The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

Being able to work on 14 mech design projects in a single design round was a massive jump compared to before!

This was one of the most direct benefits of doubling the amount of Journeymen working for the Larkinson Clan.

Although time would tell if Ves made the right decisions, for now he was optimistic about the future. The four newcomers may need time to integrate fully in the Larkinson Clan, but for now they made enough progress to begin working.

"Let's quickly go over the mech design projects one by one in order to clarify your responsibilities." Ves said as he pointed at the projected list. "As you can see, many of these projects differ by a lot, so your responsibilities are different for each of them. Some are also more important than others so I made sure to assign more mech designers to them in order to maximize their potential."

His finger tapped the top-most project on the list.

"The big one this time is also the only expert mech design project for this round. As you all know, Commander Casella Ingvar recently managed to break through to expert pilot. While we have decided to keep her in her current position, she cannot pilot the same mech as before. We must design a suitable battle partner for her that can keep up with her growth for a long time."

The announcement to design a new expert mech did not alarm Gloriana, Ketis and Juliet that much, but the remaining four were different.

Expert mech designs were still new and uncharted territory to them! None of them had contributed significantly to the design of such a powerful and high-end machine.

"Commander Casella Ingvar is a rare expert pilot whose strengths mainly orient around command, communication and maybe control." He told them all. "This means that we will primarily be designing a command platform, though it will also be able to function as a rifleman mech should she be forced into combat against another expert mech."

The mention of an expert command mech with ranged combat capabilities already gave the other Journeymen a clue of who of them will be involved this time.

"I have already contacted Professor Benedict to find out whether he is willing to collaborate with us on this project, and he has already conveyed his willingness. We'll have to flesh out many of the details laters, but he is open to the idea of taking care of the aspects of the expert mech design that only Seniors and higher are able to implement."

This was a considerable relief to Ves. If Professor Benedict refused to take over the role that Master Willix previously fulfilled, then he would have to search further and involve strangers who might not be as trustworthy!

Though Gloriana had continually reminded him that she could easily get a Hexer Master Mech Designer to cooperate with the Larkinsons, Ves never seriously considered her offer.

Ves looked at each of the Journeymen in turn.

"The involvement of Professor Benedict leaves room for only four major contributors. Gloriana shall be the lead designer for this expert mech design project. She works best with custom mechs, high-end mechs and expert mechs, so she will be in her element."

His wife preened when she heard this praise. She arrogantly lifted up her chin as if to proclaim that none of the others could possibly do a better job.

Ves wanted to palm his face when he saw her reaction, but he refrained from doing so. No matter how pretentious she behaved, as long as Commander Casella's expert mech came out alright, he was willing to endure these small antics.

"I have chosen three more mech designers to empower different facets of this expert mech. I will be on hand to make this mech alive, arm it with a luminar crystal rifle and ensure she can employ her distinct resonance abilities to the utmost. Juliet here will make sure the command mech can move fast enough in space while Sara will work on its defensive systems to make sure it can withstand attacks from other expert mechs."

Sara Voiken looked pleased when she heard her name. She would be the first of the newcomers to contribute to an actual expert mech design project!

"Congratulations, sister."

"Thanks, Dulo."

Ves smiled at the rest. "Don't worry. As long as our clan keeps growing, more expert pilots will continue to emerge from the ranks. Each of you will receive a turn sooner or later. It all depends on the mech type of the expert mech that we will have to design next."

Right now, it made little sense to assign Janassa, Tifi and Dulo to a ranged expert mech design project.

This instance actually illustrated that the current lineup of Journeymen was too slanted towards melee mechs. The Design Department still lacked a suitable specialist in ranged weapons!

"Moving on, let's talk about the mech designs that I shall be taking charge of." Ves moved down the list. "Since none of you excel in designing ranged mechs, I have taken it upon myself to lead these two projects. One of the projects aims to deliver a specialized ranged mech to the Battle Criers while the other one seeks to deliver a harasser mech model to the Flagrant Vandals. I'll be working on them by myself as I need to exercise my individual design ability."

This was a risk and might lead to the completion of a pair of mech designs that could have become stronger if he involved other collaborators.

For example, Ves could easily think of pulling in Juliet and Sara to enhance the mobility and defensive properties of the two mech designs.

However, their design time was valuable and Ves had made the judgment that he didn't need additional help to design good mechs.

Though Ves actually wanted to design a commercial doom crawler mech model as well, he simply wasn't able to free up enough time in his schedule to handle an additional project. He reluctantly decided to leave it for a future design round.

"Alright, moving on to Gloriana, in addition to leading the expert mech design project, she will also be responsible for designing custom mechs for three of our Larkinson mech pilots, namely Commander Melkor, Vincent Ricklin and Imon Ingvar."

Not all of the names sounded familiar to the newcomers, but that didn't matter.

"These mech pilots are long overdue their custom mechs. Our Design Department shouldn't neglect individualized mechs entirely." Gloriana stated.

"Agreed." Ves said. "Next, Juliet has agreed to design a light scout mech for the Flagrant Vandals and an auxiliary mech for the Penitent Sisters. Both are relatively simple in scope so it should be no problem for her to work on them by herself."

"I will need your help to provide them with glows." Juliet added. "The Penitent Sisters will probably refuse to pilot my mech if it is not blessed by the Superior Mother."

Ves smiled in response. "Sure. This is not a difficult chore for me. If you need any more help, feel free to ask the others. This counts for all of you. Even though this design round places more emphasis on individual work, it has to benefit our clan in the long run."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Ketis, you already know what to do. You'll be leading your own two pet projects. The Monster Slayer will be your first big commercial mech design project. While I'm reluctant to leave its entire design over to you, I recognize that it will be better for your development that you shoulder the entire burden yourself this time."

The swordmaster looked grave. She fully realized that her work would significantly impact the Larkinson Clan's future.

According to the current agreement between the Larkinson Clan and the Wild Fighter Association, the Monster Slayer that Ketis wanted to design might be sold to many mech pilots across the Red Ocean!

Though there was a chance that Ketis might jeopardize this lucrative cooperation by botching her first true commercial mech design project, Ves valued her development over this commercial deal. If she failed to fulfill her promises, then this project would be a valuable learning experience for her. This would ultimately help her in the long run.

Ketis also planned to work on another mech design project that she didn't want to ruin.

"I've heard that you have agreed to collaborate with Janassa for your second swordsman mech design project, right?"

The swordmaster glanced at the other Journeyman. "I did. Janassa has impressed me with her ideas and I want to make use of her specialty when designing a mech for the Swordmaidens. Physical strength is an important quality for a mech that wields a large and heavy greatsword and it's always better to have more."

"Will you need my assistance as well?" Ves offered.

Ketis shook her head. "Probably not. While everyone in our clan is accustomed to your living mechs, I think I have my own way of making my swordsman mechs alive. I want to rely on my own experiments to make this true."

"Well, I know you have already been able to achieve a few results, so I'm looking forward to seeing how well you can adapt this concept."

"I hope I'll be able to make their swords sing."

Ves turned to Dulo. "Mr. Voiken, you'll be working on two different mech design projects, one of which is fairly simple while the other one is more complex in nature."

The only man among the newcomers sat up straighter. "Yes. I will be designing a spearman mech for the Living Sentinels and a lancer mech for the Eye of Ylvaine."

"I will contribute to both of those mech design projects in order to make them alive and grant them their unique advantages." Ves stated. "Our mech pilots are all used to piloting living mechs and they won't pilot any machine that is not comparable. While my wife and my former student have learned enough from me to be able to come up with something comparable, you are completely new to living mechs, so you definitely require my input."

There was no way for Dulo to refuse the patriarch's aid. He wasn't a Larkinson until recently so he wasn't fully attuned to the needs of the Larkinsons. In addition, Ves was truly right when he stated that the Larkinson mech pilots preferred to avoid lifeless mechs!

"Sara, you'll lead a single mech design project in the form of a defensive space knight for the Living Sentinels. Be sure to compare your notes with your brother from time to time in order to make sure your space knight cooperates well with his spearman mech."

"Understood, sir."

"Aside from that, I haven't assigned any further solo projects to you, but many of us might call upon your assistance during various stages of our own projects. We also expect you to contribute significantly to the expert mech design project that I've mentioned before."

The latter was a heavy responsibility so Ves did not burden Sara with too many projects this time.

"Janassa, you won't be leading any mech design projects this time, but your main responsibility is to collaborate with Ketis on designing a new swordsman mech for the Swordmaidens. This is one of our strongest mech legions so the importance of this project cannot be overstated. You'll definitely have time left over, so I will leave it up to you how you will spend it. There are plenty of melee mech design projects that could use your input."

"I won't remain idle." Janassa promised. "Not when we are working on so many different mech design projects. I can even contribute to ranged mech design projects if needed."

"Alright. That leaves Tifi. You will mainly be focusing on designing a new axeman mech model for the Avatars of Myth, but just like Janassa you should roam around and provide assistance whenever possible."

The final woman grunted in acknowledgement.

Those were the projects that Ves wanted to work on for this round. While his workload was the heaviest, he looked forward to working on all of the different mech designs!