The Mech Touch

Ves did not have the right to make decisions on behalf of a peak ace pilot.

If General Axelar Streon wanted to stake all of his chances on a single throw of the dice, then that was his decision.

He understood the pros and cons of every possible approach quite well.

He knew that there were good reasons why most pilots like him embraced the more modern approach of going the four phases of the Mech Body Merger Process in four measured steps.

However, Axelar willingly threw aside this reliable option and embraced the suggestion made by Gaia without hesitation!

"To become a god, you must have the heart of a god." The powerful pilot lectured to the mech designer. "If a challenge resonates with you, then how can you live with yourself by rejecting it? This may sound idiotic to you, but every pilot will agree with me when they hear my words. Besides, the significance of this proposal goes far beyond my own advancement. Think of the impact on society if I succeed. If we have successfully stolen an alien homeworld and converted it into a copy of Old Earth, how do you think this will affect both red humanity and the native aliens?"

If Axelar and his Terran troops actually managed to pull off this grand heist, then the consequences would be massive!

Regardless if it resulted in the ascension of a new god pilot, Ves could already predict that red humanity would gain an enormous boost of confidence from winning a huge and unforgettable victory.

This was extremely important as it was conceivable that the upcoming intensification of the war would lead to massive losses over time.

If the aliens made good use of their advantage in numbers and made consistent gains by waging a war of attrition, then the morale of red humanity would steadily sink.

The more human forces got defeated and the more human colonies succumbed to alien invasions, the more people lost hope.

A single heroic effort could turn this trend around!

The daring planetary heist might not hurt the orven warmaking potential too much, but it undoubtedly represented a psychological coup against the aliens!

Many more people would become inspired by General Axelar's great success and regain the hope that they so desperately needed to fight for a better future!

On the other hand, the aliens would also suffer a severe blow, the orvens most of all if their home planet had been targeted.

Losing such a critically symbolic asset would definitely cause their morale to plunge!

It would show that red humanity was not to be trifled with and that it would cost them greatly if they persisted in the war.

The heavy blow might even spark discord between the different alien races. If cracks started to form in their relationships, then additional pressure might cause the aliens to cooperate less sincerely with each other, causing them to weaken even further.

Axelar Streon would be able to earn most of the credit for making all of this happen. His contribution to red humanity would become so great that he would become one of the greatest leaders of this new age!

Ves understood now why Axelar had become so fixated in Gaia's plan despite the fact that she could gain a lot of benefits while doing relatively little in return.

On the surface, the deal seemed lopsided.

On a deeper level, both sides got what they wanted out of this deal. Whether one party got ahead of the other was immaterial so long as they both became satisfied in the end.

"If you settle for this course of action, you will have to cooperate with Gaia from beginning to end. Are you sure you want to do this, general?"

The ace pilot nodded in determination. "I am certain. Do not be concerned. I am not naive. I will take the appropriate precautions, though I do not expect that they will be necessary. I have taken her measure. More than that, her gains are contingent on my own gains. If this planetary heist fails, the Terran Alliance is unlikely to embark on this effort again."

"I wish you good luck, then."

The meeting slowly came to a close after that. They had already talked long enough. General Axelar was eager to put his ambitious new plan together while Ves had to take on other obligations.

Before Ves bid goodbye, he wanted to take care of one important job.

He did not forget about the Ouroboros. The powerful ace mech possessed many shortcomings, but not all of them were deep-rooted to the point where Ves couldn't directly affect anymore.

"I can't make any major revisions on your living mech, but I can update its living traits." Ves said. "You can consider it as a long overdue software update. All of my current living mechs are operating on version 3.0, while the 'software' of your Ouroboros is still stuck on a mutated edition of version 1.0. By bringing your old machine up to date, I can not only plug a lot of easy gaps in its living operation, but I can also lift the ceiling that has held back its evolution all of the time. I expect that it can become a third order living mech in a short amount of time, which has massive implications for your machine."

He gave his former Mastery host a quick rundown of all of the beneficial changes that he could impart with relatively little effort.

He planned to impart a modified version of the Lesser and Greater Larkinson Metal Guardian Mantra into the Ouroboros. This would enable the machine to cultivate and grow stronger at a much faster pace. The modifications he applied would even let the living mech absorb more creation energy on its own accord, though the efficiency of this process should not be great due to various limitations.

Ves also intended to remove all of the barriers that prevented the Ouroboros from becoming a higher order life form. Once the Ouroboros evolved into a third order living mech, it would finally become a fully sentient life form that could cooperate with Axelar on an entirely different level.

In addition to that, Ves also intended to designate Gaia as the old machine's design spirit. This would give the Ouroboros another way to gradually reverse its current trend towards destruction while receiving additional guidance and supervision.

The changes that Ves intended to apply to the Ouroboros were a bit more than that, but he didn't bother to explain these minor details to Axelar.

The Terran leader looked both impressed and confused. "They do not sound like minor changes to me. If your words are true, then my Ouroboros will soon be able to complete a major metamorphosis that will increase its capabilities by leaps and bounds!"

"That is true, but from my perspective I am only bringing the Ouroboros up to the level of my other high-ranking living mechs. This is not a feat that deserves any distinction."

"I am already grateful for this. I will not let you work in vain. You shall have the friendship and gratitude of the Streon Ancient Clan, though it is best if we do not expose too much of cooperation to the public. We cannot let too many people know of my intention of completing a great deed."

Ves frowned. "The Terran Alliance is only being presided over by a single god pilot at the moment. Red humanity urgently needs more protectors. Are there actually people that hate you so much that they will seek to ruin your chance in spite of the damage it will do to our civilization?"

"Do not underestimate the selfishness of other humans, professor. It has happened enough times during the Age of Mechs. The urgency is much greater under the current circumstances, but we are still mostly the same people as before. I cannot rule out that the Rubarthans, the mechers or even other Terrans will take actions to suppress my plan. You should be able to discern their possible motives, so I shall not elaborate on them. While my plan cannot remain hidden forever, the longer it takes before it becomes exposed, the greater the certainty that I will be able to start the operation without suffering from too much interference."

Ves' heart had sunk when he heard this. He didn't really care about the power balance between the major human groups. If the Terrans became stronger by welcoming another god pilot, then that was good for red humanity as well!

Rather than try to sabotage each other, these silly groups were better off if they put more effort into nurturing their own god pilots!

Fortunately, Ves did not have to deal with all of this stuff. His only responsibility aside from introducing Gaia was to do whatever he could to fix the Ouroboros. Axelar and his people could deal with everything else!

Ves began to work. He entered the cockpit and started to manipulate the strong spiritual design with great care.

This was not a simple job. Ves had to employ the help of Blinky to push through the powerful design spirit's defenses and apply targeted changes.

It was not easy to apply changes in this case as Ves could only make peripheral changes.

He felt multiple times that if he attempted to alter a more sensitive part of the Ouroboros' spiritual foundation, he would trigger a defense mechanism that would boot him away!

Fortunately, Ves figured out plenty of ways to circumvent these adverse conditions. A qualified engineer or mech designer could always run rings around fixed processes so long as they possessed enough expertise.

It still took two hours to apply most of the upgrades that he wanted to impart. The minor revision was a success as far as he was concerned.

"I haven't fully been able to bring your Ouroboros up to standard." Ves carefully told the eager-looking general. "I think you should already be able to sense the various changes that I have made, but you should know that they are only a fraction as strong as they should. This is because I was forced to 'graft' many of my additions to the periphery of your mech. I hadn't been able to implement serious changes to its root."

"Will this lead to any issues?"

"Maybe. The main point is that the living properties of the Ouroboros won't be as strong as they should be for a machine of this caliber. Let me give you an example. Theoretically, your ace mech should have turned into a third order living mech by now. Instead, it appears that it will only be able to attain this state in a few weeks."

"Will these delays persist?"

"I am not sure." Ves shrugged. "My guess is that your Ouroboros will probably grow at a much slower pace. This may actually be better for your particular machine. Your living mech has built up an enormous accumulation, so much so that your partner cannot digest at once."

General Axelar looked a lot less upset after hearing this. "It is strange to hear that my Ouroboros is weak and incapable of enduring too much pressure, but I feel you may be right.

It was good for Ves to gain confirmation.

"Growth should never be rushed if possible. It may be better to drag out the transformation process so that your mech can gradually grow into the most living mech in the present time. I can assure you that I am pretty sure your Ouroboros will gradually reach its new peak in a few years. That should give you enough time to prepare for your hoisting operation."

The two talked a bit more about various issues related to living mechs. Ves wanted to keep track of the growth of the Ouroboros if possible, but this would be difficult when General Axelar had to return to the territory of the Streon Ancient Clan.

Still, Ves did not think the Ouroboros would need any adjustments or corrections after he applied his changes.

If anything serious happened, Axelar could always return so that Ves could perform another checkup on his living mech.