The Mech Touch

The most notable piece of news was the establishment of the Premier Branch!

Although many clansmen questioned the suitability of the name, there was no doubt that the first-class branch of the Larkinson Clan would become the new focal point!

A lot of people would be lying if they said they held no interest in becoming a first-rater. There were simply too many advantages to becoming one. Not only would they gain a much better status and engage in more significant work, they could also attain lots of other fantastic benefits such as life-prolonging treatments and better schooling for their children.

A lot of Larkinsons quickly inquired how they could become a part of this new first-class branch.

"Wait, I have to score at the top of a theoretical examination in order to be eligible for selection? It has been decades since I last went to school! This is unfair!"

"Wow, the requirements are much lighter for talented mech pilots. Damn, I am so thankful for my B- aptitude."

"I have never attended any actual schools in my life. I would rather fight my way to the top. Instead of bothering with all of these exams, it\'s better for me to polish my swordsmanship and earn lots of war merits as a warfighter!"

The Larkinsons finally gained not one, but two different pathways to becoming a first-rater!

The exclusive method that the clan made available to its members was to earn an EdNet quota.

It became clear that it was mainly targeted towards the best and brightest of the clan. A lot of Larkinsons became dismayed when they realized they did not stand a chance, but a select group of high performers became ecstatic that their time had come!

In any case, the ones who had no hope of winning an EdNet quota did not remain upset for long.

"You don\'t have to be smart. You just need to be brave enough!"

The common method that was theoretically open to every third-rater was to participate in the New Elites Program.

Even though the Red Association was still in the process of setting it up. The Fist of Defiance only provided a blueprint. It was up to the mechers and the other leading figures to flesh it out into a complete set of policies and initiatives.

Still, the broad strokes had already become clear. Every red human, no matter if he was a noname third-rater or a scion of a Terran ancient clan, had a chance to gain a higher status by signing up to become a warfighter!

The obligations were great, but the rewards were greater. Benefits that were too expensive for most people would suddenly become a lot more attainable as long as a person earned enough war merits!

Different from MTA merits and CFA merits, there was only one means to earn these coveted new war merits. The Red Two had formed a solid consensus on the need to maintain its exclusivity!

With a heroic and authoritative figure such as the Fist of Defiance standing behind the New Elites Program, people had a lot of faith in the purity and the incorruptibility of all of the new initiatives.

The rich and powerful people of today could no longer coast along in society by relying on the successes of their ancestors and their umbrella organizations!

While many people in the Red Ocean were not prepared to do what it took to participate in a deep strike operation, it was different for the Larkinsons.

They had already cut their teeth in past expeditions and already defeated many alien warships as of late!

In fact, they were already linefighters in all but name!

If not for the fact that the New Elites Program did not look at past accomplishments, the majority of Larkinsons would have already been able to access the initial version of the new War Exchange!

"It will take years before any of us have a chance to become a warfighter, but we only need to fight against one alien raiding fleet to become a linefighter! Why did we turn around? We should have gone in the opposite direction!"

"Relax. There is always next time. We need to make a pitstop in order to off-load our salvage and replenish our supplies. The Spirit of Bentheim got beat up by a lot of gun batteries and needs to undergo proper repairs before she is ready to get back into the fight."

Ves and the leaders of the clan all became gratified when they saw that the enthusiasm for the New Elites Program was high.

The Premier Branch needed more than 5000 Larkinsons to establish a serious presence in the Upper Zones.

While it was always possible to hire eager first-raters who wanted to ride the coattails of a rising tier 3 galactic citizen, Ves remained deeply wary of recruiting newcomers who possessed little emotional attachment to the Larkinson Clan.

He already noticed that it was a lot harder for the Golden Cat to affect the behavior and attitudes of highly confident, heavily augmented and well-educated first-raters. They even had fancy espionage tech that could directly turn people into unwitting sleeper agents, only to activate and completely change their loyalties after receiving a hidden signal!

First-raters played a whole different spy game than second-raters. Calabast and the Black Cats had to go through a lot of studying in order to catch up to all of the outlandish tech and crazy methods that were probably being employed against the clan at this very moment!

As the Larkinson Clan was beginning to gear up for a major transition, Ves became concerned about the disposition of key figures in his clan.

After a long and earnest talk with his expert pilots, he roughly figured out what they had in mind.

Each of them aspired to stick with the current branches of the clan and do whatever it took to break through to ace pilot!

There were no clear advantages to promoting to a first-rater this soon. Rather than deal with so many disruptive changes and waiting for years to gain a proper first-class expert mech, they might as well stay with the majority of clansmen who were starting to embrace the New Elites Program!

The availability of general cultivation elixirs particularly encouraged the mech pilots to actively seek out battle.

"We don\'t have any choice." Venerable Joshua said as he leaned against the heavy metal foot of the Everchanger. "You drop this \'stuff\' on us all of sudden, causing us to completely throw away the ideas that we clung to in the past. If this stuff is truly as amazing as you claim, then it is even more important than before that we test our mettle on the battlefield."

Ves, who was in the process of examining and tweaking the Everchanger, understood where Joshua was coming from. Many Larkinson expert pilots thought they would have plenty of time to grow and mature into a stronger version of themselves.

Now that the elixirs essentially allowed them to get close to the finish line in the span of just a couple of years, they could no longer afford to take their time!

"I understand. While a part of our clan will be preoccupied with setting up the Premier Branch, the main branch will still continue to fight against the aliens. The only difference is that a few thousand Larkinsons won\'t be participating anymore. Our administration is already preparing to allocate or recruit additional personnel to fill up the positions that will soon be emptied."

The biggest regret to Ves was that he wouldn\'t be able to go on any subsequent expeditions with the main fleet. He needed to preside over the Premier Branch and begin forming new relationships with many different first-class powers.

Just as with third-raters, there was little point in consorting with second-raters now. Even though it would still take a couple of years for him to become a proper first-class mech designer, he had already become a de facto first-rater by virtue of his influence and contributions.

If he tried to insert himself in second-class communities like Davute or the Hex Federation, his presence would disrupt the locals to such a massive extent that the Red Two would probably step in and drag him away!

It was only when he started to consort with other powerful first-raters that Ves would be in the presence of his own \'kind\' again.

Even now, the upper zones were beckoning to him. Ves needed to hurry up and finish his affairs in the main fleet.

While Ves was thinking about his impending separation from the fleet he called home, Joshua was thinking about a very different transition.

"I have been thinking about whether the destination is more important than the journey." The expert pilot spoke even as he summoned his companion spirit Willy for additional warmth. "For a long time, expert pilots have always felt that the journey is crucial. However, all of the new changes introduced by the Red Association makes it clear that the mechers have stopped caring about it so much. It is all about the destination for them now. They just want to produce as many breakthroughs as possible regardless of the consequences. Even if my path towards becoming an ace pilot has become a lot easier now, I... I am afraid of what that means to me and others in my position."

"Everyone has a purpose, Joshua." Ves tried to settle his moody pilot\'s conflicting thoughts. "We used to be in a better position, but not anymore. All of red humanity is in big trouble. The survival of our entire race is at stake. I am afraid to say it, but we can no longer afford to pamper high-ranking mech pilots such as you. We need you all to become stronger really fast in order to pull off the greatest missions of your lives. Don\'t think of all of the new stuff as desecrations of a sacred ritual. They are merely tools that are designed to save our race. So long as your heart remains sincere, I am sure you will be able to keep a hold of yourself in a time where your strength will skyrocket."

Joshua did not look very confident about that. "I get what you are saying, but I still think that I cannot afford to miss the journey. Now that it has shortened by a lot, I need to make sure I can squeeze in as many sights in this brief tour as possible. If I am somehow able to break through, I don\'t want to look back on my days as an expert pilot and regret how little I have tested myself."

"I don\'t think you\'ll have to worry about that. You have already fought your fair share of significant battles. Your living mech has grown as well. Anyway, when do you think you will be ready to move on to the Premier Branch?"

"I don\'t want to stay away from you for too long." Joshua shared his thoughts. "I don\'t want to rush my journey too much, but if I am able to break through to ace pilot in the next decade, I will come to you, but not necessarily for myself. I just think the Everchanger deserves to evolve as well. There is no better way to reward him for his service than to upgrade him into a powerful first-class ace mech that can defeat some of the toughest alien enemies that we will confront in the future."

The Everchanger\'s eyes silently glowed in approval.

Ves smiled even as he continued to service his old masterwork mech. "I will be awaiting your arrival at the Premier Branch. I probably won\'t be able to improve quickly enough to design ace mechs by myself, but it will be easy for me to gather a couple of trustworthy first-class Master Mech Designers who can take care of all of the complex technical work. You will have the mech of your dreams one way or another."