The Mech Touch novel Chapter 387

The two argued back and forth but they largely repeated the same arguments. Ves hadn’t been able to come up with a compelling argument to convince the Mudriders to partake in the defense with all their heart, so Ves simply chose to be firm and unyielding.

Certainly, he felt a little bad about the Oodis Mudriders, but compared to his own benefits, why should he care about the well-being of some random mercenaries?

"Are you not a mercenary?" Ves pressed, having just reminded himself of Melkor’s advice. "Do you still wish for the Oodis Mudriders to exist after this assignment? If the Mech Nursery falls, your mercenary corps is ruined. You’ll lose every opportunity to clear your records of your black marks."

Commander Husaan frowned. "Is the alternative any better? You’re throwing us to the meat grinder!"

"That’s because you signed up for this job! You wanted to prove your valor, right? Then do so! Proving your courage means you should stand up to adversity when everyone else tells you to run away! It’s disgraceful of you to hear you try so hard to shirk your duty. Do you need a reminder on what a high-risk assignment entails? It’s not a walk in the park, for heaven’s sake!"

"Even if you’re right, you are going too far with this! You are not our commanding officer. Your word isn’t law! Don’t think that I won’t dare to pull my forces out of this deathtrap of a complex if I think you’re about to throw away our lives!"

"If the Mech Corps hears about your words, they’ll scoff at them. The nature of combat doesn’t allow us the privilege of choosing our battles. The Vesians are spoiling for a fight. So what? Countless pilots of the Mech Corps are doing their duties right now without any complaint! If they can step up, why don’t you?"

"That’s because the Mech Corps enjoy the best training and the best equipment! Their mechs are all top-notch machines while my Mudriders are working with five to ten year old mechs!"

"Boohoo. I’ve seen your mechs. You can’t fool a mech designer’s eyes. Your mech models are all robust designs. They’ve got plenty of life in them yet!"

"And we’ll risk losing most of them before the end of the week if we cash head-on against the Mech legion!"

Obviously, Ves did not manage to shake Commander Husaan’s position. After a brief moment of silence, Ves decided to resort to the carrot rather than the stick.

"If the Mudriders do this for my, I won’t skimp on the rewards."

"We’re already entitled to the highest class of hazard pay as well as compensation for any damage we might incur. Still, no matter how much money you throw at us, it won’t make the dead come back to life."

"I’m not talking about more money. How about receiving a couple of exclusive mechs in exchange?"

"Are you kidding me?" Husaan began to turn his back to Ves.

"Wait a minute! These aren’t your average mechs!" Ves quickly followed up on his statement. "You must have heard about the LMC and its latest model, right? The Blackbeak’s characteristics fits perfectly with the Mudriders. It’s mobile, resilient and doesn’t require frequent resupply. I’ll personally fabricate two top-tier gold label Blackbeaks for your mercenary corps."

Although it sounded ridiculous that Ves attempted to bribe Husaan with a couple of mechs, the mercenary commander couldn’t help but halt in his tracks. He knew about the renown of the Blackbeaks. They were excellent mech models and their quality surpassed the machines that the Mudriders currently employed.

Two mechs might not sound like much, but the rarity and status of any gold label mech from the LMC could not be belittled. Ves worked hard to elevate the value of his handcrafted mechs exactly for moments like this. Commander Husaan knew what kind of treasure that Ves was offering.

"I’ll also add in one of the first copies of the laser rifleman mech that’s currently in development. I can’t say too much about the design, except that it shares most of the traits of the Blackbeak and will certainly outclass any of your current rifleman mechs."

As much as Commander Husaan acted tough, every mercenary was a mech geek at some level. They passionately slobbered over mechs and could talk in detail about them to their fellow mercenaries. They favored different brands and followed the exploits of various famous mech designers.

As an up-and-coming mech designer, Ves hadn’t managed to build a huge following outside of Cloudy Curtain, but his talent was more than evident from the meteoric rise of the LMC.

This might not be so important to Husaan personally, but he did not think about his own benefits.

Rather, he thought about how owning three prestigious mechs would affect the renown of the Oodis Mudriders.

Outfits that owned and flaunted rare and valuable mechs attracted a lot of attention, for good and ill, but mostly the former. Husaan fell silent as he thought about how he could use the gold label mechs as an opportunity to revive the Mudriders after surviving this assignment.

He could already see it now. With the surge of interest from the possession of the exclusive mechs, the Mudriders could easily replenish its ranks even if most of the new hires would never be able to pilot the valuable machines. In effect, their combat effectiveness only played a secondary role compared to their fame. It was enough to treat them as mascots.

Husaan looked at Ves with a speculative look, but the mech designer kept his expression neutral and composed.

Ves did not open his mouth again because he did not want to fall into a trap. It did not cost the company a lot of resources to fabricate those mechs for the Mudriders. That did not mean that Ves was eager to fall into a one-man bidding war and be forced to raise his offer to a ludicrous level.

Three mechs was enough.

He did not know what Husaan was thinking about, but the man offered up his hand for a shake. "Deal."

Meanwhile, the mechs outside the base that represented the Whalers and the Mudriders stood in place, well away from the fight. They never moved forward for a single instant during the entire battle. _{ƒгeewebnovёl.com}