[401-600] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 401: Helpful Tips

It was at this time when a very important piece of news spread throughout the Republic. The Mech Corps sent out a formal message to millions of mech designers.

Within the LMC, only Carlos received a notification from the Mech Corps. It arrived in his comm with a special sound that his comm normally never released.

Both Ves and Carlos looked at each other with dismay.

"I knew this would happen." Carlos sighed and raised his comm to read the message. "I've been drafted."

Both of them saw it coming, though Ves always hoped that the Mech Corps would somehow overlook his friend. After all, despite graduating as a mech designer, he never did anything of the sort. He had no designs to his name. He didn't even publish a single virtual mech.

"When do you have to leave?"

"They already booked passage for me. I'm to board the next convoy from Cloudy Curtain to Bentheim. That's in two days."

"That's not a lot of time."

"The Mech Corps doesn't wait for anyone."

Now that the first wave of mech designers got called up, the war would probably enter a heated state very soon. The cautious probes and occasional raids that characterized the majority of the battles between the two sides would make way for harrowing battles in space and on the ground.

Ves accompanied Carlos they went through the paperwork. This ensured that Carlos would seamlessly be able to return to the LMC after his service ended.

"How long do you think the war will drag on?" Carlos asked as they ate a meal in one of the Mech Nursery's restaurants.

"If it's the same as the last ones, then it's going to last for four to six years."

That meant that Carlos might end up a very different man after the Mech Corps released him. The thought of what low-ranking mech designers had to go through during the war freaked him out.

"Hey!" Ves reached out and grasped his friend's shaking hand. "Working near or at the frontlines can be bad, but it's also a fantastic learning opportunity! As long as you listen to the chief technicians in charge, you won't get lost, I promise you."

"Wise words from someone who had seen it all?"

"You can say that."

What he experienced on Groening IV and the Glowing Planet changed his life and built his character. Ves might have encountered a number of close shaves, but he also came out stronger after he conquered every challenge in his way.

Over the course of their dinner, Ves proceeded to tutor Carlos on how to survive his coming tour of service. He enthralled his friend with tales and cautioned him to always watch his back.

"A crisis can happen at any moment. No one will watch out for you when all hell breaks loose. The only person who cares about your safety is yourself and no one else."

Carlos frowned. "Geez. That sounds really pessimistic. Is it really that bad?"

"It depends on where you end up, but even if you are assigned to the rearguard, you shouldn't relax too much."

"With my background, I don't have any chance of landing a plushy posting." Carlos said with a rueful smile. "It's straight to the frontlines for me."

Even Ves didn't hold out hope for Carlos to be sent somewhere far away. The Mech Corps was not a completely incorruptible institution. Ves grew up long enough among the Larkinsons to hear about how they really worked. When he studied mech design at Rittersberg, he heard other stories that confirmed all those tales.