The Mech Touch

A lot of people came in expecting to see the mechs designed by Team Larkinson to dominate the competition without breaking any sweat.

That did not happen.

Instead, they witnessed a struggle as Team Larkinson matched up against at least two championship-level rivals in the second and the fourth round.

More talents emerged who displayed enough strength and potential to challenge the infamous patriarch of the Larkinson Clan.

Miss Beatrice Hendrix and James Danilov managed to gain their own fair share of appreciation. Both of them were travelers who had arrived in the new frontier relatively recently and were obviously looking to find their footing in this new and exciting dwarf galaxy.

Savvy recruiters had already flooded their virtual mailboxes with invitations while the envoys from different government institutions waited in line to speak to them in person.

This was one of the true reasons why states were willing to hold mech design tournaments. Even if much of it was boring and relatively uninteresting to the general audience, they always managed to attract promising mech designers who promptly showcased their value and potential.

As a young but growing colonial state, Davute needed all of the excellent mech designers it could get. It would be a travesty to allow Journeymen with the potential to become Masters in the future to leave Davute and move onwards to ply their trade in other zones!

As the match between Team Larkinson and Team Danilov started off with a bang, the the crowd became roused as they understood that the mechs from both sides wouldn\'t be going down without a fight!

Inside one of the VIP booths, a lot of Larkinsons admired the strength of their mech designers while also opening their eyes to the strengths of others that existed outside of the clan.

"Wow! A lot of mechs are so strong!" Marvaine exclaimed as he leaned forward in his seat. "Why are other mech designers so strong? I thought papa was the strongest!"

"Ves is the strongest for his age and circumstances, but that does not mean he is good at everything." Miles Tovar responded as he assumed the role of a teacher to the children. "His foundation and technical skills are top-notch at the level of a Journeyman. However, his specialty is living mechs, which can\'t easily be translated into direct combat power. The mech pilots who are controlling his works in the arena are also completely new to them, so that doesn\'t help either. Other mech designers don\'t have that disadvantage. They can easily design a defensive powerhouse like the Double Up or a simple but unstoppable charging machine like the Lancernaut. Compared to the likes of the Furia, those two mechs are much simpler but also much more easy to overpower their opponents."

"Ohh…"

"He means that our papa isn\'t good at fighting in tournaments." Andraste clarified for her younger brother. "His mechs are much stronger when they fight for real, right? We wouldn\'t have beaten so many aliens if that wasn\'t the case!"

Miles Tovar nodded in agreement. "You are correct, young miss. Mech design tournaments are hardly the perfect means to test the strength of mech designers. In fact, no single measure is truly accurate. Your mother for example has never participated in a mech design tournament in her life, but my colleagues and I respect her and look up to her due to her unceasing effort to pursue excellence in our shared craft."

"Who is stronger, our mama or our papa?"

"Hehe, I cannot truly answer that question, young man. Many people have formed their own answers, but I implore you not to take their word for it. It is likely that they do not have nearly enough information to form a proper judgment. Mech designers are engineers, and engineers are taught to never make careless assumptions without gathering enough solid proof. The lives of hundreds, thousands or even millions of people are affected by our decisions. In that sense alone, your father is unquestionably better than virtually every Journeyman Mech Designer in this zone and perhaps this galaxy. His mech designs and his decisions have directly affected the lives of entire states and star sectors. No one in our clan has come close to your father in this aspect."

Marvained frowned, causing his face to look much more adorable!

"Doesn\'t that mean our papa is stronger than mama?"

"Many people think so." Miles admitted with a restrained smile. "I have worked often enough with your mother back when I was still an Apprentice. I think that many people are underestimating what she can do and what she is working on. She doesn\'t have the unusual advantages of her husband, so she tries her best to work harder in order to keep up with his progress. She does not gain inspiration as regularly as our patriarch, so she must spend more time in her laboratory and rely on trial and error to brute force her innovations."

All three children looked at Miles Tovar with amazement. They never heard another mech designer give so much detailed praise for their mother.

"I\'m confused."

"Me too."

"No mech designer is good at everything. Didn\'t I tell you that? Ves is a creative engine that comes up with all kinds of dazzling and counterintuitive ideas that often work out somehow, but he has his own shortcomings. His focus is scattered and his Larkinson tendencies are a bit too strong. In my opinion, Gloriana is a much more ideal model of a mech designer. She is more focused in her work and relies much more on hard work and traditional experimentation to reach her level at her young age. To put it in another way, only one out of a million mech designers can become like your father, but one in a hundred mech designers can become like your mother. That is why I admire her and try to emulate her best practices whenever possible."

The children did not entirely understand Miles Tovar\'s argument, but that did not stop them from thinking a lot more highly about their mother!

Merril O\'Brian decided to add her own opinion to the conversation.

"Gloriana Wodin has advanced remarkably quickly as a Journeyman Mech Designer, but it is your father who all of us have chosen to follow. He is the person who united us under his banner and he is the visionary that has led to a new galaxy and a new future. Even if Gloriana advances to Senior or Master first, we would still be more inclined to listen to your father."

"Why?"

"Because he cares." Cormaunt Hempkamp said as he decided he shouldn\'t be the only Journeyman in the VIP booth to remain silent. "He has built the Larkinson Clan from scratch and has continually sought to invite those of us who are lost to become a part of his growing family. Can you imagine your mother doing the same? I think not. Only your father has the right combination of ambition, passion and heart to lead the Larkinson Clan."

That explanation had a major impact on the children. Aurelia looked particularly interested as leadership had always been a special calling to her. She spent much of her time with her mother, but she couldn\'t help but look up to her father in the issues that mattered the most.

"What do I need to do to become a leader like my papa?" She politely asked the Journeymen. "Do I need to learn how to design mechs as well?"

The three Journeymen all exchanged glances with each other.

Merrill shook her head. "That is not necessary. In fact, it is better if you don\'t. Leadership is a separate discipline. There are many politicians and rulers in human space that spend all of their working hours on becoming better stewards to the people they are responsible for. Your parents are obviously preparing you to go down this path. If you choose to accept their arrangements, then I suggest you embrace your chosen vocation with the same passion and drive as your father. This is how you will be able to lead and inspire an entire group of people even better than him. Don\'t settle for becoming his equal. Aim to surpass him instead. You can do it as long as you dedicate yourself to this single role."

The young female Journeyman\'s words not only inspired Aurelia, but many other Larkinsons. They gained a greater admiration for Ves again due to his special qualities that were exceedingly rare in other people.

They did not linger too long on this topic because a drastic development had taken place in the arena!

[Team Danilov\'s Lancernaut has suffered serious damage! One of its rear legs has been compromised! Look at how it is urgently trying to distance itself from the Furia. The weapons mounted on the hybrid mech have actually sent the frightening centaur lancer mech running!]

[The Lancernaut is merely making a tactical retreat. It is vital to assess the damage to its rear leg and how extensively the changes impact the performance of the machine. From what I can observe, the centaur mech has suffered its first serious blow in this round. The mech has lost a considerable amount of load-bearing capacity, and its responsiveness has also dropped. The good news is that quadruped mechs can still get by with a non-working mech, which is not the case for bipedal mech. The bad news is that it is carrying around a considerable amount of deadweight.]

The downside of centaur mechs became more evident at this time. Though the damaged leg still retained at least partial functionality, the lack of support meant that the Lancernaut\'s formidable charging speed and fancy instant redirection mechanism had become heavily compromised!

Speed and momentum was one of the greatest sources of strength for charge-based mechs. As the Lancernaut tested its speed and balance, its pilot found that it could only run up to 80 percent as fast as before.

Going any faster was liable to cripple the damaged rear leg even further!

This did not stop the battered centaur mech from arcing around to commence another attack run.

Just as it had suffered a major blow, the Furia had suffered just as bad if not worse.

It had lost an entire arm!

Not only that, but the lance also shattered a significant portion of the shoulder and the upper torso attached to the amputated limb!

The impact it had on its balance and mobility was more severe than most people thought. The absence of a limb messed with its balance and made it considerably harder for the Furia to stay on its feet.

As far as its weapon loadout was concerned, the hybrid mech had not only lost a flamethrower, but also one of its integrated luminar crystal guns!

Even though the weapon hardpoint still looked reasonably intact, the nearby damage had cut off its power feed and dealt enough structural damage to other nearby parts that the Furia could no longer utilize it in combat.

This meant that the Furia was only down to a single flamethrower, integrated luminar crystal weapon and shotgun!

As the Lancernaut brought its lance to bear to finish the job that it had started, the Furia lifted its only intact arm and fired its shotgun as well as its integrated luminar crystal gun against the closing threat.

Though the match had only started a short time ago, it looked as if both mechs had already reached the decisive junction of this match.

Only one of the two mechs would remain intact after they collided against each other for the final time!