The Mech Touch

Though Ves hesitated for a time, he eventually accepted the unknown noble's offer to walk up to his private box.

Ves, Nitaa, the unknown noble and his two bodyguards all moved up the stairs after a cursory inspection. The auction hall workers immediately let the disguised noble pass after they checked his pass.

Evidently, the fellow that invited Ves upstairs was an honored guest of the Circle of Mota.

Such an eminent person's identity or background must not be weak. What bothered Ves was that such people shouldn't have a lot of difficulty in convincing a Journeyman to complete a design-related job.

Yet instead of approaching more familiar mech designers, the unknown nobleman instead attempted to solicit him for a private commission.

Considering their current venue and the amount of care the nobleman showed in bringing up the topic, the job should have some issues. Serious and illegal issues. Why else would Journeyman refuse to accept a quick commission that earned them the equivalent of 24 billion bright credits?

There had to be a lot of issues concerning this job! Even if the noblemen of the Sentinel Kingdom were very wealthy, no one slung around 24 billion credits like candy!

It sounded far too good to be true!

Perhaps the only reason why Ves continued to entertain the idea was because his intuition did not signal any insincerity in the offer.

That was enough for Ves to stick around. It was unlikely he would receive a similarly-generous offer from someone else anyway. He still hadn't accepted any deals so he had the right to walk away anytime he wished.

As they reached the shielded and quiet box, they sat at the adjustable chairs and began to chat.

"It's tiresome for me to think of you as 'the mech designer'." The nobleman began. "You can call me Finlay. What about you?"

"Call me.. Rho-Sigma." Ves spontaneously blurted out.

He wanted to reveal as little as possible, so stringing along two random letters together sounded as good as anything.

That the letters happened to be 'rho' and 'sigma' was purely a coincidence, of course.

"Typical." Finlay shrugged just enough for his shadow attire to jerk. "You people always invent sciency names for yourselves."

"That's because they are common words in our profession. Every mech designer throughout the galaxy uses them as symbols in their work."

Darkness obscured the main hall beyond the one-way wall. Ves only perceived the outlines of many hundreds of seats stretching out below, with a lot of space in between. Paths led up to an empty auction stage big enough to accommodate several mechs.

With so much space, the auction hall could have hosted tens of thousands of people, though in reality only a few hundred bidders and their entourage would actually enter and take part.

"So where do you come from, 'Rho-Sigma'? While you hide your traits fairly well, it's obvious that you're not a commoner or noble from our state. You would have reacted differently to me if that was the case. Either that, or you're very good at pretending."

"Who knows. Stop fishing for information."

"It was worth a try." Finlay mirthfully said, though the distortion of his helmet did not convey his feelings that well.

Ves did not care too much that 'Finlay' found out that he was a foreigner. He wasn't a spy like Calabast who could seamlessly integrate in a completely foreign culture.

As an educational and research planet, Cinach VIII attracted a lot of mech design students as well as mech designers. A significant proportion of teachers and researchers were foreigners. Nonetheless, the amount of foreign mech designers currently on Cinach VIII who also happened to be Journeyman did not amount to a high number.

This meant that Finlay could narrow down the possible identities of Ves to a single list of names.

Of course, Ves could also be a skilled actor who pretended to be a foreigner. Finlay still had to take that possibility into account.

Nitaa already signalled an obscure hand signal towards Ves. It was another predetermined code that stated that Ves should hold himself back.

She even spoke out. "Tell us of the job you have in mind for Rho-Sigma."

"And who might you be, big guy?"

"Big Guy."

Finlay was momentarily rendered speechless. "What an.. inventive moniker."

"Speak up. You have left us in the dark long enough."

"Oh well." Finlay sighed. "Here goes. The job entails two companies worth of mechs. The mechs are rather unusual and not very common around these parts."

"How many mech models are we talking about? The more models there are, the longer it takes for me to modify their designs."

"You don't have to worry about that. The mechs are all identical. One model."

"Just one?" Ves skeptically asked.

Almost every mech company featured a mixed mech roster. Perhaps some exceptions existed where multiple companies were meant to fight alongside each other. In those cases, using one model for every mech company wasn't as stupid.

Still, for two mech companies to consist of just a single mech model sounded quite far-fetched!

"Tell me about the model."

"They're doom crawlers. They're very expensive, but they're worth it. The mechs pack a very strong punch and they can take a lot of hits. See for yourself."

Finlay projected a doom crawler model from his comm and also listed out its spec sheet.

Apparently, the model was called the Spyre Helix, and its design was an absolute beast!

Doom crawlers were some of the most notorious heavy mech types in existence. The mech model that Ves currently studied did not put its mech type to shame!

The overall shape of the Spyre Helix resembled that of a six-legged tarantula scaled up to the size of an office building. Its legs looked meaty and thick because of all the heavy armor plating they had been clad with. They were incredibly resilient against damage!

The six legs held aloft a large and heavily-armored torso that had been designed to accommodate an entire arsenal's worth of weapon hardpoints.

Four large ballistic cannons provided devastating firepower at medium-to-long ranges.

Eight smaller laser rifle barrels placed throughout the chassis provided all-round protection against closer and swifter threats.

Two missile launchers installed at the top of the mech added a considerable amount of versatility.

The incredible amount of weapons mounted on top of a heavy mech that already bore a significant amount of armor sounded prohibitively expensive!

However, as Ves studied the spec sheet closer, he realized that while the Spyre Helix was a genuine heavy mech, its actual construction was quite economic!

The reason why the doom crawler became so large was because it was made up of relatively cheap materials!

He quickly estimated the price range of the doom crawler.

400-500 million bright credits. That was how much each mech cost. That placed the Spyre Helix on the cheaper end of the doom crawler mech type.

Nonetheless, that did not detract from the Spyre Helix's capacity for destruction. A force of eighty doom crawlers was enough to flatten the landbound defenses of a minor planet! This was some serious firepower!

After studying the Spire Helix's design some more, he noted a few remarkable details that suggested a very disturbing picture.

"The Spyre Helix is an illicit mech design. I highly doubt the MTA ever approved of its design."

"Correct."

Ves recently finished an illicit mech design project himself, so he knew what it was like to design a mech that did not abide by the MTA's strictures.

"The Spyre Helix is a pirate design. It's designed and meant to be used by pirates. Nyxian pirates."

"That is also correct. I'm impressed you realized this so quickly. Perhaps I approached the right mech designer after all."

"These mechs are already very deadly, Finlay. The pirate designer who is responsible for creating the Spyre Helix is very competent."

So far, the design appeared to be the work of a very experienced Journeyman. Not only that, but Ves also guessed that the pirate designer used to work for the military or a company with close ties to the military before he or she went rogue.

Such mech designers ought to be very infamous and very dangerous. Ves began to harbor more doubts.

"These doom crawlers must be very hard to acquire. I don't think there's any manufacturing facility in the Sentinel Kingdom that is daring enough to fabricate these mechs in such quantities."

"You'd be surprised what you can get away with on an uninhabited star system. Besides, we already bought these doom crawlers just a few days ago from the Circle of Mota."

"They are here?!"

"Yes, but stored somewhere safe."

A lot more questions emerged. Why did the Circle of Mota ship so many illicit mechs onto Cinach VIII? What did Finlay intend to do with these incredibly destructive pirate mechs?

However, even if he harbored a lot of questions, Ves knew better than to voice them. Whatever purpose Finlay or his superiors had in store for the doom crawlers, it must be something extremely delicate.

Nonetheless, he still needed at least some answers.

"What do you wish to upgrade?"

"I'd like to upgrade its weapon systems and some other aspects." Finlay answered with a gesture. "Their existing armament is already powerful, but I require more. The doom crawlers need to be capable of unleashing great destruction."

"The current weapon loadout of the Spyre Helix is already optimal. It's enough to fend off a large range of landbound and aerial mechs."

"That's the problem, you see. The doom crawlers are great against mechs, but we are targeting more than mechs."

"What do you need, exactly? Be more specific."

"The doom crawlers have to be capable of wide-area infrastructure destruction. We want you to pull out all of the stops. We've already gathered some materials and some component designs to replace the existing weapon systems of the doom crawlers, but finding a Journeyman who is willing to incorporate them in an upgraded design is surprisingly challenging."

"Show me."

Finlay projected the new weapon systems.

The ballistic cannon mounts that fired conventional shells had to be replaced with a different cannon system that fired a very specialized shell type. One that carried a very destructive nuclear payload!

The laser rifle barrels mounted on the doom crawler had to be replaced with more advanced and more demanding energy weapon systems. While the new weapon system was capable of firing conventional lasers, its alternate firing mode turned it into a gamma laser weapon!

As for the missile launcher system, Ves didn't have to make a lot of changes. He just had to make additional room so that the doom crawler carried additional nuclear missile salvos!

Ves was shocked at the sheer audacity of the proposed modifications! Not even pirates dared to be so unscrupulous as to make use of so many taboo weapons!

He could easily imagine the sheer horror that eighty doom crawlers modified for absolute destruction could unleash! The amount of firepower the doom crawlers would carry was enough to wipe out an entire metropolis in a matter of minutes!

"I can see why no mech designer dared to accept your commission." Ves said very mildly. "The nature of your demands is very problematic."

That was an understatement! If the MTA ever got wind that 'Finlay' attempted to turn a bunch of doom crawlers into apocalyptic engines of destruction, then they would probably send out an entire warfleet after his heels!

"Don't leave yet. It's not what you think!" Finlay raised his hand towards Ves. "We have no intentions to turn the Spyre Helixes against the Sentinel Kingdom! The mechs are all meant to be put to use against a highly entrenched stronghold operated by a pirate alliance in the Nyxian Gap."

"What kind of pirate fortress requires this much firepower?"

"One that is very sturdy and large."

"Regular weapons are already capable of doing the job."

"We know. It's not about destroying a pirate stronghold, Rho-Sigma. It's about sending a message. We want to unleash as much destruction as possible in the most brutally direct fashion as possible!"

Ves widened his eyes behind his helmet. This sounded more than just a calculated attack. Instead, he suspected that Finlay may be driven by a vendetta!