The Mech Touch novel Chapter 5273

After Ves explained all of the limitations and constraints of the EdNet, the leadership of the Larkinson Army finally had enough information to compose a reasonable selection criteria.

What was important was that the criteria had to be fairly strict in the early stages of the Larkinson Clan's transition to a first-class organization. There were way too many eligible candidates and far too few EdNet quotas to go around.

There were ways for the Larkinson Clan to earn additional EdNet quotas in the future. The Larkinsons could always decide to lower the requirements later on in order to accommodate the pilots whose qualifications were not as good.

For now, it was important to get the Premier Branch off to a good start. There was no room for useless people. Every quota was precious and had to produce qualified first-raters without fail.

General Verle clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Alright. Let us settle for this list. Ves has agreed to reserve 1000 EdNet quotas for mech pilots. Those with A or B grade genetic aptitudes will have priority on them. As for the remainder, we will only limit our selection to mech pilots who are 40 years old or younger. Not only that, they must achieve a high enough score in a theoretical studies exam, be healthy and fit enough to undergo an extensive first-class augmentation regime and remain in good standing of the Golden Cat."

"Nyaa nyaa nyaaa!" The Golden Cat approved of the last demand!

"We should strive to select an equal number of candidates from every mech legion, but we shouldn't force ourselves too much. It is much more important to ensure that the protectors of the Premier Branch are the strongest and the most qualified for their positions."

This was bad news for the mech legions that paid less attention to smarts. Ves knew that the Swordmaidens heavily emphasized skill over theoretical learning in their recruitment and training regimes. They would all be facing an uphill battle in earning the precious EdNet quotas for that reason.

Legion Commander Sendra Larkinson understood this reality quite well. Her expression grew more and more unwilling as the selection criteria took shape.

Though Ves wanted to accommodate the Swordmaidens, it wouldn't be fair to devise special rules just to shore them up. Perhaps there may be a way to give them a leg up at a later stage, but for now the Larkinsons needed to be realistic in their planning.

"Any disagreements?"

The Larkinsons at the table all shook their heads. Even if they did not like all of the rules, they all understood that there were no better alternatives. They had to be content enough with the fact that the criteria were fair and impartial enough to theoretically give everyone a chance.

If a mech pilot failed to earn a quota, then that was because they just hadn't studied hard or effectively enough.

Now that they had formed a consensus on the recruitment of mech pilots, it took much less time to determine how to deal with the remaining 4000 EdNet quotas.

"We should apply a similar set of criteria on other essential professions." General Verle determined. "The priority should go to spacers and military staff. We need starship crew members who can operate the many systems of a first-class starship. We need mech technicians who can service complicated first-class mechs that we will depend upon in the future. We also need enough civilian professionals such as lawyers and accountants to properly manage the Premier Branch in its infancy."

Ves did not possess a great interest in how the clan allocated the remaining quotas. He was willing to delegate this responsibility to the leadership of the clan. General Verle would soon be meeting with the chief ministers of the Larkinson Clan in order to hash this out in greater detail.

There was only one issue that the Larkinsons needed clarification on right away.

"Sir? Will you and the mech designers of the Design Department make use of the EdNet quotas as well?"

"I'm not sure." Ves responded. "I don't plan on using it myself, and neither does my wife. Removing myself from society for up to 4 years is too much. If everything goes as expected, my wife and I will turn into first-class mech designers on our own merits in a couple of years. This reminds me that the Premier Branch will always be open to all Larkinsons who are able to meet the standards of a first-rater by relying on their own efforts. It is better this way as the improvement is more organic and doesn't come with as many side effects."

It was too difficult for most second-raters to make this leap in a reasonable timeframe. The main limitation was the absence of a first-class cranial implant.

In theory, if a second-rater managed to receive a first-class cranial implant, it became a lot easier to become a first-rater.

This was the path that Gloriana had in mind for herself. She always had great confidence in the quality of her 'software'. The only reason why she was being held back all of this time was because her 'hardware' couldn't keep up with her growing demands.

His wife had grown thoroughly dissatisfied with her old and horrendously underpowered Erestal-015 cranial bioimplants that the Wodin Dynasty arranged for her a long time ago. While it still provided adequate assistance in her second-class mech design projects, it would hold her back enormously if she attempted to design a first-class mech!

Ves did not suffer from this problem fortunately. Although he was missing out on a lot of useful features of first-class cranial implants, he made up for it in other areas. He believed he could remain competitive with orthodox first-class mech designers by relying on cultivation science. _{ƒrēewebnovel.com}

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify