The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1301

While his visit to Zin Alpha III had been an eye-opener, Ves did not enjoy his visit very much. The pathetic degree of complacency among the locals really depressed him. The Kamoners eschewed mechs as much as possible. They didn't even make use of display mechs whose only purpose was to look impressive and imposing for their owners!

He did not regret the visit, though. The Kamon Republic's complacency and dependency on a superior state for protection opened his eyes to how blind a state could be when they forget they lived in a hostile universe.

"Even the Friday Coalition has enemies. There are also the masses of alien races that are hungering to regain the territories humanity stole."

Even if humanity maintained a long period of relative peace, it had never truly ceased fighting against the aliens. Both sides simply opted to have a strategic break in order to reorganize their civilizations and rebuild their depleted forces.

To lose the edge that the human race had developed during the Age of Conquest did not seem wise to Ves.

"Centuries have passed since Kamon has last fought a serious conflict." He scoffed.

Ves had a feeling that the MTA and CFA didn't like to see this either. This was probably why they did not try very hard to stop human infighting. As long as states kept fighting against each other, they continued to remain in fighting shape.

That might not seem important now, but if the alien races ever decided to launch a counterattack, then most human states would be ready to resist!

As Ves returned to the Barracuda that currently orbited Zin Alpha III, he met a curious Gavin.

"Did you have fun on the surface?"

"Not as much." Ves shook his head. "Kamon's mech culture is on life support."

"This place is different from the Bright Republic. They never had to contend against the equivalent of the Vesia Kingdom. While they share an uncomfortable border with the Hexadric Hegemony, it's beneath the second-rate state's notice to invade the Kamon Republic."

"Well, I have seen everything there is to see. I'm dying to visit the Kinner Tribe. They're a lot more desperate. It'll be interesting to see how resilient the Kinners turn out to be compared to the Kamoners."

"Before you retire, we received a comm request from a new contact." Gavin informed him. "We aren't sure whether you wanted to talk to him, so we kept him on hold until you returned."

"Oh? Who wants to call me? Is it one of the mech designers on the list? Have any of them changed their minds?"

"No.. it's a more significant figure. A Journeyman called Tristan Wesseling wanted to speak with you directly. As far as we could gather, he's a direct disciple of Master Katzenberg of the Carnegie Group. I'm not sure whether it's wise for us to engage in conversation with him considering your current relationship with the Coalition."

Ah. Ves hadn't been able to talk to Tristan after the end of the trials at the Pit. The Rim Guardians booted him out of their clubhouse first.

Though Master Olson formally cut off his connections to the Friday Coalition, Ves did not hold any animosity against them. It would be nice to Ves to talk to a mech designer he considered to be a peer.

"It's fine. He's an acquaintance from Centerpoint. Accept the comm request and route the call to my stateroom if he's available."

"If that is what you want. I'll contact him and see if he's available."

As soon as Ves entered his stateroom and hung up his shawl while throwing Lucky in the air.

"Meow!"

As Lucky scrabbled for stability in the air, the compartment's projectors came to life. The familiar form of Tristan came into view.

"Ves."

"Tristan."

Both of them studied each other for a moment.

"You don't look like a Hexer lover. Did you seduce Miss Wodin or did she seduce you?"

"It's complicated. I used a matchmaking service and they thought it was a good idea for me to meet with her. As for what ensued, all I can say is that Gloriana is intense."

"Miss Wodin is one of the most eccentric Hexer mech designers to have emerged in recent times. She only works on custom mechs, you know."

"I'm aware. I don't mind this limitation. Sometimes one excellent mech is more valuable than a million normal mechs."

"You misunderstand." Tristan shook his head. "I didn't mean to suggest that Miss Wodin's design philosophy is a detriment. In fact, it's the opposite. Aren't you aware, Ves?"

Though Ves hadn't thought about it before, Tristan's prompting quickly reminded him of a very important aspect about custom mechs. "Designing custom mechs for regular mech pilots is just the start. The best custom mechs are those tailored for expert pilots and higher!"

At this point, Gloriana advanced fairly recently. As an inexperienced Journeyman, she lacked the qualifications to become involved in the development of expert mechs.

Yet soon a time would come where she progressed far enough to receive the acknowledgement of the Seniors or Masters in charge of the development of expert mechs!

As a contributing designer, Gloriana could bring a lot to the table as long as her design philosophy didn't clash with the other designers involved in the project.

Once she contributed to a number of successful expert mech designs, by the time she advanced to Senior, she would definitely be able to head an expert mech project as its lead designer!

And for good reason! A mech designer who foreswore designing mass-produced mechs and focused solely on custom mechs to the point of basing her design philosophy around it would definitely be able to excel in this aspect!

An ordinary mech designer with a more normal design philosophy simply couldn't compete against her in this area!

Others were already aware of her potential in this field. This must be why the MTA favored her. Even if her hopes of advancing to Master was low, her design philosophy already added a lot of value at the Senior level!