The Mech Touch

When Ves read learned a bit about how the elite DIVA infiltrators managed to complete their challenging and risky sabotage missions with ease, he developed a new appreciation of covert operations.

Not every problem had to be solved by throwing a mech army at the enemy. It was impossible for him to use the Mars as a cudgel to bash in the heads of everyone who got in his way.

There were many times where confronting an adversary head-on amounted to a cure that was worse than the disease.

In such situations, the ability to solve a problem through finesse rather than brute force became a lot more valuable.

As much as the Black Cats had grown and expanded by an immense degree under Calabast's stewardship, the former Hexer was only human.

Setting up a network of informers and recruiting a lot of spies was not that difficult as long as the people in charge knew what they were doing.

Raising a bunch of elite infiltrators that could perform many different essential tasks with great skill and confidence took a lot more than just throwing a lot of money around!

As his latest talk with Calabast illuminated, there were many situations where having the ability to sneak aboard an enemy stronghold and surgically target strategic objectives might create huge advantages.

It was a pity that the current version of the Larkinson Clan was unable to form its own version of DIVA's impressive infiltration units.

The Larkinson Clan had its own strengths and weaknesses.

One of its greatest downsides was that its infrastructure was severely lacking in terms of scientific research and industrial production capabilities.

However, there was one thing the clan happened to be good at, and that was developing and making use of new and innovative mechs.

Ves had always managed to solve many of his problems through designing mechs that solved problems in ways that no one had ever done before.

It was his greatest strength and it was one of the pillars that made the Living Mech Corporation so profitable.

When Ves thought about how he could resort to mech design to complete the same kind of covert operation missions through different means, he recalled the Ghost Project.

As his only ongoing stealth mech design project, the Ghost Project was a mech that became necessary after Venerable Zimro Belson successfully advanced to his current rank.

As one of the few mech pilots in the service of the Black Cats, Venerable Zimro stood out among other expert pilots in that he possessed a much more flexible attitude towards combat.

Due to his complicated past where he and his fellow Xona Stalkers had been exiled to the Nyxian Gap, Zimro Belson became complicit in many shameful acts. He would have to bear this stain for the rest of his life.

Yet rather than allow this scar to cripple him forever, he seemed to find honor in redemption. From what Ves could tell of the man, he was the kind of person who believed in the notion that the ends justified the means.

"I am comfortable with my place among the Black Cats." The rather slim and unassuming expert pilot spoke to Ves during their first talk about the configuration of his first expert pilot. "Our clan has its protectors in the light, but they cannot protect our clansmen against every possible threat. That is where my fellow Black Cats and I come in. We do what is necessary to keep us all safe. Our jobs may not be glamorous and recognition is also in short supply, but we who walk in the shadows have no need for honor. We are only guided by our duty. I will break any rule and commit any taboo so long as the outcome helps our clan in the end."

"That... is quite an extreme statement, Venerable Zimro." Ves replied at the time.

Venerable Zimro smiled at the clan patriarch. "You have built a remarkable clan where any stranger can come and feel at home. We are all family, and that is something that the former Xona Stalkers and I cherish deeply. Director Calabast has done much to give us a new and better purpose. She has taught us that deplorable methods can also be noble as long as they are used for the right reasons. I am deeply honored for the trust that I have received from you all, and wish to continue serving in this capacity."

"Do you have any special requests for your upcoming expert mech?"

"Please rest assured that I have little to no objection to anything you decide to add to my future machine. No matter how dirty and despicable it turns out, I will make use of its capabilities to the fullest to complete the missions that no other expert pilot is willing to get involved in. I may not be able to serve as your sword, but let me be the dagger that you can use to stab your opponents in the back."

A dagger that a person could wield to stab people when they least expected it. That was what Ves wanted more than anything else at this time.

Sure, Ves wouldn't say no to adding another battle-oriented expert mech to his mech roster, but that was like throwing in another sword in a box that was already filled with similar-looking blades.

It was much more helpful to add a dagger or a completely different weapon to his equipment locker. The additional variety unlocked lots of new possibilities that were previously unthinkable.

When Ves thought about the Ghost Project in this context, he became inspired to add new features and functionality to its design.

While he hadn't changed his mind about turning it into a silent killer on the battlefield, that didn't mean it was incapable of performing covert operation missions.

Ves just had to design an expert stealth mech that possessed enough overlap to gain the qualifications to perform both roles.

This was a lot more challenging than it sounded because stealth mechs were inherently cramped designs to begin with. Much of their capacity was taken up by all of their stealth systems and other necessary measures to prevent enemies from detecting their emissions.

He had previously decided to design the Ghost Project as a more fragile and stealthy version of the Dark Zephyr.

This meant that the design of his expert stealth mech had to devote much of its limited capacity to enhancing its speed and maneuverability. It also had to possess enough mechanical strength to inflict lethal blows onto powerful expert mechs and other tough opponents.

Ves was unwilling to make too many compromises in these areas, so he had little choice but to be more inventive and resort to unorthodox solutions to enhance its subterfuge capabilities.

This was why he paid close attention to a particular object that he had obtained as a side effect of receiving the plasma sword that used to belong to the Neo Amadeus.

After transforming this excessively powerful weapon into the Scarlet Ember and handing it over to the Everchanger, Ves was left with the living head of an actual Fridayman expert pilot.

To a mech designer and spiritual engineer like him, this was an especially precious resource. There were many possible ways he could take advantage of this living organic treasure, and he had already decided to combine his expertise with that of Master Benedict Cortez to create a fantastic new system that could empower the Ghost Project in unprecedented ways.

That cooperation proceeded quite well at the moment. Both Ves and Master Benedict held multiple meetings and brainstorming sessions where they sought to come up with new methods to unlock the hidden potential of this unique resource.

It was quite fortunate that Venerable Zimro Belson was able to tolerate a lot more than other expert pilots, so the Ghost Project was the perfect expert mech to integrate an enhanced and expanded version of Master Benedict's Original Energy Bridge System.

"I can still do more with this system."

Once Ves and Master Benedict had their way with the living head of an expert pilot, they could do much more than provide an additional source of energy to the Ghost Project.

Ves already thought of a brand new way to leverage its unique circumstances. He began to conjure up images of a starship becoming haunted by rampaging ghosts. Each of these strange and unkillable specters were sustained by the power and fury of a captured and enslaved expert pilot!

There were several pros and cons to making this come to life.

The biggest advantage was that it was a way to attack a starship while remaining under stealth.

Instead of sending over infiltration teams that could always be exposed and caught at any time, it was much easier to command the Ghost Project to hover close to a starship before sending in ghosts to do all of the dirty work!

Even if the defenders discovered the ghosts and managed to subdue them through the use of special weapons, the Larkinson Clan wouldn't suffer any significant damage!

After all, the specters that had been doing all of the work were disposable combat units that could easily be reformed.

Another advantage was that it conveyed a lot of plausible deniability.

As long as the Ghost Project remained under stealth, who would be able to tie the appearance of killer ghosts to an expert mech of the Larkinson Clan?

Even if the existence of the Ghost Project became exposed due to its appearance in battle, there still wouldn't be an obvious connection!

The next major advantage was that ghosts that could potentially phase through solid obstacles and affect people on a non-physical level could accomplish feats that could never be reproduced by elite DIVA operatives.

From taking over the minds of enemy crew members to assassinating critical personnel by strangling their spirits, there were many potential ways for spiritual ghosts to mess with people!

"There are also a lot of downsides, though." Ves frowned.

He wasn't entirely up to date with all of the laws of the MTA, but he was pretty sure that twisting a mech to this extent was not entirely right.

When Master Huron augmented the main weapons of the Neo Amadeus by integrating them with the living heads of different expert pilots, he at least made use of volunteers.

Ves wouldn't have that luxury. It was far too wasteful for him to decapitate one of his existing expert pilots just because he wanted to turn them into the power source of an unorthodox attack system.

The only 'power source' available to him was a captured enemy. By twisting the Fridayman expert pilot's force of will, Ves was pretty sure he could figure out a way to make his latest idea come true, but it would be unethical to the extreme.

That wasn't enough to stop him, though.

"The biggest problem isn't my conscience, but the MTA's reaction."

The mech community took a dim view on anyone who abused or tarnished the dignity of high-ranking mech pilots.

Mech designers took great care in making sure they never got on the bad side of expert pilots and ace pilots. They would never be able to earn the trust of these powerful heroes if it became known that they had caused deliberate harm with their work!

There was no way Ves could hide something so big from the MTA. There were too many ways for the mechers to monitor what took place inside the Larkinson Clan.

The only way he could proceed with his ambitious new plan was to obtain the buy-in of the Mech Trade Association.

In other words, he needed to figure out a way to obtain an exemption from at least one faction of the MTA.

He grimaced when he understood what that meant. "If that is the case, then I will have to make further concessions. At least I shouldn't be lacking in this area."

Ves thought about his Blood Knight Project and its many implications.

"The Transhumanist Faction will definitely be interested in this work!"