The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

The Disruptor Project had finally reached completion. Both the project as a whole and the expert mech in particular were over and done. Gloriana and the rest of the Design Department had all completed the objectives that they had set from the start.

It took a few more minutes for the implications to set in. They had completed and delivered the first true expert mech for the Larkinson Clan.

The greatest benefit of this expert mech was that it was mainly designed by the Larkinsons themselves. Though the entire project would have never been able to get off the ground without the help of their incredibly overqualified technical consultant, Master Willix had never once attempted to take charge.

She only did what was truly necessary and provided the young, eager and naive Journeymen with enough space to give full play to their respective specialties.

If Master Willix truly employed one of her own design philosophies, then her domineering influence would have obliterated the much weaker contributions of the others!

In the end, the project proceeded in a fashion where Ves, Gloriana, Juliet and Ketis fully identified with their respective contributions to the mech design.

Juliet exhibited the most happiness because the dominant mobility systems of the expert light skirmisher was mainly her own handiwork. She left the most fingerprints behind in the mech, followed closely by Gloriana who made it all possible in the first place.

The perfectionist needed a bit of time to make peace with the fact that they hadn't ended up making a masterwork mech. She would be lying if she claimed she held little expectations on this matter. Creating a masterwork mech was one of the greatest pleasures in her life and it was something that she spent months preparing for with each mech design project she worked on. Her emotional attachment to each of her works was quite prodigious, but that also made the fall much harder for her to endure.

The only reason why she was able to remain calm and composed was because this wasn't the first time she reached this outcome. The many failed attempts of her past had toughened her up and given her a greater tolerance towards missed expectations.

"In hindsight, it is clear that we should have tempered our expectations." She softly said to Ves. "I initially thought that embarking on designing and making a new kind of mech would excite us to such a great degree that we would be able to ride on those emotions, but the issues that we came across threw us way outside of our comfort zone. We simply weren't in the right condition to get into the zone."

That was an apt description of what had happened. Her guess concurred with Ves' own thoughts.

"Inspired states only come to those who possess both luck and skill. Serendipity is a precious opportunity that only falls upon those who have already mastered their craft to a sufficient degree. When we began to fabricate an entire expert mech, it was as if we had gone back in time to the start of our careers where we were fabricating our very first mech. It is impossible for us to create a masterwork when we are so lacking in knowledge, skill and experience."

Gloriana's face grew determined as she crossed her arms. "We must do better next time. All of you, including myself, must polish our fabrication skills. While our current level is sufficient to make any Journeyman-level mech, we are not dealing with that anymore. I understand some of Master Willix's warnings and advice now. We truly didn't know what we were attempting to do until we actually did it. We still have much to go before we are fully ready to create mechs of this caliber."

Despite her regrets, she didn't let them affect her for too long. As her eyes gazed at the expert mech from the perspective of a client rather than its designer, she became a lot happier.

The Larkinson Clan truly gained a powerful and unique asset. Even though she had yet to see the mech in action, just looking at it gave her a sense of awe and might.

The expert mech that they had just completed was almost as slim and modestly-sized as any other light mech. Its matte black coating caused the expert mech's presence to take on a muted form, but that did not detract from its strength to those who possessed a basic understanding of mechs.

The lines and contours of the light skirmisher were neither too angular nor too curvy. It cleverly mixed both elements to yield an optimized layout that offered good defense while not weighing down the mech too much.

The Unending alloy that the armor system consisted of was already familiar to the Larkinsons, but applied to a true expert mech, it took on a much greater meaning.

Ves had already charged the mech with a portion of spiritual energy from Trisk and Arnold. The only troublesome part was that the former was too new and had yet to be used as a design spirit for any other mech design. That meant that the newborn avian design spirit did not really have that much spiritual energy to spare at the moment.

All of this meant that the expert mech was not in its strongest form at the moment. Ves could have forced Arnold to cough up more spiritual energy, but that would unbalance the spiritual makeup of the light skirmisher and make it lean too heavily on escape.

For this reason, the pressure exuded by the expert mech was but a fraction of that of a prime mech. It was not as loud and intolerable as the glow of the Piranha Prime, which did not exist any longer.

Ves briefly spent a few seconds thinking about the passing of one of his first prime mechs. The Piranha Prime was a fine machine and served its purpose well during the Battle of Reckoning and the Prosperous Hill Campaign, but its Unending alloy was too precious to leave it on a mere custom second-class mech.

The fantastic prime material was put to much better use now that it was cladding the frame of an expert mech!

He paid special attention to the knives of the expert mech. Though they were currently sheathed, the twin weapons were not only sharp enough to cut through heavy armor, but could also be empowered in two different ways. The liberal proportion of Unending alloy integrated in the weapons would allow Venerable Tusa to leverage prime resonance to empower them. If he engaged in true resonance at the same time, then Ves could scarcely predict how many solid solid barriers it could break!

"We need to see it in action." Ketis said with an eager tone. "I'm so tired that I want to take a rest right now, but I haven't worked so long just to leave me with uncertainty."

Gloriana looked at everyone and saw that they were all of the same mind. "Very well, the mech is technically done. Let's allow the bots to perform some final inspections and safety checks before we allow Venerable Tusa to enjoy it for a brief moment of time. Don't forget that we cannot be sure the design is completely sound. We always worked with theoretical models and mathematical formulas up until now. This mech is both the prototype and the end product of the Disruptor Project. We should employ an appropriate amount of caution."

Though she said the words that needed to be said, inside her heart she was supremely confident that nothing was fundamentally amiss with the design. She spent so much effort optimizing it while getting rid of as many faults as possible that it really shouldn't be possible for the mech to blow up or something. At the very least, she did not believe that Master Willix would stand idle and allow an undiscovered fault to go through only for the expert mech to blow up in front of their eyes!

The checks proceeded quickly. In order to hasten the work, Gloriana called over a dozen assistants in order to accelerate the final safety inspections.

Suffice to say, the assistants were all floored by the sheer quality and power that they were able to identify from the freshly-completed expert mech.

Rina Orion sat in the cockpit and inspected the programming of the expert mech while caressing the metal panels of the clean but luxurious black interior.

"So this is what it's like to enter a mech that cost over 200 billion hex credits to build."

As the assistants inspected and prepped the mech for deployment, Venerable Tusa quickly moved to the changing room in order to change into his new black-themed piloting suit.

Everyone nearby took a step back when he walked past them. The presence he exuded when he wore the suit had become darker and more threatening. Even though he was a Larkinson, the other clansmen didn't really find his presence reassuring anymore.

It was as if Tusa had transformed himself into a lurking beast!

When the expert pilot walked up to the Journeymen, his anticipatory grin grew wider. "I'm all ready now. When will I be able to take my new expert mech out into space?"

"Soon." Gloriana replied. "It will take ten more minutes to complete the inspections and a bit more time for us to move it over to the hangar bay."

"You look quite sharp, Tusa." Ketis complimented.

"Thanks. I'm not sure why I needed a new piloting suit, though."

"Your new suit is much superior to the standard ones that we have been using across the entire clan." Ves clarified. "Gloriana doesn't want to miss a single detail, so she insisted on working with me to design a custom suit that is completely tailored to your body measurements and your needs."

"What are the benefits, exactly?" Tusa asked. "So far, I feel nothing except more weight, more stiffness and as Ketis already mentioned, a sharper look."

"Don't mistake it as a simple suit. There is loads of tech packed into it. First and foremost, the middle layers are actually composed of Unending alloy plates. It's the same material used to form the main armor system of your mech, but formed into very thin plates to minimize their impact on your body movement and comfort. In its fullest defensive setting, you stand a good chance of surviving a cockpit breach."

Venerable Tusa didn't know whether he should take this seriously. A cockpit breach mostly happened when a mech weapon pierced it directly. With the power that mech weapons possessed, not even the best infantry armor was able to withstand a casual attack!

"What else does this suit possess?"

"It offers advanced survival functions in an extremely compact form." Ves answered. "We had to import the hyper advanced components from a specialist vendor in order to obtain all of the miniaturized life support systems needed to increase your survival odds in case you ever get stranded in space. You have access to enough oxygen, food, water, warmth, electricity and medicine to survive an entire month in space!"

An entire month! That was practically a miracle for a suit that was so slim and tight. Only the back featured a slight bump in order to cramp all of those powerful systems in the least obtrusive place.

Venerable Tusa looked a little dizzy at the thought of surviving an entire month in deep space with just his suit. "I don't think it is likely that I will ever end up in this scenario. Aren't you going a little too overboard?"

"You're a precious asset, Tusa. I won't allow you to die until you have fully provided as much value as possible. You are just in your thirties now so you have many decades ahead to perform your duties to our clan!"

"Is this the sole reason why you built a custom suit for me? You just want to ensure that I'll survive?"

Ves grinned. "That's not even the best part. The fact that I handmade your suit and that I incorporated a material as useful as Unending alloy in it meant that I have instilled it with a few surprises. I'm sure you have felt them already. While their presences are a little weak right now, I believe that your suit will likely be able to enhance your connection to your expert mech!"

The piloing suit was an extension of the expert mech as far as he was concerned. Letting Tusa wear the suit directly increased his connection with his machine!

The expert pilot glanced at the expert mech again. "Everything you have said has made me even more impatient to interface with it. Hurry up. I can't wait."

"You don't have to wait much longer. By the way, have you thought up a name for your expert mech yet? This is the right time to christen the Disruptor Project with a proper moniker."

Venerable Tusa did not hesitate to announce his choice. "Dark Zephyr. I want my first expert mech to be known as the Dark Zephyr!"

Ves and the other Journeymen remained still.

"That's.. certainly a succinct name."