The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3305

Chapter 3305: Stalling

"The local news organizations keep requesting to interview you or any other member of our clan." Gavin dutifully reported during the daily briefing session. "They still want to know how our mechs are able to unleash giant energy attacks and why our expert mechs are much more difficult to kill than normal."

Ves leaned back on his desk chair and casually waved his hand.

"My answer to that hasn't changed, Benny. We're not talking and we're not answering any questions. They'll have to make do with the public footage of our battle."

His assistant looked concerned. "I highly advise you to reconsider, boss. By not saying anything, we are letting other parties define the narrative of the battle. Ugly rumors about breaking taboos, consorting with crown terrorists and other ridiculous stories keep spreading over the galactic net. Plenty of parties who harbor ulterior motives have taken action."

"It's all talk. No one will do anything to us, not with six mercenary fleets protecting us at the same time. I really don't care if we piss people off. We're only passing through the Fermi Star Cluster so we don't have to please anyone."

A lot of people wanted the power displayed by the Larkinson Clan, but Ves already thought about it. He worked with Shederin to come up with a plan that relied on two measures.

First, as long as the Larkinsons kept saying nothing, the stories would slowly die down. Once the expeditionary fleet definitively left the star cluster, it was likely that the repercussions of the Battle of Fordilla Zentra would be buried in the archives.

Human space was too big and technology offered endless possibilities. This was not the first time that someone came up with a trump card that was able to deal massive area damage.

The biggest difficulty in obtaining this power was to master the requisite high technology or alien technology. To that, Ves proposed a simple solution.

The Larkinson Clan simply published a statement that its expert mechs were designed in partnership with Master Moira Willix of the Mech Trade Association.

That pretty much shut any direct demands to sell, trade or share his battle formations.

Even though Master Willix had no involvement with battle formations, others didn't know that. By truthfully stating that Master Willix collaborated with Larkinson mech designers on developing expert mechs for private use, the clan essentially insinuated that Willix or the MTA was on its side!

The truth was a bit more complex, but as long as Master Willix didn't go out of her way to clarify her complex relationship with the Larkinson Patriarch, the public's imagination would surely go wild!

Though Ves felt rather mixed with the decision to use the MTA's reputation as a shield, he was willing to perpetuate any fiction as long as it worked!

"The emissaries from the Empire of the Lost also insist on meeting you in person. They wish to discuss ways to cooperate with each other."

"My answer to that is also the same." Ves frowned. "We don't cooperate with states and we have no intention of committing to anything in the Fermi Star Sector. We are simple travellers who only wish to complete our peaceful journey to the Red Ocean. If they really want to talk to someone, then they should get in line until they get their turn with Minister Shederin Purnesse. He's our only authorized spokesperson and they can answer all of their questions!"

Gavin twitched his mouth. "Minister Shederin… has been doing everything but answering questions lately. He's gained a reputation for being vague and intractable as of late."

"Good!" Ves grinned. "That means he's doing his job! He's not supposed to clarify anything. He's only there to buy time and stall all of those petty bureaucrats and representatives until we are ready to depart from this messy star cluster."

He would have become a lot more troubled by this issue in the past, but all of that had changed now that he had hired a slick and competent diplomat.

Minister Shederin could wear different coats as needed.

If the Larkinson Clan needed to forge a new partnership, then he could come across as friendly, sincere and persuasive.

If the Larkinson Clan needed to rebuff other people and organizations without offending them, then he could smile and keep saying empty words.

Whatever Ves wanted, Shederin or his capable and well-organized staff took care of it without needing the clan patriarch to take action in person.

Ves couldn't be more thankful for himself that he took the risk of bringing the Purnesse Family onboard.

"Do you have something that is actually new and interesting to report?" He impatiently asked.

"Well, there is one more issue." His personal assistant said. "Have you decided…"

"No."

"Uhm, okay."

Once Ves was done with dealing with these routine matters, he left his office and headed over to the personal workshop, moving much more freely than before now that he had gone back to wearing his uniform.

The alertness level within the Larkinson fleet had relaxed now that the clan had safely returned to the Amswick System. With almost a mech division's worth of mercenary mechs on guard, no one should entertain any ideas of messing with the Larkinsons.

The mood on the Spirit of Bentheim had also recovered. Though the vessel along with every capital ship had become a lot more crowded than before due to transferring so many people from the sub-capital ships, the clan administration had already done a lot of work in resettling them so they could get on with their lives.

Once he reached his personal workshop, he went through the mandatory security check before entering his personal workspace.

One of the more interesting spoils of war he obtained from the previous battle was the remains of several dwarven expert mechs.

A couple of them had already been transferred over the Graveyard in order to break them down and recycle any usable materials, but some merited further study before they contributed to the strategic material reserves of the Larkinson Clan.

The Paravad was the most valuable and interesting out of the dwarven expert mechs that the Larkinsons managed to salvage. It was a mid-tier expert mech that the Vulcanites expended a lot more time, effort and creativity to design than the more generic low-tier expert mechs.

Even though it was a dream for many mech designers to receive the opportunity to develop an expert mech, there weren't as many opportunities for them to express their creativity when they were limited by cramped budgets and limited availability of resonance materials.

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