The Mech Touch

After Ves concluded his pep talk to Saint Tusa, his thoughts continued to linger on Destroyer technology.

What he witnessed from Tusa's first attempt to wield the tier 3 Destroyer spear granted him plenty of interesting insights.

Life could come from the most unexpected of places, including a weapon that sought to annihilate everything if it was unleashed.

Ves suspected more and more that there was at least one rudimentary intelligence driving its behavior. It may be feral, slow or overly simplistic, but it was definitely an object that at least somewhat resembled an artifact of sorts.

From that perspective, the Terrans who trained hard to be able to wield these destructive weapons may actually function as artifact cultivators.

Mech pilots were already artifact cultivators by definition, but those that also sought to master their Destroyer weapons had to put even more effort into this aspect. They had to study these arms, drill with them and apply them in the most effective manner during battle.

Ves saw more and more parallels between Destroyer weapon wielders and the sword fanatics in his clan. Each of them treated their weapons as more than combat tools. They respected their arms so much that they may as well be living partners!

If this equivalence held true, then the same approach used by the Swordmaidens and the Heavensworders towards their weapons could also be used to harness the power of Destroyer weapons!

At least that was what Ves theorized. It remained to be seen whether it could be done in practice.

Ves just wondered how many days Tusa had left before the Bluejay Fleet stumbled upon an enemy force.

"Have the scouts found anything suspicious, Jovy?"

The Reality Trickster crossed his arms. "Our Association has detected many abnormalities of concern. Supplies have gone missing. Numerous warships and mechs have been detected in the region that were previously marked as lost or destroyed. Thousands of personnel from our Association and elsewhere no longer appeared at work. They have apparently taken a sudden leave of absence at the same time."

That last part sounded incredibly suspicious!

"I hope you guys have conducted thorough investigations on each of those fellows that randomly quit their jobs and disappeared." Ves growled.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. Our intelligence services have swarmed over their records and contacts. However, the news that we have received does not paint an optimistic picture. The disappeared personnel have not left behind any clues that could help us root out other cosmopolitans hiding in our society. The terrorists are far too experienced and professional to present such vulnerabilities. The missing individuals were always waiting to be activated for any reason. They were deliberately kept away from any of the cells of the Cosmopolitan Movement for that reason."

"Ugh. Then we can't expose and drive out the cosmopolitans unless we actually deploy kinship networks throughout our entire society."

"It seems that way." Jovy responded. "It is currently not politically feasible to make it mandatory for every human to connect to a kinship network, but after learning more about how well the cosmopolitans are able to infiltrate our upper ranks, it has become increasingly more attractive to mandate our leadership as well as the personnel working for our most important research institutions to subject themselves to this additional form of supervision. Back during the Age of Mechs, the Cosmopolitan Movement had always been an afterthought for us. Not so in the Age of Dawn. The cosmopolitans are partially responsible for triggering the Great Severing, and they have leaked so much human high technology to the native aliens that they are indirectly responsible for the deaths of far too many red humans. We truly cannot tolerate their continued infiltration in our highest halls any further."

The bigshots were finally beginning to recognize the enormous threat posed by these human traitors, but perhaps they had done so a bit too late.

The cosmopolitans helped the native aliens so much that the Red War had already swung heavily in their favor!

Red humanity was on the backfoot. It would take a huge amount of effort to regain the advantage and launch a counterattack.

"So what we currently know is that the cosmopolitans are definitely up to no good, right?" Ves went back to the previous topic. "The clues that you have found indicate that they will definitely participate in the fighting themselves. We should expect hostile mechs and warships, correct?"

Jovy nodded. "Maybe starfighters as well. We do not have information on what the cosmopolitans that have infiltrated the Red Fleet have done."

"Great. And this does not preclude the possibility of aliens joining the party as well. The cosmopolitans are the only human group that get along well with them, so it makes sense for them to team up and combine the strengths of both human and alien methods."

Jovy nodded. "That appears to be increasingly more likely. We project that the cosmopolitans do not have the strength needed to challenge our expanded fleet by themselves. They have to resort to outside help. They will seek a means to smuggle a sizable alien force all the way to their chosen ambush site. It will be difficult for them to do so given how extensively we are monitoring the surroundings, but the cosmopolitans and the native aliens can probably overcome our monitoring networks if they combine their respective means."

There was no certainty whether that would happen, but Ves felt it was safer to assume the worst.

"Do you have any indications how soon we will meet their ambush?"

"Their window of opportunity is closing. It was already relatively small to begin with as all of the ships of our fleet are equipped with superdrives. A journey that used to take weeks can now be completed in days. Your enemies must act with haste in order to intercept us before we arrive in Yernstall. Their only other opportunity to strike at your life is when we depart from the central star node, but by then your adversaries have acted too late to prevent you from damaging their interests."

In other words, the cosmopolitans and the native aliens must definitely act sooner rather than later!

Ves grew more unsettled as he became intimidated by the surprises that the cosmopolitans and the native aliens had in store.

The two were quite powerful, and would never resort to average means in order to take away his life.

However, Ves had already committed himself to this path, so there was no use entertaining any second thoughts. He could spend much better by preparing for the inevitable confrontation.

Ves decided to bring up a topic that had frequently occupied his mind as of late.

"What do you know about Destroyer weapons, Jovy?"

"Is this about the spear that has created several holes in the bulkheads earlier?"

"Yes. I have been trying to figure out how they work and such. I have a lot of ideas, but very little solid facts. I was hoping that you can share more of the latter."

That caused the RA Senior to furrowed his brow. "Destroyer weapons do not fall under my expertise. What I know is not much. It is no secret that our Association has coveted the power of Destroyer weapons for a long time. Our attempts at replicating them have persistently failed. I am quite certain that we do not have a secret research team working under a Star Designer that has secretly uncovered the secret to making them. Destroyer particles are far too difficult to work with. They are highly volatile and continually seek to destroy everything, including any containers. They can do more than destroy matter. They can also erase energy and other intangible phenomena. These particles possess so many confounding properties that we have not been able to decipher the essence of their existence."

"Do you think that Destroyer particles or Destroyer weapons are alive?"

"Not necessarily. Have you come to a different conclusion?"

"I have. My sensitivity towards life is very strong. I can definitely sense traces of life from that tier 3 Destroyer spear."

That caused Jovy to look intrigued. "That is valuable input. Perhaps a number of our mech designers have suspected this already, but your testimony will help us embrace this apparent truth. What does it actually mean for the Destroyer weapon to be alive?"

"Well, just treat it like one of my early living mechs. There are many implications, but most are rather subtle. I haven't really verified this theory yet. It only remains speculation on my part."

"What would it take for you to confirm your new pet theory about Destroyer weapons? Are you waiting for Saint Tusa to gain control over his weapon with the help of your advice?"

"That would certainly provide support to my theory, but… it is not conclusive enough. I am actually thinking about… wielding the spear myself."

"...Are you serious, Ves? You are talking about a tier 3 Destroyer spear here. This is a weapon that is so dangerous that only ace pilots and stronger can wield it without receiving harm in return. Their strong willpower is essential to keeping the Destroyer weapons under their control. You may have the… raw physicality to wield a spear of this size, but you do not possess the corresponding willpower."

Ves smirked back at Jovy. "If a few of my theories about the nature and mechanisms of Destroyer weapons and Destroyer particles are correct… then it may not be necessary for me to possess willpower as strong as that of an ace pilot in order to safely wield the spear."

"Are you seriously thinking about participating in the next fight in person by fighting as a phase lord armed with the tier 3 Destroyer spear?"

Ves laughed. "Hahaha! That's a funny idea! I am not that eager to test out my theories. I know my limitations. I am not a soldier. I don't know how to fight, and especially not with a spear. It is best to leave the tier 3 Destroyer weapon to a professional soldier who knows what to do with it. I hope that Tusa will be able to have better luck on his second attempt at wielding the powerful spear."

"And what if… the results remain the same?"

"I will think about wielding it for myself if it comes to that." Ves seriously said. "I have… a few ideas on how I can wield it safely. Untested ideas, though. The issue is that my weapon handling skills are abysmal. Sure, I know how to stab a spear forward, but there is no way I can use this spear as well as a specialist such as Venerable Rosa Orfan."

"We can give you a crash course." Jovy offered. "There has to be at least one soldier in our fleet that specializes in spearmanship. Even if there are no true specialists, any first-class mech pilot has built up at least a basic level of proficiency in wielding spears. They are expected to be able to fight adequately with all of the basic melee and ranged weapon types that are common in mech combat."

Ves usually rejected the notion that he should spend his time on weapons training.

He usually considered it a waste of time because he could leave the fighting to professional soldiers.

Instead of trying to branch out to become something he was not, he was better off devoting his time to designing mechs.

This was different, though. Ves was not sure whether the protection of a single ace pilot was enough to handle all of the major threats approaching in his direction. If he had no choice but to enter the field in person, then it would be better if he knew how to handle a polearm!

Even if his plan with the tier 3 Destroyer spear did not work out, he could always wield a regular transphasic hyper spear that the mechers had in stock. He could even choose to whip out his Oceancaller and wield it in a similar fashion.

"I accept your offer." Ves said, which actually caught Jovy by surprise! "I can use a bit of weapons training. I fear I may actually need it very soon."

"Well, let us all hope that you are mistaken."

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