The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5706 Solus

If Ves had the right to name a recently discovered exotic gas, then why not name it after himself?

Plenty of people did it. This was a clever little way for people to ensure that their names and their legacies lived on long after they had passed away.

Even if their other works and accomplishments eventually faded from public memory, the names of the materials that society used still lived on for many years.

Unfortunately, Master Goldstein decisively squashed Ves' attempt to immortalize his own name!

"Rejected. It is too short and not distinctive enough. You may do what you want if you or your organization has discovered this substance yourself, but since this is not the case, the primary decision-making power still lies with us. We are merely open to suggestions."

In other words, Ves better come up with a more proper and acceptable name, or else the mechers would take care of it themselves.

His mind studied the images attached to the research report. The mildly toxic gas was predominantly green and reportedly had a stench that reminded the surveyors of a decaying swamp.

When Ves continued to examine the images and recordings attached to the research report, he gained the impression that the gas possessed a cloying and repelling character to it. The green gas drove away all organisms that sought to occupy the lands where it was leaking out of the atmosphere.

Strangely enough, due to its weight, it stayed low to the ground and might even seep back into the ground.

This led to the creation of completely dead lands where no exoplants and exobeasts were willing or able to live in. The gas was so unfriendly towards the ecosystem that it created its own one that was completely absent of any organisms as far as the surveyors have ascertained.

A burst of inspiration welled up from his mind.

"How about… Solus Gas?"

The Survivalist looked a lot more impressed at Ves' second suggestion.

"It is still rather short, but… it is not a name attached to any gas or frequently used material, so it is technically acceptable. I will permit it. X45454-394B-2399331FFT will henceforth be known as Solus Gas. Whether this name will be sung from the lips of people throughout the new frontier is up to you. This gas has shown useful properties, but it is only supplied by a single planet. It cannot be reproduced through other means as far as we know, so we do not deem it viable enough to be used on a large scale."

The scarcity and non-renewable nature of this gas made it so that once this resource ran out, any mech that relied upon it would become useless overnight.

This was not an ideal situation, but Ves did not look down on it like the mechers.

"I can treat it similar to how I use my design spirits." He explained his own perspective. "If there is enough Solus Gas to enable the production and use of a couple of million copies of my auxiliary mechs, then that is already enough. This is because I will do my best to give my work the capacity to support at least hundreds of other friendly mechs by forming a large smoke screen where they can enjoy total concealment. This is what support mechs are good at. You only need a handful of them to amplify the performance of many other machines."

As a support mech specialist, Master Goldstein knew this rule better than anyone. He agreed with Ves' sentiment. As long as support mechs were designed well enough, they could indeed increase the effective performance of many more mechs, which ultimately made them worth far more than their list prices!

Of course, not every support mech was able to make a positive impact on the battlefield. They were subject to many limitations and could face difficulties that hindered them from being useful.

No mech was invincible. Every work had its flaws. It was not necessary to erase them all. Ves just had to identify them and account for them so that their pilots knew how to best play to their advantages.

Ves and Master Goldstein continued to discuss the development of a possible second-class support mech that could maximize the use of Solus Gas.

It was incredibly helpful for Ves to bounce off his ideas to highly knowledgeable mech designer who specialized in the relevant areas.

Though Master Goldstein tried his best not to give any outright answers to many problems, he was more than willing to provide hints and directions for further investigation.

Ves would be able to save a lot of detours and flesh out his design project a lot faster. He would also minimize the chance of overlooking important factors that he really should have thought of sooner.

The most critical part of the support mech was the smoke screen generator that was responsible for producing an incredibly effective particle cloud that was mixed with both Solus Gas and other complementary substances.

There were many nuances to the design and configuration of such a device. Master Goldstein explained a lot of common sense considerations, but also went in deeper and pointed out many different technical puzzles that Ves needed to solve in order to make it viable.

Designing this support mech was anything but simple. Master Goldstein raised so many points of concern, many of which Ves had yet to think about.

He appreciated all of the lessons and advice. Ves knew that as long as he addressed all of these issues properly, he would be able to complete a proper support mech design that had a good chance of matching if not beating the competition.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master." Ves bowed in respect.

"It is my pleasure, Ves. You are already a fairly experienced mech designer, but I will say this to you anyway. Mech design is not a process of following predetermined scripts and formulas. It is meant to be dynamic. Do not let my advice overwhelm you and dominate your design process. You have already developed your voice in our craft. Keep following it even if others do not necessarily approve. As long as your results are outstanding enough, then we can overlook aspects that would otherwise be problematic."

Ves had a feeling that these worlds of wisdom applied to more than just his upcoming support mech design project.

"Okay… I think I should go now. I want to take a look at the classified report on Yondu Milk, and I need to direct my clan to start survey and mining operations on the planet where Solus Gas has appeared. What is it called, anyway?"

"Reticula Corein V. It is located in a binary star system, so it has two fairly old stars. One is a yellow dwarf and the other is a red dwarf. Their combined light output is not as strong as in many other binary star systems. What is more concerning is that the Reticula Corein System is roughly located in the middle of the Torald Middle Zone. This puts it out of the reach of most ordinary alien raids for the time being, but this can change drastically if our adversaries have launched a powerful offensive. Once that happens, Reticular Corein can become a hotspot of combat activity."

"This is probably one of the driving reasons why no one has taken steps to colonize Reticula Corein V." Ves determined. "That's a shame. It is an untamed planet that does not need a lot of changes to become comptable to human physiology. If there are any other unique or valuable resources on this planet, then it could turn into a nice stronghold for any pioneering organization."

"The planet's ecosystem and possibly its terrain may have undergone drastic changes since our surveyors submitted this report. Look at the date. The survey was completed only months after the start of the Age of Dawn. I think you should know extremely well what that implies."

Ves recalled his recent vacation to Ocanon VI. The Hunting Association had to put in a lot of work to preserve a modicum of the planet's rich and diverse ecosystems. THis was a problem that always needed to be worked on because the local mutated beasts and calamity beasts could easily grow out of control if left unchecked!

Ocanon VI produced an awful lot of mutated beasts, many of which grew rapidly until they were on the verge of evolving into calamity beasts.

Since this level of threats could emerge on a planet that was already tightly regulated, what about a completely untamed planet that had not been actively governed or managed by any human institution?

The mutated beasts that had evolved without any artificial restrictions must have transformed into powerful monsters without doubt! It was probably a guarantee that it held multiple calamity beasts, of which a handful may have set off into space and gone elsewhere!

Ves already started to get a headache. Starting a mining operation on hostile territory was incredibly foolish.

Most groups did not think it was worthwhile to go through all of the effort of mining Solus Gas, just to lose the facilities a few days later because they got blasted to pieces by a giant monstrosity!

However, Ves did not look deterred. He had a powerful feeling that he would find what he was looking for in the Reticula Corein System. It was such a powerful impulse that it seemed rather suspicious why this location of all places merited so much importance all of a sudden.

Solus Gas sounded like a useful material to incorporate in his mech design, but he could find other substitutes if he wanted to. They might not be as effective as this specific material, but they would more likely than not be a lot easier for him to source.

With that in mind, Ves quickly ended his discussion with Master Goldstein and contacted the expeditionary fleet.

The projection of Master Benedict Cortez appeared in place.

Unlike Ves who had become more 'civilized' after spending a lot more time away from dangerous places, Master Benedict still possessed a strong frontier air to his person.

Being put in charge of the expeditionary fleet also forced him to step up and tailor his public persona in a way that made him more palatable to the mech pilots who were doing the heavy lifting.

"Ves." The former Skull Architect grinned sharply. "It is good to see you again. I almost thought you had forgotten about us already."

"I am doing well. I am not here to catch up on old times. I want your input on a proposal of mine."

Ves briefly explained his intention to design a certain support mech and the need to harvest gas from a specific planet in the Torald Middle Zone.

Suffice to say, Master Benedict did not like what he heard. "So the mechers coincidentally recommended you to examine a newly discovered exotic that just happened to be found on a single planet in the new frontier. That planet is located in a middle zone that is under constant threat and may very well be overrun within the decade if our side is losing ground in the Red War. Does that not sound suspicious to you in any way?"

"I know it sounds fishy, but I have no choice but to play with the cards the mechers have dealt to me." Ves helplessly shrugged. "I need you to divert at least a part of the expeditionary fleet to the Reticula Corein System. The mechers have surveyed it just after the start of the Age of Dawn, but you know as well as I do that continued exposure to exotic radiation must have produced massive changes. I need our forces to scout and survey the planet in greater detail to discern whether the Solus Gas is still around and whether it is viable for us to start a mining and harvesting operation."

That was a heavy request to make.

"Mhmm. It is doable. We are still preparing to launch another big operation, so we can spare the troops for now. It is best if you arrange other forces to take over from ours, though."

"I'll take care of it, but I want my clansmen to take a look at what is going on over there. This task is too important to be left to third parties."