The Mech Touch

Located relatively far away from port systems such as Davute, the Maylard System did not stand out as an attractive colonization target.

The star system was rather small and did not host a lot of planets. If not for the fact that prospectors managed to find a decent amount of junk exotics and low-grade exotics, it wouldn't have attracted any interest in the first place!

In the end, an alliance that consisted of nine different groups that originated from the same state in the galactic rim chose to plant their flag on a planet called Maylard II. The L9 Alliance did not have a lot of competition due to the star system's remoteness and its lack of lucrative and strategic resources.

Maylard II was located relatively far from the local star. Originally, the planet was not capable of bearing life, but many of its conditions were so good that it did not take a lot of effort to make it habitable for human habitation.

Even so, the colonists weren't able to pay that much to terraform the planet, so the company responsible for transforming its ecology had rushed the job while minimizing costs as much as possible.

The result was a planet that was technically habitable but not that all pleasant to live on. The climate was temperate at best but often swung violently during certain seasons. Blankets of snow could drop from the skies at any moment and it required the colonists to improvise many solutions in order to cultivate their own crops.

The colonists lived a hard life on Maylard II, but they largely preferred it this way because their lives back home were worse. Every group that was part of the L9 Alliance were originally collectives that united the interests of disadvantaged communities of a state from the old galaxy.

The people from that planet were truly miserable back then! They had to unite with several other groups from the same state and pool their resources together to organize and fund a colonization effort.

While they managed to reach their destination, not all went well.

Of the nine original settlements that each of the groups had founded on Maylard II, Centire Hill was by far the poorest and smallest of them. Even after receiving a modest amount of assistance from the rest of the L9 Alliance, the frontier town still didn't amount to anything impressive!

The reason for that was because the Unicum Group that founded this colonial settlement had lost one of its vital colony ships during the journey to the Maylard System!

The loss of construction equipment, pre-fab structures, industrial machines and people dealt a heavy blow to the colonists of the Unicum Group. While other settlements were already turning into cities, Centire Hill still hadn't provided permanent housing to each of its colonists!

Given how little the Unicum Group had to work with, its leaders had to scale back their plans for a mech academy.

The Hopecrest Mech Academy was a struggling institution that was only capable of providing primary mech piloting education to mech cadets.

This meant that while it was capable of instilling the basics of the profession to its students, it was unable to provide more advanced courses that could prepare mech pilots for more serious jobs and specializations.

Out of all of the nine recently-founded mech academies on Maylard II, Hopecrest ranked at the bottom!

This was clearly evident when the mech cadets from rival institutions beat the Hopecrest cadets up in virtual simulation battles.

While the cadets from the better-funded mech academies on the planets were making reasonable progress every month, the ones that were attending Hopecrest were struggling to make progress!

The reasons for that were too many to count. The Unicum Group's setback not only meant that Hopecrest wasn't able to invest in a lot of facilities, but also lost the batch of training mechs reserved for the mech academy!

Though Hopecrest was able to scrounge together a dozen or so training mechs on short notice from various sources, this was wholly inadequate to serve over 800 mech cadets!

Plenty of mech cadets who attended Hopecrest felt miserable. Why were they stuck at the worst mech academy of the L9 Alliance while the kids living in one of the other settlements on the planet were able to enjoy a live practice session every school day?

Mickey Lankos was one of the kids who envied the members of the other groups. If not for the fact that he and everyone else in Centire Hill were bound to the Unicum Group by contract, they would have chosen to abandon this shaky colony settlement and move to one of the better ones a long time ago!

Still, it wasn't as if they had the money to do so in the first place.

As he and hundreds of other mech cadets arrived at the campus and readied themselves for another day of boring lectures and monotonous simulation practice sessions, it quickly became clear that this was not a normal day.

The mech instructors had brought every mech cadet out into an open field.

"What's going on?"

"Have they finally decided to disband this crappy mech academy?"

"I heard from my uncle that Hopecrest doesn't have any money to buy more training mechs. Will they try to raise their tuition fees so that they can buy a few more machines?"

Every cadet went quiet as the principal of Hopecrest finally floated into view.

The dean was the only person in the mech academy that could give decent lessons. As a former mercenary commander who used to run a small outfit in the past, he possessed both leadership skills and combat experience.

The mech cadets all fell silent while standing at attention. They still respected the old fellow even if he was trying to perform an impossible job.

Usually, the dean always looked troubled or burdened. This time was different though as the retired mercenary commander showed a rare smile.

"Good morning, cadets." The man spoke, his amplified voice reaching the ears of every mech cadet. "I won't say any nonsense. All of you are aware that our mech academy has been struggling. We have heard your complaints and we have tried to address them as best as possible, but we have only achieved limited results so far. That ends today."

A strange sense of anticipation spread throughout the ranks of cadets. The dean sounded different than before.

"I would like to officially announce that the Unicum Group and our very own Hopecrest Mech Academy have managed to come into contact with a charitable foundation. Through our unrelenting efforts to highlight our academy's dire state, we have succeeded in securing a charitable grant!"

Shock spread throughout the ranks as the cadets tried to process the news. Had a charity truly taken pity on their shabby mech academy? Why? There was nothing about Hopecrest that was worth the attention of rich folk who had too much money on their hands!

The dean did not address the obvious skepticism from his jaded students and proceeded with his announcement.

"The grant is relatively specific, but will immediately benefit you all. You see, the Larkinson Veteran Foundation has noticed our lack of training mechs and has decided to donate 100 brand-new training mechs! These training mechs are nothing like the second-hand machines our academy has been struggling to keep running all this time. No, these training mechs are different. They are the latest product released by a mech company called the Living Mech Corporation, which is owned and run by the Larkinson Clan!"

Mickey wanted to scratch his head. All of these new and weird names belonged to the same people.

At this time, a small commission took place when a few sharp-eyed cadets noticed movement from the gray skies.

A group of transports had descended from orbit and were on their way to Centire Hill!

The transport vessels did not stop at the settlement itself but flew straight towards the mech academy that was located a small distance away.

When the identical cargo-bearing ships stopped above the campus of Hopecrest, they opened their hatches to allow the brand-new mechs residing inside to exit and slowly use their flight systems to land on the ground!

Every mech cadet struggled to remain at attention as these heavy machines touched down on the ground one by one.

The training mechs immediately captivated their attention.

The gleaming mechs looked so much more polished than the rust buckets that the cadets only sporadically had the chance to pilot. Anyone with a decent eye could see that they were not only newer, but also a lot more powerful than pretty much any other training mech available on Maylard II!

Not only that, the new training mechs also exuded a vibe that caused Mickey and every other mech cadet to feel as if they needed to hop inside the cockpit no matter what. Each of them that sought to prove themselves felt that they could obtain exactly what they needed as long as they could pilot these new machines!

The dean kept smiling as the transports eventually delivered all 100 War Squires.

"As you can clearly see behind me, I was not joking. I would love to introduce these fantastic training mechs to you myself, but I think it is best to let their designer introduce them to you in person."

A large projection came to life above the dean. Every cadet quickly became fascinated by the 'designer' that appeared in view.

Was this a mech designer? Mickey and the other cadets could scarcely believe that this man was one of those nerd scientists!

The man in the projection exuded an overflowing amount of strength and confidence. He carried himself around as if he not only knew how to handle himself in a fight, but also won a few of them! His resplendently decorated red combat armor looked vastly more impressive than the ones worn by other soldiers of the L9 Alliance!

"Greetings, cadets." The projected man finally spoke. "I am Patriarch Ves Larkinson, the founder of the Larkinson Clan, the Living Mech Corporation and the Larkinson Veteran Foundation, among other organizations. Aside from that, I am also a Journeyman Mech Designer. The mechs you see in front of your eyes are all the latest products of my work."

The training mechs all lit up as if to signal that they had all come alive!

The speech, which the Larkinsons had apparently recorded in advance, continued after that.

"My new War Squire model represents a new evolution of training mechs that is bound to become the standard in the education sector. While many of you might become surprised or overwhelmed at all of its new features, remember that it is a mech that is designed to help you become a better mech pilot. It is your friend, and if you trust it to guide your piloting journey, you will surely be able to outperform your peers."

Some of the mech cadets started to feel strange after hearing this. Why did it sound as if this new mech was loaded with dubious features?

A few of them even started to guess whether this supposed donation was not as innocent as it sounded. What if it was actually an attempt to use Hopecrest's mech cadets as unwitting test pilots for this newly developed training mech?!

"You are the future of Krakatoa." The projection of Ves spoke. "As the first mech pilots to complete your studies in this new dwarf galaxy, you must be prepared to fight entirely new threats that humanity has never prepared to fight in the past. You are the defenders who will protect your fellow humans against the aliens, beasts and other horrors lurking in the Red Ocean. My training mechs can help you prepare for this heavy responsibility."

Mickey and many other mech cadets unconsciously felt more proud of themselves than before. They hadn't really considered themselves as noble defenders until now.

"Do not mistake the new mechs for mere machines." The man in the armor emphasized. "You may not fully understand this truth right away, but let me give you an important lesson. My War Squires are alive. They are intelligent but more importantly they have feelings. When you pilot them for the first time, you aren't controlling a large machine. You are starting a new relationship with the mind behind the machine. Try your best to respect your living battle partner and be open to its advice. You would be surprised how much it knows about combat. No matter whether you are training to become a melee mech pilot, a ranged mech pilot or something else, the War Squire model is your gateway to greatness. Enjoy your new training mechs and do not forget what I said!"

Every mech cadet knew that Hopecrest was no longer the same after receiving this donation.

Shortly after the announcement finally came to an end, the mech cadets were all begging to pilot the War Squires right away!

"Hold your horses! Not so fast, you brats! We need to check these mechs ourselves and see whether they are safe. You'll have your turn, just not today."

Hopecrest delayed the introduction of the War Squires for three whole days. The wait was agonizing for the mech cadets who could see and even feel the mechs from their classrooms but were not allowed to pilot them until the mech instructors completed their inspection!