The Mech Touch

The source of the strength of an expert pilot turned out to be a double-edged sword.

Ves already knew that expert pilots derived much of their strength by motivating themselves to an inhuman degree.

In order for them to draw out their potential and perform at levels beyond the reach of normal humans, they needed to find a grand and noble goal for themselves that could serve as their driving motivator.

From the moment they broke through by relying on a conviction, their entire life and purpose centered around fulfilling the important life goal that they had set.

Everything they did henceforth was ultimately tied to this singular goal.

Ves had long speculated that the reason why certain expert pilots such as Venerable Jannzi experienced such an extreme shift in personality was because they thought they had no choice but to do so in order to fulfill a much more difficult goal.

This phenomenon showed how the extraordinary willpower of a demigod was built on a singular foundation.

Everything was fine as long as this foundation remained strong and healthy.

However, even a single problem with this foundation could cause the extraordinary willpower to collapse!

This showed how high-ranking mech pilots pursued a path of extremity. They shook away all doubts and fears and did not hesitate to throw themselves onto a singular cause no matter the circumstances!

If they chose poorly or became affected by adverse circumstances outside of their control, then they lost everything all at once regardless of any extenuating circumstances.

It was brutal. It was extreme. It was unfair.

It was the life of a warrior who sought to traverse the path of godhood.

Out of all of the possible paths to transcendence, this was definitely one of the most dangerous and perilous that Ves knew of! It was no wonder that mech pilots must possess great courage and bravery in order to qualify to set foot.

"Do not feel sorry for myself, Ves." The older man said as his voice grew even feebler than before. "As an expert pilot that has broken his vow to defend the Bright Republic, I did not die when I suffered my defeat. Instead, I went on to live for many decades while seeing my family grow and flourish. In your eyes, I may seem like a cripple. In my eyes, I am a happy father, grandfather and great-grandfather. That is not a punishment at all. That is a second lease on life, and one that I have enjoyed to the best of my ability."

Ves understood his grandfather's sentiments better. Longevity did not matter at all to him. The Larkinson who belonged to an older generation had grown up in a much simpler time where life-prolonging treatment had never been attainable to the Larkinsons in the first place.

As such, his grandfather as well as many other Larkinsons never obsessed too much about enjoying an additional century of life.

This was much different from the likes of Senator For Life Camden Tovar. That bastard readily appropriated a military mech regiment in order to fulfill a private mission to retrieve a high-grade life-prolonging treatment serum for cheap. All of the earnest Flagrant Vandals who sacrificed their life to allow a greedy old bastard to gain another century's worth of lifespan mattered little to the statesman.

When Ves compared his own grandfather to Senator Tovar, he much preferred the former over the latter.

Benjamin thought the same. His perspective on life was much different from those decrepit old cowards who would readily betray their loyalties and sell out their own relatives to the highest bidder.

In that sense, Benjamin Larkinson still retained the integrity of a valiant and noble expert pilot.

"How long will you be able to last?"

"Not long." The old man said in a whisper. "My decline is inevitable, but I have been fighting to prolong this process for my entire post-war life. It is becoming a little harder to resist with each passing day, but it has become much worse since a year ago. I estimate that I can only keep this up for five months at most. After that…"

He did not need to finish that sentence. His grandson already got the message.

"I see…" Ves said. "Have you already decided where you want to get buried?"

The old Larkinson closed his eyes. "It has always been my earnest wish… to get buried next to other Larkinsons on Rittersberg."

"We can't go back to the Bright Republic anymore."

"I know… Since that is the case, you can bury me where many other of your clansmen are buried."

"Uhhh…"

"What is the matter, Ves?"

"My clan is housed in a fleet. It has always been customary for fleet-based organizations to conduct space burials. We usually shoot any bodies that we are able to retrieve into the direction of the nearest star. It's a cremation on a stellar scale."

His grandfather clearly did not like the thought of that. "I do not want to impose on you, but do not throw my corpse into space as if it is a piece of trash that needs to be discarded as soon as possible in order to free up space for your precious ship. Give me the dignity of an actual burial. I want my remains to rest alongside many other kin. The more, the better. It would bring me no greater joy to know that I am with my family in life and in death. I never want to be alone, whether I am buried on land or on a starship."

He had made his preferences clear. Ves understood that his grandfather was too old-fashioned to ever embrace the notion of a space burial.

"There will be no problems." Ves assured. "I will speak extensively with Ark to decide where exactly we shall bury you. Personally, I do not think it is suitable to bury you here in Davute. It may be an important planet now, but it will become a backwater a century or so later. It is much better if we can bury you on a ship that accompanies our fleet. In fact, we can bury all of our deceased on the same ship. That way, your coffin will be joined by an increasing number of relatives. What do you think?"

Benjamin made a slight gesture with his arm. "Do… what you want. I… trust you. You don't need to spend a lot of money… a simple burial in a graveyard on this planet is already enough…"

There was no way that Ves would toss his grandfather's corpse into a simple hole in the ground!

His grandfather meant too much for him and many other trueblood Larkinsons. It would be best if Ves prepared a burial on a ship. This way, his grandfather would not only have plenty of company among the dead, but also remain surrounded by lots of living relatives!

The talk came to an end at this point. Benjamin had staved off his exhaustion long enough and needed to rest in order to preserve what little he had left.

As Ves walked away from the estate and accompanied his wife and children back to the Royal Mansion, Andraste tugged his hand and asked a question.

"Grandpa used to be an expert pilot, right?"

"That is right."

"Why is he so… weak?"

"Piloting mechs is dangerous." Gloriana seriously replied. "It is too easy for young children such as you to dream about the glory and the victories that you can earn with a mech. What you often overlook is that for every winner, there is a loser. Piloting mechs is dangerous, baby. As your mother, I don't want to subject you to the many dangers that come with fighting on the battlefield, but we don't always get what we want. If we want to defend our clan and keep us all safe, then some of us need to step up. I hope you will be able to step up and take responsibility if you have the ability."

Andraste grinned up at her. "Don't worry, mama! I am really strong now! Ketis has taught me how to fight with a sword!"

Ves ruffled her red hair with his hand. "That's nice, pumpkin, but don't forget about your marksmanship practice as well. There are good reasons why firearms are the standard weapons in the Milky Way and the Red Ocean. Not everything can be beaten by chopping at it with a sword."

"I know, papa! You don't have to tell me that again." The little girl whined.

As they returned to their temporary home in Davute, Ves remained in a somber mood for the rest of the day.

It was hard for him to accept the fact that he could truly do nothing to prevent his grandfather's death.

With the kind of resources and connections that Ves had at his disposal, it was easy for him to arrange life-prolonging treatment to any member of the older generation of his clan.

This was how he was able to give Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson a hundred years of additional joy and fulfillment.

However, Raymond was just an ordinary human. He never had the ability to pilot a mech and was exempt from all of the complications that made it troublesome to extend his life.

Benjamin Larkinson was pretty much the polar opposite in that regard. Although the MTA mastered the technology to reluctantly extend the lives of expert pilots and ace pilots, even the mighty Association could do nothing if these pilots suffered grave injuries!

Though Ves could still think of half-a-dozen different ways to come up with his own solution, the explanation given by his grandfather about failing to fulfill a promise pretty much ended that route.

"I guess that is life. The older generations eventually have to make way for the younger generations."

This was the natural cycle of life. Any means to artificially prolong the life of a human was a distortion of this cycle.

That didn't mean Ves liked it when it affected him on a personal basis. As far as he was concerned, his grandfather deserved better.

His wife eventually joined him in one of the living rooms. "Ves. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay… I guess."

Gloriana sat down next to him and gave him a warm hug. "I am happy that our children are able to spend enough time with your grandfather to develop lasting memories and impressions of him. When he passes to the next stage of his existence, our offspring will always cherish his memory of his current self for the rest of their lives."

"Mhmm."

"What are you thinking about, Ves?"

"I'm thinking about a lot of stuff. For example, I want to fulfill my grandfather's wish by burying him among family, both living and dead. Do you think it is extravagant of me to commission a starship that is solely dedicated to holding the remains of our honored clansmen?"

Gloriana looked puzzled. "We already have a ship called the Graveyard."

"That is true, but she is solely meant to be clad with the salvaged debris taken from various battlefields. She is not a suitable vessel to bury our kin. This is why I am thinking about acquiring a purpose-built ship."

"I am not too certain about that. Our existing starships can accommodate many bodies."

"That is true." Ves nodded. "One of my other ideas is to convert a section of one of the large parks inside the Spirit of Bentheim into an exclusive graveyard. This way, anyone aboard our flagship can pay a visit to the buried heroes of our clan at any time."

The couple exchanged several more ideas on this matter.

The way the Larkinson Clan treated its dead up until this point was rather disrespectful now that Ves thought about it to a deeper degree than before.

There were good reasons why space burials became the customary standard of treating the deceased, but it did not fit with the culture and the means of the Larkinson Clan.

He felt it was much more fitting to acquire a dedicated starship and use the new vessel as a floating hall that not only honored the dead, but provided lots of inspiration for the Larkinsons who were alive today.

"I need to talk to Vivian Tsai."