The Mech Touch

While the Larkinsons were gearing up for war, the arguing Masters failed to come to an accord.

"We have a duty to maintain the prosperity of the Life Research Association." Master Cline firmly said. "The changes you propose are too radical and risk upending the structure that has provided stability to our people for centuries. While we are open to compromise, we must come together and decide together how we should proceed."

That seemed to trigger Master Brixton!

"The time for compromise is long past, old friend! The possibility of cooperating with you and your compatriots has ended from the moment you conspired to hide what had happened to the Supreme Sage! Not only did you break the law by preventing the public from learning about his passing, you also lied about his true state! While you conservatives were merrily taking advantage of the pinnacle labs that were previously under the Supreme Sage's control, you also had the temerity to desecrate his body!"

"Do not twist the truth, Master Brixton! The Supreme Sage is alive, not dead! As long as his heart still beats and his lungs still breathe, there is always a chance to restore him back to health. We treated him as a patient, not a carcass that has been donated to science. The reason why we have withheld the details of his current condition is to respect his privacy and maintain stability. We did not wish to give any excuse for agitators like you to upend our entire state!"

"Hahahahaha!" Brixton laughed in a maniacal manner. "Excuses upon excuses! How shameless can you be? The only people who benefit from this conspiracy are high-ranked conservatives such as you! Your high-minded talk is nothing but a thinly-veiled excuse to keep your people in charge and press everyone else down. Do you think we're idiots?!"

"What do you want?" Master Cline asked in an exasperated tone.

"We demand an end to your abuse. Stop experimenting on the Supreme Sage's body and put it to rest already. Step down from your positions of power and let a new generation of leaders take over our state. Your actions and your schemes already make it clear that you are not suited to be in charge any longer. One way or another, you will pass on the torch."

"We can discuss some of your demands, but do not presume to take the Supreme Sage's place. If we have to appoint a successor to our honored leader, he or she will come from our ranks instead of yours. We are still the majority in our state!"

"Are you certain about that, old friend?" A sly grin appeared on Master Brixton's face. He pointed at a group of conservative biomech designers and other important officials. "Come. Show him how out of touch he is. Show him what you think about his misdeeds."

To everyone's surprise, over half of the Lifers who previously aligned with the conservatives stepped out and joined Master Brixton's side!

"This!"

Master Cline couldn't believe what was happening! While the conservative faction was large and encompassed many subgroups, they were all united by common goals.

No matter how much internal disputes took place within their ranks, the conservatives were firmly united against chaos and the opposition!

Yet before his eyes, conservatives belonging to many different subgroups all stepped out and signalled their change of heart in the most direct fashion possible.

There was no turning back for these defectors! They had pretty much thrown their lot with the opposition!

Master Cline looked disappointed at his former comrades. He trusted them once. Now, he had to face the prospect of treating them as his opponents.

"I can believe that some of you have lost patience with our current direction. It has been too long since we have achieved any significant progress. However, why would you throw your lot with these radicals and fringe groups? Don't you realize they are just using you all to bring our state into turmoil?"

A Senior known as Professor Bluder scowled. "Look at where a slow and gradual approach has taken us! We have accomplished none of our goals. Instead, we have either remained in the same place or fallen behind! Nothing less than true change is needed to right the ship of our state. While I don't necessarily agree with all of the pet causes of our new friends, at least they are being proactive!"

Master Brixton grinned. "Do you see how many comrades that you have disillusioned with your mistakes? You so-called conservatives have been burying your heads in the sand for so long that you haven't even been paying attention to your own people! I don't think there is a better way to illustrate how little you care about others. Not everyone is content with the lack of progress made by our state. Isn't that right, Dr. Navarro?"

The loser of the design duel hadn't drawn any attention in the last few minutes, but suddenly attracted a lot of attention!

An ambiguous expression appeared on his face. Frederico Navarro hesitated for a few seconds.

"You too, Navarro?"

The Journeyman looked resigned. "Master Cline… I believed in your vision. For a long time, I believed that all was right with the LRA, and that we were slowly closing the gap with the conventional mech industry."

"What happened?"

"I began to look past our borders." Dr. Navarro said, becoming more assertive as he did so. "I took a very good look at the Komodo War and how the metallic mechs of both sides were pushing the limits of what they could do. I observed how ground-breaking mechs designed by Mr. Larkinson changed how mech warfare was being waged by virtue of their innovative features! When I looked at all of those impressive Fridayman and Hexer mechs and compared them to our own body of work, I feel… let down."

"Our state is different from the Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony." Master Cline explained. "The two states were gearing up for war for many centuries. The pressure of confronting a strong opponent has stimulated them into designing the most destructive mechs they can realize."

"Then what does that make us, sir?! Why are our biomechs so lackluster compared to the military mechs of other states? Why have we wallowed in mediocrity for so long? I am a biomech designer, Master Cline. I did not embrace my calling just to design adequate mechs that are merely competitive at best. My ambition is much greater than that! Yet as the recently-completed design duel has taught us, my biomechs are far from being able to compete against the products of a classical mech designer!"

"You have no reason to feel ashamed of yourself, Dr. Navarro. You are comparable to many of your peers in other states. Mr. Larkinson is an outlier. Even if he is technically a Journeyman, his products are as strong as the mechs designed by Seniors or higher-ranking mech designers. You are using the wrong tool to measure yourself!"

Dr. Navarro thumped his chest with his hand. "I know that, sir, but that does not change my point! I have always set my sights to the top. If I wish to aim for the top, how can I compare myself to ordinary mech designers? Only by challenging someone as formidable as Mr. Larkinson will I know where I stand. You know the results. In the current environment, it is extremely unlikely that I will ever be able to catch up to rising stars like Mr. Larkinson!"

"Then work harder, Navarro! A biomech designer like you should never place too much emphasis on outside help. If you want to realize your design philosophy and reach my level, you won't be able to do so by destroying the stable infrastructure that has allowed our biomech industry to flourish for many years!"

"It won't come to that, sir." Navarro shook his head. "Master Brixton and the others don't wish to plunge our state into civil war. They just want to accomplish change. As long as enough people support this cause, I hope you will act sensibly and recognize that you and your fellow conservatives are not wanted anymore."

As Dr. Navarro stood by the side of Master Brixton, many people sympathized with his choice.

He was one of the many biomech designers who had become disillusioned with the majority! As a reluctant defector, he didn't necessarily support the opposition, but nonetheless found common cause with the movement!

There were a lot more Lifers like Dr. Navarro in the LRA. Biotech experts and other citizens were following everything through the broadcasts. Navarro just happened to serve as a great example of what they might do as well if they followed suit!

At this point, Master Cline's momentum had stalled. From the moment Master Brixton spoke out, he pulled out card after card that successively weakened the reputation and prestige of the conservatives and the ruling authorities.

The problem of being in charge for such a long time was that they always took the blame for every mistake!

Ves, who had been watching the events unfold from the rear, didn't feel as if the conservatives were totally wrong on the matter.

Even the numerous times they 'desecrated' the Supreme Sage's body could be excused. If his close friends and subordinates thought they could revive him, then it made sense to try their best. No one wanted to pull the plug on the life of a great and irreplaceable researcher! As long as there was a non-zero chance of pulling him out of his brain dead state, then many people would feel they had a duty to try their best!

Yet.. after one-and-a-half years of fumbling around, it didn't seem that the conspirators made any progress.

They gambled and lost, and now Master Brixton forced them to suffer the consequences of their actions.

The air between the two Master Mech Designers had grown more and more tense. They not only competed with each other with their words, but also with their powerful mentalities!

The pair had reached an impasse.

Master Cline did not wish to meet the biggest demands of the opposition. He was confident that the conservative faction still held enough sway over the LRA to remain in charge.

Master Brixton believed he had succeeded in doing the opposite. All of his revelations and other actions should have weakened the conservatives to the point where they were more vulnerable than they had ever been throughout their existence!

This was the best time for the radicals, combinants and other opposing factions to make their move. If they did not take advantage of this opening, then the conservatives would definitely utilized their institutional power and command over the established media to propagate a counter-narrative!

As long as public support for change started to dip, then all hope of effecting change would evaporate!

Master Cline keenly spotted Brixton's momentary hesitation.

"You can still calm down. Don't do this. We can work this out when tempers have cooled."

The leader of the combinant faction let out a deep breath. He knew he was at the cusp of a transition period. Even if he had second thoughts, it was too late for him to stop at this point. The opposition consisted of way more factions and groups than his own influence.

"The revolution cannot be stopped." Master Brixton declared with a firm voice. "It has already begun from the moment Dr. Navarro lost the design duel. No matter what you say, you cannot deny the fact that we have grown weak under the leadership of your group! Only a complete turnaround will allow us to cure the malaise that has settled over our state!"

With those final words, the Masters had spoken their piece.

After glaring at each other one last time, both Masters suddenly disappeared from view.

"Huh? Where did they go?"

"According to my sensors, they have just teleported away!"

"Why would they do that…?"

Master Cline and Master Brixton weren't the only ones who left in this manner. The four other Masters who had been content to watch from the side had followed suit as well. Only a minor blur surrounded their forms before they shifted many kilometers away from Ruuzon Arena!

The other people on the VIP platform began to smell trouble.

A Senior Mech Designer who looked like a middle-aged woman pulled out her pistol and fired at her colleague sitting to her left!

Bright energy beams lanced against an energy shield, preventing the unsuspecting victim from dying!

"What is the meaning of this, Theresa?!"

"You are an obstacle to change! As long as you are alive, you'll block all of our initiatives. The revolution cannot proceed unless you are gone!"

The victim helplessly pulled out his own gun and began to fire back.

The pair weren't the only ones to do so. Many different VIPs got caught up in the frenzy as well and began to pull out weapons left and right to assail their real or imagined enemies!

Ves wasn't left out of the party either.

In one moment, the gate guards helplessly expressed their inability to contact their superior.

In the next moment, they simultaneously pulled up their heavy assault rifles and fired their weapons onto Ves with unmatched speed!