The Mech Touch

Of all of the design spirits that Ves had in his arsenal, Ylvaine's spiritual fragment was the most human. It didn't originate from an exobeast like Qilanxo. It wasn't a spiritual product either.

Born in a different time and age, Prophet Ylvaine rose up in the galactic heartland to become a visionary to countless people who had lost hope during those times.

Though the prophet was long dead, Ves managed to revive a trace of his existence and amplify it into a powerful spiritual fragment.

While not as strong as the Solemn Guardian, Ves never underestimated it. Unlike the Solemn Guardian, In its role as a design spirit, Ylvaine's spiritual fragment formed a lot of intimate connections with its mech pilots.

"Every Ylvainan mech pilot is practical devoting their heart and souls to their faith!"

As a consequence, every Ylvainan mech pilot unintentionally aligned their thoughts and emotions to the mechs they piloted.

The Kronons piloting his Holy Soldiers fought harder and made better use of them than the Brighters piloting his Desolate Soldiers.

While there were many other factors that determined the performance of a mech, Ves believed that the close alignment between mechs and mech pilots allowed the combination to exert more power in battle!

"In a way, my methods and techniques are a lot more suitable in catering to a religious audience." He judged. "It's much easier to get mech pilots to adopt the right mindset for my products."

In comparison, the performance of his Desolate Soldiers were much more mixed. Skilled mech pilots still fared worse if they weren't compatible with the notion of duty.

This was why the Ministry of Defense suggested the Prideful Soldier variant. Brighters were a lot more diverse in their beliefs and attitudes.

"That's not to say that every Ylvainan is the same. It's just that they all share a strong and common belief among themselves that I can exploit for my own uses."

The Bright Republic was a highly secular state. While it developed its own identity and culture, Ves had to admit that giving every Brighter the freedom to decide their beliefs meant that his people did not share a single coherent identity.

That had always been something of a weakness to his home state. Even the Vesians were better in that regard.

However, the Vesians themselves mostly spent their time quarreling amongst themselves. The only time their nationalism became relevant was when they wanted to bully the Brighters.

In short, it was much harder to form a strong common identity in a secular state, especially if it was weak.

The Bright Republic was incomparable to greater powers such as the Friday Coalition.

The second-rate state that every Brighter looked up to possessed a much stronger identity. The Friday Coalition had to do so in order to form a united front against their rivals.

"Even so, the Fridaymen are still too diverse."

The Friday Coalition only formed as a response to the struggle of territory at the opening of the Komodo Star Sector.

A large number of refugee and colonization fleets flooded in the frontier star sector that the Big Two opened up to provide a new start to those that tired from the ravages of the Age of Conquest.

A lot of hopeful groups poured into the Komodo Star Sector despite its relative barrenness. Many people valued owning their own territories to govern as they wished.

An epic struggle for supremacy ensued. Lots of colonizing groups lost their strength or had been wiped out from existence!

The founders of the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom were just some of the losers who had been pushed to the periphery of the star sector.

After many chaotic years of struggle, the group that eventually went on to found the Hexadric Hegemony became the ultimate winner of this struggle!

The Hexers gained so much strength that no other surviving group could resist them by themselves!

The only way for the scattered and surviving forces to gain a foothold in the center of the star sector was to band together and unite their strengths!

That was how the Friday Coalition formed on a random friday.

"As a result, the Friday Coalition never formed a common identity aside from a strong hatred against the Hexers."

This made them less than ideal for his products. Ves could do so much more if he designed mechs for the Hexers. Their strong and distinctive identity made it easy for him to adapt his more daring ideas to their beliefs.

"Of course, there's also a downside to catering to a single strong identity."

The advantage of designing mechs for the Bright Republic was that his work would also be compatible with many other states.

It was different if he designed a mech that catered to the Ylvainans. Almost no other culture would accept a mech that Ves devoted to a specific religion!

The fact that Ves had to design a specific variant of the Desolate Soldier to accommodate the Ylvainans already signified the price he had to pay to appeal to a distinctive culture.

It would be the same if he designed a mech for the Hexers. Not only did he have to appeal to their strange beliefs on women, he might not even be able to get their attention!

After all, he was a man, not a woman!

"It would have been much better for me if I was still in the camp of the Fridaymen."

He glanced towards Gloriana who appeared to be engrossed in her examinations of Vincent Ricklin's properties.

Seeing her reaffirmed his love for her. He did not regret cutting ties with the Friday Coalition if it meant he could spend his time with a woman who complimented him well.

Thinking about his former ties to the Friday Coalition made him recall about his old contacts and friends from the second-rate state.

"How is Oleg doing these days?"

Ves recalled that Oleg advanced to Journeyman earlier than him, making him a true prodigy.

He decided to pause his work and browsed the galactic net.

"Ah, he already showed off his prowess?"

By now, the preliminary rounds of the Rimward Games were just taking place. This was a big event in ordinary times and if not for the wars raging in the star sector, Ves would have paid attention to this spectacle.

Millions of promising Journeymen had gathered at the center of various star clusters in order to make it through the qualification rounds. Once the mech designers made it through these grueling rounds, they were entitled to travel to the main planet where the Rimward Games would be truly held!

Due to the distances involved, this would take many years. If not for the assistance provided by the MTA and CFA, it would have taken several decades for the contestants to arrive at the main venue!

Ves looked up Master Olson next. Though she decisively kicked him out of her orbit, Ves never held any hard feelings about her decision. Both of them knew that it was for the best.

Sadly, the galactic net didn't mention much about her activities. The only solid lead he gained was that his old Master was working very closely with the Blue Cavalry, the mech military of the Vermeer Group.

"It makes sense that Master Olson has left Leemar to help the Vermeer Group." He muttered.

The Komodo War was incredibly devastating. Tens of thousands of mechs clashed against each other every day as the border systems changed hands every few weeks.

Master Mech Designers were supremely capable in designing mechs and should never be wasting their time on developing commercial mechs.

After all, in a war of this scale, the performance of military mechs decided its outcome!

Seeing that Master Olson was probably doing her best to help the Vermeer Group resist the Hexers, Ves no longer lingered on her and turned his thoughts elsewhere.

A name popped up. "I wonder how Tristan Wesseling is doing?"

The direct disciple of Master Katzenberg made a very strong impression on Ves back at Centerpoint.

What Ves found notable about Tristan was that he managed to earn the recognition of the Rim Guardians during the trials they held.

Regardless if Tristan was a Fridayman, Ves knew the man would probably have a bright future if he managed to deepen his connections with the Rim Guardians.

He impulsively decided to call Tristan despite how inappropriate it might be. He was sure that Gloriana would disapprove, but she didn't control his life!

It took some time before Tristan answered the call.

"Ves Larkinson." The other Journeyman's projection looked surprised. "I never expected you to contact me. This is not exactly the best of times. Is there something you want?"

"Ah, I just wanted to get in touch with you. It's been a while since we last talked with each other. I would have called earlier if not for all the wars that are taking place."

Tristan's face grew grave. "These are dangerous times. I've already heard how many people have died to the sandmen assaulting so many third-rate states. I'm sorry my people haven't been able to help."

"It's fine." Ves dismissively waved his hand. "You guys have your own war to fight. While none of us here are pleased that you Fridaymen and Hexers aren't willing to assist in the Sand War, you don't owe us in the first place."

"You don't have to massage your opinion of us, Ves. I feel bad for all of the deaths we could have prevented if we weren't so engaged in our own rivalry."

"Let's not go into this any further. We're both too small to affect the decisions of the higher ups."

"Good idea. How are your latest designs faring? I've heard that you've become a lot more prominent these days."

They revealed their latest works to each other. Tristan became very impressed with what Ves and Gloriana managed to achieve.

The Fridayman hadn't achieved any widespread success in the Coalition mech market. Of course, his mechs were much more sophisticated and the competition was much more intense.

Selling a couple of thousand mechs a year was already a considerable success to a Journeyman like Tristan!

"Right now, I'm still in the process of finding my own way. That's why my mechs aren't able to stand out from the market. Master Katzenberg's existing works and the works of her older apprentices are all crowding me out." Tristan explained.

This was a problem every mech designer faced when they inherited a design philosophy from another mech designer.

"What about the war? Are you involved in it at all?"

"Not yet." Tristan replied. "Master Katzenberg already arranged a cushy position for me. For now, she wanted to make sure that I still have an opportunity to take advantage of the new generation and publish a newer mech."

"You don't sound very hopeful." Ves pointed out.

"It's a bit difficult to stand out with a specialty like mine. I mostly excel in material substitution, so my mechs are merely cheaper than the competition. That's my only advantage."

That did sound a bit unfortunate to Ves. Competing on price was a race to the bottom. Competing on value was the true way to profit from the market.

Those who offered distinct advantages and unique features would always earn more fame and make more profit!

"Have you found a solution to your problem?"

Tristan nodded. "I've formed some ideas. The trial with the lithic mechs inspired me a lot. It made me realize that specializing in a certain type of materials can offer a surprising amount of value. I've been researching all kinds of material types to decide which ones I want to orient towards."

"That sounds like a very major shift in direction." Ves looked surprised. "Are you really certain you want to alter your design philosophy in such a radical fashion?"

"There is no future for me if I continue to follow Master Katzenberg's footsteps. Just because I've become a Journeyman doesn't mean my choices are fixed. I can still pick the directions that my Master has turned away from when she progressed her own design philosophy."

What Tristan wanted to do sounded very dangerous! If he made the wrong decision, he might lead himself into a dead end!