The Mech Touch

dly ever thought about the significance of his feeling, Ves found it to be a curious phenomenon.

If someone like Barley piloted a gold label mech fabricated by Ves, he ’d be able to achieve a much greater synergy with his machine.

The way Barley approached his routine check relied on feeling rather than a solid understanding of the physical makeup of his mech.
He mainly tapped against the worn-out armor plating of his mech and stepped inside the cockpit without it on, preferring to breathe in the smells in the dark.

To be frank, he wasn ’t inspecting his mech for flaws so much as to distract him from his worries about the war.
All of that stress and worry faded away once he stepped inside the sanctuary of his mech.

Still, the addition of Ves prompted a change in routine.
He turned on the console and checked the diagnostics of his Jimenez.
Most of the technical readouts should mean gibberish to Barley, but Ves gained a good understanding of the state of his mech.

”Goddamnit.
How many corners have been cut? ”

A knight should be durable, and a defensive knight should be even sturdier.
What Ves gleaned from the diagnostics was that the design incorporated sub-standard materials and the manufacturer didn ’t pay much attention to quality control.

Ves pulled up a hidden setting buried beneath the operating system of the mech.
It summarized the complicated data into a color-shaded schematic of the Jimenez.

”No need to thank me, Barley. ”

Half of the components went from green condition to yellow condition.
While that sounded mild, a mech should only reach this stage after ten years of regular use or five years of intensive fighting.
A few critical areas such as the sword arm blinked in an alarming shade of orange with a smattering of red.

The overall picture looked discouraging, but it could have been worse.
He suppressed the urge to pick up a multitool and perform some easy fixes to his mech.
It would have been out of character for a musclehead like Barley to gain any form of technical competence.

It still ached his teeth to let those faults remain in place.
”It ’s like boarding a shuttle with sputtering thrusters.
You just know it will kill you one day. ”

A few hours went by as Ves and Barley re-familiarized themselves with their mech.
The marrying of Barley ’s intuitive understanding of his machine with Ves ’ extensive technical background resulted in a lot of new insights for both.

”Ah, so that ’s why the arms are so frail despite their thick construction.
The alloys that make up the internal frame are great at absorbing sudden impacts, but is prone to erosion if subjected to a constant level of low-impact shocks. ”

”The power reactor is the best part of this mech.
It ’s obviously licensed from a major trans-galactic corporation.
I don ’t have to worry about power supply as long as the internals hold up. ”

”Enduring constant attacks has shifted the dimensions of the Jimenez.
It ’s asymmetrical now, with the shield half being pushed back half a centimeter compared to the sword half.
All of that caused the frame to deform and open up more fault lines.

”What kind of grease monkey had the bright idea to fix the transceiver coupling with a copper wire?! ”

A lack of personnel along with the need to work as fast and frugal as possible led to a lot of inevitable screwups.
The lackluster longevity of the Jimenez also didn ’t help, as its design had been pitched to the Exilis Domain as a knight that could deliver a burst of peak performance whenever they decided to bully one of their formerly weak neighbors.

Ves learned a lesson from this realization.
”Assumptions don ’t always pan out.
You can plan ahead for your design, but that doesn ’t mean they ’re subjected to their intended use. ”

The Domain had no other choice but to stretch out the service lives of their mechs.
The conflict raging at its borders had dragged on for so long because the hatred had grown too deep to settle with a couple of set piece battles.

Ves didn ’t care too much about the war but Barley felt otherwise.
His disdain for the so-called dirtbags had turned into blind hatred after losing so many friends and colleagues to their stubborn aggression.

An alarm suddenly rang from the speakers.
”Alert! Long-range sensors have detected scouts approaching our position! ”

Everyone dropped their routine and entered into a frenzy.
The mech technicians hastily put the half-repaired mechs back together while the mech pilots gathered up in front of their officers.

Captain Osprey paced back and forth in front of his diminished platoon of eleven pilots.
There used to be thirty among their number.

”It ’s not likely the dirtbags sniffed us out, but their scouts are ranging closer than we ’re comfortable with.
Given time, their scouting systems will be able to read the traces that our mechs have inevitably left behind and follow them straight to our base.
Our job is to stop them before they make it that far! ”

”Won ’t they know we ’re close if we show up out of the blue? ” Shaundra asked as she scratched her head.
Her hair had already started greying.

”That ’s why we ’re taking our mechs through a backup tunnel and emerge from the other side.
We ’ll pretend we ’ve been conducting a long-ranged patrol and happened to have stumbled upon the scouts.
If all goes well, we can fool them into thinking that our base is on the other side of this sector. ”

”How many mechs are we facing? ”

”Seven or nine, the scanners aren ’t very clear about that.
We ’re mainly dealing with light mechs, so we should be able to smash them apart with force.
Any further questions? ”

They boarded their mechs once everyone understood the stakes.
Ves entered his own Jimenez and roused it from its slumber.
For Barley, one battle was like any other, but for Ves it was an entirely novel experience.

”This is my first time stepping into battle as a mech pilot. ”

Barley ’s constant reassurance lessened the fear that threatened to overwhelm Ves.
He wondered if he would die for real if Barley happened to meet an unfortunate end.
Would the System pull back his consciousness in time, or leave him to die as a consequence of his failure?

He couldn ’t afford to take the risk.
”I have to survive. ”

Barley ’s lust of battle pushed aside his fear.
He became eager to experience how a real mech pilot fought.