The Mech Touch - Chapter 7432: Ark's Absence

Chapter 7432: Ark’s Absence

Chapter 7432

Though the upcoming campaign called for a gathering of all Larkinson ace pilots, one of them remained conspicuously absent.

Saint General Ark Larkinson had not received an invitation to join this convergence.

Every Larkinson gathered here knew the reasons.

From a logical perspective, both the Saint Commander and the Saint General positioned themselves as strong leaders and battlefield commanders.

Having them fight alongside each other would probably cause them to butt heads with each other. Neither of the two wanted to cede control to the other.

Though Casella Ingvar possessed more formal command qualifications, Ark Larkinson was older and tended to inspire more devotion from his followers.

Regardless, their operation methods contradicted each other. Casella demanded complete control over her subordinates while Ark demanded their worship and admiration.

Any soldiers in the field would be hard-pressed to do both at the same time!

The only way Saint General Ark could take part in the upcoming campaign was for the Larkinsons to operate two separate fleets at the same time.

Ves was not willing to split up the forces at his disposal. Invading alien territory was a perilous activity. He needed all of the strength and reserves that he could muster in a single concentrated strike.

If he had to make a choice between the two ace commanders, then he would definitely pick Casella 90 percent of the time.

She was just too useful when it came to empowering the standard mech forces and improving the coordination between each separate combat asset.

That said, Ves did not dismiss his uncle Ark without consideration.

While Ark was not able to provide as much direct protection and empowerment to the regular troops, his ability to draw on their beliefs made him and his Lionheart absurdly strong.

This should be especially useful when fighting against the more powerful alien phase leaders that they were sure to encounter over the course of the campaign!

Though the Saint General was still constrained by his outdated lastgen expert mech, Ves and Gloriana had already entered the late stage of the Lionheart Mark II Project.

It shouldn’t take too long to complete this highly anticipated design project, especially if the Miracle Couple dropped all of their side projects and tightened their focus.

However, Ark’s absence at this reunion caused Ves to shelve this idea.

There were more reasons why Ark stayed away.

Most of the Larkinsons outside of the Davute Branch did not like him very much.

He never hid his ambitions to remake the Larkinson Clan according to his own ideas.

From an outside perspective, it seemed as if he was coasting off his cousin’s enormous success and wanted to enjoy rewards that he did not truly earn.

Yet the primary reason why everyone agreed that it was better if Ark continued to fight alongside his best buddy Patriarch Reginald Cross was because of Casella’s personal vendetta.

The Saint Commander blamed Ark for leading her brother to his untimely death.

All logic went out of the window as soon as Casella dealt with anything related to her deceased brother.

Imon Ingvar’s tragic demise had inflicted a heavy wound in her psyche. Her breakthrough to her current rank had only exacerbated this mental scar, which meant that she could never maintain her rationality in front of Ark!

Ves and many other Larkinsons were afraid that she might even dare to challenge Ark to a duel to the death if they ever met each other in person!

The other senior leaders of the Larkinson Clan were well aware of the potential dangers and sought to keep them apart whenever possible.

Ves thanked his luck that the Saint General expressed little apparent interest in taking part in this daring offensive push.

Ark Larkinson needed to be the brightest presence on the battlefield. His Saint Kingdom and his combat approach literally depended on how much attention he could command!

If he had to share the stage with Casella, Saint Dise, Saint Tusa and the other Larkinson champions, his power would be significantly diluted.

Therefore, it was not a good idea for him to fight alongside too many flashy ace pilots. He operated best in small- to mid-sized fleets where he had few competitors to vie for attention.

“It is good to see you up and running again, Isobel.” Tusa restrained his fierce willpower and politely greeted the heavily augmented woman. “Did you have any trouble getting inside?”

Though the Transhumanist Faction had been generous enough to provide Isobel with a strong artificial body, she looked a lot more biological than before.

Around 90 percent of her body consisted of dense alloys. The remaining 10 percent largely comprised of her brain and the artificial skin that covered her metallic form.

She had spent enough time on rehabilitation that she managed to work away most of the artificial traces of her replacement body. Though the most perceptive individuals could still tell that there was something off about her, she at least regained much of her humanity.

“The security personnel had to apply hard locks on all of my integrated weapons.” The pilot of the soon-to-be- upgraded Promethea responded to Tusa’s inquiry. “I am unable to deploy my laser guns, plasma guns, flamethrowers and blades, so do not expect me to come to your aid if we come under attack. A specialized technician will have to manually remove all of the locking mechanisms from my integrated armaments.”

This was a normal solution to people in her situation. Isobel was hardly the only person in Terran space that modified their bodies so heavily that they installed weapons directly inside their forms.

The best way to neutralize their threat was to remove them, but that was hardly an acceptable solution to most augmented individuals.

Therefore, the second-best solution was to apply physical locks to them that preserved their integrity but still made it difficult to employ them on a whim.

Saint Isobel did not look any different. She did not look like she gained any bulk. The Terrans had applied their best and most compact locks to restrict her armaments.

A part of her felt uncomfortable. She had lost the security of her potent personal weapons. She was not accustomed to feeling too helpless and unarmed after spending much of her time with her new body with such a potent arsenal.

Despite the fact that the Terrans allocated three of their own ace mechs to guard the orbital station against most threats, Isobel still felt profoundly insecure.

The other Larkinson ace pilots also felt a little naked outside of their cockpits. They derived much of their power from their ace mechs, so getting separated from them always constituted danger.

Although Ves was sure that he and Casella had proposed to lend their own assets to increase the security of this event, the hosts emphatically rejected the assistance.

The Terrans clearly wanted to maintain complete control over the security situation.

“How long must we endure the pageantry of the Terrans before we can depart and exterminate the alien menace beyond the borders?” Davia Stark asked with a hint of impatience.

“You shouldn’t have to wait too long.” Ves responded in a placating tone. “I am not sure what the Terrans are up to either, but once they unveil the current state of the Arboreal Project, we should be able to depart shortly afterwards. From what I have heard, our hosts are just as eager as us to bring the fight to the enemy just so that they can test my prototype Woodsap mechs in genuine battlefield circumstances.”

“Are we being reduced to babysitters for your prototypes?”

“No. Well, partially. It is true that we must accompany the new Woodsap mechs and bail them out if they have bit more than they could chew. However, these machines are extremely significant. Their expected performance is also great. These wonderful machines can bloom under the right circumstances, and I think that there are definitely enough clever people around to understand how to position them inside their armed forces. It will be our responsibility to give them enough stages to showcase their strengths.”

The Arboreal Project exceeded the scope of cannon fodder and firmly entrenched itself among other elite mech designs.

They should absolutely be able to participate in the upcoming offensive. Their novelty and their unfamiliar design principles painted a rosy picture, but many people preferred to verify information by seeing them in action.

Hence why it became important to bring them along. Having them serve alongside the Larkinsons would also help with service and other needs.

After all, no one understood the complexities of owning and fielding living mechs better than the Larkinsons!

Ves continued to reacquaint himself with the Larkinson champions who had fought under different banners for a time.

Each of them had plenty of interesting war stories to share. They experienced much and opened their eyes to different facets of red humanity while serving as guest pilots in numerous different war theaters.

One of the gripes they had in mid-grade was the increasing prevalence of Saint Piercers and Saint Armors.

“It is becoming more and more difficult to deal with phase lords equipped with such powerful gear.” Saint Tusa complained. “This is especially the case now that I have relinquished the tier 3 Destroyer spear. Ves, the strombidae knives originally assigned to my ace mech are pretty decent and all, but transphasic weapons can do little when paired against genuine superdimensional equipment.”

If there was one thing that remained consistent, it was Tusa complaining about his meager offensive capabilities.

Ves responded with a placating smile. “Don’t worry, Tusa. We have already prepared an offensive upgrade for your Dark Zephyr Mark III. The rest of you will also receive upgraded armaments. Superdimensional weapons are simply too useful to disregard. The only thing that you have to keep in mind is that we cannot always give you the best and most high-quality goods at this time. Our stock of high-grade superdimensional matter is limited, and we are reserving most of it for major revisions such as the Promethea Mark II, Lionheart Mark II and most distressingly the Bastion Mark II.”

Saint Jannzi Larkinson’s ace mech demanded a far greater quantity of superdimensional matter!

Neither Ves nor Gloriana wanted to embrace compromises in the name of limiting the proportion of superdimensional alloys.

Both of them agreed with the goal that the Bastion needed to become the ultimate defensive powerhouse of the Larkinson Clan.

The latest ace pilot to promote to her current rank looked satisfied after hearing this. Jannzi adored her battle partner and often dreamed about piloting a full superdimensional version of her bonded machine.

“What about the Amaranto?” Davia Stark asked. “My living mech and I have little use for superdimensional blades. Even if you issue one to me, it will likely remain sheathed for a long time.”

“That is a valid concern, Davia. We have different ideas on how to quickly upgrade your Instrument of Vengeance. We can reinforce your main gun in many different ways. Clever application of superdimensional alloys can massively boost its durability, heat capacity, charge limit and firing rate. You will soon be able to hit harder and at a more frequent rate than before.”

That sounded great, but Davia Stark was not fooled. “Will these quick and easy upgrades allow my Amaranto to launch a shot that can punch through Saint Armor?”

Ves grimaced. “To be honest, that will still remain difficult. Your ace mech will struggle to punch through the armor of phase lords that are fully clad in Saint Armors. Superdimensional technology has yet to produce a qualitative increase in the firepower of directed energy weapons. The only way to quickly grant your Amaranto Mark III the capacity to punch through superdimensional armor is to develop a brand-new rifle that launches physical projectiles. Every round has to be made from superdimensional alloy, though even the low-grade stuff will suffice. It won’t be the Instrument of Doom. Instead, I will call it by a different name.”

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