The Mech Touch

The completion of the Mars was a massive occasion for the Cross Clan.

In fact, its emergence not only had massive implications for the Cross Clan, but also affected the rest of the Golden Skull Alliance.

The news that Professor Benedict Cortez might be able to advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer was a massive bombshell to everyone!

Up until now, Ves was the most prominent mech designer in the alliance. It was hard to get around him and his design philosophy because his living mechs and his glows were just too iconic and useful.

The arrival of a Master would not only put a lot of the spotlight back onto the Cross Clan, but also raise the comprehensive strength and prestige of the entire alliance.

It made a huge difference whether an organization or a power bloc was able to retain a Master Mech Designer or not! The ability to employ one was one of the many important criteria that other players paid attention to when evaluating the strength and value of different groups.

However, as much as the arrival of a Master Mech Designer could do much to make the public take the Golden Skull Alliance more seriously, there was another prospect that could benefit everyone even more.

The potential chance that Patriarch Reginald Cross would finally be able to follow in the footsteps of his late father could change everything!

The protection of an ace pilot was long regarded as one of the qualifiers to join the ranks of the bigshots of the new frontier.

Due to their insanely high battle effectiveness, an ace pilot paired with a powerful ace mech was able to fight against alien warships and gain an advantage if the disparity in firepower wasn't too great!

With the onset of transphasic mechs, that advantage became even more obvious. In a time where the use of warships by private parties was still prohibited, the presence of a powerful ace pilot was often seen as a guarantee of safety in the Age of Mechs!

This was because most groups simply couldn't compete against those who enjoyed the protection of a Saint. Ace mechs were practically invincible even when they squared off against tens of thousands of regular mechs at a time.

This effectively meant that they could win any conventional battle against conventional mech armies. It was no longer a matter of numbers or firepower. The absolute disparity in power was simply too great for small and medium players to overcome.

Morale was also a serious issue. Many mech pilots weren't even willing to fight against an ace mech head-on, so they would either perform far below their usual strength or outright mutiny against their own organization if they felt that their lives were being thrown away!

Even organizations that were powerful enough to retain ace pilots themselves would not easily put their top strategic assets at risk.

Ace pilots and ace mechs were the equivalent of weapons of mass destruction in the modern era. Their greatest value lay in their deterrence, their ability to prevent others from acting in a hostile manner.

A fight was inherently dangerous and chaotic. Anything could happen on the battlefield. The Cross Clan knew that quite well when the late Saint Hemmington Cross lost his life not by confronting an enemy in honorable combat, but by getting backstabbed by his erstwhile allies!

Rather than exposing their precious ace pilots to those risks, it was much safer and better for everyone involved to keep an ace pilot in reserve. Even if the powerful warrior did not step onto the battlefield, he or she already served a useful purpose.

In short, the chances that the Golden Skull Alliance would get attacked would become much lower once Patriarch Reginald broke through!

This would almost fully guarantee all of their safety in the coming years. Unless they took part in a conflict that was too big for the deterrence to remain effective, everyone in the alliance would probably have to worry less about provoking any new enemies in the coming decade.

Right now, the chance that the Cross Patriarch might be able to overcome the bottleneck that has confounded thousands of other expert pilots was quite high.

Reginald's circumstances were much better than the majority of his peers. He was over 70 years old, which meant he was just past his prime, but still in a good condition. His body was heavily augmented which meant that he was not as weak and feeble as others at this age.

He possessed over 50 years of combat experience. Not only did he grow up and fight in a star sector that glorified mech combat, he also fought a lot of major battles during the Cross Clan's flight from Majestic Teal and over the course of the initial grand expedition.

His resonance strength had steadily grown throughout all of the training and fighting. He did not stagnate like a few other expert pilots, which showed that his willpower had remained strong and vigorous throughout the years.

Now that his resonance strength reached 60 laveres, he was well within reach of breaking through. It was not necessary for his resonance strength to reach the extreme limit of 67 laveres to undergo his second apotheosis. He just needed a greater push in order to overcome the dreaded bottleneck.

There was good reason for people to believe that the Mars could serve as that powerful push.

It was already a known phenomenon that expert pilots tended to get awfully excited when they received a new expert mech, especially if it was substantially more powerful than normal.

It was also a known phenomenon that masterwork expert mechs were much more helpful in spurring on the growth and facilitating the breakthroughs of their respective pilots.

Now that the Mars abundantly satisfied both of these factors, even the Mech Trade Association recognized the potential implications.

It came as a considerable surprise to Ves when the MTA was not only willing to lend a hand, but also dispatch a considerably-sized starship to assist in security, monitoring and analysis-related tasks!

Security was particularly a concern to the Golden Skull Alliance. Since Davute only hosted 7 known ace pilots, the arrival of another one would definitely threaten a lot of established interests.

The chance that rivals would march out in strength in order to crush the Mars or the rest of the Golden Skull Alliance was not trivial!

However, once the MTA signaled its interest in this matter, those threats instantly faded away.

"The mechers are greedy bastards most of the time, but I can't deny that they can be useful in certain moments." Ves remarked over a communication channel when he heard the news.

Professor Benedict smiled. "It's not just them feeling generous this time. A large part of the reason why the MTA has taken an elevated interest in our situation is because the breakthrough of an ace pilot is of much greater significance than the breakthrough of expert pilots."

Although it was rare to come across expert pilots on an individual basis, there were still many of them on a statistical basis.

Ace pilots were much rarer, and thus more valuable, both to the states or organizations that retained them as well as the MTA.

Each ace pilot was a potential god pilot in the making. Being able to reach their current rank was already a legendary feat in itself! Compared to every other mech pilot, Saints were much closer to bridging the final gap to godhood.

While this was the most common reason why the mechers paid so much attention to ace pilots, Ves knew that there was probably a murkier reason why they valued halfgods so much.

The horrible revelations from Prosperous Hill VI came to mind.

Skulls weren't the only valuable resource that people could harvest from the bodies of high-ranking mech pilots.

The closer a person transcended their mortality, the more valuable their remains tended to be! This applied to every organic life form, not just humans!

Thus, when the Golden Skull Alliance traveled to an empty star system with half of its combined fleet, the arrival of an MTA warship caused Ves to entertain mixed feelings.

He had an illusion that the arriving mechers weren't just here to observe and assist in the coming testing sessions.

Instead, they were also here to size up Patriarch Reginald's evolved brain in order to estimate how many old and decrepit bastards might be able to gain another century of life.

Ves wasn't stupid enough to mention any of these thoughts to anyone. He played stupid and genuinely prepared to welcome the new arrivals.

"What a big ship."

The new arrival was not as big as the Paracelsus Optimus, but she was still an impressive vessel for different reasons.

The Paracelsus Optimus was an all-in-one battlecarrier that was part of the MTA's 307th Pacification Fleet, whatever that meant.

The Conte Avaris was a so-called logistics cruiser that was part of the MTA's 765th Assault Fleet.

The differences in the names of their fleets mattered a lot. While the Pacification Fleet was largely preoccupied with cleanup duty, the Assault Fleet was primarily engaged in barging into alien territory and breaking apart the defenses of any indigenous forces!

As a result, the 765th Assault Fleet had seen a lot of action ever since the Big Two stepped up its invasion of the Red Ocean!

The aggressive nature of this fleet was reflected in the Conte Avaris. The 'logistics' cruiser did not resemble a typical vessel that was dedicated to repairing mechs and other war material in the field.

Her armor belt was thick and she also boasted a respectable collection of primary and secondary armaments.

In order to facilitate her repair and transportation functions, her hull was relatively wide and fat, causing the logistic cruisers to look a lot more bloated.

As a result, her mobility was relatively disappointing compared to other MTA warships.

Still, the Conte Avaris was definitely intimidating on her own. The fact that the MTA found it worthwhile enough to dispatch such a large warship to this star system showed how much it cared about Patriarch Reginald's potential breakthrough.

Ves, Gloriana, Juliet and Sara all received an invitation to meet with the leading MTA dignitary aboard the flagship of the Cross Clan.

The four Larkinsons adorned their best dress uniforms before boarding a shuttle that ferried them over to the Hemmington Cross.

Once there, they stood next to Professor Benedict Cortez as they all waited for the delegation from the MTA.

The Senior of the Cross Clan looked much different from before. He had lost a portion of his guardedness and exuded a lot more confidence and satisfaction.

Now that his road to Master was both straight and clear, Benedict had finally succeeded in overcoming his greatest heartache and obsession!

"You look really good, Benedict." Ves said in appreciation. "Your uniform suits you well."

"Thank you, Ves. I can finally wear this outfit with pride."

The dress uniform that was marked in the Cross Clan's colors of white and pale blue no longer seemed incongruous to the mech designer. The older man's sense of belonging towards the Crossers had clearly grown.

As Ves and Benedict continued to chat for a time, the space in front of them suddenly buzzed.

The MTA delegation teleported over without a hitch. Among the dozens of the personnel dispatched by the Conte Avaris, one of them clearly stood out from the rest.

Ves could easily spot a Master Mech Designer through their spiritual presences alone. The woman was a new one that he had yet to meet before!

"Master Amphi Helecos. It is good to meet you in person." Professor Benedict said as he made a light bow in greeting.

"You have exceeded our expectations. Good."

"I cannot claim all of the credit, Master. My colleagues from the Larkinson Clan have played a vital role in the development of the Mars."

The woman whose presence carried a lot of invisible weight briefly swept her view across the Larkinson Journeymen.

"The next generations of mech designers have become more and more impressive over time. The Survivalists and the Transhumanists have staked a powerful claim on you. A shame. I would have pulled you into our gathering myself if I learned about you sooner."

What could Ves say towards that? He settled for maintaining a polite expression.

"I look forward to hearing your evaluation of my latest work."

"Oh, I will certainly provide you with that and more."

Though the Master looked like an old woman that had seen a lot of years, it was clear she was a driven leader. She exuded a lot more decisiveness and proactivity compared to Master Willix!