The Mech Touch

Ves could not make a decision like this alone.

For better or worse, Master Benedict Cortez played a key role in empowering the Ghost Project.

He was not only responsible for converting it into a functioning expert mech by integrating resonating exotics into the design, but also mitigated its heavy energy demands by lending his expertise.

Now that Ves wanted to exploit the Ghost Project's circumstances to an even greater degree, he needed to consult with the Master Mech Designer in order to figure out how he could realize his new vision.

He activated his comm and called Master Benedict.

When the older man accepted the communication request, his projection looked closely at Ves.

"I know that look of yours. You came up with another crazy idea again, right?"

"How did you know?"

"I have the same look when I am in this sort of mood. When you are so eager and excited about a new design solution, you become restless and impatient. Any hindrance to your work will make you more irritable. Your new idea has made you so driven that your passion is obvious to everyone."

Ves indeed recognized those traits in himself. He supposed that he hadn't done anything to limit his outward expression of passion.

"I didn't call you to talk about how I look." Ves said as he tried to get to business. "I wanted to talk to you about a new proposal centered around the Ghost Project. Let me explain my new ideas."

Once he outlined his new ideas and intentions, his good friend and frequent collaborator looked troubled.

"I won't comment about the dubious legality of your new plan. Our original one was already shaky enough as it is. The Ghost Project is your mech design so it is your responsibility to gain approval from the MTA. Personally speaking, I am not... opposed to exploiting Object 335 to this end. In fact, I am extremely intrigued in what you can make of it. No matter whether you succeed or fail, we will both be able to learn many lessons from your attempt."

It sounded as if Master Benedict had little confidence that Ves would be able to succeed in his ambitious plan. This was fair as it sounded far-fetched to begin with and the science behind it was extremely sketchy to say the least.

Yet despite how fantastical it sounded, Ves possessed the confidence he could cobble something together. The end result might not match his original specifications, but as long as it enabled the Ghost Project to mess with enemies in the dark, it was enough!

Once they got all of these necessary issues out of the way, Ves and Master Benedict finally engaged in a more productive discussion.

"I am unable to provide much help in the more esoteric elements of your so-called Geist System, but what I do know is that it will have to meet several requirements."

Ves casually named his hypothetical new non-physical attack solution the Geist System.

He initially wanted to call it the Ghost System, but it would probably lead to a lot of confusion if he used the word 'ghost' to refer to multiple different subjects.

"The first requirement is that it needs a vessel, vector or delivery method that can extend the power of the Ghost Project to a distant location." Master Benedict continued. "The greater the range, the more useful the Geist System becomes. It would be ideal if the Ghost Project doesn't have to move too close to an unassuming enemy fleet to sabotage it from within, but that is probably not a realistic demand."

"You're probably right." Ves reluctantly conceded. "It should already be good enough for the Geist System to have a maximum range of a couple of hundred meters. It will be a lot harder for it to affect the interior of a starship at a range that is lower than 50 meters."

"Do you have any solutions in mind?"

"Not really. I still know too little about this. I need to conduct a number of experiments and try out a few new possible implementations. One of the biggest factors in whether I can get the Geist System to work is if its ghosts are physical or non-physical in nature. It would be best if it is the latter, but if that is not possible, then I have to figure out a way to merge the power of Venerable Zimro Belson with the Geist System to develop small, semi-autonomous physical drones or spurs that can be snuck into an enemy starship and wreak havoc inside. I can make good use of the knowledge traded to me by the Lehrer Foundation to develop effective spurs in a short amount of time."

Spurs was the most commonly used terminology for small and sometimes autonomous drones that were attached mechs. It was a term originally coined by a Rubarthan mech designer to popularize their use.

Master Benedict did not favor them in this project, though. He shook his head in a clear sign of disapproval.

"That is an undesirable result in my opinion. The stated goal of the Geist System is to develop a secretive, deniable attack method. It will be much harder to prove that your clan has nothing to do with an attempted attack when the Ghost Project has left physical traces behind."

"I will make sure that the remains of the ghosts will self-destruct if they are captured or neutralized." Ves promised as he already came up with a couple of potential solutions. "For example, I can make them out of nanomachines or biotissue that will destroy themselves if there are problems."

"That is still not good enough. Any physical traces can provide a wealth of clues as long as the investigators have the right technology at hand. A technologically advanced opponent might even possess the technology to capture and freeze the spurs intact, and that would be a disaster to you and your clan."

The former Skull Architect unfortunately made a good point. Basing the Geist System around physical spurs almost defeated the purpose. He might as well leave it up to the Black Cats to develop their own small autonomous stealth drones. There was no great need to involve an expert mech.

The only way to justify the existence of the Geist System and the effort put into realizing it was to make its attack vectors completely incorporeal!

"I will investigate the possibilities as quickly as possible." Ves told Master Benedict. "I think it is within my capabilities to make this work, but it is too early to say for certain."

"I hope you will be able to present concrete proof next time. That said, if you happen to make it work, then I believe that energy and power will be the greatest limitations aside from range. There is little point to investing in the Geist System if all it can do is to allow you to spy what is taking place inside a space station or a secret base. DIVA can already perform those jobs without an expert mech."

"Hm, you're right on that as well. It's actually easier to make the Geist System powerful by basing it on physical spurs. We can rely on existing technology to equip them with compact but powerful weapons and energy cells."

The problem with an intangible spur was that it could not easily interfere with the material realm!

Although Ves had witnessed and developed many different ways for spiritual phenomena to create a real difference in the material realm, he needed to develop a host of new solutions to create the Geist System.

As he tried to imagine what he needed to invent in order to create all of the essential building blocks, he thought back on the essential ingredients to make most of them work.

"The Geist System won't work without the power of expert pilots." He said. "Object 335 is needed to give the intangible ghosts substance. Venerable Zimro Belson might also have to employ his true resonance to enhance their effectiveness and keep them under control. No matter what, I will find a way to leverage the reality-defying nature of the two expert pilots."

"Good luck with that. I may be able to provide assistance with regards to unlocking and channeling some of the latent power of Object 335, but I cannot handle much of the weirdness that is related to your specialty. You are on your own in that regard."

That was not a problem to Ves. "I can do the rest. It is already extremely helpful if you can turn Object 335 into a stable, reliable and fairly powerful energy source. Energy is the root of power and having more of it will certainly give a more powerful kick to my Geist System."

They talked a bit more about the other challenges concerning the Geist System. Ves gained a lot of new insights and ideas on how to turn this highly improbable attack system into a reality.

He still had to do a lot of puzzling, but it was already enough for him to gain more solid directions.

"What do you think about the Ghost Project when it has obtained a working implementation of the Geist System?"

Master Benedict's expression turned serious. "It can be a dangerous weapon. I will be glad that it is on our side, but I am fearful for what it will mean to us all. Once its existence and capabilities become known to everyone, it will be a lot harder to catch your targets off-guard. It will also be harder for strangers to trust us considering that we may have interfered with their development without their notice."

"Everyone that is powerful enough engages in at least some form of skullduggery. It's not as if states such as the Friday Coalition suddenly become a pariah just because it has multiple active intelligence agencies." Ves dismissively shrugged.

"Intelligence agencies are known quantities. They can be created by any state, organization or individual that is powerful enough. What they cannot necessarily reproduce is an expert stealth mech that is equipped with completely new and unprecedented technology that can potentially allow it to infiltrate the tightest barriers, spy on secret operations, steal the data of the most secure databases, hijack the minds of critical officers or leaders or assassinate them outright!"

"...Well, I admit that sounds a little more concerning when you put it that way. That still won't stop me from doing my best to realize this version of the Ghost Project. It is simply too useful for me to forgo the attempt. I at least have to find out for myself whether I have the ability to create the Geist System as I have envisioned. If it turns out that I have overestimated my capabilities, I can always set it aside and wait until I have become a better mech designer before trying again."

He would ideally make this work in the short term as he needed the capabilities of the Geist System the most at this junction.

While he didn't mind too much if it took longer to invent the Geist System, it wouldn't be as useful as Calabast would be much closer to creating her own effective infiltration units.

The urgency drove him to get to work right away. Once he completed his fruitful discussion with Master Benedict, he returned to his design lab and began to devote his time on the Ghost Project.

He conducted a few preliminary experiments and fleshed out his framework for the Geist System.

Aside from that, he also investigated Object 335 in order to determine whether he could actively exploit the power of a hostile expert pilot to give substance to ghosts.

None of this was easy and Ves could already foresee that he needed to invest a lot of time to complete the necessary research, and he had already taken his boosted productivity into account!

"This is going to take a lot of effort and ingenuity."

Just as Ves was about to commence his next experiment, he interrupted his work when he received an important notification.

The expeditionary fleet was about to enter the Ramage Repulsor System.