The Mech Touch

The First Sword was one of the legendary first 6 high-ranking mechs of the Larkinson Clan.

The first 6 possessed the greatest fame and prestige due to their long history of turning battles around and securing decisive victories.

The original incarnations of the Dark Zephyr, the Amaranto, the First Sword, the Riot, the Shield of Samar and the Everchanger represented the initial generation of expert mechs and played key roles in setting up the Larkinson Clan for success.

The clan wouldn't exist without their deeds. Ves was able to become the most successful mech designer of his generation because of how they managed to overcome one challenger after another.

Although subsequent machines such as the Promethea, the Minerva and the Phobos performed considerably more dramatically in combat, they were products of a younger era. This also included the Bastion which was the successor to the Shield of Samar.

They I arrived later when the Larkinson Clan had already built up a solid foundation, The new technologies available at the time also made it considerably easier to design much more potent mechs.

Although Ves had numerous favorite works, he tended to look back at the first 6 with greater fondness than normal. He fleshed out his design philosophy over the course of working on them and invented numerous new design applications that enriched his toolbox of solutions.

Gloriana probably held the same sort of sentiment towards one of her earlier works. As outdated as the First Sword had become, she was still a living mech that constantly improved in other ways.

His wife must have been looking forward to overhauling the First Sword physical structure. This way, she should be able to reinforce her ownership over an ace swordsman mech that would go on to accomplish much more notable deeds such as slaying phase lords!

Mech designers could be quite possessive towards mechs and mech models that became recognized and celebrated due to their success on the battlefield.

Even if Saint. Dise earned most of the credit for using the First. Sword Mark III to win a crucial battle in the Red War, part of the glory and prestige of this victory would still be attributed to the design team responsible for designing the latest iteration of such a machine!

When it came to mechs that had been worked on by different design teams, only the ones who were actually responsible for the work that made a difference on the battlefield earned recognition.

This meant that if Ketis truly proceeded to kick Gloriana from the design team of the

First Sword Mark III, the latter would no longer have anything to do with the ace mech despite the fact that she was a part of the design team of the earlier iterations!

All of this meant that there was a lot at stake in the dispute between Ketis and Gloriana. Ves also had a stake in the matter considering that Ketis thought about removing him from the design team as well!

Compared to his overreacting wife, Ves behaved remarkably nonchalant at the prospect of no longer having to do anything with the First Sword.

That caused Gloriana to look at him as if he was an idiot.

"Did the Deep Research Mode inflict permanent brain damage to your ego, Ves? How come you are not upset at Ketis for pulling off this attempted coup?! The First Sword is clan property, which means it is our property! A mere lead designer has no right to usurp our work and claim it for herself! Just because you put her in charge of designing the earlier iterations of the First Sword does not mean she owns it outright! We have contributed to the project as well, so we should have a voice in the matter as well!" Ves calmly crossed his arms. "You are not entirely wrong about that. I do think it is rather presumptuous for Ketis to just decide to remove us when she hasn't spoken to either of us whether this is a good idea. It is also true that she shouldn't be able to unilaterally decide upon its future. Strictly speaking, the mech designers who can currently claim partial ownership over the design are Ketis, me, you, Juliet Stameros and Master Moira Willix."

"The latter two are not able to participate in the First Sword Mark III Project, so that leaves us with the first three." Gloriana stated the obvious. "As one of the mech designers who helped to make the earlier versions of the First Sword, I strongly believe the ace swordsman mech has a bright future if I can implement by god body method as well as my interpretation of archetech to the project. I think you would also like to develop a brand-new Ultimate Module for the First Sword. This means that there are two votes in

Favor of our participation and just one vote against. Ketis will have to withdraw her illegal demand and settle for working alongside us both."

While Gloriana looked self-satisfied for having argued her way towards victory, Ves interrupted her daydream by clearing his throat.

"Ahem, not so fast, dear. While Ketis has made a controversial proposal, it is not as bad as it sounds from my perspective. First, how many design projects are you working on at the moment?"

Gloriana grew upset again when she saw that Ves was not willing to follow her lead, but she still answered the question.

"We still need to complete the Minerva Mark II Project, the Riot Mark III Project, and the Promethea Mark II Project, in that order. Since we have decided to switch from a parallel work approach to a sequential work approach, progress in those other projects have stalled. We still have much work to complete if we want to roll out the upgrades as fast as possible. I am also supervising the progression of numerous low-ranking expert.

Mech design projects, which I have delegated to other design teams."

"That sounds like a lot of work. No. Your workload is already huge, Gloriana. Besides, how many expert mechs and ace mechs did we design already? It must be over a dozen. Why do you care so much about the First Sword when there are plenty of other high-ranking machines that also deserve your attention? The more you split your focus, the less you are able to make sure that each of them will receive the care they deserve. As far as I am concerned, you should welcome the opportunity to lighten your burden. Ketis is much more passionate about the First Sword. Let her decide how the living mech should evolve in the future. If this is to be decided by majority vote, then she has my support. That means that there are two votes in favor and one against. You should be clear what

That means.

His wife looked as if Ves had personally betrayed her. Her expression conveyed her absolute dismay at his verdict.

"You... you..."

"You already have many opportunities to make your mark!" Ves raised his voice a bit. "Instead of worrying about the First Sword, you should invest your energies into the Minerva Mark II Project and the Riot Mark III Project instead! There are many more upgrade projects that you will need to tackle as well. If our clan isn't giving you enough opportunities to tinker with expert mechs or ace mechs, then there is always the Glory Seekers! You are spoiled for choice, so why are you so opposed to sharing

Responsibility?"

Gloriana looked more and more angry, but she made an admirable effort to hold in her outburst. She knew that in the face of a rational argument, an emotionally heated response would not advance her cause.

If she wanted to refute Ves' argument, then she had to employ logic rather than insults.

"You are so insistent on doing what is best for the First Sword and the clan, so let us consider what that actually means. While both of us are Senior Mech Designer, you know as well as I do that we cannot be judged by our ranks alone. We are geniuses. We have developed mind-blowing design applications that have opened up new ground and improve mechs in ways that our predecessors in the industry have never conceived of. Do you think that Saint Tusa and his Dark Zephyr would have been able to outduel not one, but two greater phase lords and land a killing blow on the Arena Lord of Ya'gwasa if the living mech did not possess an Ultimate Module and an archemetal frame?"

"Just because our design philosophies can make mechs stronger doesn't mean that the rest of the mech industry is useless." Ves retorted. "There are still plenty of good Masters out there that have changed the course of mech design by realizing their amazing design philosophies. I am sure that Ketis is thinking about working together with a handful of them in order to elevate the First Sword to the next level. Let's do this. Instead of arguing with each other, let us bring Ketis into the conversation."

His wife did not have any strong objections towards this proposal.

Soon enough, the physical projection of Ketis appeared inside Gloriana's office.

The swordmaster had changed. The events of the last two months had a profound

Impact on her life.

She looked brighter and happier.

That must have been because Dise had finally broken through, thereby birthing a

Powerful champion and representative of the Swordmaidens.

She must also be having the time of her life by leading the upgrade project for the next

Iteration of the First Sword.

"Good afternoon, Ves. I am glad that you have returned."

"Good morning to you as well, Ketis. My wife here has filled me in on your... dispute. Are you truly thinking about removing me and her from the design project?" "That is indeed one of my possible plans." Ketis told Ves while doing her best to ignore Gloriana's withering glare. "The original concept of the First Sword Mark III put most of the focus on her direct sword fighting capabilities. I decided to add modules relating to the deployment of sword fey as auxiliary armaments, but then I realized that my current attainments in living mech design doesn't allow me to make the same kind of living spurs as the ones that make the Fey Fianna such a celebrate drone mech design. I therefore came up with two different evolutions of the First Sword."

"Let me guess, one of them includes the sword fey and the other does not." Ves said. Ketis looked amused. "Correct. The two proposals emphasize different advantages. The pure configuration of the First Sword is a commitment to staying true to the swordsman mech archetype. Saint Dise will not be burdened by any distractions or compromises that can reduce her ace mech's ability to rely purely on the sword in her hands to vanquish every enemy. It is a configuration that is exceptionally strong against enemies that cannot cope with powerful swordsman mechs, but will struggle against many other

Enemies."

"And the other?"

"The sword fey configuration of the First Sword is a risky attempt at increasing the ace

Mech's versatility and ability to handle a more diverse range of situations. Dise should be able to empower her sword fey to a similar degree to how Saint Commander Casella can empower other combat assets on the battlefield, but in a stronger and more specialized manner. If Saint Dise can become good at this, her sword fey may become strong enough to eliminate entire swarms of alien phasefighters at once. The downside is that I am not yet certain whether it will strengthen the First Sword against massive opponents

Such as alien phase lords. The latter is one of the reasons why I am thinking about

Choosing the pure configuration instead."

"You think the plainer and more boring ace mech configuration is better?" Ves frowned.

"The First Sword was never about relying on gimmicks to win her duels. The pure configuration takes the known strength of the current First Sword and makes everything stronger and better. This way, there is little ambiguity in what has improved

And whether the changes are stable. The sword fey configuration is a big gamble. If the fey do not live up to their potential, then the First Sword will never be able to reach her full potential during the critical years ahead. This can have devastating ripple effects on the Red War. What if this change causes the ace swordsman mech to lose crucial battles,

Thereby leading to the eventual collapse of our civilization? This is why the safest option

Is a legitimate

Choice."

"I see."

"Either way, I do not see a place for Gloriana's work in either proposals."

"I OBJECT TO THAT!"

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