Chapter 3216: Dwarf Mechs The journey into the Vulcan Empire was a contentious one to say the least. Even though Ves had made an agreement with the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan, his allies didn't want to fly straight into a black hole! It took a lot of effort to assure both his allies and his own clansmen that Smiling Samuel was not as dangerous as a black hole. Too many people had read or heard all kinds of awful stories about the dwarves while the fleet was parked in Amswick. The locals constantly exaggerated the menace of their archenemies whenever they interacted with outsiders. The Empire of the Lost was filled by traumatized survivors and descendents who inherited the hate and fear of their parents towards the dwarves. Ves personally thought that the mania towards the Vulcanites had reached an excessive degree. Though the Lost were justified in demonizing their threatening neighbors, the Golden Skull Alliance did not play any part in this local turf war. No matter how much tensions flared between states, it was of no concern to transient travellers such as the Larkinson Clan. In fact, Ves was even willing to do business with the dwarves if it was convenient to do so! It was too bad that he didn't intend to expand his business presence in the Fermi Star Cluster. "There's also another problem. The dwarves don't like to pilot conventional humanoid mechs." Their hatred against the tall folk did not just lead them to question the true nature of their supposed patron god. They also moved away from piloting normal humanoid mechs in favor of bestial mechs and most notably dwarf mechs. A dwarf mech was exactly what it sounded like. It was a shorter but much more stockier version of a typical humanoid mech. Its contours basically matched that of a dwarf scaled to the size of a war machine. From what Ves had heard about the Vulcan Empire's mech community, the local mech industry was relatively young but already came up with numerous innovations that increased the competitiveness of dwarf mechs. Dwarf mechs were characterized by their lower profiles. This not only made it a little harder to hit them at range, but also conveyed substantial defensive advantages when fighting up close. Since dwarf mechs did not stretch as high as traditional humanoid mechs, they also possessed a lower center of mass. They were a lot more difficult to trip and they remained rock solid even when the terrain became unstable. Of course, just like the dwarves themselves, the mechs that took on their form performed quite well in heavy gravity environments. The advantage was so substantial that even the so-called 'tall folk' preferred to pilot dwarf mechs whenever they had to deploy on a heavy gravity planet for an extensive amount of time. "Heh, the dwarves probably don't like that." Ves chuckled. That said, dwarven mechs also came with significant downsides. If that wasn't the case, they would have become a lot more ubiquitous than today. Their short and stocky limbs made it a lot more difficult for normal mech pilots to get used to piloting them. Many pilots described the experience as turning into a fat and muscular child. They simply couldn't make the same movements that they had been accustomed to making as normal human adults. While this issue went away with time and practice, there were other downsides to dwarven mechs that were not as easy to brush away. Dwarf mechs were characterized by worse than usual mobility. For one, they possessed shorter pairs of legs. That made them a lot slower when they traversed on land. They were also a little more awkward to maneuver in the air and in space. The lack of length in their limbs also made it more difficult for them to perform melee attacks. Though they were able to hit harder than an equivalent normal humanoid mech, their shorter reach and reduced range of motion mostly limited them to performing simple and more straightforward moves. Their deviating forms also suffered from lower carrying capacity and less efficient heat management. These were important factors for ranged mechs, so they suffered a small disadvantage even at range. Overall, the complications surrounding dwarf mechs ultimately stopped them from gaining popularity in circles outside dwarven communities. The only reason why the latter clung to using dwarf mechs was because they identified with the stockier machines! While Ves was aware of these well-documented disadvantages, he did not automatically look down on dwarf mechs. They offered a lot of value under the right circumstances and fulfilled certain niches very well. "At the very least, they are one of the most efficient mech types in heavy gravity environments." Quadruped mechs actually offered a lot more stability in the same locale, but moving four limbs was a lot more energy-intensive than moving two limbs. Dwarf mechs occupied a sweet spot where they offered a reasonable amount of stability while still remaining fairly energy efficient. "Well, it only matters on the few settled planets that possess higher than normal gravities." One of the ironies of the Vulcan Empire was that most of its settled planets possessed standard gravities. The dwarves had taken them all over from the former human states that occupied the various territories before the dwarven revolution. These planets had all been terraformed and featured a lot of expensive infrastructure that took decades or centuries to accumulate. Even though the dwarves preferred to settle on heavy gravity planets, the fact of the matter was that there were too few of them that were terraformed and developed. Not even the Vulcanites could afford to start from scratch. This had led to the current result where the overwhelming majority of dwarves resided in the former homes of the tall folk they hated. The gravities they were subjected to were also a lot lighter than their bodies could handle. This came with all kinds of complications that Ves didn't bother to explore. "I'm not a dwarf, so why should I care?" Ves wasn't in the mood to get back to designing mechs right away, so continued to spend some time on reading up on the Vulcanites and the dwarves in general. He became surprisingly engrossed in their lives. They had developed quite a unique culture that was eerily familiar yet also different in a couple of crucial details. "It's like looking at a twisted mirror of humanity." While Ves contemplated the dwarves, his two cats engaged in their weekly tussle for dominance. "Meow!" Mrow! Both Blinky and Lucky rolled as they scratched and bit each other. They continued to cry out aggressively as they tried their best to assert themselves as the top cat aboard the Spirit of Bentheim. Mrooow! "Meow meow!" Unfortunately, this fight ended as anticlimactically as the last. Though Blinky was not a weak cat by any means, Lucky was far more experienced and durable. After swiping Blinky one last time, the gem cat proudly lifted his head and arrogantly claimed victory. "Meow!" The purple spiritual cat hissed resentfully at Lucky before returning to Ves' mind in order to recuperate and plot his next takeover. "You dumb cat." Ves muttered to another part of himself. "What makes you think you can beat Lucky? He's a blooded cat. Who knows how much his body count is. As for you, I don't think you've taken the life of a single opponent." Mrow mrow… Hey, I'm not going to put myself anywhere close to a fight if I can help it. I'm not going to stray onto a battlefield just so that you can acquire some actual battle experience. I don't care what talents you've acquired. Your non-combat functions are much more valuable to me. I didn't make you because I wanted to find a replacement to Lucky. I made you so that you can provide me with the utility that my first cat is incapable of providing." "Meow!" "You're too inconsistent when it comes to producing gems!" Ves glared at his mechanical cat. "It's already been a few months since you produced those Bastet gems. Don't you think it's time for you to pay your rent again?" "Meow meow." As Ves argued with his cat, his office chimed. "Hmm? Who is visiting?" It turned out that Ketis wanted to drop by in person. When Ves let her in, she waltzed in and dropped herself onto one of the couches. Swish swish. "Meow~" Bloodsinger approached Lucky, allowing Sharpie to greet its friend. "I thought you would be eager to spend more time with your new creations." Ves stated. The younger woman waved her hand. "I know my work. There's hardly anything worth studying for me. I can always look at the First Sword and the Decapitator later. They're not about to run away or anything." "Ah, I guess you're right. You're being surprisingly patient about it, unlike my wife." She huffed. "That's one of the reasons why I'm glad to get away for a moment. She can be a bit of a handful to be around sometimes. I'll just wait until she has her fill of my masterwork." "Good idea." "So… I haven't received any word from the MTA." Ketis said. "While I don't think any of us has transmitted the news to the mechers, I'm sure they learned about the Decapitator by now. How long do you think I have to wait until I have to play host to MTA Master?" Ves thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure if Master Willix or the rest of the MTA will even bother to drop by again. A masterwork mech sword is not as significant as a masterwork mech, you know. From their perspective, a single masterwork mech part won't substantially increase the odds of breakthroughs." He also thought that Master Willix must be so tired of getting yanked by the Larkinsons that she would probably throw her hands up this time and get back to her usual business. "That's wrong!" Ketis insisted. "A sword is by far the most important companion a swordsman could have. To Dise, it's fine if the expert mech is flawed. What concerns her a lot more is the quality of the sword. She will definitely benefit a lot from wielding such a fantastic weapon!" "Let's see how it will turn out. Maybe you're right." After discussing this topic, Ves brought up another matter. "What do you think about the ceremony that the Swordmaidens and Heavensworders held in Venerable Dise's honor? Can you tell me whether you think that it has helped you in forging a masterwork mech sword?" Ketis nodded without any hesitation. "It has definitely affected me in many ways, and mostly for the better. I think it was a brilliant idea to fabricate our expert mech in the company of those who care the most about it. Seeing all of the people around us and recognizing that they are all invested in our work conveys a lot more meaning to our work." "Is that so? Because the rest of us didn't really gain that much." "That's because this expert mech design project was not as personal to you." She stated. "This is not your fault. I know that you and your wife made an earnest effort into designing a good expert swordsman mech. It's just that this is not enough. I have a much more personal stake in providing Venerable Dise with the most powerful weapons possible." This difference illustrated the importance of meaning and emotional investments. One of the downsides of designing so many remarkable expert mechs at a time was that it was hard for any mech designer to maximize their enthusiasm for each of them. It would have been a lot easier to get invested in all of the remarkable projects if the Design Department had spaced them out over a span of multiple years. It was a pity that the Larkinson Clan needed all of the expert mechs sooner rather than later. Ves did not regret the opportunities that he had potentially missed by deciding on the current approach. Producing any masterwork from these difficult projects was already a bonus in his eyes. After a bit more chit chat, Ketis finally broached the real reason why she wanted to talk to Ves. "I know that we still have a couple more projects to complete, but I'd like to hear your input on a couple of proposals that I have been thinking about for a while. Remember my Monster Hunter concept?" "I do." "Well, I no longer want to wait after we have completed this round. My idea goes like this…"