When the tests involving the two prior fully saturated chs ended in failure, Imon stood with the other Avatar ch pilots.
Each of them reacted with horror at what had taken place. When they saw the pained ch pilots being moved to the infirmary, a cloud had cast over the heads of the remaining Avatars.
Evidently, the last batch of modified Bright Warrior chs were much harder to pilot. Sothing about them turned them into hazards to their own ch pilots.
"You shouldn't go, brother." Casella Ingvar spoke softly to Imon. "It's clear now why the clan patriarch hesitated to conduct the tests. Not every new invention is safe, particularly when they are too extre, as is the case right now. I think Mr. Ves should just stop and settle what he has managed to accomplish with the chs that perford better previously."
Casella already had her turn. She piloted one of the chs with 50 percent saturation. Though the strain of piloting her machine had increased, it was well within her tolerance. It also helped that her own ch cooperated much more closely with her than before.
In her opinion, every other ch pilot should be pleased at piloting such a responsive and comfortable ch. Casella never experienced any instance of discomfort when she was running her improved ch to her paces.
What she didn't know was that Ves had so good reasons to put the Ingvar siblings in different groups.
He didn't have many Avatar ch pilots with spiritual potential in the First and Second Spaceborn ch Companies, so he needed to spread them out in order to gather sufficient data.
Ves also valued Casella Ingvar more. As the ch Captain of the Second Company, Ves couldn't afford to take her out of action.
In comparison, Imon Ingvar's absence was much less consequential. If he ever suffered an accident, then the rest of his unit would still be capable of chugging along as if hardly anything had changed.
Imon was ignorant of these reasons. He just thought that Ves believed in his strength. Why else would the clan patriarch call him in person to put him ahead of the line?
He couldn't wait to prove his piloting ability to the Avatars and the leader of the clan!
So ti later, he settled down in the familiar piloting seat of his ch. The arrangent of its cushioning, support and dinsions had already been precisely tailored to his suited form.
"Please proceed to activate your ch."
"Yes, sir."
A piloting helt extended from the ceiling and settled over his head. The ch began to co alive seconds later.
"Whoah!"
Imon imdiately understood what his sister ant when she felt as if her ch had beco 'heavier'.
Compared to his previous piloting sessions, his assigned Bright Warrior ch imdiately felt as if it possessed more presence. It was as if Imon previously swam in a shallow pool, but unexpectedly plunged into a deep ocean this ti.
Not only that, but the ocean was filled with much more life and activity than before! As the initial systems ca online, Imon sensed the heavy presence becoming significantly more active than before.
The ch did not just chanically go through the checklist without doing anything else. It blood to life like a budding flower. A sense of indescribable closeness caused Imon to feel rapturous.
"Remain focused!" Ves barked through the command channel. "The worst is yet to co! Brace yourself instead of opening yourself up. A heavy blow is coming and I need you to endure it in order to make this test a success!"
Though the sudden words caused Imon to pull out of his blissful state, he didn't dare to voice any complaints and did as he was told.
It was difficult. His ch was like a welcoming ho that beckoned him to head inside. He felt so tempted to open up his mind and embrace the ch that had beco a lot more powerful in so way.
Then, the intensity of their bond abruptly increased.
"Ah!"
Though he had prepared himself for so kind of bump, when it actually happened, he was still caught off-guard!
"It's like soone punched my head!"
Despite the sudden strain, Imon tried his best to stay sober. He couldn't allow himself to fail like the previous two ch pilots. He was better than them! There was no way he was going to sha himself by letting his own ch overpower his senses!
"Please… work with …"
Imon tried his best to find so way to make his connection with his ch more bearable. His mind churned as he tried several different ways to ease the burden.
Though none of his thods worked, he felt as if his own ch was beginning to bond considerably deeper with him in a way. Though the process stretched on for several minutes, Imon discovered to his surprise that the pressure no longer felt as overwhelming!
His expression gradually relaxed as the strain of piloting his Bright Warrior ch had lessened.
In its place, a very strong bond had ford between him and his ch.
"Imon. Are you okay?"
"I.. I feel great! It's still a bit more difficult to control my ch, but I can still do it! Please send out! I'm so much more in tune with my ch that I can't wait to see the difference!"
"Very well. You are cleared to deploy."
When Imon's ch launched into space, it quickly began to follow the sa standardized routine of the other chs.
Since the ch was in its swordsman ch configuration, the machine soon began to spar against another sword-wielding ch.
When Ves studied Imon's performance and compared the data to the previous instances where he had piloted his chs in battle, the difference was very obvious.
"He's performing a lot better than usual! So of his paraters have grown by as much as 20 percent!"
Though the overall performance boost only averaged at around 10 percent or so, that was still a massive boost. This was just the first ti that Imon interfaced with his enhanced ch. How much better would Imon's performance be if he had a month to get accustod to piloting his growing machine?
Ves glanced at the projections of Imon's life signs. After the early spike into the red zones, the various figures had dropped to tolerable levels. While Ves felt that they were still rather high, it at least indicated that a ch pilot with strong spiritual skills such as Imon did indeed possess the capital to pilot a fully saturated ch.
This was the result he wanted to see!
"Alright, let's end the session."
"Aw" Imon whined. "I have just begun to get used to my changed ch. Can you let stay out longer?"
"No. While we haven't detected any signs that you are under severe strain, we still need to perform an extensive examination of your state. We also have to inspect your ch and make sure that it hasn't changed for the worse. Besides, there is one more Avatar ch pilot who is awaiting his turn."
The Bright Warrior ch reluctantly returned to the Redfeather. Once it returned to its place in the ch hangar, the ch smoothly shut off. Imon eagerly left his cockpit and began to share his unique experiences with his fellow Avatars.
Many ch pilots tried to listen to Imon. The Avatars all wanted to learn what made the altered chs so differencent.
In the anti, Joshua, who had suited up in his customary piloting attire, quietly entered the cockpit of his Quint.
Even before it ca active, Joshua already felt the difference. As an expert candidate, his senses and his perspective were different from norms. He also bonded very intimately with each of the chs he had the pleasure to pilot.
The Quint was one of the most unique and stellar chs he ever laid his hands on. The young Avatar ch pilot may not know much of the technical details of this exquisite masterwork ch, but Joshua bet that no one could beat his feel for it. He had beco deeply familiar with every single nuance of his powerful ch!
This ti, Joshua felt a lot of expectation for his ch.
"Please proceed with activating your ch."
When Joshua did as instructed, the Quint slowly ca to life.
Unlike the gradual bond that Imon had ford with his ch, the bond that ford between Joshua and the ch was seemingly greater!
Not only that, but the ch already welcod Joshua as if he was a husband returning to his wife after a long day of work.
Nothing was unfamiliar to him. The Quint was still the sa Quint. It was just that the masterwork ch was sohow able to express its strength and appreciation towards its ch pilot to a much greater degree than before!
As ti began to pass, Joshua began to feel the strain that others had warned about. Yet unlike the previous ch pilots, he did not experience much discomfort.
He was an expert candidate! He was much stronger than anyone else in certain aspects!
The ch, noting that its own ch pilot was fully capable of bearing its strength, began to do sothing different.
Instead of minimizing the depth and fidelity of its bond with its ch pilot, the Quint sought to leverage more out of it. The pressure rapidly rose and the observers began to notice so concerning signs.
Ves, who had been watching carefully, imdiately noticed that so of the paraters were rising without cause.
He imdiately beca vigilant. "The Quint isn't supposed to do this. Why have so of its systems beco more active? The ch is still at rest!"
Joshua did not notice anything outside of his bond with his ch. As his connection between his ch grew more vigorous, a part of him started to feel as if he had gone heaven.
This is what ch piloting should be like!
"Quint.. You're a fantastic ch. I never realized you were so marvelous."
Ves began to look a bit strange as Joshua seed to lt into his ch. Though none of the data spiked, a lot of life signs began to rise in a calm and steady fashion.
It was as if so kind of tsunami was forming. The montum emanating from the Quint began to rise. The ch gave everyone an illusion that a slumbering dragon was about to wake!
"My ch.. is truly alive now." Joshua whispered with genuine wonder. "I always knew that LMC chs were alive, but this is different. I'm not piloting my ch, I'm working together with the Quint! We are equals now!"
As the montum from the ch continued to surge, Ves suddenly noted that another important parater started to rise.
The resonance ter began to bump!
Ves imdiately slapped the shutdown button.
The bootup sequence abruptly stopped before it had completely run its course. Joshua went from experiencing a transcendent high only to get ripped away from the ch he lded with the next second!
The sudden transition imdiately induced a jarring headache to Joshua!
"Agh! Why did you stop it?! I was almost there!"
"That's why I can't allow this test to proceed, Mr. Joshua. Your ti has not yet co. I need the Quint and you to shine in our upcoming battle against the Allidus Alliance. It's a waste for you to take the next step when there is no one around to fight."
Joshua was devastated. He truly felt as if he was about to grasp a better way to connect and bond with chs that reached out to him. The Quint had beco so much stronger and more suitable to him that he didn't want to go back to the old style of piloting chs!
It was too bad that Ves had different intentions in mind. He already had the data he wanted. He had no intentions of getting anything more out of this experint.
"The session is over. Joshua, please exit the cockpit. All of the Bright Warrior chs must be locked down and secured. I will be inspecting each of them in person. Thank you for your cooperation."
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