The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1053

Complexity in a mech design came with many implications. Often, both mech designers and the market believed that more complex mechs possessed a higher potential to perform better than ’simpler’ mechs.

This was generally the case. However, this rule was a lot more muddier in practice because of the difficulty of maximizing the potential of a mech.

Many mech pilots, particularly those with below-average genetic aptitudes, often struggle to make full use of standard mechs. Some even never improved beyond the basics when piloting a frontline mech which heavily automated many features such as its targeting system and its locomotion system.

If basic knight or rifleman mechs were already too complex for ordinary mech pilots to fathom, what about advanced mechs?

Each feature or gimmick added to the functionality of a mech design increased the number of variables that mech pilots needed to take into account. They already needed to pay attention to hundreds of variables, such as their energy reserves, their armor condition, their damage states, the local air pressure, the environmental temperature, the heat levels of different mech components and much, much more.

Adding additional features on top might very well overwhelm these mech pilots and cause them to either mentally shut down or force them to pick up the bad habit of outright ignoring some variables.

All was not lost, however. While most mechs came with a substantial learning curve, mech pilots who persisted in training with the complicated mechs would increasingly become more proficient in drawing out their strengths.

It just took a lot of time and effort. The more complex the mech, the higher the learning curve.

One thing was for sure. The design Ves had in mind came with a rather steep learning curve despite being based off one of the most simplistic mech types. Knight mechs and their spaceborn cousins were known as one of the most easiest mechs to pilot.

That wasn’t the case this time. The super-medium space knight envisioned by Ves brought a lot of new options to the table.

"Will it be a hit in the market?"

Without performing extensive market research, he truly didn’t know. Yet his experience so far told him that it occupied a strong if narrow niche in the mech market. Considering how necessary space knights played a role in many spaceborn mech forces, the actual market demand might surprise him. His design offered very compelling possibilities to discerning mech buyers not afraid to deviate from standard mech doctrines.

As Ves contemplated on the increasing complexity of his mech concept while he finalized it, time continued to pass until the negotiators finally settled all of the terms of the peace treaty.

Everyone had been invited to attend the closing ceremony of the peace talks. Secretary Lowe forced him to be garbed in a full dress uniform, which was the fanciest and most formal version of his military uniforms. All of his medals were on full display and shone or glowed in eye-catching ways.

The secretary smiled at him. "Recordings will be made of the closing ceremony. All the news portals will run them when the peace treaty is finally being made public. Remember that this is an event for the history books. Maintain your composure and act like you belong. Your impressive array of medals will look good in the historical archives.

"So I’m basically there as a medal stand in order to make the footage more impressive." Ves smiled ruefully.

"Don’t say as if you don’t benefit. As a young man in a sea of old people, you’ll attract a lot of attention. Just the fact that you are a part of Senator Tovar’s delegation is enough to enhance your reputation."

"Am I entitled to more medals? I recently earned a lot of merit. That should count for something, right?"

Secretary Lowe shook his head. "Unfortunately, Senator Tovar has exhausted his connections to the higher ups of the Mech Corps. It will be difficult for him to arrange additional awards to you when you already earned several major distinctions very recently. Some generals and officials might accuse him of padding your accomplishments for political aims rather than genuine merit."

"My merit should not be in question!"

"I’m not arguing with you, but the generals won’t see it that way. From what I have gathered, Senator Tovar will make sure the Mech Corps will grant you some form of recognition after we return to the Bright Republic. It is very difficult for him to make his case while we are many lightyears away from New Foundation V."

While Secretary Lowe made it sound like Senator Tovar fought hard for the awards that Ves deserved, the truth was probably less glamorous than it sounded.

Ves figured that Senator Tovar was too busy trying to shape the peace treaty and arranging the political turmoil that resulted from the botched attacks on his person and the peace talks to divert any attention to anything else.

He tried hard not to feel bad about the stalled opportunity to pad his row of medals. Ves did not consider himself a gloryhound who chased after awards and recognition from the military like his uncles and aunts once described.

While he felt honored that he received all of those awards, many regular servicemen performed their utmost and never received anything more than a pat on their back each day.

A decoration conferred honor and recognition, but when it came down to it, a medal was merely a piece of metal tied to a ribbon. The social value ascribed to these pieces of metal tied to ribbons was considerate, but was it essential to Ves?

Not really.

Therefore, Ves dropped the topic and allowed Secretary Lowe to adjust the fitting of his full dress uniform. When he looked at his appearance in the mirror projection, he did admit he looked rather dashing. If not for his green-tinged mech designer uniform, he might be mistaken for a mech pilot instead!

"Alright Mr. Larkinson, you are ready for the show. Go out and make the Republic proud by appearing as your best!"

Once everyone dressed to the nines, they filed into the conference chamber, which the Reinaldans rapidly repaired and reinforced after the previous attack, and stood to the sides while Senator Tovar and Prince Colchester stepped forward in unison.