The Mech Touch

By the time Ves ended his talk with Saint Robert Montage, he became surprised at how easy it had been to gain the agreement of two foreign ace pilots.

For a long time, Ves did not have the best impression of ace pilots. His first true encounter with them was when Saint Yila Mayorka and her Olympus Mons brutally taught the Larkinson Clan a lesson.

After that, the successful advancement of Patriarch Reginald Cross had added a friendly ace pilot to the Golden Skull Alliance, but not one that came without problems.

Reginald was a stubborn, prideful warrior that was brilliant in mech combat but incompetent in everything else. He was a poor clan leader and only managed to make it work somehow because too many of his Crossers looked up to him to acknowledge his many faults.

When Ves initiated a dialogue with Saint Jelmer Osenring and Saint Robert Montagne, he expected to spend a lot more time on arguing.

Yet instead of being met with the stubbornness that he was accustomed to encountering during every difficult talk with Patriarch Reginald Cross, he instead managed to persuade the other two ace pilots without too much time or effort.

Ves didn't even have to resort to the more tricky arguments that he had held in reserve. He also didn't need to make additional concessions in order to make his case!

He did not have to contact any further people at this stage. If everything went as planned, then persuading the earlier two ace pilots should be enough to get the ball rolling.

Minister Shederin certainly liked his performance. "You did well, Ves. Your persuasion skills have undergone a drastic improvement. You have a core of strength and a degree of authenticity that makes you sound much more authentic than you actually are. That makes you extremely suited to communicate with high-ranking mech pilots."

"It helps to have a lot of practice."

"That is true. I have spent a lot of time collecting the feedback of my customers and attuning my work to their demands. Some mech pilots are especially difficult to deal with due to their inconsistent and uncertain demands. It takes a lot of effort to interpret all of their requests."

"While it is true that practice makes perfect, you have a talent for whispering in the ears of mech pilots."

Ves understood what Minister Shederin was alluding to. Ever since he had completed his first sublimation, he not only turned into a human design spirit and gained his own glow, but also passed through a mental journey.

Though his tests were probably not as challenging and ruthless as the tests that mech pilots had to go through, the fact that these processes were similar was undeniable!

This unexpectedly brought him closer to the expert pilots and ace pilots that he increasingly interacted with. People who had gone through these mental journeys were relatively easy to recognize by those who had confronted the demons of the heart.

"It will not take long for us to notice changes." The old Purnesser predicted. "The ace pilots wield great influence in their respective organizations. Their official ranks may not be the best, but their influence over their groups is massive."

No matter how much the Santana Group and the Lehre Foundations indoctrinated their mech pilots, those who had elevated beyond the limits of mortality came in touch with greater truths, ones that were much more difficult to color with different biases.

At least, Ves hoped that was the case.

"Do you think we should talk to the Geminis?" Ves asked.

"No. Not yet. Let us refrain from tipping our hand." The older man replied. "The Geminis will become justifiably angry at us for tipping their hand and preventing them from realizing their dream to the fullest. We may be saving our lives through this move, but it will also spoil our relationship with the Gemini Family. Are you prepared to accept the consequences of this move?"

Ves dismissively waved his hand. "The Geminis screwed us over first. They deserve what is coming for them. It would have been better if they treated us with greater sincerity, but since they didn't, we have no obligation to show any consideration for their demands."

"The Santana Group and the Lehrer Foundation won't be happy with us after they find out that you have managed to manipulate their ace pilots. Their leadership may defer to the demands of their war heroes, but that doesn't mean that they will embrace their new stance."

That was more problematic, but still manageable to Ves.

"We're not going to stick around this region any longer than necessary, Shederin. If everything goes well, we won't be meeting the Santanas and the Lehrers again. They are just two of many pioneering groups in the Red Ocean. There is enough space in the new frontier for us to go our separate ways."

While there were definitely benefits to befriending the pioneering groups that the Golden Skull Alliance had fought alongside with, Ves did not want to complicate this situation any further.

"Sir, several ace mechs are showing renewed activity!"

It appeared that his efforts paid off. Ves grinned wider and wider as he saw several ace mechs up the pace and intensity of their attacks.

Previously, the powerful machines fought as if they were half on standby. They only inflicted enough damage to keep the heavily wounded unclean whale's regeneration ability busy without restoring the massive creature to full health.

This time, powerful mechs such as the Thunderer Mark II and the Mars disregarded their previous instructions and flooded the unclean whale with unrelenting firepower!

"Stop it! You are destroying our wealth!" Saint Sandro Gemini desperately urged. "The MTA will reward us with only a fraction of the worth of this phase whale if we are only able to hand over a broken carcass."

At this time, the deterrence factor of the Gemini Saints had dropped after they were no longer able to maintain their combined state.

The Embodiment of Love and Sacrifice had split up, forcing the ace rifleman mech and the ace space knight to fight separately if they wished to intervene.

While it might be possible for the Gemini ace mechs to stop one or two rogue machines from disobeying instructions, it was another story if five of them intensified their attacks at once!

"You… you… you are deviating from our plan! You are violating our agreement!"

"We aren't breaking any rules, Gemini. We are merely eliminating an active threat that launches a lethal attack at us at any time. I don't know about you, but back home we don't have a habit of letting our enemies stay alive long enough to retaliate."

Though the Embodiment of Sacrifice tried to approach the Mars in order to stop the latter's ARCEUS System from burning through lots of precious whale biomass, the difference in speed was too great.

There was no way the Mars would allow the defensive mech to catch up and block its shots!

With the Thunderer Mark II joining in with its destructive shockwave attacks, the health of the unclean whale dropped at a prodigious rate!

"Stop it! You are destroying tens of millions of MTA merits worth of research value!"

"Haha, you may be able to stop one of us, but you can't stop all five of us! You Geminis need to sit back and let the adults do the work."

It didn't take long for the Gemini Family to figure out the culprit behind this coordinated act of defiance.

"LARKINSON!" The double voices of Patriarch Kobal Gemini and Matriarch Sena Gemini shouted over the command channel. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?"

Ves already knew that this was coming. He already formulated a response.

"I made my case to the other coalition partners who were still on the fence." He replied in a gentle tone. "This isn't my first encounter with whales. They are far deadlier than you think. They can pull off plenty of deadly stunts even if they are nearly dead."

"WE HAD IT UNDER CONTROL!"

"I'm sorry, but your words and promises have proven to be less than reliable in the past. We cannot take you at your word. While I acknowledge that we may be overreacting, first look at the state of our mech forces. Do you think we are equipped to fight another pirate force or rampaging phase whale in our current states?"

The mechs employed by the coalition partners were far from their prime. They had fended off swarms of starfighters as well as hordes of warships, causing them to expend a lot of energy while also increasing their wear and tear.

Aside from that, the mentalities of the mech pilots were far from their peak. They had endured a lot of mental stresses over the course of the asymmetric battle.

The pilots had to adapt to a lot of new circumstances because the alien pirates simply didn't play by the rules of humanity.

In any case, Ves wanted to emphasize how little enthusiasm the mech pilots had left. They had become a lot more vulnerable and easy to break for powerful enemy units.

The leaders of the Gemini Family weren't insensitive towards other people.

It was the opposite in fact. Their ideologies and their highly social nature made them keenly aware that tens of thousands of mech pilots were just tired of this entire battle.

None of them wanted to spend any time on tense and nerve-wracking guard shifts, knowing that their mundane mechs could inflict virtually no damage to an opponent of such might and bulk.

The leaders of the Gemini Family briefly exchanged glances with each other.

From the moment the Santana Group and the Lehrer Foundation abandoned their camp, the outcome of this battle had already been set in stone.

The Geminis were merely expressing their attitude and displeasure towards this turn of events.

Ves was even smart enough to deduce that the charade was meant to increase the Gemini Family's share of the spoils.

After all, the Larkinsons and the others disobeyed an instruction from the nominal leader of the coalition.

That wasn't all. Ves and the Larkinson Clan were the main instigators of this miniature betrayal, and would probably have to give up valuable concessions in order to soothe any hard feelings.

While Ves was okay with surrendering a bit of his shares, he did not want the others to claim his hard-earned rewards.

He worked so much to put down this unclean whale! He did not want to leave this battlefield empty-handed!

"Sir… the unclean whale's body is continuing to fail. The monster's regeneration ability is completely overwhelmed."

Ves nodded in understanding. "Try to preserve as much phasewater organs as possible. That is where most of their juice is stored."

"The ace pilots are already aware of this necessity."

As the ace mechs continued to launch their attacks at their adversary, the unclean whale began to resemble a collapsing flesh palace.

It was eerily uncomfortable to see such a powerful whale getting utterly humiliated by a bunch of tiny war machines.

Ves leaned forward as the phase whale gradually weakened. The cyborg cat didn't even need to intervene anymore in order to hasten the creature's death.

"Helena." He whispered.

"You've changed, brother!" She replied to him without manifesting her body. "You have finally become one of us! I have lots to teach you about your new state, Ves!"

"Can it wait, Helena? I have a more important task for you. Do you see that big whale?"

"Uh huh. The pilot of the Blade Chaser Mark II has been firing his Gray Lotus at this terrible looking whale for a while now."

"Well, seeing as the unclean whale is about to perish, can you… harvest his spirit for me?" he requested. "I would like to do it myself, but… I'm too far away."

His sister placed her hands on her hips. "I'm not your errand girl, Ves. You can do it yourself. I can clearly sense that you've buried another incarnation of yourself inside that dying whale. You can just harvest the soul of the whale through that instead."

Ves wanted to palm his face. "Why didn't I think of that? This makes it much easier than before!"