The Mech Touch

6075 A New Combat System

"I had a system." Joshua claimed. "You are already aware that I am close with nearly every design spirit, right? I can even get along with Ylvaine and the Superior Mother. I always made use of my relationships with all of those spirits to borrow their power whenever it was convenient. My Everchanger is the only Larkinson mech that can switch design spirits on his own initiative. That has givena lot of flexibility in past battles. My companion spirit Willy strengthens my combat system even further because he can independently call down another design spirit."

In other words, Willy and the Everchanger were able to work together to call down two different design spirits at the stime!

The huge number of possible combinations increased the versatility of the Everchanger even further, allowing him to swap out a seemingly endless variety of advantages whenever it was necessary.

Joshua had spent a lot of ton building up his relationships and familiarizing himself with the powers of all of those design spirits.

It was a pity that he was unable to employ any of those strengths during the last mission.

"I can't fight at my best when my Everchanger is surrounded by Solus Gas." He said with a grimace. "I don't know what exactly makes this gas so special, but the fact that it can completely cutoff from the design spirits that can helpout in combat is frustrating beyond words. I was fighting with at least one hand tied behind my back. If not for this, the Emperor Tree wouldn't have been able to contain my expert mech for so long."

Ketis listened to his complaints. She eventually shook her head.

"Everything you have said is true. That still does not change the fact that a calamity plant managed to put you and your Everchanger at a disadvantage. It is not fair to blyou for being put on the backfoot by an enemy that is comprehensively stronger, but the fact of the matter is that you fought far below your maximum potential in an adverse environment. That is not supposed to happen, you know."

Her husband grew more morose. His willpower dimmed as he thought back on everything that went wrong.

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"Ves conceived of the Everchanger as a mech that is always effective and always reliable no matter the situation. He might not have designed your machine as a multipurpose mech, but the intentions are similar enough. It is a failure on the part of your battle partner that he is unable to make use of his strongest advantage, and it is a failure on your part to have no alternatives on hand that could make up for this gap."

Venerable Joshua took this criticism hard. He should have been more prepared. He had already been stationed on Reticula Corein V for months. How could he have been negligent about preparing to fight in an environment with high Solus Gas concentrations?

It may have been excusable for him to be caught off-guard by the effects of Solus Gas when he first cinto contact with this confounding gas, but this was not the case anymore!

"I need to do better." Joshua admitted. "As much as I like to fight together with different design spirits, I need to develop a new combat system that I can count on. It needs to be anchored around myself and my expert mech in order to ensure its reliability. I cannot allow my enemies or the environment to cripple us again by cutting us off from all of those powerful design spirits."

Ketis nodded in approval. "You are thinking in the right direction. There are expert pilots who are better off if they focus more on improving their strong points. That is not the best approach in your case, at least not all of the time. You are more useful to the Larkinson Clan if you address your newly discovered weakness and ensure it won't be a problem next time. Do you have an idea already?"

"I do, actually. Do you remember what happened to the Elegant Rage? For whatever reason, Lanie's breakthrough caused her companion spirit Kelly to steal sof my power from my Heartsword. She then proceeded to repair the Elegant Range, but not in a normal way. I don't have the foggiest clue how it is possible, but she actually managed to plug the gaps of her damaged mech with wood!"

Ketis narrowed her eyes. This was the second instance of an expert pilot taking inspiration from Lanie's actions.

Were the abnormal breakthroughs of the two former expert candidates truly so helpful to Larkinson Clan?

"I have already taken a good look at the Elegant Rage. I cannot design such a mech. In fact, I cannot even understand how it works anymore now that so many of its metallic components have been replaced by wooden ones. The wooden parts do not even work the sway! I think only Ves has a chance of deciphering and replicating this partially wooden monstrosity. Don't tellyou want Ves to turn the Everchanger into a partial wooden mech as well…"

"I can't deny that the thought crossed my mind." Joshua briefly smiled. "This is something for Ves to figure out. My idea is different, or at least I think so. What I have learned from the Elegant Rage's transformation is another way to becstronger. Instead of borrowing power from design spirits through connections that can always get cut off, what if my mech and I find a way to assimilate the power of others?"

"What?"

"Think about it." Joshua said with more and more eagerness in his tone. "I have a talent for getting along with others. In the sway, I have an easier tunderstanding their powers. Since I can learn a few tricks from design spirits, I can do the swith exobeasts as well. I only just cup with this idea and don't know if it works, but I think I can do it! Think about what I can do if I can copy the strange abilities of every powerful beast!"

That was a remarkably inventive idea!

Trying to assimilate the powers of exobeasts would further expand Joshua's versatility and repertoire. As long as he possessed a good grasp of his newfound abilities, he should be able to employ them even when he was fighting right on top of a Solus Gas vent!

Still, Ketis did not celebrate in advance. She directed a skeptical look towards the silly expert pilot.

"You have cup with a promising new strategy, but can you realize it? Can you execute it? What do you need to do in order to make it possible?"

"I have been spending a lot of taboard the Dragon's Den since the start of the Age of Dawn." Joshua responded. "I was needed there in order to calm down all of the mutated beasts that the Larkinsons captured and stuffed over there. I managed to becquite familiar with a few of them. I think that… if my friendship with them grows deep enough, I might be able to… receive a part of their power, and channel it through my mech somehow."

"That doesn't sound concrete enough at all. I can already tell you will have to spend a lot of ton building up your new combat system. I doubt that Ves or I can help you in this. You need to conduct your own research."

Joshua's willpower began to lift as he looked forward to the challenge. "It will be worth it. I am sure of it. Think about the potential. It is one thing to copy the powers of a mutated beast. It is another thing to copy the powers of a calamity beast! If I can replicate even a small part of the Emperor Tree's abilities, I may be able to command an entire beast army of my own!"

Ketis snorted. "As if that is of any use. It is not as if you can dispatch your supposed army against alien warships. Even if you limit your beast army to ground action, it takes too much resources and effort to manage your 'soldiers' and transport them from one battlefield to another. What beasts can do, mechs can do better."

"Not entirely, dear. Mutated beasts are like a weaker version of expert mechs. They develop all kinds of magical abilities. They're not as strong as my Everchanger, but they are far more numerous. Think about what it would be like to field hundreds of mutated beasts at the stime? It would be unleashing a horde of discount expert mechs!"

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"A horde with a total lack of coordination and cohesion. It won't work as well as you imagine."

"Okay, let's do this instead. What if I bring a few calamity beasts withinstead?"

"That won't work either, Joshua! It is impossible to control beasts! The Hunting Association is very clear about that! Look, you may be able to disprove this assumption if you somehow manage to steal the Emperor Tree's beast control ability, but you can only dominate weaker minds at most. Calamity beasts are far more powerful in general, and their intelligences are far more developed. You will not be able to bend them to your will."

"What if I befriend the calamity beasts instead of trying to enslave them?" Joshua proposed.

"I doubt that it is possible. Even if you manage to erase the natural hostility that exobeasts harbor towards civilized species, I very much doubt you will be able to keep them under total control. No one will accept your desire to add an unstable element alongside their own units."

"What if I borrow the power of the Everchanger to amplify my attempts to keep the calamity beasts under my control?"

"The power difference is still too great. You are an expert pilot. You are not on the slevel as beasts that are at least as powerful as the Emperor Tree."

"Then what if I manage to break through to ace pilot and try again? I will definitely be able to succeed at that time! My Saint Kingdom will givean enormous boost in keeping them friendly and pliant!"

Ketis hesitated for a bit. "I don't have enough data to know for certain whether your schwill work. It is… plausible that you can effectively ta handful of weaker calamity beasts, but have you thought that they can grow stronger and resist your control? There is always a risk that they will slip out of your leash and go on a rampage, thereby killing lots of Larkinsons in the process. Will you be able to bear this kind of risk?"

Her husband grew a lot less enthused about his idea. He could not deny that an accident like that might happen one day. He had already learned a painful lesson about accidents not too long ago. It would be a mistake to assthat the worst case scenacould never happen.

"I won't give up on this idea." Joshua stubbornly said. "It might not work out in the end, but I need to see it through. I think this may truly give the Everchanger wings. I don't need to tcalamity beasts and convince them to fight alongside me. I only need to assimilate their power, preferably willingly, but I am not opposed to taking their power by force if they are hostile to humans."

The two continued to explore Joshua's new ideas. Ketis did not entirely support this unconventional scheme, but she understood that her husband needed a new goal to occupy himself. She was happy as long as he wasn't moping anymore.

"I need to becstronger." Joshua stated. "Look at how many powerful beasts have managed to evolve to the level of the Emperor Tree in a couple of years. This is just one untamed plamong many in the new frontier. Think about how they will continue to grow until they reach the next stage. What if they becsmart and strong enough to overtake us all? What if they can travel the stars and take away all of our living space? I think we need to prepare for a future where beasts and monsters becour greatest threat, and I think I am far better equipped at handling them than anyone else!"