The Mech Touch

The entire Hopecrest Mech Academy boiled with excitement!

In fact, the whole settlement of Centire Hill burst with joy and satisfaction!

A powerful clan that was based in Davute had randomly decided to gift 100 premium training mechs to one of the most pathetic mech academies in Krakatoa. How could the citizens of the Unicum Group not grow excited?

If not for the contract that the Unicum Group had signed with the Larkinson Veteran Foundation and if not for highly advanced security settings that guaranteed that the new War Squires only worked properly at a specific site, the Unicum Group was tempted to sell the donated machines and use the proceeds to buy more useful supplies!

Regardless, the Unicums were extremely grateful for this gift as the generous gift not only spared them from spending their limited funding on training mechs, but also ensured that the quality of their local mech pilots would improve and at least keep up with the other groups on Maylard II.

No one was more excited to take the new War Squires for a spin than the mech cadets themselves!

Each of them had seen enough glimpses of the mechs from a distance to know that they were absolutely remarkable!

They even doubted whether the combat mechs of the Unicum Group could beat the War Squires in a straight battle!

For several days, hardly any mech cadet could pay attention to the lectures. The mech instructors all found it troublesome that their students were constantly being distracted by the thought of piloting those new and gleaming training mechs that had captured their imagination.

"These kids." One of the teachers shook her head. "These boys and girls don't know how lucky they are for gaining access to those brand-new machines."

Another teacher smiled when he saw that a class of cadets had all run towards the yard where the new mechs were being tested. "It's better for them to get lost in fascination than to lose hope in their futures. They're so much brighter and happier now that it is as if the doom and gloom of the last week did not even exist."

Hopecrest finally started to look and feel like a real mech academy with this single donation. Everyone was grateful for the Larkinson Clan for giving them this massive boost, though most of them didn't really have a good idea of what it stood for in the first place.

For this reason, Mickey Lankos and many other mech cadets had jumped onto the galactic net and researched what the Larkinson Clan and the Living Mech Corporation was all about.

The stories they read and the mechs they learned about struck them like thunder!

"The Larkinson Patriarch is an amazing mech designer!"

"His Valkyrie line of mechs went on to fight in a huge war!"

"Look at their expert mechs! I can truly feel they are special!"

"What is that?! How can mechs possibly gather together and unleash a giant energy wave?!"

As the mech cadets kept gossiping about what they learned from the galactic net, they built up more and more anticipation for the moment when they could finally pilot a War Squire for the first time.

According to the stories of the mech pilots who had personal experience with piloting the mechs developed by the Larkinson Clan, the first time was always special. The cadets not only had to cherish this moment, but also do their best to develop a good relationship with their living mechs!

No one really understood why the products sold by the LMC were called 'living' mechs when they were just probably carrying a really smart helper AI system, but whatever.

"C'mon! When do we finally get a turn? The mechs are right there! They don't look broken or shoddy at all. A group as big and powerful as the Larkinsons wouldn't have delivered the training mechs to us if they were broken."

After an agonizing wait, the mech cadets finally received the good news!

When they showed up in class that morning and directed hopeful looks at their first lecturer, the man finally supplied an answer that was different from yesterday!

"All of you will have your chance of piloting the War Squires in your next scheduled live practice session." The teacher announced. "Each of you will be able to enjoy them for a full hour. Not only that, you will also be in for a special treat. Every War Squire comes with a connection to a 'Mental Simulation Training System', a new form of simulation technology that is proprietary to the Living Mech Corporation."

"Sir! How good are the simulators?!" A cadet asked.

Their current teacher was not a mech pilot but instead a physics teacher.

The man smiled. "I am told they are far superior to the simulations provided by our old simulator pods. Much of the delay is caused by the need to understand the capabilities of this included simulation system and to make sure it is safe to use. It is based on new technology and can produce unintended effects."

No one cared about the dangers. From the moment the cadets heard that this simulation system was based on new technology, they all became hooked!

Having spent a lot of frustrating moments with the cheap and second-hand simulator pods that fell behind the ones used by the other mech academies on the planet, the cadets of Hopecrest were eager to be the ones that used the best tech this time!

The day passed quickly before the class that Mickey Lankos belonged to finally received its turn to interface with the War Squires for the first time.

When Mickey and his young classmates changed into their piloting suits, they all treated it as a solemn ritual.

They weren't suiting up to pilot old and ramshackle training mechs that had been deemed too old and worn out by the other mech academies.

They could finally pilot a mech that was both new and modern!

That alone was a massive breakthrough to the mech cadets that never had the privilege of piloting anything fancier!

Mickey and the rest of his classmates eagerly gathered at the field where they held their usual live practice sessions.

A handful of instructors were already present. Hardly any of the kids paid attention to them though as the War Squires standing behind them were just too impressive!

Each of the mechs still looked as new and gleaming as the day they arrived from the air. The War Squires made a clear martial impression by how it resembled the form of a classic knight errant but with a few modern and embellished touches.

Their cool appearance along with the eager vibes emanating from their frames spoke to the heart of every teenager no matter if they were potentates or not. It was as if the War Squire was explicitly designed to capture the hearts of every kid that dreamed of piloting mechs into battle one day!

"Cadets, the moment you have all been waiting for has arrived." The head instructor told them all. "Each of you have already gained a sufficient amount of experience in piloting our other training mechs, so we expect you to control yourselves and handle the War Squires responsibly. Do not forget that my fellow instructors and I possess hard overrides to all of the training mechs. If you do not obey instructions and move exactly how I tell you to, we will press the button and deprive you of the right to pilot the War Squire in the future. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

The mech cadets all shook and reined in their enthusiasm. Mickey guessed that one of them had become a bit too eager when interfacing with the War Squire for the first time and tried to go wild.

This went against the most important rules that they had been taught since the beginning of their academy days!

The instructor conveyed a few more instructions. It turned out that they would spend half of the session slowly getting used to moving the War Squires.

Once they gained a basic degree of familiarity with the new mechs that supposedly felt and moved like no other machine on the market, the cadets would finally enter the so-called Mental Simulation Training System and undergo a unique introductory course!

The head instructor smirked. "The Living Mech Corporation has prepared a special welcome to every cadet that engages the MSTS for the first time. Personally, I feel the Larkinsons have overdone it, but… maybe it will be good for you to open your eyes."

It sounded as if this MSTS was an even greater deal than what the mech cadets thought!

"Before you go on and interface your assigned War Squires, let me inform you of an additional rule. The War Squire cannot provide you with unlimited access to the MSTS. The manufacturer has set a rule that you actively have to pilot it for at least 4 hours in order to access the MSTS for 1 hour. Don't ask us why this restriction exists. We are already in the process of changing your class schedules to adapt to this rule, but luckily for you, you get a free pass for your first time."

After the instructor finally completed his lecture, every mech cadet finally received permission to approach their War Squires.

"Our War Squires can be identified by both their numbers and their individual names. Remember them, because the Living Mech Corporation has informed us that you will have the best training experience if you pilot the same training mech."

The training mech assigned to Mickey was War Squire #47, which was also named Rabarber.

Apparently, Mickey would be sharing Rabarber with at least eight other cadets for the rest of the year.

While Hopecrest was an awful mech academy in many aspects, it was excellent in at least one aspect.

There was plenty of space available on Maylard II. Hopecrest possessed large training fields that offered plenty of space for dozens if not hundreds of mechs at a time.

Every War Squire that had been prepared for use were spaced far apart from each other. This prevented the mech cadets from damaging other machines if they somehow lost control over their own mechs.

As soon as Mickey approached War Squire #47, he felt it. The much-hyped glow that he read about on the galactic net was truly amazing and remarkable in ways he couldn't describe.

"Is this really what mechs can do these days?" He whispered to himself.

He already felt this sensation from a distance, but now that he had come close enough to throw a stone at it, the War Squire just called to him in a way that compelled him to pilot it right away!

Mickey took a deep breath and floated up to the chest of the mech and slipped inside the opening.

"Even the cockpit of this new mech is fantastic!"

The interior of the cockpit looked like a warrior's abode. Not only was it luxuriously furnished, but the metal surfaces that were ordinarily empty were carved stylized reliefs of mech battles and heroes vanquishing over villains.

Combined with the War Squire's glow that constantly built up his desires, Mickey felt more eager and motivated to train to become an awesome mech pilot in the future!

He soon took his seat and waited until a thick neural interface helmet dropped onto his head.

An agonizing few minutes passed by until the mech instructor finally passed on the command that Mickey and the other cadets wanted to hear.

"Boot up your training mechs."

As soon as Mickey pressed the big central button, the entire cockpit and everything around it came to life in a more literal way than he could ever imagine!

The young thirteen year-old mech cadet's eyes shook continuously as the most pleasurable and enjoyable interfacing experience overtook his mind for the very first time!

As soon as he completed the initial connection procedure, he felt as if his body and awareness had expanded in a way that made him feel as if he literally embodied the War Squire.

Not only that, he felt a presence through the man-machine connection that instinctively welcomed his arrival.

War Squire #47 was ready to turn him into a powerful mech pilot.