The Mech Touch

Ves expected the MTA to come calling eventually, but not this soon!

He had just started to draft the design for the Fearless Project and already Jovy called him over to the Simile Halifax in order to talk about his work!

Though many people would feel worried or intimidated when being put in this situation, Ves quickly pulled himself together and put on a calm facade.

There were several reasons why Ves did not panic when confronted by this issue.

First, Jovy was a friend and would not deliberately make things difficult. Perhaps he might not be the best person to approach Ves on this matter due to his bias, but perhaps the MTA didn't care too much.

Second, he and Jovy were aligned to the same faction, so Jovy also had a professional reason to bat on his side. Though Ves hadn't interacted much with the Survivalist Faction of the MTA since he became an associate, it should definitely not be staying idle!

Third, the MTA may have developed an expansive set of written and unwritten rules, but its people were anything but united on them. The existence of twelve major factions that each adhered to many different ideologies showed that the governance of the Association was not as absolute as everyone thought!

Fourth, Ves was confident in his own rationale. As long as the MTA was willing to hear him out, he could probably get away with any restrictions the mechers wanted to impose! He had succeeded in persuading Master Willix to give him a break once, which meant the MTA was still susceptible to the human element.

These reasons and more caused Ves to come across as a lot more composed than Jovy thought.

"You seem to be taking this in stride." The MTA Journeyman Mech Designer observed.

"Well, I had a feeling that my work might be controversial among you mechers." Ves shrugged. "It's not that difficult to infer. The MTA does so much to foster the emergence and development of high-ranking mech pilots over the years that it is clear you mechers value them a lot. Though you tolerate the killing of expert pilots in battle, that is because fighting actual battles is the best way to stimulate them into breaking through to higher ranks."

Jovy looked impressed. "You are remarkably aware of one of our Association's standing policies. That is good. I can skip the lengthy background story then. What I cannot comprehend is why you would go through with the Fearless Project knowing that it directly goes against our goals."

"I'm sure you know how much we've suffered at the hands of enemy expert mechs. We even got threatened by an ace mech that was absolutely unbeatable to us. So many of our people have died from these powerful threats that I refuse to stand by any longer. I've already tried this concept out on a smaller scale against the Vulcanites, and that attempt has shown me that it can work. As a mech designer, I feel compelled to translate this concept into a more effective product."

"Yet you do so knowing that our Association may not approve of your work."

Ves smiled at Jovy. "I am a contributor of restricted technology, I am not? As far as I recall, my clan and I have a special dispensation to make use of luminar crystal technology as long as we do not spread it further. Rest assured that I have no intention of spreading this new application of luminar crystal technology to the masses. The Fearless Project will remain exclusive to our clan, which means that it will not threaten the current status quo."

The MTA mech designer shook his head. "That's not good enough, Ves. It's true that you are a contributor of restricted technology. It's also true that we are willing to overlook small issues that will not disrupt the general trend of human society. There are limits to our forbearance, though."

"What's the problem?"

"You." Jovy said. "According to our predictive modeling, as long as you don't fall along the way, you and your Larkinson Clan will likely grow into a major influence on human society. Anyone who reads up on you can make this conclusion. While you and your clan are so insignificant at this time that whatever you do will not make any ripples, what about the future? What if you have advanced to Master while your clan occupies an entire state?"

"I'm sure we can come to a different arrangement. The main reason why I want to realize the Fearless Project is because my personal safety is at stake. Our clan is too new and isn't producing enough expert pilots, let alone ace pilots. I need a stopgap solution that can make up for this shortfall. In the future, our clan will probably have plenty of high-ranking expert pilots in our lineup. We managed to make three masterwork expert mechs, after all, and it's not impossible that we will make more. Once our clan has enough ace pilots, I am more than okay with phasing out the Fearless Project."

Ves thought this was a great argument, but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

"The damage will have already been done by this time!" Jovy grew a little impatient. "The usage of the Fearless Project at any scale will definitely be noticed by many more people! Many of them will question why your Larkinsons are the only ones that are allowed to utilize such an effective anti-expert mech solution."

"So what if people think it's unfair?" Ves frowned. "I'm a contributor of restricted technology! I already handed over a couple of my trade secrets to Master Willix! Don't I deserve a break?"

"Not when doing so has greater implications to human civilization. Some ambitious mech designers and weapon developers might even become inspired by your invention and will seek to create their own anti-expert mech armaments, thereby making such weapons a lot more accessible even if we do our best to prohibit them! Once any useful tech gains momentum, it becomes increasingly more costly for us to block its proliferation. Rather than allowing your new mech and powerful weapon system to build up steam, it is much more efficient to stop you in your tracks right now before your Fearless Project ever sees the light of day."

Ves grew a bit more concerned. Jovy was pushing harder than expected. Whether the MTA mech designer was being lenient or not, it was clear that the Fearless Project had touched a nerve.

He needed to play another card in order to win this game.

"I can understand the need to coddle and protect all of those vulnerable little expert pilots and ace pilots, but do you mechers really think that will help humanity out in the long run? Since I can develop this kind of weaponry, I bet that alien civilizations can do so as well. How will all of those high-ranking mech pilots be prepared to fight against enemies that can effectively negate their strongest defenses?"

"You do make a good point, but there are a lot of mechers who think this is an acceptable tradeoff as long as more high-ranking mech pilots remain alive and well. Whatever shortcomings they possess can easily be addressed through training and education. It is much harder for us to create additional expert pilots when our society has suddenly lost many of them due to alien ambushes."

The implication here was that the MTA would probably become a lot more lenient to Ves if it gained a means to produce a lot more expert pilots.

Ves actually doubted whether the mechers were as helpless on this issue as they appeared on the surface. There was no organization in the galaxy that understood mech pilots more than the MTA. Had they done nothing for four entire centuries?

Of course, it was highly counterproductive to bring up this argument in this conversation. Jovy probably didn't know much due to his youth and the MTA probably wasn't willing to divulge any information on such a sensitive matter.

"Is this truly a stance that the Survivalist Faction supports?" Ves asked in a critical tone. "I can't imagine a group of people who think it is important to guard any threats isn't doing the utmost to prepare ourselves against enemies that are able to employ powers similar to expert pilots. What if our current means are not enough?"

His latest argument finally interrupted Jovy's momentum. The MTA Journeyman slowly crossed his arms.

"I am speaking to you as a representative of the Mech Trade Association rather than an envoy of my faction. It's not appropriate to mix the two together."

I'm right, aren't I?"

"That's not the point."

"I disagree! Surely you don't want to squash my Fearless Project, right? Surely you and your fellow Survivalists think that humanity is better off if a common mech is able to pose a real threat to the alien equivalent of expert mechs. The survival of the human race must be safeguarded to the highest degree!"

"Not if the CFA can use your invention as well!" Jovy exclaimed. "You aren't thinking this through, Ves! What you said is exactly right, but we don't exist in isolation! Our MTA is constantly competing against the CFA for hegemony of human space. While you probably aren't aware of it, the two organizations have constantly maintained a delicate peace based on many different factors. The invention of a technological weapon that is easily reproducible that could threaten our expert mechs, ace mechs and potentially even our god mechs may be a great boon for humanity, but also poses a serious threat to the continued existence of our Association!"

Ves widened his eyes. This was probably the true reason why Jovy and the MTA became so intractable on this issue!

The Survivalist Faction wished to benefit humanity, but if any initiative also came at the cost of letting the CFA gain the upper hand against the MTA, then that was a serious problem!

He gained a deeper understanding of the Survivalist Faction and how they operated today. It seemed that the mechers of this noble faction wasn't as selfless as he thought.

Of course, Ves also realized that the other MTA factions were even more opposed to the proliferation of heavy luminar crystal weapons. The existence of this weapon directly threatened one of the mech community's trump cards, which meant it certainly damaged the interests of the MTA as a whole!

Ves let out a tired breath as he rubbed his fingers against his face. All of this political nonsense was tiring him out. There were so many different interests that he needed to take into account that he wondered how real politicians dealt with all of this bickering on a daily basis.

"I understand." Ves said as he took a step back. "We can't have the fleeters gaining supremacy over the supporters of mechs. If a battleship-grade luminar crystal cannon can pose a real threat against a god mech, then the CFA will definitely exploit its advantage. However, are you sure the fleeters haven't already managed to produce such a weapon already?"

Having stayed on a derelict CFA battleship before, Ves already understood that the fleeters were just as keen on research and development as the mechers. None of the Big Two were willing to rest on their laurels and constantly sought to push their technology superiority further.

Considering how much the MTA treated god mechs as a holy grail, there was no way the CFA had ever stopped finding new ways to neutralize powerful mechs!

"I don't know what the CFA is capable of. Perhaps someone else in our Association has a better idea, but I am not privy to that intelligence." Jovy shrugged. "Regardless, we should never make it easy for our rivals to develop effective weapons against us. On that, nearly the entirety of the MTA is in agreement with this principle. I'm sorry Ves, but I truly cannot allow you to proceed any further with the Fearless Project in its current trajectory. Either change its weapon system to one that poses less of a threat against high-ranking mechs, or suspend this design project entirely. Those are the only two choices that I can allow you to make."

"…That's not even a real choice."