The Mech Touch

All of the Cross Clan's expert pilots aside from their patriarch had gathered in one of the observer's rooms of the Primary Cross Lab.

Professor Benedict Cortez invited each of them over in order to witness one of the many live tests performed with the help of a scale model of the Mars Project.

Though the Cross Clan used to retain a much larger roster of expert pilots, many of them had perished during the flight from the Garlen Empire and the major battles that ensued afterwards.

Aside from Patriarch Reginald Cross, only Venerable Linda Cross and Venerable Imaris Cross managed to survive up to the present day.

Both of them were revered in the Cross Clan. They had fought with valor and skill and directly contributed to the survival of the Crossers.

In a clan that already looked up to high-ranking mech pilots, Venerable Linda and Venerable Imaris were far more than mere champions to the Crossers.

They were also decision makers and judges whose voices held significant sway in the clan!

Although the strength and prestige of Patriarch Reginald was so overwhelmingly great that it was hard for anyone to naysay his commands, the expert pilot was not that big into governance.

These days, the Cross Clan grew explosively in size and scale. With the help of the Cross Network, the Crossers were able to adopt the recruitment model of the Larkinsons without much fear of inviting outsiders with malicious intentions.

The industrial and business side of the Cross Clan had especially grown more prominent as of late. Though Professor Benedict effectively decided over most of these matters, there were plenty of alternative responsibilities where the remaining leading figures of the clan could have their way.

Venerable Linda and Venerable Imaris had already begun to assert their leadership in the clan. As the Cross Clan continued to grow beyond Patriarch Reginald's immediate scope, there were more and more areas where the other expert pilots could assert their own will.

The pair of veteran Crosser expert pilots weren't the only champions who took advantage of the changing times.

Venerable Florence Cross also became more prominent in the Cross Clan.

As one of the lucky pilots who broke through to the rank of expert pilot during the Battle of Purgatory, Venerable Florence became the standard bearer of the younger generation of Crossers.

His recent breakthrough represented the most solid sign yet that the Cross Clan was on the rise again. No longer were the Crossers bleeding expert pilots left and right.

The emergence of a new one showed that the clan that they belonged to had regained its vitality and possessed hope of reaching or perhaps even exceeding its previous height!

The only problem at the moment was that Venerable Florence had yet to receive his expert mech.

Though Professor Benedict promised to design an expert striker mech for the newly-promoted demigod, the Senior devoted most of his time on furthering the Mars Project.

It was understandable that the new expert pilot was not in a good mood these days. His expression looked sour as he crossed his arms.

"This better be worth it. Our mech designers have worked almost one-and-a-half years on this expert mech design. I get why it is so powerful, but do we truly need to set everything aside just to finish our patriarch's expert mech a little earlier?"

Venerable Linda and Venerable Imaris experienced the same frustration to an extent. While they still retained their respective expert mechs, their machines were horribly outdated and could not keep up with the more powerful and expensive expert mechs that were common in the Red Ocean.

Even so, they were old enough to know what was truly important.

"Waiting our turn is exactly what we need to do, Florence." Venerable Linda admonished. "The three of us may be powerful compared to ordinary mech pilots, but we cannot protect and dominate our clan by ourselves. If we want to increase our standing and reputation in the Red Ocean, we need a leader who can command absolute respect from others. Patriarch Reginald is the main reason why the Larkinsons and many outsiders value our existence, but once they grow stronger, we can't be sure anymore whether that will stay the case."

Florence let out a sigh. "I can see that, but investing all of that time and resources on a single super expert mech looks like a huge gamble to me. I have heard that the development of the Mars Project was anything but smooth. What if… it won't match our expectations?"

"...We'll see what happens when that time comes."

The Cross Clan bet so big on the Mars Project and Patriarch Reginald's future breakthrough that it could not back away from this ambitious plan!

Therefore, the Crosser expert pilots eagerly awaited for the test to commence.

Minutes before the mech designers were ready to test the scale model, a mech designer entered the observation room.

The 'other' patriarch had decided to drop by the Crosser expert pilots for one reason or another.

"Good afternoon, pilots. Are you looking forward to the upcoming test?"

"We are." Venerable Linda said as she and the other expert pilots schooled their expressions. "Can you tell us what you and your fellow mech designers are about to accomplish?"

Ves smirked. "That will be a surprise. I am sure you will love it, though. It's a risky test, but I think it is a worthwhile one to conduct. Miss Sara Voiken was the one who came up with the idea. She wanted to find a way to put serious pressure on the scale model's implementation of a miniature version of the Abasis Armor. It is extremely important for us to know whether the shrunken version of the Mars Project can resist serious blows."

"It sounds as if you are about to put the scale model through the ringer."

"You can say that. Come. The test is about to start. Patriarch Reginald is just about to interface with the scale model by remote."

Another minute passed by until a change finally occurred. Every nearby expert pilot looked sharper as they noticed a powerful will and consciousness emerging from the miniature Mars Project!

Compared to interfacing with an actual expert mech, the process and the results of doing the same on a scale model were substantially different.

"It's weaker. Reginald's resonance strength is much weaker." Venerable Imaros Cross observed.

"That is natural. A 1:50 scale model is too small and limited to maximize the resonance between it and its pilot. There are too many imperfections and compromises that ultimately makes it less optimal for expert pilots to resonate with this realistic toy."

"Will the coming test even have any meaning if the performance between a scale model and a real mech is so far apart?"

"Oh, this is definitely a useful test. We can't measure everything we'd like, but we can certainly give everyone a demonstration of the power of our design!

Several minutes passed by as Patriarch Reginald tested his control over the scale model. Once it became clear that nothing was amiss concerning the operation of the miniature Mars Project, a massive door slid open to reveal a mech.

A full-sized mech.

"Is that… the Redaxe of your Larkinson Clan?" Venerable Florence Cross asked.

"Yup." Ves grinned. "The Redaxe is the work of Miss Tifi Coslone. Although it is not our most impressive mech, we believe it can serve as an adequate sparring partner to the scale model of the Mars Project."

"Are you serious?! That's a real mech out there! It's fifty times larger than the scale model!"

"Normally, your concerns would be warranted, Venerable Florance, but we are not talking about an average test machine this time. The Mars Project is so powerful that my colleagues and I have a decent level of expectation that it will prevail in this battle scenario."

The Redaxe piloted by an Avatar mech pilot did not remain still for long. As soon as the control room transmitted the signal, the Redaxe strode forward and quickly built up a formidable amount of momentum as it raised its signature weapon!

The Avatar mech pilot did not hold anything back. Even though the scale model was extremely expensive, there was no actual person in its tiny cockpit, so the Redaxe showed no scruples towards the small machine!

"Where is the scale model's resonance shield!?"

"For a variety of different technical issues, the scale model cannot deploy a resonance shield. Don't worry. The machine's armor is not flimsy even at this diminished size and scale."

Strangely enough, the scale model of the Mars Project did not attempt to dodge or evade the blow.

Instead, it held out its tiny transphasic axe in a guard position and attempted to meet the incoming blow!

CLANG!

The sound and force of the impact did not disappoint! Since the Redaxe was dedicated to wielding just a single weapon, it was able to employ its red-bladed axe with great force and precision!

Yet even as it managed to overpower the scale model's feeble attempt to block the incoming attack, the huge and much more massive axe actually collided head-on against the tiny frame of the scale model without making any further progress!

"What?!"

"How can this be?!"

"This is impossible!"

Every Crosser expert pilot looked completely astonished by the fact that a machine that was 50 times smaller was actually able to repel a full-powered blow of an offensive melee mech!

Sure, the Redaxe was nowhere near as strong as a real expert mech, but Venerable Linda and the Crossers intuitively understood that when the differences in scale became so big that the scale model shouldn't have been able to fend off the blow so well!

The downscaled mech was not only around  50 times lighter, but the machine's armor plating was also around 50 percent thinner.

"How can this toy stay in place when a full-sized mech had put all of its force and weight behind this blow?" Venerable Imaris Cross puzzlingly asked. "Even if the Mars Project's fancy new armor system is as indestructible as I heard, the mech should still bounce backwards. However, from what I can see, it hadn't even moved a single centimeter from its place!"

Ves smirked. "That is indeed a counterintuitive result, but that is one of the less obvious benefits of transphasic mechs. They can anchor themselves in a location in space, thereby making it seem as if they are standing on invisible soil. If they are already standing on solid ground, then the anchoring function can make them unmovable. As you can see, the scale model did not disappoint us in this regard."

"Patriarch Reginald is taking action with his mini mech!"

Now that the Redaxe had its turn, the scale model went on the offensive this time!

The tiny mech flew upwards and completely evaded the Redaxe's follow-up swing in order to strike its tiny axe at one of the shoulders of the axeman mech.

Slice!

The diminutive size of the scale model and its weapon did not hinder Patriarch Reginald from dealing effective damage against the Redaxe.

The man even enjoyed himself as he piloted the scale model in a circle around its prey. He essentially treated this testing session as a practice session for disabling warships!

Much like an actual warship, the Redaxe found itself completely unable to fend off and resist the attacks of a much smaller machine.

It was suffering cut after cut as the mini-Mars Project did not allow its diminutive size get in the way of its mission!

What the shrunken transphasic mech lacked in force and strength, it made up for it with insane penetration.

The scale model significantly expended a lot more energy than before in order to make sure it would be able to sustain its energy-intensive attacks.

"The Mars Project isn't able to deal a killer blow." Linda observed. "Its axe doesn't go deep enough."

Patriarch Reginald noticed that as well and quickly grew more frustrated as the Redaxe bore more wounds.

"Let me try this, then!"

The expert pilot tried to resonate with the scale model and its weapon. Reginald succeeded in summoning up a formidable amount of strength through his efforts.

Soon, the scale model's axe began to glow in an ominous red shade.

Swing!

With just a single attack, the scale model managed to reach deeper into the Redaxe's frame than before!

"The mech engine is gone!"

"It has lost its ability to move its limbs!"

The three Crosser expert pilots looked flabbergasted at this time. They expected the duel between the scale model of the Mars Project and the Redaxe to proceed much longer.

They never expected the battle to end so soon!

"Was this test useful at all?" Venerable Imaris Cross asked with a frown. "This duel did not last as long as I thought."

Ves chuckled. "Hehehe. Don't worry, Linda. This is just the appetizer. We just needed to collect an initial batch of data in order to form a baseline for our modeling and calculation work. The real fight is about to commence."

As the immobile frame of the Redaxe was brought away, another mech stepped forward this time.

"It's an expert mech!"

An iconic, golden expert mech that featured defined muscles and an even more defined codpiece had appeared at the entrance.

"C-Man, ready for duty!" Venerable Vincent called. "I'm going to enjoy smashing Reginald into the dirt. This will probably be the only time I can do this to him. I will definitely savor every second of this beatdown."

The expert brawler mech slammed its smart metal fists against each other as emphasis.