The Mech Touch

While Saint Tusa stayed over at Diandi Base, he spent a bit of time with Ves and his family.

They had dinner together. After that, Tusa spent hours regaling tales about all of the battles he fought in and all of the impressive allies and enemies he encountered during his rovings.

"Is the Messenger of Silence truly that powerful?" Andraste asked as her eyes practically turned into stars.

Tusa smiled as he tousled the girl's red hair. "He is. I have fought alongside numerous other peak ace pilots. Out of all of them, none of them have impressed me more than Saint Isaiah of the Dostoevsky Ancient Clan."

"What makes him different from the others?"

"Much. His diligence is on another level. Most peak ace pilots tend to be first-raters who enjoy excellent backgrounds, and the Messenger of Silence is no exception to that rule. What is different is that his… mental issues have caused him no end of discomfort. I really do not want to wish you or anyone the same fate as his. Saint Isaiah can only truly ever gain a reprieve from all of the haunting when he pilots his Whispering Willow and actively channels his Saint Kingdom. Even that won't work forever as his ghosts will one day grow powerful enough to pierce through his domain of silence. If he wants to retain any semblance of his sanity and willpower, then he needs to break through sooner or later. He cannot afford to remain stuck in front of his bottleneck for long."

"Oh…" The girl's expression grew a little more sympathetic. "That sounds awful. If the Messenger of Silence is in pain all of the time, then he deserves to become a god pilot if he has managed to endure all of that. Is unending pain the best way for anyone to advance all the way to a god pilot?"

Saint Tusa entertained all of the children and granted them a valuable perspective on high-level mech combat. His stories and his opinions painted a brutal picture, where mechs and warships worth more than the GDP of third-rate or even second-rate states crumbled apart due to the relentless onslaught of alien attacks.

"Which powerful ace pilot is the most fun to be around?" Andraste asked next. "You already told me who is the strongest, but I don't think the Messenger of Silence knows how to have fun anymore."

"Don't think about it." Tusa sternly told Andraste. "The Messenger of Silence is the exception rather than the rule. There are many more veterans who came back broken from a losing battlefield. Far too many of them failed to pick themselves up and regain their courage to fight. What makes Saint Dostoevsky different from all of the others was that he managed to endure his emotional distress far better than practically any other mech pilot. While I am not saying that you are weaker or less able to endure all of this pain, the Messenger of Silence told me himself that he would never want to wish this treatment onto his worst enemies. If you want to become as powerful as him one day, you should work hard and do everything properly. Shortcuts are more trouble than they are worth."

"Oh…"

Saint Tusa entertained all of the children and granted them a valuable perspective on high-level mech combat. His stories and his opinions painted a brutal picture, where mechs and warships worth more than the GDP of third-rate or even second-rate states crumbled apart due to the relentless onslaught of alien attacks.

"Which powerful ace pilot is the most fun to be around?" Andraste asked next. "You already told me who is the strongest, but I don't think the Messenger of Silence knows how to have fun anymore."

The Larkinson ace pilot thought for a moment. "I know what you mean. There are numerous ace pilots that are 'fun', I suppose. Let me tell you, the one that is known as the Gamer is as eccentric as the rumors say. He's not the most respectful to others, but it is understandable given his 'condition'. I like his optimism, though. He is definitely the most positive of all of the peak ace pilots I have met. His confidence is probably greater than his peers. I don't know if he will be able to bridge the ultimate gap, but I have a good feeling about him. If not… then at least he has made sure that a lot of people will never forget about him. He will live on in our memories as the ace pilot who constantly strives for self-improvement."

"He sounds cool. Which ace pilot is the prettiest?"

"The True Diva." Tusa replied. "Every ace pilot is handsome or beautiful. They can afford it given how wealthy and powerful they have become. Not that they need any additional treatments as they are all designer babies like you. They were born beautiful."

Aurelia looked intrigued. "If that is the case, shouldn't all female ace pilots be as beautiful as each other?"

"You would think that, but beauty encompasses more than your skin or what you are wearing. It is your personality, your charisma, your ability to connect with others and your willingness to lift others up with your presence that also forms a part of your inner beauty. The True Diva… shines above the rest in this regard." Tusa wistfully said with a reminiscing smile.

Aurelia and Andraste both adopted admiring looks.

"It is so cool that you got to meet and fight alongside all of those powerful heroes. Each of them has a chance of becoming a god pilot! How awesome would it be to be acquaintances with a future god?"

Tusa chuckled at that. "It is in your nature to look up and admire them all, but don't look down on yourself. Each of you are amazing as well, especially at your age. I was still running around throwing mud balls at my cousins and stuff when I was a boy. As inspiring as it is to bask in the presence of all of these ace pilots, if you want to become one of them one day, then you need to believe in yourself first and foremost. If I acted like you two and turned myself into their fans, I would have already lost the confidence and belief in myself that I need to bring me up to their level. If you yearn for greatness, you cannot admire anyone else's greatness aside from your own. Remember that, girls."

Once Tusa was done with entertaining and giving life lessons to the kids, he finally met up with Ves in his office.

Now that the two had entered a more private setting, they could speak more candidly with each other, though with the obvious caveat that the Red Association was likely eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You've picked up a lot during your travels." Ves spoke first.

"Yes. I opened my horizons to what was taking place outside of the Larkinson Clan. So much is happening that I never paid attention to until now. It makes me feel… smaller, in a way. The new frontier is much bigger than I always thought, and there are lots of mech pilots that are smarter, wiser and more powerful than me. It is humbling for me to visit different battlefields and consistently get upstaged by those who can bend reality much better than myself."

"I hope that you too will be counted among their number."

"You can be sure of it." Tusa confidently grinned. "I know I am weaker than most of them, but that is because they have a head-start, that is all. When it comes to advancing to god pilot, being the fastest doesn't mean they have the highest chance of breaking through. I think I can win a race against most of them as long as I make good use of my time. That is one of the most important lessons I have learned. God pilots are never the sort of people who are happy with following an ordinary schedule or pacing themselves. They are people of action. So long as I fight more than others, I will definitely be able to catch up to the older generation."

"That is interesting to hear. I am glad that you remain confident and optimistic despite all of the hard fighting that you have witnessed. We need to do more in order to keep up the fight against the aliens, and my upcoming trip to the Yernstall Central Star Node plays an important role in that. I have to get there and attend the Founding Ceremony in person."

"I know. You already enjoy a lot of protection from the Bluejay Fleet, but that is the problem. All of our enemies are familiar with it and will plan accordingly. Granted, the mechers have dispatched additional reinforcements to serve as backups, but that doesn't change the fact that our numbers and combat power is not truly top-tier. That is where you come on. I need your power to provide additional protection."

"I can do that. I won't necessarily like it, but I understand the need for it since you've become a real bigshot these days. I've been hearing more talk about you when I was on my tour." Tusa said with a bemused expression. "People are looking forward to the next big thing that you will unveil to us all. It's kind of funny to hear them develop expectations that you will introduce another crazy invention as if you are working on a fixed schedule. Are they wrong?"

Ves paused for a moment before he shook his head. "No. They are not. I am indeed planning to reveal a very big thing in Yernstall that is bound to shake the fabric of our entire society. That is why I need your protection. If any word of it has spread to the wrong ears, a lot of angry people will try to intercept our fleet and target my life. I need you at your best in order to foil these plots."

"You are asking much from me, Ves. I am not unwilling to act as your guard dog, but… I am not good at defending vulnerable people like you. I much prefer to be on the attack."

Ves wished that Venerable Jannzi managed to break through, but it appeared that she was taking her sweet time as well.

"Just do the best you can. We don't exactly have much choice, really."

Saint Tusa's expression turned a little painful. "About that… offensive is not my strong suit either. The Bluejay Fleet can take care of the majority of enemies that might come your way, but I doubt those mechs and warships are equipped to fight against the more powerful phase lords. I can't do much either, because my Dark Zephyr's attack power is still not that good. I am working on weaponizing my Banish resonating ability, but I think it will take years to gain serious proficiency in using this power."

"That matches my predictions. Weaponizing your Banish resonating ability is important, but not in the short term. The mission comes first. One of them may be to launch such powerful attacks that the enemy phase lords or other formidable opponents cannot defend against. This is why I am offering you a short-term solution that can negate this disadvantage… at a price."

"What are you suggesting? If you tell me that the Dark Zephyr should wear a bandolier of grenades again, I will go crazy."

"Nothing as boring as that. I want you to consider the idea of temporarily arming your Dark Zephyr with a very powerful weapon that has been collecting dust in one of our vaults for a long time."

Ves activated a projection that displayed the most powerful mech weapon that the Larkinson Clan currently had in its possession.

Tusa recognized it immediately.

"That's… that's the tier 3 Destroyer mech spear that you bought with Venerable Rosa Orfan in mind."

"Yes. I am not giving this powerful weapon to you. I am loaning it to you, for the purpose of giving your Dark Zephyr the immense lethality he needs to carve bodies of all enemy phase lords into pieces. You are not working in tandem with other ace pilots this time. You are on your own, which means you need to possess the necessary firepower to duel against enemy powerhouses and win. This mech spear shall give you the power to secure these victories."

The offer came as a complete surprise to Saint Tusa. He immediately looked troubled as he contemplated this difficult proposal.

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