The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

Though the story told by Commander Ikeon Powell did not sound like a big deal to those who already ruled at the top, it was incredibly inspiring to the people at the grassroots!

Many mech pilots entered the Red Ocean in the hopes of fulfilling their dreams.

Glory, power, wealth, territory. Many dreamers passed through the greater beyonder gate, believing that the dwarf galaxy with the red nebulas offered a chance for them to fulfill their dreams.

While the opportunities of the Red Ocean had indeed enabled a small proportion of pioneers to prosper, the vast majority of humans failed to improve their station in life.

If they were lucky enough, their status and wealth remained relatively stagnant. An ordinary soldier in the old galaxy was still an ordinary soldier in the new frontier.

What few people understood was that the success of the few were built on the corpses of the many. Too many people had decided to chase their dreams, only to die in a galaxy that was far away from humanity's home ground.

All sorts of conflicts followed after the human immigrants and led to a lot of failures.

Entire pioneering fleets disappeared. Colonies burned as they were razed by hostile forces. Many investments went bust, ruining the lives of many hopefuls who sought to reinvent their lives in the new galaxy.

The opening of the Red Ocean introduced naive and underprepared people to the cutthroat environment of a true frontier.

The start of the Age of Dawn changed everything, but the nature of the Red Ocean still remained the same.

The biggest difference was that many humans were no longer engaged in fighting against each other anymore.

In the face of an overwhelming external threat, everyone had at least a bit of sense and turned their weapons against the aliens.

Unfortunately, the races who treated humanity as intruders played by completely different rules!

The aliens never showed mercy. They fought with little restraint. Many of the aliens conscripted by the Red Cabal fought hard as they believed that they were literally fighting on behalf of their native gods.

A fight between mechs and warships was unequal from the start. The natives of the Red Ocean had so much accumulation at their disposal that only a fraction of their total warmaking potential already led to many tragedies at the border regions.

The tale of the Skinny Rattlers was not entirely unique, but people needed to hear more about such exploits.

They needed to understand on a more visceral level how much these former mercenaries had sacrificed to prevent the hostile aliens from penetrating deeper into human space.

Yet that was not enough. People needed to take the Red War more seriously, but they shouldn't get scared to the point where they lost their courage to volunteer for service!

As an honorary citizen of the Red Association, Ves needed to produce the opposite effect in order to advance the objectives of his patron.

The guest speaker invited by the Larkinsons therefore ended his tale on an uplifting note.

Though many fighters of the Skinny Rattlers had fought and died over the course of slowing down the alien aggressors, they paved the way for the surviving members to shed their old identities as mercenaries and become hereditary rulers over an entire planet!

Such a swift and speedy class transformation was unimaginable in the old galaxy. The Skinny Rattlers fulfilled the dreams of trillions of ordinary humans who yearned to rule their own planets one day.

While the tale of the Skinny Rattlers primarily centered around the exploits of Commander Ikeon Powell and his increasingly more battle-hardened troops, their mechs played an integral role to their success.

It was hard for people to imagine that the Skinny Rattlers would have the courage to volunteer in the fight against the native aliens.

It was even harder to believe that this band of former mercenaries could actually punch above their weight and display so much more ferocity against the hostile aliens!

Whether directly or indirectly, the living mechs of the Skinny Rattlers supported their human partners every step of the way.

The LMC wanted to make it clear that its products had played an essential role in the rise of these mercenaries-turned-landowners!

The only issue was that many people found it difficult to determine how extensively their unique properties enhanced their performance on the battlefield!

"So these living mechs only make their mech pilots feel better? You can easily produce the same results by injecting stimulants into their bodies. Wait, do these glows work against the aliens as well?"

"From what I can gather, the positive changes produced by these living mechs are mainly psychological in nature. I can believe that these living mechs have caused the Skinny Rattlers to earn more success in their battles, but how many of their mech pilots got killed because their artificial emotions overrode their sense of self-preservation? Commander Powell is much more selfish than he appears. He has continually sacrificed the lives of his men to fuel his own ambitions. Once he is enfeoffed as a baron, who will remember the people who actually paid the price for his ascension?"

"These living mechs sound fishy. They are too autonomous for my liking. It is only a matter of time before they get hacked. AIs are certainly useful, but giving them too much control over our systems is just asking for trouble! I would never trust a 'living mech' that is able to move by itself and fire its weapons without the need for human intervention."

A lot of people sitting in the seats of Phoca Arena talked with each other in low voices.

More people exchanged their opinions as they watched the broadcast of the product reveal from remote.

Ves was able to get a sense of all of the questions and doubts surrounding his living mechs.

As much as they grew impressed by the example set by the Skinny Rattlers, many people who were not familiar with the products of the LMC still needed more persuasion to embrace their existence.

This was where Ves was for. After building up so much anticipation, it was time for him to enter the spotlight and clear up the confusion.

He reached out with his hand and rubbed Lucky's head.

"Are you ready to make an appearance, buddy?"

The caped gem cat looked annoyed.

"Meow meow."

"It's all part of the show, Lucky. Your appearance alongside me will enhance my stature among the true rulers of red humanity. Not everyone has a cute archemetal contraption by his side like me. So few people have managed to figure out archetech that any adaptation of it is priceless. The first-raters will not look down on me so easily so long as they recognize your true value. Don't you think it sounds great for you to get admired by so many people at once? You will earn the status of the most expensive cat in the Red Ocean!"

"Meow!"

After Ves pepped up his cat, his nerves had eased a bit. This was an important presentation for him and his clan. Expectations were so high that he could already feel the weight of people's attention crushing him on another level!

He took a few more breaths before he exited backstage and floated above the main podium.

Commander Powell had already left at this time.

Only a single spotlight shone in the arena, and it was aimed squarely at Ves.

Bombastic music played as many people started to clap at his appearance!

After so much waiting, the mech designer that they had all been waiting for had finally arrived!

"Is that what tier 3 galactic citizens are like? He looks so handsome!"

"Now that is how a true leader should present himself."

"With a getup like that, I wouldn't be surprised if he crowned himself emperor of red humanity."

"Is that cat made out of archemetal?! Where did he learn this tech?! Where can I get an archemetal pet of my own? Please contact the Larkinsons right away. I MUST buy this cat!"

Everyone became impressed by Ves in one way or another. This was not just because he got dressed in a flamboyant outfit or because he deliberately showed off his archemetal cat.

Ves was a living legend. Many people were at least somewhat familiar with his history by now, and he had made many achievements that were completely atypical of any other Senior Mech Designer!

His living mechs had made an enormous impact on the second-class mech market. The products of the LMC had especially changed the mech landscape of the Krakatoa Middle Zone and the Magair Middle Zone.

All of his accomplishments turned him into a mech designer that came across as larger than life.

What also caused him to stand out was that he gave off a similar impression to his living mechs.

Ves had silently unveiled his glow. He no longer suppressed anymore because this was not an instance where he wanted to remain unnoticed.

This time, Ves deliberately revealed a part of his transcendent state. Though his appearance did not undergo any obvious changes, there were many subtle shifts that amplified the instincts of deference and admiration in the hearts of many people.

This was the differentiation in life state.

A glow was nothing but a phenomenon that was produced when two entities of different strength came into contact with each other.

The greater the extent that ordinary people looked up at Ves as an omnipotent powerhouse, the more he had evolved beyond his original mortal self!

Ves even gained the illusion that he had become a god to all of these people!

It took a considerable effort for him to rein in this delusion.

After the clapping started to subside, he began to address his audience in a firm and steady cadence.

"People of red humanity. Thank you for devoting a small part of your time to listening to what I have to say. Earlier, you have heard the tale of one of the Living Mech Corporation's most loyal customers. The Skinny Rattlers are but one of many groups that have utilized our living mechs to great effect."

Ves waved his hand. Many projected mechs came into view. Each of them consisted of the latest versions of the commercial mech lines sold by the LMC.

Machines such as the Desolate Soldier, the Sanctuary and the Hymenoptera each possessed their distinctive strengths and style.

"From the moment I designed my first original mech less than two decades ago, I set out to fulfill an ambition. It is a simple one. I have seen many instances where people treat their mechs as lifeless machines and tools. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is much more to mechs than you realize. Every living mech has the potential to become alive, and not just in an abstract sense. When you extrapolate this thought far enough, you will end up with a mech that is intelligent, capable and self-aware. If mechs such as these become more common, why not regard them as living entities akin to humans?"

This was an old and familiar goal to Ves, but it still bore repeating. Many people had never put any serious thought about this question. Was it truly desirable to treat mechs similar to fellow human beings?

This was a thought-provoking question to say the least!

Even Ves had not yet fully made his mind on how this should be implemented!

Ves continued his pitch.

"Since those early days, I worked towards this singular direction. My living mechs became increasingly more sophisticated. From the invention of glows to the addition of design spirits, I owe much of my success to the signature features that I created in those times."

Ves looked down at each of his projected mechs.

"Yet technology never rests. Times have changed. The Age of Dawn has rewritten many of the rules we took for granted. As new technologies and possibilities have emerged, our Living Mech Corporation must evolve as well. We may have been silent for a time, but we have not been coasting on our past successes. After many months of focused development, we have finally managed to attain crucial breakthroughs in our research that has enabled us to design a mech that truly embodies the potential of the Hyper Generation!"