The Mech Touch

Ves spent a few minutes on keeping Marvaine company before he set his son down.

For his part, the energetic little boy ran off to the nearby sandbox in order to start building a sandcastle with the help of the toy building blocks placed nearby.

After making sure that Marvaine was okay when playing by himself, he moved on and approached a garden table that was bedecked with tea and snacks.

Gloriana sat on her favorite garden chair as she watched her kids play about without a care in the galaxy.

"Hey, honey."

"Are you done throwing our clan into confusion, Ves?"

"I was just asking questions, Gloriana. That's not a crime."

"You are still the face of our clan! Do you know how many rumors have spread since you have started to ask all of your weird questions? People are beginning to fear that you have lost grip on reality."

Ves dismissively waved his hand. "I don't think the situation is as bad as you make it sound. Once I go back to work and design my mechs as usual, everyone will realize that those stupid rumors have no leg to stand on. I have no intentions of leaving the mech industry if that is what you are afraid about."

It took quite a bit of time for Ves to reassure his wife. He may act foolish at times, but he had not lost a single measure of his love and passion for mech design.

"What's this all about, Ves?" Gloriana asked plainly. "Have you grown antsy because the five-year rebuilding period is almost over? Maybe this is your brain telling you that it is better to stay in Davute. Look at everything we have built. Look at how nice it is to relax in our garden while letting our children play without worrying about getting ambushed by hostile alien fleets. Do we truly have to go on this silly Trailblazer Expedition of yours? Aurelia and Andraste will both grow sad once you rip them away from the friends they made in kindergarten!"

Ves briefly gazed at his two daughters and felt apologetic for a moment. "I am aware of that, Gloriana, but this is for the best. Davute is not our end station. There are many other planets and regions out there that will become a lot more prosperous in the future. In the future, we will sell our products to the entire dwarf galaxy. We need to detach ourselves from this tendency to develop an unreasonable attachment to a single location."

"I'm sure that Aurelia and Andraste will understand when you rip them away from the friends they made in the last few years."

Ves grew annoyed. "There are plenty of other kids in the Golden Skull Alliance that they can get along with! So many Larkinsons have started their own families that our kids will have all the friends they need!"

"I already told you that it is bad for their development that they can only get along with other Larkinsons most of the time! They need to spend more time with peers from other organizations! Not only will they learn to socialize with their equals, they can also forge new friendships with different groups! We'll throw all of this away if you take our children out of the planet that they have grown up on for all of their lives!"

This wasn't the first time they argued about this contentious topic. Each time, Ves allowed his wife to vent, but at the end of the day he did not budge from his stance.

His clan had invested too much in the upcoming expedition. All of the planning, buildup and reparation work had put the Golden Skull Alliance in the most optimal state to commence a grand expedition into dangerous territories. A single woman's opinion was far from enough to stop this enormous development from taking place.

Ever since Ves announced the Trailblazer Expedition, he and his clan had made sure to prep all of the Larkinsons for this dangerous but incredibly exciting venture.

A lot of older or more risk-averse clansmen had been allowed to transfer to the Davute Branch. Ves did not want to force anyone to go on this dangerous trip and he fully understood why plenty of clansmen wanted to live a calmer and more stable life.

Many young parents had voluntarily accepted the price of demoting from a main branch member to a side branch member in order to get away from all of the fighting that would undoubtedly commence.

Everyone knew that a lot of Larkinsons eventually sacrificed their lives in past campaigns and expeditions. Ves was not exactly the most careful leader and while his victories were great, the price that everyone paid to secure them was also significant!

Gloriana's attitude happened to align with all of the clansmen that had opted to transfer out of the main fleet. She, like everyone else with this mindset, wanted to sit back and enjoy the wealth and privileges that the Larkinson Clan had already attained through great effort.

Unfortunately, Gloriana was no ordinary Larkinson. She was the wife of the patriarch and the second-highest ranking mech designer of the Larkinson Clan.

There was no way she could transfer to the Davute Branch!

She was way too high profile and would make herself and her children incredibly vulnerable to attacks once the main fleet left the Davute System.

Even though the Larkinson Clan had built up a large and numerous garrison force at their Davute Branch, there was a distinct lack of expert pilots and elite troops that could fend off powerful enemies.

Aside from that, transferring away from the main fleet also meant that she would be moving away from the center of power of the Larkinson Clan.

There was no way she would be able to wield as much influence within the clan if she literally sidelined herself!

This was an unacceptable consequence to Gloriana!

The result of this was that Gloriana had no choice but to stay with Ves and take her children on an exceedingly dangerous expedition that was completely unnecessary in her eyes!

It was no surprise to Ves that she grew cranky because of that. As the time of departure grew closer, her complaints grew more frequent.

Once Gloriana was done with venting her feelings, Ves proceeded to bring up the topic that had truly been occupying his mind as of late.

His wife immediately grew suspicious.

"You don't normally think this deep, Ves."

"Hey! I'm not stupid, you know! I have formed plenty of long-term plans!"

"That's different and you know it." Gloriana retorted as she picked up her teacup and took a sip. "What you have just brought up sounds as if you have just reached a major turning point."

"I guess you know me too well." He sighed. "Can you just tell me what you think?"

Seeing that Ves was serious about this, Gloriana dropped her catty attitude and put serious thought in what she should say in response.

As much as Ves and Gloriana frequently argued and disagreed about many matters, they still trusted each other to a large extent. They were married to each other and already had three kids. There was no point in sabotaging each other.

"To be honest, I don't know why you are entertaining all of these alternate ideas." She eventually said. "I value you because you are the best and most promising mech designer I have ever met. Others value you for the same reason as well. There would have been no future for you and your clan if you did not invest so much in your unique approach to mech design. It is due to your innovations such as living mechs and glows that the Hexadric Hegemony and certain factions of the MTA have agreed to back you in the first place."

Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin as he sat down on another garden chair. "You're right, but that is already in the past. I am talking about how I should invest my time and effort in the future. Should I continue to focus on furthering my mech designs, or should I branch out in other areas in order to improve our strengths and capabilities in a more comprehensive manner?"

"I don't know, Ves. Your descriptions are too vague. Let's approach this issue from another direction. First, what is your objective? Who are you trying to benefit? Are you just out to better yourself or are you mainly trying to uplift our entire clan or humanity as a whole?"

Those were important questions, and ones that Ves struggled to answer.

A part of him leaned towards selfishness. He had never been particularly enthusiastic about working for the greater good. His various life experiences had beaten down a lot of his idealistic notions because he learned that the cosmos was filled with selfish individuals, especially among the upper echelon of a society.

Everyone was out to further their own interests. No matter whether they were humans or aliens, mechers or space peasants, many leaders would gladly sacrifice the lives of their fellow comrades in order to come out on top!

Ves was tired of being naive. He understood the fundamental truth that if he did not look out for himself, he would have no capital to pursue larger goals.

For a long time, this mentality had served him well. He had lived through a lot of tricky situations by being willing to make decisions that others found distasteful.

Yet as Ves and his clan grew more powerful and capable, he felt less of a need to maintain such a despicable attitude towards life.

<o>,m He had reached a degree of success and security that allowed him to think about achieving grander and more idealistic goals.</o>

From transforming every mech in use into a living battle partner to giving many more mech pilots the chance to advance to the rank of expert pilot, he was in a position to enact great change on human society!

The question now was how important it was for him to pursue these causes.

If he was an expert pilot or an ace pilot, then he would definitely be committed to his ideals!

He was not, though. Unless he opted for Personal Piloting Cultivation, his willpower would always remain within normal boundaries.

This meant that he had much more room to choose his goals. What did he want to accomplish? How much did he want to give back to society? Was it important for him to realize any of his greater ideals?

Gloriana had her own opinion on this subject.

"Before you make up your mind, let's take a look at the Star Designers that stand at the top of the mech industry. Do you know of any who have not dedicated their lives and careers to a specific cause that is larger than themselves?"

Ves widened his eyes. "No. People like Apollo, the Polymath, the Armorer and the Crossbreeder are all known for pushing their grand ideals. They're much like god pilots in that regard."

His wife nodded. "The differences between Star Designers and god pilots aren't so great in my opinion. It takes an inhuman amount of effort to advance to the highest ranks. We all know that ace pilots and Master Mech Designers face the hardest hurdles at all. Talent and opportunity play a limited role at that stage. I think that one of the crucial factors that can make a difference in this situation is how driven you are in pursuing your own goal. If you do not have the heart and the will to succeed, then becoming a Star Designer is out of the question in my opinion."

"What are you trying to say with this message?"

"Can't you figure it out, Ves? Follow your passion. Listen to your heart. As much as I dislike your habit for basing your decisions off your gut feeling instead of rational arguments, I think that a matter as important as your future should align with your passion rather than your insecurity. Don't listen to people who think they know better. Make your own decision. Just be sure to choose based on what you love instead of what you feel obligated to do. The former always makes you feel excited while the latter only soothes your fears. Only one of them can take you all the way to Star Designer."

"…Thanks, Gloriana." Ves replied as he felt a lot more unburdened than before. "You have truly given me the best advice of all. I knew you would say the wisest words. That is why I saved you for last."

Gloriana arrogantly huffed. "I'm a woman, after all."