The Mech Touch

ns at the same time.
Professor Velten ’s team barely managed to scrape by with only three designs.

Like a lonesome granny who only saw her grandparents once a year, Professor Velten treated Ves, Pierce and Laida like they were precious treasures.

”Three Apprentices have already arrived from the Rittersberg region.
Along with your arrival, that makes six fresh faces.
Sadly, that ’s the extent of their generosity.
They haven ’t even sent us some much-needed Journeymen! ”

After ranting a bit about the lack of concern from headquarters, Professor Velten returned to the topic at hand.

”It ’s best if the three of you split up and each take part of one of the three projects in development.
It is not as if the addition of three extra Apprentices to a single project will make any difference compared to sending only one.
It takes at least ten more mech designers for the synergy to become apparent. ”

The professor didn ’t let them choose their assignment.
She briefly read their profiles and track records and arbitrarily added them to the teams that best matched their skills.

”Miss Nnvist, you will be joining the design team that is working on the Inheritor spaceborn skirmisher design. ”

”Mr.
Yuvalis, you shall be joining the design team that ’s responsible for improving the Akkara heavy mech design. ”

”As for you, Mr.
Larkinson, you will fit wonderfully with the design team that is developing the successor to the Hellcat spaceborn hybrid knight design. ”

What? A spaceborn hybrid knight design?

Before Ves could puzzle over the extensive challenges behind designing a hybrid knight with enough capacity to support a flight system, Professor Velten pushed them out and ordered them to meet with their respective design teams.
The professor unceremoniously shooed them away from her office.

Once the hatch locked, they all looked at each other.

”The professor is a little senile, is she not? ” Ves remarked.

Neither Laida nor Pierce dared to comment on Professor Velten ’s mental state.
She was a Senior Mech Designer after all.
Even if they left her presence, she could still be listening in through the countless bugs embedded in this compartment.

Ves sighed.
As someone who met a Master Mech Designer in the flesh, the prestige of a Senior Mech Designer hardly fazed him.
He even found the professor to be a rather pitiful person.
Perhaps her erratic mind was the reason why she lead the design team of the Vandals.

After consulting their comms, they split up and entered different compartments.
Ves entered a sub-lab area where three other Apprentices sat behind a row of terminals performing various simulations and microadjustment of the latest iteration of the Hellcat design.

The other Apprentices stopped their work once Ves entered the compartment.
A thin man with a towering height in his late thirties looked up from the schematics of a power reactor and turned his attention to Ves.

”Have you come from Professor Velten? ”

”Yes, sir.
These are my orders. ”

Ves passed over a data chip to the Journeyman, who slipped it into his terminal and read the contents.

One tidbit caused the man to stop his perpetual glower for a moment.
”You ’re a Larkinson? Are you related to… ”

This was a familiar refrain to Ves.
”Yes, I ’m part of the Larkinson Family. ”

A few seconds passed.

”Very well then. ” The Journeyman nodded and resumed reading his records.
”It says here that you have experience in designing hybrid knights. ”

”Not exactly, sir.
I haven ’t designed a hybrid knight from scratch.
I developed a variant of an existing model. ”

”Which base model? ”

”The Caesar Augustus. ”

That caused the tall man to scowl.
”That piece of crap?! Why did you waste your time on that bloated mess? ”

”I didn ’t have any choice.
I received its production license from a generous grant. ”

After making it clear that Ves didn ’t deliberately choose to work with the Caesar Augustus, the Journeyman calmed down.
”Very well then.
Despite your limit track record, at least you know your way around with hybrid knights.
Do mind you, a spaceborn hybrid knight is a radically different creature from a landbound hybrid knight, so don ’t think you have the edge over your fellow Apprentices. ”

The Journeyman bobbed his head towards the three young Apprentices who sat attentively as they studied Ves.

”My name is Alloc Brandstad, and I ’m the only Journeyman Mech Designer that lasted more than five years under Professor Velten ’s supervision. ”

Alloc spoke those words with an exhausted tone.He shook his head and returned Ves his data chip.
”Keep that chip safe.
Otherwise you ’ll get in trouble with the Wolf Mother ’s security contingent. ”

”Understood, sir. ”

”Let me apprise you of the role of the Hellcat within the Vandals. ”

The 6th Flagrant Vandals used to be supported by a team of over fifty mech designers.
That was only half as much as any other regiment, but it was more than sufficient to the undersupplied Vandals.

For some reason or another, the design team diminished to its current state.
Professor Velten need to make a brutal choice and cut back the active number of designs in development.
She chose to retain the most essential designs that formed the core of the Vandals.

The professor ’s choice of retaining the Hellcat in active development turned out to be very controversial.

”Hybrid knights are difficult to design at the best of times.
Spaceborn hybrid knights are almost impossible to design even if you put over a hundred mech designers to the task.
Nevertheless, both Professor Velten and Colonel Lowenfield put down their feet.
The Hellcat is an essential mech that enjoys a place of honor among the Vandals. ”

Much like the Caesar Augustus, the Hellcat was a versatile mech meant to be piloted by leaders.
The Vandals fielded less than twenty-five Hellcats at a time, mainly because they couldn ’t scrounge up enough mech pilots that could make good use of a hybrid knight.

”Make no mistake. ” Alloc said with emphasis.
”Despite the small number of Hellcats in existence, they have served as the linchpins of the Vandals in every single battle in space since their inception.
The hellcat is more than a single design.
It is a symbol. ”