The Mech Touch

6079 Homicide

Many Larkinsons following the court proceedings in person or from remote began to develop an incredulous thought.

Venerable Taon Melin might actually be able to get away with deliberately killing a third order living mech and fighting against Lanie with the intent to kill.

Sure, the prosecution also charged Taon with a bunch of other crimes, such as conduct unbecoming of a champion and disobeying the direct orders of a superior, but it was the three biggest ones that truly mattered to the clansmen following the two-day trial.

People who learned about the mission and how it ended up in disaster all wanted Taon to account for his actions. It would be bad for morale if everyone gained the perception that Taon essentially managed to get away with murder!

It didn't matter what the Red Two said about designating living mechs as property rather than life forms that deserved to be treated in the sway as humans.

In the years that Larkinsons got along with their living mechs, they truly treated the latter as friends, comrades in arms and even family.

The increasing prevalence of third order living mechs in the Age of Dawn caused a lot of mech pilots to develop even more intimate relationships with their battle partners!

In virtually every case, mech pilots loved their living mechs more than their pets if they had any. It was not that the ever-

popular cats were not cute enough. Living mechs just received a lot more affection because they materially contributed to the success of their clan!

Everyone recognized that the Larkinsons wouldn't have risen to greatness at such a rapid speed without the advantages provided by their living mechs. Each of them felt a lot of gratitude towards their patriarch for designing multiple series of exclusive mech models for the clan.

It was very easy to understand the differences these living mechs made. The expeditionary fleet always fielded mechs from multiple partners of the Golden Skull Alliance.

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Though the mechs of the Cross Clan, the Boojay Family and so on all possessed their own distinct strengths and styles, the Larkinsons couldn't help but regard their own machines as superior.

This was because unlike those other mechs, the machines of the Larkinsons were never static. They always grew stronger and better over time. The difference in combat effectiveness between a factory fresh machine and a years-old weathered mech was very obvious!

The coordination between mech and mech pilot improved. The living mech also becmore proficient in absorbing and handling hyper technology. The older Larkinson mechs even earned enough trust to take autonomous action without needing to ask permission from their pilots!

In short, the benefits of living mechs may be intangible and difficult to quantify, but every Larkinson acknowledged their existence. People had an especially strong reverence for third order living mechs, which broke away from their less developed cousins by gaining the ability to speak and act a lot more closer like intelligent humans!

Murdering one such magnificent living mech, one that the patriarch had painstakingly made into a unique and celebrated masterwork mech, was no different from sacrilege to the living mech fanatics!

Ironically, the Larkinsons who turned against Venerable Taon the most happened to be his former compatriots among the Eye of Ylvaine!

"He is unrecognizable. What happened to our former legion commander?"

"The old Taon is dead now. The man who bears his face has turned away from the Great Prophet. Look at what his blasphemy has brought him. His soul has been corrupted by darkness. We can no longer welchim back into our midst."

"The former legion commander has done incalculable damage to our faith! How are we supposed to convert more individuals to our righteous cause when one of our greatest heroes and representatives has just made an enemy out of every Larkinson?!"

Though Ylvaine did not bear any direct blfor what unfolded on that untamed planet, his specter undoubtedly loomed large over Taon's shoulders!

The dishonorable expert pilot had long been shaped by the Great Prophet. Many people becconvinced that the reason why he becso susceptible to the Emperor Tree's manipulations was because he had already been trained to behave this way by his design spirit!

In that sense, perhaps the disgraced expert pilot may have actually made a valid point. Humans shouldn't develop a dependency on supposed gods, especially ones that exploited them for their own selfish purposes.

Whatever the case, Venerable Jannzi Larkinson was not yet done with Taon. She still had to present the third and arguably most important charge.

The expert pilot in red peered down at the accused with a gaze that held no family affection in the slightest. Though Jannzi had to restrain herself due to the expectations of her current role, she made no effort to hide the fact she already regarded Taon as a traitor to the clan.

"Before his sudden breakthrough, Venerable Taon Melin-

Larkinson displayed a remarkable degree of hesitation and restraint towards his fellow Larkinson. Whatever her motivations and circumstances, Venerable Lanie Larkinson had shown unrelenting aggression in her actions. We do not like it, but in this instance we deem it reasonable for Taon to fight back in order to protect himself. This is especially the case when he is attacked by an expert pilot who just broke through and empowered her living mech with forced resonance. We hold our champions to higher standards than ordinary soldiers, and the stronger they become, the more they must channel their power wisely."

Taon's expression grew more morose as he remembered the final moments of his weakness. He had abjectly failed to defend himself against Lanie and her mutated Elegant Rage. The former Ylvainan truly feared for his life. He badly wanted to obtain help to fend off the expert pilot that went all-out to kill him, only for no one to cto his rescue.

Neither Ylvaine, Goldie, Venerable Joshua or Venerable Dise lent him a hand.

He ultimately broke when he realized that he was all alone. None of the people and design spirits he depended upon proved to be reliable in the twhere he needed them the most.

Taon felt that he had made a grand discovery when he realized that the only person who could save his life was himself!

That had been the most profound and liberating moment of his life. Even now, the shadows of his breakthrough still lived on in his mind. Only his desire to slay his would-be murderer sitting on the other side of the courthouse surpassed his enthusiasm for propagating his news views!

"Our special tribunal is faced with another difficult question." The female expert pilot continued. "When Venerable Taon Melin-Larkinson was on the verge of getting killed by his fellow Larkinson, he miraculously broke through. This fortuitous advancement granted his Zeal the power to temporarily repel the Elegant Rage and gain a fighting chance to survive this undesirable encounter."

Jannzi briefly paused in order to give everyone tto recall this scenario.

"The question we face is this: when the pilot of the Zeal broke through, was he within his rights to fight against Venerable Lanie Larkinson and the Elegant Rage with the intent to kill? It is not in dispute that he and his adversary disobeyed direct orders to suspend their fighting and separate from each other. By their own admissions, both of the accused strongly desired to take the lives of each other. Their words as well as their overflowing willpower at the tmade it abundantly clear that they both regarded each other as threats that they must eliminate at all cost. If just one of them demonstrated just enough restraint and sobriety to pull back, the other would not have a reason to sustain their aggression anymore. Alas, this did not happen, so the two both felt it was necessary to go all-out to fight for their own survival."

Many Larkinsons frowned as they imagined what they would do in such a situation. Would they fight back just as hard as Taon did? It was clear that Venerable Lanie had fallen into a state of madness. It was important to remember that she could not be reasoned with and seemed hellbent on killing the culprit that was almost responsible for her death!

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"As soldiers, we are expected to obey all orders and the rules and regulations that describe how we are permitted to act." Jannzi stated. "However, we all recognize that there are many unforeseen situations where the existing rules and standards provide no ready answers on what you must do. This is exactly one such case. Did he commit a crby fighting back with all of his strength with the express purpose of killing Venerable Lanie Larkinson and her Elegant Rage?"

The chief judge sighed. "When we placed ourselves in Venerable Taon Melin-Larkinson's shoes, we found it hard to argue that he had any other choice. His adversary's overwhelming intent to kill him was obvious. This massively limited his options. If he ejected his cockpit, the Elegant Rage would immediately pursue it and stab her borrowed blade through the fragile shell. If Venerable Taon Melin-Larkinson fought back with greater restraint and forbearance, he would almost certainly lose the duel and die in a short interval of time."

She waved her hand, summoning projections of the Zeal and Elegant Rage shortly after Taon's breakthrough.

The two mechs looked a lot different from when they started out. The changes brought by forced resonance and the aggressive resonance shields surrounding their forms caused the machines to look incredibly menacing!

"In a duel against these two mechs in their current states, our special tribunal recognizes that the Elegant Rage enjoys a strong advantage in this matchup. Melee mechs are always able to gain the upper hand against ranged mechs at close range, and the radical changes that affected both of the machines in question did not alter this universal dynamic. Letbe honest. If I or any other Larkinson expert pilot sat in the cockpit of the Zeal during this time, we would still be hard-pressed to repel the Elegant Rage without resorting to lethal attacks. We cannot expect a Larkinson who was only an expert candidate a short tago to outfight a notable duelist and exemplar in melee combat at close range. Only by treating Venerable Lanie Larkinson as a lethal threat that must be dealt with in the corresponding manner can the pilot of the Zeal obtain a glimmer of hope."

The air around her grew heavier as Jannzi asked a few very poignant questions. "Is it wrong for our mech pilots to struggle for survival? Venerable Melin-Larkinson undoubtedly disobeyed direct orders and broke numerous rules by trying to kill Venerable Lanie Larkinson. His motivations for doing so are not entirely pure. We recognize that he is motivated by survival, but he has also developed a strong animosity towards his latest enemy. Even now, the former pilot of the Zeal has made no efforts to obscure his intention of murdering Venerable Lanie Larkinson, though the latter admittedly shared the sintent towards the pilot that originally struck the first blow."

This sounded like a huge mess. Both parties behaved unreasonably, but were they truly wrong to go out of their way to kill each other?

That was a difficult question to answer.

The chief judge took another deep breath. "This has been one of the most painful decisions our special tribunal has made in its short decision. After much consideration, we are of the opinion that Venerable Taon Melin-Larkinson is not guilty of attempting to murder Venerable Lanie Larkinson. Instead, we rule that the accused has instead engaged in an act of attempted justifiable homicide. We acknowledge that Venerable Melin-Larkinson was justified in his attempt to go all-out in killing his powerful adversary. He rightfully recognized that he was subject to an imminent and unavoidable danger of death. We are of the opinion that when a mech pilot truly believes he will get killed or suffer grave bodily harm, he is not wrong in fighting back as he has a right to self-defense. This right may occasionally take precedence over obligations such as following lawful orders. Therefore, we will judge his remaining charges with greater leniency as he is not entirely culpable."

"..."

The audience all reacted with shock.

While Jannzi presented clear logical arguments that backed up the opinions of the special tribunal, the Larkinsons still couldn't accept what they just heard.

Was Taon… actually allowed to get away from his misdeeds?

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!"