The Mech Touch

Ves disrupted a lot of plans by inserting himself into them. Putting the patriarch of the rising and increasingly more prosperous Larkinson Clan right on the proverbial front lines sounded as stupid and outdated as a king swinging a sword alongside his subjects in a pitched battle!

However, there were still perks to being in charge. Despite almost everyone voicing their disapproval of his reckless act, his prestige and his control over his own organization were still considerable enough for him to push through with his own direction.

The most amusing reaction he received was from his fellow Journeymen.

More specifically, the newest batch of Journeymen to join the Larkinson Clan.

Dulo, Sara, Janassa and Tifi all confronted him just as he was about to board the shuttle that was about to bring him to Fort Fishblood.

"Sir! Is it true that you are about to meet one of those scary fish-whales in person?" Dulo asked in a perplexed tone.

Ves nodded. "That's right. This is a critical job and I am the most qualified to fulfill it. There are nuances to talking to giant and possibly ancient alien organisms that most people don't even think about. Establishing cooperation with the king fish that most likely leads the Evolver King is the most critical breakthrough that we can achieve in our plan to divide and conquer the fish-whales. There is no way we can successfully plunder more phasewater than what most exploration fleets can find in a year if we cannot get at least one faction of fish-whales on our side."

Though he thought he laid out sound logic in his reply, the expressions of the four new Journeymen showed that he did not do a good job in gaining their understanding.

"I don't understand." Sara Voiken responded. "You are a mech designer, am I correct?"

"Uh huh."

"You do not have any professional diplomatic training, right?"

"Uh huh."

"You cannot pilot a mech nor trained to fight like a soldier."

"I went through boot camp when I was drafted to serve in the military of my former home state, though admittedly I did not get a lot of actual combat practice."

"Then why go there in person at all, sir?!"

Ves frowned. He had heard a lot of appeals, but this one felt more personal.

"What is the matter, guys?"

The four Journeymen looked at each other before Tifi answered his question.

"We… won't do as well if you aren't around." She admitted. "We all recognize that you are the critical ingredient that makes our Design Department work. Your work is able to elevate the designs of younger and less inexperienced Journeymen like us into valued and appreciated products. Seeing how well the mech pilots of the Larkinson Army has embraced our new models has made us all look forward to how we can revolutionize the mech market when we are still in the early stages of our careers. If you are gone…"

"...All of that goes up in smoke." Janassa finished.

When the second batch of Journeymen joined the Design Department, Ves purposefully instilled an atmosphere of honesty, openness and even bluntness.

Part of that was because both he and his wife had little patience for obfuscation. It was better to expose problems and failures early than to leave them hanging and cause delays in the process.

Another part of it was because they would all connect their minds to each other whenever Blinky or Alexandria formed a design network. This was a process that required everyone to extend at least a decent measure of trust towards each other.

Though the new Journeymen should have gained a better insight of his personality and character, they evidently did not understand him well enough, or else they wouldn't be trying to dissuade him from going forward.

"I care about our clan. I do. That is exactly why I have to go through with this trip. This is about more than teaming up with one group of aliens to raid another group of aliens. There is a fantastic source of inspiration at the Lab Continent. Those biolabs and the work that the Evolvers have done to grow and mutate their bodies are incredibly relevant to my design philosophy. What the fish-whales lack in sophistication, they make up for it with at least a hundred-thousand years worth of experience!"

As mech designers, they should all understand what it meant to find fantastic inspiration that could accelerate the development of their design philosophies.

Yet despite that recognition, they still showed a lot of reluctance.

"Sir…" Dula began. "I can understand why you would want to go there, but is it really worth the risk of antagonizing and getting attacked by the king fish and the rest of the Evolvers? We know far too little about them and cannot predict their reaction to mechs and humans. What if that big fish decides to respond to your diplomatic party in the same way it has responded to the attacking Swarmers?"

Ves smirked and banged his armored fist against his chest plate. "I'm not a rookie when it comes to surviving under fire. This is why I am wearing a custom-developed suit of combat armor while you are all wearing hazard suits. In addition to that, I do not intend to approach the Evolver Kingdom while riding an ordinary armored shuttle either. I plan to ride the Everchanger as I attempt to communicate with the king fish."

"You what?!"

"Relax. It'll be perfectly fine." He tried to reassure his frazzled colleagues. "There are hardly any safer places I can be in the field than inside an expert mech. The space inside the cockpit is a bit too cramped to comfortably accommodate two humans, but I have already designed an alternate interior that will solve this problem for the upcoming mission. To be honest, I initially thought about riding the Shield of Samar instead since it is much more capable of defending against any violent outbursts from the king fish, but the defensive mech is so slow that it can't outrun pursuing fish-whales."

That, and Ves didn't exactly enjoy the best relationship with Venerable Jannzi. The two may share a common goal in hoping to see the Larkinson Clan thrive, but they possessed vastly different political stances on how to realize this dream.

Sitting in the same cockpit as the grumpy expert pilot for hours if not days on end would probably be a form of torture for the both of them! For his sake as well as hers, Ves thought it was best to ride with his favorite expert pilot instead!

Although it sounded extremely odd for a mech designer to join a mech pilot in the cockpit of a mech that might end up in the thick of action, it made complete sense to Ves. He truly had little confidence in any other vehicle he could ride.

The limited diameter of the spatial portal did not allow for the passage of starships. Any shuttle or vehicle that was small enough to make it through the other side was too weak to withstand bombardment from a warship-grade threat.

He talked a bit more with his fellow Journeymen. Though he understood their concerns and did not think they were wrong in their opinions, that didn't change the fact that he felt he needed to go through with his plan.

After making his stance loud and clear, he bid his fellow Journeymen goodbye and resumed his journey.

The mech designers left behind all looked at his back in dismay.

"This is what makes Ves different from every other Journeyman we've met." Sara Voiken eventually said. "He chases after every opportunity to advance his design philosophy no matter the danger. If we had his guts, we might be able to reach his level as well."

"We'd be dead if that happened." Her brother flatly stated. "Have you studied his record and listened to what the old-timers say about his penchant for seeking trouble? Venerable Jannzi especially likes to harp on how many people keep dying around the patriarch. If not for raising such a strong mech force and if not for figuring his way out of various predicaments, he would have been dead a long time ago. More ordinary mech designers like us shouldn't follow his model. We should obediently stay in the design labs and only go out on safe excursions instead of trying to follow his footsteps."

The rest nodded their heads in agreement.

Janassa Pellier was the first to turn around. "It will be up to us to carry the torch if the patriarch suffers an accident. It would be a pity if we can no longer lean on his innovations, but we can still fight for the Larkinson Clan in our own way. We don't belong on the battlefield, but we are more than competent enough to fight our way into the mech market. Only we can shoulder the enormous burden of bringing in enough revenue to pay for the hefty expenditures of our clan."

The Larkinsons might be upstarts in the Red Ocean, but they never did things cheaply. Ves had always been able to earn enough money to fund all kinds of investments that deepened the foundation of the clan and accelerated its rise to power.

Even if the clan lost its most powerful source of income, the rest of the organization was still strong enough to pick up where Ves left off. Its increasing diversity, its varied capital ships and its high concentration of competent young talents meant that it was already set up to succeed in a fashion.

The Larkinson Clan was already one of the true reflections of its founder's emphasis on growth!

As the four new Journeymen thought about how they would have to face the future without the umbrella of the patriarch, Ves encountered one more notable individual in his path.

He groaned. "Not again. What is it with you guys? Even you, Ketis?"

"Don't misunderstand me." She said as she stopped in front of Ves while wearing the Unending Dragon Mark I that looked just as powerful and impressive as his own combat armor. "I would be the last person in the clan who would want to stop you. In fact, if not for a special circumstance, I would have accompanied you as well this time."

Ves raised his eyebrow. He did not look surprised when he heard she wanted to come along. They were pretty similar people in this regard. They were both mech designers who derived a lot of gains from new adventures and discoveries. Getting exposed to drastic new sights always got their creative juices flowing.

"Why did you decide to skip this time?"

The swordmaster sighed and placed her armored palm on the abdomen area. "Just like Gloriana, I have already implanted my designer baby into my womb. I'm pregnant now, Ves. Even though my future son is only a small collection of cells for now, I am still afraid of exposing the embryo to the powerful fluctuations of combat. If I get injured…"

Ves sighed and placed his hand on her shoulder plate. "You have made the right choice. Being a mother is a whole new responsibility to you. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to sink your blade into in the future."

"I know. I am not as impatient as you. I will stay behind and hold down the fort for you. Are you confident that your attempt to befriend the king fish will succeed?"

"I don't know." Ves honestly admitted. "We know far too little about the fish-whales and the Evolvers in particular. However, I think it is worth a try. The inferences and deductions that I have made based on the data that we have collected shows a lot of promises. I truly think it is worth the risk to explore this opportunity. As long as I am able to return with a harvest, everything will be worth it. I am already making strides towards advancing to Senior. If I can study the model of the Evolvers, I have a suspicion that I can utilize what I've learned to push our upcoming commercial mech designs to the next level!"

That was the goal that he had in mind when he decided to set off for the Lab Continent! Everything he did was for the betterment of his work. With the next design round looming closer, Ves wanted to turn it into a transformative point in his career.

Since Calabast had persuaded him to go big this time, he wanted to make sure his work lived up to the heightened expectations of the mech market!