[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 68: Harrier

Surprisingly, the Little Boss was receptive to the idea. "I always wanted to see the Coalition with my own eyes. My old man always nags about the power of the gangs operating in the center of the star sector. It's about time I take a look."

Ves did not expect Dietrich to offer to come in person. "It's not necessary for you to accompany me. I can make do with any decent pilot."

"No no no, you deserve better! While I'm not as good as the old coots who have been with my father for centuries, I can still hold my own!"

After several attempts to change his escort, Ves gave up. At least the Little Boss offered to accompany him for free. Though his caliber was nowhere near a bodyguard worth ten million credits, he was not a pushover. That should be enough.

"Say, I'd like to ask a favor from you." Dietrich smiled with more than a little slyness. "Since you're a fancy designer, you should know a lot about mechs, right? I'd like you to tinker with my mech. Just a tune-up is okay."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. It will take time, and I need extra materials-"

"Haha, no worries. We have a small stockpile of spare parts. You can grab anything you want as long as my mech gets better. As for the time, well, we both know it won't take an entire month to reach Leemar unless you take the cheapest spacelines."

Since he was loaded with money for the moment, Ves already reserved a first-class seat aboard a premium spaceline. It took little effort for Dietrich to reserve the seat next to him and also pay for the privilege to bring along his mech. Naturally, the war machine would be safed and stowed in the cargo section of the giant passenger ship.

"Alright, just head over to our base in Freslin. You know where it is. I'll clear you to use anything from our workshop and storage."

As Ves hung up, he sighed. Seems like he was pretty much stuck with Dietrich. Besides, it might not be a bad thing to develop a closer relationship with the heir of Walter's Whalers. His men could keep an eye on his workshop in his absence. He didn't fully trust his basic automatic security systems to keep out determined thieves.

After a brief trip aboard an aircar, Ves arrived at the same dilapidated-looking base where he first met Dietrich. Thankfully Dietrich looked fresh this time, wearing a smart suit that belied the power in his limbs. Unlike Vincent, the Little Boss was a warrior to the core. He did not let his excesses affect his combat capability.

"Right, you're finally here! Lemme bring you to my mech. You're going to love her. She's been my beauty for well over two years. She's a veritable classic!"

Dietrich unceremoniously dragged Ves into the rusting workshop area. Several oil-stained technicians were conducting haphazard maintenance on the mechs stowed inside. They walked up to the very end of the workshop which revealed an imposing silhouette of a medium flier.

Well, Dietrich was right in one aspect. His mech was a 'classic'. It was actually a National Aeromotives Harrier VCX-4B. While it was a currentgen design, the design came out at the very start of this generation's commencement. It was an aged design with a couple of premium features.

National Aeromotives only entered the mech market a generation ago. Its main products were still shuttles and aircars, so their accumulated knowledge concerning flight was very substantial. Besides brief forays into land mechs such as the Caesar Augustus, all the other mechs NA manufactured specialized in flight.

The Harrier was not a typical workhorse unit, though it shared many features with standard currentgen frontline models.

It focused mainly on endurance and therefore relied of fuel rather than direct energy to sustain its airtime. Its beefy flight system was capable of switching between energy saving mode and high intensity flight mode at the cost of weighing a bit more than other flight systems.