Over the next two weeks, Ves quickly finished off the remainder of the orders. Twenty-four goldbel ckbeaks had been forged from his hands. The only one that remained unsold was the first production model which still awaited repairs.


    He didn’t even know whether he should restore it to its original condition. It might hold more value in its damaged state as a piece of mech history.


    With each delivery they made, the money started rolling in. The LMC finally reached a state where they possessed a steady amount of liquidity, though much of the funds would soon be drained after they received approval to construct a new manufacturingplex.


    "How much did the mech technicians progress in their studies?"


    "They achieved a fair bit while you worked. Everyone has seen you do the same thing over and over." Chief Cyril reported as he supervised the preparation to shift over the production lines to fabricating the silverbel ckbeaks.


    As for the Mark II? The LMC already retired the model from the catalog. Its cheap price and outdatedponents didn’t fit in thepany anymore.


    "What’s their sess rate?"


    "The average results hover around ny-three percent in the simtions. Most of them stumble when they have to fabricate those finicky armor pieces. The margin of error is too slim, but it helps that you don’t hide your methods. Lots of mech designers can be rather secretive. With the ample amount of recordings we’ve made, I don’t think they’ll have any excuses if they botch those parts."


    The real secret that distinguished his goldbel mechs from the cheaperbels was the X-Factor. The interaction between Ves and any of his mechs and designed urred entirely within the mental nes. Unless someone stuck him in a neural interface, no one would be able to figure out what went on in his mind when he worked on a mech.


    The goldbel ckbeaks in the hands of his customers already led to rave reviews. Even if few if any of his mechs had been tested in an actual battle, the piloting experience was almost unsurpassed. Both the X-Factor and the insights he applied from his Mastery led to a small but decisive advantage.


    "Last I heard, your design is even up for nomination for some awards at the end of the standard year. The only problem is that most copies in the wild consists of bronzebel ckbeaks."


    Ves pressed his lips. "I truly hope they don’t take the bronzebel version as the standard. Has the EME shored up its quality by now?"


    "Carlos tells me that some of his lessons have prated through Mr. Nevend’s thick skull. The quality of EME’stest output has reached the bare minimum, more or less."


    "More or less?"


    "It’s good enough for the buyers, but you’ll probably w your eyes out if you take a deep look at the mechs."


    "Then you’d better not let me see one in the flesh."


    His obsession over quality and craftsmanship had grown more severe over time. It had been a conscious decision of Ves to fan the mes in this area because it had a measurable impact on his work.


    He started to understand why design philosophy held the key to advancing to a higher grade of mech designer.


    Ves hung around the workshop and kept an eye on the mech technicians, who started putting their learning into practice. Even if they did the simtions a hundred times, working with the real thing always went wrong one way or another.


    The absence of Carlos had a significant effect on the productivity of his workers. Ves frequently mentored him, and he also continued to study on his free time. All of that added knowledge turned him into a qualified, if junior fabricator.


    Perhaps Cyril could do a better job, but he had to supervise the entire workshop floor, so he couldn’t do the work himself. The generalck of experience exhibited by the mech technicians disheartened Ves somewhat. It would take years to get them to the level of a trained technician of a major power.


    Hism suddenly chirped. Ves bent down and saw it came from Dietrich of all people. Ves quickly left the workshop and entered his office before epting the call.


    Dietrich looked awfully tired from the projection that appeared over hism. "Ves, I’ve got bad news for you."


    "Is something wrong with Rae?"


    "You could say that." The Little Boss said, and began to exin what happened at the arena yesterday.


    Ordinarily, Ves would get angry if he heard that Rae ran off to engage in a series of highly dangerous underground duels. Yet what Dietrich said about the Glowing turned all of that into something trivial.


    "This Glowing... you’re saying it’s valuable to the point where the Coalition and the Hegemony wille to duke it out?"


    "Not immediately. It takes a lot of time to gather their forces and prepare them for a lengthy upation. I reckon that the route where the Glowing is zipping past will turn into a no man’snd when they arrive."


    That sounded very serious. A long upation by the Friday Coalition or the Hexadric Hegemony or both meant that the war between the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom could be coteral damage.


    Complicating the matter was that both the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom maintained some ties with the Coalition. That might be enough of an excuse for the Hexadric Kingdom to steamroll over both third-rate states if they believed the Coalition benefited from their continued existence.


    "This is turning into a storm of epic proportions." Ves remarked while he rubbed his head. His brain threatened to overheat from all of the predictions he made. "Okay, have you tried to get Rae to change her mind?"


    "That’s the problem. She can’t back off. She personally went up to a big shot and demanded to take part in the Blood w’s expedition. In our line of work, once you do something like that, you always have to keep your word."


    Ves closed his eyes. He didn’t grow angry. He was already past that point. A sense of fatalistic helplessness emanated from his body as he thought about the huge numbers of mechs the Glowing would host.


    Each and every one of them would very likely fight to the death for riches and honor. Ves understood what it was like to fight over a portion of an untamed’s vast mineral wealth. He already went through a harrowing ordeal at Groening IV.


    "What will the Whalers do?"


    "My father’s been called up as well. Monty wants to bolster his numbers and our gang recently came into possession of a lot of carriers."


    "That sounds dangerous."


    "It is, but Monty’s always been good to those who answer his call. We’ll get rich, or die trying."


    Ves had the sense thosetter words applied to everyone else who set their sights on the Glowing. Truly, the allure of an entire of exotics was sufficient to throw any star sector in the gctic rim into a tizzy.


    "What should we do, Ves? I’m sure if you run up to your family, they can get something done."


    "No. That won’t work." He shook his head. "Rae always held dreams about going on an adventure in the stars. She won’t agree to back out on embarking to one of the most hotly contesteds in this star sector."


    A small part inside Ves faintly hoped that Rae would see for herself how awful actual war looked like. Once she disabused her romantic notions of what a treasure-hunting expedition should be, she’d surely return to her guard assignment withoutint.


    Dietrich and Ves bandied about a few possible course of actions, but nothing seemed remotely helpful.


    "I’ll go with you guys."


    "Say what?"


    "Family should stick together." He said. Even though Ves hadn’t been very close to his extended family, he still felt it was his duty as Rae’s cousin to see her through the fighting that would continue until the end of the seventy-day grace period. "Besides, I’m sure the Whalers could use a mech designer.s with high concentration of exotics usually exert a destructive influence on machinery. Let me join up with you guys and I’ll make sure your mech remain in tip-top shape."


    The offer sounded very attractive, and Dietrich didn’t hesitate to ept. "You’re right. We could sure use your help. I figure my father nned to take up guard duty in space, but if we have you with us, then we can help the Blood ws capture more territory. That will really increase our share of the profits."


    The main issue with Rae was that she pledged to fight alongside the inner core of the Blood ws. She basically turned into an honorary Blood w herself, which let her pilot a Blood w mech maintained by their own logistics.


    Meanwhile, Vescked the familiarity to help out the Blood ws directly. He hadn’t proven himself in front of one of their leaders like Rae did. Therefore, Ves could only hitch a ride with Walter’s Whalers.


    "Tell your dad I’m joining their fleet with my Barracuda."


    "I’ll do that. He’ll surely wee you with open arms. In the meantime, I’ll send you some files about the people we can expect to meet at the Glowing."


    They cut off the call after Ves received the files. He skimmed them over, but quickly became overwhelmed when the amount of local powers surpassed a hundred. "And that’s not even factoring small fries like Walter’s Whalers!"


    The Glowing attracted so much greed that the local states wouldn’t be able to hold back their citizens from having any ideas. At the very least, both the Republic and the Kingdom didn’t even attempt to rein in their gangs and mercenary corps.


    "There must be over a thousand different outfits looking to fight over a bunch of rocks."


    Ves predicted that the smaller outfits would seek refuge under the umbre of a major power, such as the Bright Republic’s Mech Corps or the Vesia Kindom’s Mech Legion.


    Larger outfits like the Blood ws possessed enough strength to stand on their own. While they wouldn’t fight directly against the military of another state, they’d surely attempt to upy a less attractive piece ofnd.


    Too bad that there were too many mechs and not enoughnd to go around. Conflict was bound to happen.


    Before Ves prepared for his impromptu journey, he gathered his closest circle of friends and workers. Melkor, Cyril, Jake, Primrose, Gavin and Calsie all streamed into the conference room, which already projected the busts of Marce and his grandfather.


    "I’ve got something to announce." Ves began his meeting while holding onto Lucky. He proceeded to exin what happened and how Rae ended up in the thick of it. Once he reached the part where he said he’d participate as well, the entire room exploded.


    "You’re crazy, Ves!" Jake yelled. "You’re a mech designer! You have no ce on the battlefield!"


    "I might not even be touching down on the. I can do most of my work aboard a carrier ship."


    "Even then, there’s going to be so many different fleets in orbit that your ship won’t be any safer!"


    The administrative types like Jake and Primrose simply didn’t understand his decision to throw himself head-long into danger.


    However, he received a surprising word of support from Marce. "It’s up to him whether he wants to participate or not. All I can say is that a mech designer can be a lot of help to the Whalers. His presence will save a lot of lives."


    "They’re just a bunch of half-criminals. It’s not worth the risk!"


    Ves turned to his grandfather. "What about you. You haven’t spoken a word yet. What do you think?"


    "I don’t like to be put on the spot." Benjamin replied. As a retired expert pilot, he had gone through a lot of battles over the years. "As a man, and as a Larkinson, I apud your decision. I would have done the same. Yet I also believe that your COO has a point. It’s not fitting for you to volunteer yourself to an extremely treacherous free-for-all. I wish I can tell you more, but I’m not allowed to tell you anything."


    His grandfather worked at the Ministry of Defense, so he knew best what might happen at the Glowing. Ves didn’t begrudge his grandfather for holding back the details. He guessed that the Republic must be monitoring this conference call right now.


    "Do I have your blessing to take part?"


    "You can have it, for what it’s worth. Go forth and be a man, but remember that you don’t have to hold yourself to the same standard as a mech pilot."


    His grandfather’s words reflected the conflicting set of values running through his mind. Every Larkinson had been raised with tales of daring, heroism and sacrifice. With every Larkinson able to pilot a mech being sent off to war, the family suffered a lot of casualties over the generations. That was why Benjamin didn’t discourage his own grandson for taking part, even if he didn’t really belong on the battlefield in the first ce.


    "Melkor, will youe with me?"


    "Of course. What will the family think if I let you go without my protection?"


    That settled it. At least three of the Larkinsons would set off for the Glowing. Ves faintly predicted that even more of their family might end up at the battlefield. The Mech Corps was all but certain to y the main role in theing campaign. Perhaps he might meet some of his other rtives who served in the divisions.