The Mech Touch

Usually, the bed was occupied by two individuals, but this time was different.

After everything that happened just yesterday, the family that had managed to get caught up in several fights all piled up in the same bed and gave in to their exhaustion.

Now that they all enjoyed a good night's rest, the Larkinsons who roused themselves from their slumber no longer experienced as much stress and weariness as before.

Even the harrowing battles that they had witnessed at much closer distances than was safe no longer remained seared in their minds.

The memories had sunk in and the frightening moments no longer haunted them as much.

As Ves slowly opened his eyes, he could feel several weights resting on his body.

The first one was familiar. Lucky had decided to use his chest as his improvised bed. The gem cat had suffered a nasty blow yesterday and still bore his scars.

Ves had no way of repairing his cat. Only Lucky's self-regeneration ability could bring him back to his peak form. That would take time, which meant that the cat would retain his shabby appearance for several weeks.

Lucky didn't suffer as much, though.  He was a tough little kitty so he could still bear with his current situation. Much of his damage was confined to his exterior which did not cripple his functionality in any way aside from lowering his defenses.

The other weight on his chest happened to be his middle child. Andraste had gotten absolutely crazy about Ketis' swordsmanship. She wanted to be able to beat up enemies in the exact same fashion when she grew up in the future!

"Keeeetisss…" The red-headed girl murmured as she woke up as well. "I wanna master the sword as well…"

Ves made a funny expression. He lifted up his arm to pat his girl on her head. "Hey, Ketis may be strong, but she is not your mother. There are other people you can look up to as well, you know. What about me? What about your mother?"

His daughter pouted. "Hmph! I don't wanna become a mech designer. It's so boring! I have made up my mind, papa. I don't need to become a mech pilot anymore. I'll become an awesome swordmaster like Ketis! Who needs a mech when just a sword will do? It will be perfect!"

"Andraste! This is your future that you are talking about!" Ves hissed as he grew a bit alarmed at her careless talk. "Do not forget that we live in the Age of Mechs. If you want to beat the strongest enemies, then piloting mechs is the best. With your mother and father taking care of all of your mech needs, we will make sure you will always have the strongest and most suitable machine for you. Ketis can pitch in as well if you insist on specializing in swordsmanship. Your chances of becoming a powerful ace pilot is much higher with the help of our proprietary tech. Swordmasters on the other hand are much more miserable. There are no other sword saints aside from the Heavensword Saint, and even he is just a byproduct from what I have heard."

His little girl stayed stubborn. She lifted herself up to a seating position and crossed her arms in imitation of Ketis!

"You're wrong, papa! Ketis is so strong that she will blaze a trail for all swordmasters! She will definitely teach me how to become a sword saint and sword god!"

Ves couldn't help but turn his head towards his wife, who looked just as perplexed as him. It was not easy to temper the outlandish expectations of a young child!

"That is enough, honey." Gloriana eventually spoke up. "You are still a baby. Before you obsess over swordsmanship, you should make sure to keep up with your other studies. Do not think I have overlooked the fact that your grades on your advanced classes have been slipping after you have been training more under Ketis. How do you expect to attend a first-class virtual mech academy if you cannot learn the required math and history classes?"

"I told you already that those classes are boring!"

"No complaints, young lady! I will not allow a child of mine to grow up to become a common thug with a sword such as Venerable Dise. Remember your identity! You are nobler than any other Larkinson. Leadership flows through your blood. If Andraste is to become the future matriarch of our clan, you must ensure that our lineage maintains a firm grip on our power base by becoming its military leader. You should start taking lessons from General Verle as well. You will be inheriting his position once you are ready to take charge."

"I don't want to be a general!" Andraste huffed again. "There is nothing good about being a general. Verle doesn't even really fight anymore. He didn't do anything but sit way behind the frontlines during yesterday's battle! Instead of charging forward and firing his gun at the evil aliens like Ketis or papa, he only stood back and kept bossing people around. He's way less awesome!"

"Meow…" Lucky echoed as he yawned.

Ves groaned. Although he knew he shouldn't take Andraste's childish remarks too seriously, he did not want her to ruin her future opportunities by making rash decisions during a crucial juncture in her life.

He reached out and grabbed his daughter so that he could pull her close to him. "General Verle is a soldier as well. He fights in a different way than other people."

"Let go, papa! I'm not listening!"

It took quite a bit of strength to keep his rambunctious daughter in place. Despite her small size, her designer genes along with other luxurious enhancements had turned her into quite a hellion. Her density and body weight exceeded that of her older sister already!

Ves sighed and hugged his baby daughter tightly. "The reason why we prefer that you become a mech officer as well is because we don't want you to follow the orders of someone outside of our immediate family. No matter how loyal General Verle and even blood relatives such as General Ark may be, they can always turn their backs against us at unexpected times. Rather than allow yourself to leave yourself open to such incidents, it is better for you to grasp the necessary power and become the person who is issuing orders to others."

"I don't need to." Andraste said in a softer tone as she melted in her father's warmth. "If I become as strong as Ketis, people will treat me just like how everyone treats god pilots."

Aurelia decided to back her up. "That's right, sis. Look at how our father and our clan managed to walk all over Davute. We ignored the government's instructions and did not receive any punishment because the officials did not want to make us angry."

"Do not encourage your younger sister like this!" Gloriana pulled back her eldest daughter. "What you are talking about is dangerous. It was far too reckless for our clan to defy the authority of an entire state. The short-term ego boost that we have received is not commensurate in value to the retaliation that our clan will endure from the institutions of the government."

Ves disagreed with his wife this time. "We got way more than an ego boost out of it, honey. We managed to strengthen our reputation and increase our brand awareness. We already enjoy a lot of advantages from cultivating a reputation for being strong and daring, and our successful attempt in bailing out Davute has earned our clan a massive amount of goodwill from other parties. You just talked to the representatives of those important companies and organizations after the end of yesterday's battle!"

"I did not know you intended to rub Davute's own incompetence back into its face at the time! If I did, I would have stayed by your side and prevented you from letting your bravado get the better of you. Our relations with the new colonial federation will become a lot more estranged as a result!"

Ves shrugged as he continued to cuddle Andraste. "It doesn't matter. I have had it with Davute. As soon as our latest pitstop is over, I am going to take my expeditionary fleet away and never come back. This is the final time I visit this blasted place."

"What?! You can't do that, Ves!"

Gloriana reacted with shock at his words, causing a bit of distress to both Aurelia and Marvaine.

"What's wrong, mama?"

"Miaow…?"

Ves looked as if he had already set his decision. "I am being serious, Gloriana. I already had this idea in mind and this recent incident is the last straw for me. Davute has given me a reminder that we can never really believe in the promises of states and the people that run them. They are entangled in too many affairs and they always want to take advantage of us somehow. Besides, while Davute may be a good place for us for the time being, that will no longer apply in the future."

"What do you mean by that, Ves?"

"We are moving up." Ves smirked. "Not only are we rapidly improving as mech designers, but we are far ahead of our other peers when it comes to obtaining phasewater, alien tech and first-class materials. Our Golden Skull Alliance already possesses the qualifications to hunt down weaker alien warfleets."

"That doesn't mean it is a good idea to fight those dangerous aliens! Do I need to remind you that our previous battles against alien warships had always been hard-fought victories?"

"We can't become complacent, Gloriana, not if we want to reach a higher station." Ves replied. "As long as we continue to upgrade our mechs and starships to quasi-first-class equivalents, we no longer have to bow our heads to ordinary colonial states such as Davute. We can rise above them and do business with them without encountering too many hindrances. It will be a lot more lucrative for us if we continue to roam the new frontier and visit many different places. That has always been the essence of our main fleet. We go wherever we can gain advantages and avoid any places that are detrimental to our interests. Eventually, our fleet will become ready to enter the upper zones."

His wife did not agree with what he said at first, but his last sentence caused her to pause.

Gloriana yearned to become a first-class mech designer. Almost no one in her position would refuse the opportunity to be promoted to the highest class of mech design.

The entry barriers were normally too great for ordinary second-class mech designers. However, with the friendship that Ves had established with Lord Pearian Yorul-Tavik along with the opportunity to send his children to first-class virtual schools, the Larkinson Clan or at least a part of it had a realistic chance to succeed in the transition!

"Forget about Davute. It's not worth your time anymore." Ves continued to persuade her. "Our local branch can continue to maintain and expand our interests here. It will always remain a fallback point in case we encounter a major setback and need to retreat to friendly territory. That is the extent of the support that Davute can provide to us. We shouldn't treat it as our main base because we will ultimately be limited by its second-class circumstances."

"Davute is not completely limited to second-raters, Ves. One of the secrets I have learned while I was socializing with other local socialites is that the founding groups are either first-class organizations or have ties to them. It is not impossible for us to build up a relationship with them and move up this way."

Ves gave his wife a flat stare. "Why would I do that when I am already in the good graces of the Yorul-Tavik Clan?"

"Shouldn't we build up more redundancy? You have always been paranoid about becoming overdependent on the goodwill of a single party."

"Hmm, you are right, but that doesn't invalidate my point. There is no reason to put too much stock in Davute."