The Mech Touch

"What a disgrace!"

Gloriana's face turned ugly as she viewed a popular local broadcast during their breakfast period. The narrator lampooned the recent participation of the Adonis Colossus in the Battle of Bentheim.

From its mech pilot's lack of battle awareness to his penchant of relying on the Lasponge system to bail himself out of a difficult situation, the eye-catching mech was catching attention for all the wrong reasons.

What was worse was that the mech pilot in question seemed oblivious to how much ridicule he attracted!

Not only did he livestream all of his battles, the media eagerly played along and used his mech and his antics as comic relief!

It was completely unlike the heroic rise that Ves and Gloriana anticipated! Even though they knew that Vincent was not exactly competent, it was out of their expectations for him to fumble so badly!

"Not every mech pilot lives up to their potential. We are merely responsible for providing a product. It���s up to the customer to decide on how to make use of them. For all we know, our customers might enjoy using our mechs as target practice." Ves stoically remarked as he took another bite of his slow-cooked beef pie.

That did not sit well with Gloriana! She abhorred inefficiency and waste, and that was exactly what Vincent Ricklin was doing!

"This idiot! If he intended to misuse our mech to this degree, I would have never taken part in its design process!"

"Miaow!"

Clixie angrily hissed at the projection. She detested anyone her owner hated!

"Calm down, Gloriana. I expected that something like this might happen, though not to this extent. The way we designed the mech certainly hasn't encouraged him to fight more seriously. The mech mainly draws out his vanity and desire to show off. He's definitely succeeding in that from all of the attention he has drawn."

She followed his advice and took some time to regain her composure.

"Why do pilots like Vincent exist?"

"Hm?"

She gestured at the projection of the Adonis Colossus. "The Hegemony would never tolerate incompetence to this degree! How could he even graduate as a mech pilot in the first place?"

"The Bright Republic needs as many mech pilots as possible. With all of the wars we've been through, manpower is a constant concern for our state. While we have plenty of premier mech academies who hold their cadets to high standards, many more are simply concerned with pumping out as many people who can at least make a mech move without tripping on its feet." Ves plainly answered.

"That sounds alien to me." Gloriana frowned. "It's different in the Hegemony. Our mech academies are very demanding. The instructors would never allow mech cadets to graduate if they are inclined to waste or misuse a mech!"

"This is because second-rate states hold their mech pilots to a stricter standard. Your state is able to invest a lot more resources into the training of its mech pilots. With the budgets of your mech academies, it's a lot easier to ensure the quality of each of their graduates. In addition, their admission standards are higher. From what I've heard, they don't even accept potentates with E or D-grade genetic aptitudes."

"That's because they're not capable of making use of all of the functions of our mechs. We don't bother with designing frontline mechs that caters specifically to unskilled or untalented mech pilots."

This reflected their different circumstances. A third-rate state generally tended to pursue quantity over quality. Two cheap mechs was almost always stronger than one expensive mech.

With the limited money and resources at their disposal, a third-rate state almost always chose to field as many mechs as it could afford. They made much more use of their manpower, not even neglecting the mech pilots who were only able to make use of simplified mechs!

In contrast, a second-rate state always took advantage of its abundant resources and capital. Not only that, but the quality of their manpower was also a lot higher due to the excellent training environment.

For this reason, second-rate states pursued the elite route, and aimed to make every mech and mech pilot count.

While this was very costly, the greatest benefit of this was that the second-rate states preserved their manpower, which was arguably their scarcest resource.

All of those low-aptitude potentates didn't sit on their thumbs, though. The Friday Coalition and Hexadric Hegemony ordinarily enrolled them into part-time training programs to allow them to gain basic proficiency in the piloting profession.

If some day war broke out and the state suffered a lot of casualties, then these reserves of low-quality mech pilots would eventually be activated.

There were a lot of D and E-grade aptitude mech pilots as well as those who did badly in training. In times of desperation, they could do a lot to reverse a defeat.

It was just that second-class mechs were too expensive to activate them casually.

One of the reasons why no one believed the Komodo War would end anytime soon was that both sides involved were still holding this option in reserve.

In any case, Gloriana had only ever interacted with highly trained and highly competent mech pilots in her life. Even among Hexers, she often designed mechs for some of the best standard mech pilots in her state!

"Designing a mech for someone who isn't as dedicated to the piloting profession has been a very novel experience for me." Gloriana sarcastically stated as if she blamed Ves for this unfortunate experience. "Sometimes, I wonder why I'm even staying in the Bright Republic."

"This is my home. It's where I grew up. My design style is steeped in Brighter tradition. Sure, not every mech pilot is up to standard, but trying to design mechs for them is an interesting challenge."

Unfortunately, Gloriana didn't see it that way. She looked at him with disgust before turning aside her head.

It wasn't until they finished breakfast and moved to the Mech Nursery that her resentment faded.

"I can't wait for you to start designing second-class mechs. Your talents are wasted on third-class mechs. The Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate don't deserve your mechs."

Ves shook his head. "I disagree. Each class of mechs have their own charm. Third-class mechs are much more cost-efficient than any second-class mech."

"No offense, Ves, but third-class mechs are too limited to develop any mech pilot's talents to their fullest. Second-class mechs are much more richer. Unlike the rigid and limited specialties adopted by the Bright Republic's mech industry, the Hegemony's mech industry is much more varied."

She spontaneously started to lecture about the main reasons why second-class mechs were so much better.

"The increased budgets allow for the use of resonating exotics or high technology in standard mech design. As you know, resonating exotics can be combined and applied in ways that result in the activation of powerful phenomena. It's similar to what you intend to do with the Deliverer, but without the corresponding materials."

"I'm already aware of that, Gloriana."

"I don't think you're fully aware of the implications of what this added option brings. Practically all of the third-class mech models on the market are extremely dull compared to second-class mechs with embedded resonating abilities."

"Oh?"

"Take a typical mech squad for example. Why do you think it's customary for eight to twelve mechs to work together? It's not an arbitrary number. At least eight mechs working together can form a self-contained unit that is significantly stronger than two groups of four mechs."

"What are you on about?"

"From what I've observed of third-class mech designers, they mainly focus on the offense, defense and mobility of their products. In the framework of mech design that you adopt, the value of your products depends on how well you combine these three priorities into a worthwhile product."

"I thought that was universal in mech design." Ves stated. "Every mech possesses a different configuration. Some mech designers want to balance the three aspects, while others prefer to focus on one in particular."

Ves always believed in introducing distinctive strengths in his mech design.

Even if he introduced corresponding weaknesses due to his design choices, it was still acceptable. It was up to the customer to employ the mech in situations where it could leverage its strengths while minimizing its weaknesses.

However, Gloriana raised four fingers in front of her face. "You're missing a fourth aspect. Utility."

"Utility?"

"It's the reason why most third-class mech designers fail to adapt to second-class mech designs. You don't understand the importance of utility in higher class mech designs. Some of the crude augmentations that are prevalent in third-class mechs actually fall under this category. Let me show you some examples."

She activated her comm and browsed a site before showing off some footage of mechs in action.

There was a mech that transformed into a stationary sensor tower. Its arrays began to sweep the surrounding areas with such power that the sensor mech quickly detected an enemy squad approaching under stealth!

Another example showcased a mech that wielded a very strange projector that reminded Ves of a fluid projector used by Planetary Guard mechs.

Instead of spraying special slime that immobilized mechs, it instead sprayed some kind of bubbly foam onto damaged mechs that put out fires and filled the gaps and tears in their armor!

Yet another clip showed off a mech that carried a large battery backpack. The reason for carrying all of this extra power became evident as its arms transformed into special arrays that instantly formed a bubble shield around the entire mech squad!

While the bubble shield did not block any physical projectiles, it was extremely effective stopping heat and energy damage!

Laser beams and positron beams stopped going through, giving the mechs sheltering in the bubble a considerable amount of breathing room!

A fourth example displayed a spaceborn mech that flew in the center of a formation of mechs. Just like other mechs, it was completely unarmed. Instead, its unusual shape began to glow as a lot of resonating exotics became active.

As soon as the mech finished charging, it instantly enveloped an entire mech company with a peculiar light!

The instant the light touch the other mechs, they began to accelerate at least three times faster, causing them to reach their destination faster!

All of these examples opened Ves' mind. While he was aware that these capabilities existed, he always considered them to be auxiliary functions.

However, if Gloriana was right, then these abilities actually consisted of one of the core functions of a second-class mech!

"Cheaper second-class mechs don't incorporate these kinds of abilities. They're the equivalent of frontline mechs in a second-rate state. Up until now, you've mainly been exposed to these lesser mechs because I wanted to introduce more advanced mechs at a later date." Gloriana explained.

"So these mechs all distinguish themselves by offering utility, is that right?"

"Partially. I'm sure you've noticed that there is a lot of overlap. The mech that projects an energy shield for example is providing utility by enhancing the defensive capabilities of its mech squad. The mech that speeds up the entire mech company is providing utility by enhancing their mobility. I think the sensor mech is a typical example of a mech that offers pure utility. It's presence doesn't directly enhance the firepower, defense or mobility of the other mechs, but information itself is extremely valuable."

"I see."

Ves began to see Gloriana's point. When second-class mechs begin to incorporate resonating exotics or advanced applications of high technology, they become capable of affecting the battle in a more sophisticated manner.

The examples that Gloriana showed off only touched the surface of how these mechs affected the battlefield!

Gloriana summed up her point.

"In third-class mechs, these functions are seen as gimmicks. In second-class mechs, they're considered utility."

"Third-class mechs can't incorporate any resonating exotics of high technology, so the utility they can provide is very limited. It's completely different for higher classes of mechs!"