The Mech Touch

"It's strange to be in this position." Director Clinton Larkinson gruffed as he crossed his arms. "We Larkinsons have always been told what to do, what mechs we should pilot and what tactics we should adopt. Now that we have separated ourselves from the Bright Republic, we're suddenly in control. I don't know whether that's a bad thing or a good thing."

His remark caused the Larkinson mech pilots to look at this gathering in a different light.

He was right! The Larkinsons never controlled their own means of fighting. Despite their long heritage as a military family, they never actually fielded their own mechs!

They had no reason to do so. The original Larkinson Family never participated in any of the power struggles happening in the higher levels. Its properties only amounted to an estate and a portfolio of commercial real estate on Rittersberg, the most secure planet of the Bright Republic!

To put it another way, the Larkinson Family essentially outsourced its protection to the state.

There was nothing wrong with this. As long as the Larkinsons remained loyal and upstanding citizens of the Bright Republic, the state would naturally offer protection.

Yet it was different now. The exodus of Ves and his followers and the formation of the Larkinson Clan represented a shift towards autonomy, and perhaps sovereignty.

While Ves hadn't been very concrete about it, it was clear to most Larkinsons that he wanted to develop a clan that wasn't bound by any state.

Though spaceborn clans weren't liked, it was undeniable that they had the strength to exist on their own! Their strong military might was the main reason why they were able to contend and even overpower entire states!

Ves considered the decision to design a mech exclusive to the clan and his forces to be the first step towards this potential future. Just embarking on it already made the members of his clan view their situation in a different light!

If they were still members of the old Larkinson Family, they would have never thought of developing a mech for themselves. They would have been content to pilot anything the Mech Corps thought what was best!

The privilege of choosing their own design excited the Larkinsons. Everyone from Director Clinton Larkinson to Rhode Larkinson were starting to recall their fantasies of the mechs they wanted to pilot!

However, the rapturous Larkinsons quickly bumped into a problem.

There was too much choice! Transitioning from a situation where the Larkinson mech pilots never had a say to where they could determine every detail down to the color of the coating was a huge shift!

The problem was compounded by the fact that while the Larkinsons were proficient in piloting mechs, they lacked the mindset of a procurer of mechs.

It was not so simple to search, evaluate and purchase a mech. Entire outfits lived and died by the choices they made when they sought and purchased their mechs!

And the opportunity that Ves gave his clan members was even more complex! He did not give them a choice of mech models, but instead gave them the opportunity to specify a complete design!

Out of all of the Larkinsons present, only the Avatar Commander and the Sentinel Commander appeared to have a grip on the situation.

That made sense, as Melkor and Magdalena were already accustomed to shopping for mechs to supplement their respective forces.

However, that did not mean they were ready to rattle off a list of requirements they wanted to see in their mechs. Neither of them were versed in the technical aspect of mechs.

Ves recognized that he needed to take a more direct hand in the discussion.

"Let's start with the decision of which mech archetypes our modular mech platform is able to express. The more choices, the more versatile we can be. However, this comes at an increasingly more severe cost as the base platform needs to accommodate more modular configurations."

"A light skirmisher is almost completely opposite to a knight mech." Hager Larkinson nodded in understanding. "Is it even possible to marry these two types in a single design?"

"It's possible, but..." Ves reluctantly said. "Let's just say the quality and performance of the platform will decrease to an extent. I'll also have to introduce more modularity to the design which will affect the integrity of the end product even further."

"So what types will we include?"

"At the very least, we need a ranged and melee option. That makes two."

"That sounds simple. Just pick a generic rifleman mech for the ranged option and add two or three different melee mech types to round it all up. We can cover up to eighty to ninety percent of our mech pilots with this selection!"

"Hey wait a minute! There is a huge diversity in ranged mechs. You can't just settle for a single ranged configuration and call it a day! At the very least, we need to make a distinction between physical damage and energy damage types! Both of them have vastly different properties and requirements. We need at least two ranged configurations to cover the needs of our ranged specialists."

"You have a point." Ves spoke. "Ballistic rifleman mechs and laser rifleman mechs are different. While it's possible to design a single mech that can wield both types of weapons, I prefer specialization over adaptability. This is what most mech pilots are used to. However…"

"Versatility is also important." Commander Magdalena mentioned. "Just like in the Sand War, sometimes we might face opponents who are immune to one damage type but vulnerable to another damage type. If we keep specializing our ranged specialists to a single damage type, then how well will they fare when their favorite method of dealing damage doesn't work?"

That caused the people who gathered in the office to fall silent.

This was a very important point. Ves was glad that Magdalena recognized one of his concerns.

While every Larkinson fell in thought, Ves placed his favorite object on his lap. Ever since he created and empowered the Larkinson Mandate, he always felt a connection to it. The more time he spent with the book, the more he understood its depth.

Of course, the presence of the Golden Cat also lifted his mood. Ves adored the spiritual cat's appearance and behavior. She was much more well-behaved than his naughty gem cat!

Invisible to anyone but Ves and Lucky, the Golden Cat purred comfortably as Ves coated his fingers with his Spirituality and massaged her golden fur.

Nyaaa.. Nyaaaa.

"Meow."

Lucky, jealous at the Golden Cat's treatment, rudely jumped onto the cover of the book and superimposed his body with the youngest cat!

Nyaa?

"Meow!"

A strange situation took place. Ves was suddenly stroking the backs of two cats at the same time!

In the meantime, the Larkinsons came to a reluctant consensus.

Rather than adding two separate ranged configurations to the modular mech platform, they agreed to settle with just a single one. While the ranged configuration lost out in specialization, it gained a lot in versatility.

"With this solution, we can quickly swap between several different rifle types without burdening our support services." Melkor spoke. "As a ranged specialist myself, I'm most comfortable with laser weapons, but that doesn't mean I'm inept when it comes to handling physical weapons. The Sand War has already given me lots of practice in wielding the latter."

Ves was glad they made this choice. He agreed with the premise that their ranged specialists should be able to handle both ranged weapon types. The expeditionary fleet would definitely encounter a myriad of opponents in the Red Ocean. This not only included human forces, but also remnant alien forces!

Against these varied opponents, specialization wasn't necessarily the best idea. It was fine when employed in huge mech armies against known opponents, but in a wild and untamed region, it was better to sacrifice top performance for adaptability.

This applied not only to their mechs, but also their mech pilots!

"What about the melee configurations? There is much more variability between melee mechs, at least when it comes to the most basic mech types."

"We need at least a defensive and offensive option."

"A space knight and a swordsman mech."

"You're a landlubber, aren't you? Swordman mechs aren't very optimal in space. Lancer mechs are much more useful in space battles. No one is going to hover in place to fight a duel. Most melee mechs are either charging at their enemies or meeting an incoming enemy charge! Polearms provide a much higher utility and can be used to a greater effect than swords!"

Ves had to admit that lancer mechs were indeed more useful in spaceborn battles. That said, swordsman mechs had their merits. They were much more destructive once an enemy entered their reach. In addition, swordsman mechs scaled extremely well with piloting skill.

"Don't forget our light mech specialists. Light skirmishers are indispensable, whether it's chasing down enemy ranged mechs or closing the distance on a distant threat. Mobility is king in space warfare."

"What do you think,Ves?"

He rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. Light mechs were indeed indispensable. He couldn't help but recall what took pace during the battle against the mechs of the Terrinac.

After sacrificing numerous mechs, the Fridaymen mechs finally managed to escort their two light skirmishers to the Scarlet Rose. Once their opponents entered their reach, the light skirmishers rapidly dismantled the battle bots which had given them so much flack!

This moment had been permanently seared in his mind. He admired and dreaded the lethality of those deceptively slim mechs!

"Light skirmishers are indeed indispensable to us." Ves agreed. "However, the configuration of light mechs differ drastically from their heftier counterparts. All of the other mech types we've discussed fits the broad range of medium mechs. This makes the modular mech platform more practical as I don't have to expand its mass range too much. Incorporating a light skirmisher configuration will drastically complicate the project. We have to consider whether it's worth it. How many light skirmisher specialists do we have, and are they okay with piloting something larger for the time being?"

Melkor, Magdalena and a couple of other Larkinsons provided their input.

Specializing in light mechs wasn't very popular. The smallest mechs were extraordinarily vulnerable to damage. In order to stay alive, pilots had to depend on the mobility of their mech and their skill in dodging and evading damage. It was a very stressful position to be in, and only those with daring and confidence chose to embrace this high-risk high-reward fighting style!

This meant that while the light mech specialists absolutely shouldn't be neglected, there weren't that many of them. Perhaps only 10 percent of mech pilots consisted of light mech specialists.

"I can't justify the enormous cost of incorporating a light mech configuration in my design just to accommodate 10 percent of our warriors." Ves eventually decided. "For now, it's best for them to adapt to piloting something hefter or settle with an existing light mech model. I might design a dedicated light skirmisher later on that can meet their training and acclimatization needs. I don't feel confident I can do them justice in this current project."

Though a couple of Larkinsons looked like they wanted to argue further, Ves had made up his mind.

"Then.. what should our melee configurations be? A knight and lancer configuration sounds too little! All of our swordsman mech specialists will be shafted!"

"It's not that difficult to pick up spearmanship! Every qualified Larkinson mech pilot at least learned the basics! While it is too much to ask that they become spearmasters in a couple of months, don't forget that we have years before our journey to the Red Ocean begins!"

"Even so, it is a massive waste to leave swordsman mech specialists out of the picture! Their skill in swordsmanship will grow rusty if they are forced to adopt another weapon for the foreseeable future. It might even regress, which is a disastrous outcome!"

That was true. Lancer mechs were a lot more useful in space, but many Larkinson mech pilots, particularly landbound specialists, were much more proficient with swords.

Ves briefly nursed his forehead with his fingers. How should he settle this issue?