The Mech Touch

Chapter 6072  Unrepentent

Ketis grew more and more disappointed with Lanie.

The once-promising expert candidate may have succeeded in realizing her potential and become an expert pilot, but her cognition had changed for the worse!

Lanie expressed no remorse about her actions. She believed with all her heart that all of her actions were justified from beginning to end.

No matter whether she made mistaken assumptions or defied her superior orders, Lanie stubbornly insisted that she did what every Larkinson would have done in her position!

This was a terrible sign that her distorted apotheosis had permanently broken her old self.

Ordinary mortals may be weak, but they happen to be quite flexible and malleable. They were much more susceptible to change.

Expert pilots were different. They were demigods who managed to attain their strength by gaining supreme confidence in themselves.

Lanie was no different in this aspect as she did not believe for a second that she was in the wrong!

In other words, to admit that she had acted in error would contradict the basis of her extraordinary willpower!

It would literally shatter if she was truly forced to recognize that she had acted in error!

Although Ketis most definitely knew about this considering that she was a swordmaster herself, she possessed her own principles! She deeply condemned Lanie's excessive actions and could not accept all of the nuances that factored in the latter's case!

"Ketis." Ves firmly said as he took hold of the swordmaster's arm, causing her to halt. "Stop. Remember who you are. You may be the commander of Task Force Solus, but it is not your place to cast judgment on Lanie. That goes for Joshua and Dise as well. Each of you are too involved in this case to remain impartial. It is the responsibility of others to take a look at Lanie's circumstances."

"Sir…?" Lanie spoke as she looked up at Ves' projection. "What… what will happen to me? What is this about casting judgment? I… I did nothing wrong. I was merely defending myself."

The fact that she still had the temerity to make this claim was proof that expert pilots truly did not abide by common sense anymore!

It also appeared that this mental problem was particularly more severe in the case of distorted expert pilots!

"Whether you acted correctly or in error is no longer up to us to decide." Ves explained to Lanie. "The Larkinson Clan has a rule that if there are allegations that mech pilots commit severe misdeeds, they must present themselves in front of a tribunal of Larkinson expert pilots. I am afraid you cannot avoid this process. It doesn't matter what you believe. What matters is what the tribunal of your peers thinks about your conduct. You can trust in their integrity if nothing else. They will pay attention to your mitigating factors and decide whether your attempts to retaliate against Taon are justified or not. For now, you must remain in custody, so please stay put."

Suffice to say, Venerable Lanie was anything but amused at this. She still believed that she was fully in the right. Even if she broke a few rules here and there, she had been acting for the greater good as far as she was concerned.

How could the Larkinsons not see who was the greater threat!

"...Fine." Lanie said in resignation. Just because her willpower became permanently scarred by her trauma did not mean she had lost all of her brains. "If you want me to participate in this circus, then so be it. Is Taon still alive?"

"Yes."

That caused Lanie to sneer. "Then at least tell me that you will drag Taon in front of the tribunal as well."

"That is a given." Ketis confirmed. "His personal failings originally caused this disaster. He must definitely account for himself."

"Good! I hope that you will treat him fairly. He almost killed me. I can never forgive him for that. If the tribunal judges him guilty and sentence him to death, can I be the one to do the deed? I would like nothing more than to look at him in the eyes and strangle him to death with my own two hands!"

The thorny aura surrounding Lanie's prone form received a lot of stimulation. The more she imagined her retribution towards Taon, the more her willpower became excited!

Ves and Ketis exchanged brief glances with each other. This was anything but a healthy mindset! It was completely unacceptable for a Larkinson to dream about killing another Larkinson!

"We have protocols." Ves answered in a restrained tone. "Look, I know that Taon has become the least favorite Larkinson in your word, but don't forget who is truly responsible for setting up this chain of events. Taon is just the patsy who pulled the trigger. The true mastermind who plotted your demise is the Emperor Tree. This calamity plant is the rightful target of your resentment."

"I haven't forgotten about that stupid tree!" Lanie aggressively snarled! "The Emperor Tree needs to die sooner rather than later! Tell me that you will chop it up and burn it down as soon as possible! The longer it lives, the greater the chance it will create more Taons!"

Though Lanie sounded unreasonably paranoid about this, Ves could believe that the Emperor Tree may truly be capable of dominating the minds of other Larkinsons.

Every calamity beast was capable of influencing the minds of those that stray within their sphere of influence, but the Emperor Tree was a rare exoplant that specialized in this aspect!

Unless the Larkinsons found a way to increase their defenses against the Emperor Tree's subversion, Ves could not justify the decision to keep it alive and well over a longer period of time.

Given the calamity plant's frighteningly powerful learning ability, several Larkinsons were afraid that the previous confrontation with the strike force had taught it a lot more about the power of human mechs!

The Emperor Tree was most definitely working hard to develop specific countermeasures against the two expert mechs!

Once the calamity plant became strong enough to overwhelm the defenses of Chimera Base and defeat the task force's mech units, it was already too late!

"Don't worry, Lanie. We have already begun to transfer Venerable Isobel Kotin and the Promethea back to the Reticula Corein System. Once they arrive, the task force is instructed to act against the Emperor Tree as soon as possible."

Ketis grimaced when she thought about what they must do next. "It will be hard to put down the Emperor Tree without provoking the other calamity beasts. The orbital bombardment that freed up the First Sword and the Everchanger has alarmed at least several nearby calamity beasts, and maybe alerted several other ones as well. The Darkdrill Hives have become more active, which is not a good sign. We still need to plan our 'hunt' carefully."

It became vital for the Larkinson Clan to get rid of the Emperor Tree before it improved too much.

"Don't worry, Lanie. We have already begun to transfer Venerable Isobel Kotin and the Promethea back to the Reticula Corein System. Once they arrive, the task force is instructed to act against the Emperor Tree as soon as possible."

Ketis grimaced when she thought about what they must do next. "It will be hard to put down the Emperor Tree without provoking the other calamity beasts. The orbital bombardment that freed up the First Sword and the Everchanger has alarmed at least several nearby calamity beasts, and maybe alerted several other ones as well. The Darkdrill Hives have become more active, which is not a good sign. We still need to plan our 'hunt' carefully."

That was good enough for Lanie. She relaxed and sank into her bed. "Have you talked to Taon yet? No. You didn't. If you stop by his cell, can you send him my regards?"

"Maybe."

When Ketis and Ves' projection left Lanie's cell, they both remained speechless for a moment.

Both of them had grown profoundly disappointed at how Lanie ended up. If she was unable to recover from her scars…

"If Lanie is indicative of the expert pilots of the future, then I am not so certain that the Age of Dawn is as wondrous as before."

"Don't worry, Ketis. Haven't you taken a look at the expert pilots who managed to break through during the Battle of Torment? I haven't studied their records in detail, but they seem pretty decent as far as I know."

The two chatted a bit more before they moved over to another cell.

Once they entered, they immediately focused their attention on a much more obviously injured expert pilot.

Though Taon enjoyed much greater protection as his sturdy cockpit was located deep inside the well-armored Zeal, he did not manage to avoid harm.

Taon did not possess the ability to boost her regeneration like Lanie, so he had to rely on more conventional forms of treatment to heal from his injuries.

He was not unconscious, though. His eyes remained open, though they looked a lot more hollow than before. It was as if all of the hope and piety had been sucked into a black hole.

When Ves and Ketis approached Taon's beside, they felt a lot more disturbed than when they came up to Lanie.

Taon possessed two distinct auras. His main one possessed a destructive element to it. Ves frowned as he could feel the expert pilot willpower expressing indiscriminate hostility towards everyone and everything.

It was as if Taon wanted nothing more than the entire universe to go to ruin!

The only reason why Taon's force of will did not start breaking down the bed or the surrounding medical instruments was because it was too weak when he was by himself.

Only when he piloted a proper expert mech would his domain start breaking down any nearby matter.

The second aura originated from Taon's companion spirit.

"Hoot. Hoot."

The spiritual owl looked radically different from before! Even though Sirca was clearly perched on a nearby railing, the companion spirit radiated an aura that seemed to repel any form of attention as well as spirituality!

Sirca's active rejection was so total that it not only kept Ylvaine at bay, but also blocked Taon's connection with Goldie!

Of course, the Golden Cat did not really have a good opinion of Taon at the moment. The trial had yet to start, but the ancestral spirit had already developed her own judgment towards the expert pilot!

Anyone who possessed just one of these inclinations undoubtedly needed mental counseling.

For a single individual to possess both the desire to ruin everything as well as strong antisocial tendencies, that person had undoubtedly gone mad!

"Taon."

"Patriarch. Swordmaster."

"You don't particularly sound happy to see us, Taon."

"I… failed to live up to your expectations." The expert pilot wearily said. "I… wanted to prove I can be strong without relying on the Great Prophet. What did I do? I sought his help because I couldn't finish a single job. I should have known better than to trust the guidance of a design spirit that was not supposed to be there. I just… never thought about it. I really thought that it was Ylvaine that guided my aim. It's my fault, but not entirely."

"What do you mean, Taon?"

"Ylvaine… is not a good influence to our clan." The expert pilot surprisingly claimed! "We were all fools for believing in the nonsense spouted by a false prophet. The more we listen to him, the more we are being trained to pray to him. It is no wonder that hardly any mech pilot from the Eye of Ylvaine has become an expert candidate. There is no hope that any of them can become an expert pilot, because they all share the same fault as mine. We would rather put our faith in the fantasy of Ylvaine than to believe in our own strength. This is a mistake. We should never pray to him anymore. If we want to free everyone from the poison that is faith… we must bring every false god to ruin."

Ves almost shuddered when he heard those ominous words. It sounded as if Taon wanted to share his deranged manifesto!

"I know that you have been… misled, but don't you think that your response is a bit too extreme?"

Taon's empty eyes stared up at Ves in silent judgment.

"Please explain why you saw fit to murder your own living mech." Ketis interjected. "Do you know what crimes you have committed? If you are dissatisfied with the Zeal and no longer want to partner with him anymore, then you could have at least waited until you have returned! As long as you issue a request, we would have been happy to exchange your Zeal with a regular Transcendent Punisher mech!"

The injured expert pilot softly scoffed. "The Zeal… let me down. He betrayed me, just like Ylvaine. I did what was necessary at the time. I… sacrificed his life so that I could become stronger in the process. Since my living mech isn't of use to me anymore when he is alive… then he can only be useful to me when he is dead. I do not need him anymore. I have become strong enough to fight my own battles."

What a bastard!