The Mech Touch

The discussion that Gloriana held with Ves stuck in her mind throughout the rest of the excursion.

She remained distracted and in thought even when the submersible approached a pod of whales.

"It's kind of funny how there are whales on every aquatic planet." Ves mirthfully said as he and his daughter eagerly looked and studied the whale-like exobeasts.

While they shared a great resemblance to Old Earth's whales, the biologies of the local species were substantially different. They weren't mammals who had gone back to living underwater so they did not have to swim to the surface in order to breathe in the local air.

However, their large bodies and their graceful lines were highly similar to that of many large aquatic races such as the phase whales.

If not for the fact that the House of Meringo had performed detailed genetic studies on the whale species of Makairo IV, Ves would have thought that these beasts were the genetic off-shoots of the phase whales.

Ves became disappointed at the whales after a time. While they possessed plenty of interesting biological properties, none of them possessed any extraordinary qualities.

They merely relied on their bulky body mass to fend off predators and stay alive in these waters.

Aurelia enjoyed the fact that there were juveniles among the pod of alien whales.

"Look! Look! Little whales!"

"Yup. These are whale calves. They're like you but in the form of a whale."

"Huh?"

"Do you see the big whale that the little one over there is following around? That must be the calf's mother."

"Whales have mama's?"

"Every human and creature has mothers, Aurelia. That is the magic of life. Of course, all of those mothers are different from your own mama. She is much more special to you than any other mama."

Aurelia continued to enjoy the sight of the whale calves swimming around and interacting with the bigger ones of the pod.

Though the whales undoubtedly detected the presence of the human vessels and mechs, they barely paid attention for some reason. They acted completely natural and at home in the waters, which granted the tourists a glimpse of life in the Red Ocean that was free from most concerns.

Of course, no one could guarantee that these native whales would be able to relax in the future. For example, the House of Meringo might abandon its current development strategy.

What if the whales had no use to the current rulers of Makairo IV? They would literally turn into fish on the chopping block once the people in charge of the planet wanted to make room for other species!

Both Ves and Gloriana continued to think about different topics as they continued to enjoy their vacation.

They visited a jungle the next day where they could observe both large and smaller exobeasts trying to survive every day.

The smaller creatures had to scurry around carefully because there were too many larger and stronger predators that could easily pounce on them in a second.

On the other hand, the larger exobeasts weren't comfortable either. In exchange for growing big enough to fend off many predators and gain extra power in their fights, they needed to ingest more food and conserve their energy whenever they didn't need to do anything.

It was interesting to observe their niches, their survival pressure and their ability to thrive under adverse circumstances.

From eight-legged mammals that lived their entire lives on tree branches to giant tunneling insects that sneakily fed on the leftovers of other creatures, there were so many new and unusual survival strategies that they sometimes became the source of inspiration for a potential new mech design.

Both Ves and Gloriana regularly entertained themselves by exchanging their ideas on possible future mechs.

"Those wasp-like insects are really interesting." Ves noted as their shuttle flew over a clearing. "The ordinary worker insects look quite weak and dimwitted when they are caught on their own, but as long as they group around their leader insect, they suddenly turn into a coordinated army. It's quite frightening to see how the presence of a single leader figure can completely transform this weak race into a formidable swarm that can devour larger and more dangerous predators."

Due to Makairo VI's relatively low gravity and richer natural resources, a lot of species developed sizable statures.

These exoinsects were no exception. The commander was the size of a human hand and could pose a serious threat to a human on its own. The worker insects were not as impressive, but their lethality was absolutely high if they grouped up into a swarm!

The insects showed what they were capable of by descending on a vigilant mammalian octapod.

The eight-legged creature bleated in alarm and darted away as soon as the giant alien wasps descended upon its vulnerable form.

Yet despite the mammal's impressive speed, the wasp commander already anticipated this reaction and had already spread out different squads.

Two of those wasp squads happened to be in a position to intercept the fleeing mammal. Dozens of worker insects dove and bit at the fur and skin of the panicking mammal as their species did not come with any stingers.

It did not matter. The wasps were strong in other ways and soon inflicted so much damage onto the mammal that it had slowed down.

Soon, the creature stopped entirely once it turned into a bloody mess. The rest of the wasp swarm arrived a moment later and began to gorge on the fresh meat in different batches.

With at least two-thirds of the wasp swarm on guard at all times, none of the carnivores in the vicinity wished to try their luck and snatch the prey from the deadly insects!

"Ewwww…" Aurelia's face scrunched in disgust.

She leaned over and pressed her face into Clixie's lovely fur in order to scrub the sight of the awful spectacle from her innocent eyes.

Ves did not look as disgusted as his daughter. In fact, he looked quite intrigued. According to a quick search on the galactic net, the local wasp species had actually evolved a long time ago but managed to survive through several major ecological shifts.

No matter whether the climate turned hot, cold, dry or wet, the relatively small but deadly wasps managed to endure long enough to adapt to the changes and maintain the same ecological niche for millions of years.

"Their survival formula is better than that of most species." Ves remarked. "They're neither the largest, the strongest or the scariest predators in the environment. However, their strategy of grouping up and relying on the directions of a single leader insect turns out to be a great approach."

Gloriana nodded in agreement. "The exoinsects rely on organization to achieve feats that they are unable to accomplish by themselves. While we have seen other packs and swarms of creatures that have adopted the same strategy to overcome greater odds, few are as effective as these giant wasps. Why is this the case?"

Both of them spent a few moments in thought before Ves brought up a guess.

"The leader makes all of the difference. The worker wasps are practically incompentent by themselves but they can still be of use when properly directed. I think this species shows how much a good leader figure can act as a powerful force multiplier."

"Similar to command mechs."

"Maybe." Ves said. "The situation is much different with mechs. Their pilots are much smarter and more competent than the worker insects. A mech officer also doesn't have to pilot a command mech in order to coordinate his unit in battle. A command mech just makes it more convenient."

That said, both Ves and Gloriana believed that commander mechs could play a more useful role than that. The Minerva had already proven that this mech type could make everyone significantly stronger when properly utilized.

"How would you visualize an ordinary mech version of the Minerva, Ves?"

"Hmmm. I don't know. I think it needs to possess excellent command and coordination functions. We have access to solutions that can open up a few more possibilities than anyone else, but we need to go beyond the usual and find ways that can qualitatively strengthen a mech force. Do you recall the works of Master Huron?"

"How could I not? Your loathsome cousin Ghanso and that harlot who attempted to steal you both worked with the mechs developed by this Master."

"What is harlot?" Aurelia cutely asked as she looked up at her mother.

"Oh, you don't need to know that, my dear. That is a grown-up word. Go back to playing with Clixie."

Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. "Enemy or not, I don't think that Master Huron is wrong for pursuing this avenue of mech development. His work has certainly inspired some of my greatest and most effective solutions. Mechs are inherently weaker and smaller than warships and giant beasts. If we want our machines to remain effective in a time and place where encounters against warships become more common, then we need to seek ways for them to cooperate on a deeper level."

He had witnessed many instances where the power of cooperation was able to achieve drastic effects on the battlefield.

From Master Huron's neural networks to his own battle formations, there were many possibilities that were just begging to be explored. Each of them could become as potent as the wasp species that were hunting down larger and more deadlier prey with relative ease.

Unfortunately, too many mech designers had become obsessed with designing the strongest individual battle machines without thinking too much about cooperation.

The products of these mech designers were akin to the larger creatures that roamed the jungle below his shuttle. They were all powerful in their own ways, but suffered a decisive disadvantage as soon as they were confronted by an enemy that they were not meant to confront!

As the tour continued, they soon ended another day of sight-seeing.

Gloriana had not yet come closer to figuring out a complete approach for her C-Man design, but she did succeed in gathering a lot of food for thought.

Witnessing how the native wildlife of Makairo IV struggled to survive in their native environments presented her with a lot of interesting questions and notions that might be useful in future design projects.

However, none of the insights she gained during her holiday was relevant to her expert mech design project. At least, not for the moment.

She sighed as she leaned against the balcony of her hotel room and looked out at the city that came to life at night.

Ves joined her a moment later.

"Are you still stuck at the same junction?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you learn anything from our previous excursions?"

"I did, but maybe we have been looking in the wrong direction."

"Oh? How so, Gloriana?"

"The C-Man is not a beast mech or an aquatic mech. It is a humanoid mech. More than that, it is a mech that inherently interacts with other humans due to the hope and bravery it can inspire among friendly mech pilots. Maybe we should have spent more time on touring these settlements so we could see how different people interact with others."

"Hmmm… maybe you have a point. The C-Man is a flashy mech and has a powerful effect on morale. However, is that relevant to your current problem? It is not as if you can weaponize morale and turn it into a strengthening factor for the C-Man Project."

Gloriana suddenly stiffened and widened her eyes. "What if it is possible?"

"Huh?"

"Think about it! What if we can turn the C-Man into an expert mech that actively grows stronger when it becomes the center of attention? This is a great way to turn it into a unique and powerful force on the battlefield!"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Not so fast, Gloriana. While I admit your idea sounds attractive, how are we supposed to make this happen? TESMAS may be powerful, but I am pretty sure it isn't capable of doing what you have described."

"You're right for now, but what if we can do something about it? What if we can work together with Professor Almar to create a product that goes beyond TESMAS?"

"Uhh… you've lost me there, Gloriana."