyr. While the Deceptor Project wasn't able to fool electronic systems as well, just the ability to mess with the perception of the mech pilot was incredibly valuable in the right situations!

　　"By the way sir, now that this mech is finished, what are you going to call it?" A Vandal officer asked.

　　"Hm." Ves halted for a moment. He didn't want to give it a name that instantly made it clear what it was all about. "Let's call it the Stingripper."

　　"Sting…ripper?"

　　The Vandals didn't look too enthusiastic about the name, but Ves didn't care. The Stingripper was his solo project so it was his to name!

　　"Yes. Stingripper. It not only sounds wicked, but also draws attention towards its weapon, which is quite small and light. Don't you understand the trick behind the name? When people who don't know us encounter the Stingripper in battle, they will initially think that the mech's luminar crystal submachine gun is its main feature!"

　　The Vandal cadre understood the point now that Ves explained it to them. This was indeed a small but potentially effective deceptive trick!

　　Ves soon registered the Stingripper as the official name for the new Vandal light harasser mech and concluded his solo project.

　　The mech became an official part of the Flagrant Vandal Mech Legion's core roster without hindrance. Legion Commander Abis Firelight and his posse of trusted cadre all embraced the Stingripper as it continually displayed its effectiveness in subsequent testing sessions.

　　The Vandals employed it alongside the Ferocious Piranha against all of the other Larkinson mech legions and never failed to hoodwink their opponents!

　　It didn't matter that word about the Stingripper's new glow had already spread.

　　It didn't matter that opposing mech pilots specifically came up with different mental gymnastics to negate the Stingripper's deception-oriented glow.

　　It didn't matter that the other mech legions tried to go on the offensive and preempt the Vandal tactics.

　　The opposing mech pilots all fell for the Stingripper's unavoidable glow in the end!

　　Maintaining range helped but not as much as the opponents of the Vandals thought. Ves had integrated the same concentrated glow feature that made the Valkyrie Redeemer so effective at range.

　　Therefore, the Stingripper was still able to exert an effective influence while remaining several kilometers away!

　　The only downside to doing this was that it was effectively limited to distorting the perception of just one target at a time, but that was an acceptable price to pay.

　　Kalo's glow soon gained an infamous reputation in the Larkinson Army. Not even the Vandals themselves liked to face the new mech.

　　At the same time, several other mech legions expressed an intense amount of interest towards the Stingripper!

　　It was the perfect complement to any other mech with a suppressive glow against enemy mech pilots!

　　After the initial testing session validated all of his theories about its glow and effect on adversaries, the Penitent Sisters practically rammed through his door in order to request their own version of the new mech model!

　　"I'm sorry, commander, but I'm afraid I have to reject your proposal." Ves calmly answered as he sat behind his desk.

　　"Meow." Lucky echoed as he lounged on the same desk as usual.

　　Commander Valerie Chancy did not look good at the moment. "Why not? I understand that the Stingripper is a light mech that is foremost designed for the Flagrant Vandals, but the model can easily be adapted for the Penitent Sisters. It can make the charges and the follow-up movements of the Valkyrie Redeemer a lot more effective!"

　　"I don't deny the potential for synergy, but if you truly want to employ this combination, then just work out an understanding with Commander Firelight."

　　"That's not as good as fielding the Stingripper ourselves."

　　"It's the only answer that I'm willing to give today." Ves responded in an obstinate tone. "Look, I established the mech legions as a way to specialize our mech pilots. Your Penitent Sisters excel at maneuvering and opportunistic attack runs so that is what I want your soldiers to excel at. While there is certainly a lot of overlap with the Avatars of Myth and the Flagrant Vandals, I want you and your sisters to develop your own identity, and that means trying to develop your own system. Juliet is already working on a Penitent Sister-exclusive mech design project so there is no need for you to grow jealous of the Vandals for getting theirs first."

　　The older woman shook her head in disappointment. "It's not the same and you know it. The Vandals receive a combat mech that performs well in offensive maneuvers while Juliet is designing an auxiliary communication mech that is partially based on your old Cherub design."

　　"Don't underestimate the Nanny Project. It might not be as bombastic as our combat mechs, but auxiliary mechs are vitally important to any large mech force, particularly one that might venture into anomalous regions and areas where heavy jamming is prevalent."

　　Commander Chancy did not object too much as the Nanny Project was truly a useful addition to the Larkinson Army.

　　The mech was not only designed to complement the offensive units of the Penitent Sisters, but also served to link up the different elements of the Larkinson Army in order to make sure that friendly mech pilots continued to coordinate their actions to achieve the best effect.

　　Perhaps the Larkinson Clan didn't need the Nanny Project in the previous battles, but most of them were fought in the backwaters of the old galaxy.

　　The Red Ocean was much different!

　　Aside from the risk of fighting against alien forces that could give the Big Two a run for their money, the Larkinson Clan also had to worry about bumping into advanced human forces after the MTA's 2-year protection period formally casme to an end.

　　Once the Simile Halifax no longer deterred rival pioneers, Ves needed to make sure his mech legions could leverage every possible advantage against hostile mech forces.

　　Since jamming was so prevalent in modern warfare, it became essential for the Larkinsons to not only maintain effective communication channels, but also keep them secure!

　　Ves smirked. The thought of highly-trained hackers trying and failing to crack the Nanny Project's spiritual communication network made him amused to no end.

　　Even if an esoteric enemy possessed enough spiritual competences to detect the spiritual communication network, they probably wouldn't be able to do much.

　　That was because the Nanny Project used the Superior Mother as its medium! The powerful and extremely skilled ancestral spirit was the nexus of the very same communication network!

　　With such a powerful 'network administrator' in charge, there were only three ways that Ves could think of that might compromise this network.

　　First, the enemy could prioritize and eliminate all of the Nanny Project mechs, which was in fact a viable and realistic strategy. The Penitent Sisters should be doing everything possible to defend the strategically-important mechs, though.

　　Second, the enemy could make use of a spiritual entity that was as powerful as a dark god. By beating the Superior Mother on the spiritual battlefield, this hostile entity could break or negate the spiritual communication network through brute force!

　　Third, the enemy could employ some sort of spiritual sorceress or entity that was able to hack the spiritual communication network in a clever or ingenious manner.

　　Suffice to say, Ves did not think the second and third possibilities were likely. Most human forces were ignorant of spirituality and the only means they could use to negate this phenomenon was to make use of expert pilots or ace pilots.

　　"Look, the Penitent Sisters will get their goodies in time." Ves tried to placate the Penitent Sister Commander. "You already got a huge head start by receiving the Valkyrie Redeemer model as well as a battle network early on. The Flagrant Vandals received much less attention from our clan. They have been patient with me all this time so I intend to reward them for their hard work and sacrifice. Do you understand?"

　　As a leader herself, Valerie Chancy comprehended his approach. She could not fault Ves for pampering the mech legions that previously received little attention.

　　"I understand." She sighed. "I hope your Design Department remembers that our Penitent Sisters can pilot more combat mechs than the Valkyrie Redeemer. Don't get me wrong. It's an excellent mech model that is highly suited for us, but its distinct strengths and weaknesses also hinder us from being useful in more scenarios."

　　"We can discuss that in greater detail after the current design round has ended." Ves explained. "That will take a few months. A lot of projects are nearing completion and the remaining ones just need to sprint for a while in order to conclude as well."

　　All of the projects made a lot of progress. The only exception was the Fearless Project which Ves had basically written off for this design round. That freed up a lot of time in his schedule that he used to contribute to the Minerva Project and other design projects.

　　The two moved on to other topics. Commander Chancy hadn't spoken to Ves in person and in private for quite some time so there were plenty of matters to discuss.

　　"What is the mood among your subordinates?" Ves curiously asked. "Your Penitent Sisters, at least the original ones, have joined the Larkinson Clan for a couple of years now. Are they happy here and are they still eager to explore the Red Ocean?"

　　"We pledged an oath to serve you, sir. Our feelings shouldn't matter."

　　"I don't like to treat my loyal subordinates like disposable tools." Ves lied to the Penitent Sister Commander. "You're Larkinsons now, and that means you are family to me as well. While I won't stop your sisters from following their oaths, I want them to do so freely."

　　"This is our calling, Patriarch Ves. We owe a debt to you and the clan and we will not feel fulfilled unless we work towards paying off all of the generosity and gifts that you have bestowed to us all. My only regret is that our debt to you continues to grow with each benefit and opportunity you provide to us. I foresee we will remain bound to you for a long period of time."

　　Ves ceased trying to understand the warped logic of the Penitent Sisters. Even after years of assimilating into the Larkinson Clan, the ex-Hexers still abided by their idiosyncrasies.

　　"Well, as long as you and your sisters are happy, that is fine. What do you think about the Red Ocean in particular?"

　　The woman pursed her lips. "It's a dangerous hell hole. We haven't encountered many enemies as of yet, but that will certainly change once we start to operate in the Krakatoa Middle Zone. All of the intelligence I've read about this region suggests that there are both alien and human threats. I won't speak about the aliens since I am sure you understand the details, but among the humans there is war on the horizon."

　　"Oh?" Ves leaned forward over his desk. "What makes you say that?"

　　"Just look at the largest colonies in this zone. They're all founded by ambitious pioneering alliances that all want to turn their trading system into the next Pellysa System of their zone. However, in order to do that, they need to eliminate or lessen the competition. Do you truly think that subterfuge and covert sabotage is enough to do the job?"