The Mech Touch

The best that Ves and Gloriana could do was devote a small amount of precious raw resources to fabricate scale models of specific parts of their future works.

Even then, these practical tests only explained a fraction of the expert mech\'s actual performance in the field.

"It would be great if I can just upload a design to the MSTS and have it simulate our work to an accurate enough degree." Ves sighed as he sat next to Gloriana during a scale model test.

The two mech designers continually observed the data panels as well as the miniature arm of the Ghost Project that they had installed in the testing chamber.

After activating a command, the arm began to disappear from view. All of the sensor and scanning systems pointed at it suddenly found themselves unable to detect anything unusual.

The impressive Seferath AQ-3M was doing its job. Even as Gloriana slowly dialed up the detection power of the various different sensor systems, the arm remained remarkably unnoticeable to most of them! The only sensors that managed to sense anything amiss were those that made use of physical particles or had been specifically designed to detect stealthed units.

None of this fell outside of the expectations of the couple. They already understood that there were too many ways to defeat active stealth systems at closer ranges. It was already impressive for the Seferath AQ-3M to be able to hide itself completely when it was not being actively searched upon.

"I think the MSTS can already be used to test a large range of standard mechs." Gloriana shared her own views even as she adjusted the settings of the sensor systems. "It already has a fairly realistic ability to simulate ordinary physics. The greater the similarities between mech designs, the lower the chance the simulation results will deviate from reality. It is the abnormal designs that incorporate a large range of new exotic materials and unusual applications that throw off the calculations. This applies to both the MSTS and more conventional virtual simulation programs."

The Design Department was slowly expanding its output rate. The recent recruitment of Miss Beatrice Hendrix opened up numerous new opportunities to design mechs with improved modular configurations.

Ves had also been looking to recruit a Journeyman who specialized in artillery mechs or explosive weapon systems, but all of the good ones had already been picked up by other employers.

A part of him regretted that he had listened to his wife and let Jocasta Clive go. The Design Department was lacking in ranged weapon specialists.

Though the Larkinson Clan had grown so popular that the recruiters received applications from dozens of eager and ambitious Journeyman Mech Designers a month, none of them were worth a damn.

Ves even rejected a few names proposed by Gloriana because the applicants did not possess the spark of brilliance that he sought in his future subordinates and collaboration partners.

As far as he was concerned, the only Journeymen worth his consideration were those who had the guts and confidence to measure themselves up against their peers in mech design tournaments.

It was easy for mech designers to score easy successes by competing in a regulated mech market or receive favorable commissions from a compromised party.

Ves vastly preferred to evaluate potential candidates when they needed to compete directly against other peers.

Working for the Larkinson Clan was not safe. If his mech designers could not handle the pressure of publicly showcasing their work in mech design competitions, then they had no business participating in dangerous expeditions!

Of course, his wife was an exception to this rule. She was a special mech designer.

Once Ves and Gloriana concluded the expensive scale model test, they studied the data and took note of any discrepancies.

Even with the unique little quirks and modifications they applied to the Seferath AQ-3M active stealth system, its real performance did not significantly deviate from their expectations.

That was good news. The Ghost Project came one step closer to reaching its finalized state.

Gloriana looked satisfied. "We have been making such good progress that we should probably complete the second iteration of the Ghost Project over the next week."

"I think it\'s time to prepare for the fabrication of this expert mech." Ves declared.

His wife immediately frowned. "Isn\'t that premature? The Ghost Project is extremely complex. It is packed with advanced technologies and new innovations. The Geist System alone is a mystery box due to how little of it is based on conventional physics. We should thoroughly verify our design over several more months so that it will become as flawless as possible when we finally bring it into reality."

Ves couldn\'t wait that long anymore.

"No. Enough is enough. Our ability to test our expert mechs is too limited at this point. Any improvements we can make at this junction are marginal at best and counterproductive at worst. Don\'t forget that this is just the starting point of our first expert stealth mech. We can always fix any shortcomings that become obvious after we have fabricated our work."

His wife did not look pleased after hearing this. She clearly wanted to maximize the probability of gaining another masterwork certificate.

Although Ves wanted this as well, he did not want to delay too much over this obsession. The Golden Skull Alliance had spent enough time in Davute. It was time to restart the Trailblazer Expedition and continue to chase after greater riches.

The completed Ghost Project played a large role in his future plans. A fully functional expert stealth mech was one of the most effective scouts that an expeditionary fleet could ask for. There were so many ways they could tilt a situation in the clan\'s favor.

Expert stealth specialists were exceedingly rare in the mech community. The Larkinson Clan was blessed to have one in their ranks. The Larkinsons would be stupid to ignore such a precious asset!

Though Ves and his wife disagreed on many matters, the Ghost Project truly needed to be made sooner rather than later.

"We are not going to waste additional time on iterating the Ghost Project any further." He insisted. "The more we play with theoretical data, the further it becomes removed from reality. What we need at this junction is a real mech that can produce solid data for us. Besides, Venerable Zimro Belson has been doing little actual piloting during all of these months. He has been awfully patient towards us, but it won\'t do us any good to deprive him of a machine when he still hasn\'t completely solidified his new state."

Zimro only broke through a relatively short time ago. When expert pilots initially came into existence, their force of wills were still in flux and could easily be grown through practice.

Every week was precious while Venerable Zimro remained in this temporary state. Once they missed a precious window of opportunity, the expert pilot would have to put four to ten times as much effort to grow at this astonishing rate!

As much as Gloriana wanted to deliver perfection right out of the gate, she could not ignore the greater needs of the Larkinson Clan.

"If it turns out that we missed out on fabricating a masterwork mech, it will take years if not decades for my god body to produce a qualitative transformation." His wife grumbled. "The MTA likely won\'t issue masterwork certificates to us as the methods used to attain this result do not comply with the rules."

Ves rolled his eyes. They already had more than half-a-dozen masterwork certificates on their belt while they were still at the Journeyman stage. One more virtual document did not make much of a difference.

Besides, Ves had a different perspective on what it took to turn a mech into a masterwork. Whenever he looked at the designs of his next two expert mechs, he became so excited that he felt his head would explode with ideas!

This was a good sign in his experience. The more enthused he felt about translating an innovative design into reality, the greater the chance that he would get caught up in a fever of inspiration!

Still, even if he missed out this time, it was no big deal.

"I also plan on completing the Dullahan Project soon as well." Ves notified his wife. "It will take a little more time on completing the iteration of this larger and more massive expert mech, but I see no reason to bother with a third iteration for the same reasons as I have mentioned before."

His announcement did not do anything to lift Gloriana\'s mood.

"Are you sure you want to do that for Venerable Jannzi?" She questioned him. "Your cousin has been waiting to regain a version of the Shield of Samar. The consequences are dire if you fail to meet her expectations. She has placed so many hopes on the outcome of the Dullahan Project."

"I am sure. You know how much work and effort I put into this design." Ves reminded her of his vastly improved productivity. "There is no need for me to work over its design for an additional 6 months because I already did double or triple as much work as before."

"That may be true, but that only applies to work. What about me, Ves? We both know that you are more effective at the early stages of a mech design project. Now that we have reached the later stages, my expertise is much more relevant. If I had access to the same augmentations as yours, I would have been able to complete the third iterations of the Dullahan Project and the Ghost Project in another month!"

Ves let out a tired breath. "You don\'t need to remind me about that fancy implant that you want to obtain. I promised you that you will get what you want once we complete our current batch of expert mech design projects. We need you in your current peak condition in order to complete them in a timely manner. By the way, how far have the Bloodripper Project and Greenaxe Project progressed?"

"Both of them are proceeding at a slower pace than before. It is hard for me to spend too much time on them when you have put such a high priority on the Dullahan Project and the Ghost Project. I estimate that we will be able to complete them within two months if we do not spend as much time on optimizing them as we should."

"Hmm. Understood. It will be a little inconvenient to transfer them back to Davute once they are complete. Both Venerable Pedro Rodrigo Venerable Kolak Glendale have stuck to their decisions to join the 77th Warborn Division, right?"

Gloriana nodded. "General Ark Larkinson has already taken the two new expert pilots under his wing. He had been training and tutoring them so that they will get off on a good start once they receive our completed works."

Ves could only shrug at that. He didn\'t really care about two new Larkinson expert pilots as his expeditionary fleet already had plenty at its disposal.

Now that familiar heroes such as Venerable Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson, Venerable Joshua Larkinson and Commander Casella Ingvar passed the threshold of mid-tier expert pilot, there was greater room to upgrade their existing expert mechs into much more powerful versions than before!

Ves truly looked forward to upgrading the likes of the Everchanger and the Minerva into domineering quasi-first-class expert mechs!

However, before he could embark on these ambitious upgrade projects, he still needed to verify his experimental innovations and improved design applications. That could only be done by fabricating his much-anticipated expert knight mech and expert stealth mech.

"Soon."

A week was practically nothing in his opinion. As these two crucial projects came closer to completion, Ves began to contemplate an important decision that he had withheld from his wife.

Which design should he Superpublish?