Chapter 7484  Adapt or Die

Out of all of the advanced Carmine mechs that Ves imagined, Woodsap mechs may very well be the most forgiving.

Beginners did not have to be held to a high standard.

They could rely on the Hibiscus System to attain immediate combat effectiveness at the start, and slowly learn the more advanced elements of their craft as they trained and fought.

It may still end up taking 5 years or more for the Woodsap mech pilots to truly approach the level of professional first-class mech pilots.

Even then, Ves found it unlikely for them to be able to close the gap entirely.

Sure, the battlefield may be the most effective teacher, but there were many lessons that required systematic learning as opposed to obtaining ad-hoc insights.

Still, even if Woodsap mech pilots would forever remain rough around the edges, so long as their overall combat effectiveness reached an acceptable standard on average, it didn't matter too much in the end.

Ves was accustomed to this approach.

For example, the Swordmaidens had become the most renowned close combat combatants of the Larkinson Clan without putting as much emphasis on academics.

They proved with their actions that they could produce the best mech pilots without following the same route as the more advanced states and organizations.

Of course, the Swordmaidens made it easier for themselves by dedicating themselves entirely to melee combat.

Woodsap mech pilots faced a much steeper challenge. They needed to gain proficiency in both melee and ranged combat. They needed to be able to wield at least half-a-dozen different weapon systems with enough skill to justify their steep investments.

This was why it was crucial for Woodsap mechs to be able to last long enough for their pilots to rise to the occasion and become truly competent in mech warfare.

Ves raised his arm and called up the data table containing the key performance metrics of all of the test pilots.

He not only swept his gaze on the top performers as well as the bottom performers, but also made comparisons and inferences that went beyond the obvious.

"I see that when it comes to the improvement rate of the test pilots, the recently transformed elves all score the highest on this metric. The delta between their apparent skill before the start of the battle and at the end of it is very high. Even if their learning speed slows down in future engagements, it doesn't matter too much because the most crucial part is to overcome their weakest period as soon as possible. These elves will definitely enjoy bright futures as Woodsap mech pilots so long as they aren't too unlucky. What truly concerns me are the pilots in the bottom percentile. They are not only all human, but they have hardly made any progress during their first real action."

Alexa adopted an expression of concern. "The Terran Alliance has made a great effort to select among the more promising candidates. Before the 120 test pilots had been allowed to bond with their Woodsap mechs, they had undergone multiple testing sessions. Many of their fellow candidates fell out of consideration due to lacking qualifications. The remaining ones are survivors without exception. Even if there are differences between good and bad, the gulf between the bottom percentile and the other underperformers should not be this great. It is clear that there is a small proportion of Woodsap mech pilots that have failed to adapt to their new roles for a time being. Whether this issue will persist in the coming weeks and months remains to be seen."

There was no reason to feel alarmed. This was just the first battle. The bottom performers still had plenty more time to address their issues and pull themselves up so that they could perform decently in the next engagements.

Woodsap mechs were inherently tough and enduring. Their incredible fault tolerance would grant the less talented pilots a lot of opportunities to turn their situation around. It may very well be possible that they were the late bloomers among this cohort. Perhaps they needed a lot more setup before everything clicked together.

Even if they continued to falter and perform below expectations, Ves and the Terrans still had no intentions of intervening. Failure cases still provided a lot of interesting and relevant data. More detailed and informative comparisons could be made by contrasting the performance between the best and the worst.

Still, once their duty came to an end, Ves doubted that the persistent failures would be able to secure a good future.

"What will the Terran Alliance do if any Woodsap mech pilot continues to underperform at an unacceptable level?" Ves asked the former Terran scion. "As far as I know, if such cases happened in a normal unit, the pilot would simply get transferred out of his unit. His mech will simply get passed over to another colleague. That is not possible in this case. Woodsap mechs are bonded to a single pilot for life. The Woodsap Pact is just as strict as the Blood Pact in that regard."

Alexa already had the answer ready. "I have already inquired about this subject. Woodsap pilots are not meant to be inviolable or irreplaceable. The ability to pilot a powerful Woodsap mech is a privilege. It is not a right. The Terran Alliance can grant this privilege or take it away. You are correct that the individual living biomechs are bound to their existing pilots and cannot be transferred to others. The solution to this is simple. If a Woodsap mech has lost its pilot due to death or disqualification, the relevant authority will recycle the biomachine. All of the valuable TE Wood and other valuable materials will be stripped away. The same materials will then be used to construct a brand-new Woodsap mech. They can also be used for other purposes such as facilitating the repairs of heavily-damaged biomechs or be used to promote the growth of Gaia Trees."

"..."

Ves felt a bit repulsed by the Terran Alliance's policies.

This callous treatment of living mechs sounded way too heartless and utilitarian to his ears.

It was very clear that the Terrans as a whole did not fully align with his principle that living mechs deserved almost the same treatment as humans.

Though even Ves knew that it was completely unrealistic to treat living mechs exactly like humans, he still felt that people should at least make a sincere effort.

This was why he felt bad about the future of Woodsap mechs that had the misfortune of bonding themselves to incompetent human partners.

If the latter proved so bad at their jobs that they got kicked out of the service, then their bonded Woodsap mechs had pretty much lost the entire meaning of their existence!

From a rational perspective, the Terran Alliance could not afford to leave expensive materials and units idle.

There was no way the Terran leaders would accept the notion of giving 'orphaned' Woodsap mechs a peaceful retirement or a harmless side job.

A typical Woodsap mech held so much value in their materials alone that it made complete economic sense to break them down and use the recycled materials to construct an identical living mech!

This way, the Terran Alliance lost a liability in the form of an 'unpilotable' Woodsap mech and gained a nearly identical fresh and 'pilot-ready' Woodsap mech in exchange!

This form of waste utilization was not optional for a star empire that was being pressured on all sides.

The Terran Alliance may very well live or die depending on how efficiently it could utilize its resources!

In this regard, Woodsap mechs could not provide unlimited leeway to their pilots.

The latter needed to take their responsibilities seriously and make an honest effort to improve and keep up with everyone else.

Otherwise, if they did not manage to get themselves killed along the way, their superiors would definitely yank them out of their cockpits and ruthlessly recycle their bonded biomechs!

"This is cold, but fair." Ves eventually sighed. "I do not entirely approve, but I am aware that I am in no place to dictate policy to my collaboration partners. I just hope that when our clan adopts Woodsap mechs for our own use, we will still have space to apply a more compassionate policy. Orphaned Carmine mechs should not be broken down for parts and materials without considering the alternatives."

Alexa did not look very optimistic. "It will be difficult to find other justifiable purposes for living mechs that are already locked to individual Carmine mech pilots. If those living machines are loyal to our clan and their fundamental purpose, then they should readily volunteer to get dismantled."

"Perhaps… you are right. There is a difference between willing and forceful dismantling. Perhaps… we can afford to spend a bit of time on modifying the initial Woodsap mechs so that they can better match their individual pilots. Simplifying them and converting them into straightforward ranged mechs or melee mechs should do wonders in raising the compatibility rate."

"That will demand additional time and effort from our mech designers. Perhaps this approach is feasible if you pass off this responsibility to our Novices and Apprentices, but only if they are already first-class mech designers who have minored or majored in biomech design. This can actually serve as a good form of practice."

It was too bad that the structure of his Woodsap mechs was not as malleable as the structure of his Polymetal mechs.

Ves began to think about how much the present implementation of the former contrasted sharply with the future implementation of the latter.

The two couldn't be more different from each other.

One was made out of organic matter and boasted incredible endurance under pressure, but also forced its pilots to adapt to its rigid configuration.

The other was made out of metallic alloys and possessed enormous versatility, but possessed an inherently fragile mech frame that could not endure strong or continuous pressure.

The two advanced Carmine mech concepts did not only differ along these dimensions.

The barrier of entry for a Woodsap mech was much lower than that of a Polymetal mech.

The former was designed from the ground up to be very forgiving and patient to a bonded mech pilot. Woodsap mechs could be repaired quickly and easily on and off the battlefield, so even the worst pilots still had a chance to survive and achieve greatness in the future!

The latter probably featured the highest barrier to entry among all of the 5 elemental Carmine mechs. Polymetal mechs offered their battle partners nearly infinite customization and individualization options. As long as the smart metal could replicate specific pieces of tech, a single Polymetal mech could easily substitute the role of almost any other machine!

Yet all of that choice demanded a mind and intelligence that understood mechs far beyond the surface level.

Ves did not intend to dumb down his Polymetal mech concept just to accommodate space barbarians.

He intended to introduce Polymetal mechs with the deliberate intent to convert mech designers into fantastic Carmine pilots!

They could easily weaponize their own knowledge and expertise and apply their own mech designs onto the smart metal mechs that could never fail them even if all other mechs had failed in their duty!

Perhaps Ves might still end up programming a collection of standard mech configurations into his Polymetal mechs, but sticking to them without applying any creative upgrades or modifications was a huge waste of their potential!

Ves couldn't help but chuckle.

Pilots needed to adapt to their Woodsap mechs in order to realize their full potential.

In contrast, the Polymetal mechs had to be shaped extensively by their pilots in order to reach their full value!

They existed at completely opposite ends of the spectrum in this regard!

Ves loved the contrast between the two. He looked forward to witnessing which elemental Carmine mech would end up getting right a lot better than the other.

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