The Mech Touch

The questioning continued. Once Gloriana obtained the answers that she wanted to hear, Ketis spoke next.

"Janassa. Tifi. How many times have you collaborated with other mech designers?"

"Thirteen times."

"How many of those design projects were you in charge or had equal say?"

"We were able to make a lot of decisions on seven of the mechs we've designed together with other peers." Janassa Pellier answered. "They all worked out for us. I can send you the details if you want."

"Please do. It's important for us to know how well you can collaborate with other Journeymen." Ketis stated.

"That doesn't mean that all of our design projects require collaboration." Ves quickly interjected. "It's also important for you to be able to lead and work on design projects on your own. There are no Senior or Masters in our Design Department. We are all Journeymen, so we have to undertake many important responsibilities ourselves. The upside to this is that our clan will give you a lot of discretion in how you work. The downside is that you need to take responsibility for your own failures. If you think you are up to the challenge, I can promise you that you will gain plenty of opportunities to develop yourselves. Just look at how far we have come."

Although there were older, stabler, wealthier and more stable employers in the Red Ocean, the Larkinson Clan offered considerably more power and autonomy to its new hires.

Though it was always risky to join a younger and less proven organization, the incredible success of the likes of Ves and Gloriana showed that the Larkinsons had a recipe of success.

Just the fact that the Larkinson mech designers were pretty much the only Journeymen in the Red Ocean who accumulated masterwork certificates was an indicator that they possessed at least one powerful advantage!

This fact alone could have attracted a lot more applicants if not for one alarming reason.

The Larkinson Clan frequently encountered danger!

No matter how much mech designers wanted to learn the secret to fabricating masterwork mechs at an early stage, there was no point to doing so if they would likely die in a few years!

A young organization led by a famously reckless leader provided few reassurances to many mech designers. How could Journeymen with plenty of opportunities possibly gamble with their lives?

The Red Ocean was already a much more dangerous place than the Milky Way! Journeymen were all smart enough to realize that their chances of surviving in the new frontier wouldn't improve if they worked for an organization that lacked powerful backing.

Only the four who had gathered in the hotel suite today were the exceptions.

For whatever reason, Team Destiny and Team Voiken were willing to brave the obvious dangers and make the biggest gamble of their lives. Ves couldn't help but respect their bold decision.

The interview continued. Ves and the other Larkinson mech designers found it interesting to hear about Pellier and Coslone's completed design projects. Each of them were melee mechs that took advantage of their considerable physical might to gain an advantage in duels and larger battles.

The two Journeymen worked on both light mechs and heavy mechs, so they were not constrained by the weight class of their projects.

"In fact, this is one of the areas in which we are attempting to differentiate ourselves from each other." Pellier explained. "Both of us possess the same base, but I have always found it more enjoyable to optimize the strength of lighter and more constrained mech designs. My partner here is better at achieving maximum power in larger and heavier mech designs."

That was useful to hear. Ves and the other mech designers had long grown concerned about whether it was redundant to pick up both of them at once.

From what it sounded like, it shouldn't be a problem to assign them to separate projects.

Pellier could design light skirmishers that could punch through armor a bit more easily despite their slim frames and skinny arms. Just a modest boost in strength was enough to multiply their killing efficiency!

Meanwhile, Coslone could design heavy melee mechs that could be employed as shield breakers or hull breakers! No mech or ship could withstand the power of their direct strikes!

Once the Larkinsons finished questioning this pair, they all shared their evaluations among themselves.

"Miss Pellier and Miss Coslone are both competent and suitable for our clan." Gloriana said. "Their Master has raised them well, and they are also confident enough to strike out on their own. While their specialties aren't as relevant to our ranged mechs, that is not a great concern. Many of our mech legions such as the Flagrant Vandals and Swordmaidens can benefit from piloting physically stronger mechs. We might not be able to gain another opportunity to obtain this kind of expertise."

It was much easier to find another defensive specialist than a mech designer with the same specialty as the duo from the Ochre Mirim Star Sector!

"Ketis?"

"I don't often agree with your wife, but she has made a lot of good points. Our melee mechs are just as important as our ranged mechs. There are a lot of ways to strengthen our melee mechs further, but increasing their mechanical strength and improving their overall mechanical systems is definitely a great way to increase the performance and survival chances of our melee mech pilots."

Her eyes lit up as she talked about Pellier and Coslone. She was clearly enamored by the two applicants. If she had to choose between increasing the offensive power or defensive power of her work, she would always go for the former!

"Juliet?"

The Penitent Sister mech designer did not look as enthused. "The two are useful, but not indispensable. I think that Gloriana can do much to increase the physical strength of her work as well. Do we really need two new mech designers that don't do anything that is too different from what we can do through our own efforts?"

This was also a good point. A more promising and ambitious design philosophy such as Jovy Armalon's probability manipulation was a lot more valuable because others couldn't replicate it. Aside from maybe rational mech designers, anyone else would just bump into a wall if they dared to imitate Jovy's work!

In contrast, a simpler and more boring design philosophy such as physical force exertion systems sounded so basic that Gloriana could probably produce work that was 50 to 70 percent as effective!

"Let's hear out the second team before we decide any further." Ves stated.

They proceeded to interview the Voiken siblings.

Both Sara and Dulo Voiken came from privileged backgrounds. Not only did they grow up in a large and successful family in a prosperous part of the galactic heartland, they also received a lot of tutelage from their relatives who all happened to be high-ranking mech designers!

As the two Voiken mech designers elaborated how much they learned while growing up in the Voiken Family, much of it sounded quite familiar to Ves.

The Voiken Family was basically a bigger version of the original Larkinson Family. A key difference was that the former focused on leveraging family members to nurture well-prepared mech designers.

No matter what school the Voikens attended, the chance that they could become promising Journeymen was much higher if they received a lot of supplemental lessons from their successful aunts and uncles!

It was exactly because Ves grew up in the Larkinson Family that he recognized the advantages that Sara and Dulo Voiken gained in their youth.

"What is the mech community like in the Uplifting Note Star Sector?" Ketis curiously asked.

"Uplifting Note is a star sector where you can find equal amount of bestial mechs and humanoid mechs." Dulo Voiken answered. "There's a great degree of rivalry but also frequent cooperation between mech designers who specialize in either of them. The founder of our Voiken Family is actually a bestial mech specialist. He excels at integrating weapon systems in the frames of bestial mechs. His work carries more weapons than normal."

"What about you two, then?"

Dulo smiled. "I tried to design bestial mechs but discovered that I don't find them to be intuitive at all. This is why I have settled with humanoid mechs."

"And Sara?"

"I can work on either kinds of mechs." The female Voiken replied. "I have more experience with working on humanoid mech design projects, though."

Ves didn't mind this. So far, the Larkinson Clan had yet to employ bestial mechs in a serious capacity. This was unlikely to change because there weren't any mech pilots among the Larkinsons that excelled at piloting these different machines.

Juliet focused her attention on Sara Voiken during the round of questioning.

"What is your defensive philosophy? Can you explain your style of increasing the defenses of your mechs?"

"Certainly. If you have read through my record, you will know that I have Class VI design philosophy that is officially classified as physical negation. While I am nowhere close to designing a mech that can negate all physical damage, I'm working towards it." Sara said.

She pursued a bold design philosophy! Ves was highly impressed with her ambition, but that didn't mean that he was confident in her ability to realize her design philosophy.

Ves could hardly imagine what it would take to make a mech completely immune to damage!

Gloriana frowned a bit. "I notice that you have explicitly mentioned physical negation. Does that mean that you are not focusing as much on defending against energy attacks?"

"Yes." Sara admitted. "I cannot do everything. Defensive mech designers like myself often struggle with the scope of their design philosophies. It is too tempting for us to try to excel in everything, but in the Voiken Family I've learned that it is a mistake to go too broad. It's too easy to get overwhelmed and overworked. It's better to excel in one specific aspect of defense than try to design a mech that can defend against any possible attack."

That was a wise choice. Ves thought more highly of her. Though her design philosophy was still ambitious, its narrow scope made it more viable for her to realize it one day!

"Can you still design mechs that can resist energy attacks or other damage types to a greater degree?" Ves asked.

"I can, but my specialty is less relevant in those cases. All of my mechs can defend more efficiently against laser beams and positron beams just because they are tougher in an overall sense. However, they are best suited to resist solid impacts."

"Why did you choose to specialize in this particular aspect of defense?"

"That is because a lot of battles are fought between melee mechs back home. Bestial mechs especially tend to be melee mechs because they are more suitable to fight at close range. There is a lot of demand for mechs that can better withstand the pounces of a tiger mech or the dive attacks of an avian mech."

"I see."

Ves, Gloriana, Ketis and Juliet could all see the value of hiring such an impressive defensive specialist.

Sure, her ability to harden a mech's defenses against energy attacks weren't particularly special, but she could still do a better job at it than Gloriana!

If the Larkinson Clan gained the services of Sara Voiken, then Ves could easily imagine all of his melee mechs gaining an unquestionable advantage in battle!

They would not only gain a greater buffer, but also have a much higher chance of saving the lives of their mech pilots in the long run!

Her defensive specialty could also play a useful role in toughening up all of the Larkinson ranged mechs. Ves could easily imagine the Transcendent Punisher model gaining absolute superiority in artillery duels against enemies that employed kinetic armaments like the Vulcanites.

Of course, Sara's specialty would become a lot less relevant if the Larkinson Clan ever bumped into an enemy that only employed energy weapons!