Taking part in Lord Kaine's treacherous expedition to Groening IV, harvesting both benefits and misfortune, only to escape by the skin of teeth.
Returning home, spending his newfound wealth in merits and credits, and laying the groundwork for his first original mech.
"The Blackbeak is the culmination of my personal journey up to this point." He whispered to skies.
Even if he didn't mean to, his design had been shaped by his past experiences. The Blackbeak, for all its beauty and darkness, exposed a portion that lay hidden beneath his heart.
"What does this tell me?"
The Blackbeak represented a subversion of the standard doctrine of employing knights as defensive bulwarks. He emphasized this design choice by applying a predominantly black coating.
The Blackbeak represented his response to the darkness of the galaxy. It had already swallowed up his father and threatened to grasp Ves in its clutches. To fight back, he had to bend the rules as well, using something as unconventional as the System to get a head-start.
He also developed the Blackbeak as a poignant response to the Caesar Augustus. The old lastgen design served as the debut of Jason Kozlowski. Perhaps Ves wanted to avoid the famous business scion's lack of success by trying to convey the opposite mood.
It also expressed his opinion that the next war would be won by survivors instead of heroes. No one knew the depths at which both sides could sink a couple of years from now. In these murky times, you had to think outside the box if you wanted to thrive.
"My mastery has something to do with this as well."
His brief but unforgettable journey into Barley's mind provided him with an essential understanding of a pilot of knights. Even if the Blackbeak looked as if it couldn't be trusted, it still possessed a bone of unyielding will. It could still be relied on to act as a defender if needed.
"I understand now. The Blackbeak is something that I had always wanted to pilot if I ever became a mech pilot."
Sadly, his genetic aptitude ruled out any possibility of piloting his own mechs. Only the seemingly omnipotent System might offer a way, but Ves never looked up the option. He had a feeling the price was much more than he could bear.
The momentary break helped him reflect upon his work and figure out what he missed. Once he finished his contemplation, he calmly went inside and returned to his office. He summoned up his projection and zoomed in on the cockpit.
The interior offered fairly luxurious furnishings for a cockpit. Ves spent a decent amount of time in prettying up the interior and making it more comfortable for pilots in it for the long haul.
He also added reliefs of the black phoenix. The different carvings conveyed a made-up story about the phoenix's origins and its eventual transformation into a black phoenix.
As a final touch, Ves didn't think of changing the functional design of his mech. He merely wanted to add his personal signature to his work. One could argue that the label underneath the front console already sufficed, but Ves thought he needed to add a deeper meaning to his design.
A weight imposed on his mind, pushing him towards monumental decision. "You're the Blackbeak, but that's more of a name for a design."
If Ves considered his creations to be alive, then they deserved an intimate name that they could call their own. He felt like a father who was about to bestow a name to his recently born child.
With a couple of controls, Ves engraved the name of his design at the top of the interior of the cockpit.
"Your name is Akhran."
Ves let go of the reins of the image clamoring in his mind. The black phoenix screeched triumphantly as it escaped from the prison of its progenitor's mind and dove into the Blackbeak's intangible domain.
Even though he only witnessed a projection, Ves had the illusion that his design felt more complete somehow. The Blackbeak exuded a sense of finality and solidity that had always been lacking from the prototype.
"Hahahaha!" He laughed, finally letting go of the tension that had been crushing over his shoulder. "It's finished! I'm finally done!"
His very first original design was ready to be submitted to the MTA. Assuming everything went well, he would finally be able to advance his career and make his mark as a designer of original mechs.
He looked forward to competing against his upstart rival. An air of bloodlust momentarily infected his mood.