The Mech Touch

Ves continued to attend various sessions over the course of the second and third day.

His next obligation was scheduled to take place on the fourth day of the conference, which left him with plenty of time to learn and absorb new insights.

As he continued to attend a wide variety of sessions, he became exposed to a lot of new information.

He also became more familiar with a lot of other Survivalists besides Jovy Armalon, Vayro Goldstein and the Polymath.

This was particularly important as Ves urgently needed to expand his network. A tier 4 galactic citizen was already a side leader in human civilization.

Normally, these kinds of distinguished figures invested decades if not centuries of their life on climbing up the ladder a single rung at a time. This gave them plenty of time and opportunities to form new business relationships and make a lot of friends.

Ves had somehow made an enormous shortcut that caused him to skip much of this essential process. This resulted in many deficiencies which he hoped to mitigate over the course of this conference.

Jovy happened to understand this as well. At the start of the third day, he invited a few of his friends and peers to partake in breakfast together.

"Ves, let me introduce you to my friends, colleagues, rivals, collaborators and so on. They're only Journeymen for the time being, but they all have a chance of catching up to us in the future."

"There is no need to stroke our wounded egos." A woman responded. "You defeated us all and won first place in our race. Ah, it is an honor to meet with you in person, Professor Larkinson. I am Kelly Herrera. My great-grandfather is a senior official of the Mech Trade Association back in the old galaxy. Would you prefer to be addressed by your title?"

The female Journeyman wore a modern but fairly subdued black suit that gave off the impression of an assistant. The only obvious touch of personality in her appearance was her hair. She had styled her purple locks in the form of waves in constant motion.

Ves dismissively waved his hand. "We are not too far apart in terms of age. We're also mech designers. We should treat each other as colleagues and professionals who share similar passions for mechs."

"You are much more approachable than I expected." Kelly smiled in response.

The man standing next to her made a short bow as he introduced himself.

"It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you, Professor Larkinson. I am Journeyman Polak Neziri. My grandfather is a Master Mech Designer who also remains in the Milky Way Galaxy, much to my regret."

Polak Neziri posssessed darker skin and striking orange eyes that were clearly cybernetic in nature.

Ves found it curious that Kelly and Polak felt the need to state their family connections right away. It was as if he wouldn't take these RA Journeymen seriously if they lacked sufficient backing.

He had to admit that it was handy to know this sort of information. He could make a lot of inferences about the RA Journeyman right from the start and avoid a lot of misunderstandings.

The last man introduced himself as well.

"I am Osman Carter-Tezrein. I was born in a second-rate state, but the Mech Trade Association recruited me when I was young and started to attain excellent results in school."

That was certainly different from the rest! Jovy, Kelly and Polak were all born and raised within the Mech Trade Association. This affected them in many ways. It was refreshing to meet with a mecher who possessed space peasant roots.

Once they all sat down and started to order breakfast, they began to chat with each other.

The conversation started off awkward as there was a pretty big status gap between Ves and the rest.

Ves had made several assurances that he did not care for etiquette and formality. This finally enabled them to speak without too many pretenses.

As mech designers, Ves expressed a lot of curiosity towards the specializations of Jovy's friends and peers.

"I have chosen to specialize in designing transphasic armor systems, which is classified as a Class III design philosophy." Kelly Herrera responded as she left her materialized plate of food untouched. "Many mech designers in the Association have made the same decision as this is an exciting new subject where Masters such as my great-grandfather have yet to make too many advancements."

This was not unusual. Back in his fleet, his subordinate Sara Voiken already started to shift her focus to transphasic armor systems as well.

"What aspect of transphasic armor systems are you hoping to improve?"

"Mass." Kelly responded. "To be more precise, I am researching a method to reduce the effective mass of the armor system of a mech. We know that phase whales and phase lords are actually much larger and more enormous than they appear in the open. They are able to manipulate phasewater to produce a dimensional folding effect that reduces their size, but that does not necessarily explain where all of their mass has gone. Somehow, they can also fold their mass in a manner in which they can shunt it in other dimensions that are less consequential. This is how they can make themselves lighter and faster. Some phase lords are better at this than others. I think I do not need to explain the advantages if we can apply the same principles to mechs."

She did not. This had great implications for any sort of mech, with light mechs benefiting more than others!

Mass was a great necessity for mechs as denser and heavier metals usually translated into stronger defenses.

However, light mechs could least afford to pile up on too much mass as it would make them too big and too sluggish!

If Kelly managed to produce several breakthroughs in her work, then she might be able to find a way to greatly increase the resilience of a light mech without impacting its mobility!

The only downside that Ves could think of was that the cost of production and repairs would probably skyrocket, but that was not a serious problem if this powerful new solution was confined to high-end mechs.

"How much progress have you made in your main research projects?" Ves curiously asked.

"We have made modest results so far, but not to the degree that it will change the landscape of light mechs overnight." She replied. "It will take many more years to attain more progress if there are no sudden discoveries that can help us leap forward."

That meant that she was unlikely to advance to the rank of Senior anytime soon. Ves did not look down on her, though. Kelly sounded like a typical late bloomer who bet big on a groundbreaking specialization but needed to work a lot more to reap the fruits of her efforts.

"What about you, Polak? What do you specialize in as a mech designer?"

"I am a neural interface specialist with a Class VIII design philosophy. My primary interests lie in developing viable multi-pilot mechs."

That certainly sounded like a bold choice! Ves gazed at Polak like the latter was crazy.

"A specialization like that sounds like it should be labeled as Class IX, not Class VIII. Multi-pilot mechs have fallen out of vogue centuries ago when it became clear that there aren't enough potentates to waste on single machines."

Mech pilots were too scarce to sustain this approach on a larger scale. A state that fielded mechs that needed at least two pilots each would quickly find itself short on manpower as every single total defeat inflicted twice as much manpower losses than normal!

Polak smiled in a depreciating manner. "You are far from the first person to make this remark. I disagree with the general consensus. Too many mech designers have reflexively dismissed the idea of multi-pilot mechs for many generations due to early setbacks and failures. I am trying to defy this trend by adopting a new take on mechs piloted by multiple individuals."

"Oh? How so? What do you intend to do differently?"

The ambitious Journeyman had been waiting for this question. He grinned as he activated a projection that explained his model of multi-pilot mechs in a simple and easily understandable way.

"The traditional image of a multi-pilot mech is a slightly larger machine that features a cockpit where two or more pilots sit next to each other in tandem."

Ves nodded. "Yes. From what I understand about neural interface technology, it is possible for multiple pilots to control the same mechs as long as they know each other well and form a system where they don't get in each other's way."

"Well, my vision of multi-pilot mechs is different from this. I frankly despise this primitive approach as it offers far too little added value compared to single-pilot mechs. If we employ multiple pilots in the same machine, then there has to be sound reasons for this design choice. My justification for this is to increase the size of the mech."

A new projection appeared that displayed a mech that was much larger than normal!

"That... that's a juggernaut!"

"Almost. Note quite. It depends on how you define a juggernaut." Polak responded. "I do not like to use this loaded term if I can help it. What I am trying to realize is still a mech, only larger. It is so large that a single pilot cannot adequately control the exponentially more numerous systems and subsystems of the upscaled mech. This is where there is a rationale for additional pilots."

The projected schematic changed to include 6 more mech pilots, several of which were located in different places!

"Seven pilots. Does this actually work?"

Polak grinned. "It does. The central mech pilot is the primary controller. He is the commander and the primary controller of the multi-pilot mech. The secondary controllers are only responsible for the control of specific limbs and associated weapon systems. They do not need to be distracted by what takes place in the other sections of the large machine."

That... actually sounded like a clever way to approach multi-pilot mechs. Ves respected Polak a lot more for coming with this idea and committing to it for so long.

"I have tried to increase the practicality of my multi-pilot mechs by adopting another solution. Only the primary controller has to be a pilot whose genetic aptitude and other properties are good enough to command a machine of this size. The secondary controllers that are responsible for parts of the large mech are not required to be as qualified. Depending on the design and configuration of the multi-pilot mech, the secondary controllers do not have to process a large amount of data, especially of the dynamic variety. My simpler designs can adequately accommodate potentates that are afflicted with D or even E-grade genetic aptitudes."

"What?!"

Polak Neziri's specialty was no secret to the other mechers, but Ves was shocked and impressed by the man's idea!

Potentates whose genetic aptitudes fell well below the standard needed to pilot first-class multipurpose mechs basically had nothing to do. They couldn't even get admitted to any mech academy because everyone thought it was a waste of time, money and resources!

This could change if Polak's approach to multi-pilot mechs became viable enough.

"The addition of secondary controllers also increases the redundancy of my work. If the primary controller becomes incapacitated for whatever reason, any secondary controller can take over and become the new commander of this battle machine. It is preferable if the controller has a high genetic aptitude, but if not, the loss of control will not immediately cripple the multi-pilot mech as the other secondary controllers can share the burden."

Polak created several new uses for mech pilots who would otherwise remain completely useless. His vision presented a way for red humanity to better utilize its existing pool of manpower.

Still, just these changes alone was not enough to justify the adoption of multi-pilot mechs in reality.

"These large mechs of yours suffer from many of the same logistical downsides as juggernauts." Ves spoke. "Not only do they require vastly greater amounts of resources to construct, but you can't even transport them to different battlefields without dedicating an enormous cargo hold for them. Most forces would rather allocate their precious starship capacity for more useful purposes."

Everyone around the table suddenly began to exchange knowing smiles with each other.

"I have thought about that problem as well, professor." Polak confidently stated as he changed the image in the projection. "Transportation is not a problem in my opinion. That is because recent advancements in the development of warp drives and superdrives has made it easier to grant superluminal travel capabilities to a wider variety of machines."

Realization dawned on Ves' expression. "You mean..."

"Rather than relying on large starships to transport my multi-pilot mechs to different star systems, my preferred solution is to enable them to traverse the stars by themselves."

Instead of relying on starships for transport, Polak Neziri essentially wanted to transform his multi-pilot mechs into starships in their own right!

This was the true essence of his design philosophy!

The incredibly ambitious Journeyman wanted to blend the properties of a starship with a mech to produce a fusion that possessed the advantages of both!

In order to emphasize this approach towards mechs, Polak Neziri even showed off a ridiculous multi-pilot mech that was actually able to transform between two different modes.

The form optimized for interstellar travel looked no different from a streamlined starship.

Once battle was about to commence, this 'starship' could readily unpack and shift into a gigantic humanoid machine!

The warship-grade weapon systems of this transformable juggernaut looked formidable enough to crush any alien warship in a direct exchange!