The Mech Touch

The outcome of the main battle against Stingray 1 and her remaining yurzens escorts was never in doubt.

Once the aliens took the bait and split up their warships in order to chase after the Spirit of Bentheim, the ships left behind did not have the numbers to resist several mech divisions as well as two ace mechs.

However, the losses were still bound to be serious, especially if the technologically advanced puelmer heavy cruiser was given a chance to fire her gun batteries for an extended period of time.

Her weapon systems were a lot more accurate and precise than the warship armaments of other races!

The planners and officers of the Golden Skull Alliance already budgeted for all of the casualties inflicted by the puelmer homeship.

Just because the Phobos managed to cripple her warp drives did not mean her other systems dropped in performance.

So long as her shield generators and gun batteries remained intact, she could still function as a relatively mobile gun platform that could resist a lot of attacks while dishing out a lot of punishment in return!

While the expert mechs and ace mechs of the Golden Skull Alliance could easily evade or resist these powerful attacks, the same could not be said for all of the other mech units!

It therefore came as a pleasant surprise to everyone that Venerable Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson overcame the alien homeship's powerful barriers far sooner than projected!

No one cared that the Dark Zephyr's success could not be replicated by any other machine.

So long as just a single mech managed to get this close to the hull of an alien ship, the latter had already been checkmated!

It just took a decent amount of time and effort for the expert light skirmisher to thoroughly disable Stingray 1's gun batteries, thrusters, and any shield generators that the mech could reach without inflicting excessive damage to the valuable prize.

In any case, now that the Dark Zephyr was in the process of crippling Stingray 1 with impunity, the remaining mech pilots could breathe much easier now that the greatest threat had been taken off the board!

"Damnit, the yurzens are making a run for it! They've completely given up any pretense of defending Stingray 1! They are already splitting off in different directions while activating their warp drives!"

"Stop them as much as possible! Forget about chasing after the larger and more well-defended yurzen warships. It takes too much effort for most of our mechs to overcome their defenses. The Penitent Sisters and Glory Seekers must launch their battle formations as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the remaining units should focus their attacks on the smaller vessels!"

The yurzens still had too many ships for the mech forces to immobilize all of them. The mechs of the expeditionary fleet could inflict a lot of damage if they concentrated their firepower, but that still left many alien ships free to warp out of range and make their way out of the Corellix System without suffering any further damage!

Although the expeditionary fleet could still pursue a handful fleeing alien ships by sending superdrive-equipped carriers after them, there were too few of the latter to make this worthwhile.

No matter what, alien warships were still highly capable of beating up starships with their formidable primary gun batteries!

The cleanup continued after the outcome of the battle was decided a lot sooner than everyone expected.

The Jedda Sandivar and the Royal Jeem contributed significantly to the capture of several fleeing warships. Since the two ace mechs were no longer needed to contain Stingray 1, they fully unleashed their superior might against the inferior yurzen warships that showed far too little will to fight!

Back at the Spirit of Bentheim, Ves smiled a little brighter when he saw that the main enemy raiding fleet had fallen apart.

Though he felt a little annoyed that the yurzens showed a lot less spine than the wheednars, Stingray 1 at least fell into the hands of the Golden Skull Alliance. The value of this single sub-capital ship far exceeded that of a dozen yurzen warships!

Ves no longer needed to pay attention to the situation in the field anymore. He could devote most of his attention to answering the questions of the students who attended his first lecture.

Of course, the question and answer session was restricted to the 250 students who actually enrolled for his Frontier Wisdom course. If he had to answer the questions of the tens of thousands of other students, he would probably remain stuck here all day!

One of the students sitting in the auditorium of the Eden Institute rose up after Ves granted her permission to speak.

"Can I ask why you have placed yourself in personal peril when it is not entirely necessary for a mech designer to accompany a ship entering into lethal combat? What is your rationale? Do you place so much importance into building up an image of a warlord? Do you recommend that other pioneers learn from your example?"

Ves smiled back at his remote audience. "There are many reasons why I chose to lead from the front. Frankly speaking, none of you will fully be able to understand the benefits of doing so unless you put yourself in the same position. I have reserved a greater discussion on proper risk management in a future lecture. I can promise you that you will fully be able to understand my reasoning by then. Before any of you form any misunderstandings, I do not want all of you to board a ship and head straight into the deep frontier. This is a lifestyle and a vocation that is only reserved for a small minority of individuals who are deeply unsatisfied with their existing circumstances and are willing to resort to desperate measures to jump out of their cages."

That was far too little information to satisfy the people who wanted to know the answer, but Ves was not willing to give out any spoilers for any future lesson content.

A certain student looked a lot more eager to ask his question than his other peers. He was practically hopping on his seat while stretching his arm out as far as possible!

Ves inwardly grinned at the sight and decided to indulge the fellow. "Mr. Klaus Robar-Fulton, what is it you would like to ask?"

Though the student was filled with excitement, he still knew how to present himself with decorum like a proper Terran.

"Professor Larkinson, we have all seen a small amount of your impressive works in action. How much do your mechs and expert mechs depend on your Class IX design philosophy and excellent craftsmanship to exceed the performance of other comparable second-class mechs?"

Ves chuckled a bit. "I see that you have enrolled in my other two courses as well. You should be able to obtain a complete answer once you have finished them. In short, all of the mechs you have seen aside from the ace mech are largely powerful due to the extensive growth they have experienced. Just like their pilots, these machines have served for years and survived numerous battles. The qualities that I have endowed them with has enabled them to grow independently and alongside their pilots, thereby causing them to evolve in ways that make them more effective in future engagements. I know this might sound crazy to most of you, but that is the nature of a Class IX design philosophy."

"Will we be able to learn enough about your design philosophy to design a similar mech that can grow like your work?" Klaus quickly asked a second question.

"That is a complicated question." Ves replied. "I have yet to realize my design philosophy, so it is a lot harder for me to pass on my teachings than is the case with your other professors. Designing a living mech is not a requirement to pass my course. Otherwise its title wouldn't have included 'Introduction to'. However, in my experiences with sharing my design philosophies with my collaborators, it is certainly possible for students such as yourself to design a basic mech that is 'alive' in a certain sense of the word. You do not need to adopt my design philosophy to make that happen. You can remain committed to your own chosen specializations. You only have to keep an open mind towards my teachings."

Klaus looked satisfied with the answers and sat down again. He actually wanted to ask a lot more questions based on his observations of the previous battle, but he knew that he would have to wait until his next classes had begun before he could obtain more answers.

Although the Terran student had no idea whether he was even suited to design mechs like the ones he had witnessed earlier, he could not deny his attraction towards them. Second-class mechs or not, their handsome appearances and their notably high effectiveness in combat appealed to him as an aspiring mech designer!

Compared to dedicating his career to a more boring and mundane specialization like sensor systems, he felt obviously more attracted to designing mechs that were not only a lot better put together, but could also grow more powerful by themselves!

The professor might not have elaborated on it, but Klaus was still clever enough to figure out that a key advantage to designing a self-growing mech was that its performance could match that of much more expensive products over time!

This was a pretty cheap way to increase the competitiveness of his own products. Sure, the part about needing years of growth in order to make his mechs powerful enough to put up a good fight against other industry-standard products was a pretty big downside, but it offered him an opportunity to occupy a niche in the lower end of the Terran Alliance's mech market!

Of course, before he could start a viable mech business based on self-evolving mechs, he first needed to raise the capital and build up the connections needed to make that happen.

Professor Larkinson already selected another student.

"Mr. Ryan Shuku, what is your question?"

The scion of an ancient clan rose up and spoke up in a dignified manner.

"The mechs that you have demonstrated to us display combat capabilities that are far in excess to what their apparent designs and construction are presumably able to produce. I understand that your unconventional design philosophy plays a large role in that, but it is clear that additional variables have also affected their damage output. How replicable are they and will you teach the skills needed to impart these strengths in our own works?"

Ves felt pleased that he had managed to arouse the interest of a more important Terran student.

Although he was committed to treating his students fairly, he could not overlook the prominent status of a member of an ancient clan.

As long as he was able to form an amicable relationship with such students, Ves could easily take advantage of these connections once he was ready to be promoted to a first-class mech designer!

Possibilities like these were part of the reason why he worked so hard to obtain a teaching position in a first-class university.

"A lot of the more notable properties displayed by my mechs indeed go far beyond just living mechs. I cannot elaborate on them further because they are part of my proprietary trade secrets. There are even aspects of my work that I cannot openly divulge because the Red Two prefer not to spread certain pieces of information. Knowledge is power. A university is normally a place where it is shared freely, but not all of it can be shared without consequences. I can tell you that I have learned a lot of forbidden knowledge throughout my expeditions. This is a partial answer why I am so eager to go on expeditions. The frontier holds many secrets, and as long as you are able to stumble upon them yourself, no one can keep it away from your hands."