The Mech Touch

New Constantinople VIII experienced an abnormal climate event that was not supposed to happen!

The Devos Ancient Clan that terraformed the planet and actively regulated its weather in order to produce a stable and comfortable living environment had no warning that a powerful lightning storm would form in a matter of minutes.

More and more authorities became alarmed as the data readings started to paint an increasingly more alarming picture.

The sheer amount of power accumulating inside those dark clouds had already exceeded the planetary records and started to soar into heights that shouldn't even be possible!

At first, the Devosans and other experts suspected that the storms were a form of sabotage or attack.

Perhaps a hidden alien infiltration force had deployed an exotic alien weather machine that caused the weather in a target area to turn into a major hazard.

What reinforced this suspicion in the minds of the local Terrans was that the epicenter of the storm happened to be situated right above Diandi Base! Every Terran knew the VIP who resided in this fairly remote location.

While the defenses of any decent Terran-built base should have been able to resist the power of many possible weather events, the abnormal and purposefully engineering lightning storm was starting to produce readings that were so incredulously high that the Terrans doubted whether their measuring systems were accurate.

Nonetheless, faulty readings or not, this strange lighting storm was definitely shaping up to be powerful enough to cause serious harm if not outright deaths if it formed above Sandan or any other population center!

As the Terrans began to activate emergency measures that were meant to disperse dangerous weather patterns as best as possible, their attempts to take action suddenly ceased when they received a notification from the Red Association.

The Bluejay Fleet up in orbit had sent a strong notification that warned the Terrans to stay away and refrain from interfering in what was currently happening.

"Those cretins! Are these mechers blind? This lightning storm can damage a large amount of infrastructure if it drifts over a nearby settlement."

"Be that as it may, the Red Association has issued a high-priority directive to us. This means that the mechers have signaled their willingness to take direct action to prevent us from gettin involved in any fashion."

"This is a violation of our own sovereignty! New Constantinople is our planet, not theirs!"

Though the Devosans were awfully upset about the RA's unwelcome interference, they ultimately chose to back down and let the mechers deal with this abnormal matter.

Meanwhile, a short distance away from the site that had attracted the lightning storm, a pair of notable spiritual entities manifested themselves underneath the surging dark clouds. The two translucent female figures stared meaningfully at the storm above their heads.

"The power... is greater than anything that I have witnessed." Helena remarked. "My little brother needs help in order to save his work. We should do what we can to mitigate the damage."

"No." The much more powerful spirit stopped Helena from taking action. "The heavens are jealous. My son has brought a mech to life that shouldn't exist. Actions have consequences, and they cannot and should not be avoided. If he wants to become a god among creators, he must face his tribulations head-on and struggle against the forces that seek to put him back into his place."

"But mother! His mech will break if we do not lend a hand! This lightning tribulation is far too powerful. Heaven's punishment is bound to sunder this poor machine within the first three strikes."

"Then so be it." The Superior Mother crossed her arms as she held her decision. "Tribulations exist to eliminate the weak and the unworthy. Failure means that my son has done poorly and that his work is not meant to survive in this reality."

Though Helena understood her mother's logic, she still found it awful to see her brother's hard work get ruined on the moment that he was supposed to welcome his magnificent creation.

"Poor mech..."

"Do not pity the mech or its creator, Helena. All creators must be prepared to endure these tribulations in their struggle to create ever more remarkable works. The more they try to break the rules and reach beyond their limits, the more the heavens will push back against their defiance. Creations that cannot withstand punishment have no right to occupy so many resources and pollute the environment."

While the lightning storm continued to build up, the interference produced by this highly anomalous weather event started to generate more and more interference. It became a lot more difficult to transmit signals and maintain contact in the overcast areas.

Diandi Base happened to suffer the most from this interference effect!

This shouldn't have happened. The former military outpost was equipped with a high-powered communication array that was designed to overcome any jamming or hostile environmental effects.

The only way that the Larkinsons stationed in the base could still maintain outside contact was by using the well-shielded quantum communication node that was buried underground.

It was through this active link that the occupants received an important message from the Bluejay Fleet.

"What?! Are you crazy, Jovy?! You can't teleport my new mech away under these circumstances!"

"It will be perfectly safe." Jovy's shaky projection replied to Ves. "The Orden Hammer has already begun to descend to the surface. She is taking a detour in order to avoid coming into contact with the lightning storm, but once she has come close enough, her remote teleportation system should be able to push through the Interference and teleport your mech to an open field that is right outside your base. For safety's sake, we will refrain from teleporting your precious machine any further."

The Orden Hammer was the name of one of the two light cruisers assigned to the Bluejay Fleet. She was considerably smaller and lighter than the Tarrasque, which meant that she could safely descend from orbit and maintain altitude under atmospheric conditions.

Ves suspected that the Tarrasque was powerful enough to fly in a planetary environment as well, but she would obviously have to strain her flight systems way too much in order to prevent her heavy hull from crash landing.

As Ves considered Jovy's proposal, he briefly swept his gaze around the mech workshop.

The first-class production machines were highly likely to get wrecked if lightning bolts descended from the skies!

While they were certainly capable of withstanding a few hard knocks, Ves did not have any confidence that they could resist the electrical violence that was about to come down from above.

Ves had witnessed this phenomenon several times over his career.

Though rare, each time he managed to trigger a lightning tribulation, the effects and results were always remarkable!

Different from last time, Ves sensed that the storms were much more powerful and violent than the one that he had experienced during his sublimation.

Back when he created a living divine artifact in the form of Veronica, he not only evolved into a higher life state, but accidentally became a phase lord as well!

This magical transformation took place under a long and continuous rain of lightning bolts that went on for an abnormally long time.

It was because of this prior experience that Ves knew that he needed to take the current storm a lot more seriously!

For whatever reason, the act of creating a masterwork mech that could inherently harness the power of the five elements provoked a much more violent reaction!

He could not even begin to figure out this strange logic. The modified Fey Project might have become an amazing mech due to his efforts, but it shouldn't have become strong enough to merit such a powerful response.

Unfortunately, nobody asked for his opinion. The storm showed no sign of abating and could unleash its formidable might at any point of time.

Given how the mech workshop not only contained a large amount of expensive production machines, but also happened to be built underneath a base structure that contained all manner of other expensive lab equipment and sensitive instruments, Ves could not allow his five elements mech to withstand this tribulation at this location!

"Fine. Go ahead and do it. Just make sure you bring my mech far away to avoid any collateral damage."

The Orden Hammer had already been underway before Jovy notified Ves, so it did not take long for the brand new mech to disappear from the mech workshop.

Ves and Alexa had already left the underground facility and quickly moved up until they entered a defense tower that gave them a clear view of the mech that had been translocated a short distance away.

The special mech remained completely silent, but it had already begun to cultivate again.

It was as if the living mech was acutely aware of the threat from above. The altered Fey Project sought to attract and absorb as much elemental energies as possible.

The rate of absorption had escalated so rapidly that the rapidly increasing elemental energies were beginning to exhibit the same unstable reactions as before!

Ves did not have the time to care about the dangers that his new work was incurring. "Can you give us an explanation of what is happening, sir?" Alexa asked with concern. She had grown increasingly more concerned now that she was able to see the growing and darkening clouds above her head.

"Sure, but I only have time to give you a brief overview."

Ves gave her a very truncated explanation on lightning tribulations.

To be honest, he did not know too much about them either. He could only base his understanding off his personal experiences as well as the references contained in the knowledge bestowed by the enlightenment fruits that he had swallowed.

His mother could probably explain a lot more about this mysterious phenomenon, but he had no time to consult her opinion at this time!

"Should we deploy our mechs and our transphasic shields over your Fey Project in order to increase its survival chance?"

Ves shook his head. "No, Alexa. That is not appropriate in this case. I know enough about lightning tribulations that any form of external help will cause the storm to grow even stronger. There are strange rules involved that are designed to close these kinds of loopholes."

The young woman furrowed her brows. "Is it possible to circumvent this condition by mounting an additional power reactor or transphasic shield generator onto its back?"

"That might actually work, but there is no time for us to strengthen our mech any further. I am starting to sense a rapid growth in power. I think the first lightning bolt is about to strike down my mech!"

"Meow!"

"Miaow miaow!"

Lucky and Clixie had slipped inside the control tower at one point. The two cats looked frightened as they both huddled together.

CRACK!

Though Ves had felt it coming, he did not expect the storm to strike at his five elements so soon! A blindingly bright lightning bolt struck the poor mech with great power!

The power of this strike was so formidable that the exterior of the five elements mech had already begun to exhibit light surface damage.

Though the quasi-first-class transphasic hyper armor system held up according to his expectations, Ves did not have any reasons to relax.

This was just the warmup. Ves could clearly feel that the storm was escalating in power. The subsequent lightning strikes were bound to become progressively more powerful. The poor machine's armor system would never be able to resist this onslaught!

"No. I can't let my mech proceed like this!" Ves shouted in panic. "It needs to go online and activate its azure energy shield generator. My work has a significantly higher chance of surviving this event if we can bring it fully online!"

Though Ves was not sure whether this was a good idea, it was the most effective solution he could think of. His new mech was only operating at a fraction of its potential while it remained in a dormant state!