The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1044

Ves made a lot of progress on refining his vision for his super-medium space knight the last few days. Ever since he received Professor Ventag’s feedback and assistance, he tinkered with his vision in order to assure himself that his concept would perform well enough to attract actual market demand.

"Dare to design."

This motto stuck with Ves. It resonated with him. It sounded like the words of a true mech designer, one that was bold enough to design mechs.

"Even so, innovation comes with a price." He said to himself in a depreciating manner. "If it was so easy to buckle the predominant trends in the market, then a lot more mech designers would have already published a large bunch of super-medium mechs and other whacky designs."

Perhaps intentionally or unintentionally, Professor Ventag severely downplayed the negative consequences of pursuing innovation. The Senior painted a rosy picture of the benefits of pushing through with their innovative design, yet would the future really play out as the man described?

"It’s impossible to predict the future!" Ves believed. He was not so arrogant to the point of claiming to predict how the market and everyone else with a stake in him and his company would respond to this design. "The backlash might be even greater and more enduring to someone like me than someone with a rock-solid reputation like Ventag."

Corus Ventag designed so many great mechs that he wouldn’t be suffering that much of a hit to his reputation when he acquired a single blemish. As for Ves, while it was true that the market would forgive him for his missteps since he was so young, it would be hard to regain his old height after proving to the market that he was fallible like many other average mech designers.

In addition, mech designers defied the market at their own risk. What is his super-medium space knight design acquired such a negative reputation that even those willing to give it a try would be turned off?

Ves feared that all of the criticism would depress the sales of his design and thereby limit its proliferation in the Bright Republic and the Komodo Star Sector.

A mech designer derived a large part of their satisfaction and motivation on how widespread their designs proliferated. A struggling Novice who worked months or years on a single design, only to sell ten or so copies in its lifetime would feel as if their work hardly mattered.

He already learned that the impact of a mech designer’s work affected a mech designer’s chances of progressing and advancing.

Someone who designed a dozen virtual mechs a year likely wouldn’t be able to match the progress of someone who designed only a single mech a year. That was because their concrete impact on society differed hugely, with the designer of the real mech directly affecting the state of the galaxy in a small but very real fashion.

"An artist does not produce art for their own enjoyment. Art is made to be shared and appreciated. The same applies to mech design."

Someone could train for hundreds of years to be the best painter in the galaxy, but what was the point if they hoarded their art and stuffed them in the closet? Besides, who knew if he was really the best if he didn’t showcase his work to the public and listen to feedback?

Without going through the rigors of public exposure, art held little meaning!

"Mech designers design mechs because they are meant to be used. If the mechs we design don’t fulfill this essential purpose, what is the meaning of their existence? There isn’t any. It’s no surprise that mech designers who can’t even find the meaning of their own designs stall in their growth."

Naturally, the presence and absence of spirituality played a role as well, but even so, if the joint design project sold less than a hundred copies in its lifetime, it wasn’t a worthwhile mech design to Ves and Professor Ventag.

He was aware that many mech designers would be happy at selling more than a dozen copies of their mechs. Not Ves. Not anymore. "The sales figures of my Blackbeak and Crystal Lord designs are much higher than that. There should be no good reason for me to regress to the level of a struggling Novice."

No. Ves wanted to move forward and close the chapter of his life as an Apprentice.

However, in order to advance to Journeyman, his mech design needed to possess sufficient appeal that it attracted a sufficient amount of sales even under a storm of criticism!

The stakes of the joint design project was already high. By deciding on designing a super-medium space knight, Ves made the risky gamble even riskier by making a leveraged bet!

If he won this bet and achieved success despite the inevitable backlash he incurred, then all of the pain would have been worth it as he rode the high tide of innovation to Journeyman and beyond!

On the other hand, if he lost this bet, he not only wasted a priceless opportunity to collaborate with a Senior Mech Designer, he also risked tanking his company and set back his business aspirations!

Ves did not forget about his intention to participate in the upcoming rat race to design mechs for the upcoming generation as soon as it began!

"If I avoid excessive risks, I’m sure I can scrounge up a decent amount of money in time."

"The Bentheim Liberation Movement." Ves guessed. "They’re a threat as well, and in implicit coordination with the Vesians. If they are preparing for a major attack from within, Bentheim might not be able to repel the Vesian invasion so easily!"

An attack from within and without would definitely devastate Bentheim like nothing else! Even if the Mech Corps managed to repel the Mech Legion with great difficulty, they would only encounter ruins if they turned around.

If Bentheim became ruined, the trade and industry that took place there would take a huge hit! Money would stop flowing and the entire star system along with the rest of the Bright Republic would suffer severe shortages that would ripple into the daily lives of many average Brighters!

In short, the entire Bright Republic would bleed if the Tovar Peace Delegation recklessly called the Colchester Peace Delegation’s bluff! _{ƒreewebηoveℓ.com}

Secretary Lowe illuminated their current difficulties. "The main problem our negotiators are facing right now is our inability to ascertain whether the intention to invade the Bentheim System is a bluff or an actual plan. The lack of information on the Vesian bottom line is casting uncertainty on the stance we should take. Should we stay confident and implacable and risk devastation, or should we concede and give up ground?"

"What do the Vesians demand in return for calling off their supposed invasion of the Bentheim System?"

"A lot. More than double of the territory they gained when they gained the upper hand in the previous wars. Perhaps two-dozen star systems in the border region will change hands. That is on top of the monetary compensation that we have to provide. They’re asking for a quarter of Bentheim’s tax revenue for the next decade. Absurd! That is enough money to drown their noble throats a million times over! The Bright Republic would definitely suffer under a long-term depression if they relinquish that much income!"

Ves did not have a clue how many bright credits all of this was worth, but he doubted the LMC came close to matching those figures in their annual earnings. His little company was only a drop in a bucket compared to the sheer amount of money the state raked in every year!

"With such a heavy price, I think we’d rather call their bluff and fight it out."

"That is the response of most of our delegation and I suspect the rest of the Republic." Secretary Lowe shook his head. "Yet that is exactly what Senator Tovar wishes to avoid. He isn’t keen on weakening the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom only to allow third parties to pick up a bargain. I believe Prince Colchester knows this as well, but he won’t be able to placate the warmongers from his own state by proposing a white peace. If he can manage to secure significantly more gains through negotiations than the Mech Legion can secure an advantage in the war if they fight it out, then most of the Vesians will be able to stomach an early end of the war."

That in turn would piss the Brighters off so much that they would rather continue the war, thereby making the peace treaty enforceable!

The current conundrum between the two delegations remained an implacable obstacle in the peace talks. Without resolving this difficult hurdle in a way that was acceptable to both sides, perhaps the peace talks might meet a premature end before they even came close to achieving success!