The Mech Touch

While the design phase plodded on, an audience of millions of spectators leisurely observed the Journeymen developing their competition mechs step-by-step down below.

A lot more people had bought tickets than the Wild Fighter Association initially expected due to the participation of a swordmaster as one of the competing designers.

Though Ketis hadn't displayed anything exciting aside from her brief spar with Lyain Kepper, even this little bout already exposed a lot about her personal combat ability!

There were lots of soldiers, martial artists and bloodsport fighters in the stands. Each of them possessed the vision to spot a strong warrior, and the way that Ketis easily managed to keep a trained mech pilot and warrior under her complete control was a masterful feat!

This made the audience even more convinced that her mech might become a special machine. Though there was little empirical proof that being good at fighting translated into designing a much more powerful mech, all of these fighters who did not know anything about engineering had temporarily turned into ardent mech design enthusiasts!

In fact, it did not matter if their technical knowledge was too shallow to understand the nuances of mech design. The generous array of expert commentators clarified everything for the spectators so nobody would get lost after looking at all of the complicated math and engineering diagrams.

[Team Larkinson is still taking a restrained approach towards their competition mech. There are hardly any exciting elements in their mech design aside from the fact that it is wielding a chainsword. What are they relying on to win the matches in the fighting stage? If they want to become the champions, then their swordsman mech needs to win five successive rounds.]

[Neither Ves nor Ketis Larkinson possess conventional specialties. We've already said enough about Patriarch Ves Larkinson's living mechs in our earlier discussions, but Miss Ketis Larkinson's specialty is still not well-understood. However, do remember that she is credited with participating in the design of several mechs, including expert mechs. You can find footage of them in battle on the galactic net. Although it is not clear how much Miss Ketis has contributed to the power of an expert mech such as the First Sword, if this machine is any indication, she should definitely have more in store for us all. The technical diagrams don't show everything. Even if they do, we might not fully understand her ingenuity until later.]

There was only so much the commentators could talk about the favorites of the tournament. Since Team Larkinson's mech design didn't contain a lot of interesting clues, they delved into the history of Ves and Ketis as well as the trajectory of the Larkinson Clan.

This was a much more interesting topic to the audience! A large number of spectators became enthralled as they listened to a narration of some of the dangerous and dramatic events that the Larkinsons got caught up in over the years.

The Wild Fighters became increasingly more interested in the Larkinson Clan as they heard how it got caught up in a battle against an illegal warship and fought against the militaries of several second-rate states!

Some even began to inquire whether it was possible for them to work for this exciting clan!

[It's clear that neither Patriarch Ves Larkinson nor his protege Miss Ketis Larkinson are stereotypical mech designers. Both of them have handled themselves in fights. This should give them a greater understanding of the rigors that mech pilots have to go through when they sortie with their machines. I am looking forward to seeing if we can notice this influence when we compare their finished mech to the works of other mech designer teams.]

The expectations that people held towards Team Larkinson kept growing more exaggerated due to all of this talk. While this gave the Larkinson Clan a lot of publicity, it could easily backfire in the wrong circumstances.

The uncertainty and lack of clues of how Team Larkinson's mech would actually turn out fueled a lot of speculation. Betting platforms gained a lot of new customers and analysts who weren't involved in the Wild Brawl Bowl started to publish their expert commentaries.

The Larkinsons continued to gain more prominence in the regional community. It was hard for people not to notice all of the Larkinsons showing up in different tournaments as of late.

Though not every member of the Larkinson Clan performed well, there were already a couple of standouts that compelled people to take the Larkinsons more seriously.

Director Thaprim Kadar was one of them. He learned about the Larkinsons a little earlier, but he was already impressed with their violent but successful track record. The Larkinson Clan was a scrappy young organization with a lot of promise if they managed to live through their vulnerable period.

With that in mind, he began to make slight overtures to one of its prominent members.

"Your Larkinson Clan has several sub-populations that would fit right in our organization." The older man said. "We could offer a lot to you as well. While we Wild Fighters aren't the top dogs in the Red Ocean, we are well-connected and can call upon many favors. If you join our association, we would be honored to integrate you into our community in the Red Ocean. Are you interested in discussing this matter further?"

Venerable Dise directed most of her attention to Ketis down below. She did not exhibit that much interest in Director Kadar's overture.

"I am not the right Larkinson to talk about this. I don't have the right to make decisions for my clan. There are other individuals in our clan who you should talk to instead. You can speak to our patriarch who is currently there or make contact with Foreign Minister Shederin Purnesse."

The regional director scoffed. "I'm a Wild Fighter. I hate talking to politicians. They only know how to make promises that they will do their best to renege at the first possible opportunity. I would rather speak plainly to an honorable expert pilot such as yourself."

"I am a soldier. You can talk to me, but that doesn't mean I am obliged to reciprocate."

"I understand, but surely you and your fellow Swordmaidens must have a voice in your clan. Our Wild Fighter Association is not a sovereign organization that seeks to build an empire. It is an interest group that stands up for people like you. Becoming a part of our member roles will give you instant access to our extensive contacts, and you don't even have to give up your current loyalties to do so. You hardly have to pay any price to enter our dynamic community."

Venerable Dise directed a pointed glance at Director Kadar. She even utilized a portion of her will to convey her displeasure.

"There is always a price. Joining your camp means excluding ourselves from other organizations and powers. It also means taking a side in a rivalry that the Larkinson Clan shouldn't have a stake in. It means getting pulled into a vortex that isn't of interest to us in the first place. I cannot say what our clan leaders will decide, but as far as I'm concerned we have grown tired of being treated as pawns."

She had a lot of personal experience with that. The Swordmaidens had long acted as a cat's paw for another power and never got rewarded for all of their sacrifices.

One of the reasons why she and her fellow sisters were content in the Larkinson Clan was because its leaders tried to keep it independent. After a long time of working for others, it was refreshing for the Swordmaidens to answer to no one but themselves. Dise did not want to go back to becoming the instrument of other interests.

Seeing that Director Kadar had pushed a bit too far, the man quickly pedaled back.

"Ah, my apologies. I am accustomed to meeting with guests who are already quite eager to become a part of our growing circle."

"It is of no concern." Dise said as she relaxed her posture. "As far as I know, while our Larkinson Clan is mainly invested in the Golden Skull Alliance that we have founded, we are still open to friendly exchanges."

"That is good to hear." The director looked down at the tournament participants again. "Our representatives might get in touch with your clan after we have concluded our festival. We have already heard much about the mechs of the Living Mech Corporation. If your two Journeymen are able to develop a swordsman mech that hits the right notes to our members, we may be interested in commissioning a mech for us. We might even be open to obtaining the rights to produce and sell your mechs to our members."

Though Venerable Dise did not have power to discuss such major issues, even she couldn't help but feel tempted by this offer. She was vaguely aware that the LMC was desperate to get its footing in the Red Ocean's mech market.

These days, the Larkinson Clan was buying up a lot of expensive and frankly overpriced toys. The clan's mech legions such as the Swordmaidens truly needed all of the advanced tech in order to catch up to the higher standards of the Red Ocean, but it seemed there was never enough money to get everything on their wishlist.

"I think that our patriarch would be very happy to hold this discussion." She said frankly. "Just keep in mind that any commitment we make will take a while for us to fulfill."

"I expect nothing less. It always takes time to design a good mech. We have access to plenty of good mech models. We are not in an urgent need for a replacement for our current stock. What we are rather interested in is a mech that can truly embody what the Wild Fighters are all about. We want to pilot a mech that can make us fight like animals rather than civilized people."

Venerable Dise looked questioningly at Director Kadar. "I imagine that an organization as large and prosperous as yours has cultivated plenty of relationships with mech designers, including Seniors and Masters. Have they not been able to fulfill your demands?"

"They have. We are not unhappy with the mechs that they have painstakingly developed with our input. It is just that when I read about your clan's mechs from different sources, I get the impression that our mechs lack a crucial ingredient that can truly unlock the beasts caged within our hearts. We aren't interested in fighting in neat formations and straight formations. We want to pounce on our enemies like wolves! We believe that true combat should be as simple and unstrained as possible. We humans are born to be wild!"

If Director Kadar thought that these ideals would appeal to a Swordmaiden like Venerable Dise, then he was wrong.

The Swordmaidens were ferocious but disciplined. Control was just as important as bloodlust to them. Too many of their fellow sisters would just get killed if they adopted the ideology of the Wild Fighters.

That said, if the members of this club wanted to devolve into beasts in battle, then that was their business.

"I will pass this on to the clan." Venerable Dise said. "I'm sure the folk over there will be interested in holding preliminary discussions about cooperation. That said, the final decision rests with our patriarch. He is not only our highest decision maker, but also our best mech designer. Nothing will happen if your proposal doesn't gain his support."

She was sure that Ves would drive a hard bargain if the Wild Fighter Association expressed enough desire.

However, the Wild Fighters would only become desperate for living mechs if Ves and Ketis managed to wow the entire crowd with their work.

Though it was still far too early to determine whether Team Larkinson was capable of meeting everyone's expectations, Venerable Dise never held any doubts about the Larkinson duo.

She was the pilot of the First Sword… She experienced first-hand what wonders Ves and Ketis could produce.