The Mech Touch

"—The Warborn is a paramilitary mech division that is fighting on behalf of the Colonial Federation of Davute." Ves retorted after he gulped down his glass of champagne. "If I order you to bring your Warborn to the Magair Middle Zone and raid a planet that is claimed by the Friday Colonies, are you permitted to do as I have asked?"

General Ark shook his head after a brief moment. "You know that I cannot do that. The Warborn may be an irregular military mech division, but that does not mean I can abuse my authority to serve private interests."

This was not a surprising answer to Ves. He huffed in response.

"Then I don't see why I have to share all of my good stuff with you." Ves replied. "I am not opposed to allowing our Davute Branch to make use of our clan-exclusive mechs. This is because I know my works will be used for the betterment of our fellow Larkinsons rather than the Davutans. That is not the case with your Warborn."

There was a strong tone of rejection in his voice. Ves needed little time to settle his mind on this issue. Ark may be his uncle, but that did not mean he could use this family connection as an excuse to break the rules!

His uncle looked pained and hurt at this response.

"Ves… please be more compassionate. I am not asking you to go out of your way and design custom-tailored mechs for our Warborn. You only need to make a single decision to give us access to your best-performing mechs. For example, our light mech regiment will make extensive use of your Ferocious Piranha model, but we both know that this product has excellent synergy with your Stingripper model. I do not know why you are willing to sell the former to the public but keep the latter to yourself."

"There are historic reasons for this particular difference." Ves responded without emotion. "It is not your place to dictate the product strategy of the Living Mech Corporation. That is completely up to me and me alone. I have already stated the reasons why I am unwilling to release our clan-exclusive mechs in your mech division's hands."

"Can't you reconsider?" Ark asked. "Many of your works are already numerous years old. They have been used in numerous battles, some of which are completely public. I believe our enemies have already figured out the details of the Larkinson mech models that have been exposed in these engagements."

"That is not an excuse. It is one thing if the Warborn is a mech force that is wholly owned by our Davute Branch. Since your unit effectively answers to the state, you should look in its direction for what you need. As far as I know, the Masters in the service of the colonial federation has designed plenty of strong military mechs for the Federal Military. There is nothing wrong with using them. They may even offer superior performance compared to my own works."

Both the regular and irregular mech divisions of the Federal Military of Davute should have access to internal channels.

At worst, they could requisition standardized military mechs that offer good performance right from the start.

At best, the mech regiments and mech divisions may be able to place mech design commissions so that they could acquire signature mech models that complimented or defined their mech doctrine!

That wasn't enough for Ark.

"I don't need to borrow too many of your clan-exclusive mech models." He said as he took a step back in this negotiation. "We can significantly increase our chances of winning our future battle as long as we can make use of your Transcendent Punisher. We would also like to utilize the Valkyrie Redeemer and the Second Sword."

Ves widened his eyes. "NO! Absolutely not! Those are the three most sensitive and strategic standard mechs of our clan. The former gives us absolute superiority in ranged firefights. The latter two serve as the basis for our battle formations. There is no way that I am giving your Warborn access to the trump cards of our main fleet. Besides, those mech models can't be piloted by just any random soldier. They are highly specific to their respective mech legions."

"Our Warborn has recruited a respectable number of Ylvainans, Penitent Sisters and Swordmaidens." General Ark regained his footing. "They have signed up to us because they want to temper themselves in frequent mech combat. They aren't abandoning you, Ves. They think they can grow faster and have a better chance at breaking through in a conventional war instead of those odd expeditions of yours. Once the war is over, they will return your fleet stronger than ever."

That was true. Ves had investigated the motivations for the mech pilots who had flocked to General Ark's banner and there were plenty of clansmen who only treated this as a high-risk training camp.

The expeditionary fleet suffered from a persistent shortage in mech capacity. Everyone knew that the Larkinson Clan employed an excess amount of mech pilots. It was not necessarily bad for the clan to send off much of its reservists to the Warborn in order to gain a lot of actual combat experience.

"I don't see how this matters." Ves stoically responded. "These pilots you are referring to may be loyal to our clan, but as long as they have chosen to join the Warborn, they have pledged to serve Davute. I don't know about you, but I am absolutely opposed to allowing your colonial state to take advantage of our Transcendent Punishers and our battle formations! It is already generous enough for me to permit our expert pilots to fight alongside your troops. Don't go too far, Ark!"

The conversation between the two quickly died down. Ark severely underestimated how possessive Ves was towards his most effective mech models. The safety and the security of the expeditionary fleet was at stake.

There was not much reason for Ark to stick around for much longer. He couldn't make any progress with Ves and he still needed to mingle with important guests.

Shortly after Ark's departure, General Verle took the high-tier expert pilot's place.

"He asked you permission to use our mech models, right?"

"Right." Ves responded. "Did you foresee this in advance?"

"I did, and I am not the only one. It is clear that General Ark wants to do his best to imitate our Larkinson Army as closely as possible. We have developed a winning formula, after all. He cannot do so unless his Warborn has access to all of our mech models."

"He thinks highly of us." Ves remarked.

"Can you blame him, sir? Our strength surpasses most if not all of the elite military mech divisions of Davute. The Warborn can earn many more war merits if it has gained the ability to utilize battle formations on command."

Ves snorted. "Karlach will prioritize their total destruction if that happens. It is not necessarily good for the Warborn to perform too well on the battlefield."

"I agree."

As General Verle moved on so that he could chat with other people, a familiar family member soon approached Ves.

"Melinda." Ves calmly greeted his cousin. "I half-expected you to wear the same red-and-blue uniform as the rest of the Warborn. You've become a strong supporter and confidante of Uncle Ark over the years."

Melinda Larkinson had aged and matured a lot since the days when Ves just started out as a mech designer.

Much of her youthful appearance and demeanor had made way for a more serious and matronly posture.

"I am not suited for war." She responded to Ves. "Ark invited me to join his Warborn not as a mech pilot, but as his aide and assistant. I struggled over this decision, but I eventually decided to reject his offer even though I am not opposed to doing my duty."

"Why did you say no, Melinda?"

Her expression turned strained. "I still don't like killing people or seeing my fellow friends and family fall in battle. I am also a mother. I cannot stand the thought of allowing my children to grow up without receiving my affection in the most crucial periods of their youth. I have decided to remain on this planet for that reason."

"That must be difficult. I don't think you have made the wrong decision." Ves sympathetically said. "What will you do instead?"

Melinda smiled again. "I have actually received an offer to serve in the Planetary Guard of Kotor City. I am not certain what rank my superiors will bestow me. I need to do a lot of catching up before I am qualified to work in law enforcement again. I am probably not good enough to pilot a law enforcement mech, but I don't mind if I receive a desk job. It is less stressful and I will be able to spend more time with my kids and the rest of our family."

That did not sound that bad.

"I think this is a good choice, but you may not be able to stay close to your children depending on how the upcoming war progresses. Planetary Guard units may not be suited to fight in the frontlines, but they are excellent at pacifying recently conquered planets. You may find yourself on the other side of the border before you know it." Ves warned.

"I have been told that is a possibility, but… everyone may need to contribute if it comes down to it." She sighed.

The implication was that if Ves provided more support to the Warborn and Davute as a whole, the war would not implicate the Larkinsons as badly as she feared!

Ves completely disregarded this implication. He had already decided how much he wanted to support the Davutans. Nothing had given him a reason to change his mind.

The two cousins spoke a little more. Their personal relationship used to be close before they became a lot more strained due to physical separation as well as differences in philosophy.

However, now that the Larkinson Clan effectively absorbed the Larkinson Family, they had become part of the same family organization once more.

"Is there truly nothing you can do for Ark and his Warborn, Ves? Your mechs can make an enormous difference. Everyone knows that. You can pass us your old mechs that you plan to phase out of your lineup. I am sure that the Warborn will gladly extend their usage."

Ves shook his head yet again. "That will not happen. I have other arrangements for the mechs that our clan plans to phase out. In no way will they ever fall into the hands of third parties, and yes, I consider the Warborn to be among them. If Ark really wants my work, then he should wait for me to complete the mech design commissions for Davute. The Federal Military will receive my latest works that are especially designed to fight in this war and likely make them available to all of its mech units."

That was not really the extent of what Ves could do, but this was his limit.

"Will you at least abide by your promise to design a new expert mech for Ark?"

"That hasn't changed." Ves assured her. "You don't need to worry that I will change my mind on this matter. Ark is still my uncle, you know. There are both personal and professional reasons why I will fulfill this request. It will just take a few months before I am ready to embark on a new expert mech design project."

Melinda looked relieved. "At least try your best with it, okay? Ark feels that he is being limited by his current expert mech for too long."

"I understand. If he can break through to ace pilot with the help of my work, then that will benefit our clan immensely. I have every reason to help with making this happen. I don't even mind if Ark continues to remain a stubborn fool and keeps serving the whims of Davute. Just the status of having an active ace pilot in our clan will help us a lot in future business transactions!"