The Mech Touch

After a long wait for many people, the time had come for the LMC to hold its latest event!

Millions of eager humans left their hotels and other abodes in the morning.

Although the product reveal was not scheduled to start until noon, they had all been advised to arrive hours in advance due to all of the time needed to process the incoming arrivals.

Many shuttles and other vehicles steadily converged on one of the central portions of Bortele's primary settlement.

The Larkinson Clan had reserved the largest mech arena on Bortele III for its own use!

Ordinary exhibition halls could no longer accommodate the huge public interest in Ves' first commercial work since the start of the Hyper Generation.

This was why the Larkinsons and the mechers had chosen to hold the event at the famous Phoca Arena.

As the largest and most spacious mech arena on Bortele III, Phoca Arena could easily accommodate 10 million guests by default, and could hold many more by adding in a lot of floating seats!

The fighting grounds of Phoca Arena were so enormous that it was usually partitioned into multiple smaller arenas during ordinary days.

The only times when the enormous oval-shaped arena turned into a single battleground was when entire mech companies fought against each other in glorious tournaments!

During the last week, Phoca Arena had undergone a lot of reorganization. New stages had been built and a lot of additional protective measures had been added as well.

The Red Association installed a lot of expensive space suppressors, azure shield generators, power generators and other hardware.

While the mechers would take back all of these costly assets when the product reveal had come to an end, the cost of ramping up security for this event was not low!

That did not stop them from going through with this. They did not even expect for the Larkinsons to pay the bill.

A lot of clever and observant people picked up the message that the Red Association tried to convey.

The mechers considered Ves to be one of their own! As an honorary member of the Red Association, it was natural for the mechers to take charge of his security!

This product reveal was not just an opportunity for Ves to show off his design prowess.

It was also a way for the mechers to flex their power and take advantage of Ves' momentum!

"I don't really get it." One of the more ordinary invited guests spoke as he waited in line outside of the enormous structure of Phoca Arena. "Is Professor Larkinson a mecher or an independent? The mech patrols consist entirely of RA machines. I haven't seen any mech that belongs to the Larkinson Clan."

"The man is a mecher when it is convenient, but he will have little to do with the Association as soon as he becomes a problem." An older guest responded with a knowing smile. "Rising stars as volatile and unstable as Professor Larkinson are best kept at a distance."

"Is that so? Doesn't that sound unfair? It sounds like the mechers want to have their cake and eat it too. Is this why he is cozying up to the Terrans as well?"

"Probably. The situation is not as one-sided as it looks on the surface. Let's not talk about this any further. It is not wise to dwell on this matter when we are well within monitoring range of the mechers."

"Ah, you are right."

The closer people got to the arena, the less noise they made.

The Red Association was one of the most powerful human organizations in the new frontier. It had not lost any of its prestige despite getting cut off from the Milky Way.

With 5 powerful god pilots at the top, the mechers retained full confidence in their ability to impose their rule over human-occupied space!

While the Terrans and the Rubarthans most certainly wished to challenge this assumption, the vast majority of people who wanted to attend the product reveal had no thoughts of resisting the mechers.

Of course, those who held any serious thoughts about overthrowing the rule of the Red Two never had a chance to get close in the first place!

Unlike prior product reveals organized by the Larkinson Clan, it was no longer feasible to make this occasion open to the public.

Due to all of the security concerns, guests who wanted to witness the highly anticipated presentation in person had to purchase pricey tickets. After that, they needed to subject themselves to thorough background checks.

Once the ticket holders arrived at the venue, they had to leave behind their bodyguards and any unrelated people before going through multiple inspections.

The Red Association already dispatched ample personnel and facilities to conduct extremely thorough examinations.

The mecher security officers did not make any exceptions. They could not be bribed, and anyone who was stupid enough to do so would instantly get locked up and shipped off-planet!

The stringent security checks did not bother most of the invited guests. They understood the need for all of these extra measures and already received plenty of warning in advance.

There were several groups of people who did not feel comfortable at all with the uncompromising security policies.

In particular, all of the second-raters who worked in the upper levels usually possessed a lot of advanced implants. These gadgets contained sensitive data or contained emergency weapon modules.

The RA security officers utilized means to lock any dangerous implants and forcibly scanned any internal data storage device for any dangerous software.

The heavy handedness of these security checks actually deterred a lot of visitors!

This was why many of the leading figures in the surrounding regions declined to attend in person.

Senior statesmen such as President Yenames Clive would never dare to attend this product reveal!

This was a big reason why so many important visitors met with Ves in private the day before. They would much rather discuss business with him in a more relaxed setting.

What was notable about the current setup was that very few first-raters bothered to travel all the way to the Torald Middle Zone and attend the latest product of a tier 3 galactic citizen.

As much as Ves had managed to become a prominent figure in first-class society, his second-class mechs did not arouse much interest in those circles.

Those who came held no interest in the Fey Fianna at all. They only came because they wanted to see a mech designer who had the potential to become a high and mighty Star Designer one day!

Even if the chances of that happening was low, it was still worthwhile for some first-raters to enter Phoca Arena despite having to go through so many invasive security checks.

Naturally, none of the first-raters consisted of anyone important.

As the huge rows of seats in the enormous arena slowly filled up, the enormous grounds were not empty.

Multiple classic Larkinson mechs showed off their capabilities or engaged in mock battles.

From Ferocious Piranhas to Transcendent Punishers, there were plenty of living mechs to captivate the audience.

The only major flaw was that all of them were outdated. None of the mechs incorporated any tech related to the Hyper Generation.

While that disappointed a lot of existing customers who relied on LMC mechs were hoping to receive word of additional updates, their anticipation for the new model grew even more.

Of course, their expectations remained relatively restrained due to the odd choice of mech type.

"Drone mechs are not all that practical in the current age. Spurs are too small and fragile to threaten alien warships. Their transphasic energy shields are so damn powerful that they can shrug off any small caliber fire."

"That is not entirely true, brother. Drone mechs have proven to be much more useful when they are deployed against the new alien phasefighters. SKL's most recent Sparrow Storm are able to wear down much of alien small craft by relying on the higher quantities of spurs. With the inclusion of hyper technology, their weak firepower has received an impressive boost. If not for the requirement to install a specialized multitasking implant to pilot the more advanced versions, I would have ordered a batch of Sparrow Storms by this time."

"I admit that the Sparrow Storms are good against phasefighters, but so are many other mechs. The advantage of using the latter is that they can also fight against alien warships. These drone mechs can't do anything usual aside from diverting enemy firepower."

"That is an oversimplification. No sickle mech performs so poorly."

More and more guests arrived by the minute. The seats slowly filled up. Many guests even bought snacks and drinks as if they were about to watch the finals of a massive mech tournament!

As the old but proven Larkinson mechs continued to showcase their various strengths, a calm but uplifting song played in the background.

Projected banners and other symbols of the Larkinson Clan hovered above people's heads.

The emblem of the Golden Cat was practically everywhere. This earned the appreciation of many people who had a soft spot for cats.

They even started to gather around various totems of the Golden Cat that the clan had placed at various positions around the seating areas!

While these totems were not ubiquitous, they granted enough people a feel of what it was like to become a part of the Larkinson Clan.

"So this is their exclusive glow... I wish my application got accepted."

"This is foul and evil brainwashing technology! No cat will convince me to abandon my state and leave my friends behind!"

"What is up with all of the cats? Of all of the symbols the Larkinsons could have used to represent themselves, they picked a domesticated animal of all choices."

"Hey! Don't disparage our furry overlords! Cats are way too cute! I love them all. Joining the Larkinson Clan is a dream come true for every cat lover. One day, I will be able to get in and pet all of the cats!"

As millions began to take their places, the main event drew closer.

The Larkinson mechs slowly ended their demonstrations and gradually started to leave the flat arena grounds.

The lights gradually started to dim while a countdown projected in the center of the enormous arena.

The music started to shift into a rhythm that caused many people to build up more anticipation for what was to come.

Many people began to look forward to what they were about to witness.

The VIPs who purchased the most expensive tickets were all seated at the front rows that were situated closest to the main stage.

Many other people were seated so far away that they could only rely on the projected feeds to observe anything smaller than a mech.

"Are you looking forward to what Professor Larkinson is about to present?" A senior tech developer asked the stranger seated to his left.

"I am. I care little for mechs, but I am intrigued by the 'tech' he has added to his work. The implications of his inventions are far more important than his actual designs."

"I share the same sentiments. Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. Haije Peras. I am the chief developer at a company that is working on developing stronger energy shields."

The other man maintained a placid expression as he shook the developer's hand. "You may call me Caruth Ovis. I am but a small relationship manager at the Rigal-Ovis Trading Company."

"Rigel-Ovis?! You mean the first-class shipping giant?!"

"Our company is not as great as before. With the shutdown of the greater beyonder gate, our cargo vessels on this side are far from enough to maintain our previous market share. Once we reorganized our ships and renegotiated many long-term business contracts, we found ourselves lacking in hulls."

"Too few ships. That problem is all too common in the Red Ocean. At least the company in the old galaxy is still in good shape, not that it is any help to red humanity."

Caruthers Ovis responded with a faint smile "Those who we have left behind are the unfortunate ones in my opinion. They are missing out on so many wonders of the Age of Dawn. Professor Larkinson's latest work is but the latest example of this. I pity them, to be honest."