At first, Ves did not want to hand over his medical data on his physical state. Many people could figure out a lot of uncomfortable insights depending on the level of detail and completeness of the physiological data. Nobody wanted to expose themselves to other people so readily. People could abuse this data in all kinds of nefarious ways, from devising viruses that specifically targeted his physique to creating a very convincing clone that could fake his identity. Yet as Ves thought about this situation a little more, his mind started to drift. What would happen if his Woodsap mechs were made in his image? This would be far more than a simple vanity project. It would have greater significance, especially now that red humanity had entered the Age of Dawn! Ves began to imagine a future where the Terrans deployed the Arboreal Project biomechs in great numbers. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 Although the configurations of the biomech design had not been finalized yet, that did not stop him from imagining the organic machines assaulting the native aliens with a combination of ranged and melee armaments. The weapon loadouts were not too important. What truly made the Arboreal Project special aside from its Woodsap System was the amazing properties of TE Wood. This alien biomaterial enabled the organic machines that were made by it to evade detection until they entered visual range. Even after they had been detected, enemy sensors and targeting systems would still experience trouble with trying to lock onto their targets due to the interference produced by wood impregnated with Solus Gas. As the Arboreal Project mechs inevitably incurred damage from their adversaries, the machines could quickly regenerate and patch up holes in their wooden exteriors while still remaining in the field. The Emperor Tree once demonstrated excellent regenerative properties, and the mechs made by an enhanced version of the same Ebony Wood would also be able to do the same. In fact, according to the original plan, the Arboreal Project might also be able to absorb TE Wood from other biomechs to conduct emergency repairs and restore a significant measure of their combat effectiveness! A more advanced application of this capability was to enable the Arboreal Project biomechs to absorb debris and other materials in the field. Perhaps their quality and other properties may be substandard, but they could still be used to produce inferior varieties of wood that were suitable to conduct makeshift repairs. Regardless of whether the Arboreal Project gained all of these amazing features, enemies would struggle to kill the biomechs if they failed to strike these wooden machines with overwhelming attacks. Just like the Everchanger, the Arboreal Project might not appear too tough and resilient on the surface, but so long as they remained functional on the battlefield, they could continue to regenerate their damaged and broken parts so long as they had access to enough energy and materials. This not only enabled the Arboreal Project to sustain their presence on the battlefield considerably more than other first-class mechs, but also made it difficult to weaken a unit comprised of these biomechs by whittling down their numbers. Unlike most other mech units that steadily grew weaker and less threatening after losing their machines for one reason or another, the mech units based on the Arboreal Project woud be able to preserve their numbers much longer! The importance of this could not be overstated. It took far longer and much greater effort for the enemy to degrade the combat effectiveness of a Terran biomech unit. By relying on their ridiculous regeneration and self-repair capabilities, the Arboreal Project biomechs would be able to keep going while keeping their numbers up for a far longer period. This meant that it was not only more difficult to outnumber them, but the Woodsap mechs would also have a far greater chance of gaining an escalating numbers advantage as the battle continued to unfold. Unlike many other mechs that grew weaker and more exhausted as the battle dragged on, the Woodsap mechs should remain vigorous and healthy as the initial phases of the fighting had passed. These biomechs excelled at attrition warfare! So long as they retained enough TE Wood and did not completely deplete their energy reserves, they became effectively unkillable and unremovable. They would remain stubborn and were as difficult to remove as cockroaches. "This is not the extent of their remarkable nature." The Terrans also planned to forge a deep connection between the Arboreal Project and Gaia. Ever since Ves first granted life to Gaia, she had never served as a proper design spirit for a living biomech. That was mostly his fault as he remained very reluctant to turn any biomech into a living mech. Now that he had decided to do this, Gaia finally had an opportunity to demonstrate her usefulness when tied to a biomech and more precisely a wooden mech. Ves expected this relationship to produce strong synergies, possibly surpassing the benefits attained by typical bonds between living mechs and design spirits. The Terrans had actually taken charge on this matter. Many of them already worshiped Gaia and could call upon her power to produce extraordinary outcomes. They definitely had a big ploy in mind for the Arboreal Project. Ves was glad to let them work their magic. He hadn't really done anything too remarkable with design spirits as of late. This was a waste as the Age of Dawn opened up many more opportunities for spiritual entities to intervene in the material realm. Hopefully, the Terrans would succeed in surprising him. Their long heritage enabled them to preserve a lot of legacies. Ves never underestimated the methods that these proud but cautious people hid up their sleeves. All of these promised features already elevated the first Woodsap mech design beyond any normal limitations, but Ves still did not think it was enough. His Elemental Carmine mech designs were supposed to be the works that exemplified his design philosophy and granted his customers powerful new ways to become a lot stronger. They were supposed to be epochal inventions that redefined the mech industry once they became available and set a new standard that every other serious competitor had to match. His Carmine mechs had already created an opening that Ves could take advantage of, but they were not enough as far he was concerned. The Yellow Jacket models only targeted norms. The main goal of this innovative mech line was to grant ordinary people the chance to pilot a real mech. Ves specifically made the Yellow Jacket line as affordable as possible in order to increase its reach to the greatest possible extent. It clearly succeeded in this goal. The Elemental Carmine mech concept was not meant to be a direct follow-up to the Yellow Jacket line. Instead, Ves explicitly targeted them towards existing mech pilots, though he also expected his next work to gain the interest of well-funded and highly enthusiastic norms. The point was that the Arboreal Project was meant to occupy a very different position in the mech market. This was a Carmine mech that was squarely aimed towards Terran mech pilots that sought a machine that could bring them to the next level in more ways than one. The complexity of the Arboreal Project should at least match that of an existing first-class multipurpose mech like the Omega Thresher model. While this demand normally made the Woodsap mech so demanding to pilot that only potentates with A and B-grade genetic aptitudes could keep up with all of the variables, the Woodsap System should do wonders in enabling less talented mech pilots to control the expanded features of the Arboreal Project. This was also one of the reasons why he had been caught off-guard by the latest initiative from the Terrans. Letting norms 'pilot' the Arboreal Project as if it was their own bodies did not really align with Ves' original goals for his first Woodsap mech. While Ves was willing to believe that the elite infantry soldiers tapped by the Terran Alliance would be able to familiarize themselves with their complex new Woodsap mechs a lot faster than usual, that did not change the fact that they were norms. These norms lacked a lot of basic knowledge and common sense about mech piloting, especially in relation to first-class multipurpose mechs. Their combat effectiveness when piloting the Arboreal Project would be poor at first. Even if they could already control the biomech frames almost as effectively as they controlled their own human bodies, the new Woodsap mech pilots would only be able to make good use of external armaments. They could still rely on the existing skills they possessed with rifles, swords and other handheld weapons to fight with the Arboreal Project mechs. Perhaps they could also rely on their existing expertise to operate additional weapon systems such as shoulder-mounted rocket launchers. However, the story would become a lot more complicated if the Arboreal Project ended up being loaded with a dozen different weapon systems and half-a-dozen other special modules. The new Woodsap mech pilots could not rely on any existing muscle memory or prior training to operate these integrated systems with the same degree of proficiency as proper mech pilots. First-class mech pilots at least possessed a foundation to effectively employ these integrated systems. What about norms that had formed a Woodsap Pact with the Arboreal Project mechs? Unless the Terran Alliance was willing to hold them back for a time and put them through a condensed training course, the only other way to solve this problem was to simplify the mech design. "Are the Terrans planning to design multiple variants, or will they make it modular instead?" Ves wondered. He needed to have a good discussion with Master Laila Devos in order to find out the answer. Regardless of what the Terrans had in mind, Ves refused to compromise on his original idea. The Arboreal Project was primarily meant to enable existing mech pilots that yearned for more. It was due to this priority that Ves actually thought about letting the Terrans take inspiration from his phase lord physique. What could be more symbolic than a mech designer developing a biomech that was made in his own image? Although Ves could not deduce all of the consequences of this design choice, he had a strong hunch that the effects would be significant! He could already think of several ways to take advantage of this connection. Perhaps he would be able to form a secret kinship network between himself and all of the Woodsap mechs. They could act like his eyes and ears and enable him to keep track of what the Terran forces were doing. Maybe he could descend upon a specific Woodsap mech and control it as if it was his own surrogate body. Perhaps he could even force the Arboreal Project mechs to acknowledge him as their progenitor and force them into following his orders! Of course, these were all momentary fantasies. As a mech designer, Ves shouldn't be too greedy for power. He needed to think of how he could benefit his customers instead. Ves believed that if the Arboreal Project mechs were made with his phase lord physique as a reference, it was not impossible for them to take after their creator. Was it possible for biomechs to transcend into phase lords? The fact that Ves could not immediately rule out this possibility meant that there was a chance that it could happen! This alone was an immense development! It would definitely give the Terrans a much more powerful weapon to fend off the native aliens! As long as they could channel enough phasewater into the Woodsap mechs, there was a possibility that the Terrans could foster an entire mech army of 'phase biomechs' or whatever! Ves could scarcely imagine how powerful they could become. By combining the advantages of both biomechs and phase lords in a single package, Ves would definitely be able to ensure that his Arboreal Project would earn an unforgettable place in the history of mechs!