The Mech Touch

Leaving the expeditionary fleet at this junction felt bittersweet to Ves.

He always had the notion that he was departing while he had yet to finish rhe job.lt gnawed on him like an incomplete mech design project, it was in his nature to complete his assignments to his satisfaction.

However, this was the right decision to make. Ves already understood the pros and cons. He just found it difficult to reconcile his reason with his emotions.

"The fleet will be okay." Gloriana quietly said as both of them stared out of lhe window of the departing shuttle.

The Spirit of Benthelm and the hundreds of other starships that comprised the expeditionary fleet grew increasingly smaller.

In fact, Ves could have teleported to the Tarrasque in an instant, but he wanted to leave the fleet the old-fashioned way in order to come to terms with this event.

His departure from the expeditionary fleet felt like closing a chapter in his life. From now on, he would mainly be dealing more directly with first-raters such as mechers, Terrans and Rubarthans.

It had always been his drcam to speak with them on an equal or a superior footing. Ves did not want to turn away from this just because he felt reluctant to separate himself from most of his clansmen.

Ves quietly shook his head and turned around. He needed to get used to spending time away from most of his clan. It would take at least 4 years for the first lucky clansmen to graduate' from the EdNet and join the Premier Branch.

He had to make do without much of the support and camaraderie that he took for granted after he founded his clan.

While he was confident that he could get over this, he wasn't too sure whether his children could get used to this drastic transition to lheir lives.

"Mama, will we go school in the Terran Alliance?" Little Marvaine asked as he sat on his mother's lap.

Gloriana kissed her youngest child on the head. "1 am still discussing this with your father. It depends on our schedule. If we decide to stay in the New Constantinople for a number of years, it is not necessary to enroll you into a virtual school. 1 would much prefer it if you can make friends with Terran children in person. These contacts may serve you well when you have grown up. Are you looking forward to that?"

"I like making friends!"

Aurelia and Andraste paid close attention to this conversation. They interrupted their playtime with their cats to inquire more about this situation.

"Will we get enrolled into local schools as well?"

"There is no reason to treat you differently, my girls. The original reasons why we tried to enroll you into virtual schools are twofold. First, we expected to reside on a roaming fleet on a long-term basis. Second, we did not have the confidence that any schooling within reach was sufficient enough to meet our standards. Neither of these two reasons are necessarily valid anymore now that we are changing our plan."

The children all perked up at this. They roughly understood the difference between physical schooling and virtual schooling. The latter could be just as effective as the former, but the downside was that it was too hard to play with children their age!

Even though the Hyper Chamber did a fantastic job at minimizing the differences, there were still enough barriers to make it awkward to forge true friendships across enormous distances.

Ves sighed as he took his seat inside the shuttle. "Il would be best if we can stay in the New Constantinople long enough until each of you are ready to enroll into different universities, but that is nor politically viable. If we want to preserve the Larkinson Clan's independence, we cannot afford to show too much favoritism to any major human group. We'll probably have to make an arrangement where we will rotate from one first-rate colonial state to another on a periodic basis."

He did not really mind this as he always liked to travel around, but he felt a little bad for his children. Frequent travel would make it difficult for their children to maintain friendships over lhe years.

Already, they were feeling glum about getting separated from the Larkinson children who resided on the Spirit of Bentheim.

Ves believed that the gradual establishment of rhe Premier Branch should provide enough relief in rhe future.

Once rhe Larkinson Clan established a serious presence in first-class society, there should be enough trustworthy young clansmen around for his kids to make friends for life.

He continued to discuss possible schooling options with his wife until the shuttle had finally reached its destination.

The hangar bay of rhe Tarrasque was actually a lot more cramped for a ship of her size. Much other volume was dedicated towards increasing her direct combat capabilities. This was why she didn't have much room for first-class multipurpose mechs and other vehicles.

"We'll be staying aboard this ship for a couple days." Ves gently told his children. "The mechers are more than willing to give you a tour throughout this vessel. There is a lot of cool and expensive tech inside this hull."

That interested the two youngest children in particular!

"Can 1 get inside rhe cockpit of one of those first-class multipurpose mechs?!" Andraste eagerly asked as she held Lucky in her arms!

"Meow."

"I will see what I can do, pumpkin." He generously told his daughter. "As for you, behave. Don't eat anything that you shouldn't. 1 have already spoken to the mechers about supplying meals to you. You won't go hungry on this trip."

The gem cat looked skeptical, but he did not complain any further.

"Can 1 get close to the big guns of this ship?" Marvaine asked next.

"I will ask whether that is permissible. Military tech like this is fairly sensitive, so the mechers might not give permission. I am sure that they will still be willing to show you other awesome tech."

Ves kept answering questions as he and his family moved deeper into the hull so that they could settle in their assigned stateroom.

In the meantime, the Bluejay Fleet separated from the expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance and began its swift journey to the Terran Alliance.

The modern RA warships were all equipped with high-quality superdrives, so the journey shouldn't take long at all. The mechers could even speed up their journey by utilizing their portal jump technology, but the priority was not high enough to justify their use. There was no need to rush to New Constantinople.

Later that night, Ves and his family dined with Joshua and a handful of other high-ranking officers of the Bluejay Fleet.

Saintess Ulrika Vraken declined to join in despite the fact that she was coming along this trip as well. This was mainly due to the pressure she would exert onto everyone else.

While none of the mentalities of the people in the dining room was weak, it was still a bit strenuous to relax in the presence of such a powerful figure.

As exotic dishes materialized on the tables, the Larkinsons and the mechers gradually got to know each other.

"My husband has always spoken highly of you." Gloriana said as she started to cut into her thin and delicate steak. "Is it possible for you to collaborate with us on a number of mech designs?"

Jovy shook his head. "Not immediately. My time is precious, and I have a reputation to uphold. I have already told your husband that 1 will not be participating In any second-class mech design projects. I am willing to collaborate with you if you happen to present a serious first-class mech design project where my input is an integral part of your vision."

"I shall take your requirements into account when I am ready to plan out our future first-class mech design projects." Gloriana seriously responded.

"Are there any restrictions on who we can sell our mechs to if we enlist your cooperation?" Ves inquired.

"Do not expect any of our collaborations to be put to use by the armed forces of the Red Association. Our needs are already being met by numerous renowned Star Designers and many highly accomplished Master Mech Designers. It is permissible to sell our mechs to the public as long as I do nol incorporate any restricted or classified tech in their design."

That was exactly what Ves wanted to hear. "Great! I think we can make a big difference if we pool our efforts together. I have been dreaming about it for several years."

This was another reason for Ves to quickly become a qualified first-class mech designer.

Probability Manipulation was too powerful of a design philosophy!

If it was as insane as Ves expected it to be, a living mech that could manipulate probabilistic outcomes would likely be a terror on the battlefield!

Of course, becoming a first-class mech designer at the Senior-level was not easy. It would take years before Ves could collaborate with Jovy on a proper mech design project.

While Ves and Gloriana continued to talk about mech design with Jovy, their children started to chat with the other mecher officers.

Despite the enormous gaps in age and status, the professional officers of the Red Association did not belittle the children.

The fact that they were the direct descendants of a tier 3 galactic citizen was enough to treat theminasincere fashion!

"Is it hard for you to learn how to pilot a first-class multipurpose mech?" Andraste curiously asked the highest ranking mech pilot at the table.

"It depends. It is challenging to pass all of the courses in a mech academy if your talent is not as high and if your augmentations are not up to standard." Major Simon Jankowski responded without much emotion. "I grew up within the Association, so my circumstances are better. Most first-class mech academies have formed their study programs to challenge potentates with B-grade genetic aptitudes to their limits. They can fail to graduate if they do not work hard enough to master all of the skills and theories that are needed to pilot the best mechs designed by our race."

Mech pilots with genetic aptitudes this high were already rare! For the mechers to push their mech cadets to this extent showed that they were more than willing to discard people who performed just a little bit below standard!

Andraste tilted her head. "What about A-grade potentates? Will they have it easier?"

"It depends on what they want, young lady." The RA mech officer smiled. "1 have studied alongside many A-grade mech cadets several decades ago. There are those that lean too much on their talent and do not feel as motivated to make the most out of their studies. There are also those that aspire to become god pilots and train themselves past their breaking point. In my personal experience, I have found that neither group of mech cadets arc able to make promising attainments in the future. For example, I outrank the vast majority of the A-grade mech pilots of my old class on this day. I have done this despite being held back by my B- genetic aptitude."

"Ohhh... that is impressive! How hard do you need to study to do as good as you, major?"

"There is more to piloting mechs than studying." The man responded. "I am not qualified to give you any actual study advice. We do not even know if you will be able to develop the right genetic aptitude. If you are among the small proportion of 10-year olds who are eligible to enroll in a mech academy, then my personal advice to you is to seek out competition as much as possible. There is no better motivator to polish your skills than to suffer the sting of defeat in duels against your fellow classmates. Each of you have attended similar lessons, so each of you have a good chance to defeat your peers. If you are unable to do so, then you only have yourself to blame. If you do not want this to happen, then just get good."

Just get good. That was easy enough, right?