The Mech Touch

A lot of Penitent Sisters and Larkinsons were watching the squad of mechs. Many of them had heard that Ves was up to something again. They wondered what was special about these mechs that weren't assigned on any patrols.

Would they witness something similar to the last round of experiments? Back then, many of the Bright Warrior mechs that went through their paces performed better than usual.

Since then, the Bright Warriors that Ves enhanced from 25 percent to 100 percent saturation all continued to produce slightly greater results with each subsequent practice session.

The mechs themselves hadn't grown stronger, but the piloting ability of their mech pilots was definitely trending upwards!

Even though the improvement from day to day was rather light, the fact that the results were constantly growing higher was very notable. Ordinary training never yielded these kinds of smooth and continuous curves!

A lot of other mech pilots had begun to ask whether they too would be able to benefit from this magic. Which mech pilot didn't want to improve so fast on a daily basis?

Sadly, their superiors couldn't provide any answers. Ves already denied any requests to expand this program because he was only able to pull off this trick on LMC mechs.

The most he did was to expand the scope of this experiment to his other mech models such as the Aurora Titans and the Deliverer mechs. Ves skipped the Doom Guards because he didn't think it was a good idea to strengthen something so fearsome and because their numbers were too small to make a difference in the coming battle.

The results weren't as drastic as with the Bright Warriors. The Aurora Titan was a very sluggish defensive mech that didn't have a lot of agency. The skill involved in piloting them mainly revolved around spreading out the damage across its entire frame, avoiding damage to any critical components and managing the polarizer module wisely.

The Deliverer mechs didn't possess that many options either. They were very slow and fragile compared to normal ranged mechs. The only skill required to pilot them proficiently was to aim their weapons well and to open themselves up for any guidance that Ylvaine might provide.

Nevertheless, the growth characteristic alone caused many mech pilots to increase their appreciation of their own mechs. They felt as if their assigned machines became more and more intimate with them. The lucky mech pilots became more willing to entrust their lives to their improved mechs.

"Is something happening? It has been some time since our mechs deployed into space." Commander Chancy couldn't help but ask.

The Penitent Sister Commander had slowly overcome her awe at the ritual she witnessed. Her responsibilities as a leader asserted themselves, causing her to remain more sober than the rest of the Hexers who witnessed what had previously taken place.

"Don't be impatient." Ves answered as he continued to monitor the various projections. "This is the first time your women are doing something like this. It is too early to tell whether the Superior Mother can truly support them in battle as I originally envisioned."

Time continued to pass as the mech pilots earnestly prayed to the Superior Mother. While their earnest efforts successfully triggered the battle network, it wasn't doing anything!

Ves wanted to scratch his head. Right now, the crown attracted a fair amount of spiritual energy from his mother. The battle network even transformed it into a more usable form of power.

Yet after finishing all of these pre-programmed steps, the battle network appeared to have run out of instructions. In truth, this was the part where the ancestral spirit was supposed to take over and do something specific with the charged battle network.

"..."

It was as if Ves programmed a battle bot to enter a battlefield, only for the stupid machine to freeze in place because Ves hadn't loaded a combat AI into it. Without a guiding hand, there was no purpose to the active battle network!

Ves frowned deeper and deeper as the Superior Mother really didn't appear to be doing anything with her glowing crown. Perhaps it would be a different story if the spiritual entity was fully conscious, but that was not the case at the moment.

Should he wake her up?

That might not be a good idea. He sensed that a lot of transformations still took place inside the Superior Mother. Interrupting it might cause a lot of damage to his mother.

If his mother wasn't conscious, then how could he induce her to act?

Ves quickly began to think up a solution. Her state of dormancy was different from regular sleep. Even if the Superior Mother wasn't conscious, she still maintained the large and growing network of Hexers who had begun to revere the Supreme.

He recalled the time when he initially planted his battle network into her. He managed to arouse an unconscious reaction out of her by irritating her to a large degree.

Did this mean that if Ves had to act like a naughty boy again if he wanted his mother to do something?

His face grimaced. This was not a sustainable solution.

Ves looked back to the projections of the mech pilots inside their cockpits. He had hoped the faith and devotion of the Penitent Sister mech pilots would have been enough for the Superior Mother to make a move. Evidently, general worship was not sufficient to make her do something with her new crown.

"Maybe there has to be a purpose." Ves guessed.

If his test subjects weren't in danger, there was no reason for the battle network to make a move. As its name suggested, its only purpose was to empower mech pilots in battle.

Ves began to open a channel to Commander Melkor.

"What is it, Ves?"

"I need you to send out a mech company of Bright Warriors and as many Doom Guards that your Avatars can scramble in a short amount of time."

"I can do that, but what do you want to do with them? Is it related to your current activity?"

He nodded. "I have done something to some of the Penitent Sisters. If it works out, I may have established another method of strengthening some of our forces. The only problem is that it is only supposed to be active during battle. I need your mechs to pressure the squad of the Penitent Sister mechs. Try to make their mech pilots feel distressed. The greater the threat, the greater this trial will yield a result!"

"Understood. Do you want to send out any of our expert candidates? Joshua is available."

"No." Ves shook his head. He didn't want to add too many variables to the equation. "Just regular mech pilots will do. Send them over quickly."

The Avatars of Myth soon dispatched a full squad of Bright Warriors as well as a motley collection of Doom Guards.

To be honest, the Larkinson Clan did not make extensive use of the striker mechs. They were not only troublesome to work with, but they possessed limited mobility. The Avatars especially disdained the striker mech because much of their doctrine was based around maneuver warfare.

The mechs that Ves requested flew over to the Penitent Sister mechs that Ves was keeping an eye on. Shortly afterwards, Commander Chancy and Commander Melkor agreed on how to conduct a spar.

The Bright Warriors in rifleman mech configuration soon began to fire their laser rifles at the Penitent Sister mechs.

The Doom Guards drew closer in order to pressure the Hexer mech pilots with their glows.

The melee Bright Warrior mechs circled around their targets and occasionally darted in to launch their attacks before drawing back.

The Penitent Sister mech pilots were instantly forced to take control of their mechs to fend off the sustained assaults. While their powerful mechs easily endured the weak attacks, they still felt enough of a threat to feel compelled to defend themselves!

Neither side inflicted any serious damage towards each other. This wasn't the first time the Penitent Sisters sparred against the weaker mechs of the Larkinson Clan.

Though neither side tried to kill each other, the pressure was very real to the mech pilots engaged in the spar.

Over sixty mechs circled and attacked the ten Penitent Sister mechs. There was no way the latter felt comfortable under these circumstances!

The glows of the Doom Guards were especially helpful in giving the Penitent Sisters a greater sense of threat. As these striker mechs grew closer, the Penitent Sister mech pilots began to feel an increasing amount of genuine distress!

"Superior Mother, please show your might!"

Ves stirred as he sensed a change. Though his test subjects were trying their best to fend off the frequent attacks, their growing urgency finally sparked a reaction from the battle network.

The Superior Mother's crown began to shine! A small amount of power began to flow through the connections. Instantly, the mech pilots connected to the battle network seemed to come alive in a way that Ves had never witnessed before!

"Something is happening!"

The life signs of all of the mech pilots rose as their minds became involved in a mysterious process. Ves tried to extend his spiritual senses, but he was too far away to glean much detail.

All he could see right now was that the Penitent Sister mechs hadn't stopped at all. Instead, they fought back more ferociously than a minute ago. The intensity of their counterattacks not only grew greater, but they also began to reposition themselves!

"This is not one of our standard formations." Commander Chancy frowned.

The way the ten mechs repositioned themselves reminded Ves of a cross surrounded by a hexagon. The definition of this image wasn't very high with just ten mechs, but he could easily imagine it would look a lot more impressive with more machines.

Just as Ves questioned the purpose of this odd formation, something profound took place.

The battle network went hyperactive and channeled a lot more spiritual energy all of a sudden!

If all of that energy was being dumped into his test subjects, their heads would have exploded by now!

The only reason why that didn't happen was that the battle network was channeling that energy elsewhere. Ves vaguely sensed something grand and powerful coming into being.

"Something is happening! Are.. are those mechs glowing?"

"Is it resonance?"

"No, ma'am! The resonance meters aren't moving!"

"Then why does it look so similar? Is this false resonance? That's impossible! Those mechs don't incorporate any resonating materials!"

While the Penitent Sisters all became confused by the vaguely familiar phenomena, Ves widened his eyes.

With his spiritual senses, he understood what was happening.

Normally, expert pilots exerted their power by resonating with their mechs.

What was happening right now was similar, but different! The same kind of resonance took place but with different actors involved.

Instead of resonating with their mechs, his test subjects were instead resonating with themselves and the Superior Mother!

The glows around the mechs began to expand and diffuse over a greater area. The Larkinson mechs attacking the Penitent Sisters couldn't help but slow their attacks.

"What is going on?"

"Are they all simultaneously turning into expert candidates?"

That wasn't the case, but it was difficult to fault their misconceptions. The glow surrounding the mechs became so bright it began to encompass the entire formation and beyond!

Soon, Ves felt as if all of the power from the Superior Mother began to manifest in something substantial. After a few seconds, the enormous ring of light turned into a vague silhouette of the Superior Mother herself!

"The Superior Mother is with us!"

Before Ves or anyone else could step in, the Penitent Sister mechs simultaneously moved. Their odd formation darted forward and smashed all of the Bright Warrior mechs aside with undaunted force!

Despite their Breyer alloy armor plating, the affected Bright Warriors sustained severe damage, much to Ves' consternation!

What was surprising about this sudden attack run wasn't just the added power exerted by the mechs. The giant silhouette of the Superior Mother actually attempted to strike as well!

Fortunately for the Avatar mechs, the glowing apparition failed to inflict any material damage.

"Women are superior!" The test subjects simultaneously exulted.

Just as their formation turned around to launch another attack run, the battle network suddenly reached some sort of limit. The glowing apparition rapidly diminished and the Penitent Sister mechs all lost their glows!

A lot of observing people looked dismayed. While the effect seemed powerful, the duration was too short!

It didn't matter much to Ves. He had already seen enough proof that his battle network actually worked! Even if it didn't look very practical, he could always refine this new innovation later.

"This experiment is a success!"