The Mech Touch

Admiral Gori Tensen of the Bluejay Fleet was not happy with the accident caused by the Dark Zephyr's first attempt to wield the tier 3 Destroyer spear.

The damage could have been much worse as the highly potent Destroyer spear possessed the capacity to produce a much greater and more concentrated outburst of destructive energies!

Such an incident could have caused the spear to transmit a beam of concentrated destruction energies that could have easily punched through multiple transphasic energy shields and pierce through dozens of meters of strong ship-grade alloys!

That would have been enough to pierce through the bulkheads of the cargo bay and penetrate adjacent compartments, some of which held important functional systems or valuable supplies!

Fortunately, none of that occurred. The outburst remained fairly tame and only nearly inflicted grievous damage on the Dark Zephyr.

The damage to the bulkheads and underlying electrical parts was not light, but it was not that important. The spacers assigned to the heavy cruiser came in shortly afterwards and began to conduct repairs to restore the broken components and fill up all of the gaps in the bulkheads.

As far as Ves was concerned, his cousin's ego suffered the greatest blow from the recalcitrant weapon.

The ace pilot had shut down his ace mech and left the cockpit shortly afterwards so that he could cool his head in an empty ready room.

Saint Tusa's head hung low as he sat on his bench without changing out of his custom piloting suit. The morose air produced by his diminished domain field made it clear that his mood was anything but good.

Lucky decided to keep Tusa company. The gem cat acted like his cute self and repeatedly nudged the pilot's side in order to beg for pets.

Sadly, Tusa was not in the right headspace to appreciate Lucky's companionship.

"Meow…"

Ves sighed before he approached and lifted Lucky in his arms.

"You are taking this way too hard, Tusa. You are not like the Terran ace pilots who have been wielding Destroyer weapons of escalating tiers step-by-step. You only had a short time to train yourself in their use. It is unreasonable to expect you to be able to harness a tier 3 Destroyer spear with so little preparation. It is actually quite impressive that you managed to hold it for a short time without actually harming yourself in the process."

"That was because my machine and I were fast enough to push away from the spear before it produced a backlash." Tusa said in a bitter voice. "That wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to be able to maintain a grip on it at all times. It was easy enough for me to do so when my mech did nothing but hold it still. It was when I started to swing it around that my control started to slip. The more the spear is moved, the more the Destroyer particles become agitated. That is how I lost control over it. They became too active and violent for me to keep them in line."

Ves sighed and sat down on the bench next to the ace pilot. He idly petted Lucky's back as he thought on how he should address this problematic situation.

"I put you up to this task with the awareness that it would not be easy for you to control the spear. The outcome that happened today is not outside of the bounds of expectation. I know that ace pilots like yourself make a living off defying such stuff, but you can't win every game. Wielding Destroyer weapons is so far outside of your expertise that failure is not a big deal."

His discouraged cousin let out a deep breath. "I know. I am not stupid, you know. I know that I am not supposed to be ready to handle the spear yet, but… I don't like it when others think that I am weak and unable to do something. I see it as a personal test to wield this weapon effectively enough that I can use it in battle. Obviously, I did not pass my test."

"Tusa, ambition is good, but that does not mean you can fulfill your goals right away. Mastering a Destroyer weapon of this tier takes a lot more dedication than this. If you want to do better, then moping around like this is definitely not the way to go. Time is of the essence, so you need to get your head back together and get back to focusing on more productive thoughts."

His cousin obviously agreed with that sentiment. The ace pilot consciously tried to shove away his disappointment in himself and reset his mentality as best as possible.

"Okay. Let's figure out how I can do better next time. You took a good look at my performance, right? Do you have anything to say that you think is helpful?"

"I do. Let me describe what I have learned from the perspective of a mech designer and a cultivation scientist." Ves said as he deliberately shifted to a professional tone. "From what I have ascertained, Destroyer particles are neither purely material nor spiritual in nature. They are a different classification of 'matter' that exhibits traits of both. Perhaps they are the product of fusing physical matter and E energy, or perhaps they originate from the start of the universe. Whatever the case, their unusual classification has several important implications."

"And those are…?"

Ves smiled. "Destroyer particles might not be made of pure E energy, but they have enough in common for me to believe that they behave the same when influenced by conscious thoughts and emotions. They are spiritually active and reactive. The direction of your thoughts and emotions definitely influences their behavior. While the Destroyer particles are inherently volatile and prone to lash out at anything, I think that there is a more elegant way to harness the power of the spear."

That caught Tusa's interest. He had tried it his way before, but that obviously yielded less than desirable results. That put him in a mood where he was more open to outside advice than usual.

"What is this elegant solution that you are proposing?"

"Earlier, I stated that Destroyer particles possess at least some of the traits of E energy. That immediately leads me to wonder whether Destroyer particles are either alive or part of a living entity. I keenly observed the spear and its volatile particles in order to pick up clues that could help me determine the answer."

"And what did you find out, Ves?"

"I don't think the Destroyer particles themselves are alive, at least not in a traditional sense." Ves stated. "Take it from an expert in this field. The individual particles are lifeless. However, that does not necessarily mean that the collection of Destroyer particles stuffed inside the speartip is lifeless as well."

Tusa struggled to comprehend what the mech designer just said. "I… don't get it. You first tell me that it is not alive, but then you claim the opposite."

"You are not interpreting my words correctly. You at least took basic biology lessons once upon a time, right? The body of a typical human is made out of a huge number of individual organic cells. These cells are all alive and can sort of sustain themselves on their own. However, the cells are made out of molecules and atoms. These particles are definitely not alive, as they do not meet the criteria of such. It is only when they are mashed together in specific ways that life emerges. I think that exposure to E energy radiation has fueled this tendency. You shouldn't blindly follow the advice of Terrans. Their experiences are mostly derived from wielding Destroyer weapons that have not been fed by E energy radiation for several years. That changes things, you know. E energy is a force of change and growth. Nothing can remain static under its influence."

The ace pilot finally comprehended what Ves was getting at. "Are you truly claiming that the Destroyer spear is alive just because it concentrates a large amount of Destroyer particles?"

"Yes." Ves decisively answered. "I am stretching the definition of 'alive' here. It is not as intelligence, responsive and insightful as a third order living mech. Don't expect to be able to converse with it like your Dark Zephyr. As far as I can tell, the living element is very weak, perhaps comparable to a first order living mech or maybe a sub-order weaker. To be honest, I don't think anyone else is able to notice this nuance aside from god pilots."

The revelation surprised the Larkinson ace pilot. Despite how much time he spent with his own living mech, he never once treated the Destroyer spear as a living object. He automatically assumed that it was just a lifeless weapon just like any other product made by others.

Now that his perspective on the Destroyer spear changed, Tusa began to frown as he understood a little better why he did not deserve to wield the weapon in battle.

"That partially explains what happened." Saint Tusa said. "I really screwed up, didn't I? My approach towards the Destroyer spear should have worked if it was an unthinking and unfeeling object. If it was actually alive, then… I must have disrespected it a lot by assuming an arrogant stance. I tried to force it to acknowledge me by ignoring all of the expectations and requirements that it has set onto its wielders. Maybe a sincere Terran ace pilot who has learned how to respect Destroyer weapons for his entire career will be able to wield it without any danger."

"I think so as well." Ves agreed. "Respect is the key. Even though this tier 3 Destroyer spear is not alive in the same way as a living mech, it is best if you pretend otherwise. Don't try to dominate. Try to cooperate instead. Befriend it. Seduce it. Make it like you. It will take more effort, but it is probably worth it. In fact, I don't think you should use your primary domain in your new approach."

Tusa caught on quickly. "Are you telling me to rely on Blackwing instead?"

"Why not? I mean, you already botched your introduction with the Destroyer spear by trying to impose your freedom on it. Letting Blackwing take the lead and use his shadow domain to ingratiate himself to the spear may yield better results. The shadow element falls under negative energy. The same goes for the destruction element. Take advantage of that to build a bridge between Blackwing and the spear."

"This… do you think it will actually work? It sounds as if you are underestimating the intelligence of a very powerful weapon."

"No, I don't think so. I'm the expert on life here, remember? I am very certain that the powerful weapon is not too alive. That means that you should not be able to distinguish Blackwing from yourself. So long as you present Blackwing as a separate existence from yourself, everything should be fine."

Such a deception would never work on a typical human, but it may be different for the tier 3 Desetroyer spear!

In fact, Ves did not have total guarantee that it would work.

There was another possibility that he declined to share with Saint Tusa.

Ves came up with an alternative theory about the behavior of Destroyer particles.

It may be that his previous theory was right and that the tier 3 Destroyer spear acted much like an organic cell that exhibited the basic traits of life.

However, there were also higher orders of life, usually exhibited by large multi-celled organisms.

One of the theories that Ves entertained in his mind was that Destroyer particles actually came from a much greater whole!

This alternate explanation had many implications. One of them was that every Destroyer weapon might be connected to a much more powerful living being, one that not only served as the original source of Destruction particles, but was still able to exert at least a small amount of control over them no matter the distance!

Though Ves had no solid proof that could back up this spurious theory, it might explain why people other than Terrans and authorized people were able to crack the secrets to Destroyer particles and produce their own Destroyer weapons!

If his guess happened to be right, then it became even more important for Tusa to treat the tier 3 Destroyer weapon with respect instead of the opposite!

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