The Mech Touch

The large audience of Terrans and foreign guests became completely enraptured by the unconventional class held by Professor Larkinson!

Though the lessons he taught up until now were rather subjective and should have provoked a greater debate, the entire crowd had fallen into the rhythm of the man who dared to hold a remote class while the ship he resided upon was being pummeled by a bunch of relentless alien warships!

The man on the other side of the communication channel did not hide the dire situation he was in. The projected feed displayed additional screens which displayed an overview of the surrounding battlefield.

They also highlighted particularly notable subjects, such as the ace rifleman mech that fired unusually effective penetrating shots, or the expert hero mech that launched strangely ominous gray energy beams that caused the puelmer homeship to maintain a more respectful distance from the factory ship.

It was clear that the status quo did not favor the adventurous professor and his subordinates. Though the witnesses understood little how a single factory ship got embroiled in a fight against a small swarm of deadly alien vessels, the collective firepower of all of those ships were straining the Spirit of Bentheim's defenses!

If not for the fact that the Macharia Excelsia often moved over to the most beleaguered areas and utilized its powerful Saint Kingdom to drain much of the power of the incoming warship cannon attacks, the factory ship would have been in a much direr state at this time!

Even so, there were limits to how many angles the Macharia Excelsia could cover. Its Saint Kingdom could not possibly envelop an entire capital that stretched on for 2.5 kilometers!

The once-majestic prow that displayed a golden cat head had become scarred and dented after enduring dozens of attacks. More and more hull breaches across the length of the entire vessel occurred over time as the alien warships cleverly focused their firepower onto specific sections in order to breach the strained transphasic shields.

The students and professors who sat in an auditorium all felt grateful that they were not physically present aboard the flagship under fire.

They might not be able to hold their composure as well as the daring young professor!

Many of the Terrans developed an inexplicable respect towards this odd and unconventional second-class Senior Mech Designer.

While there was no denying that Professor Larkinson was a second-rater with space peasant origins, this was a man who demonstrated as much courage as a professional soldier!

Not only that, but the way he took charge of his clan and the excellence of his second-class mechs and mech pilots were obvious proof of his competence as a pioneer!

Most of the students who enrolled in the Frontier Wisdom course did not hold any doubts over whether it was worthwhile for them to take lessons from this mech designer.

Even the most stuck up and elite students began to accept that this second-rater could teach them insights and wisdom that they could never obtain from their professors or their family tutors!

As Ves Larkinson understandably shifted his attention away from the remote class in order to direct his subordinates during the running battle, the students softly exchanged their opinions with each other.

"His personality is interesting." Polina Devonshire whispered to Klaus sitting next to her. "I am looking more and more forward with what he has to say in his next classes. I hope he will be able to make it out of this battle alive, though. His ship is far sturdier than a typical second-class capital ship, but her power supply can't keep up with the demands of all of those energy shields. What if the aliens actually succeed in taking him down?"

Klaus looked doubtful as he watched the professor continue to act in a confident and commanding fashion.

"A self-made mech designer such as him shouldn't make such a mistake. He puts a lot of trust in his own work. The fact that he is placing his life on the line is a clear sign of that. Look at how those mechs are all excellent in their own ways. They might not possess the versatility of the first-class multipurpose mechs that we are used to, but their ability to damage warships is far beyond what typical second-class machines should be able to accomplish."

The bunker mechs were unnaturally accurate and hit really hard. Though it became apparent later on that all of these heavy artillery mechs benefited from the support of an unseen expert command mech, it was still a testament to their design that their performance could be elevated to this degree.

The unique and colorful expert mechs were even more fascinating. The expert rifleman mech that was able to make enemy ships retreat by setting them on fire attracted the most attention at this time as not even typical first-class mechs could accomplish this feat!

There were many other details about the mechs designed by Professor Larkinson that merited greater attention. The more attentive audience members could faintly perceive the strange auras of these quirky mechs across the live feeds. They did not know what made them so remarkable, but they yearned to take a closer look.

The more practical-leaning mech designers also developed a lot of appreciation for the masterwork mechs in action.

The fact that they were expert mechs that Professor Larkinson fabricated back when he was a Journeyman made them especially notable!

A lot of different students who had the opportunity to sign up for his Advanced Mech Fabrication course but decided to look elsewhere due to his poor background and nonexistent teaching experience all regretted their decisions.

If they knew that his masterwork mechs were so exquisite and full of charm while they were fully engaged in combat, they might have been able to learn a few tricks from the professor so that they could produce similar works!

Professor Larkinson finally resumed his lecture after making sure his ship wouldn't fall apart in an instant. Though the state of his ship and forces did not look good, they had already been fighting for a while. This battle should not end too quickly as long as no one made a serious error.

"Where was I? Ah, I remember. I talked about how each of us are in peril. From my perspective, it doesn't matter whether you are situated in a border colony or residing in the heart of Bridgehead One. Red humanity is surrounded by hostile alien threats. So long as our adversaries manage to break our defensive lines and shatter our main forces, all of us shall perish, no matter whether you are a Terran citizen or a third-class colonist. The aliens don't care about our states, our allegiances, our political opinions or our wealth. Our greatest foes only distinguish us by how much effort it takes to defeat us, that is all. The sooner you recognize that the aliens have put a gun on each of your heads, the sooner you recognize the reality of what it means to live in a frontier environment."

Just as he was about to address his next point, a student raised her arm.

Professor Larkinson gestured with his hand. "Miss Selene Di Ventura, what is it that you wish to ask?"

According to the student list that he studied a few days ago, the fifth-year business student was a civilian who also happened to be the daughter of a small logistics and transportation company.

Ves did not underestimate the status of such a figure at all. Anyone who was able to run any transportation company within the Terran Alliance had to be talented and well-connected.

Otherwise, it would have been too easy for other parties to snatch the transportation vessels that were in high demand!

The young woman who already possessed the bearing of a clever and thoughtful businesswoman smoothly rose to her feet.

"Professor, shouldn't your earlier description lead to greater cooperation within our society? If the aliens are truly capable of threatening all of us without exception, is that not an impetus for the Terran Alliance, the Rubarthan Pact as well as the Red Two to set aside their differences and cooperate more extensively with each other? While I agree that investing in newer and better technologies can offer us salvation, it takes years if not decades to build a tech lead that is commanding enough to turn the tide against our common enemies. Building a more unified military alliance takes a lot less time and can go into effect in a matter of months."

A lot of people nodded as they heard the business student's argument. Technological progress did not happen overnight. Even the scrappy humans from the Age of Stars had to bide their time for centuries before they mastered enough technologies to begin their legendary conquest of the Milky Way!

Ves smiled back at his audience. "You make a good and logical point, but you are overlooking an issue that I have already alluded to. Let's say this integrated military alliance comes to pass. Will you allow your Terran mech units to follow the orders of a fleet admiral? Will you let Rubarthan mechs cover the evacuation route of your precious carriers? Will you agree to send a lot of forces to reinforce a strategic star system held by mechers but has turned into a meat grinder for the defenders?"

These were tricky scenarios that did not have any easy answers. Even Selene found it troublesome to offer the right answers at the moment.

However, she was a well-trained and highly augmented business student. She was able to move quickly on her feet.

"We can implement organizational rules and controls to ensure the military alliance will not treat any of its members unfairly. It is also not necessary for different forces to fight alongside each other. The main goal of the alliance is to make sure that red humanity presents a unified front with no gaps in our defensive lines."

Though her answer made sense, the professor shook his head in disapproval.

"I know a thing or two about alliances." He spoke. "A true military alliance is one that is based on trust. For example, the alliance partners that have been fighting alongside my clan for years are all brothers-in-arms who I can trust to cover my back without question. They have done far more than say platitudes. They backed up their claims and promises with deeds. Many soldiers have died in order to support us in real battle. Can you truly imagine a future where Terrans, Rubarthans, mechers and fleeters can join hands on the same battlefield and be willing to make actual sacrifices to defend their allies?"

No serious Terran could think this way. Even Selene could not bring herself to contradict the long-standing grievances between her people and that of the other human superpowers.

"It... will take great leadership and diplomacy to forge such an alliance." The young woman said.

Ves actually chuckled at this. "Dreams are cheap. You can come up with any idea you want, but if it is not sufficiently grounded in actual realism, then you will only be deluding yourself. Don't get me wrong, Miss Di Ventura. I am not necessarily objecting to your idea. I am just questioning its practicality. You see, the one factor that many people rely upon but is in particularly short supply is trust."

"Trust?"

"Correct. This is my second lesson to you all. Trust is one of the scarcest resources in the frontier. No one can fully trust anyone. I have already explained a part of the reason why that is so. Everyone is inherently selfish. If they can get away with backstabbing you, they will do so if the rewards exceed any possible repercussions that they may suffer. While it is a lot harder to get away with misdeeds in the well-regulated territories of the Milky Way, it is entirely different in the frontier."

The professor waved his arm around him as if to emphasize the ongoing the battle taking place around his ship.

"No one will go out of the way to save you or fall on your behalf if you end up in a disadvantageous situation. Do you know why? They are too busy trying to save themselves and take care of their own interests. This doesn't only count for external parties such as the Red Two, but also for internal parties such as your own government or even your own family organizations. If any of you think you can rely on your clan or company to do their best to save your hides when you are in danger, then you are a complete and utter fool!"

That provoked a reaction from many students. Many of them happen to be dependents of powerful organizations. To hear a professor put their background and relationships into question in such a blunt fashion was a controversial move to say the least!