The Mech Touch

A seemingly simple solution became invalid because of a stupid reason.

Why couldn't the Eden Institute enroll a bunch of dwarven mech design students?

Did it matter that much that these dwarves simply did not look as beautiful and perfect as the rest of the student body?

This was one of the most nonsensical reasons for rejection that he had ever heard!

According to his own views on the mech industry, the only criteria that mech designers cared about was whether their works fulfilled the needs of their clients.

It made no difference whether a mech was designed by a human or a dwarf.

What actually mattered was their skills, their experience, their design styles and other profession-related parameters.

Mech designers were not actors or politicians. They could do their jobs just fine if they chose to lock themselves up in their design labs.

While looks could certainly play a certain role in marketing, it would be easy enough for dwarves to hire a bunch of pretty faces to act as their spokespeople to the public.

Perhaps Ves would do so as well once he became older and grew tired of this chore. Addressing the public could be exhausting when he constantly had to be careful about what he was allowed to reveal.

As Ves asked a few more questions about the treatment that dwarves received in Terran space, his expression continued to fall.

The high priest of the Eternal Vulcan Church expected to be met with such a response.

"This is the life of a dwarf. No matter whether we are third-raters or first-raters, we will always be met with scorn and derision from the tall folk. Nothing we do can change their minds and earn their respect. I do not particularly blame most of them. Our people have diverged too much from general humanity. No matter what other people may say, no human will ever call a dwarf his brother, and vice versa. They are much more inclined to treat each other as individuals of separate species."

This was the core ideology of the Vulcanites. The Iron Emperor had already made it clear to Ves that dwarvenkind should not even be mentioned in the same breath as humankind!

Ves did not want to discuss this contentious topic in further detail. He accepted the story given by the dwarven priest.

"I see. Since your dwarven mech designers won't be able to receive fair treatment from the Terrans, you would rather send them directly to me. Do you expect me to treat your people better?"

"Most definitely!" Joja Firebreath responded with much greater enthusiasm than before. "You are Vulcan's envoy and the living embodiment of his power over mechs! Our eternal sovereign has personally commended you for your honesty and integrity. Not every dwarf believes you are kind to our people due to actions that you have made in the past, but how can man who carries Vulcan's blessing ever be an enemy of dwarvenkind? We have full confidence that you and your Larkinsons will treat our dwarven mech designers as equals rather than subhumans."

Ves couldn't help but take on an odd expression. To be honest, he never expected Rion Aaden to ascribe so many virtues to him. Was it truly a good idea to let him become responsible for a bunch of dwarves?

"I am not entirely comfortable with this idea." He said. "If you want me to guide these dwarven mech designers, they need to do more than study. They need to participate in my living mech design projects as assistants. While I do not have any objections to that if they were members of my Larkinson Clan, that is not the case this time."

The high priest raised his meaty hand in a placating gesture. "There is no need to assign them any important work. They are not spies and we do not want to give you the impression that they are sent to steal from you. It is more than acceptable to block access to more sensitive mech designs and technologies. Our suggestion is that you assign them to work on less sensitive and important mech design projects. Your mech company has many commercial mech models that are so common that they hardly hold any secrets anymore. As long as our dwarven prospects can obtain enough guidance and experience on living mechs, we will be happy with the outcome."

That sounded rather reasonable.

"What can you tell me about these mech designers? How good are they? What do they excel in? How many do you intend to send? How long do you want them to work in my mech company?"

"We do not ask too much from you. We are considering 5 candidates. Each of them are among the best first-class Novice Mech Designers that have graduated from our institutions. Our mech design universities may not be as good as the Eden Institute, but we have our own strengths. Each of our Novices know how to design proper first-class multipurpose mechs, though they are most accustomed to designing them in the dwarven humanoid form. We have not yet decided how long they should stay in your clan, but we hope that they can assist you for at least 3 years."

Intriguing. Unlike his earlier talk with Samandra Avikon, Ves felt much more comfortable dealing with Joja Firebreath.

This was a straightforward negotiation on a proposal that did not contain anything objectionable.

Though Ves did not want to let in too many outsiders who could learn all kinds of stuff from him, it should be easy enough to restrict their access to anything he was not willing to share.

He understood the value of obtaining five first-class mech designers of higher pedigrees.

There was no doubt that the Eternal Vulcan Empire would be sending five of the most talented and promising mech designers. Ves could already tell from this pitch that the Vulcanites deeply wanted to gain the ability to design their own living mechs.

For what purpose, Ves did not care. At this stage of his progression, it would be better if more and more mech designers raised the presence of living mechs!

There was no way that Ves could find the time or motivation to design mechs for the dwarves. It was a good alternative for their own mech industry to solve this problem in their stead.

After all, only dwarven mech designers knew best what their own people wanted to pilot.

Ves clearly could not do as well considering that his understanding of dwarves turned out to be inadequate.

In any case, the quality of these visiting mech designers should never be low.

Even Novices could be powerful as long as they were fully fledged first-class mech designers!

Ves had met many of their kind at the Eden Institute. Even if they were not as good as Alexa, they should be almost just as skilled, knowledgeable and productive!

He would definitely be able to update all of his outdated lastgen mech lines within two years with all of this additional help!

His gaze grew sharper. He was more than willing to help the Vulcanites out, but that did not mean he wanted to trade away his services for free.

The privilege of studying under a tier 3 galactic citizen should never be given away so cheaply!

If the Vulcanites did not give enough concessions to Ves to make this trade worthwhile, then he would not be inclined to accept this deal.

This was despite the fact that he had already begun to look forward to working a bunch of dwarven mech designers to the bone!

"What is the Eternal Vulcan Empire willing to trade?"

"We are willing to give you a number of concessions, ranging from technologies, collaborations, rare materials and even starships."

Ves could easily obtain most of this elsewhere, but the last one was different!

There was no denying that the Larkinson Clan needed starships the most!

"Are you willing to buy my services for a first-class fleet carrier?"

"Unacceptable! Our dwarven people are isolated and struggling. In order to fulfill our ultimate cause, we have paid far too much to gather our diaspora and give them new homes and workplaces. All of this investment has emptied much of our coffers and left us short of everything. Each of our starships, particularly our first-class ones, are priceless to us. A first-class fleet carrier is our most strategic asset that we rely on to defend ourselves. We are not as rich and profligate as the Terran ancient clans. We cannot easily make up for a single capital ship."

Though Ves deliberately tried to keep his distance from anything related to the Eternal Dwarven Empire, that did not mean he had no clue of how large it had grown.

The Iron Emperor had done such a good job at gathering dwarves across human space that he had built up a scary following!

Even if most of his subjects were second-raters and third-raters, there were more than first-raters among them to turn his Eternal Vulcan Empire into a power that was no less than an average first-rate colonial state!

"My time and attention is precious." Ves bluntly stated. "If your empire is unwilling to pass on enough remuneration, then I do not feel inclined to accommodate your young talents. A first-class fleet carrier may be of considerable cost to your empire, but the fact that you have capital-grade shipyards that can construct more of them means that a single one is not as vital as you claim. Your dwarven state should be more than capable of transferring one into my clan. By the way, I don't want a centuries-old rust bucket that is multiple generations out of date. I will only accept a fleet carrier that was designed and constructed during the Phasewater Generation."

"That is outrageous, professor! With all due respect, I believe that not even Vulcan will approve of such a lopsided trade. The value of your teachings is great, but the value of a modern first-class fleet carrier is much greater under the current circumstances!"

"Oh really now?"

Ves smirked as he lowered his arm, pulled out the Hammer of Brilliance from his toolbelt and caused it to flare!

As the High Priest of the Eternal Vulcan Church, Joja Firebreath was most certainly familiar with the glow of his god!

The dwarf immediately made a few ceremonial gestures before bowing in respect.

"H-Hail Vulcan!"

Ves thought about letting Vulcan manifest right inside this secure chamber in order to hammer home the effect, but that would be too excessive.

This was already enough.

"Do not underestimate the value of receiving my guidance." Ves spoke in a softer tone after he slowly put his hammer back into its place. "Your dwarven talents will be working with me on a frequent basis. I will have to teach them a lot about actual living mechs, if only to prevent them from botching their work. I can personally guarantee you that I will teach them more about living mechs than what I have passed on in the course that I am teaching at the Eden Institute. You do not have to be afraid that I will give them a few words before neglecting them for the rest of their stay. I will be attentive and earnest in fulfilling my end of the bargain. You will not give up a first-class fleet carrier in vain."

That caused Joja Firebreath to fall into silence. The troubled expression showed that he felt awfully conflicted about this trade.

"I do not have the authorization to accept these terms on behalf of the Eternal Vulcan Empire." The dwarf eventually said. "I will need to return and make contact with our eternal sovereign. Only our highest leader possesses the right to approve the concession that you have demanded."

Ves smiled. "That's okay. There is plenty of time. Do not expect me to lower my demands, though. If your leader isn't willing to give me a first-class fleet carrier, then do not bother coming back. Is that clear?"