The Mech Touch

"Why must I wait so long for my expert mech to get upgraded to a proper first-class ace mech? Don’t you know how critical the coming months may be, nephew?! Red humanity has been driven back to its final defensive line. If ace pilots such as myself aren’t able to unleash our full strength, the enemy phase lords and warships will breach our fortification and put all of our clansmen in danger! The Larkinsons of Davute will be forced to abandon the community they built and become space refugees!" Your next chapter awaits on

"What’s so bad about becoming a space refugee?" Ves shrugged his shoulders. "At least they are able to run away from the enemy. Haven’t you learned the lesson from our repeated persecution in the old galaxy? No fixed location is truly secure. What is happening right now is like a rerun of the Sand War but on a much larger and grandiose scale. Those who survived were those who possessed their own starships or had easy access to them. Don’t worry. We still have enough warships to accommodate every member of the Larkinson Clan, though don’t expect too much comfort as there isn’t enough premium living space at the moment."

The physical projection of the new ’Saint General’ shook his head. "Since you don’t care for the plight of our branch members, let us set this issue aside. My remaining point still stands. As an ace pilot, I cannot keep piloting an expert mech. I appreciate the work that you and your wife has done with the Lionheart, but the fact of the matter is that it has now turned into a cage that is preventing me from exercising my new Saint Kingdom to the fullest. My resonance growth has stalled as well. The longer I remain in this condition, the more I will miss out on the rapid growth period that happens after every breakthrough."

Ves heard Ark’s complaints, but he remained unmoved.

"Look, Ark, if you were the only high-ranking pilot in our clan that has a demand for a new or upgraded machine, then my wife and I will be happy to prioritize the Lionheart Mark II Project. However, your breakthrough came at an inconvenient time as far as logistics goes. Our Design Department is already committed to working on and completing the Minerva Mark II Project, the Riot Mark III Project and the Promethea Mark II Project. We are not going to disappoint Saint Commander Casella Ingvar and Saint Isobel Kotin by delaying the completion of their new machines by half a year or so. They became saints earlier than you. Their growth has stalled much longer than you, and I don’t hear them complaining to me a few days after becoming saints. Why don’t you take a page out of their book and learn to be patient?"

Ark could not justify the decision to place the Lionheart Mark Project ahead of the other ongoing ace mech design projects.

"Then why not reschedule the Riot Mark III Project instead? Venerable Rosa Orfan has been waiting for a long time to receive an upgraded expert mech, but she can wait a little longer as well. Our clan needs an effective ace mech more than an effective expert mech, especially during a period as turbulent and dangerous as this. I will personally speak to Venerable Orfan about this. I am sure she will take the greater situation into account and agree to a swap."

"No."

"Are you being serious, Ves?"

"Yes. I am being very serious." Ves said with a stern expression. "Ace pilot or not, you are overstepping your boundaries, my dear uncle. As far as I know, Gloriana is in charge of the Design Department. She has final say on our project scheduling. There is only one higher authority that she has to answer to, and that is me. Both of us have already discussed our planning for the coming two years. Neither of us have any intention of changing our schedule any further even if more breakthroughs occur later on. As mech designers, we take our commitments seriously. When we start a mech design project for any client, we have a professional obligation to work on it and complete it in a timely manner. Venerable Orfan may still be just an expert pilot, but she is a Larkinson, just like you. She deserves to be treated with dignity and respect."

"She is injured and her expert mech is broken."

"So?" Ves raised his eyebrow. "She is currently undergoing a high standard of treatment. She’ll be up and running within half a year at most. While that is great, that is still a long period of inactivity. It would make her much happier if she knows that she will not have to wait much longer to pilot a fully functional expert mech that is fully repaired and upgraded. Besides, she has made so many gains in the last battle that when she finally obtains a new expert mech, her chances of breaking through in the next battles should be a lot higher than usual."

"You are being too optimistic." General Ark shook his head. "I have piloted my Lionheart over the course of many battles, but I only managed to overcome my bottleneck now. Receiving a new and improved machine is not a guarantee for breakthroughs. What happened to Saint Davia Stark is the exception rather than the rule."

"That may be true in the past, but I am not so sure that it will hold in the future." Ves smirked. "The timing of Stark and your own breakthroughs is quite suspicious, you know. Both of you have made profound attainments in raising your Heaven score according to Ketis’ theory. If there is any validity to her theoretical model, then Rosa Orfan should be able to overcome her bottleneck pretty easily, especially when she is able to raise her Earth score with the Riot Mark III. Our clan will gain more benefits by welcoming an extra ace pilot as opposed to delivering an ace mech."

Ark frowned deeper. "The fate of Davute may rest on how quickly I can unleash my full strength as an ace pilot."

"The needs of the Larkinson Clan come first. Please get your priorities in order. The Colonial Federation of Davute can solve its own problems. We are not responsible for saving it. Besides, the current iteration of your Lionheart is hardly as weak as the First Sword Mark II. It is a quasi-first-class high-tier expert mech that we have deliberately designed to have a bit of headroom in case you advance to the rank of ace pilot. The leap in combat power between the Lionheart Mark I and the Mark II will not be as significant as the leap in combat power between the Minerva Mark I and its soon-to-be-completed Mark II iteration. Your machine is much more modern and powerful, so even if it is a cage that constrains your strength, it is a very luxurious one if I have to say so myself."

The two kept arguing over this issue, but Ark was not able to rely on nepotism or family affection to cut in line.

Ves remained unmoved by his uncle’s repeated pleas!

The Saint General’s expression did not look good by the time he finally acknowledged the reality of the situation.

"Fine. If this is how you want to play it, then maybe I should look towards commissioning other mech designers to upgrade my machine. There are plenty of Master Mech Designers who are eager to invest their best tech and materials in a work that will become famous and celebrated throughout human-occupied space."

"You are welcome to turn to others, but I will have to remind you of the terms and conditions of using the Lionheart." Ves nonchalantly shrugged. "Perhaps you have overlooked this little fact, but the expert mech that has massively contributed to your success as of late is not your property. Technically speaking, the Lionheart is 100 percent owned by the Larkinson Clan. In other words, it is mine. You don’t have the right to just shove it to third parties and tell them to upgrade it on your behalf. It will completely ruin our vision and transform it into other people’s work."

Ark’s expression turned even uglier. "Then sell it to me. I am more than capable of paying its market value for it. If not, I can ask other backers such as Davute to assist with the financing."

Ves couldn’t help but feel disappointed in his uncle. As powerful as he may have become, he still possessed dreadfully poor understanding of mech designers.

"This is not about money, Ark. It’s about art and principles. The Lionheart is not for sale. I can promise you that the Lionheart Mark II will be great. Your machine will be converted to a full archemech, just like the Amaranto Mark III. We are also thinking of acquiring another Mentalist Crystal to enhance your ability to play the crowd. We have all of this and more in store for your ace mech, but all good things take time to come together. My wife and I do not want to cut any corners and rush this project in any way. I promise you that the long wait will be worth it, just like how Saint Tusa is having the time of his life after receiving his Dark Zephyr Mark III."

If possible, General Ark would truly like to pilot the Lionheart Mark II as described by his nephew, but if he had to wait more than a year to obtain a machine that he needed tomorrow, then it would be unbearable for him to get stalled when the Red War was just about to reach a critical phase!

"Can’t you apply a stopgap solution?" Ark requested. "It shouldn’t take much time for you to swap the expert mech-grade resonating exotics with ace mech-grade equivalents."

"You are vastly oversimplifying the effort it takes to convert an expert mech to an ace mech. It is not as straightforward as that. What you have just described is just one important step in a multi-step plan. You can’t ignore the other factors, or else the Lionheart will become horribly unbalanced and may even break after you accidentally overexert your machine. It will still take at least a month or two to complete a shallower upgrade. This is not a worthwhile investment from the perspective of the Design Department, so you will just have to wait in line."

"Is there anything else you can do to help me grow stronger faster?"

Ves let out an exasperated breath. "Look, if you are really eager to pilot an ace mech in a short timeframe, then you can commission a generic but serviceable ace mech from Davute, the Red Association or any of your other contacts. An ace mech designed from scratch in so little time will be a poor match to your capabilities. The piloting experience will also be completely different due to the fact that it is not a post-living mech like the Lionheart. However, as long as it meets all of the essential criteria of an ace mech, your Saint Kingdom will no longer be constrained, so your resonance strength should be able to grow freely." ꭆÂꞐȰ₿Êᶊ

This was a perfectly viable if wasteful solution. There was no rule that prevented ace pilots from using multiple machines. They often did when they upgraded from an older machine to a new ace mech.

However, Ark was very reluctant to separate himself from the Lionheart. It may not be as new anymore, but he didn’t think that the products developed by other mech designers could fit him better!

"I will look into this suggestion further." Ark said in a noncommittal tone. "Regardless of what I choose, I still expect you to work on the Lionheart Mark II Project and deliver my upgraded machine no later than one-and-a-half years."

"That is a difficult request to fulfill." Ves frowned. "I can only promise you that we will get it done in 2 years."

"..."

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