The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1008

"Ah, Ves Larkinson. You’ve arrived." Senator Tovar abruptly said as he turned his gaze away from the detailed star map. The projection instantly winked out at a single gesture of his hand. "I must say, you have proven to be a pleasant surprise to me. I never expected you to be able to set off the KNG Affair as it has become known. Perhaps I misjudged a bit. You seem to be a better fit for Flashlight than I realized."

"Ah, you know about my association with Flashlight, sir?" Ves widened his eyes.

Tovar smirked at him. "I know many things. As far as Flashlight goes, their goals partially align with mine. The ripple effects of the KNG Affair serves as a shot across the bow to the rent seekers and profiteers within the Republic that they should serve the state more sincerely."

Ves suddenly realized that Flashlight might be more intricately connected to Camden Tovar than he initially thought. Could he be in charge? That didn’t seem likely. The other founder families would never let a single rival take charge of the powerful and largely unchecked military intelligence agency.

Even if Senator Tovar might not call the shots at Flashlights, his informal ties to the infamous agency alone gave him a sufficient amount of influence and access!

All the rules about keeping Flashlight confidential didn’t apply to the powerful senator! Compared to the nobles of the Vesia Kingdom, Senator Tovar possessed influence comparable to a duke that ruled over an entire territory in an almost autonomous fashion!

The Tovar Family was pretty much a noble house in all but name, one that held a lot of the levers of powers within the Republic.

Ves saw an opportunity there. Since he was already meeting face-to-face with one of the most powerful politicians of the Republic, why not take advantage of that and express some of his opinions? Since Senator Tovar looked at him favorably, he didn’t see the harm in trying.

"The KNG Affair is just the tip of the iceberg, sir." Ves stated bolded. "What happened at the KNG is probably happening in many other mech companies as well. I understand the military depends on their production capacity to supply them with mechs, but not every company is as diligent in safeguarding their military production."

Senator Tovar raised an eyebrow at him, as if he was amused at Ves’ transparent lobbying attempt. "A panel has already been convened to entertain suggestions on how to improve the current processes to prevent a repeat."

"I’ve heard about that, sir, but most of the people who joined the panel are business owners and high-ranking mech officers. I’m not questioning their competence, but they are similar to Mrs. Kadar and Mr. Neyvis who let something happen right underneath their noses for several years!"

"What are you suggesting then, Ves?"

"It’s strange that the previous liaison mech designers assigned to oversee the KNG’s military production hadn’t spotted a clue. They’ve grown far too comfortable with their jobs."

Senator Tovar frowned. "I have little say over how the Mech Corps assign and instruct their liaison mech designers."

In other words, certain powerful people wanted the position of liaison to continue to be used to place well-connected mech designers far away from the frontlines. By allowing them to supervise the military production of a company based in Bentheim, they could spend most of their time visiting coffee shops during the day and partying at various nightclubs during the night.

Since Tovar implied that he wouldn’t be able to change this corrupt mechanism, Ves took a step back and provided an alternative suggestion. "Oh I’m sure that most liaison mech designers are already.. busy. Considering the large amount of responsibilities that liaisons need to fulfill, why not provide them with an aide or two? Involving more people ensures that all of the work that needs to be done will be addressed in a timely fashion."

"I don’t think adding more mech designers will solve the problem."

"Then don’t assign mech designers to the liaisons. Instead, why not draw upon professionals with plenty of technical expertise? They don’t need to be chief technicians. Any mech technician with an abundant amount of experience working in large mech workshops or manufacturing complexes will do, sir."

The senator took his words seriously. "That is a remarkably insightful suggestion. I can see the merit in this proposal, even if the Mech Corps will abhor having to make new procedures to implement it. I’ll take it up with a member of the panel later."

"Thank you, sir. I’m just doing my part for the Republic."

"Hahaha!" Tovar laughed. "This is the kind of drive I like to see! You are a credit to your family. You Larkinsons have always remained loyal to the Republic, and although it is a pity that your predecessors have never entered the political arena, perhaps you might be the first to step inside the ring."

Ves smiled nervously at that. "I appreciate your compliments, sir, but I am firmly committed to running business."

"Prudent choice. Well, you can’t have everything." Tovar shook his head. "Let us move on to business. Has my assistant brought you up to speed?"

"Yes. He informed me that you are appointed by the government to head a delegation to meet with the Vesians to negotiate a possible end to the war."

"You are correct, but not entirely." Tovar said. "While I do carry official sanction, only a small portion of the government is aware of my mission. We cannot allow the skeptics, naysayers and warmongers to find out about this attempt because they will do their best to stop us from succeeding."

"Pardon me for my skepticism, but can it actually be done, sir?"

Senator Tovar crossed his arms. "You won’t be so skeptical once you obtain the full picture. Both the Republic and the Kingdom has better things to do than to let the current war run its course. It’s incredibly destructive and it will take far too long for us to regain our strength. Even if I can convince my Vesian counterpart of the necessity to end the war, too many institutions are opposed to a premature peace. It is the role of our delegation to find common ground with the Vesians."

"What is my role in this? I’ve heard from Mr. Cordwraith that my presence would be helpful somehow, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fit in this kind of setting."