The Mech Touch

As the victorious but battered expeditionary fleet made its way out of the Vulcan Empire like a pack of beaten dogs, the Larkinsons all got to work.

After establishing a basic plan for the future, the different leaders within the clan all took charge and made sure that everyone was doing something productive.

Mechs were being repaired.

Mech pilots were being prepared for an eventual second bout.

Engineers and repair crews were doing as much as they could to repair their damaged ships.

Logistical personnel were organizing and allocating all of the goods and supplies that had been shifted over to the capital ships in a hurry.

Administrative personnel were doing their best to house and meet the needs of tens of thousands of extra passengers on the same vessels.

And these were just the short-term assignments that could be done right away.

There were also many other Larkinsons who were liasioning with the Empire of the Lost, managing public relations now that the Larkinson Clan had unveiled its astounding battle prowess to the public and vetting various large-scale mercenary companies that could be trusted to protect the Larkinson Clan and its allies during their time of weakness.

The Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan were also busy with their own recoveries. Both of them had taken a battering during this battle as their burden was no less than that of the Larkinson Clan.

Perhaps the only benefit they gained from the battle was that they both gained additional expert candidates.

The Glory Seekers originally didn't have any expert candidates, but the breakthroughs of two notable female mech pilots during battle attracted a lot of attention!

Unlike the Larkinson Clan, the Glory Seekers were much more prepared to guard their human assets. As soon as a new expert candidate emerged, nearby Glory Seekers immediately converged upon the individual in question and used their mechs to form a wall that drastically increased the survival chances of their potential new hero!

Sometimes, this worked. Other times, the concentrated firepower from the Slug Rangers was too overwhelming. The Glory Seekers were already happy to have gained two surviving expert candidates from this battle.

The previous two battles had already shown that it was no longer sufficient to depend on just Venerable Brutus Wodin to represent their top strength. They urgently needed to nurture their own batch of expert pilots in order to stop falling behind the Larkinsons and Crossers!

"The root of our problem stems from our home state's shortage of expert candidates and expert pilots." Marshal Ariadne Wodin told her staff during a meeting. "Our original intention was to maintain the strength of a mech regiment. It was only later that our mission expanded in scope and that we gained the option to recruit a vast amount of external personnel. It is easy enough for us to expand our ranks of mech pilots, it is not possible for us to expand our expert pilot roster in the same way. Our only choice is to put much more effort into developing our expert candidates. We cannot surrender all of the initiative in top-level combat to the Larkinsons and the Crossers. We are Hexers, and we are superior!"

The Hexers all stood up and saluted! "We are superior!"

While the Glory Seekers were discussing plans to foster the growth of expert pilots, the Cross Clan was considering different matters.

As a former ruling power, the Cross Clan's depth was deeper. It already had five expert candidates who had always maintained a low profile and now another new talent had joined their ranks. Even so, none of the Crossers expected these promising individuals to grow up quickly.

The fact that none of the expert candidates of the Larkinson Clan and the Cross Clan underwent apotheosis in the previous battle showed that it was not that easy for them to break through when needed!

At this time, the general officers and leaders of the Cross Clan were busy with arranging all of the routine matters that needed to be addressed.

Their leader, who should have been presiding over the meetings, was absent at the moment.

Every Crosser knew why this was the case. Patriarch Reginald Cross fought so hard and so long against another high-tier expert pilot that it became difficult to accept the outcome.

"We were so close." He whispered as he sat close to the entrance of the inner shrine aboard the Hemmington Cross. "That tough old dwarf was one step ahead of me. I could feel my will being grinded by his determination to save his people. The more we threatened his battle buddies, the more he strained himself. I actually thought he would have broken through to ace pilot if we fought for another minute!"

Professor Benedict stood close to the moody expert pilot and leader and crossed his arms. "And you thought that it would be a good idea to fight against a newly-promoted ace pilot? You should know that the outburst of forced resonance at this level is far more than what you and your men can handle!"

"That is exactly why I needed Orthox to break through!" Reginald stood up as his deflated will flared up again! "Only by challenging an opponent that is at least as good as my father will I be able to prove myself that I can be his equal!"

The Senior Mech Designer frowned. "You're being too impulsive, and you know it. I am fully aware of how much you yearn to become an ace pilot, but the way you are going about it is too selfish. If Orthox broke through, the damage that he could do to us is no less than what the Larkinson Clan's battle networks have done to the dwarves. Think about it clearly, patriarch. Are you willing to exchange the lives of thousands of brave Crosser mech pilots who put all of their trust in you so that you can gain a slight chance of undergoing your second apotheosis?"

"..."

The Crosser Patriarch looked stormy. He must have been aware of this consideration but he refused to think it through. What the professor was doing ruined Reginald's attempt to claim ignorance.

When faced with this line of questioning, the ambitious Crosser leader had no choice but to provide a straight answer! An expert pilot never shirked back from a challenge!

"Look at the performance of the Larkinson Clan." The expert pilot slowly said. "When it comes to their mechs and mech pilots, they are not that different from ours. Yet why is it that their trump cards are far better than ours? Their expert mechs are more powerful than they should be and their so-called battle networks which have recently become famous and admired throughout the surrounding star clusters have achieved far greater results than any of our measures. How can we ever catch up to that level of strength?"

"I haven't remained idle, Reginald. I am still in the process of building up a chain of industries, so I haven't been able to deliver any immediate results. Just give me a year or two and that will change. I have gained a lot of inspiration from the methods of the brats over at the Larkinson Clan. While I cannot replicate their solutions, I can develop my own ones that will not lose ground!"

Although he felt a little ashamed to admit it, his work was not as impactful as that of a Journeyman. The reasons why were twofold according to Professor Benedict.

First, Patriarch Ves Larkinson's design philosophy was so unorthodox that it leveraged external sources of power.

Though these sources were too mysterious to someone like Benedict, he could still understand and even apply this basic concept himself!

Second, Ves and his team of Journeymen had a head start. Unlike Professor Benedict who had to abandon his old identity and much of his prior empire in order to start from the beginning in the Cross Clan, the Larkinson mech designers had steadily built themselves up to this point without interruption.

Time was the scarcest and most valuable resource of every mech designer. Professor Benedict just happened to have lost a lot of it due to displacing himself multiple times. If he was still able to retain his original identity and status in the Friday Coalition, who knew whether its soldiers would have the support of one more esteemed Master!

Professor Benedict silently shook his head. He had made his choices in life and he was man enough to own up to them. In a way, he was glad to have gained the opportunity to unmoor himself of all of his past burdens and gain the chance to enter the Red Ocean alongside a remarkable young mech designer.

The battles he took part in, the mechs he got in touch with and the creative battle methods he witnessed up until now had thoroughly invigorated his staid and inflexible design philosophy!

If he continued with his old trajectory where he wasn't exposed to all of the dazzling sights, then he might have been able to advance to Master, only to have locked his design philosophy on an average trajectory with no further future.

Now, the inspiration he received and the insights he had gained from seeing a completely different mech designer at work had initiated a thorough renewal process that caused Professor Benedict to question, reform and rebuild many of his goals, theories and assumptions!

Although these changes would probably delay his possible advancement to Master, the Senior did not care at all. His wonder and awe for mechs had completely been reignited now that he witnessed how much more potential that they could hold!

Unfortunately, as much as Professor Benedict was having his best time in half a century, it was difficult for him to convey all of this to a bone-headed expert pilot.

"Whatever good you're doing will only allow you to catch up to the Larkinsons at best." Patriarch Reginald huffed as he largely discounted the prowess of a Senior Mech Designer. "What I am trying to accomplish will surpass them in one fell swoop!"

His fire had returned as he no longer dwelled on the opportunity that he had missed in the previous battle. Only by going forward would he still have a chance of fulfilling his ambition!

Patriarch Reginald turned to the second-most powerful member of the Cross Clan with a straight back.

"You accuse me of harming our men by focusing on my own advancement above everything else. I don't deny your point. However, do not think that I am disregarding the greater interests of our clan. I inherited this mantle from my father and I am still committed to making it thrive. It is just that we can't rely on you or our men to restore the splendor that we once enjoyed. It takes too much time for any of you to achieve any breakthroughs! Of all of the people in our clan, only I can revive our fortunes in one fell swoop! As long as I am able to advance to ace pilot, every sacrifice that we have made so far is worth it! No matter how many Crossers fall, as long as I succeed, our Cross Clan will be able to grow ten times stronger!"

Professor Benedict couldn't do much aside from accepting that the Cross Patriarch would never change his mind.

It was quite frustrating for the Senior to work around the constraints imposed by such a pigheaded leader, but this wasn't the first time he worked under challenging circumstances.

"If that is your choice, then I will do my best to help you achieve your goal." Benedict sighed. "Just be a little more patient. We have yet to begin work on your new expert mech, but the time draws closer. We'll probably be able to satisfy your needs once we have established ourselves in the Red Ocean. There is an enormous array of brand-new exotics and advanced products available in the new frontier. The expert mech that we can develop will definitely outshine your current one by a large margin!"

This was the difference in environment, resources and tech. An expert mech that originated the galactic rim was not comparable to an expert mech that came from a more prosperous region!

Even if the Red Ocean was still in an early colonization stage, the concentration of the best pioneers of human space meant that the specifications of mechs had reached a much higher level than what the Cross Clan could reach!

Professor Benedict was already salivating at the opportunity to grasp all of these new possibilities!

"I can promise you now that not even the unusual expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan can come close to matching the power of your future expert mech!"

After all, the power of an expert mech wasn't solely contingent on its design, tech and material composition.

The strength of the expert pilot was also a key factor, and Patriarch Reginald's willpower and resonance strength were far more developed than any of the expert pilots of the Larkinson Clan!

As long as Professor Benedict completed this project, the Larkinson Clan would no longer be able to hog all of the limelight!