The Mech Touch novel Chapter 514

A woman in her late thirties and a significantly older man wearing the coveralls of a chief technician arrived next to Ves, who still stared at the Parallax Star in fascinated horror.

The woman who wore the standard green uniform of a mech designer smiled and stepped forward. "Head Designer Larkinson, welcome aboard the Gorgon’s Gaze, home to Venerable O’Callahan and his Parallax Star. My name is Lisbeth Eta-Denmersken, and I’m the leader of the design team. This old man here is Chief Leo Keys."

Ves snapped out of his attempt to make sense of the mechanical butchery at the end of the hangar bay. "Chief Keys. Miss Eta-Denmersken. I’m.. glad to meet you."

"You can call us by our first names."

"Alright then. I’ve seen enough. Lead me to a compartment where we can discuss things in private."

As the pair guided Ves towards an unoccupied compartment meant for briefings, he considered how to approach their discussion. He already held some misgivings about the Parallax Star’s budget, and what he had just laid eyes on only furthered the sense of wrongness about the entire arrangement.

Once they seated themselves in the briefing room, Ves decided to ask the questions that needed to be asked. One way or another, Ves needed to determine if O’Callahan was squandering the precious resources given to him by the Vandals.

"Let me begin by saying as the new head designer, I expect you two to help me tide us all over until we complete our mission and return to Republic space. We’re deep into enemy space and cut off from easy access to supplies. We need to get used to leaner times for the next couple of months."

Lisbeth kept smiling at Ves as if she understood his pains. "We are understanding of the difficulties facing the fleet. However, Venerable O’Callahan will pull us through no matter how many Vesians stand in our way. You have nothing to worry about under his care."

This was not the direction that Ves was going for. "Miss Lisbeth, it is admirable for you to place so much faith in our resident expert pilot, but he is but one man among many. The main combatants will always be the regular mech pilots in our midst. The Venerable needs to save his strength and deploy only when necessary."

"That is exactly our thoughts." Lisbeth nodded, all the while she maintained that strange and incessant smile. "The Parallax Star is always ready to deploy. While it takes some time to rouse our Venerable into readiness, you can be assured that the mech under our care will always be in tip-top shape."

Ves awkwardly coughed. "I believe we should speak about the state of the Parallax Star, but first I’d like to address its budget."

"Oh?" Lisbeth smiled wider. "Have my requests for additional funding finally been accepted?"

"Sadly not. In fact, I am thinking about dialing your generous resource allowances."

Both Lisbeth and Chief Leo blinked at that. It was as if they never thought to hear something like that. The female mech designer’s eyes appeared completely befuddled, though she maintained her smile.

"Mr. Larkinson, that’s impossible!" Chief Leo uttered.

"Head Designer, you are new in your position." Lisbeth said in a gentle tone. "You might not have been briefed with the full scope of our activities yet, so let me explain to you what we do here."

She stood up and beckoned Chief Leo and Ves to follow her. They walked out of the briefing room and headed over to the Parallax Star. Once they reached the bottom of its feet, she put her hand over its surface.

"Look at this mech." She began. "Feel its heartbeat. Can you not tell how much care we put in its construction and maintenance? We polish it every day by hand to the point where it has become one of our rituals. The Parallax Star is designed by Professor Velten herself, and we are the executors of her will. This mech showcases the full potential of a Senior Mech Designer at work."

"That’s not all we put our work in." Chief Leo interjected. He walked away from the Parallax Star and headed over a partitioned section in the hangar bay. Come and see what we’ve prepared.

When Ves looked inside the partition, he became shocked at what he saw. "Are these.. spare parts?"

"Indeed!" Lisbeth clapped. "So far, we’ve prepared six lances, four short spears, three pairs of legs, seven pairs of arms, five flight systems and three heads. These only concern the outer parts. We have another space that’s devoted to storing internal parts such as engines or power reactors. All of these parts are of a different configuration, but all of them are compatible with the Parallax Star."

"It’s a semi-modular system that Venerable O’Callahan insisted that we implement." Chief Leo explained. "He wants to have the right tools available at the right time. For example, if O’Callahan needs to fight against an expert ranged mech, he’ll order us to configure the Parallax Star with parts that emphasize speed. If he needs to duel against a space knight, then the Parallax Star needs to focus less on speed and more on power and armor."

"How fast can you transition in a different configuration?" Ves asked.

"A simple switch will only take an hour or two at most. A more complex exchange of parts will take up to two days. We’re very proficient in this switch because we’ve trained on it endlessly."

"That’s too slow."

"Pardon?"