The Mech Touch

Everyone looked at Venerable Joshua as if he was a freak.

Unknowingly, he developed a variety of different resonance abilities!

While their complexity and methodology were rather simple, that did not change the fact that each of them produced real effects!

"With the Illustrious One, I can activate a new form of attack that I like to call 'Sticky Energy Mode'." The expert pilot explained. "It's the one form of attack that I spent most of my efforts in strengthening. Don't ask me how it works. All I know is that as long as I blend in as much of my will into my energy beam attacks as possible, I can make it so that they behave like a jet of acid that sticks to my targets for a few seconds. I can't make it last any longer since the energy attack really doesn't like it when I change it like this. I know it isn't supposed to behave like that but I can temporarily make it obey."

This was one of the most nonsensical prime abilities that Ves had ever heard. It rivaled Venerable Orfan's success in creating a method to sabotage enemy resonance shields.

The combat applications of Joshua's so-called Sticky Energy Mode were myriad, but this new attack mode was especially useful against huge vessels and insanely durable opponents!

"Can you use it for every luminar crystal attack phase?" Ves asked with an intrigued expression.

"Yes, sir, though not all forms of energy are as easy to manipulate like this. It works best with positron beams since I feel like they are already the most solid attack type available."

That made sense as positron beams were basically tiny charged particles accelerated at extreme speeds. They actually dealt hybrid damage as they inflicted both energy and physical damage.

Still, the fact that Venerable Joshua could accomplish this physics-defying feat at all was incredibly ludicrous!

Ves felt that the role of the Illustrious One was indispensable. After all, the luminar race which the design spirit was based upon used to play with energy as if it was their pet!

Venerable Stark exhibited an obvious interest in what Joshua had accomplished.

"Can you teach me this method?"

"I can, but… I think it only works with someone who loves and values life."

"I understand that, Joshua. I am not trying to copy your method. I want to learn a new approach so I can expand my own repertoire."

"I have no problem with that as long as you show me how you formed that attack that is able to penetrate through resonance shields."

"Deal."

Ves smiled as he witnessed this exchange. This was far from the first time that the expert pilots wanted to compare their notes with each other. He hoped that each of them would be able to broaden their horizons and come up with even greater applications of their strength.

"Compared to my Sticky Energy Mode, the ability I formed with the help of Qilanxo is not that exciting." Joshua continued. "I think that Jannzi can teach you a lot more about how to cooperate with the design spirit than myself. My Solid Reinforcement ability only makes my resonance shield a bit stronger."

"My Prophet's Guidance ability is exactly what it says. I open myself up to Ylvaine so that I can obtain his guidance on where I should launch my attacks."

"With Lufa, I can project a Peace Field that can take most of the aggression out of enemies that I target. It's more than just activating Lufa's glow. What I do is infuse my own power into it so that Lufa's influence can actively force my targets to calm down. It's harder to resist for that reason."

"With Bravo, I can project a Courage Field which can make friendly mech pilots a lot more daring, eager and courageous. I think it can work pretty well in supporting charges. It works better on men than on women."

"With the Solemn Guardian, I tried to go in a different direction. With his extensive experience in nudging mech pilots to do the right thing, we managed to come up with Call of Duty. Simply put, we stare really hard at a target and make him feel extremely obligated to do his duty even if it costs him his life. I wanted to make this effect as strong as possible so we tried our best to put all of our effort into influencing a single mech pilot no matter if he is friendly or hostile. It doesn't work on expert pilots but it should work on everyone else. The range is also long since it is so hyper focused."

Ves shook his body. Call of Duty sounded like a benign technique at first, but he could think of plenty of ways that the Larkinsons could abuse this to their advantage!

They could force a cowardly enemy commander who was on the verge of cutting his losses to change his mind and fight to the end!

They could force the leader of a retreating allied force to turn around and stall a superior enemy while the Larkinsons took advantage of the situation to run away without any interference!

Not just humans, but also aliens could be manipulated in this fashion! The non-human targets just had to be able to feel the right emotions and possess compatible cognitions in order for the Call of Duty ability to take effect.

The other expert pilots looked wary at Venerable Joshua until he clarified its effectiveness.

"It doesn't work on expert pilots." He said in an exasperated tone. "You guys are too strong-willed for the Solemn Guardian and I to influence you in this way. If you can stand your ground against an ace pilot, you should easily be able to brush aside this ability."

This caused everyone to relax again. None of them looked forward to the prospect of getting mind-controlled one day!

However, Ves was keen enough to sense that Joshua's answer wasn't as innocent as it sounded.

There was a hint of ambition and desire in the expert pilot's mind that only briefly became apparent.

This led Ves to believe that Venerable Joshua might be working to make his Call of Duty ability effective against stronger targets. He would have to raise his resonance strength in order to make this viable though.

Joshua continued to elaborate on his numerous prime abilities.

"With the Golden Cat, I can activate my Larkinson Monitor ability. It's nothing flashy. It just gives me a lot of awareness of the health and mood of every Larkinson. The best part about this ability is that I don't seem to have any range limit. I can even check up on how the Larkinsons stationed in Davute are doing!"

Although a lot of Larkinsons were surprised at the latter, Ves did not exhibit the same reaction. He could already do the same whenever he held the Larkinson Mandate. The only noteworthy aspect about Joshua's trick was that he could accomplish this effect with the Everchanger as his medium.

Perhaps there was a way for Joshua to accomplish more than gain a mental radar that was attuned to his fellow clansmen. He would have to invest a lot of time and effort into expanding his options, though.

"I haven't spent much time cooperating with Arnold, so the ability that we've developed is still a work-in-progress." Joshua explained. "I can't make decoys as good as Tusa, but I think I can make a small illusion of my expert mech appear for just an instant. It doesn't last too long so I still need to put in a lot more work before my False Mech ability is usable in battle."

That was already a respectable accomplishment! Venerable Tusa looked highly impressed as he knew that Joshua's conditions were much worse than his own. The Dark Zephyr was made for cooperating with Arnold while the Everchanger was much less specialized.

So far, Venerable Joshua outlined 8 different prime abilities. Only one was left, and Ves had a good idea of the identity of the last design spirit that Joshua had partnered up with. The expert pilot had intimately channeled her power in battle several different times already.

He directed a more careful look towards Ves. "The Superior Mother is not like the other design spirits that I have worked with. She has a lot of power and is able to make use of it in many ways. The only aspect of her that I am familiar with is that of death. To that end… I have been trying to form a method that can augment my resonance attacks with her death power."

Another gasp rang throughout the meeting room.

So far, the only instances where the Larkinsons were able to wield this power was when the Penitent Sisters performed their battle formation.

While the death phase battle formation was insanely effective against the right opponents, it was an incredibly costly attack method that drained the mech pilots involved with it. The attack was also huge and indiscriminate, making it difficult to determine when and where to direct its power.

If Venerable Joshua was able to harness the Superior Mother's death power in a more controlled fashion, then he could neutralize opponents in a much more effective fashion!

"Can your death-empowered attacks bypass energy shields and physical obstructions?" Ves immediately asked.

Joshua shook his head. "That's the problem. I haven't spent much time on it yet, so my Death Infusion ability is only half-done. I can augment my melee or ranged attacks as long as I have already empowered them with true resonance, but the death energy only lasts long enough until my attacks hit a surface. I am still figuring out how to make the death energy pass through obstacles. Even if I managed to do this, I am still doubting whether the power is strong enough to actually kill people inside mechs."

"Take all of the time you need." Ves reassured the expert pilot. "You have already succeeded in broadening your capabilities. I suggest you focus on improving your Death Infusion ability next. Its potential against biological opponents and starships is great once you learn how to propel the death energy forward. We don't have to rely so much on the Penitent Sisters to kill our enemies by a different means!"

The expert pilots soon began to ask questions of their own to Venerable Joshua. They had become thoroughly impressed by how well Venerable Joshua had befriended all of the design spirits and managed to develop so many different prime abilities.

Even Ves looked at Joshua in a different light. When he initially came up with the idea of the Everchanger, he never imagined that its expert pilot would leverage the living mech's advantage to this extent.

Venerable Joshua was a veritable prime master in the Larkinson Clan!

Although there were expert pilots such as Venerable Tusa and Venerable Orfan who had excelled in developing strong and unique prime abilities, the only one who could come up with a thousand different abilities was the pilot of the Everchanger!

If Joshua continued to specialize in this aspect, then Ves could scarcely anticipate how much of a terror the Everchanger would become on the battlefield.

What Ves was especially impressed with was how extensively the Everchanger could alter entire battlefields with its powerful glows which could be amplified with the expert mech's signature Hero's Glow resonance ability.

When enhanced with Joshua's new prime abilities, it was not impossible for the Everchanger to turn thousands of friendly mech pilots into fearless warriors and hordes of enemy mech pilots into frightened cowards!

"This is what a true hero mech should be." Ves affirmed to himself.

It had been the right choice to pair Venerable Joshua up with a hero mech. The symbolism and perceived leading role of such a mech suited him the best!

He just hoped that the future enemies that the Larkinson Clan were susceptible to emotional manipulation. As long as their future foes weren't as dull as the sandmen, the Everchanger would always be able to sway the battlefield!