The Mech Touch

"Interesting, is it not? These three works of yours have surprised and amazed all of the researchers assigned to this project. The Carmine Conscript alone has overturned many theories that have long assumed that the only way for mech pilots to effectively control machines of this kind is by making use of a neural interface."

Ves couldn't suppress his curiosity. "If I may ask, how did you manage to establish a successful connection between the Carmine Conscript and this test subject? 1 designed this Carmine mech to pair solely with another person who has regrettably lost his life."

The Mace dismissively waved his hand. "1 am told that our biotechs have extensively modified and augmented the body of the next candidate in order to tolerate the foreign blood and DNA of your Carmine Conscript. The physical health risks that you are concerned about are not an issue for us. Our technology allows us to accomplish many feats."

"I see."

That was rather brilliant, if expensive. This was not a solution that could be applied on a wider scale, but it was enough for the purposes of an experiment.

The two continued to chat for a few minutes about their expectations for the Carmine System.

"I decided to meet you here because I wanted to show you that we value your work and contributions." The ace pilot and leader spoke in an appreciative tone. "When you stood up against the Polymath and her Unity Plan, you demonstrated courage and conviction that is not inferior to a mech champion. It is a great pity that you did not have the opportunity to become a mech pilot. Then again, we are all lucky that you have become a mech designer instead. You would have never been able to present so many groundbreaking innovations to our Association."

Though Ves felt enormously flattered by all of the compliments, he did not let all of these blind praises get ahead of him. He needed to make sure to keep his head cool if he wanted to hold a proper conversation with one of the most powerful people of red humanity.

Although the Mace of Retaliation was nowhere near as strong as his grandfather, he currently spoke with the Fist of Defiance's voice!

That effectively meant that the powerful ace pilot standing next to him was pretty much the spokesperson of the unofficial leader of red humanity!

"Does the Fist of Defiance know about what transpired earlier today?" Ves cautiously asked.

"He knows that a major incident has occurred. We have declined to transmit an emergency data package. The secrecy of my grandfather's current mission is of paramount importance. Any signal transmission no matter the tech or method can give away critical clues to our current adversaries. Do not be concerned. He will most definitely react positively to what has happened here once he is able to regain contact with us again."

Ves grew a little disappointed that the Fist of Defiance remained out of the loop. It was difficult to be certain about what the god pilot thought about the transfer of the crown and the fact that he was a Holy Son all along.

He wasn't even sure whether the Mace of Retaliation was aware of this extremely sensitive secret. Perhaps that was why the Xenotechnician handled this sensitive matter instead.

"I have heard that you are responsible for issuing my rewards." Ves spoke.

"That is true. I wanted to handle this in person because you deserve our highest regard. Tell me, Professor Larkinson. Are you satisfied with your elevation in galactic citizenship?"

Ves knew that it was best for him to be honest considering that he was well within the range of the Mace of Retaliation's domain field.

"I still don't know what to make of it. I am immensely honored for receiving a rapid rise in status, but the transition is too big and abrupt. I am not truly ready to undertake all of the responsibilities that tier 3 galactic citizens are supposed to handle."

The Mace nodded in understanding. "Our thoughts concur with yours. To be honest, we discussed whether it is right to promote you to a tier 2 galactic citizen. Despite your relatively low rank, the status and influence that you have gained during the voting session vastly exceeds the boundaries of tier 3. You not only took the lead in a situation where the other delegates preferred to stay quiet, but you directly confronted a Star Designer without embarrassing yourself. We were close to making this decision."

There were fairly substantial differences between tier 2 and tier 3 galactic citizens!

Ves knew that his life would have been completely upended if the mechers promoted him once again!

"That would not be a good idea." He argued. "Whether I have earned it or not, I am simply not ready for that kind of life."

The Mace looked satisfied that Ves did not whine or kick up any fuss. "We are not that desperate to pull you into our leadership councils. We also wanted to give you more room to grow. It is far too easy for people to lose their motivation if they have been promoted too quickly. Your current jump has already touched upon a limit. We think it is best to give you a few decades to settle into your new status. That said, we have not forgotten about what you have done. You are still entitled to the rewards that a tier 2 galactic citizen expects to receive."

The time had come for Ves to finally learn what he gained out of sticking his head out and stopping the Polymath from becoming a corrupted tyrant!

"First, we thought about granting you the status of a warlord immediately. That would have turned you into the first warlord before our New Elites Program has formally begun. We ultimately thought that this is inappropriate as a true warlord is a leader who had taken his men into the depths of alien space and returned alive. We cannot make any exceptions to this rule."

Ves nodded in understanding. "I wouldn't have earned it anyway."

"We have come up with a list of other rewards that you may wish to receive instead. The first option that we are willing to grant you is the most straightforward one. We are willing to award you with 100 billion MTA merits, which is more than enough to speed up your promotion to a first-class mech designer and establish a good foundation at our level. You can spend these merits on many useful goods and services in our exchange. This also includes the more exclusive entries that are only open to internal members of our Association as well as tier 3 galactic citizens."

This was the largest sum of MTA merits that had ever been dangled in front of Ves' face!

He knew that this was enough for him to commission and outfit a small but powerful fleet.

He could also purchase a permanent facility in a core stronghold such as the Vulit Central Star Node.

There were many possible ways for him to spend such a massive reward, so much so that it was easy for him to get lost in all of the possibilities.

He wasn't too happy with this reward to be honest. He felt that his contributions were definitely worth a considerably greater reward, but he supposed that the mechers had given him enough favors in other areas.

From letting him keep the Polymath's crown to allow him to provide his input on the configuration of the upcoming kinship network, Ves already derived plenty of benefits from the Red Association.

The real benefit of his actions was gaining the appreciation of the top leaders of the Survivalist Faction. Ves managed to establish closer relationships with the Xenotechnician, the Fist of Defiance and even the Polymath.

He knew that if he ever came up with anything important enough, he always had the possibility to get into contact with some of the main decision makers of red humanity.

The value of these connections would only grow in time. Ves therefore shouldn't have much to complain about earning 100 billion MTA merits. It was more than what a second-class mech designer could ever expect to earn in his lifetime.

Ves knew that the Mace of Retaliation was far from done, though.

"MTA merits can be used to exchange for many goods, but you should know that we can offer much more substantial rewards that are not listed in our exchange. These exclusive goods and services are usually only available for barter as they are being offered by individuals as opposed to our Association as a whole. For example, our team is working on a project that is meant to introduce a powerful incentive to the New Elites."

The Mace of Retaliation transferred a secret document to Ves.

"This! Is this true?!"

"I can assure you that the data is accurate." The ace pilot grinned. "The rules have changed. It will no longer take decades or centuries for mech pilots to grow their resonance strength by relying on their own efforts. I do not understand any of the science or even know what is being put into them, but our best biotechs are adamant that the recently developed A7-KE1 General Purpose Pilot Cultivation Elixir can rapidly stimulate the resonance growth of high-ranking mech pilots. Expert pilots especially stand to benefit from ingesting these odd new elixirs. Amazing, is it not? E energy radiation has made it all possible. Our research groups are working on many more comparable projects to grant our new elites an even stronger advantage."

This piece of crucial insider knowledge did not actually contain a lot of details, but the contents that hadn't been redacted already shook Ves to the core!

He had long assumed that mech pilots largely had to rely on what they had always done in order to advance up the ranks. Even when E energy radiation came into the picture, Ves merely assumed that it would only passively speed up the growth in resonance strength of high-ranking mech pilots.

The introduction of effective elixirs radically changed the paradigm. With each elixir they absorbed, it only took days for expert pilots to digest the contents and grow their resonance strength by 1 to 3 laveres depending on the circumstances.

Although the document also noted numerous concerning side effects that might lead to future troubles, they could be mitigated as long as an expert pilot did not down these elixirs at a high frequency.

"Where do they come from? How are you able to produce these elixirs?"

"We have entire libraries filled with ancient formulas." The Mace of Retaliation responded. "The challenge is interpreting them and finding the right ingredients. The formulas often ask for reagents that do not exist anymore or are out of our reach. However, we have dedicated teams that consist of our best biotech researchers as well as more mystically inclined experts who have developed a large amount of substitute ingredients. Using them reduces the effectiveness of the existing formulas, so our researchers are forced to experiment further in order to make the most out of our limited supply of special reagents."

This was an enormous undertaking. If not for the fact that the Red Association was in control of much of their current society, it would have been a lot harder for the mechers to gather so many highly capable researchers and supply so much rare materials!

Ves knew that his own research institutions lacked the scale, funding and research facilities to develop their own version of a cultivation elixir.

Perhaps that might change in the future, but for now the Red Association was probably the only organization that could offer a supply of these potent but exclusive elixirs!

"How much?" Ves asked.

"500 vials of A7-KE1. All yours to do as you wish, though this reward does come with the condition that you keep it for internal use only. I do not advise you to speed up the development of your expert pilots too much. It is best to balance it out with organic development so that they can adapt to the changes and maintain their pursuit for greater strength."

Ves did not know whether this was a good deal or not. The amount implied that it cost 200 million MTA merits to exchange for a single vial of A7-KE1. This was way too much in his opinion! The price would probably drop to a drastic degree once the Red Association was able to expand the supply of raw materials or developed a more effective and efficient formula, but how long would that take?

The true value of this reward was the fact that Ves could gain these powerful elixirs years in advance of other people!