The Mech Touch

Everything was starting to come together.

The Larkinson mech design project reached closer to completion. After testing the first iteration of the mech, Ves and Gloriana gathered a wealth of data which they used to refine the design even further.

Overall, they found plenty of small issues in the base platform and the four configurations. Due to the nature of modular mech platforms, most of the problems they ascertained originated from the mounting mechanisms of the configuration parts.

Due to the necessity of allowing the parts to be swapped by mech technicians during active engagements, Ves and Gloriana had to make a lot of compromises in terms of integrity.

If they wanted to make a more solid mech, then they had to sacrifice the modularity of the system.

If they wanted to make the mech even easier to switch configurations, then they would have to introduce even more vulnerabilities!

"In practice, hot-swapping the configuration of a modular mech platform almost never takes place." Gloriana remarked. "In the overwhelming number of cases, an outfit simply assigns a single mech pilot to a platform and chooses the most appropriate configuration that fits her skillset. If there is some need to swap configurations, then it will usually take place in the preparation stage of engagement, which can stretch for hours, days or even weeks!"

In short, there was no need to make the Larkinson mech be able to switch configurations within 5 minutes if it made the mech more susceptible to targeted attacks.

As it was, Ves and Gloriana decided to set 30 minutes as their target. This meant it would take a typical crew of mech technicians on a busy hangar deck to take half an hour to swap configurations.

This practically made the modularity of the mech irrelevant during short skirmishes and sudden battles. It did allow for interesting swapping or accelerated repairs during running engagements.

In general, space battles lasted much shorter than battles on land. There was nowhere to hide in space and very little room to retreat once the two sides converged on each other.

Perhaps a mech designer who never stepped onto the battlefield in his life would choose to emphasize the modularity of this design.

Not Ves!

In his own experiences, space battles lasted anywhere from ten minutes to an hour. Furthermore, battles were so chaotic and heated that the participants didn't care about finicky technical details! They just wanted to smash the other side as hard as possible!

"Have you ever been in an actual mech battle?" He asked.

Gloriana shook her head. "No. I'm not like you. My life isn't as exciting as yours. I really admire you for surviving so many incidents that would scar a mech designer for life."

"Oh, I didn't come away from all of those crises without accumulating some scars." Ves smiled sardonically at her. "They're not entirely bad, though. Each scar bears a lesson. My design style and my design approach are shaped from the lessons I've drawn from all of those battles. When mechs are getting blown up by the second and when the ship I'm in is in the crosshairs of the enemy, you tend to realize that a lot of fancy features added to mechs are just useless distractions! They're only good for getting in the way of winning a battle!"

"Your experiences are certainly very valuable, but don't discount the contributions that other mech designers can make. We are all good at something. Combining your practical experience with my higher education results in the best of both worlds! This is yet another indicator that we are made for each other!"

"Enough patting ourselves on the back. Let's get back to work in addressing all of these suboptimal implementations. We can still squeeze some more performance out of our design!"

At the same time the project came close to completion, everything else progressed nicely as well.

The LMC just completed a huge reorganization that fundamentally reshaped the main company and its subsidiaries. The main goal of the changes was to make the company leaner and less dependent on a single location.

Even if the physical headquarters of the company disappeared for whatever reason, the LMC would still exist! Its 'virtual headquarters' along with all of the far-flung branches founded in nearly every state where the company had a significant presence ensured that the company could survive during nearly any conceivable calamity!

The mech troops were growing apace as well. The Avatars of Myth and the Living Sentinels both ballooned in strength as they hired on a huge number of mech pilots, spacers and support personnel. All of these new hires were needed to take charge of the new mechs and light carriers the two troops procured!

The only downside of this rapid expansion was the overrepresentation of Ylvainan employees and products. Though many people initially worried that the new Ylvainan hires would force their religion down the throats of the Brighters and other foreigners, their worries were laid to rest.

The Ylvainans, while unquestionably devout, all exhibited a fanatical degree of respect towards the so-called Bright Martyr. That made them unusually obedient to instructions, though they weren't bots who could go against their nature for too long.

While Ves had plenty of concerns about the Ylvainans, he vastly preferred to hire them over any other people aside from his fellow Brighters.

He valued their loyalty.

Even though it came in the form of imparted loyalty, which Ves equated to a double-edged sword, he would rather have a weapon in his hands than none at all!

With the homeless and dispersed state of his organizations, it was difficult to hire sound and loyal employees.

Not everyone wished to abandon their existing way of life in order to lead a life on a starship!

Not everyone applied to work for one of the foreign subsidiaries of the LMC in good faith!

Ves harbored a fundamental lack of trust towards these workers. Sure, the Larkinson Clan, the LMC and his mech forces all paid well, but who could tell whether any of these people were Fridayman plants?

The Ylvainans, for all their faults, had two things going for them. First, the Ylvainans didn't like the Friday Coalition and Ves could easily take advantage of their beliefs as long as he was in good standing of the Ylvainan Faith.

Along with progress on other fronts such as the gradual absorption of family members to the Larkinson Clan, Ves was quite content with his current state.

Not only did he recover from his hasty evacuation from Cloudy Curtain, but he also grew much further!

The vast increase in strength boosted his confidence. With the number of mechs under his command about to reach a thousand operational units, Ves no longer had anything to fear from casual rabble-rousers! He could travel far and wide and even enter the frontier with little fear of encountering a major threat.

Of course, his combat assets were still a far cry from the old Verle Task Force he used to be a part of. Even if they fielded the same amount of mechs, there was a clear qualitative difference between their mechs, ships, training, technology and most importantly esprit de corps!

Ves was unsure now how well the Avatars and Sentinels would fare in battle. Though the Ylvainans exhibited a lot of fervor at their new jobs, who knew how much of their enthusiasm remained after they took part in a serious battle?

Regardless, their hearts were in the right place, and Ves was willing to work with that. He could slowly mold them into a different shape as long as he had enough time.

A bright new future was within reach. Once he finished the Larkinson mech project, Ves planned to accept a mission from the Rim Guardians in order to earn some merits. With how much he needed to earn, he couldn't afford to delay this matter much further!

"I also can't forget about the implant I'm about to receive."

Ves had high expectations for the Archimedes Rubal, especially after Ranya and Lupo upgraded nearly every aspect.

"I can finally start my research on imaginary mechs once I've integrated this implant."

The positive trends had a wonderful effect on his mood. His concerns grew less and he began to look forward to the future.

His good mood subsequently affected his design work. All of the exhaustion and mania of the previous months faded away as Ves slowly entered into a calmer, more sublime state. Once the second iteration was complete, he patiently awaited the results from the second round of tests.

The next batch of prototypes performed better than the initial batch. A lot of rough spots had been addressed, and while there was plenty left to nitpick over, the three-month deadline loomed close.

Ves had to make an important decision. Should he delay the completion of the project in order to iterate it further or should he call it day and settle with the current after applying a few tweaks?

"If we want to create a masterwork mech, then logically we have to make the mech as flawless as possible." Gloriana argued. "I'm not entirely pleased with the current state of our design. While it is a functional product that does the job we want it to do, there is clearly room for refinement."

Her logic was sound, but Ves felt there was more to the story.

"I have a different perspective on the matter." He said. "When I designed the Devil Tiger, I was working on my own and under similar time constraints. Yet somehow, I created a masterwork mech without even thinking about it. I can tell you now that my Devil Tiger design was definitely rougher than any of my subsequent mech designs. I didn't have you by my side, so I've probably overlooked countless tiny flaws and inefficient implementations."

"That.. is hard to explain." She conceded. "How did you manage to overcome the odds?"

"I entered into a special state. I don't know how or why I entered into this state, but it was as if my mood transcended its boundaries. Certain problems were no longer problems. Due to my special state, my instinctive understanding of my own design had reached a level that I can scarcely describe. I spotted many flaws back then, but I always tweaked my mech on the fly as I was fabricating it. While I addressed many questionable points, I ignored most of them as they weren't really material to the overall quality of the mech."

"That.. doesn't fit with the common definition of a masterwork mech. They're supposed to be the most perfect and flawless incarnation of any given mech design!"

He paused in thought. "I don't think you're wrong. There are always flaws in a design. They can't be avoided because many flaws are actually necessary tradeoffs. If you fix one flaw, you introduce another one. It is still possible to make a masterwork mech out of a flawed design. I proved it. To me, it's the meaning and significance of a mech that can truly elevate it into a masterwork. I entered that special state because of my emotional investment in my passion project. I've been chasing after it ever since."

The meaning mattered more than the nitty gritty details. That was his overall message. It also happened to encapsulate his approach towards mech design.

Gloriana frowned. As a technical and detail-oriented mech designer, she found it difficult to accept his message.

"I understand what you are saying, and I don't mean to neglect the meaning of our mech design. It's just.. sloppy if we finalize the mech design this week. I'll always feel as if I could do more to perfect it. It will be like an itch that I can never get rid of no matter how many times I scratch!"

Ves placed his hands on her shoulders. "I get it, Gloriana, but please work with me. I did it once, and I can do it again. Besides, I don't think you'll be complaining for long."

"Oh?"

"You'll see."