The Mech Touch novel Chapter 448

The design department gathered in the conference room next day. Professor Velten introduced the three guests from the VRF to everyone.

"I expect you to treat our guests with decorum, but also be mindful of what you are and aren’t allowed to say. I’ll send you a detailed list after this meeting. Read it carefully and memorize what you are not allowed to tell. I don’t need to remind you that the Mech Corps doesn’t take it lightly if they see elements of their exclusive technologies ending up in the hands of the Vesians, no matter if they are royalists or rebels."

Once she made her point clear, she moved on to the main point. "With the arrival of the delegation from the VRF, our plans have accelerated. Our main fleet is currently on track to arrive at our target in roughly two weeks. This means there is no time to implement any major revisions for the time being. The main priority of the Vandals is to repair and upgrade every mech that still needs working on. Make no mistake. We need as many mechs operational as possible."

This was it. The first major operation of the Flagrant Vandals since he arrived. And this one was a real doozy. Though his days aboard the Wolf Mother had passed by in peace, in actual fact the factory ship and her escorts dove deeper and deeper into Vesian space.

It was actually a miracle that the Mech Legion hadn’t found them out. That and the VRF did a good job securing passage for the Vandals.

One of the other Journeymen raised his hand and asked a question. "What will our jobs be?"

"Your design teams are to continue to seek every possible method of improving the performance of your designs. Our guest designers will offer their services to to your teams on a semi-rotating basis. Try and get a quick fix done within a week so we can quickly propagate those fixes to the current crop of mechs that the Vandals have on hand."

After that, everyone split up and got to work. Florissa, Iris and Lucille all started to advise the design teams on how to tweak or improve their chosen specialties. No matter their motives, Ves had to admit that their specialized knowledge came in really handy.

In particular, Florissa’s extensive expertise on flight systems far surpassed everyone else’s grasp on this large and complex part. Professor Velten might possess a much broader base of knowledge, but even the old lady hadn’t immersed herself into perfecting flight systems to such an extent.

The Vesian Journeyman practically charmed everyone with her friendly demeanor and and openness to answering any questions the Apprentices asked. She rotated between the design teams of the Inheritor and the Hellcat, but due to a lack of time, the professor instructed her to focus most of her efforts on improving the flight system of the Hellcat design.

"The Hellcat is one of our best mechs, and has to be in tip top shape for the upcoming operation. We also have much less Hellcats on hand, so it will be easier to modify them all in time for the Vandals to begin their assault."

When Ves heard about the decision, he winced and shook his head. It seemed like the Inheritor could never earn a break.

As for Lucille, her expertise into heat sinks led Professor Velten to instruct the Vesian Apprentice to spend most of her efforts on improving the maximum heat capacity of the Akkara heavy cannoneer design.

"The Flagrant Vandals will be descending from orbit numerous times according to the latest plans. Since we are rather lacking in the ranged firepower department, it is of utmost importance that our Akkara mechs can output as much firepower as possible to defend our landing zones."

With the two guest designers already veering away from the other designs, the Inheritor design was left with hardly any love. The only guest designer who remained was an odd bird who possessed a specialty that wasn’t conductive to quick fixes.

Nevertheless, Ves thought he could use her esoteric qualifications as a vehicle to enact his own improvements.

The good thing was that Iris was remarkably open to his ideas. She smiled at him and touched his shoulder with her palm. "That’s great! I was afraid I wouldn’t be of use. The VRF has a lot riding on this operation as well, you know. Anything that can make the Vandals stronger will also make our lives easier as well."

Ves hadn’t heard anything like that before.

"The Vandals aren’t raiding the industrial star system on their own?"

"Of course not, silly." Iris held up a hand in front of her mouth as she giggled. "Industrial star systems are heavily protected by several garrison regiments. While not all of them are mech regiments, their combined strength is more than what the Vandals can handle even if they bring all of their assets to bear. That’s why you need us."

"You mean the rebels don’t have any qualms with being seen together with the Vandals?"

Something like that sounded truly crazy. Rebels working in concert with their foreign enemies was generally seen as a profound betrayal that wouldn’t endear the citizens standing on the sidelines.

"That’s we aren’t planning on showing up in our own colors. Our organization and its partners have already applied the coatings of a pirate organization to our mechs. Our presence will therefore be explicitly seen as a destructive one, rather than an attempt at liberating the star system. It’s too early to attempt such a momentous action."

That was a devious if dishonest plan. Ves had to applaud their daring to moonlight as pirates. They could rain as much destruction as they wanted while their public mouthpieces decried the devastation and put the blame on the fat and lazy nobles that let the pirates run roughshod over their star system.

What Iris revealed to Ves hinted at the magnitude of the next operation. This was no simple smash and grab kind of raid. This was a major assault on a highly developed star system. The ensuing damage would be hard to imagine, but so would the loot the Vandals might be able to abscond.