The Mech Touch

iritual component!

Instilling his mech designs with design spirits was like adding an exclusive component to them.
As long as Ves maintained a monopoly on adding spiritual components to mechs, no other mech designer could match his efforts!

It was as if every mech on the market consisted of landbound mechs.
Every mech designer focused solely on optimizing mechs for combat on solid ground.
As a newcomer in the market, Ves did not believe he could adequately compete against the market leaders with more than a century of experience.

However, it was a different case if he introduced a component that no one could replicate! If he was the only mech designer in the market to add a flight system to his mechs, then his products immediately distinguished themselves! The flight capability that only his own mechs possessed made them stand out in the market because of the unique value they could provide to their customers!

This simplistic analogy described his current situation as a mech designer with a unique design philosophy.
So long as his competitors remained in the dark, Ves effectively maintained a monopoly on spiritual components!

”Perhaps there might be some oddball mech designers out there who come close, but the galaxy is far too expansive.
The chance of bumping into one is miniscule! ”

Of course, the problem with maintaining a monopoly on something valuable was that it could easily engender greed.
Ves did not completely rely on the rules set by the MTA to protect him once his value became more obvious.

”This is why forging ties and cultivating support is important. ”

He already planned to rely on two particular connections to cover him against most threats.

His relationship with Gloriana and by extension the Wodin Dynasty of the Hexadric Hegemony protected him against local threats.

As long as Ves and Gloriana remained an item, his local rivals and enemies were restricted from acting overtly!

The most his enemies could do was to act in secret and use dark mercenaries or other patsies to mess with him and damage his interests.

”As long as Gloriana remains protective of me, the local powers will not dare to provoke her ire! ”

Though her protection was likely effective against weaker threats, she could not do a thing against greater threats.
What if a Coalition partner or a matriarchal dynasty became his enemy? Against threats that matched or surpassed the strength of the Wodin Dynasty, Ves could not completely lean on Gloriana to save his hide.

This was why Ves believed that he needed to cultivate his relationship with the Rim Guardians.
While the mech pilot fraternity might not have much say within the MTA, its strength and influence in the galactic rim were undeniable!

The only problem was that gaining their favor required an immense amount of effort! The Rim Guardians were so large and powerful that a single mech designer barely registered in their sensors.

Even if Ves worked hard to earn their recognition and favor, he had no illusion that he would be regarded as an incidental friend by them.
The relationship between them would always be transactional, which meant the only way to earn their protection was to pay them with something.

”That reminds me, I still have to help William Urbesh. ”

The Rim Guardians gave him three years to help him advance to expert candidate.
With one year already gone by, the exiled clansman had made no progress at all under the tutelage of the Larkinsons!

From the occasional status reports he received from Melkor, he and the other Larkinsons on Cloudy Curtain did their best to kick him into shape.
Yet no matter how much effort they put into retraining Urbesh, the damned coward never got rid of his fears when piloting a mech!

Fortunately, Ves had a much better idea on how to remedy Urbesh ’s situation now that he almost finished his tour.
The lessons he learned, the techniques he invented and the insights he gained on spirituality gave him enough confidence to come up with a solution!

As long as he successfully elevated William Urbesh to expert candidate, he would become eligible to earn merits which he could exchange for a variety of goods and services from the Rim Guardians!

”As long as I can earn their backing, I can deter many threats, especially in relation to my business activities! ”

Ves did not expect the Rim Guardians to pay too much attention to his personal safety.
That was where Gloriana came in.
What Ves valued most out of the fraternity was their willingness to act as a guarantor to his business interests.

As an arm of the MTA, earning their protection also entailed earning the MTA ’s approval.
At the very least, no matter how controversial his products became or how much other mech designers coveted his monopoly, they had to go through the Rim Guardians first if they wanted to attack his business interests!

In more ideal circumstances, Ves vastly preferred to rely on his own strength.
Yet that wasn ’t possible now, so the only way he could tide himself over until he grew strong enough to stand on his own was to lean on others.

”I ’ll be meeting Gloriana soon. ” He recalled.
”I should make sure to impress her when we meet.
I can ’t afford to lose her protection at this stage! ”

Though Ves harbored ulterior motives, he truly wanted to see whether they could form a genuine relationship with each other.

It would be best for the both of them if their love coincided with their interests.
He was willing to stomach Gloriana ’s many eccentricities to see if they were compatible.

If there was one benefit to entering into a relationship with someone crazy, it was that Ves could easily pretend to be crazy as well!

”This is my third form of protection! ”

Who would ever covet the design philosophy of a nutjob? Just like he did at Centerpoint, Ves planned to cultivate an eccentric or even crazy persona to confuse everyone who wanted to learn his secrets!

So long as he could rely on these three pillars for support, Ves became a lot more confident he could maintain his spiritual component monopoly!

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