The Mech Touch novel Chapter 270

Dumont had been drowning his sorrows in his private mansion. He sent most of the the staff away, allowing him to avoid the scornful gazes of his own men.

"Here I am, a drunk and a failure."

Despite setting up the board in his favor, he failed to secure a crucial victory. Dumont put his own reputation at stake when he pitted his Havalax against Larkinson’s Blackbeak. It should have been a slam-dunk win considering the Havalax’s high performance characteristics turned it into an excellent dueling mech.

Nothing was ever set in stone.

He learned that lesson in the most painful way. Even a captain of the Mech Corps failed to account for the treacherous terrain and the bewildering decisions made by his opponent.

Dumont raised a glass at Melinda Larkinson’s resourcefulness.

"People always say that the Larkinsons can’t be messed with. They’re the Republic’s mangy wolves."

People called them wolves because they fought in a ferocious manner. They also called them mangy because they weren’t really a big deal compared to the other military dynasties that held more sway in the Bright Republic.

Obviously, the emergence of a talented Larkinson mech designer changed the old equation. For the first time, it appeared the famous Larkinson Family gained some actual financial muscle.

All of that had nothing to do with him, of course. The highly placed folks who opposed the Larkinsons had secretly pulled some strings to allow the elite Captain Vicar to duel on his behalf. _{freeweɓnovel.cøm}

"Hmph." He snorted. "What an elite he turned out to be."

"What happened yesterday is not his fault." An incisive female voice spoke from behind.

Dumont practically jumped from his seat, spilling his drink in the process. Tiny cleaner bots quickly cleaned up the mess, but that hardly calmed his heart. "Heavens! How did you sneak up to me, Catelyn?"

"It’s not that difficult to bypass your security systems when you dismissed most of your security." The Ricklin scion sneered. "Any two-bit thug with a gun can approach you before you notice it. And last I’m aware of, you don’t wear a shield generator that can stop an attack."

"I figured it didn’t matter if I put my mansion on lockdown." Dumont shrugged. "If you decided to get rid of me, nothing I do will matter."

Catelyn Ricklin shook her head as she tutted. "My dear, you always think the worst of me. Did you really think I wrote you off? Hardly. I’ve diverted a substantial amount of family funds to your endeavors. I’m not about to let my investment go to waste."

Wasteful spending and frivolous business decisions had caused the Ricklin family to decline. In Catelyn’s eyes, Vincent Ricklin exemplified the degenerate old ways.

In any case, Dumont started to see the light again. He sobered up and faced Catelyn with his full attention. "You want to continue to collaborate? Even after half of my customers canceled their orders?"

"You’re a businessman as well as a mech designer, Michael. It’s not the end of the universe if you lose a duel. Certainly, all of the sensationalism surrounding your very public loss will depress your sales, but will anyone still remember you after a month? Just hunker down and ride the storm. Your prospects will surely improve after talk about the duel dies down."

"That still leaves an irremovable stain on my record. I’ll hardly be able to climb back out of the pit I dug for myself. The Havalax is a tainted design."

"Then design a new mech! You shouldn’t be pining over the fate of a single design! You should be expanding your catalog instead of putting all your eggs in a single basket. In the meantime, your company can muddle through if you sell the Havalax model at a discount. As long as your company stays afloat, there are plenty of opportunities to make a comeback."

Dumont nodded at her words. Earning an ample profit was a luxury at this point. "I get it now. As long as the price is attractive enough, buyers looking for a bargain won’t care about the bad press."

The Havalax was still a fundamentally good design. Although its endurance didn’t amount to much, the performance it delivered at the start made it suitable to be used as an elite mech. And despite the unexpected outcome of the previous duel, it still held a significant advantage in most situations.

Offensive knights couldn’t display their full strength by themselves. They worked best if paired with other mechs, preferably rifleman or artillery mechs. The Havalax would really start to shine if it could do its job as a protector of other mechs.

"You’ve regained your senses now. Good." Catelyn nodded and turned around to leave the room. "For now, you should weather this crisis. We can make new plans after you stabilized your company."

As Dumont dreamed about reviving his prospects, Ves continued his tour of the potential partners he’d be working with to mass produce the Blackbeaks.

After leaving the industrial complex operated by Vaun, the armored shuttle brought him to the next mech manufacturer on the list. Gavin briefed him on the company.

"The next manufacturer on the list is a company called Vikaris Mechs. VM is a medium-sized family-owned mech manufacturer based in Haston. They started off producing spare mechs from salvaged fabrication equipment and expanded from there. Nowadays, they’ve grown to the point of running ten production lines. Also, starting from a decade ago, they entered into a long-term partnership with a big Journeyman Mech Designer."

Ves frowned at that news. "Sounds like a great deal for VM. If they partnered up with a Journeyman, then they should have been running their production lines at full capacity. Why are they turning to us?"

"They’ve fallen on hard times." Gavin replied without much sympathy. "The mech designer they worked with suddenly dumped them out of the blue. From what rumors I’ve gathered, the mech designer wanted to work with a major mech manufacturer, but had to give up all of his existing contracts to seal the deal."