The Mech Touch

Professor Anton Mendoza followed up on the dubious-sounding lead that a fellow Senior had provided to him and traveled to a rural star system that was situated on the border of the Vermeer Group.

Although he did not feel completely safe and comfortable traveling to such a dubious place by himself, he was unwilling to bring any escorts.

First, the person who provided him with this tip had warned him not to attract too much attention.

Second, involving other people would increase the risk that Master Rexen would learn about what Anton was doing.

For this reason, Anton assumed a disguise and permanently wore an all-black vacsuit over a thick coat throughout the duration of this trip.

Though his choice of outfits was anything but usual, it hardly mattered as he hitched a ride on a routine cargo hauler and used self-built jammers and interference devices to hide his movements.

The planet he landed upon looked like a typical agrarian planet. The relatively modest population of the planet was largely self-sufficient, though there were scant signs of more advanced tech and elaborate facilities.

With only farming and mining as the major exports of the star system, the only serious traffic that flowed between this place and the rest of the Vermeer Group were cargo haulers like the one he just rode.

To Professor Anton, this looked exactly where someone would want to bury a secret design lab!

He shook his head and discreetly moved out into the countryside.

Amidst the farmland and the hilly terrain, he reached the coordinates that his contact had provided to him and waited to be received.

It took half an hour before movement took place. A stealth shuttle had actually managed to sneak up behind his back!

"Are you the Senior?" A soldier wearing a suit of combat armor without marking asked.

"Yes."

"Hop inside, then."

Professor Anton entered the stealth shuttle without asking any further questions and allowed himself to be strapped into the reinforced seat without any complaint.

He settled down for an increasingly longer wait as the stealth shuttle engaged its systems and flew to an unknown destination.

It soon became clear to him that he wasn't being brought to a hidden underground site.

Although the shuttle was extremely well-designed and well-constructed, the crew responsible for maintaining it had made a few mistakes that caused the interior to subtly vibrate at a certain frequency.

This was inconsequential to the shuttle's ability to remain in stealth, but Professor Anton knew enough about how the shuttle worked that he was able to ascertain that it was ascending into orbit!

It appeared his actual destination may be hidden inside a secret moon base or asteroid base.

Whatever the case, his hosts were clearly unwilling to expose anything further. The shuttle continued on its silent journey until it had finally reached its destination.

"Out."

He emerged in a small hangar bay that looked like a typical underground base on a quiet planet. It did not feature any of the typical signs that it was situated in space, which was quite clever.

Professor Anton wasn't interested in figuring out the coordinates of this secret base. He only had a single goal in mind, and if that required him to work together with a shady outfit, then so be it. At least he had a better chance of obtaining what he needed in this secret base than back in his old workplace.

As his guide brought him deeper into the base, Professor Anton quickly noticed that his surroundings were off in another way.

The metal walls were made out of alloys that he did not recognize, but could vaguely tell were much harder and tougher than usual.

Once he finally reached a large but empty metal chamber, another figure actually teleported in front of his view!

He was immediately taken aback. Teleportation technology was a form of high technology that was prohibitively expensive to second-rate states. Anton did not believe that anyone from the Friday Coalition would be willing to install such a device in an obscure research lab when it wasn't necessary.

The fact that the people in charge exposed this tech to Anton on their own initiative gave him a lot of ideas.

"Professor Anton Mendoza. Welcome." The man in a modern pin-striped suit greeted. "I am sure you have questions. Let me clarify them one by one. You may call me Director Trinsael. I am in charge here. We have tracked you for several months now. We have observed with increasingly more interest from the moment you began to inquire about engaging in… less than conventional research."

The fact that Anton's behavior triggered a few flags should not be surprising. It was hard to hide anything in this day and age.

However, with the precautions he took, he shouldn't have been able to give himself away so soon and attract so much attention right away.

There were only a few organizations that he knew of who possessed all of the capabilities shown so far…

"Are you… part of the Mech Trade Association?"

"We are." Director Trinsael admitted with a smile. "It is quite clever for you to come to the right conclusion so easily. We are not supposed to be here, so forgive me if I decline to divulge our exact identities and affiliations. All you need to know is that we operate beyond the rules and boundaries of any regional group or state. The laws and regulations of the Vermeer Group and the Friday Coalition do not apply within these halls."

The news did not generate concern in Professor Anton. Instead, he became a lot more reassured. A secret research base that did not respect the local rules might be exactly what he needed to proceed with his research!

Director Trinsael began to explain a few basic details even as they sat down on a set of chairs that materialized out of nowhere. The casual display of advanced technology completely impressed Anton.

"You may be wondering why our Association has bothered to establish this hidden site." The Director spoke. "While it is true that we can gain much greater access to what we need in any of our sector headquarters or our strongholds in the galactic center, the risk of exposure is far greater as well. It would be highly inconvenient if our actions become exposed to rival factions. Hence the need to set up a research base in an out of the way location."

That made sense to Professor Anton. He had been wondering why the high-and-mighty MTA would be willing to make contact with him. It turned out that one of its factions thought that a state on the edge of human space was a good place to hide all kinds of sensitive activities.

Though this realization put the research base in a darker light, that only spurred his confidence that he was in the right place further!

"Can you allow me to conduct the experiment that I have been trying to get off the ground?" Anton impatiently asked.

"We can." The director straightforwardly replied. "We have obtained the original research proposal that you have submitted and found that it is worthy of exploration. Though there are many mech designers who believe it is not wise to pursue this research direction any further, we do not share the same opinion. Progress must be made in order to strengthen the position of mechs in human society. Though your proposal has generated a great amount of uncertainty, that only makes it more important for us to conduct an actual experiment. Only by generating real empirical data will you be able to prove or disprove that your attempt to strengthen an expert mech is viable."

Professor Anton felt incredibly relieved now that he finally met a group that was willing to facilitate his research!

He felt an instant sense of belonging with this secret MTA research operation.

"When can I start?!"

"Ah, not so fast, professor. I did not say that you can proceed right away. While we are able to provide you with the funding, resources and facilities needed to conduct your research, we cannot provide you with the most crucial requirement of all. Nothing will happen if you cannot resolve this fundamental issue."

"And what is that, director?"

"You need to persuade an expert pilot to come and participate in your experiment." Director Trinsael answered. "We cannot do this on your behalf as we must abide by our own rules. Only you, a citizen of the Vermeer Group, must convince an expert pilot in the service of the Blue Cavalry to volunteer in a study that might allow us to discover a new way to increase the performance of expert mechs."

Though Professor Anton initially looked confused, he eventually accepted this tangled construction.

"I will try my best to gain the cooperation of an expert pilot, but that is not enough for me to proceed with my experiment. I do not have the authority or connections to arrange a transfer of personnel."

People couldn't take expert pilots away from their assigned posts. Even if expert pilots took vacations or the like, they would definitely be followed by an entourage and a security detail!

However, Director Trinsael dismissively waved his arm. "That shall not be a problem. We have enough means to discreetly transfer away an expert pilot as long as he or she is not too prominent within the Blue Cavalry. We possess at least that much pull."

"I see."

"Remember, Professor Mendoza. We can take care of everything else, but you must be the person to gain the full consent and agreement of an expert pilot to cooperate with your experiment. This is your research and your research alone. You will bear sole responsibility for all of your gains and losses."

That was a strange remark and one that quickly caused the Senior to grow suspicious.

"What do you and your fellow mechers gain out of facilitating my research?"

"Why, it is quite simple, professor. We are interested in all forms of research related to mechs. Any innovation that can increase the performance of mechs is worth pursuing. Money, wealth and even power is immaterial to research results. Our Association exists to further the development of mechs, and our arrangements conform exactly to our mission."

Though Professor Anton gradually realized that he was being pulled into a murky vortex, he did not reject Director Trinsael's offer and demands.

No matter what the mechers were truly after, Anton's goals did not conflict with theirs. Since they both possessed a basis of cooperation, he formally agreed to all of the terms and conditions and proceeded to set up his research project while he stayed inside the secret base.

It was easy enough to put everything together with the generous assistance provided by the MTA. He was able to secure the right facilities and he could even obtain the resources he needed to fabricate brand-new expert mechs of his own design.

He just lacked the most crucial element of all, which was the expert pilot!

Fortunately, Anton was not completely clueless on how to address this crucial shortcoming. He had worked with several expert pilots over the years. Over the course of working on their expert mechs, he became familiar with the personalities and the preferences of the different personalities.

Professor Anton recalled that one of them was actually quite disappointed that he wouldn't be able to obtain a stronger mech that carried a lot of small but radical improvements.

Even expert pilots were able to dream. Which of them wouldn't want to obtain a stronger and more capable machine? The basic ones that the Blue Cavalry commissioned to every new expert pilot were simply too barebones to generate much enthusiasm.

For this reason, Anton made contact with the expert pilot by relying on a secret communication channel that the MTA had established for his convenience.

"Professor? I remember you. Why did you call me? Is there anything wrong with my expert mech?"

"Not exactly, Venerable Stixson. You see, I have an interesting offer for you…"