The Mech Touch

Chapter 6225  A New Class of Warriors

In the following days, the dynamic in the Tarrasque's design lab changed with the addition of Lady Romanda Devos.

The woman clearly stood out from everyone else. She was a Terran who had entered the heart of an RA heavy cruiser. The way she dressed, the way she comported herself and the way she approached her mech design projects were so much different.

She reminded Ves of Gloriana at times, and that was a good thing.

Ves and Gloriana formed an effective design team because their perspectives diverged by a lot. They argued frequently about many design choices, which was not bad because it allowed them to refine their arguments and become more attentive towards any shortcomings in their work.

Although Lady Romanda was not as… eccentric as Gloriana, the Terran mech designer brought a fresh perspective to the Swarm Project. As she studied the archives and listened to Ves lecturing about the essence of the Carmine System, she picked up details that Ves and the others had missed.

"I understand now why you invited me to take part in this mech design project." The woman softly said as she took in the enormous implications of what she had learned in the past few hours. "This Carmine System of yours is truly amazing, but the unique restriction that everyone has to abide by is an enormous constraint that can prematurely end many people's ambitions to become a mech pilot. The rate of mech breakdowns is relatively high enough that most mech pilots lose their machines twice on average over their careers. However, this is a generalized figure derived from a dataset from the Age of Mechs. In the current age, a mech pilot is twice as likely to lose her machine in combat. The only reason why this figure is not higher is because the likelihood that the pilot outright dies has grown too high after so many 'near-death' incidents."

It made sense for a mech designer with a specialization in ultra-large cockpits to possess a good understanding of the relevant statistics.

Ves agreed with the idea that a pilot could only get lucky so many times. When mechs got damaged to the point where they turned inoperable, there was less than 100 percent chance that the cockpit remained intact enough to be able to eject and flee to safety.

A pilot might be able to get away like this once or twice, but how many times in a row could they flip a coin and have it land on heads?

The native aliens understood the significance of cockpits and tried to shoot them down whenever possible. The enemy clearly understood that eliminating mech pilots who were probably experienced combat veterans would save them a lot of grief in the future!

"The fundamental issue with Carmine mechs is that a Carmine mech pilot can only ever forge a single bond." Ves stated. "Before you ask, there is no easy way around this rule. It is a promise that the Carmine mech pilot must abide by for the rest of his life. I have already thought of a potential solution that can shift the other end of the bond from a single mech to a whole related family of mechs, but that is a story for another day. For now, we must work on the assumption that a single Carmine mech pilot can only ever use a single Carmine mech. This is why your ultra-large cockpits are more important than ever. If our suspicions are correct, we can turn your 'cockpits' into the core of a Carmine mech. So long as they exist, the living mechs will also be able to persist."

The female mech designer understood what Ves had in mind. She looked incredibly intrigued. She studied the data further and paid close attention to the instances where the mechers wanted to find out the consequences to forcing a Carmine mech to eject its cockpit.

The data overwhelmingly showed that the spiritual foundation of the living mech was always tied to the mech frame that got left behind!

This attracted Lady Romanda's interest and encouraged her to dive deeper in order to figure out the 'boundary'.

Unfortunately, the mechers did not conduct exhaustive enough tests on this subject.

It was actually quite traumatic for the Carmine mech pilots to lose their one and only Carmine mechs. Although the Red Association did not necessarily object to inhumane experiments, this particular study went a step too far.

"I will need to conduct my research on this subject. I need to gain access to the design of one of these basic Carmine mechs of yours." Lady Romanda demanded. "I will proceed to design several variants at the fastest speed that will incorporate cockpits of escalating sizes. I need to understand where the limit lies and what other variables can affect this determination."

"I think it doesn't only have to do with size, but also essential components." Ves shared one of his theories. "Try and incorporate the power reactor into the cockpit structure. At the very least, we can rule out this theory if it makes no difference."

The Terran mech designer nodded. "Will do. I have made another observation about your Carmine mechs. Have you ever thought about the implications of mech designers piloting these machines?"

"Uhhh… not really."

"I can tell you that mech designers will react more enthusiastically towards your work than any other group. It has always been their dream to pilot their own mechs. It is no secret in our industry that many of us have only chosen to become mech designers because we were unwilling to accept our inability to pilot mechs. Unless their parents or family has decided your career trajectory in advance, many mech designers are people who are so unwilling to accept their cruel reality that they chose to engage in mechs from another angle. In other words, their love and attachment to mechs are so strong that they are unwilling to turn away. What do you think will happen once they receive an opportunity to pilot their own mech?"

"They… they will all grow wild with jubilation. Then they will try to order their own Carmine mechs as soon as possible. These mech enthusiasts will not wait until you have released a superior model. They are mech designers. They can design their mechs according to their own preferences much better than others!"

"Exactly. You will predominantly see low-ranking mech designers take advantage of your Carmine mechs. Seniors and Masters are already old and experienced enough to be able to control their impulses. If they choose to pilot a Carmine mech, they will only do so to improve their own craft. This is not necessarily the case for the younger generation who still have not been able to shake their childhood fascination for mech piloting. They will not only use your Carmine mechs with great enthusiasm, but they will also take advantage of their own expertise to customize and personalize their machines before baptizing them in actual combat.."

Ves could easily envision this happening. Hell, even he felt tempted to give this a try. The biggest reason why he pushed back against this action was because he did not want a budget model as cheap as the subordinate mech of the Swarm Project to become his permanently bonded partner.

"So a lot of mech designers will begin to have their dreams come true and gain the ability to pilot their own mechs. They will even start to use my work as a base to apply their own design philosophy and creativity. What next?"

"You may start to see them in battle." Lady Romanda stated. "Not every mech designer is content to stay in the rear. I believe that in the months after the release of the Swarm Project, a new sort of warrior will arise that is neither a professional mech pilot nor a pure mech designer. The warrior will instead combine traits from both professions. You will see the rise of pilot designers who are inherently more self-centered than others. They are purely focused on their own experiences."

Pilot designers. That was a strange and awkward term. There had to be a better phrase to call this emerging group.

"Are you treating this as a bad development, Romanda?"

"Not necessarily, but the possibility exists. A large number of low-ranking mech designers are not faring well at this time. Employment opportunities where they can take part in the actual design process are becoming increasingly more scarce. The mech market is pushing them out, making it much more difficult for them to succeed as independents. While there is an increased demand for mech designers in many different technical functions, if they have a chance to fight with actual mechs, then they will not be able to restrain their childish impulses. If this behavioral shift takes place across human space, then it will distort the availability of low-ranking mech designers."

Now that she mentioned it, Ves understood how this could be a serious issue. Low-ranking mech designers were useful in many different places. They might not be able to design mechs as good as Ves, but they could be put to work on designing variants, supervising mech production, leading repair efforts and so much more.

Low-ranking mech designers with limited wealth, connections, talent and competences were better off turning away from designing mechs and do honest work in a lesser but still important capacity.

If all of those young but disillusioned mech designers suddenly gained a much more exciting alternative to pilot their own machines, then they would overwhelmingly take it unless they were cowards!

This was good to all of those overgrown kids that always complained that their inadequate genetic aptitude denied them from their true destinies!

However, the mech industry might not remain happy about this revolutionary invention as it would continue to encourage people to to leave the mech industry in ever-increasing numbers.

Sure, a lot of mech designers would continue on to ply their old trades, but many more might become so tempted by the glory of combat that they would only ever apply their design skills to their own Carmine mechs!

Ves wanted to palm his face. It was the fault of the mechers and many others for glamorizing the life of a mech pilot.

In the past four centuries, human society had unceasingly elevated the status of mech pilots to an unofficial class of noble soldiers. They were the modern heroes of humanity. Individual skill and heroism trumped everything else, including the destructive warships that had made a mess out of human space during the Age of Conquest!

This excessive hero worship of mech pilots worked fine in a time when only 3.5 percent of the human population possessed the qualifications to pilot mechs, but what if the remaining 96.5 percent gained a chance as well?

The entire structure of human society might collapse and transform into an unrecognizable form!

"I see you understand one of the grave repercussions of your work." Lady Romanda said with a smile. "Your Carmine System is a boon to humans. I have no doubt about that. It can also lead to widespread disruption in our society. The mechers must have foreseen this long ago, hence why they insist on so much secrecy. They require time to complete their preparations so that they mitigate the adverse changes and preserve the current order of our society as much as possible."

She was probably right about that. Ves was not informed about these kinds of developments, but the Red Association should never be stupid enough to let themselves be overtaken by this problem.

Ves crossed his arms. "Whatever the Red Association is cooking up will not prevent the fundamental human desire to pilot a mech. Low-ranking mech designers who are not faring so well in their current careers will find this alternative to be especially attractive."

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On whether Carmine mech pilots can break through and step onto the path of godhood." Lady Romanda explained.