The Mech Touch

Women reigned supreme in the Hexadric Hegemony. Founded by an extremist group exiled from the more prosperous parts of the galaxy, the Hegemony stood strong as a testament to the indomitable will of its citizens!

Each woman in the state lifted their heads with pride, believing themselves to be the superior gender and the most supreme form of life!

Unlike the rest of the galaxy, the Hexers believed that their state was the only one that was governed properly! With only the wisest matriarchs at the helm, the Hegemony was infinitely greater than the states where 'equality' reigned.

True equality didn't exist! Males and females were undeniably different, and of the two, the latter were clearly better suited to rule the galaxy!

What happened when boys gained power without restraint?

They abused their might like children shooting a gun for fun! Boys were too young, stupid and inexperienced to know what was best!

In the long history of the human race, males always played an indispensable role.

Though human civilization had reached a new apex in the Age of Mechs, the Hexers believed that their race would have swept the entire galaxy were it not for all of the idiotic decisions made by boys!

If humanity were to ascend and reach its true potential, then something must change!

The Hexers had been raised and taught to believe that only women were suited to guide their race to its maximum potential!

"It's a wonder how humanity hasn't gone extinct yet with all of the blunders made by the boys in charge. No more! We must stand up and stop these irresponsible children from leading us to ruin!"

The Hexers dreamt of ruling the galaxy. Their ambitions ran deep as they each believed that women were destined to take over the galaxy!

"We shall thrust our boots against the necks of the MTA and CFA and force them to step aside!"

"We will smash the alien empires and turn all of their territories over to our race!"

"We must bring the boys to heel and put them in their proper place!"

Such slogans invigorated the Hexers and drove them to aspire for more!

The Komodo Star Sector was one of the most trivial star sectors in the Milky Way Galaxy. The density of stars close to the edge of the galaxy was very low, and many of these stars possessed so little energy and matter that humans disdained occupying them. This was not the stage where Hexers should embark on their ambitious takeover of human civilization!

Defeating the Friday Coalition and taking full control of the star sector was a necessary test!

If the Hexers couldn't even defeat the weak and divided Fridaymen, then what capital did they possess to conquer the rest of the galaxy?

If Ves heard what many Hexers dreamt of, he would have labeled them all as hopping mad!

How could these women ever think of taking over human civilization? The countless states in their way would never agree to adopt their warped ideology!

The first-rate superstates could squash the Hegemony a million times over without putting any strain on their war-making potential!

The Big Two were so mighty that their leaders wouldn't even be aware of the existence of Hegemony from beginning to end!

Clearly that didn't bother the Hexers. They were so confident and assured of their eventual victory that they did not hesitate to bring forth the war that had the potential to shatter their entire state!

"We must not falter, sisters! We are Hexers! We are superior!"

"The Fridaymen are weak, divided and cruel. Through espousing false notions such as gender equality and respect for diversity, their boys keep their women shackled! Do not be fooled by their utopian facade! Once we break into the Coalition, we must liberate their women and teach our freed sisters their true birthright!"

The Komodo War began with Operation K as a declaration of Hexer resolve! The female supremacists did not hesitate to start the conflict with a strong punch in order to unbalance the Fridaymen and widen the cracks between their partners!

Unfortunately, reality did not proceed as they envisioned. The Friday Coalition showed some surprising resolve and banded together more rapidly than the Hexers initially predicted.

By all accounts, the Komodo War that was ramping up was about to turn into a giant slugfest!

In this backdrop, the Penitent Sisters came into being. Rounded up by the Temple of Hexism and other authorities, the militants among the cultists who believed that boys were irredeemably damned were sentenced to a crime that they considered to be worse than death!

The cruel followers of hexism damned the deviants into participating in the war while fielding mechs designed by a boy!

It was said that when the cultists received this verdict, the distressed women all kneeled and cried out in anguish!

It was said that when the Penitent Sisters came into being, each of their members slit their palms and let the blood drop onto the deck of their flagship, a century-old relic mothballed by the Hex Army, and swore to wash the shame of piloting a mech made by boys by seeking death on the battlefield!

None of the Penitent Sisters wanted to survive the war! All they wished for was to kill as many Fridaymen as possible until they died!

When Calabast described the character of the Penitent Sisters to her partner, Ves frowned in confusion.

"This doesn't sound like a mercenary corps at all. It's a religious death corps!"

"That's an apt way to describe them." The former spy nodded. "The combatants of the Penitent Sisters all consist of radical followers of hexism. Think Gloriana, but much more fierce and trained for combat."

"And they're all willing to accept this 'punishment'?" Ves asked skeptically.

"It's a matter of honor and belief, Ves. Their names, their legacy and their pride are at stake! It might surprise you, but there are some things worth dying for! I thought you of all would understand since you are a Larkinson."

Ves twitched his mouth. "There's a difference between fighting for a cause and dying for a cause. I would rather stay alive, thank you very much. Can you get back to the topic? How many mechs do I need to design? Must they be landbound, spaceborn or both? How many copies of my designs will the Penitent Sisters field? How will my designs be able to pass the panel of matriarchs who are allergic to mechs designed by males?"

"You only need to design one second-class spaceborn mech with Gloriana. It must be fairly versatile, capable of attacking up close and from afar, and be useful in multiple different combat scenarios."

"That.."

"Second-class mechs and second-class mech pilots are different from the inferior mechs and mech pilots you are used to. Don't mistake the mech pilots of the Penitent Sisters as the dregs of the Hegemony. Each of them are highly trained and possess at least basic competences in both melee combat and ranged combat!"

That made things a lot easier for Ves. It sounded as if the mech pilots of the Penitent Sisters were close to meeting the elite standard in their state.

Still, her requirements sounded a bit thorny, and suspicious as well.

"Why must I design a single mech? An outfit must field at least several different mech models to form a balanced makeup."

Calabast shook her head. "The Penitent Sisters is a punishment outfit. Its purpose is to grant their members a shot of redemption. That doesn't mean that absolution should come easily. From what I can gather, the Penitent Sisters will be thrown in a variety of high-intensity battles and be made to perform dangerous and vital tasks."

"Those are some very steep demands! What is my budget?"

"The mechs can't be too expensive, so you can assume your mech must cost around the same as a midrange mech."

He winced.

If they were talking about third-class mechs, then Ves would have rejected this commission without hearing Calabast out.

The demands issued by the client were too much!

Not only did the client expect the mech to be able to fight at various ranges, but also wanted the mech to be versatile enough to fight in many different settings. In addition, since the Penitent Sisters were expected to be employed in many desperate situations, the mech had to be robust as well!

Ves might have found this commission to be tolerable if he was given a generous budget, but he seriously doubted if he could check all of the boxes if he could only design a midrange mech!

"You're misunderstanding something, Ves." Calabast smirked and tapped her cheek with her finger. "The Hegemony doesn't expect you to design a good mech. Both the Temple of Hexism and the Penitent Sisters expect little from a male mech designer! In their eyes, it's impossible for a boy like you to understand the essence of proper Hexer mech design!"

In other words, the client didn't even want him to succeed!

Ves became indignant. How could his professionalism be tarnished by such low expectations? He couldn't stand the thought of Hexers ridiculing his mech design and disparaging it as a failed product!

It should never be a punishment to pilot his mechs!

Each and every mech pilot fortunate enough to experience his mechs all submitted positive feedback. His mechs were a joy to pilot and trustworthy enough to depend on their performance.

Throughout his entire career, Ves never encountered a situation where the majority of his customers became dissatisfied with his products!

He clenched his fists. This entire commission insulted him and he hadn't even heard the final details!

"What is the point of designing such a mech? What do I get out of it, exactly?"

"Ah, you will gain some favor from the Wodin Dynasty, who will take some credit for the success of this commission. This will help offset some of the debts and favors that Gloriana accrued to assist you." Calabast smiled. "You don't want her to owe too much to the Wodins, do you?"

Ves sighed. Calabast knew him too well. "I see. So I won't be able to gain market access to the Hegemony?"

"I advise you to dispense with such fantasies. Even if you designed the best mech in the star sector, the Hegemony will still reject your work because you are a boy! Not every Hexer deserves to be punished as harshly as the Penitent Sisters."

"Since you Hexers are so repelled towards mechs designed by males, then how will my mech even be approved?"

"A lot of lawyers in the employ of the Temple of Hexism poured over this problem. They finally found a way to pass your work. First, the commission must be designed as a classified design project. Second, the initial lead designer must be a female Hexer in good standing. Third, the project must have an opening for a contributing mech designer that is potentially open to foreigners under strict conditions. This last point is a bit difficult to work with, as Hexer mech designers generally don't collaborate with foreigners on classified design projects."

"How will the Hexers overcome this rule?"

"We'll be taking advantage of an obscure substitution rule. The lead designer will initially appoint Gloriana as a contributing designer of the project. The agreement she must sign will include a rare benefit as one of its clauses. It grants her the privilege to bring on any partner, student or apprentice to the project as an assistant designer. That will be you, if you can't tell."

Ves frowned. "Will it be a problem to bring me aboard when I'm a man?"

"It's not a big deal if you are just supposed to work as an inconsequential assistant designer. Plenty of female mech designers employ male mech designers to perform all of the grunt work."

"What about my status as a foreigner?"

Calabast grinned. "This is one of the brilliant parts about this plan. The privilege that Gloriana will receive just happens to be devoid of any mention about the origin of the assistant mech designer! This is a tiny oversight due to the addition of new rules over the years. It's never been a problem because no lead designer will carelly allow foreigners to take part in a classified design project."

"And it's okay this time?"

She nodded. "Once you come onboard as an assistant, the lead designer will find some way to be elsewhere and indisposed. If she is absent for too long, Gloriana will automatically be promoted to lead designer. Since her old position is empty, the project urgently needs a new contributing mech designer. This will certainly be you as long as you are the only assisting mech designer on hand!"

"And that's allowed as well?!"

"What can I say? The Hexers who wrote and amended the rules never took such an abnormality into account. They simply assumed that any meaningful mech designer involved in a project will only consist of female Hexers."

"So how will I get all the way up to lead designer, then?"

"That's another interesting part…"