The Mech Touch novel Chapter 917

Upon passing his promotion test to Senior Apprentice Mech Designer, the Starlight offered Ves a complimentary gift from her inventory of high-tech gadgets and gear. Each of the choices surpassed the performance of any standard-issue CFA gear and was somewhat precious even to the wealthy organization.

Therefore, Ves faced a difficult choice back then, as he could upgrade almost every capability, but only for a single time until he passed another promotion test.

At first, he decided whether he should pursue short-term necessity or long-term utility. While he often leaned towards the latter, he couldn’t afford to think that far ahead with many acute threats on the horizon.

What Ves needed the most was a way to survive a crisis situation!

After setting his priorities, he began to think about what he could use to insure his survival. The Squalon couldn’t accommodate any stealth systems, so he scratched that possibility out. The ECM systems of his combat armor already sufficiently shielded him against most mech sensors as long as they didn’t come too close.

"The best way to survive a perilous situation is to neutralize the threat, be disregarded by the threat or be out of reach from the threat."

The first option entailed trying to kill the threat if possible, but Ves didn’t excel in this area. He already possessed the Amastendira as his trump card so he could hardly obtain anything better from the CFA.

He already ruled out the second option as he’d have to replace the Squalon with an infiltrator suit if he wanted to have any hopes of evading every possible means of detecting his presence.

Therefore, after considering every option, Ves finally decided upon the last option. It truly fit his needs if he could obtain a strong means of evading a threat!

The Virtual Chief Armorer smiled appreciatively at the high-tech piece of gear that Ves didn’t hesitate to redeem. The flat, palm-sized grey object didn’t look anything special, but a lot of high technology hid underneath its plain exterior.

[I don’t know what you’re thinking, Mr. Longhorn, but it’s not every day I get to have my virtual hands on a CFA Single-Use Emergency Personal Teleporter! Personal teleporters are extremely valuable life-saving talismans that are mainly reserved for our admirals and high dignitaries. Unlike the proper PTs, your EPT is a more affordable knock-off version, and can only sustain a single teleportation attempt.]

"What’s the specifications of this EPT?"

[Its teleportation range is merely a thousand kilometers, which is useless in space.] Levitt shook his head in regret. [A proper PT can teleport an admiral up to a hundred-thousand kilometers away, enough to allow them to jump towards another warship. Even so, your EPT retains the same ability to withstand moderate spacetime instability, so it will be difficult for most opponents to interdict your teleportation.]

"Can I choose where to teleport?"

[The EPT offers the option to preselect a large amount of preprogrammed coordinates to jump to whenever you activate it. If there aren’t any suitable coordinates within range, it will teleport you somewhere at random within five-hundred to a thousand-kilometers away from your starting destination. Mind you, while its programming is sophisticated enough to avoid teleporting you high up in the air or deep into the ground, it’s best not to rely on it if possible.]

Ves nodded. "I’ll be sure to take that into account. Did you already modify my Squalon to fit the EPT?"

[I managed to free up enough space in the lower back of the Squalon to fit the EPT. As long as you don’t incur any damage from the rear, you’ll always be able to teleport away. Mind you, the teleportation process takes about three seconds, upon which you’ll be exceptionally vulnerable to interruption and damage. Make sure you’re alone or well behind cover before you teleport.]

The proper PTs reserved for admirals shortened the teleporter window down to a single second, allowing them to get out even under hectic situations. Certainly enough, the admirals at the top of the hierarchy prized their lives very highly. They were probably impossible to kill!

In the next half hour, Ves stripped out his fancy-looking but fragile CFA uniform, retaining only his thin underlayer CFA vacsuit. With Levitt’s help, Ves learned how to activate the Squalon and key it to his identity before suiting up. As he experimentally moved his limbs, he found his movements to be rather awkward and difficult.

[The Squalon isn’t a simple suit of combat armor. There’s a bit of a learning curve when it comes to mastering all of its capabilities and functions. I’ve already uploaded the relevant manuals to your CFA comm.]

His newly-upgraded CFA comm integrated nicely with the Squalon, allowing it to maintain connectivity of his suit even when separated from it. The CFA comm could also take advantage of the Squalon’s powerful transceiver to boost its signal strength and range.

Overall, the only other downside that Ves noted was that the Squalon didn’t offer any room to holster his CFA laser pistol. Ves had to resort to mounting it on a holster attached to his armored toolbelt.

As Ves studied his appearance on a mirror projection, the Squalon truly granted Ves the sense that he was a bona fide CFA officer. The Squalon’s contours was significantly slimmer than than his old Earth Ant. It looked more like a full hardsuit version of a hazard suit in some ways.

Coated in the traditional black and dark blue CFA colors, the Squalon blended in well against the backdrop of interstellar space, affording it an additional form of protection against optical sensors.

Only the blocky hump on his back marred the sleek contours of the Squalon. The minifab system weighed quite a decent amount, enough to shift his center of balance to the rear.

Considering that the minifab system basically provided the capabilities of a 3D printer on the move, Ves easily accepted these inconveniences.

"Alright, I guess that’s it. Thank you for preparing my gear for me. I’ll be off now."

[Wait a minute!] Levitt’s physical projection immediately disappeared from his place and reappeared in front of Ves. [You still owe me some merits. Pay up before you go!]

"Oh, that." Ves laughed awkwardly. He activated his comm and transferred the merits. "Here you go."

Even though Ves was forced to pay some additional merits, he didn’t begrudge the extra bill. The virtual chief armorer and his team truly met all of his demands and more.

An important point that Ves initially agreed on was that his gear shouldn’t come with any backdoors. With Levitt’s inability to lie, Ves made sure that his gear truly didn’t come with any backdoors that the virtual chief armorer knew of. This didn’t rule out the possibility of deeply-hidden vulnerabilities that only a small number of CFA officers could take advantage of, but at least his gear wouldn’t be riddled with holes.