The Mech Touch

While Ves did not observe the prototype testing in person, he kept tabs of the entire process.

Each test pilot reported several unusual sensations when they piloted one of the four prototypes. Regardless if they piloted the rifleman mech configuration, the space knight configuration or the other two configurations, they all experienced a vague feeling that reminded them a lot of a glow!

He smiled at this response. His mech pilots were already becoming more sensitive to the X-Factor. After piloting his LMC mechs for such a long time, his men became more attuned to the intangible properties of his products.

This was an evolution that was long in coming. Even if his mech pilots didn't believe that his mechs were alive, unconsciously they were moving in this direction.

One day, more mech pilots like Joshua King would show up! Once his Avatars truly embodied this truth, their strength would likely reach a greater height!

Of course, it would probably take years for Ves to see a qualitative difference. Right now, the Avatars still awaited their promised mech.

As the prototypes started to deploy in space for the first time, Ves keenly paid attention to the responses of the test pilots.

Due to various reasons, none of them were familiar with the properties of the first iteration of the Larkinson mech. They hadn't even practiced with a virtual version of the mech!

As expected, the pilots all experienced difficulties in trying to control their respective prototypes.

The test pilot assigned to the space knight configuration had it easiest. Its relative simplicity combined with its plodding mobility meant that there wasn't much for its pilot to screw up. In fact, piloting a second-class space knight was not that much different from piloting a third-class version of the same mech type!

Of course, second-class often incorporated secondary armaments or auxiliary modules that increased their complexity.

To the Larkinson mech, that happened to come in the form of the low-profile shoulder-mounted missile launchers.

Their addition to the mech did not increase the complexity of the Larkinson mech all that much. Much of their workings were automated, so the mech pilot only had to designate a target and pull the trigger before turning his attention back to the primary capabilities of his mech!

Therefore, the main burden in piloting his Larkinson mech came in the form of trying to control its basic properties.

Many of the components such as the power reactor and the flight system were far more powerful than the mech pilots were used to. They incorporated many more options with the assumption that the mech pilots were able to cope with the added complexity.

Cheap components were often paired with weaker mech pilots!

Stronger mech pilots always demanded more out of their mechs!

Component developers therefore segregated the market in terms of budget and skill level. The two almost always went hand in hand because expensive mechs would just be a waste in the hands of awful mech pilots!

This made the piloting experience rather difficult for the test pilots. Aside from the space knight, all of the other mechs showed obvious signs of lack of control. From overcompensating the thrust of their flight systems, to an inability to coordinate their limbs when performing standard maneuvers, there was much to complain about!

It took time for the test pilots to get accustomed to the expanded power and functionality of the prototypes.

Fortunately, each of them already possessed prior experience in piloting the four second-class practice mechs. Lady Curver's mechs were far more powerful. The mech pilots could forget about controlling those mechs without a firm foundation in high-performance mechs!

Though no one, not even Joshua, managed to exert sufficient control over the practice mechs, the practice runs had already prepared the test pilots for what they had to deal with. This practice showed as the test pilots soon began to correct their mistakes.

It took a couple of days for their familiarity with the prototypes to reach a level that was good enough to put them through the actual tests!

Suffice to say, all four prototypes showed mismatches between their theoretical performance and their actual performance.

As Ves continued to observe the tests in the comfort of his design lab, he began to frown.

"The prototype testing isn't going well." Gloriana flatly noted. "Your mech pilots require far more time to draw out the potential of their mechs."

"This is actually by design." Ves calmly replied. "We designed the Larkinson mech to be more difficult to pilot than regular third-class mechs. The fact that our test pilots have failed to master their mechs in such a short time is proof that we succeeded in creating a bridge between third-class mechs and their second-class counterparts."

"You're right, but that only satisfies one of our goals. We still need to gather lots of data on how the configurations perform at their limits. Your mech pilots are simply too awful."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Replace your mech pilots with my mech pilots. I've already asked the Glory Battalion to dispatch some pilots to the testing ground in order to take over from your inadequate test pilots."

"What?!"

"Don't give me that look, Ves. This is the best course of action and you know it. If you continue to stick to your own mech pilots, then we'll definitely miss our deadline!"

She was right. Though Ves felt a bit annoyed that she took action before she explained herself to him, he agreed with her choice.

"Don't do that."

"Do what, Ves?"

"Making a move before discussing your choice with me! This is my project as well as yours! We agreed that you should follow my lead with regards to our current project. At the very least, we should make a joint decision before we move any further!"

"You would have agreed anyway." Gloriana huffed and petted Clixie's fur. "Rather than waste time to get your agreement, I decided to skip this needless step. Don't you think that's more efficient?"

Her cat luxuriated in the attention. She directed a smug glance at Lucky, whose back was being utterly ignored by his owner!

"Miaow."

"Meow."

"Miaow miaow."

"Meow!"

Lucky began to bat his paws at Ves until he finally got his head scratches!

"Meow~"

While their cats were up to their usual antics, Ves grumbled underneath his breath. This was not the first time Gloriana acted presumptuously on his behalf.

Though he didn't actually mind her decisions most of the time, it was her attitude that annoyed him. She was treating him in the same way a Hexer treated a boy.

Of course, he didn't blame her too much for her behavior. She grew up in an environment where women always took charge. It was hard for her to shake this ingrained habit!

That didn't mean that Ves was pleased with her though. If this pattern of behavior continued, who knew how far she would go next time!

He raised his hand and bonked her on the head with his fist.

"Ouch!" Gloriana dramatically held the top of her head in pain. "What was that for, Ves?!"

"New rule, Gloriana. I'll tap you again whenever you do something that concerns us both without my say. Each time you transgress, I'll punish you again!"

To be honest, Ves wanted to do something worse, but her guards would definitely intervene! Tapping her on the head like she was a naughty kid was the most he could get away with! Any further and he would probably get dogpiled by Melody and some very angry Hexer guards!

Fortunately, Gloriana really didn't like to be rebuked. The humiliation of getting punished was a bigger blow to her than the sting of his tap!

"I'll keep your wishes in mind, I promise!"

"Good. Don't pull off this kind of stunt again, or else!"

As Ves turned away to analyse the data gathered so far, Gloriana raised her fist to her mouth and tried her best to stifle her giggle.

Ves was too cute!

Once the mech pilots from the Glory Battalion arrived at the testing ground in space, the difference immediately became clear.

The prototypes performed much smoother once they came under control of genuine second-class mech pilots!

To the Glory Battalion, the Larkinson mech was like a simplified second-class mechs. They were barely better than the trash that third-class mech pilots piloted on a daily basis. It was too easy for the well-trained Hexer mech pilots to become accustomed to lesser mechs!

The disparity between the different classes of mech pilots was very discouraging to both the previous test pilots and Ves. The gulf was too wide!

Perhaps the only quality the Glory Battalion lost out on was the fit between the mech and mech pilot.

Ves paid a lot of attention to the telemetry related to the mech pilot and the man-machine connection.

Though the control exerted by the Glory pilots surpassed that of their predecessors, their immersion was actually lower!

None of the arrogant mech pilots respected the Larkinson mech! They didn't consider it alive. They also had no direct relation to Ves or the Larkinson Clan, so the mech didn't resonate with their hearts.

Ves already expected this response. It was similar to the rejection his Deliverer model exhibited against any mech pilot who didn't believe in the Ylvainan Faith!

Naturally, this feeling of rejection was very weak as it was only based on the spiritual foundation inherent in the unfinished design. Once Ves invested the Golden Cat as the Larkinson mech's design spirit, the feeling of rejection would probably become an actual hindrance to outsiders!

"Hehehe. This will become my very own brand of security restriction! Hardly any mech pilot can circumvent this feeling of rejection!"

Only expert pilots and strong-willed mech pilots could overcome the pervasive sensation of rejection from their own mechs!

There wasn't anything Ves could do about them except to lean even harder on the Golden Cat.

"Well, it's not like an expert pilot is bored enough to pilot a standard mech." He muttered before he dismissed this concern.

If an expert pilot designed to pilot the Larkinson mech, then Ves should feel flattered! It was an honor for any mech designer to receive the endorsement of a role model in the piloting community!

When the actual tests started to record some useful data, every mech designer soon started their analyses.

After a few days of observation and analyses, some results soon became evident.

On the whole, all four configurations were sound in design. Their actual performance largely matched their theoretical performance. There weren't many deviances, and most of them resulted from flaws that emerged during the fabrication of the prototypes.

Of all of the configurations, the space knight and the lancer mech stood out as the overall best performers.

Ves already expected the space knight configuration to do well. It was by far the simplest configuration, and it was also the most robust one as well due to all of the armor and structural reinforcements incorporated in this version of the Larkinson mech!

As for the lancer mech, even the Glory pilot became impressed by its surprisingly powerful charge!

In truth, it wasn't difficult for third-class lancer mechs to reach the kinds of speed and momentum the lancer configuration had reached.

It was what happened afterwards that often went awry.

If the lancer mech wasn't sturdy enough, the mech would get crushed upon impact like an egg hitting a wall!

If the lancer mech was resilient enough but wasn't able to absorb the forces released by the immense collision, then the mech pilot's body would probably get squished!

These limitations restrained the power of every regular third-class lancer mech!

Now that Ves overcame these inherent problems by relying on various versions of Breyer alloy, the lancer configuration performed no worse than genuine second-class mechs in terms of punch!

This was a really impressive achievement!

"It's too bad that this lancer configuration is several times more expensive than the other configurations!" Ves lamented.

There was always a price! Even Ves couldn't bear to produce more than a handful of this configuration at this time!