The Mech Touch

Ves completely skipped out on sleep as he forced himself to work day and night to apply as many upgrades and modifications as possible.

Though he and his colleagues did not have time to apply any substantial upgrades to the participating expert mechs, they should still be able to armor up all of the standard mechs that were about to take part in the planned parade.

The work wasn't pretty or refined. In order to save as much time as possible, the mech designers straightforwardly cut out armor plating that possessed the same dimensions as the existing armor plating of the mechs in question.

This enabled the mech designers to easily plug out the old armor plating and put new ones in their places, but the mechs experienced various technical difficulties as a result.

Mechs were much larger and more complex than a suit of combat armor like the Unending Regalia. The drastic changes made to the tall and massive frames produced so many disruptions that their mobility and fluidity had dropped by as much as 10 percent!

The mech pilots assigned to the hastily modified mechs had to acclimate to the changes to the machines in record time. Ves forced each of them to go on marathon training sessions with the MSTS in order to ensure they became familiar with the changes and remastered their ability to control their battle partners.

"One more day to go." He wearily spoke as he noted that dawn had arrived again.

For all of the prep work done so far, Ves felt nowhere close to getting his forces ready enough to meet all of the possible threats that might emerge during the big day.

Much of his work went into bolstering the defenses of his mechs and guards. That might allow them to withstand much stronger hits, but it did not directly help them take out particularly strong and resilient threats.

Ves had no choice but to place his hopes on stronger elements such as the Amaranto and the Minerva to neutralize any acute threats.

As the work in one of the workshops of the Genesis Lab completed the rushed transformation of a large amount of mechs, Sara Voiken voiced her skepticism on this string of rush jobs.

"Don't put too much stock in their defensive prowess. Their outer plating may be able to resist several times more damage than before, but their internal structures remain virtually unchanged. They can withstand and absorb plenty of energy damage as the heat capacity of these first-class alloys are astounding compared to what we previously worked with, but they won't fare as well when struck by physical attacks. Blunt strikes from heavy melee weapons and strong kinetic projectiles will shake the internals if they exceed a certain level of force."

In other words, the defensive schemes of the modified standard mechs all resembled that of an egg. Their outer shells had become a lot harder but the parts that were deeper inside were painfully soft and fragile in comparison.

Ves nodded in understanding. "I am already aware of these shortcomings. It is not as if we can do anything about it. The only way to strengthen the internals is by completely disassembling the machines so that we can replace all of the internal structural components. That takes way too much time and effort. We can think about doing this after the festivities have concluded."

He really hoped that whatever trap got sprung that day did not unleash a horde of enemies that excelled at breaking eggs with overwhelming force.

They talked about a few other peculiarities about the altered standard mechs. The balance of the mechs was off. The increased mass of the stronger alloys also had a negative impact on mobility. There was too little time to adjust the operating systems to compensate for all of the altered physical attributes.

"The mechs will be able to fight when it matters, right?" Ves asked.

"Uhm, they can do so if necessary."

"Then that is all that matters as far as I am concerned. It doesn't really matter what other people think once our machines will show up in public."

"Your wife will not react well to their sight, sir. We have done our best to polish their surfaces and apply thicker coating in order to obscure any rough and uneven areas, but anyone who knows mechs as well as us will be able to see the glaring lack of refinement and optimization."

"She can complain all she wants, but that won't change anything."

In the end, Ves became decently satisfied with the work he and his team had been able to do. The Nullifiers and the other potent Larkinson mechs looked ready for business. The flowing red capes that hung from their shoulders added a nice touch of civilization to a bunch of machines that looked more at home in the middle of a battlefield in space.

Before he concluded his marathon session, Ves took the time to visit Calabast in a more secure meeting room.

Due to the extreme sensitivity of the topics they intended to discuss, they no longer met at the spymaster's office but instead chose to gather in a special purpose-built room.

The secure meeting chamber was already fairly secure, but Calabast had directed her Black Cats to thicken its signal-blocking walls and install additional high-powered jammers and interference devices.

Once Lucky made his rounds and verified that no hidden microscoping spy bugs had managed to sneak inside, the two spoke frankly about the progress that they have made.

As Ves filled Calabast in on the hasty upgrades he had managed to apply, the director of the Black Cats outlined the results of her investigations.

"If you expect me to provide you with confirmation, then you won't like what I am about to say. I have tasked my agents to pay more attention to the parties that are responsible for organizing the events that will take place tomorrow. They were unable to get close enough to gather any important data. Their security has all been heightened to the point where not even Lucky can poke around too much without triggering an alarm."

"Meow…" Lucky echoed.

Calabast had dispatched Lucky to various different key locations, but these fishing trips yielded little of value.

At best, the investigations ruled out possible instances of sabotage and destruction.

"I can say with absolute certainty that no one will be able to place any bombs inside the VIP seating blocks." She said. "There are multiple safeguards and security layers. A multitude of different people from different organizations and government branches are constantly checking on each other's work. The chances that anyone can slip in a bomb unnoticed is low. That said, I cannot completely rule out this option."

Ves grimaced. "It would be nice if this was the case. I have multiple different ways to disarm a planted bomb."

"Meow."

The spymaster mentioned a few other possibilities that she looked into. Though her Black Cats weren't able to gather nearly as much information to form any solid conclusions, so far it did not appear that anyone with nefarious purposes intended to employ the most obvious ways to launch an attack during the founding ceremony.

"This is the expected result." Calabast patiently explained. "It is too suspicious if a hostile party is able to circumvent all of the obvious security precautions and slay hundreds of important figures with ease. My conclusion is that the threat will come from an unexpected angle. There is so much exotic tech available in human space and beyond that nearly anything is possible. We cannot possibly guard against every possibility unless we have gained more specific information. Is Ylvaine…?"

Ves shook his head. "The design spirit has recovered a bit from his previous exertion, but I think it is best to save up what little reserves he has until the ceremony has started. The way that Ylvaine works is that it is much less costly for him to make predictions closer to the present. The further he casts his sight, the more fuzzy his sight becomes. It becomes a lot more difficult for him to foresee anything specific. I hope that by the time the ceremony is about to start, Ylvaine can finally push through all of the interference and reveal to me the reason why Block M is marked for death."

He owed it to the Crossers to save the lives of their important representatives. Though Ves only really cared about Patriarch Reginald Cross and Master Benedict Cortez, both of them would suffer substantial setbacks in growing their clan if all of their best people died at once.

In addition to that, Ves really did not want the conspirators to get away with successfully planting a seed of hatred inside Reginald's heart.

The war between Davute and Karlach must never become too personal for the volatile ace pilot!

"There is a significant chance that you will fail to figure it out in time." Calabast pointed out. "Also, even if you do find out the truth, you may not have the ability to act on it. Will you be able to accept the outcome of failure?"

He threw her a sore look. "You were the one that impressed me on the importance of keeping my mouth shut. I am at the point where I have serious issues with your reasoning. No matter what, we need to do right by our allies. It feels so dirty to possess critical information that is vital to their survival and wellbeing but refrain from saying anything due to vague and abstract reasons."

"They are anything but abstract from my perspective. Make no mistake, Ves. We have possibly become embroiled in a conspiracy that not only affects the future of the colonial state centered around Davute, but also the entire political landscape of the Krakatoa Middle Zone and the fortunes of all of the groups that have invested in this corner of the frontier."

He let out a tired breath. "You don't need to remind me of that. I will stay quiet, but that doesn't mean I want to do nothing and let the scenario play out without interfering. I am tired of high-and-mighty manipulators who keep thinking that they can get what they want by using people up as if they are consumables."

In the past, Ves lacked the strength, resources and agency to go off script.

This time was different. Enough years had passed for Ves and his clan to grow strong enough that they gained the ability to affect the outcomes of major political developments.

"What will you be doing tomorrow?" Ves curiously asked.

"I will try my best to make myself scarce." She responded. "I think I will go on a long retreat to the Blinding Banshee. My Black Cats will try and lay low as well. It is not our job to investigate the culprits responsible for trying to disrupt the founding ceremony. That is up to the authorities. Our clan must show itself to be above suspicion."

"Understood. I agree with you. Sneaking around is a bad idea when so many angry people are out for blood."

They talked a bit more about what they could do to increase their chances of coming out ahead.

There was not much they could do, though.

"The colonial government has already imposed heightened security rules on the entire planet." Calabast told Ves. "Not only are most mechs driven out of the metropolitan area, but numerous powerful machines that are not a direct part of the armed forces have been forced to accept lucrative guard contracts that place them well away from Kotor City. The Jedda Sandivar and the Royal Jeem are both obliged to guard a pair of large industrial cities that are located at least several hundred kilometers away."

Davute did not fully trust the Adelaide Third Fleet and the Boojay Family as they had yet to sign any formal cooperation with the colonial government.

This meant that the ace mechs of those organizations could not be trusted.

This was bad because those ace mechs could do a lot of damage if they wanted.

In order to prevent these exceptionally powerful machines from ruining the founding ceremony, it was best to pay off their owners and send them far enough away.

It would take far too many minutes for the two ace mechs to race back to Kotor City at their highest speeds!

By the time they arrived, Ves predicted that the show would already be over.

"Oh well. I guess we can only rely on ourselves."