The frightening incident had come to an end. After fighting against her own expert mech for several long and tense minutes, Venerable Orfan at least managed to forge a basic understanding with her own expert mech.
Ves had the feeling that it was not as deep as he would like, but it was at least better than nothing. The immediate threat had been dealt with and the duo had finally set upon the right path.
It was a close call, though. Ves hadn’t been certain whether his suggestion would work out. Fortunately, his understanding of one of his own products turned out to be accurate enough.
The Vanguard Project was a prideful expert mech, but it was not inherently opposed to being piloted by Venerable Orfan.
It was just a fussy brat that didn’t want to be told what to do. Pressing it would only make it hit back harder.
The same applied to Venerable Orfan to an extent. When these two brats were put together and told to cooperate, it should have been obvious that they wouldn’t begin to hold hands and agree to partner up right away.
“Ugh.” Ves pressed his fingers against his forehead. “It feels like I’m managing a bunch of children instead of mature expert pilots.”
Venerable Orfan was not fit to resume the initial test run after this ordeal. Though she and her expert mech hadn’t dueled against any opponents or performed any significant piloting feats, they had battled against each other in an arena that was just as dangerous and exhausting!
“Just go back, Orfan.” Ves commanded the expert pilot. “The telemetry isn’t too good right now. Your physical and mental state have deteriorated too much and we don’t know whether your expert mech is still able to function properly. At least allow it to check it over before you can try again. Does that sound okay to you, Venerable?”
As much as Venerable Orfan wanted to refute his words, she couldn’t ignore reality to such a great extent. There was little she could do in her current state. Her concentration was already shot to hell and her will was too worn to even resonate with her brand new expert mech.
“Fine.” She said. “I’ll head back and take a good, long rest.”
“Do you need the Dark Zephyr to ferry your expert mech back to the Spirit of Bentheim?”
“I CAN GO BACK BY MYSELF! DON’T PATRONIZE ME, VES!”
“Okay, okay! Calm down, woman!” Ves hastily replied as he leaned back.
Everyone waited until the Vanguard Project limped back to where it emerged from. Though the flight of the expert spearman mech didn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence, Venerable Orfan managed to land her mech onto the deck without tripping over or crashing against a bulkhead or something. That was a pretty decent conclusion to this stressful incident.
Given the near-disaster that had just taken place, Ves and the others felt a lot less certain about allowing Venerable Dise to activate her new expert mech for the first time.
Who knew whether the First Sword was just as prickly and competitive towards its pilot as the Vanguard Project. If Venerable Dise wasn’t able to get along with the personality of her living mech, then they might face another disaster, but this time the threatening machine would be armed with a mastersword mech sword!
“Do not abort this run.” Venerable Dise spoke through the comm channel. “I won’t lose control like Venerable Orfan. I am different from her and my First Sword is different from the Vanguard Project. Trust me. I will not pose a threat to the clan.”
Ves exchanged glances with his wife.
“We’ll allow you to have a go, but only with added restrictions.” Gloriana eventually decided. “You’ll have to leave the Decapitator behind for the time being. If you ever lose control, then at least your expert mech won’t be armed with a powerful weapon that can cut through any mechs or ships. We’ll also tow your mech out into open space before you are allowed to interface with your machine. Do you agree with these conditions?”
Venerable Dise grunted. “I’ve dealt with worse. Just do it. I don’t need any delays.”
“Uhm, stand by for towing.”
A short delay ensued as a quartet of Bright Warriors piloted by the Blade Mistresses approached the Spirit of Bentheim. They attached cables along several anchor points across the First Sword’s frame and slowly towed it out into open space.
A fifth Swordmaiden mech headed inside and reverently carried the Decapitator. Only Legion Commander Sendra was worthy to transport the masterwork mech sword that Ketis had lovingly created.
In order to be absolutely safe, the clan decided to park the First Sword at least fifty kilometers away from the nearest ship. This was a ridiculous distance but no one wanted to take any chances. The power of expert pilots and expert mechs did not conform to common sense. The only way to reliably reduce the chances of getting hurt was to put plenty of distance between the incident and anything important.
A lot of mechs that had been originally assigned to guard the perimeter and assist in the test run had fallen back as well. The only objects that kept the First Sword company were a lot of bots. Even if the expert swordsman ever went crazy, the Larkinson Clan would only lose a bunch of equipment in that case.
After the technical staff performed their final checks, Ves finally gave the word.
“You can activate your mech, Venerable Dise. Make sure to treat your expert mech with respect.”
“I treat all of my weapons with respect.” The Swordmaiden expert pilot replied.
She proved her words by resolutely activating her mech. As her mind interfaced with the mech and her will enveloped its graceful form, she immediately began to commune with the machine that she had been waiting to pilot for a long time.
Different from the uncontrolled movements and fluctuating resonance that had characterized the Vanguard Project’s initial activation, the First Sword was as stable as a statue. It remained completely still even as the telemetry showed that the man-machine connection was incredibly active.
Soon, a smooth blue resonance shield formed around the First Shield. Its stability and lack of fluctuations visibly demonstrated that Venerable Dise managed to attain full control over her expert mech!
“She did it!” Ketis whooped on the other side of the control room. “I knew she could do it! A Swordmaiden always masters her weapon!”
Whether this was true or not, Venerable Dise and the First Sword took to each other like fish to water. No matter how many data points Ves tried to scour, none of them showed any hint of danger.
“How are you feeling, Dise?” Ves decided to ask the expert pilot in person. “Are you experiencing any difficulties?”
“I’m doing great. My expert mech isn’t as unruly as the Vanguard Project. Ketis forged it to become my instrument. It knows exactly what it is and who I am. It’s not about to run out of control.”
She demonstrated that by performing basic moves. The expert mech soared in different directions while performing a series of slow but increasingly more intense unarmed combat moves.
A lot of new data poured in as Ves and the others gained a greater insight on the First Sword’s maneuvering capabilities. The expert mech featured a lot of agility and range of motion, allowing it to perform moves that were impossible for human bodies to copy without breaking a few bones in the process.
After the First Sword performed enough routines to provide a sufficient amount of data to the mech designers, Ves reluctantly agreed to return the Decapitator to its rightful wielder.
“We’re about to give you back your sword. Now, don’t get too excited right away. Let’s start slow and build up from there, okay?”
Venerable Dise impatiently nodded. “I understand. I’m still in control.”
When Commander Sendra’s mech approached the expert mech, it had to stop as the pressure emanating from the First Sword was quite formidable.
“Your sword, Venerable.”
The Bright Warrior gently threw the Decapitator to its intended wielder. The blade silently crossed the distance until the First Sword grasped the hilt in a solid, two-handed grip.
The moment the expert swordsman mech held its masterwork mech sword, several things happened at once.
First, the resonance meters spiked.
Second, Venerable Dise resonated with the giant weapon.
Third, the Decapitator began to glow with power!
“It’s singing! The sword I’ve forged is singing!” Ketis enthusiastically remarked as she leaned closer in order to observe the footage.
To Venerable Dise, attuning to a sword was a much more significant event than attuning to her expert mech.
To her, the First Sword was little different from a suit of combat armor. It was still a vital piece of equipment that directly affected her combat performance, but it did not completely define her as a warrior.
What swordsmen and swordswomen truly cared about was the sword they had trained their entire lives to wield. The significance of wielding a sword was much greater than getting accustomed to a new suit of armor, and this was little different!
“We’re detecting elevating life signs.” Gloriana warnedly said. “Venerable Dise’s stress levels are rising!”
Ketis held out her palm “Wait! Don’t interrupt this solemn occasion! Dise is excited. She’s not under attack. Just give her time. There’s no way the sword I’ve made for her will rebel.”
Venerable Dise continued to exhibit more activity and so did her mech and the sword it wielded. The true resonance that enveloped them both rose substantially as the expert pilot had become extremely excited.
The Decapitator even started to glow brighter. However, before it could build up to an alarming level, it slowly dimmed as Venerable Dise finally reined it in. Soon enough, the expert mech and its sword reached a stable condition.
Ves let out a soft breath. “Everything okay, still?”
“Yes. I just became a little overwhelmed. This sword.. is so much more than I thought.”
“Well, try it out then. We have already gone over the basic movement tests. Let us see what you can do with your new blade.”
A string of sacrificial dummy bots approached. Each of them varied in size, toughness and mobility characteristics. They all zipped around in random directions, making it fairly challenging to pin them down.
It was no problem for the First Sword. The expert mech engaged its flight system and used its superior mobility to rapidly close the distance. After unleashing one clean cut, it neatly bisected a small and agile bot.
The First Sword proceeded to chase down other bots and cut them precisely in the middle without fail. Venerable Dise exhibited excellent control and efficiency throughout this basic exercise, signifying that she was truly harnessing her expert mech instead of the other way around.
“Alright, let’s try something more challenging.” Ves suggested. “A couple of heavy-duty lifter bots should be bringing a large plate of hull armor over. It’s a piece taken off the hull of the Graveyard. Try and cut through it as much as possible. You can use all of the power you can muster.”
The thick plate was larger and much thicker than a mech. When Ves said that it was taken from the hull of a capital ship, he wasn’t kidding. The outer plate was so thick that the length of Decapitator couldn’t even penetrate all of the way through!
Ordinary swordsman mechs wouldn’t even dream of trying to carve through all of that solid plating. Even if the quality of the materials wasn’t particularly high, the sheer depth was already intimidating in itself!
Venerable Dise did not look deterred. As she resonated with her mech, she began to activate one of the resonance abilities associated with the Decapitator.
The Bissonat integrated in the core of the Decapitator reacted to Venerable Dise’s will and began to empower the weapon with sharpness beyond compare. That wasn’t all though as Venerable Dise also began to resonate with the essence of Qilanxo that Ves had poured into the Unending alloy that the weapon was made of. This caused the blade to be covered with a special sheen that exuded a mysterious energy.
Once the First Sword was done with charging its attack, it approached the plate while lifting the empowered Decapitator over its head.
“CHOP!”
A flash cut through the solid plate and much of the space beyond!
Less than a second later, the thick capital ship-grade hull plate neatly separated into halves.
Ves and many others in the control room fell silent as they looked on with awe.
This was just a single attack, yet already told them many things.
“She can slice through any ship of our fleet.”
The performance of the First Sword and its remarkable blade did not disappoint!
