The Mech Touch novel Chapter 159

Missions generally came in two flavors. Ves could either accept a risky but rewarding mission or a safe but less worthwhile one. The latter often took up more time so many of the less talented mech designers took up these tasks.

As for Ves, he’d been eyeing the riskier missions. Though he cherished his life like any human being, he knew he couldn’t get anywhere without taking calculated risks. The Clifford Society’s whole advancement structure encouraged their talents to temper their skills in exotic adventures.

"A mech designer who holes up in his workshop all day will only stagnate." Horatio had told him once when he guided Ves around the Society. "Even if they managed to advance by some fluke, their designs lack an essential spark. The mech industry has no need for clones."

In other words, a mech designer has to seek out the untold wonders of the galaxy and survive experience. Only then would they be able to find their own paths.

Ves didn’t know what to make of this theory. Leemar strongly subscribed to the idea that the best mech designers were those capable of surviving under the most adverse conditions.

"It’s more likely that mech designers who thrive under danger are already outstanding."

Whatever the case, many people paid well to enlist the services of a competent mech designer.

As long as they had access to the right facilities, they could easily design or modify a mech tailored to the situation at hand.

They also served as consultants, able to deconstruct any design and explain its inner workings to their clients.

Ves wanted to finish a mission quickly, so he ignored any mission that lasted more than three standard months. He also wanted to avoid antagonizing more people, so he drew his attention to join an expedition into the unknown reaches of space.

Despite humanity’s dominance in the galaxy, vast swathes of space had never been explored. Even if an unexplored star system fell under the borders of a certain state, it might take decades before they sent a survey ship to catalog its planetary bodies. _{ƒrēewebnovel.com}

This applied even more to the Komodo Star Sector, which had only been colonized for over half a millenia. Many of the sparser regions unclaimed by even the poorest fourth-rate states might hide some gems. If some of these star systems happened to contain some deposits of extremely valuable exotics, then an follow-up expedition would swing by sooner or later.

"Hi there!" A cheerful girl chirped at him from behind. "You’re a Knight, right?"

"That’s correct."

"Great! Our team of five is thinking about taking the Hudson-Fairfax mission." She gestured at a couple of men and women a few steps behind. "We’ll split the merits equally as long as everyone is doing their fair share of work. So what do you say?"

"Hold on a minute, let me study the mission."

Ves quickly called up the mission in question. It turned out to be a rather thorny job that involved mediating a conflict between two rival fourth-rate states in the middle of nowhere. Instead of going to war, they decided to hash out their differences by holding duels.

He admired such a solution, but didn’t wish to enter these muddy waters. Who knew if someone powerful had something to gain from the results. The three-hundred merit reward looked nice, but Ves could only look forward to receiving fifty merits if he had to work in a team.

"I’m sorry, but I’ll have to decline."

"That’s a shame." The girl replied, her smiles all gone. "Goodbye then."

A handful of other Society members asked if Ves wanted to join their teams before someone told him to stand elsewhere.

"If you aren’t looking for a team, then don’t stand in the center!"

It turned out the Society had a tradition where if you stood at the center, you expressed an interest in working together. Ves quickly stepped to the side of the hall in order to put a stop to the incessant questions.

He went back to the list of missions and zeroed in on risky expeditions to newly surveyed star systems. After a few minutes of uninterrupted browsing, he found something of interest.

Something called the Groening mission stood out from the list. Different from many other missions, the Groening mission explicitly called for a single mech designer. Ves wouldn’t have to share his merits with anyone else if he accepted this task. He eagerly pulled up the details of the mission in question.

"Four-hundred merits. That’s a lot, even for an expedition."

The mission immediately noted its peculiarities. It kept most of its details mum, including the expedition’s route and destination. Anyone who accepted this mission had to trust in the expedition leader’s judgement as he or she led the entire fleet into uncharted space.

Ves didn’t mind the risk. He planned to tag along this trip with his newly crewed Barracuda. If anything happened, he could always get away with one of the fastest interstellar ships in the star sector.

"The expedition must be looking forward to an extremely valuable haul." He noted to himself. "Why hasn’t anyone accepted this mission yet?"

Lots of value meant lots of risk. Evidently, the mission had already been posted for a couple of months. No one took the bait. Who would be crazy enough to go in blind? The obscenely high reward aroused everyone’s vigilance instead of their greed.

There must be some kind of catch for the mission to demand a single mech designer instead of an entire team. There was safety in numbers, after all.

"Still, if the Clifford Society is willing to offer this mission, then it should be an authentic request."

Ves could do a lot with four-hundred merits. His shopping list was small, but all of the items cost a huge amount of money if expressed in credits. If he could earn a huge sum of merits at once, he’d be able to speed up his already fast-paced timetable.

He gulped down his saliva. After considering the pros and cons, he decided to accept the Groening mission. His comm instantly beeped an alert.

"Report to the Mancroft Independent Harbor within twenty days. Forfeiting the mission is not allowed. If you are delayed or indisposed, then please inform the Mission Hall."

Ves frowned at the message. He knew about the Mancroft Independent Harbor. It was an independent star system that pretended to be a fourth-rate state. It wasn’t even a port system, which made it fairly difficult for ships to reach the star system. It only enjoyed a modest amount of traffic because the Common Fleet Alliance maintained a small fueling station.

"Twenty days will be cutting it if I take a conventional ship." Fortunately, a swift corvette could reach Mancroft from Cloudy Curtain in about nine to eleven days. "I still have some time."

From the sound of it, the so-called Groening mission required a lot of preparation. While Ves had already packed some stuff, he didn’t feel confident at all.