The Mech Touch

Ves had an inkling that the completion of his first Woodsap mech would be an event of considerable significance to him, but he truly did not expect to draw a lightning tribulation!

Sure, the Woodsap Carmine System was a completely new and unprecedented innovation, but it was hardly the first time Ves produced a new invention.

"Why the hell is this happening now of all times?! There are so many other mech designers who are constantly coming up with fantastic new works. The work that I have done on the Elegant Rage is not even all that dramatic compared to the best of what my competitors are able to make. Why is it always me that gets plagued with these annoying storms?!"

Jovy offered a possible answer. "We have studied the phenomenon of lightning tribulations. I do not have access to the full reports, but I have read a summary which presents a theory that lightning tribulations are automatically triggered based on conditions set by an unknown intelligent being in ancient times. In more concrete terms, the more one of our modern works resemble powerful artifacts, the greater the probability of attracting lightning tribulations."

Ves twitched his lips. "I suppose that my design approach has been moving closer and closer to developing mechs as high-level artifacts."

"There is one key variable that appears to play a defining role in attracting lightning tribulations. Whoever set the trigger conditions was mainly concerned with constraining the growth and proliferation of unqualified beings and objects that draw upon E energy. Compared to the hyper mechs developed by other mech designers, it is clear that your first Woodsap mech incorporates much more advanced hyper technology and E-technology."

That made sense. Ves recalled a theory that he had stumbled upon a while ago. The power of heaven may seem ubiquitous, but it was actually finite. The galaxies that generated lots of E energy and spread it throughout their dominions wanted to ensure that its subjects would not squander this valuable resource.

Lightning tribulations served as both a punishment and reward mechanism. Anyone or anything that grew powerful enough to draw upon greater amounts of E energy had to undergo a dangerous test to prove that they were making effective use of the power of heaven.

Anything that ended up too weak clearly did not deserve to occupy a larger share of the power of heaven. From the perspective of the heavenly authority, it was better to get rid of these weaklings in order to make room for powerful minions that made more efficient use of E energy.

Anything that ended up too weak clearly did not deserve to occupy a larger share of the power of heaven. From the perspective of the heavenly authority, it was better to get rid of these weaklings in order to make room for powerful minions that made more efficient use of E energy.

Ves frowned deeper. He did not design the latest iteration of the Elegant Rage with peak combat effectiveness in mind. It was supposed to be a fairly focused attempt at creating the first Woodsap mech.

Even though the living mech had yet to be converted to an expert mech, the Elegant Rage was only able to shine when she was piloted by Venerable Lanie Larkinson.

Now that the intended pilot was far away and out of reach, much of the potential of the Elegant Rage remained locked away!

This meant that the living mech would have to survive against the coming tribulation with at least one arm tied behind her back!

"Dammit." Ves smacked his palm against his face. "If I knew that something stupid like this would happen, I would have delayed the completion of this conversion project."

It was too late for regrets!

Ves had already done the deed. Now he had to face the consequences of his decision.

"This is a disaster." Gloriana said with concern. "This couldn't happen at a worse time. Venerable Lanie is stationed far away from this planet! Who is supposed to pilot the Elegant Rage?!"

Alexa Streon had a different stance on the matter. "Why does the Elegant Rage need a pilot to survive its upcoming test? Aren't third order living mechs capable of operating on an autonomous basis? As long as the threat posed by the tribulation is limited, I think that living mech can acquit herself well."

Ves immediately rejected this option. "This is a lightning tribulation we are talking about. The Elegant Rage may have become a lot more powerful than the average third order living mech due to absorbing Venerable Lanie's breakthrough energies, but that is not enough. She is still a mech. Just because she is alive and intelligent enough to fight by herself does not mean she is meant to function this way. It is also dishonest to let the Elegant Rage face her lightning tribulation as anything other than a mech."

"Then what is your decision, sir?"

"We put a mech pilot inside the Elegant Rage. It's that simple." Ves said before turning to Jovy. "I require the services of Major Simon Jankowski yet again. Please call him up and have him teleport inside the cockpit of the Elegant Rage as soon as possible. Oh, please teleport the mech out of this workshop as soon as possible. I don't want the storm to ravage Diandi Base. It is best if you can displace my Woodsap mech in the middle of the largest forest environment in this hemisphere."

He began to kick off the air and float towards the cockpit of the mech that had managed to attract a storm. There was no need for Ves to clarify that he wanted to experience the lightning tribulation first-hand. It was such a typical action to him that no one second-guessed his decision anymore.

Jovy did not waste any time after Ves issued his instructions. He nodded even as he used his cranial implant to transmit a few emergency orders. "It will be done in half a minute. Despite the short notice of your requests, we should be able to get your mech ready in time for the start of the tribulation event. Major Jankowski happened to be on patrol at the moment."

The Premier Branch had yet to field its own first-class mech unit, so there were no suitable Larkinson mech pilots on hand.

Ves decided to stick with Major Jankowski of the Bluejay Fleet yet again as he was already familiar with this particular role. The RA mech officer had managed to advance to expert candidate during the disastrous tribulation of the Elemental Lord.

He found it quite fitting that the mech pilot who did his best but failed to change the Elemental Lord's fate would have a chance to redeem himself by piloting the Elegant Rage.

The valuable experiences that Major Jankowski accrued during the last attempt should serve him well this time. Not only was he familiar with the many dangers and taboos related to lightning tribulation, he also experienced the wonder of piloting a hyper mech that possessed a strong command over the classical elements.

Compared to the ill-fated Elemental Lord, the much more modest Elegant Rage only commanded a single element. There were much fewer variables to worry about. The lightning tribulation attracted by the Woodsap mech was obviously a lot weaker as well.

"Your mech will be teleported in 5 seconds!" Jovy shouted. "The rest of us will remain here and observe the tribulation event behind the workstations. Good luck, Ves."

A shimmer ran throughout the Elegant Rage as she was forcibly displaced to the middle of a nature preserve located dozens of kilometers away.

The site was not that far from the forest where the Elemental Lord made a last stand against the cruelty of the heavens.

The Elegant Rage immediately became more energetic as she had entered an environment that was highly conducive to her elemental alignment.

The artificial forest planted by the Devos Ancient Clan during the terraforming process was not particularly old or noteworthy in any way. The Devosans just sought to create a balanced ecosystem in order to produce a stable climate on the capital planet of their port system.

The Woodsap mech would have been able to gain access to significantly more wood energy if she appeared in one of the old and extremely biodiverse forests of untamed planets.

"Oh well."

Ves had to work with what he got. New Constantinople VIII was hardly the most ideal planet for the Elegant Rage to undergo this test, but it was better than making this attempt on a lifeless rock or in the middle of deep space!

This reminded him that if he ever created any other elemental Carmine mechs in the future, he better make sure that he would be prepared for lightning tribulations next time!

He intended to develop a Bloodfire mech in the medium term. He even planned to convert the Promethea into the first machine to form a Bloodfire Pact with her pilot!

Once he was ready to make this happen, Ves would definitely make sure to seek out the hottest planet that was closest to a powerful star!

He would also make sure that he only converted the Promethea into a Bloodfire mech when she had also been upgraded to the standards of a first-class ace mech.

Given that Saint Isobel Kotin was currently reduced to a brain and a spine, it would take years before she obtained a new body and became healthy enough to pilot a mech again. This gave Ves plenty of time to prepare for this potentially dramatic event.

All of these were concerns for the future. Right now, he needed to make sure that the underprepared Elegant Rage managed to survive this critical test.

A pilot teleported right onto the ebony wood piloting chair.

"You're here. That's good."

"Good day, Professor Larkinson." The RA mech officer professionally greeted. "I am not prepared for this mission, but this will not hinder me from doing what is necessary. Please summarize the information that I must know before the tribulation starts."

The storm clouds that previously emerged above Diandi Base had instantly followed the displaced Elegant Rage above a forest in an unpopulated region of the planet.

The storm was accumulating more and more power, though it was distinctly weaker than the lightning tribulations that Ves managed to attract in the past.

"The Elegant Rage is a second-class mech that is partially made out of a really powerful variant of wood." Ves said. "The problem is that I did not focus on upgrading her standard technological features. The mech designers of your Association were supposed to do that. This means that the mech is much weaker than the quasi-first-class machines that I have been working on as of late. Her defenses are weak as I have not incorporated any phasewater technology to the mech frame."

Major Jankowski immediately frowned. As a first-class mech pilot that was accustomed to the power of the renowned first-class multipurpose mechs of the Red Association, he did not look forward to wrangling with a second-class mech that was still based on an outdated Larkinson mech model!

"I am not accustomed to piloting second-class mechs, but I should be able to fight well enough. This strange wooden piloting chair is too small for my build. Can you expand it so that I can sit more comfortably?"

The ebony wooden chair began to morph immediately after he made the request. This was not a feature that Ves added to the mech.

"YOU ARE WELCOME." The living mech spoke.

"This is much better. Thank you." The RA mech major bowed his head in gratitude. "What else do I need to know, sir?"

"The current version of this mech was originally designed to function as a Woodsap mech for a very specific pilot. You will not be able to pilot the Elegant Rage to her full potential without forming a Woodsap Pact. Fortunately, there are no restrictions that hinder you from forming an old-fashioned man-machine connection with the neural interface, so you should be able to pilot this mech just like any other second-class machine."

Major Jankowski looked confused. "A wood-what mech?"

"Oh, I forgot. You probably don't have authorization to know about this classified tech. Don't think too much about it. Just focus on working together with the Elegant Rage to survive this tribulation."

"Very well."

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