The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1306

Being a Kinner was a harsh life. Ves understood this. Yet despite their hard living and lack of refinement, Ves admired the Kinners so much more than the indolent Kamoners!

Living under the shadow of the mighty Friday Coalition, the Kamon Republic may not hold much value. However, their proximity to the second-rate state gave them an unprecedented degree of security as well as extremely lucrative business ties.

For this reason, the Kamon Republic developed in peace for centuries. They neglected their armed forces as well as their mech community in favor of increasing the standard of living of their citizens to the highest level among third-rate states in the Komodo Star Sector.

Perhaps only the citizens of the second-rate states lived better than the Kamoners!

Yet all of their focus on economic and cultural development came at the cost of their ability to stand up and survive on their own. Most of their industry and trade revolved around consumer goods and commodities that made many citizens happier, but did not help a bit in strengthening their military might!

The Kinner Tribe developed in the opposite direction. Situated a distance away from the second-rate states, the small third-rate state did not enjoy the protection of any big brothers.

In fact, its territory was so poor in resources that everyone expected it to be thrown in the dustbin of history in time!

That it managed to hang on and thrive by dint of their mercenary trade drew a lot of admiration from Ves. The Kinners had no use of frivolous luxuries and pointless consumer goods. They only cared about increasing their strength and providing the next generation with better opportunities.

All of those adherents of the Societal Revival Theory would definitely salivate if they visited the Kinner Tribe. Ves himself was already doing so inwardly ever since he stepped foot on Bloodstone II!

Kelandra guided the group deeper into the hall in order to approach the lounging mercenaries playing Pirate Empires or chatting with their friends on comm. Not a lot of clients had entered the hall this early in the day, so Ves quickly got to talk with a mercenary corps representative.

The Kinner tribesman’s eyes lit up as he spotted the approaching visitors and their guide. "Kelandra! Who might you be bringing to us today?"

"This is Mr. Larkinson, a Journeyman who has come all the way from the Republic. He is in search to hire a mercenary corps of your size for a year, with the opportunity to buy it out at the end of the mission."

"So it’s one of those situations." The mercenary nodded in understanding. The other representatives in the hall had pitched their ears and heard Kelandra’s deliberately raised voice as well. "Well, you’ve come to the right place!"

The Kinner merc began to introduce the outfit he belonged to. The Roaring Crashers as they called themselves explicitly specialized in offensive operations. The Crashers maintained both a spaceborn and landbound mech contingent, and they were open to attacking both land fortifications and space fortifications.

"Every Crasher is a Kinner of honor and courage!" The representative boasted. "As long as the mission intel is accurate, you can depend on us to crack open any bulwark!"

Ves shook his head. "I apologise, I’m not looking to storm some pirate den or something. I’m mainly in the market for guards and escorts as I tour through the star sector."

"Ah. I see. I’m afraid the Roaring Crashers won’t be able to fulfill your request. Guard and escort duty bores us." The merc’s face fell.

Kelandra drew Ves and the rest to another gathering of mercs.

"As you see, mercenary corps can specialize in many mission types. The Roaring Crashers for example are very notable for their willingness to take on high-risk offensive operations. While they are very demanding with regards to their prices and conditions, they have enjoyed a lot of success acting as the hammer of their well-heeled clients."

A mercenary corps like the Roaring Crashers could help reinforce a risky offensive operation. Their main draw was their willingness to face danger and their easy availability. For these reasons, hiring them was extremely expensive!

Ves had no desire to pay so much for something he didn’t need. Mercenary corps that oriented around more routine missions may not be as ferocious, but they were a lot more affordable.

His guide brought him to another spokesperson.

The stern-looking woman who represented her mercenary corps looked like she had gone through a lot of rough scrapes. She regarded Ves as if she was assessing his threat.

"You’ve got good judgement, mech designer. Kelandra is a great guide."

"Thank you. Can you tell me about your mercenary corps?"

"Sure! The Emerald Bears came about just over thirty years ago with tribal assistance. We started as a scrappy outfit numbering just half a mech company’s worth of spaceborn combatants and a creaky old converted carrier. We mainly started escorting small trade convoys carrying sensitive goods. The pay wasn’t all that bad, but we frequently encounter opportunistic pirates and robbers."

"And you beat them without issue?" _{ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com}

"Most of the time. We did well enough that we quickly earned the capital to expand our mechs. That allowed us to take on more elaborate missions. While he mainly focused on developing our spaceborn company, we also raised a landbound company and some guards in order to provide the kind of protection that clients such as you are looking for. Nowadays, we’ve mostly moved on from escorting trade convoys and entered in the business of protecting VIPs. In our short but storied history, we only failed a handful of times!"

Not every escort or protection mission ended in success. Mercenaries inherently engaged in risky business. Even if they did the best they could, the opposition might still be able to overpower or outwit their defenses.

The Emerald Bears could do little about it except to incur a red mark on their record. However, their failures did little to stop their growth, seeing as they still qualified to hawk their services at Askaya Halls.

"What are your rates?" Ves asked.

The female merc quoted a number of prices in local currency as well as coalition credits and hex credits.