The Mech Touch

After going through an acclimation process, the four new Journeymen learned many new aspects about the clan that they didn't realize earlier.

Though they gained a lot of answers, they also gained a lot of questions as well. Many of them were related to the patriarch one way or another. Whether it was his living mechs, his glows and the strange entities which he somehow turned into the Larkinson Clan's pet gods, none of this made sense to the new Journeymen!

They became quite happy once they ended their tours and shuttled over to the Spirit of Bentheim.

The factory ship had become their main home and workplace for the foreseeable future.

Janassa and Tifi were fairly impressed by the factory ship, but Sara and Dulo had seen better back when they lived in the galactic heartland.

Nonetheless, it was the people who worked and lived on the ship that were truly remarkable to the new recruits.

"These Larkinsons are truly different." Sara observed as they all gathered in a small conference room.

"That's an understatement. I've studied all of their mechs and I still can't figure out where their glows come from or how some of the mechs are able to exhibit far greater power than they should!"

Tifi Coslone turned her head to the only empty seat in the room. "I think we'll have answers soon. The source of many of the Larkinson Clan's unique features comes from its patriarch. Our patriarch."

The more they learned about the strengths of the clan, the more they admired and respected the principal person who made it all possible!

Certainly, there were plenty of impressive individuals among the Larkinsons. Its expert pilots, its mech commanders and its other leaders had all contributed a lot to the clan, but none of them were as pivotal as Ves Larkinson!

In the opinion of the four Journeymen, none of them could ever replicate what the current patriarch had accomplished. The main reason for that was because they lacked the ability to grant so many advantages! Their design philosophies weren't so exaggerated!

Though they had already read a lot of impressive stories about Patriarch Ves, seeing how much he had done for the clan caused them to develop a lot of awe and admiration for this impressive mech designer.

This was decidingly unusual as they were all Journeymen who belonged to the same generation. Even if one of them enjoyed more success than others, it was hard for other Journeymen to bow their heads to a fellow peer.

This situation no longer applied here. Ves had the record and the accomplishments to prove that he was better than all of them. Mech designers always judged each other by their ranks and by the impact of their work, and Ves clearly scored exceptionally well on the latter!

When Ves entered the conference room with his pet Lucky in tow, the four Journeymen all stood up in respect.

"Please return to your seats." Ves said as he casually waved his hand. "We're all colleagues and work partners here. I may be the leader of the Larkinson Clan, but when we engage in mech design-related topics, we are all fellow Journeymen."

"That's hard to maintain so long our contribution isn't able to catch up to yours." Tifi spoke.

"I've heard you have all shown a lot of curiosity in my work."

"Yes."

A short moment of silence ensued. The four Journeymen had so many questions that they simply didn't know where to start.

"I can guess what you're wondering about and what kind of answers you are seeking." Ves smirked as he spoke up. "I can't explain everything I do in words. I've done that a lot of times and people don't seem to be able to accept all of my claims. I think the best way for you to truly accept what you have already heard from others but can't acknowledge is to experience them in person."

The patriarch lifted up a heavy tome with a hard metal cover and an impressive medallion at the front.

"Meow." Lucky hovered next to the book and licked its cover.

"Goldie? Can you come out here and introduce yourself more directly to these fine Journeymen?"

Nyaaaa!

To the utter amazement of the four newcomers, a bright, golden presence manifested above the Larkinson Mandate!

The beautiful and ethereal golden form that had just appeared into view was unlike anything the Journeymen had seen before.

They came from different parts of the old galaxy and had all enjoyed an excellent upbringing.

Yet nothing they had witnessed before could ever compare to this brand new life form that made the claims about Larkinsons consorting with actual gods a lot more plausible!

"This… isn't a projection, right?" Dulo questioned.

As Goldie proudly presented her form, Ves grabbed a hold of her body and rubbed her head sily.

Nyaaaa! Nyaaaa! Nyaaaa!

"She's not a projection." Ves said with a grin. "The Golden Cat here is a real living being. Just look closely at her and feel the bond that exists between the two of you. Each and every clansman is tied to Goldie, and that makes her special."

He threw Goldie towards Dulo Voiken who reacted with surprise as the cat phased through his chest and came out of his back.

This was a pattern that conformed to projections, yet during the moment Goldie passed through his body, Dulo could somehow sense that she was much more than a computer animation!

The other Journeymen received their own opportunities to interact with the much-beloved Golden Cat. The closer they got, the more they sensed how she truly functioned as the heart of the Larkinson Clan.

Nyaaaaa~

After Goldie had done her job, she cutely wiggled her tail before diving back in the Larkinson Mandate.

Another silence fell over the conference room.

"Are they ghosts of dead cats and other creatures?"

"No. Don't call them ghosts, Janassa. They're not dead. Well, mostly."

"Then should we call them gods? Some Larkinsons have no problem with doing that." She remarked.

Ves shook his head. "Don't listen to them. Not every Larkinson knows what they're talking about. Call them… spirits. That's what I call them at least. They're powerful and possess capabilities that are vastly different from organic, corporeal beings such as you and I, but that doesn't mean they are gods. My spirits simply resemble them in a superficial manner."

"How… how many spirits are there in the Larkinson Clan?"

"Uhm, let me count." Ves briefly tallied his design spirits in his mind. "We have 11 active spirits at the moment. There's one more that's inactive and another one that has perished. More will continue to join us over time, so if there isn't a spirit that suits your needs, I'll make sure we get one one way or another."

"Can we have a list of them and an explanation on what they do for the Larkinson Clan?"

Ves shook his head. "No. I would like to, but I don't want to put too many details in a document that might end up in someone else's hands. You've already talked to our mech pilots and studied my mechs. You should be able to get a pretty good idea of what each design spirit is all about. You just need to put aside your skepticism and accept what you have learned."

"That… won't be easy, sir."

"Well, there's plenty of time for you to understand the value of our design spirits. I'll fill you in on any details you should know as we begin to work on our design projects. Other than that, I prefer you just perform your own research and make your own conclusions. That is how most people in our clan have come to accept their existence."

This was also the reason why many different Larkinsons developed their own interpretations of the design spirits.

"Design spirits, glows and so on are all related to my design philosophy." He continued. "It's inevitable that you won't be able to comprehend everything surrounding them. In practice, you should just leave it all to me when we work on different design projects."

Ves continued to explain a few more basic details about his design spirits before he moved on to another item on the agenda.

"Let's talk about a more interesting and relevant topic to all of us. What are your thoughts on the mech models utilized by the Larkinson Army? Don't pay too much attention to their metaphysical properties. Instead focus on their fundamental roles and their value to our forces. How well do you think our mech legions can compete against other human forces?"

The new Journeymen all exchanged glances with each other.

Janassa Pellier, who possessed a bolder personality so far, spoke up first.

"I think we can all agree that our… mech legions are strong in specific scenarios. The isolated standard defensive battles that the clan has fought against several military forces in the past showcases the unique strengths that allows our troops to wipe out stronger mech forces."

"Not every enemy will fail as badly as the Fridaymen and the Vulcanites, though." Tifi Coslone said. "The pioneering fleets of the Red Ocean are often stronger, more advanced, better equipped and more numerous. They also put actual thought into their mech rosters that allows them to have an answer for many different battle scenarios, from encountering ambushes to being forced to conduct groundside assaults."

Ves crossed his arms. "I understand what you mean. Expanding and diversifying our mech roster is our highest priority for our upcoming round of mech design projects. I already developed a few new ideas to grant every mech legion a mix of models that should be able to synergize with each other. If you have any ideas on how to better accomplish this, then feel free to offer suggestions."

Dulo Voiken immediately voiced one. "I think we should provide spearman mechs for the Living Sentinels, sir."

It made sense for him to propose a new spearman mech design. Ves found it notable that Dulo wanted to dedicate this mech design to the weakest mech legion in the Larkinson Clan.

"Explain, please."

"The Living Sentinels is the equivalent of a state militia, more or less. They consist of mech pilots who are either starting out as active servicemen or are not willing to adopt the stricter regimes of the other mech legions. That means that the Sentinel mech pilots always fall behind the others in terms of piloting skill."

"That is all true. What does this have to do with your spearman mech?"

"When we studied the Living Sentinels, we all noticed that they have adopted the Bright Warrior model as their all-purpose mech. While the mech stands out for being easier to pilot, it is still difficult for the Sentinels to make the most out of their Bright Warriors. I can't speak for their use in ranged combat, but when they are deployed as swordsman mechs, you can notice a clear difference in effectiveness when the performance of the Living Sentinels are compared to the Avatars of Myth and most notably the Swordmaidens."

The difference in performance when they were all piloting the same model was too big! The Avatars fought considerably better than the Sentinels, but both were grossly overshadowed by the Swordmaidens!

Dulo continued to explain his proposal.

"The Living Sentinels under the leadership of Commander Casella Ingvar are constantly improving, but there is a limit to how good these second-line mech pilots can become. There is a better and more convenient method to increase their battle effectiveness. If we replace their swordsman mechs with spearman mechs of my design, we can quickly make them more effective in melee combat! This is because I can design a spearman mech that excels at stabbing and doesn't necessarily need to do more. Such a machine is associated with a much lower skill floor as mech pilots aren't expected to perform several different sword techniques in the middle of an intense battle. They only have to stab repeatedly!"

That was quite an intriguing proposal… Ves seriously weighed the merits of this suggestion. Were the Living Sentinels better off with ditching all of their swordsman mechs?