The Mech Touch

ney, perhaps multiplying its value by hundreds of times in case of extremely successful designs.

Ves didn ’t want to risk the loss or destruction of his first production model, but circumstances forced his hand.
If he worked quickly, he ’d be able to repair the damaged mech in less than a day, which gave him sufficient time to catch up to the Whalers.

”Let ’s do it. ”

Once he gave out the orders, the mech technicians went into action.
Even if they never repaired an existing mech before, they all knew the basics, courtesy of Chief Cyril ’s training.
They brought the damaged mech out of storage and placed it in the assembly system, which carefully cataloged and disassembled the damaged portions of the mech.

Meanwhile, Ves cleared the production line again and started fabricating replacement components.
In order to save time, he decided not to replace the lightly damaged components, but handed them off to his mech technicians so that they could attempt to repair the parts themselves.

Not all of them proved capable of doing so, but he expected some fumbling.
Any successes went right back in the mech.
Parts that proved more difficult to restore passed on to Ves, who put it in the Dortmund and used some of its more advanced functions to restore the component.

Not everything could be recovered to their original state.
The armor plating proved impossible to repair with the equipment that the workshop had on hand.
Ves had no choice but to fabricate new ones from scratch.

At least they ’d be able to sell the broken plating to a professional recycler, allowing them to recoup the majority of the costs.

As Ves started making progress in the repairs, he constantly focused on the image of the Black Phoenix.
Even though the mech had already gained a solidified mental presence, Ves used some of the insights he learned before to overlap its existing traits with a higher emphasis on toughness and endurance.

From what little he learned, the battle for the Glowing Planet would be fought over many battles under extremely hostile terrain.
Supplying the mechs on the ground would be a huge challenge since all kinds of carriers vied for orbital supremacy.

His Blackbeak had been designed to excel in wars stretching for years.
This presented a problem for him because he initially assumed the Blackbeak would fight a lot of skirmishes but only a couple of full-blown battles over the course of its service.

Thus, Ves consciously deviated from his initial design in order to harden his mech against a succession of intensive battles.
He didn ’t take the time to form a new design and test whether the changes introduced new flaws.
He eagerly modified his mech on the fly, relying nothing on intuition and some invisible guidance from a changing black phoenix.

Ultimately, the changes only led to minor differences, but Ves found the experience to be worthwhile.
Acting on another whim, Ves decided to coat the feather pauldrons in a shade of red.
He also changed the settings of the cloud generators to emit red vapor instead of varying shades of grey.

The added color looked spectacular, and gifted his mech with character.

”It ’s a damn shame you ’re sending it off to battle. ” Chief Cyril whistled in appreciation at the newly enhanced mech.
”It ’s practically an heirloom of the company, you know.
It ’s a piece of living history. ”

Ves sighed with regret.
”I know, but when I ’m short on mechs, I ’ll grab the first thing that ’s available, living history or not.
What it can earn us down the line is not as important as satisfying an immediate need. ”

He knew that despite his good relations with Dietrich, he never really built any ties with the rest of the Whalers.
Ves wanted his first meeting with Walter to be on good terms, and nothing expressed his sincerity better by gifting him one of his company ’s pride and joy.

A hauler arrived at his workshop and picked up the mech.
Ves entered an armored shuttle as well and rode it to the lair of the Whalers.
He brought no one else along but Lucky.

A few hours later, the hauler and the shuttle and its escorts touched down an expansive but haphazard base on the outskirts of Orinoco.
It looked like a half-abandoned shell of its former self, as the Whalers already shifted much of their mechs to the carriers orbiting above the planet.

Ves stepped outside with Lucky following close behind.
The cat meowed in confusion as the smells bombarded their noses.
The smell of rust, alcohol and urine blended together in a unique ensemble that forced Ves to pinch his nose.

He hurried forward and met with some guards, who guided him to a gathering of senior Whalers.
They looked at him as he approached.

”Ves Larkinson, at your service. ”

A bushy white-bearded man with a barrel of a chest and kegs for arms stepped forward.
Ves recognized him at an instant.
This was nothing less than Walter himself, who reigned over the Whalers since before he was born.

The man eyed him with a critical eye.
”You ’ve got guts.
At least you look tough enough.
Good, but you need more than that to make it out alive. ”

”I came bearing gifts, Mr.
Walter. ”

The hauler unloaded the recently modified Blackbeak at that point.
All of the Whalers around Walter gasped in surprise and admiration at the sight of the striking mech.

”Is that your new mech? ”

”It ’s the very first production model, in fact.
It ’s the strongest and most finely tuned copy of my original Blackbeak design.
It ’s the mech that Melinda Larkinson used to beat Captain Vicar. ”

The Whalers might not be fully aware of what the Blackbeak brought to the table, but they all knew about the duel.
The veterans erupted in a flurry of whispers.

”And you ’re giving it to us? ”

”It ’s all yours from this point onwards. ”

Walter ’s face cracked into a smile.
”I can ’t say no to a free mech, especially one of this caliber.
You ’re in, Ves.
Welcome aboard. ”

Ves successfully cleared the first hurdle.