The Mech Touch

stealth shuttle. ”

It helped that Ves had worked with a primitive iteration of stealth technology.
Some of his old virtual mech designs incorporated very real instances of stealth plating.
Back then, the principles behind this technology was crude but understandable to any Apprentice Mech Designer.

Hundreds of years of ceaseless progress and refinement had left these crude applications of stealth tech in the dust.
The difference between old and modern stealth tech was as vast as comparing a horse-drawn carriage to a modern flight-capable aircar.

”The leap is too big. ”

If the evolution had been smaller or more gradual, then Ves could still leverage his old knowledge to construct a new framework in his mind.
That was out of the question now.
The differences between the generations was so vast that it might as well be a new development field.

Modern stealth technology accomplished more than fooling the eyes and ears.
It could suppress a much wider range of signals in the electromagnetic spectrum.
It could block sound and vibrations.
It could counteract gravitic sensors, basically fooling even gravity itself in a limited fashion.

”Hiding a multi-ton mech or shuttle from powerful sensors and scanners can ’t be done by snapping your fingers.
It takes a huge amount of ingenuity and cross-discipline collaboration to come up with something that actually works on mechs. ”

The technical challenges to develop a working example of stealth technology was enough to fill the storage of a data chip.

It was a good thing that the salvaging parties recovered some debris of the stealth shuttles.
Even if not a single component was complete, Ves could still scan their composition and derive the underlying principles from what remained.

It was like possessing an encrypted textbook on stealth technology.
Cracking the code required a lot of work, but that was infinitely easier than trying to reinvent one of the most complex wheels that Ves had ever encountered.

Pulling in Chief Avanaeon as his unwitting assistant allowed Ves to draw strength from the chief engineer ’s considerable knowledge base.
With more minds at work, the decryption process would go a lot faster.

His ultimate goal wasn ’t to create a working stealth shuttle.
His ambitions was much more encompassing than that.
Even though stealth technology was restricted knowledge, who could blame him if he figured it out without anyone else ’s assistance?

Once the Mech Corps released him from his service, Ves would truly be able to leverage his gains.

There was only a single snag in his plan.

”Stealth tech is prohibited by almost every state.
Only state actors are permitted to wear stealth suits or pilot stealth craft. ”

This basically meant that he couldn ’t flaunt his stealth creations or put them on the market.

”No matter.
I can still fabricate some mechs and hand them over to the Avatars of Myth. ”

Expanding, strengthening and increasing the Avatars of Myth would be one of his highest priorities once he returned to civilian life.
Ves had to admit that he had become charmed to the strength of the Flagrant Vandals.
The mech regiment was able to avoid many problems that could hamper a normal mech outfit just by virtue of its status and actual strength.

Ves recently aspired to possess the same kind of strength! With hundreds of landbound and spaceborn mechs at his disposal, hardly anyone in the Bright Republic could pose a threat to him! Cultivating a hidden force of assassin mechs would also allow him to take the offensive without incurring greater repercussions.

”It feels good to hit back for a change. ”

Now that he thought about it, it might be better to allocate his stealth mechs to another force.
The Avatars of Myth were meant to attract publicity, showing the galaxy what his products were capable of when utilized at their full potential.

Stealth mechs worked best if they worked in the shadows.
Connecting them to a public outfit like the Avatars of Myth was detrimental to their effectiveness.
All of his enemies would see them coming.

”I ’ll have to establish another outfit.
It ’s best if nobody can connect it to my identity.
Maybe they can even pretend to be pirates or something. ”

Ves would be able to wield this shady outfit to do his dirty work.
Anyone who reached the annals of power inevitably accrued enemies.
He hadn ’t forgotten his old friends such as Michael Dumont, Vincent Ricklin and the rest of his scornful family.

Before, he had been fearful of their power and influence.
Lacking connections and unable to leverage as much wealth, Ves had no choice but to become their punching bags.

All of this would change once he developed his own force of assassins and saboteurs.
While recruiting capable and trustworthy mech pilots was still a huge issue, having the mechs in place at least opened up the door.

”It would have been perfect if I can recruit veterans from the Flagrant Vandals. ”

This was one hope that would remain unfulfilled.

”I ’ll have to recruit loyal mech pilots through another channel. ”

Others had managed to do so, so what stopped Ves from accomplishing the same? He would probably have to turn to someone else for help, or rely on the System to figure out a solution on his own.

All of these plans might have sounded fanciful, but Ves worked towards another end when he crafted these intentions.
Having been exposed to some of the underground that ruled society from the shadows, Ves no longer saw it as a scary and incomprehensible abyss.

He began to develop an ambition to enter the Nyxian Gap.
He wanted to address an issue that had long laid dormant in his mind.

He wanted to find his persecuted father and obtain some answers from him.
Ves hungered for answers.
About the System.
About what happened to his mother.
About the conspiracy his father became entangled with.
More than anything, Ves wanted to dispel his ignorance and help out his parents.

”My father wants me to forget about him and live for myself, but how can I do so? ”