The Mech Touch

Ves leaned back on his chair and waved his hand. The projection showing Lanie's latest results and performance indicators in her classes disappeared.

The comparison between her old self and her new self revealed a lot of remarkable differences.

"She's gotten better. A lot better."

Lanie's performance improved in almost every aspect compared to before. In some cases, the difference was only slight, but in other cases, it was as if she had become a different person.

While she didn't instantly turn into a mech pilot who was as good as Imon Ingvar, the gap between the two had narrowed by a significant margin.

What Ves was particularly impressed with was that her scores in sparring sessions and simulated battles shot up drastically. She could never have improved so much if she merely gained a lot of knowledge.

"Whatever carried over after the experiment has integrated deeply into her mind." Ves concluded.

Why was this the case? Ves came up with various explanations.

Perhaps a piece of Imon was left behind.

Perhaps the brief connection caused Imon to make a strong imprint in Lanie's mind.

Perhaps Lanie's mind unconsciously sought to return to its highest state.

No matter which possibility was accurate, the results did not lie.

That didn't mean he considered his experiment to be a solid success. Far from it. Aside from the practicality problems that he had already identified, he also grew concerned about another consequence.

"How much contamination did she receive?"

Even though Ves and Goldie tried their best to limit the spiritual transmission to signals related to mech piloting, who knew what actually went through.

What Imon transferred to Lanie back then was not pure piloting theory. Instead, he conveyed his own piloting style, his own interpretation of mech combat and his self-developed arsenal of techniques.

A high degree of bias was inevitable. There was no standard approach to mech piloting. Different schools of thought all advocated different philosophies and outlooks on how to pilot a mech, and individual mech pilots all developed their own interpretations from the lessons they learned.

Ves wasn't able to judge whether Lanie had been affected by these personal interpretations and to what extent she leaned towards Imon's style of fighting.

"It's fine as long as it doesn't happen too often."

Indoctrination was inevitable. Every mech cadet received their learning from a given source. This source was inevitably biased one way or another.

Even without the experiment, Lanie and the other young Larkinson cadets would have been subject to the opinions, interpretations and other forms of subjective knowledge from their mech instructors.

From what Ves picked up from one of the reports he read, the Larkinson Mech Academy was already split up in different factions divided by their origin state. Each group of mech instructors wanted to push a different set of mech doctrines and piloting styles.

For example, the former Brighters showed a preference for asymmetrical warfare. They disliked straightforward clashes and preferred to fight more conservatively if they didn't enjoy a solid advantage.

The former citizens of the Sentinel Kingdom adopted a more aggressive approach. Their long history of fighting against Nyxian pirates called for a more proactive and aggressive approach.

The Sentinel instructors disliked delays and showed a high preference for taking the initiative and abiding by the principles of momentum-based warfare.

Which approach was right? Which approach was wrong? The mech pilot community couldn't come to a consensus. Everyone had already picked their favorite horse and couldn't be persuaded to change their minds.

Ves knew that it wasn't good for the Larkinson Mech Academy to remain split and divided in its teaching direction.

"It's not my problem." He shook his head.

He eagerly left this headache to Principal Ronsel Larkinson. One way or another, the mech instructors had to come together and figure out a specific teaching direction that fit the Larkinson Clan best.

Ves turned his thoughts back on his experiment.

"If Lanie gets contaminated by anyone, then it's not bad to get contaminated by Imon."

One of the reasons why he picked Imon Ingvar out of all of the alternatives was because he was the best and most solid option.

Even though Imon possessed a brash personality, his piloting foundation was extremely solid.

These were distinct traits of his that were both recognizable.

Since Lanie was not a reckless mech cadet by nature, Ves would easily be able to spot whether his test subject underwent an extensive personality change.

For now, the results were too early to tell. Lanie's first day back in the academy didn't reveal too much when it came to her personality. She was too confused about her changes to feel confident and good about herself.

That might change in the following week, but Ves had a feeling that the contamination wasn't too severe. Lanie would have acted more proactively in her classes if that was the case.

This was a good sign, though Ves wondered whether he'd be able to 'control' the degree of contamination.

"The strength of the source and the mental resilience of the recipient probably affects this as well, but I should be able to raise or lower it by changing some settings."

Usually, Ves was adverse to mental contamination because it posed a threat to him or the people he cared about. Yet he could think of several scenarios where he might actually wish to make use of contamination.

He grinned. "For example, if I quickly need to set up a uniform group of mech pilots in order to establish a new battle network or something, I can make use of contamination to get everyone on the same page."

So far, Ves only created battle networks for his Swordmaidens, Penitent Sisters, Battle Criers and Ylvainans.

There weren't any further sub-groups within his Larkinson Clan who were uniform and cohesive enough to qualify for a battle network.

The Flagrant Vandals came close, but they had never been too keen on making every mech pilot identical from each other. They prized individuality to a high degree. This allowed them to develop many interesting personalities such as Venerable Rosa Orfan.

As for his other mech forces such as the Avatars of Myth, their identity wasn't distinct enough yet. Just like the Bright Warrior IB design, they needed to move away from their vanilla starting point and develop some unique flavors.

Subjecting the Avatar mech pilots to some contamination with the help of his Bright Warrior mechs might be an effective way to empower Commander Melkor's troops.

Ves furrowed his brows.

"It sounds crazy, though. This solution is too drastic. The side effects and unintended consequences will likely be severe."

He would never adopt this radical solution unless he was pushed into a corner. If he had conducted this experiment before the Battle of Reckoning, then he probably would have applied to his Avatars so that his clan would be able to deploy an additional battle formation.

For now, there was no need to take this dangerous shortcut when the proper route was safer. He was willing to let the Avatars develop their identity in an organic fashion.

Once Ves wrapped up all of his notes and conclusions, he decided to finalize the Bright Warrior IB.

The mech could keep its Ancestral Possession ability now that Ves had found a way to make it work. It didn't matter whether the ability was still in a crude and rudimentary state. Since the Bright Warrior was exclusive to the Larkinson Clan, he didn't need to pay any attention to customer expectations.

He could change or tweak the spiritual configuration of his new Bright Warrior model without needing to account to an authority figure.

"I'm the ultimate authority when it comes to mechs in the Larkinson Clan. I can rubber stamp all of my own decisions!"

When Ves eventually returned to the design lab, he worked with Gloriana and Juliet to put the finishing touches on the mech model.

"This mech represents the future of the Larkinson Clan." Ves proudly spoke as he formally ended work on the project. "While the role of the Bright Warrior Mark I Version B is not as flashy as that of the Version C at the time of its introduction, it is still an indispensable mech model for our clan. Every new Larkinson mech pilot will likely spend their initial years in our mech forces by piloting this mech. Some may move on while others will stick to their Bright Warriors on a permanent basis. Whatever the case, our troops will make good use of our latest work."

The Bright Warrior may not be as unique as the Valkyrie Redeemer or the Transcendent Punisher, but it was definitely the mech with the highest degree of compatibility.

Just like Goldie and the clan itself, the mech was designed to unify different mech pilots who came from different backgrounds.

Gloriana dramatically released a breath. "Finally, I'm done with your pet project. I can finally get back to working on the Cherub, Blinding Mech and Devious designs."

Even though she contributed a lot to the final phases of the Bright Warrior Project, she did not hide her lack of passion. As far as she was concerned, Ves had hijacked her time.

"The defense of the new Bright Warrior is not comparable to the older one, but it's considerably faster and more agile." Juliet noted, highlighting her own contribution to the finished design. "It fights best in space, but it can still perform well in the air. The only snag is that its locomotion systems are still below average even if you detach the flight system."

This was one of the downsides of both the old and new Bright Warriors. They were designed with flight systems in mind so the mech wasn't optimized for walking on land.

It would make for a less-than-average landbound mech if forced to fight under such conditions, but this was an acceptable tradeoff as far as Ves was concerned.

In any case, the Larkinson Clan was first and foremost a spaceborn clan, so it was essential to flesh out a mech roster that excelled in space combat.

As for landbound combat, Ves figured he might design some flightless mechs when he was done with all of the mechs on his waiting list.

Ves proceeded to transfer the design schematics and all of the relevant documentation to the Production Department of the Spirit of Bentheim. While the production halls had been preoccupied with fabricating replacement parts and replacement mechs, he quickly wanted them to switch over to producing as many Bright Warrior IB's as possible.

"It's not enough, though." He frowned.

With twenty production halls, Ves estimated it would take at least a year to produce the thousands of Bright Warrior IB's needed to meet the needs of all of his mech forces.

Even if every production line was able to produce a Bright Warrior IB in two days, that meant it would take at least three months to churn out a thousand units.

Could the Larkinson Clan afford to wait that long?

"Absolutely not!"

Therefore, aside from employing the production capacity of his other ships, Ves already planned to rent some additional production facilities at his upcoming destination.

He had already issued instructions in advance. While it was not easy to reserve so much production capacity as a foreigner, money was able to solve many problems.

"Besides, we also have a local guide."

He still needed to earn Dr. Frederico Navarro's approval, but it wasn't a big issue to request his help in brokering a deal with the local mech industry.

The expeditionary fleet had been badly savaged, so the Golden Skull Alliance urgently needed to rebuild its forces.

As Ves fleshed out his plans for the duration of his stay in the Life Research Association, Ketis requested to enter his office.

"What's up, Ketis?" Ves looked up from his terminal.

The younger mech designer put up a serious expression. "I'd like to make a request on behalf of myself and the Swordmaidens. It's a rather big one, but I think it's necessary for us to do this. Please don't refuse."

Ves frowned. What was this about?

"Tell me. What do you want?"

"We'd like to separate from the main fleet in order to visit the Heavensword Association for a time. We intend to go on an exchange. Once we gain what we need, we'll return, but only if we are successful. If we fail.. I'm not sure if we'll be able to get back."

This sounded serious!