The Mech Touch

Everyone patiently waited for the announcement to start.

Ves, Gloriana and Ketis sat together while the Tovar mech designers and Larkinson seeds sat further back. All of them faced the design labʼs central projector, which Gloriana had already tuned to the MTAʼs official broadcast channel.

They choose to watch the announcement on their best projector for a good reason.

Every time the Mech Trade Association introduced a new mech generation, the spokesperson often showcased vivid examples and schematics!

All of these new advancements drove every mech designer in the galaxy wild!

Of course, the MTA only devoted time to introduce the most important innovations. The tech showcase also covered both low technology and high technology. Much of the latter wouldnʼt be very relevant to Ves unless he became a first-class mech designer.

At the moment, the projector depicted the stunning logo of the MTA.

A heroic-looking knight mech surrounded by orange flames burst out of a meteorite! Twelve planets orbited this stylized depiction.

There was a lot of symbolism and meaning behind this logo. The MTA considered themselves to be the protectors and standard bearers of humanity.

If Ves hadnʼt been exposed to some of the dirty secrets of the MTA, he would have been fooled by their act!

Still, no matter what Ves thought about the organization that rebelled against the Five Scrolls Compact, it still stood up for mech designers and mech pilots throughout the galaxy.

Ves had no choice but to play by their rules because it was a hundred times harder to engage in his profession in every other way.

Even a solemn Senior like the Skull Architect had been forced to eke out an existence in the frontier after he crossed the MTA!

That reminded Ves on what had happened to this dreaded pirate designer. Before the sandmen assaulted the Komodo Star Sector, they first swept through the Faris Star Region.

Malliganʼs Pitstop and all of the other pirate station in the frontier should have been wiped out by the sandmen by now.

Reportedly, most pirates packed up their bags and fled into civilized space, taking advantage of the chaos to mix in with the refugees.

Someone as powerful and resourceful as Professor Jimenez shouldnʼt have ended up in the jaws of the sandmen.

Ves hoped the Skull Architect fled very far away. His identity was very problematic in civilized space.

”The announcement is starting!”

Everyone turned their attention to the projection. The logo of the MTA began to rotate once before fading away to reveal a vast and impressive expanse of stars!

Though starscapes were common sights, this was not a regular sight! The density of stars was unimaginable to those who lived in the galactic rim!

”This is the splendor of the galactic center!” Gloriana admiringly explained. ”Just look at all of the stars and interstellar gasses floating in between! The rudimentary FTL drives that we are used to are completely unable to function in this dense stellar environment!”

All of those stars and nebulas represented an unimaginable amount of wealth.

Higher stellar activity directly correlated to more exotics! The high-energy reactions that took place in this perilous space also produced much higher grades of exotics!

A person materialized into view in the middle of deep space. Ves figured that this wasnʼt some kind of special effect. The representative of the MTA literally teleported into the void without wearing any thick, protective suits!

Instead, the old and dignified-looking woman appeared to float in space garbed in nothing but a resplendent, hooded robe!

Once the woman drew back her hood, Ves immediately announced her identity!

”Thatʼs Galactic Mech Councilor Dorothea Veyron!”

Councilor Veyron was one of the hundred members of the Galactic Mech Council. The GMC pretty much served as the highest decision-making organ in the MTA, akin to a senate or a legislative assembly of a state!

Veyron used to be a citizen of the Triad Empire, a first-rate state in the galactic center. While she was well-versed in mechs, she wasnʼt a mech designer.

Instead, she joined the MTA more than 300 years ago as a bureaucrat!

By working her way up the ranks and earning the appreciation of her superiors, she continually promoted up the ranks.

The MTA became more and more impressed by her administrative ability, which was exceptional even when compared to the best in the galaxy!

For Dorothea Veyron to become an august member of the Galactic Mech Council by virtue of her competence in administration was an amazing feat!

Now, this old woman seemingly floated in space without relying on technology to sustain her body in this dangerous vacuum environment.

Whether she managed to survive in space due to advanced technology or extreme modifications to her body, Ves wasnʼt sure.

Most people probably thought the former was the case. Perhaps they even speculated that this was nothing but an elaborate virtual illusion.

In contrast, most members of upper society suspected that Councilor Veyron was truly floating in space right now!

Continuous advancements in genetic modification and human augmentation enabled many options previously unavailable to humanity!

The woman opened her mouth. Though sound didnʼt transmit through vacuum, there were countless ways to broadcast her words.

”Sons and daughters of humanity.” Her dignified voice rang in everyoneʼs ears. ”Our civilization is about to advance once again.”

Councilor Veyronʼs voice possessed an indescribable quality that commanded everyoneʼs attention. Ves did not even think about what he was doing as he sat up straight and listened attentively to what she had to say to the galaxy.

This was the spokesperson that the MTA selected to convey their message to human space! She was anything but an average speaker!

”Over four-hundred years have passed since the start of the Age of Mechs. The current generation of mechs have existed for nearly thirty years. It is time for us to close this period and welcome a new era for mechs.”

”Our civilization has grown larger, more powerful and more prosperous than ever before! We live in a golden age of mechs where we have continually pushed the boundaries of our most versatile weapon platform!”

”The Age of Mechs has pulled humanity from the brink of destruction and allowed us to become more refined in the art of war! After centuries of continuous progress, our race has become more efficient in the application of force! The age where our kind used to hammer all of our perceived enemies from existence with the most destructive weapons we have on hand is long past!”

”I am proud to live in this great era! Not only have we pushed mechs to a height that we could scarcely imagine at the beginning of the Age of Mechs, but we have also solidified our dominance throughout the galaxy!”

���Though we are divided by states, our civilization stands as one! We are humans, who emerged from an insignificant planet in the Orion arm of the galaxy to become the most dominant race among countless alien races!”

”Our race has overcome many odds in our rise. We have even confronted our inner demons and come out stronger and more united in the end! For over four-hundred years, the MTA has ensured that war will never be able to threaten the survival of our race again!”

Councilor Veyron kept airing lofty words about humanity and the Age of Mechs. Ves soon pulled himself out of the trance he had inadvertently fallen into. He recognized when he was being indoctrinated!

Ves turned to Gloriana and found to little surprise that she looked fully taken in by Councilor Veyronʼs pro-human, pro-mech and pro-MTA views!

He prodded her side with his finger. He failed to catch her attention.

Should he do something more drastic? He decided to leave Gloriana alone. Councilor Veyron may be attempting to indoctrinate her audience, but many mech designers already bought into her viewpoints!

Every mech designer believed that mechs were the weapons of humanity!

Every mech designer believed that the Age of Mechs was the best time for a human to be alive!

Every mech designer believed that the MTA was the biggest contributor to peace and prosperity in human space!

Though Ves held some diverging opinions, he knew he wouldnʼt be able to convince Gloriana of his views at this point.

Fortunately, the councilor soon ended her introductory spiel and went on with the meat of this galaxy-wide announcement!

”Our galactic mech industry has never stood still. The brightest minds of our race are constantly pushing the boundaries of science, allowing us to integrate newer and better technologies into our mechs. The latest mech generation that we will commence this day will alter the landscape of battle! Let me introduce you to the most far-reaching advancements that we have pushed in the latest mech generation!”

Two mechs flew into view, stopping just behind the councilor!

As a human, Councilor Veyron appeared very small in comparison to the huge mechs!

Despite that, the gravitas she conveyed through the projection made it difficult for every mech designer to direct their attention towards the mechs!

It didnʼt take any explanation for Ves to realize that the mechs belonged to different generations!

The mechs appeared to be a pair of very advanced second-class rifleman mechs. The laser rifles they wielded looked incredibly stunning in the arms of these exquisite mechs!”

Gloriana reacted first. ”Those are masterwork mechs!”

Every aspect about their construction appeared flawless in their eyes!

Before they can spend time on admiring the mechs, Councilor Veyron immediately pointed out the critical differences between the two mechs.

”In much of human space, laser weapons are ubiquitous.” She explained. ”They are efficient, accurate, versatile and convenient. Our Association has expended a considerable amount of effort to introduce innovative new technologies related to laser weapons. Let us demonstrate the results right now!”

A few mechs flew in range. Without much delay, the two rifle-armed mechs fired at the targets which attempted to resist incoming fire with their armor or leverage their mobility to dodge the aim of the pilots!

”Look at the difference in power!” Gloriana exclaimed. ”The latest generation laser rifle is at least twenty percent more powerful! Look, the mech on the right has already defeated the defensive mech that attempted to resist the lasers head-on!”

Ves was well-versed in laser weapons, so he quickly spotted another discrepancy. ”Itʼs not just the power that received a boost. The rifle is generating considerably less heat. That can mean that it is more efficient or its components take up less space and therefore offers more capacity for heatsinks.”

The demonstration continued to showcase the differences between the old and new generation of laser weapons.

In fact, Ves suspected that the technological leap he was witnessing shared a lot of similarities with the crystal builder technology he employed in the design of his Crystal Lord and its crystal-based laser rifle!

As Ves studied the performance of the latest generation laser rifle further, he soon concluded that the tech base was different. Even though the MTA standardized a different approach towards miniaturizing the components of a laser rifle, the results were similar!

In fact, the new tech standards that the MTA revealed in this laser rifle was probably more practical and efficient than relying on weird alien crystals to empower the mechanisms of a laser rifle!

”The Crystal Lord has definitely become obsolete.” He muttered.

He didnʼt mind. The LMC had already phased out the Crystal Lord from its mech catalog.

The transition to a new mech generation always resulted in the devaluation of older mech designs. Ves couldnʼt do anything to stop the advance of better technology. He could only accept this outcome and adjust to the changes as best as possible.

If the circumstances permitted, Ves did not mind revisiting the Crystal Lord design to develop its Mark II iteration.

However, the Crystal Lord possessed too many inadequacies to a mech designer of his current height. It would probably be a better idea for him to start another landbound rifleman mech project from scratch!