The Mech Touch

Venerable Joshua Larkinson was bursting with excitement.

After a long time of waiting, he could finally take out his Everchanger on a real mission for the first time.

Although no one knew whether the expeditionary fleet would encounter any actual threats that required the intervention of expert pilots, Joshua would eagerly respond if his clansmen needed his help.

Since it took at least several days for the expeditionary fleet to approach the alien wreck, the Larkinson Army had plenty of time to conduct its preparations.

The only downside to all of the preparation time was that Joshua was the only expert pilot assigned to the Spirit of Bentheim these days. Although this allowed him to experience living mechs being designed and produced up close, there weren't any other expert pilots for him to interact.

It allowed him to remain close to his girlfriend whenever she completed her design work, so Joshua never thought about getting reassigned.

Ketis even dropped by the hangar bay in order to check up on the Everchanger and perform a quick tune-up of her systems.

"It's a pity that we haven't produced her mounted wargear yet." She said as she carefully manipulated a few robotic arms doing work on the Everchanger's exterior. "If we are able to mount it with the artillery loadout, we could have granted you access to firepower greater than the Amaranto."

Joshua shrugged. "I don't mind. The Everchanger in its base form is already powerful enough. I think it is best if I master her purest battle-ready incarnation before I think about piloting it with additional wargear. If I start out with the big guns right away, I'm afraid I won't be able to control my expert mech as if it is my second body."

This was an understandable concern, though expert pilots such as Joshua were much better at adapting to different mechs than ordinary mech pilots.

Ketis turned to her boyfriend. "I hope nothing happens during the exploration, but if a hidden alien fleet does drop out from warp all of the sudden, take care, please. Your expert mech might be alive on top of being a masterwork, but neither of those traits can stop it from getting blown to pieces when it is struck by a battleship main cannon. There are threats in the Red Ocean that mechs simply can't fight against."

She truly felt a lot of concern for the man she loved. However, she never contemplated the notion of asking him to stay back. He was an expert pilot who possessed more power than almost any other soldier. Though he received lavish treatment and one of the best machines an expert pilot could ask for, the price for all of that was the obligation to step up when needed.

Alien warship or not, Venerable Joshua and the Everchanger had to go out there and confront whatever was waiting for them without any hesitation.

"You studied the data on the Titania, right? Do you think she is… alive?" Joshua idly asked as his girlfriend continued to work on the Everchanger's frame.

Ketis shook her head. "The Titania is equivalent to a broken carcass that has been put into an irradiated freezer. While I am not an expert in alien biotechnology, organics work the same way in every circumstance. When an organic construct of this size has that many holes and structural damage, the circulation systems and other mechanisms that ensure the bioship remains alive simply stop working. The lack of heat signatures and other active energy emissions support this conclusion. On top of that, electromagnetic radiation from the local yellow dwarf and the rest of the cosmos is constantly pumping the exposed fleshy bits with lethal rays."

"So you're sure the Titania is dead?"

"I honestly can't say." She said. "I think you can get a more accurate answer if you stop by the Dragon's Den. Those Lifer researchers over there must be chomping at the bits to step foot inside the derelict bioship."

"Well, I hope they wait until after we have secured the area and verified the Titania is harmless."

The couple continued to chat about the alien ship and other topics. Meanwhile, Ketis also completed her last-minute tweaks on the Everchanger.

When the couple stepped back and beheld the powerful masterwork expert mech, they both sighed in admiration.

The design, craftsmanship and power of the Everchanger ranked among the best in the Larkinson Clan!

"It's truly amazing how much you and Ves managed to accomplish." Joshua wistfully said as he embraced his girlfriend at the hip. "I haven't gotten many opportunities to pilot it yet, but I am always amazed at how alive and intelligent it is. I truly feel like I am cooperating with another living body rather than piloting it. Ves is an absolute treasure for being able to design mechs that provide such a radically different piloting experience. He has made a huge amount of progress since he started his career with designing virtual variants."

Ketis pinched his arm. "And what about me? Have you forgotten about the other mech designers that have contributed to the Everchanger's design and fabrication?!"

"Oh, Gloriana did great work as well. She has spent many hours working with me to make sure the configuration and feel of the Everchanger completely fits my preferences. The Quint and the Valkyrie Prime are both nice mechs, but neither of them were designed for my operation from the ground up. I never really understood what a difference this can make until I received the Everchanger. This is the first mech that she has truly tailored its entire design to my preferences. She even incorporated touches that I didn't even know I would like!"

"Joshua…" His girlfriend began to agitate her powerful will.

""We can't forget about Juliet either. She's alright for a Penitent Sister. My Everchanger would never be as quick, agile and maneuverable without all of the work she has done to the flight system and the other maneuvering systems. I think my expert mech is the third-most maneuverable of its kind in the Larkinson Clan. The First Sword might be a little faster, but the difference shouldn't be great."

"JOSHUA!" Ketis smacked his side with her fist!

"Ouch! You don't have to hit me so hard! I was just kidding!"

"That wasn't a funny joke, you dolt. Now apologize by kissing me this instant."

"What?"

"Like this!"

The two embraced and expressed their adoration for each other in an intimate fashion.

The mech technicians and other staff that were working in the same hangar bay smiled coyly when they witnessed this enchanting sight.

Elsewhere aboard the Spirit of Bentheim, another living mech was being prepared for battle.

Though the power and features of this particular machine could not be compared to any of the expert mechs, its value was still great due to several important traits.

First, it was a masterwork mech.

Second, it had facilitated the breakthroughs of multiple mech pilots.

Third, it had become a symbol of living mechs.

All of these reasons and more prompted Ves to spend his limited time on checking it and preparing it for action with its newly designated mech pilot.

"This mech urgently needs another upgrade." Ves frowned as he looked up at one of his older but still magnificent works. "As the threats we face keep getting stronger, it becomes more precarious to pilot a relatively modest mech."

If the mech had an opinion about what Ves had said, it certainly did not issue its response out loud.

"How is the Quint, patriarch? Will it pilot even better after you are done with it?" An expert candidate asked.

Ves nodded. "I can tune the Quint to perform more to your liking, but I am limited in what I can do. The mech has a say as well, and it doesn't agree with all of my decisions."

If another mech designer heard what Ves had just said, they would probably think he was crazy, deceptive or lazy!

Mech designers were expected to control almost every aspect of all of their products within their reach. A mech designer who could not change all of the important parameters of one of their existing works was usually regarded as incompetent!

Of course, the people who set this standard had never met a powerful living mech like the Quint. The normal rules didn't apply to this situation anymore!

Isobel Kotin did not show any outward excitement, but Ves knew better. Just like many other pilots, she looked forward to taking part in a real mission as opposed to participating in boring and fake practice sessions.

The Quint was a mech designed to fight, not to look pretty and impress an audience. The mech was quite eager to confront any enemies that might emerge. Whether they were human or alien didn't matter to the living machine. It was confident that it possessed enough power to handle any heat!

"How has the Quint been treating you so far?" Ves asked. "Has it been difficult to work with? That had always been Commander Casella Ingvar's main complaint."

"I know, sir." Isobel replied. "She has given me extensive tips on how to manage the Quint's personality. While I did find it to be rather stubborn and opinionated, it was not as uncooperative as I thought."

He looked a bit surprised. "That's good to hear. I guess that working with Commander Casella may have mellowed it out a bit. We'll have to track its behavior over time and in different situations to be sure, but I think you're right. The efforts of your predecessors have continually boosted its growth and development. Considering the personality of its last mech pilot, the Quint should have grown a lot smarter. Let me check it up close to be sure."

The two continued to chat as Ves proceeded to inspect and tweak the mech.

It was fascinating to study a single living mech on a periodic basis in order to see how their growth affected their combat value. The Quint was a particularly good machine to track because the imprints and power left behind by its powerful mech pilots had fueled its growth far past the point of many other living mechs!

The only mech that could rival the Quint in this regard was the Shield of Samar, which possessed an even longer history.

Even so, the Shield of Samar had already been upgraded to an expert mech, so the comparison was not quite fair.

As far as Ves was concerned, the Quint should be the role model of what living mechs aspired to become. It was the widely-recognized king of standard mechs in the Larkinson Clan.

Now, Isobel Kotin of the Avatars of Myth had received the right to become its third long-term user.

Expectations were high. Whether the clansmen were right or not, they all believed that the Quint was a breakthrough machine. Out of all of the expert candidates in the clan, Isobel Kotin should have the highest chance of breaking through in the short and medium term!

"You know why we picked you and persuaded the Quint to accommodate you, right?" He asked as he supervised the heavy assembling arms carefully putting the masterwork mech into its rifleman mech configuration.

"The clan has a shortage of ranged expert pilots. You need me to break through so that you can add another powerful ranged expert mech to the Larkinson Army."

She was quite aware why she received this precious opportunity out of all of the other expert candidates.

While it was true that some of her peers had already tried to pilot the Quint only to be rejected by it, she still felt fortunate for possessing skills that the clan urgently needed but to a greater degree.

It made her feel valued. It also made her feel burdened by responsibility.

She needed to break through as soon as possible in order to alleviate the Larkinson Clan's shortfall in ranged solutions!