The Mech Touch

Ves couldn't tell how well his audience received his speech.

On many different occasions, Ves spoke in front of a crowd of people. Their expressions and emotions were very clear to him. He could read the air and sense the mood up close.

This was different. The groups of mechs were all spread out across hundreds of meters at the very least. Even if any of the mechs were closer, his inability to observe their expressions and body language was a major hindrance in predicting their reactions.

A tense moment went by as silence met his plea. What he had just offered to them all was not a decision that any of them could make lightly. Almost no one would be able to decide to drop everything in order to join a spacefaring clan that was on an expedition to a different galaxy!

This was as if Ves was fighting against an enemy army, but suddenly asked them to abandon their oath and everything they worked for in order to defect to his side. Such an absurd situation would never happen in reality!

However, this was a different situation. Ves bet that most if not all of the armed groups in the hangar weren't intimately involved in the revolution. If they were merely bystanders rather than committed soldiers, then the offer he made should sound very appealing!

Several more seconds passed as some of the mechs made ambiguous movements. It seemed that some of the mech pilots were arguing fiercely with their fellow mates.

It took thirty seconds for the first group to issue a response. The flashy biomechs with the emblems of sponsors painted on their surfaces were the first to finish their decision!

"We're in, if you will have us, sir."

"Our clan is glad to welcome brave and upright mech pilots. What is your name and what do you seek for you and your men?"

The lead mech took a step forward but took care not to raise its weapons.

"You can call me Captain Inkar Devlin. I'm the big chief of the Trezin Showstoppers. We're far away from home, so we want to get out of this star system as soon as possible and go back to check up on our families. If our home planet has turned into a battlefield as well, then we'd like to ask for help from your clan in evacuating our loved ones. Can you do that for us, rich guy?"

"It depends on how out-of-the-way your home planet is, but I have thousands of mechs and dozens of combat carriers at my disposal. If it isn't possible to divert my main fleet to your home, I can dispatch a small flotilla or hire some mercenaries to do the job in my stead. Don't underestimate the wealth and resources I have at my disposal."

Apparently, that was enough to convince the Showstoppers! The mechs took the initiative to emerge out of their cover and approach the Roving Hunter mechs at a slow and cautious pace.

The tension in the hangar rose. This was because no one was able to gauge the sincerely of the Showstoppers!

Before the Roving Hunters had entered, the Trezin Showstoppers fought hard against several enemies. They definitely managed to down their fair share of mechs if they had managed to remain standing up to this point!

Since the Showstoppers had blood on their hands, they definitely weren't as simple as they sounded. There was a considerable chance that Captain Devlin had merely made an empty promise in order to lower Ves' vigilance and attack him when he let down his guard!

"You're making a mistake!" Captain Rivington told him on a private command channel. "Those Showstoppers are scumbags who won't feel any qualms in killing you. The more powerful and important you make yourself sound, the more they will be tempted to do something to you! Maybe they'll kidnap you in order to earn a lavish ransom, or maybe they'll just take your life straight-away in order to claim a bounty that someone must have put on your head."

"I'm aware of that, but I have a plan." Ves quietly retorted. "If you want to help, then look strong and keep an eye on any potential attackers."

Ves knew he was playing with fire at this moment, but he had little choice at the moment. In order to reduce the chance of betrayal from the Showstoppers, he had to persuade another group to come over by his side.

Now that the remaining ones saw that the Showstoppers achieved success, the next group began to entertain his offer!

"You guys are rich, right? How much do ordinary mech pilots earn in your ranks?"

Ves turned to the group of Right Sider mechs.

"Please introduce yourself."

"Lieutenant Zinez Serin. Currently in the service of the Right Sider Mercenary Corps."

"Currently?"

"Well, if the pay is good enough, you might convince me and my boys to change employers."

Ves smiled. "To be honest, salaries are not a big deal in our clan, but that is because the benefits we provide are already massive. Aside from being able to earn merits to redeem our exclusive in-house augmentations, we also offer you the opportunity to pilot unique mechs and learn from the very best."

"What do you mean by the latter?"

"Our clan has five expert pilots." Ves gestured to the Perringer, which was enveloped with Jannzi's force of will. "The alliance we are part of boasts even more expert pilots, including a high-tier one that is closer to advancing to ace pilot than you will ever meet! While I cannot speak for others, every expert pilot in our clan devotes at least some of their time to providing tutoring and guidance to fellow clan members. Perhaps with the assistance of one of our supreme mech pilots, you might also be able to elevate yourselves in their ranks!"

From what he knew about mech pilots, what Ves just promised should sound extremely compelling to them. Hardly any mech pilot was content with remaining average. The idolization of expert pilots and higher-ranking mech pilots was so pervasive in the Age of Mechs that everyone who piloted mechs had definitely aspired to become extraordinary one day.

It was too bad that most mech pilots didn't receive enough guidance to get close to touching the extraordinary threshold. Insufficient training and guidance played a major role in this. This was also why state military forces possessed a much greater advantage in this aspect compared to private sector outfits.

The former not only developed a much greater training infrastructure, but also had some of the best trainers around, which happened to be their existing expert pilots!

Compared to high-ranking mech pilots, everyone below them were basically amateurs. Some amateurs were slightly more skilled or more difficult to defeat, but regardless of the relative strengths of regular mech pilots, even the better regular mech pilots wasn't skilled or strong enough to provide the best instruction to other regular mech pilots!

The best way to train amateurs was not to put other amateurs in charge of their training.

Instead, a true professional was much more able to analyze the shortcomings and areas of improvement of other mech pilots!

While Ves couldn't tell anything from the Right Sider biomechs, he felt that this argument should be very persuasive.

Eventually, Lieutenant Serin made a decision.

"We'll take you up on your offer. Working for you sounds like a much better deal than who we are working for at the moment."

"This is a permanent commitment, lieutenant." Ves warned. "Joining our clan is not as simple as working for a regular company. You need to prove your sincerity and be with us for the long haul. That said, as long as you don't have any other thoughts, you won't have to be afraid of getting fired either. We're a family."

"Sounds great."

Lieutenant Serin and her three subordinate mech pilots expressed the intention to defect to the Larkinson Clan on an individual capacity. The Right Siders actually had a lot more people than just the four of them, so it was impossible for a mere lieutenant to commit the entire mercenary corps!

Ves didn't care about that. He just wanted to resolve the current crisis as fast as possible, and converting four possible enemy mechs enhanced his degree of safety by a considerable margin!

The acceptance of the four Right Sider mech pilots caused the dynamics in the hangar to shift even more!

If the Trezin Showstoppers intended to double-cross Ves and launch a sneak attack on him, then their chances of success dropped considerably with the addition of another group of mechs!

Venerable Jannzi and the three mech pilots of the Roving Hunters weren't able to contain the Trezin Showstoppers by themselves. Yet if the four mech pilots of the Right Siders joined their side, then the mechs aligned to Ves could easily suppress any single group!

Of course, there was a chance that Lieutenant Serin wanted to launch a sneak attack on Ves as well. Then she faced a similar problem. Who could tell whether the Trezin Showstoppers would allow her to kill their new patron?

That said, there was still a chance that both groups were faking their sincerity, but Ves had a feeling that this was not a likely possibility.

Before Ves entered the massive hangar space, he already observed considerable friction between the Showstoppers and the Right Siders. Their ranged mechs shot at each other enough times to prove that they weren't friends.

As the mechs of the two groups closed in, Ves kept a very careful eye on the sensor readings of his Odineye.

Even though Ves stopped feeding external power to it, its current setting possessed enough range and power to detect any transmissions between the Showstoppers and the Right Siders.

If they transmitted any secret messages to each other, then Ves would certainly know!

None of the other groups responded. Whether they were unwilling or hostile towards him was still unclear. Perhaps they were all gripped with indecision.

Ves knew that if he wanted to gain control over the hangar, then he needed to form a coalition that outnumbered every remaining group!

Whether this coalition was temporary or permanent was not in his consideration. The veneer of cooperation was already sufficient for him to pass the current danger.

Since no one else took the initiative to speak to him, he directed his attention to the cyborg mechs.

"Do you hail from the combinants, by chance?"

Silence.

"I'm acquainted with Master Leehay Brixton. You probably know who I am talking to. While I am not a supporter of his cause, he owes a favor to me. He entrusted one of his apprentices to me. Perhaps he wants to make sure that his legacy won't be lost if he and his side loses this war. While I am glad to take one of his students away from this state, I can't meet this promise if I am stuck here. I don't know what mission you have right now, but are you willing to set everything aside to ensure that I will be in a position to achieve one of Master Brixton's objectives?"

One of the cyborg mechs finally transmitted a message.

"If what you say is true, we will not allow anyone to obstruct your departure."

This was a clear enough message. The cyborg mechs might not be in for the long haul, but as long as they guaranteed they wouldn't pull anything off, then that was a considerable gain!

The cyborg mechs moved in with the rest. With half of the groups of mechs joining with Ves, the remainders were left in an awkward position!

Neither the Ruuzon Guard, the Brakkard Consortium or the group unidentified purple biomechs showed any indication of responding to his outreach.

It didn't matter. Ves had already taken control of this situation. He had collected so many defectors that it was not viable anymore to attack him. His temporary coalition had grown too strong!