The Mech Touch novel Chapter 532

Now that the fleet entered into FTL, they didn’t have to worry about any enemy attacks for the time being. Each ship could stand down and let the crew relax. Not too much, of course. Plenty of work needed to be done, especially for the mech technicians and mech designers.

Ves frowned at the list of resources the Vandals needed to replenish their losses. The total price tag increased by a third, which signified how many raw materials was required to plug all of the gaps.

"Just a brief skirmish already inflicted so much damage!"

Despite their material losses, the Flagrant Vandals treated it as a win. No matter how skewed their losses turned out to be, they successfully fended off the Calico Dancer Bats and forced them to abort their stalling plans.

Ves knew why the mood was so upbeat. The servicemen really needed a morale booster. Major Verle explicitly ordered everyone smart enough to know the truth to play along with this charade.

He pressed his lips into a line as he wandered across the Shield of Hispania. Everyone acted as if they had become indomitable against all adversity.

To Ves, the Vandals only made it out because of some extreme decisions and the benefit of luck.

If Imodris had been a little more prompt in sending out their reinforcements, the Vandals wouldn’t have made it out at all.

Back at his office, Ves worked hours on end to adjust the timetable in response to the heavy damage sustained by the Inheritors. Even mechs that hadn’t suffered a single scratch would have soothy smoke emerging from the internals.

"More than two-hundred Inheritors are crippled! This is too much!"

The brief period where the mech pilots pushed the overload from twenty to thirty percent represented a painful spike to the mechs they piloted.

Just as Ves thought he would be handling logistical issues for the entire week, Major Verle suddenly called him up to his office. After entering it, the mech officer immediately brought up a disconcerting topic.

"I’m here to discuss the situation with the Finmoth Regal to you. Our investigators have achieved some preliminary results. Read this first."

The major handed over a data pad to Ves, who quickly scoured through the heavily-summarized report. His expression sunk as he realized how far this rabbit hole descended.

When Ves detected something strange from Nemo McAllister’s mech, he traced the suspect work back to a trio of mech technicians aboard the Finmoth Regal. When Ves passed his suspicions to Major Verle, he ordered their arrest.

That was when the bombs exploded. The damage to one of the Regal’s hangar bay was already bad enough, but taking out an engine almost forced the task force to leave her behind.

They couldn’t afford to lose a combat carrier!

Fortunately, the Finmoth Regal was able to keep up by getting towed long enough for her to regain partial propulsion. She was also able to transition into FTL without a problem because FTL travel didn’t rely on sublight propulsion in the first place.

Now that the immediate crisis had passed, Major Verle ordered an extensive inspection of the Finmoth Regal. From top to bottom, everything shady and dubious got exposed.

The data pad listed various minor infractions such as illegal gambling rings and fight clubs. None of those incidents really mattered too much so the Vandals who participated in these kinds of activities only suffered a slap on the wrist.

The investigators focused more on the serious infractions. A loose string of threats and blackmail eventually led to Chief Technician Michael Elin.

"I see now." Ves uttered with shock and disappointment. "Chief Elin was one of the ringleaders responsible for the embezzlement that we cracked down on. I can’t believe he got mixed with traitors."

The three mech technicians who installed the unauthorized modifications in Nemo’s mech couldn’t be brought to questioning because they all blew themselves up. The investigators tried hard, but they couldn’t identify any fellow conspirators. The three had always acted in a low-key manner and made few friends among the crew of the Finmoth Regal. The only person aboard the ship that had a connection to them was the chief that supervised their activities.

As their superior, Chief Elin should have kept a closer eye on what the hidden traitors had been up to. Letting them install unauthorized modifications without a single checkup was a massive act of negligence on the part of the chief.

While chief technicians couldn’t possible ride behind the shoulders of every subordinate, they should at least be diligent enough to check off any completed modifications.

"How did Chief Elin get mixed up with the traitors in the first place?"

"Money, basically." Major Verle sighed and rubbed his tired face. "The treacherous trio got inside his good books and helped him facilitate the embezzlement. They became his left and right arms and did all of the actual work. Through years of pretending to be his dimwitted but loyal henchmen, Chief Elin completely trusted their loyalty."

"Even then, regulations state that chiefs have to double-check everyone’s finished work no matter how much they favor them. How did the traitors manage to get the chief off their backs?"

"They took advantage of the embezzlement that Chief Elin was engaged in. It’s very simple, Mr. Larkinson. As the mastermind behind this scheme, would the chief want to get caught red-handed trying to manipulate the machines that siphoned away a minute portions of valuable exotics?"