The Mech Touch

perfect! There are Fridaymen who would be envious of her genetics! ”

”Then… what is all this about? Why isn ’t Relia like the other potentates from our town? ”

The doctor took on a serious expression.
”Potentates are rare among our population, but they emerge frequently enough for Hafner to treat them according to long-standing policies.
However, there are some cases which merit a closer look.
Young Relia is exactly such a special case.
The preliminary results from the clinic from your rural planet were so astounding that we didn ’t hesitate to bring you to the capital of the Hafner Duchy.
What our state-of-the-art machines have determined has only verified those amazing results! ”

”So is this something good for little Relia? ”

”It is more than good! ” The senior doctor proclaimed, then turned to Relia with a gentle smile.
”Relia Foster, your potential has been tested, and not found wanting at all.
From this day onward, you may now bear the status of potentate with pride! ”

Relia already thought about the extra allowance the Hafners would pay to the family members of a potentate, but the doctor wasn ’t finished.

”It is our pleasure to announce to you an additional blessing! Through rigorous investigation, we have determined that your genetic aptitude has reached one of the most uppermost percentiles of all potentates! In normal parlance, your genetic aptitude falls squarely into A grade! ”

A grade genetic aptitude!

Even though the Foster parents didn ’t know the full weight of that grade, they knew that little Relia was much more special than they thought!

”Then… will she be attending an academy at Carpenter II? ”

”No! Absolutely not! Why would Hafner want to waste uncut gem like Relia? Those hillbilly teachers at your podunk academy won ’t be able to bring out more than a tenth of her potential! Ah, forgive my excitement.
This is good news for you! Though the paperwork will come later, I can already tell you that Hafner will sponsor your new lives on Beicham III! Your daughter will enter one of the most prestigious mech academies on our capital planet and receive the highest level of tutoring! Come twenty years later, your daughter will definitely become one of Hafner ’s heroes! ”

From that day onwards, Relia said goodbye to her pleasant and tranquil life on Carpenter II.
The Hafner administration whisked the Fosters away to a villa ten times larger than their old home.
While her father and mother received easy jobs on the capital planet, Relia was pushed into attending a fancy academy.

All of the changes scared her if she was being honest.
She was scared out of her wits when she found out that a lot of noble sons and daughters attended their elite academy!

Fortunately, the Hafner people did their best to welcome her in their midst.
After her much more wealthy cadets found out that she possessed an A grade aptitude, her noble cadets bumped away her fellow commoners in the academy and tried to befriend her as much as possible.

It was a wild ride for Relia, though she could always depend on her tutors to set her straight.
She only found out later that the Hafners paid a lot of attention to the nurturing of each A grade potentate.
In the circle of mech pilots, everyone else were commoners while an A grade potentate like her received treatment akin to a noble!

It was like the galaxy had been turned upside down!

Her time at the academy quickly proved her talent.
She breezed through the classes to the point where she mastered the lessons two to four times faster than her fellow cadets! Each time she learned something new, she absorbed the knowledge and skills like a sponge and displayed them with perfect accuracy when she hopped into a training mech!

She quickly distinguished herself at the academy.
Besides a handful of other A grade potentates in other year groups, nobody could best her in a fair duel.
Relia quickly became accustomed to fighting under handicaps whenever she needed to duel her fellow cadets.

”Your progress is excellent, Cadet Foster. ”

”I aim to please. ” She nodded demurely.

Besides learning how to fight, she also learned a lot of etiquette and how to speak words without offending someone important.
Just because she was an A grade potentate didn ’t mean the Duke of Hafner would stay his hand if she called him a bastard.

”Since you require less time to master your lessons, your supervisor has decided to supplement your lesson plan with officer training. ”

”Officer training, sir? ”

”The moment you graduate, you will immediately become a commissioned officer in the Hafner mech legions.
This is a rare privilege that will kickstart your career, so don ’t treat this opportunity lightly! ”

From then on, Relia not only trained to become a mech pilot, she was also being groomed into a mech officer.
Though the former came naturally to her, the latter provided her with much more challenges.
Leadership had nothing to do with genetic aptitude, so she needed the learn the ropes the old fashioned way.

If not for the help of her tutors, Relia would have never made it through officer training.
As part of her training to become a mech officer, she found herself being challenged to lead her fellow cadets during classes.
Since everyone was still young, it was exceptionally hard to get them to adhere to her orders.

The young but growing woman managed somehow.
Though some people envied her genetic aptitude and despised her commoner status, the academy teachers made it clear that she was destined for greater things! Knighthood was within her grasp!

Once most cadets knew that she was a knight in the making, they stopped regarding her as a lucky commoner and treated her as if she was already part of the lowest peerage.
After passing through this hurdle, Relia smoothly graduated from the junior academy and effortlessly graduated from the advanced academy as well.

The Mech Legion commissioned her as a mech lieutenant when she was fresh out of training.

Though she wanted to spend more time with her parents, the newly christened Lieutenant Foster knew that her family ’s privileges could only be sustained by fulfilling her obligations.
She followed the arrangements of the Mech Legion and joined a Hafner mech regiment called the Hostland Warriors.