The Mech Touch



The more Ves talked with Master Decimus Horst, the more he learned how little he knew about heavy artillery mechs.

Though Ves already held an expectation that a Master Mech Designer who dedicated his entire life to designing mechs of this archetype could teach him a lot on this subject, the disparity between the two was massive!

Ves felt both humbled and inadequate in the face of all of the deep insights and profound truths that the older man possessed.

Many times, Ves looked down on overspecialized mech designers who gave up any attempt at designing other machines in favor of working on their favorite types of mechs and nothing else.

Their versatility was minimal and could not be relied upon at all if there was no need to supply additional mech designs that fell within their specialty.

Ves was an archetypical horizontal mech designer who was brimming with ideas and easily got bored if he worked on a single design or mech archetype for too long.

The thought of spending years, decades or even centuries on designing a small subset of mechs sounded like pure torture to his ears!

He would rather gouge out his eyes than limit his work in any way! His creativity and his desire to explore every interesting facet of mechs must never be repressed!

This strong characteristic of his prevented Ves from ever understanding mech designers such as Ketis and Master Horst.

Whether it was swordsman mechs or heavy artillery mechs, these odd professionals clung to their Class VI design philosophies as if there was nothing else in their worlds. He had always heard that they were incredibly good at designing mechs that they were passionate about, but no one ever helped him quantify this crucial difference.

Though Ves did not possess the capacity to assess Master Horst's understanding of heavy artillery mechs, the latter came across as an endless pit of knowledge and understanding in the form of a normal human man.

It was only through Master Horst's words and his incredibly strong and concentrated spirituality that Ves had a glimpse of the incredible possibilities hiding underneath!

What would it be like to design a mech with such a mech designer? A Master already had the qualifications to design fantastic mechs without the input of Ves!

Of course, that did not mean that Ves completely lost his confidence in front of this seemingly gentle university professor.

Ves approached mech design from a completely new and original direction. He pioneered an entirely new field that centered around highly metaphysical innovations such as living mechs and design spirits.

The combination of these unique and unconventional design applications had not only given him the capital to keep his head high in front of people such as Master Horst, but also turned him into an object worth courting.

President Yenames Clive himself had not only visited him once, but twice. That alone indicated how much Davute valued the benefits he could bring to the mechs of the colonial federation!

This realization kept Ves from feeling too inept and inadequate.

As a professional mech designer, he was extremely well aware that there were many large gaps between himself and Master Horst, but that did not mean that he should feel resentful about this difference.

In any case, Master Horst was over 140 years old. The man enjoyed a century's worth of head start. If Ves managed to reach the same age, he knew for a certainty that he should easily be able to blow this Master Mech Designer out of the water!

Nonetheless, as Ves and Master Horst continued to explore the subject of heavy artillery mechs, it soon became clear that they could not make as much progress in their talks as they thought.

"It is unwise for us to proceed any further." Master Horst said after he shook his head yet again. "I have inquired enough to understand your grasp of mech design and heavy artillery mechs in particular."

"Where do I stand, Master?" Ves earnestly asked as if he was a humble student.

"Your general competences are adequate and actually rather impressive for your age and rank. However, I am not pleased with how little you truly comprehend about artillery mechs. You possess a decent technical understanding of this mech type. The time you have spent in designing your Transcendent Punisher has not gone to waste, yet it has also left you with a massive blind spot. I have already told you that centering your work around its mysterious target guidance feature has made you overlook too many other points of concern of heavy artillery mechs. It is a crutch that prevents you from reaching your greater potential when it comes to designing mechs of this archetype. Tell me, young man. What does mech design encompass?"

Ves decided to answer with one of the standard definitions that he had learned in his textbooks.

"It is an engineering discipline that centers around the art and science of designing mechs."

As a teacher, Master Decimus Horst was more familiar with this definition. He nodded at this mention.

"Art. Science. The two are intertwined for a reason. Art without science is impractical. Science without art is lacking in creativity. Where do you think your Transcendent Punisher leans towards?"

The question that Master Horst posed to Ves sounded like an incredibly basic issue, but it was one that pointed straight at the heart of the Transcendent Punisher's deficiency!

"I see what you mean." Ves said as he rubbed his hairless chin. "Back when I designed the Transcendent Punisher in collaboration with my wife, I did not pay attention to every detail, trusting Gloriana to take care of the more technical side of the design. I don't regret this decision, but I should have known that my wife doesn't have much depth in heavy artillery mechs either. In fact, both of us don't actually know what we are doing as neither of us have received any systematic lessons or guidance with regards to this mech type. We pretty much derived most of our work from studying other heavy artillery mech designs, reading through textbooks and making up the rest as we brought our design project to completion."

"Your approach sounds typical to mech designers around your level. The two of you are only Journeymen. There is no expectation for you to design your mechs to a higher standard." Master Horst reassured the younger man. "Your circumstances at the time were much different from today."

"I need to do better, is that what you are trying to say?"

Master Horst nodded. "That is the main realization that I want you to make. What was adequate for a small clan in the past is completely insufficient for a professional military branch of a large colonial state. While our standards may be somewhat looser and less demanding than those of an established state in the old galaxy, we must still ensure that our works are competitive to the mechs fielded by Karlach. In fact, the driving reason why the colonial government is willing to entertain you at all is because there are many people who believe you have the capacity to design a mech that can qualitatively outperform whatever Karlach can develop. Are you certain that you are up to the task?"

"Yes." Ves immediately replied. "I can just point at the mechs that I have designed for the Hexer people to back up my statement. I have always been vaguely aware that my designs still have a lot of room for improvement, so I will not insist on dictating everything when it comes to designing my first commissioned mech for Davute. Since you know so much more about heavy artillery mechs, I am fine with taking a step back and letting you take the lead. So long as I contribute with my own specialty, I think we can design an excellent heavy artillery mech that fully meets the standards of the Federal Military."

This was the safest and most logical approach. There was no way a Journeyman, even one who felt he was close to becoming a Senior, could ever outschool a Master in the latter's area of expertise!

"That will not do." Master Horst surprisingly responded as he pressed his palm against his desk. "Davute entrusted you with the responsibility of designing mechs for its armed forces. It is you who should set the direction, lead the design projects and ensure that the end products align with your vision. I may be a better and vastly more experienced mech designer than you in almost every criteria that you can think of, but the colonial government did not approach me with this commission. I am not unprofessional enough to rob you of this opportunity to design a military mech that is worthy enough to be used in battlefields throughout this zone."

That caused Ves to pause in thought.

The Master was right, as always. Davute wanted Ves to bestow his magic to the soldiers of the state.

Was the Federal Military of Davute short of heavy artillery mech designs? Absolutely not!

Though Ves did not have access to the full list of mech designs that the military had in store, it was bound to contain dozens of modern heavy artillery mechs that already met the required standards!

Master Decimus Horst could always design another heavy artillery mech for Davute, but doing so only added a marginal amount of value. The Federal Military already possessed a sufficient range of models that excelled in any area, from serving as dedicated bunker mechs to delivering mass devastation onto entire city districts!

The most a man like Horst could do was designing a marginal upgrade to the existing models or address another small niche that Davute's existing mech roster did not already cover.

None of this was a productive use of his time.

Ves understood much more now that the only meaningful heavy artillery mech that Davute wanted to obtain at this junction was one that completely broke the existing paradigms of this mech type!

This was why Ves received the commission and not a Master like Horst. No matter how good the latter may be in designing mechs of this archetype, his greatest strength also limited his ability to design outside of the restrictive confines of his specialty!

Only a complete oddball who developed a unique and innovative Class IX design philosophy possessed the ability to break the rules!

"I understand what I need to do." Ves said with more conviction in my tone. "I will do my best to live up to your expectations and that of the state. I still need your help, though. You have taught me how little I know about heavy artillery mechs."

"Ignorance is not a permanent affliction, Patriarch Larkinson. A gap in understanding can always be filled through learning and doing. Let us adjourn this meeting for now so you can address your most acute shortcomings. Go back and try to increase your understanding of heavy artillery mechs. Do not focus solely on the science of this archetype, but also spend time on deepening your grasp of the art of designing one. I suggest you spend your time on examining the heavy artillery mechs that the Federal Military already employs. The 77th Warborn led by your fellow Larkinson should have them in stock. You should be able to gain permission to visit their base and examine their machines up close."

That was a good suggestion, though Ves did not feel particularly enthusiastic about doing anything with the Warborn at the moment. He always felt as if General Ark and the Larkinsons over there had turned their backs on his expeditionary fleet.

"I will see what I can do. My schedule is a bit full, though. I still need to complete a bunch of important projects for my clan before I can fully dedicate my time on this commission and other projects."

"Take your time, Patriarch Larkinson. The war will not break out in the short-term and it is better to do our best to do everything correctly."