The Mech Touch novel Chapter 277

Over the next two weeks, Ves quickly finished off the remainder of the orders. Twenty-four gold label Blackbeaks had been forged from his hands. The only one that remained unsold was the first production model which still awaited repairs.

He didn’t even know whether he should restore it to its original condition. It might hold more value in its damaged state as a piece of mech history.

With each delivery they made, the money started rolling in. The LMC finally reached a state where they possessed a steady amount of liquidity, though much of the funds would soon be drained after they received approval to construct a new manufacturing complex.

"How much did the mech technicians progress in their studies?"

"They achieved a fair bit while you worked. Everyone has seen you do the same thing over and over." Chief Cyril reported as he supervised the preparation to shift over the production lines to fabricating the silver label Blackbeaks.

As for the Mark II? The LMC already retired the model from the catalog. Its cheap price and outdated components didn’t fit in the company anymore.

"What’s their success rate?"

"The average results hover around ninety-three percent in the simulations. Most of them stumble when they have to fabricate those finicky armor pieces. The margin of error is too slim, but it helps that you don’t hide your methods. Lots of mech designers can be rather secretive. With the ample amount of recordings we’ve made, I don’t think they’ll have any excuses if they botch those parts."

The real secret that distinguished his gold label mechs from the cheaper labels was the X-Factor. The interaction between Ves and any of his mechs and designed occurred entirely within the mental planes. Unless someone stuck him in a neural interface, no one would be able to figure out what went on in his mind when he worked on a mech.

The gold label Blackbeaks in the hands of his customers already led to rave reviews. Even if few if any of his mechs had been tested in an actual battle, the piloting experience was almost unsurpassed. Both the X-Factor and the insights he applied from his Mastery led to a small but decisive advantage.

"Last I heard, your design is even up for nomination for some awards at the end of the standard year. The only problem is that most copies in the wild consists of bronze label Blackbeaks."

Ves pressed his lips. "I truly hope they don’t take the bronze label version as the standard. Has the EME shored up its quality by now?"

"Carlos tells me that some of his lessons have penetrated through Mr. Neverland’s thick skull. The quality of EME’s latest output has reached the bare minimum, more or less."

"More or less?"

"It’s good enough for the buyers, but you’ll probably claw your eyes out if you take a deep look at the mechs."

"Then you’d better not let me see one in the flesh."

His obsession over quality and craftsmanship had grown more severe over time. It had been a conscious decision of Ves to fan the flames in this area because it had a measurable impact on his work.

He started to understand why design philosophy held the key to advancing to a higher grade of mech designer.

Ves hung around the workshop and kept an eye on the mech technicians, who started putting their learning into practice. Even if they did the simulations a hundred times, working with the real thing always went wrong one way or another.

The absence of Carlos had a significant effect on the productivity of his workers. Ves frequently mentored him, and he also continued to study on his free time. All of that added knowledge turned him into a qualified, if junior fabricator.

Perhaps Cyril could do a better job, but he had to supervise the entire workshop floor, so he couldn’t do the work himself. The general lack of experience exhibited by the mech technicians disheartened Ves somewhat. It would take years to get them to the level of a trained technician of a major power.

His comm suddenly chirped. Ves bent down and saw it came from Dietrich of all people. Ves quickly left the workshop and entered his office before accepting the call.

Dietrich looked awfully tired from the projection that appeared over his comm. "Ves, I’ve got bad news for you."

"Is something wrong with Raella?"

"You could say that." The Little Boss said, and began to explain what happened at the arena yesterday.

Ordinarily, Ves would get angry if he heard that Raella ran off to engage in a series of highly dangerous underground duels. Yet what Dietrich said about the Glowing Planet turned all of that into something trivial.

"This Glowing Planet... you’re saying it’s valuable to the point where the Coalition and the Hegemony will come to duke it out?"

"Not immediately. It takes a lot of time to gather their forces and prepare them for a lengthy occupation. I reckon that the route where the Glowing Planet is zipping past will turn into a no man’s land when they arrive."

That sounded very serious. A long occupation by the Friday Coalition or the Hexadric Hegemony or both meant that the war between the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom could become collateral damage.

Complicating the matter was that both the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom maintained some ties with the Coalition. That might be enough of an excuse for the Hexadric Kingdom to steamroll over both third-rate states if they believed the Coalition benefited from their continued existence.

"This is turning into a storm of epic proportions." Ves remarked while he rubbed his head. His brain threatened to overheat from all of the predictions he made. "Okay, have you tried to get Raella to change her mind?"

"That’s the problem. She can’t back off. She personally went up to a big shot and demanded to take part in the Blood Claw’s expedition. In our line of work, once you do something like that, you always have to keep your word."

Ves closed his eyes. He didn’t grow angry. He was already past that point. A sense of fatalistic helplessness emanated from his body as he thought about the huge numbers of mechs the Glowing Planet would host.

Each and every one of them would very likely fight to the death for riches and honor. Ves understood what it was like to fight over a portion of an untamed planet’s vast mineral wealth. He already went through a harrowing ordeal at Groening IV.

"What will the Whalers do?"

"My father’s been called up as well. Monty wants to bolster his numbers and our gang recently came into possession of a lot of carriers."

"That sounds dangerous."