The Mech Touch

The Carmine Revolution had kicked into a lower gear ever since Ves backed off and allowed his colleagues to take the word.

It didn't matter because the flames of the revolution had already spread. People needed time to process what they learned and discuss the implications of piloting Carmine mechs with their buddies.

In the meantime, the other participants of the Swarm Project were not weak. Each of them represented the elites of their respective factions at their generation range. Their design philosophies may not be as exciting as his own, but they were helpful in other ways.

Many listeners had become thoroughly convinced of the value of having an organic super-large enhanced cockpit.

Just the fact that it could effectively preserve their Blood Pact and subsequently their right to pilot a Carmine mech turned it into a precious possession that had to be preserved at all cost!

Fortunately for many ordinary people who dreamed of becoming a Carmine mech pilot, Vector Loban and Romanda Devos both put a lot of thought and effort into fulfilling this overarching demand.

"The Biodomes as we have named the organic super-large enhanced cockpits of the Yellow Jacket designs serve as the cores of your Carmine mechs." Lady Romanda of the Devos Ancient Clan summarized. "They are designed with survivability in mind. Professor Loban and I have sought to maximize the role that the organic mass can play in increasing its odds of survival. Due to limited cost, the Biodomes designed for the base models of the Yellow Jackets do not excel in resisting damage. Its main philosophy is that the less time spent on the battlefield, the better. That is why it primarily relies on rapidly evacuating from the battlefield to ensure its survival and the survival of its bonded pilot."

That was a decision made out of helplessness. The design budgets for the Yellow Jackets were too low to afford any luxuries. The two Senior Mech Designers had to make the most out of a limited pool of resources, so they put mobility first and defense second. The Biodomes therefore turned into the equivalent of really small and weaponless light

Mechs.

The Furnace Mitochondria implanted in all of the organic cells therefore played a very important role by providing temporary speed boosts that were otherwise not possible. It was risky to burn up the mass of the Biodomes in order to amplify their acceleration, but it was better than lingering in a high-risk area for a few seconds too long! Vector Loban mentioned a solution that could help with that. "We understand that many Carmine mech pilots have a strong interest in doing their utmost to preserve their Biodomes if your Yellow Jackets have fallen. We have devised an elaborate virtual reality training simulation program where you can pilot a variety of Biodomes, both standard and custom ones, through a large selection of realistic battle conditions. Many of them are replicated from the recent battles of the Red Offensive, so they can teach you highly realistic lessons on how to survive on the modern battlefield. We advise every Carmine mech pilot to invest at least 200 hours in this virtual training before they set off to fight." All of these precautions shouldn't be necessary if breaking the Blood Pact did not have such serious consequences.

If Ves and Alexa Streon succeeded in developing Carmine mech dynasties, then all of this emphasis on the Biodomes should no longer be necessary.

Other mech designers may also be able to develop solutions that could make Biodomes unnecessary.

However, so long as the current iteration of the Carmine System remained stuck with these limitations, the Biodomes were still very necessary.

While the Biodomes mainly relied on speed and maneuverability to stay intact, there were many situations where accidents couldn't be avoided. The Biodomes needed a buffer in order to account for unavoidable accidents.

"In order to help the Biodomes resist attacks, whether targeted or not, we have also left open the option to install small-scale shield generators inside their organic structure, particularly non-rechargeable models that offer a small window of relatively strong defense for a single time." Lady Romanda informed everyone. "Due to cost constraints, the base models of the Yellow Jackets do not include them, but you may request the installation of any shield generators that fit the requirements from a vendor. Alternatively, customers can decide how to make use of this option after they have purchased the Yellow Jackets."

This was the best way to approach this matter. The Biodomes were extremely important, and every Carmine mech pilot would be interested in protecting them as much as

Possible.

Not everyone could afford a good solution, though. The Biodomes were designed to work just fine without integrated shield generators, but it would still be nice to have them. Wealthier employers and mech pilots could choose to purchase these shield generators themselves and install them into the Biodomes with ease.

If the budget was not enough, then the Carmine mech pilot better hope that he put in a lot of practice in piloting virtual Biodomes!

Vector Loban and Romanda Devos finally concluded their lecture on the Biodomes.

"An important piece of information that we need to disclose is that the production, modification and use of Biodomes is subject to stricter regulation from the Red Association." The female Terran mech designer warned. "The Carmine System may be less prone to malfunction due to physical changes than the neural interface, but the consequences are still severe. Caution must always be taken to ensure that the Biodomes can permit Carmine mech pilot to interface with their Carmine mechs without excessive risks."

People needed to learn to treat the Carmine System with the same degree of caution as the neural interface. The Red Association had already conducted plenty of secret tests that produced a variety of bad outcomes due to improper tech implementation.

Of course, there was no reason to disclose these outcomes to the public. It was enough to let their imagination run.

Once Vector and Romanda stepped back, Lord Richard Brownstone proceeded to step forward.

"I am Richard, scion of the Brownstone Principality of the Rubarthan Pact." The Senior Mech Designer briefly introduced himself. "I have been tasked with bestowing the Yellow Jackets with a range of versatile offensive options. In order to maximize the choices available to the mech market, every Yellow Jacket boasts 6 standardized modular sockets that are mounted to the sides of the mech frame. They can be mounted with limbs that allow for surface locomotion, weapon systems to turn them into frontline mechs, support systems to grant them additional utility or more. Each modular addition will increase the cost and piloting burden of the Yellow Jacket, so this arrangement is designed to accommodate the unique conditions of every individual Carmine mech

Pilot."

Modular solutions were not always the most optimal ones. The lack of specialization and the need to account for a broad variety of options often led to suboptimal design

Choices.

However, a modular weapon loadout system fit well with the Yellow Jackets as they were Carmine mechs that would inevitably get used by a huge variety of individuals and

Groups.

There was no way the design team could cater to the needs of every segment. A one-size-fits-all solution may be a decent solution, but would still leave a lot of people

Dissatisfied.

Hence the reason why Ves and the others readily committed to this modular solution. This way, every customer could configure their Yellow Jackets however they liked in exchange for losing a bit of efficiency.

"The base models of the Yellow Jacket are designed to tolerate a large variety of different weapon and support modules, but work best with low-end products." Lord Richard Brownstone continued. "It is not impossible to mount high-end modules onto the Yellow Jackets, but they may induce excessive strain or demand more power than the Carmine mechs are able to provide. If you wish to pilot a more powerful Carmine mech, then it is best to wait for Professor Larkinson to publish a product targeted to the upper segments of the mech market."

The speakers had repeatedly emphasized that the Yellow Jackets were exclusively

Targeted towards the bottom segments. This thoroughly frustrated the rich and powerful that could easily afford a mech that was tens or hundreds of times more expensive than the Yellow Jackets at the relevant tech levels.

How long did they need to wait until they could fulfill their lost dreams of piloting a

Mech?!

While they could always go ahead and buy a cheap Yellow Jacket before letting the mech designers on retainer upgrade the machine as much as possible, this sounded like a

Sketchy and unreliable solution!

What if stuff went wrong? What if Professor Larkinson published a genuine high-end Carmine mech that possessed advantages that could never be attained from a Yellow

Jacket?

These rich and powerful people understood the value of patience. They were willing to wait a few years until they gained access to more appropriate solutions. Of course, during this time, nothing must happen to Professor Larkinson!

As the inventor of the Carmine System and the only person who possessed the ability to design Carmine mechs from scratch, he needed to be protected and allowed to do his

Thing as much as possible!

Alexa Streon also had to be guarded carefully. If the worst ever happened to the Larkinson Patriarch, then his direct disciple was probably the only successor who could pick up where Professor Larkinson left off with the Carmine System in the short term!

Perhaps later on, more and more people may eventually be able to learn or replicate Professor Larkinson's design philosophy.

It would be great if he realized his design philosophy and opened the path to all mech designers, but who knew how long it took for him to advance.

Would he be able to match or break the Polymath's record, or was he one of those sprinters who made a lot of progress early in their careers, only to burn out and slow to a

Crawl?

A lot of people from the upper layer of society began to make plans in secret designed to support or sustain Professor Larkinson and his many interests.

In any case, after Richard provided enough explanations on the modularity of the Yellow

Jackets, he proceeded to introduce his own offensive contribution to the Carmine mech

Designs. "While the Yellow Jackets can accommodate any third-party modular attachment that have been designed in compliance to the specifications that we have set, I have worked to design a standard weapon system that should work well in many situations." The outlines of the distinctively designed gauss gun modules slotted into the sockets of the Yellow Jackets lit up, attracting the attention of the public.

"The Onager A/B/C Enriched Gauss Gun System is capable of firing hyper gauss rounds

Of notable caliber at relatively low firing rates. The modular weapons not only feature high damage and high impact power for a mech of this price category, but can also be loaded with my specially developed enriched gauss projectiles. Every round can contain different payloads that can produce different effects, from normal explosions to spreading exotic particles that inhibit transphasic energy shields. I have already designed a large variety of enriched gauss projectiles that can produce good results in many different combat situations, but third party developers are welcome to use my templates and develop their own custom enriched gauss projectiles."

The charm in the Onager System did not lie in the gauss weapons, but the projectiles

They fired!

Many mech insiders instantly understood how the Onagers extended the modularity and versatility of the Yellow Jackets. As long as a customer was willing to work with the limitations of kinetic weapon systems, they could get a lot of use out of Richard Brownstone's work!

Of course, there were plenty of other customers that preferred to arm their mechs with energy weapons. The Yellow Jackets did not prohibit this option.

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