[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 173: Convincing

Finishing the design only meant that Ves fleshed out a plan. It didn't mean anything if his client denied him the opportunity to implement his changes.

Ves believed his redesign had a lot of merit. The reworked Ajax Olympian lasted a bit longer under heavy pressure and could exert a lot more force through its limbs. This helped the heavy knight contend against the hexapod kings in terms of brute force.

Still, nothing came for free. Maintaining a constant level of peak performance severely degraded the longevity of the frame. Running all of that excess power through systems that hadn't been rated to handle them meant that the mechs would slowly burn themselves out.

Its pristine layers of armor could still be salvaged, but the internals would have to be torn apart entirely.

"The cost is worth it." Ves tried to convince himself as he prepared to meet Lord Kaine in person again. "As long as the expedition can recover the heavy knights, they'll only end up with a temporary loss."

Melkor, who always accompanied him by his side, shook his head. "The hunting platoon won't see it that way. You don't know mech pilots like I do. The pilots assigned to the heavy knights have trained with their individual frames for years. They're practically lovers at this point."

What Melkor said momentarily worried Ves. Mech pilots indeed developed a bond with their mechs. This was natural human instinct. Right now, he pushed out a proposal that basically kidnapped their lovers and injected them with highly lethal stimulants. Such a naked violation of their partners would deal a heavy blow to their psyches.

"Tough luck then." Ves eventually replied, his eyes as cold as steel. "The expedition doesn't revolve around their interests. All of the mechs serve at the pleasure of Lord Kaine. If they have to be used up in order to increase the odds of success, then so be it. It's a fair tradeoff."

House Kaine invested an incredible fortune to put this expedition together. Even then, they could only nurture a small number of hand-raised elites to tackle the awesome hexapod kings. Everyone of those mechs played a critical role, but that didn't mean they should be treated as heirlooms.

With the way Lord Kaine obsessed over the expedition, Ves expected him to make the smart decision.

"Pissing off the pilots of the Olympians is the least you've done. You completely disregarded the hunting platoon's leadership. Captain Kaine will only think worse of you."

"There's no way I can negotiate with her in the first place. Not with so little time."

If Captain Kaine and the hunting platoon approached him with a genuine desire to cooperate, then he might be able to make some compromises. Too bad they hadn't recovered from the betrayal of the previous mech designer.

In any event, Ves didn't come here to build up a relationship with these foreigners. After finishing his mission, he'd return to Cloudy Curtain while the Ark Horizon went on her merry way back to the Grey Willow Star Sector.

Like a lawyer making a case before a judge, Ves stood before Lord Kaine behind his imposing desk. "If I'm allowed to implement my design, the Ajax Olympians will be able to perform beyond their regular parameters by around twenty percent."

"Downsides?" Lord Kaine asked idly while he browsed through the extensive notes that Ves had written up.

"Besides the obvious degradation that won't really matter, the mechs will drastically increase their energy consumption by around fifty percent or so. I've already tried my best to preserve as much efficiency as I can, but you always have to pay a huge price to squeeze out a little bit more performance."