[401-600] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 471: Hacking

Ves never put the software aspect of mechs in his eyes.

When he started out with developing variants, he always utilized the complete control system that came with the base model.

When he moved on to designing his own original mechs, he mostly pieced together the different software that came with with the component licenses. To get them to communicate and work together in a seamless fashion, he unified them into an off-the-shelf operation system that he randomly bought from the MTA.

The MTA developed these operating systems for maximum compatibility and minimal chances of bugs and errors. They'd been polished to such an insane degree that even the shabbiest heaps of junk on legs would be able to operate smoothly as long as its shambling components held up.

"A good operating system is like a very bright mind. The highest quality software can elevate the performance of the weakest mechs to a higher level."

With such a convenient solution at hand, Ves never spent much effort into improving his ability to program a mech, let alone hack its operating system. If Ves still possessed the System, his Status would clearly state that his Computer Science Skill still stood out with an abysmally low evaluation of Incompetent.

Normally, his approach to this field didn't pose a problem to him. As much as a mech designer pretended to be all-knowing when it concerned their profession, he never intended to learn every possible aspect about designing mechs. Even if he possessed something as absurd as the System, Ves would have to spend too much DP to upgrade every possible Skill and Sub-Skill.

"I should have at least spent a few thousand DP to upgrade my Computer Science to Novice or Apprentice or something."

If he had done something like that, then he may be in a better position to hack the tough cases that remained in the mech stables.

In truth, hacking was an extremely complex field and profession in its own right. Mech designers generally worked on the other side of the fence and tried to make their mechs as impenetrable to virtual invasions as possible. They never put any importance in learning how to hack someone else's mechs.

"If Captain Orfan has a full crew under her command, then she'd surely have a professional hacker under her command."

Hackers of all kind still thrived during the Age of Mechs. Much of their battles occurred out of sight, but their clashes sometimes reached apocalyptic proportions in virtual space. As poor as the 6th Flagrant Vandals might seem, they certainly wouldn't have neglected their hackers and virtual security experts.

Ves turned on his comm and contacted Lieutenant Burke. A projection of the communications officer's face appeared over his armored wrist.

"May I help you, Mr. Larkinson?"

"Does Captain Orfan have any hackers at her disposal?"

"No." The lieutenant shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Larkinson, but we've been prioritizing the search for hackers even over other mech pilots. Our efforts have turned up fruitless so far."

The crew complement of a combat carrier didn't include a lot of hackers. Chances were low that the few hackers aboard the destroyed vessels had ended up on Detemen IV. Even if their crash balls or hazard suits took them to the planet, they might have landed far away from Neron City.

Thus, they may never be able to retrieve their own hackers before their time in the system was up. Ves came up with a different solution to overcome this problem.

"Since chances are low that some of our hackers will return, I think we should enlist the services of local hackers instead."

The lieutenant frowned at that. "You want to rely on Vesian hackers to unlock those mech?"