The Mech Touch

Red humanity had become embroiled in a war between species.

Total extinction was on the horizon as humanity was hopelessly outnumbered by the native alien races.

The existence of top combat assets such as god mechs were one of the few reasons that gave red humanity a fighting chance against their adversaries.

However, with only 8 god pilots available in the Red Ocean, it was impossible for these living legends to cover a lot of territories.

The strategic outlook would completely change if there was a possibility for ace pilots to become as threatening as god pilots!

Ves did not know how many ace pilots were active in the Red Ocean, but there had to be hundreds of them at the very least.

If all it took to produce these 'pseudo-god mechs' was to design and construct large amounts of custom juggernauts and integrate them with super-sized versions of the Carmine System, then that might be enough to save their entire race from extinction!

In fact, it could even allow the numerically inferior humans to launch a massive counterattack on the aliens by using the pseudo-god mechs as spearheads!

Every human invasion force would be able to roll over practically any sort of alien opposition that stood in their way!

Perhaps the only alien assets that could fight the juggernauts piloted by ace mechs to a standstill were the mysterious ancient phase whales.

However, Ves bet that there probably weren't many of them in the Red Ocean.

This meant that even if a pseudo-god mech was individually weaker than an ancient phase whale, the former was never supposed to confront the latter by themselves.

Ves predicted that if a dozen pseudo-god mechs confronted an ancient phase whale on the battlefield, the advantage of numbers might prove decisive enough to make the powerful alien leader's life miserable!

This possibility and more caused everyone inside the chamber to regard the Carmine System as a much more impactful technological innovation than before.

Ves, Jovy and the three members of the secret panels all shared the sentiment at this time.

The Carmine System had the potential to enable a lot of powerful new innovations!

It was similar to the neural interface in that regard. The invention of a device that enabled the brain of a human to interface with a machine led to the development of mechs that dominated an entire era!

While nobody dared to say that the Carmine System had the potential to produce the same level of impact, as long as any of the aforementioned scenarios were plausible, the entire landscape of mechs as everyone knew it would irrevocably change!

Ves eventually broke the momentary silence.

"I would like to caution you that I do not have any proof that it is possible to realize all of these wild and outlandish ideas. All I can say is that I cannot rule them out for the time being. 1 will have to test the Carmine System further by employing it in different applications. The more data I gather, the more accurate my conclusions."

"We understand. We will speak about this later." Master Vayro Goldstein spoke. "We would like to explore additional speculative possibilities with you. We are not engaging in baseless fantasies here. We are being thorough by exploring every conceivable angle. Let me show you another possibility."

They did just that. The panel began to present numerous different applications of the Carmine System and asked for Ves to share his opinion on whether the ideas had any chance of working.

For example, Master Goldstein conjured up the image of an entire regiment of larger demimechs.

The machines weren't as small as the one used as a control interface.

They were instead scaled up to the point where they were at the halfway point between a suit of heavy combat armor and a light mech.

The demimechs at this scale possessed numerous interesting traits. They were far more powerful than regular infantry, but not quite as strong as a conventional mech.

However, the difficulty of controlling them was much more reduced as they consisted of a lot less parts and lost a lot of complexity.

Master Goldstein's demimechs were also a lot more economical as they consisted of relatively cheaper materials and avoided any overly complicated design elements.

"I project that it will take norms without appropriate genetic aptitude to become proficient enough in their use in two or three years." The Master Mech Designer estimated. "It may take several additional years if the demimechs possess fully articulating limbs. Nonetheless, the time it takes to raise a large number of qualified and combat capable demimech armies should be much less than trying to form traditional mech armies. Do you believe that these units will be effective enough in combat to resist the alien forces such as the ones that you have encountered in your expeditions?"

That was a difficult question. Ves never thought about applying the Carmine System in this fashion.

He didn't even know what to think about the whole demimech concept. Whether the Survivalists wanted to employ them as an upgraded version of a piloting suit or a discount mech, he could not accurately foresee the possibilities as they ranged far beyond his own experiences!

The panel members would probably gain much more useful responses if they asked the judgment of the Xenotechnician or the Polymath. Why did they bother to ask for the opinion of a humble Senior Mech Designer? Ves could not possibly supply the correct answers!

"I don't think these demimech armies have the hard power needed to fight against the strongest alien assets." Ves eventually responded to Goldstein. "Their scale is just too small for them to put a serious dent in the transphasic energy shields of alien battleships. Their vast quantities might make them a lot more useful when dealing with sub-capital ships or planetary combat, but I am not too sure to be honest. If you ask me whether it is possible to develop these demimechs with the help of a Carmine System, then I am much more confident that it can be made."

He did not need to remind the three powerful Survivalists that these demimechs could only get off the ground if the Carmine System worked as expected.

Just as with everything else, Ves lacked the hard proof and the empirical data needed to offer more solid judgments!

After offering his lame responses to a few other ridiculous scenarios, the three Survivalists were finally done with expositioning their crazy fantasies.

"Let us return to more relevant matters." Master Vayro Goldstein eventually spoke. "Professor Larkinson, you have previously stated that you have chosen the Carmine System to become your main area of research in your quest to realize your design philosophy."

"That is correct." Ves replied. "Even if I did not envision all of those scenarios that you have mentioned during this secret session, the two basic uses of the Carmine System are already more than enough for me to dedicate my years as a Senior Mech Designer to fleshing it out. I do not think I have the time or expertise to spare on exploring all of those other possibilities. I will probably leave that work to other mech designers once 1 have advanced to the rank of Master."

That frustrated the panel members. They were all accustomed to interacting with older and more accomplished mech designers.

The fact that Ves was just a Senior and not a Master limited a lot of options!

Of course, it was still good that Ves presented his Carmine System to them at this early stage.

They would rather learn about it and issue their verdicts on it before it had any opportunity to completely disrupt the mech community when Carmine mechs started to become known to the public.

Master Goldstein asked another question.

"Are you able to integrate your Carmine System in a collaborative mech design?"

"Yes, but only if I have real control over how to set up the Carmine System. If anyone else tries to do it, the organic components won't do anything aside from exchanging blood."

"Will first-class mechs and third-class mechs experience any significant reductions in performance if they are solely controlled by the Carmine System?"

Ves frowned in response. "I am not too sure about that. I think that first-class mechs will probably see a slight to moderate reduction when paired with unqualified mech pilots due to the difficulty of managing their advanced systems. Third-class mechs should actually be able to perform a lot better as they were much simpler and easier to master. Their lack of complexity also helps with easing the difficulty. The cost of the Carmine System doesn't have to be that high anyway. I can make it a lot cheaper by utilizing cheaper technologies and materials to produce them. They will become more fragile, but since the Blood Pact is not a physical connection, its effectiveness will remain constant."

In other words, Ves speculated that the Carmine System actually provided a lot more value for third-raters as opposed to first-raters!

This was highly optimistic news for the third-rate colonial states that resided in the lower zones.

They occupied the greatest amount of territory in red humanity's space and actually held the largest population as well.

Anything that could enhance their combat power so that they could make a greater difference in the war was welcome news to the Survivalist Faction!

It also happened to give a powerful boost to Polymath's sub-faction!

Ves answered a few more questions. Master Wintress and the Mace of Retaliation both asked questions that were relevant to the plans supported by their own patrons.

As the lengthy and tiring secret session dragged on, the three panel members finally came to a consensus.

Master Goldstein smiled down at Ves. "Thank you for introducing your Carmine System to us and sharing your opinions on its many potential applications. However, you have given us many quandaries as well. Your lack of proof to back up many of your assertions is hindering us from making any definitive decisions."

"Your schedule for the rest of this day is free, correct?" Master Wintress suddenly asked.

"Uh, yes. I am obliged to lead a closed session on another subject the next day, so I won't be available at that specific time slot."

Ves originally intended to attend several interesting sessions after this was over.

He had a feeling that he might be forced to scrap this plan.

"Good. Then you should have enough time to design and build several experimental mechs that feature the Carmine System. We will provide you with access to one of the Khamater Reign's complete mech workshops. Our ship's state-of-the-art materializers and high-tech bioproduction facilities should help you realize your designs as quickly as possible. We will also allocate a small selection of trusted mech pilots and norms to you. Their assignment will be to cooperate with your experiments and interface with your test products."

He knew it. The Survivalists were not satisfied with taking him at his word. They wanted to obtain hard proof and see the Carmine System at work in front of their eyes!

Ves did not necessarily object to this arrangement. The only reason why he felt upset about this order was because he could no longer attend any of the interesting and informative sessions on this day anymore!

However, he understood that it was necessary for him to produce hard proof to reinforce his pitch.

The more the panel members appreciated the Carmine System, the more they were inclined to support Ves and his work!

Ves bowed his head in acquiescence. "I shall do my best to satisfy your demands and produce enough samples of the Carmine System for you to analyze and verify my work. I would like to add that my design philosophy probably doesn't work well with materializers. I need my mechs to become alive. A production method that is completely impersonal and removed from human intervention makes that impossible."

That was not welcome news to the three Survivalists. They all wanted to obtain as many samples as possible. It would be a bit troublesome if Ves had to spend hours on fabricating every individual mech.

The Mace of Retaliation released an impatient sigh. "Do the best you can, Professor Larkinson."

Master Goldstein echoed this sentiment. "It is imperative for you to produce enough experimental mechs within a timespan of 20 hours. That will give us enough time to collect preliminary test data on your Carmine System and discuss the findings with a select group of other trusted experts. Can you meet our demands within this short amount of time?"

Ves felt glad that he had a decent amount of mech tournament experience. This was not the first time he had to develop mechs in a matter of hours.

"I can do it as long as the bioproduction machines or whatever can grow all of the organic components of the Carmine System in a short amount of time." He replied with a bit more confidence than before.

"That should not be a problem, Professor Larkinson." Goldstein smiled in satisfaction. "Please inform us if you lack the proper production equipment to meet your deadline. We shall design and produce the instruments that you require on the spot."

There were so many Master Mech Designers and other developers aboard the Khamater Reign that none of them were lacking in technical expertise!