The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4425

The Boryan System became more and more hostile to the human starships as they ventured closer to the center.

Fortunately, the coalition fleet did not have to travel that deep inside the star system in order to reach its target.

As the fleet led by the Gemini Family approached the coordinates of the Palace of Shame, the ships slowed down and tried their best to blend into the nearby asteroids.

If they wanted to start off Operation Lighthouse on a strong footing, then the human attackers needed to remain as incognito as possible.

The massive interference generated by the nearby neutron star helped a lot with that. Long-ranged observation was practically impossible due to all of the magnetic fields and other stellar activity scrambling everything in the star system.

Of course, just as the human coalition fleet depended on the local conditions to hide itself from the local aliens, the forces rooted in the Palace of Shame also took advantage of the difficult environment to hide their own activities.

The Larkinsons and the other groups constantly dispatched mechs to conduct patrols and engage in extensive reconnaissance, but they quickly encountered a major hindrance.

"This damn radiation and this damn magnetic field is putting so much noise into our signals that nothing coherent is getting through. My mech can't maintain communications with our fleet anymore."

" We need to make adjustments. The only ways we can pass on a message is if we form a daisy chain or if we contract our deployment range."

As the Geminis and other pioneering groups resorted to these primitive measures to maintain effective communications over longer distances, a few of the Larkinson Clan's scout-oriented mechs began to show their value at this stage.

The Light Hunter fielded by the Flagrant Vandals and the Signal Bearer fielded by the Penitent Sisters and other Hexer forces proved to be a lot more reliable than other scout mechs.

The reason for that was because they were able to maintain effective communications over longer distances!

By using the Illustrious One and the Superior Mother respectively as spiritual communication networks, the Light Hunter and the Signal Bearer mechs were able to range much further while maintaining at least basic contact with their motherships.

In fact, the Larkinson Clan offered to lend a few Buzzy Bee mechs that could perform the same job to the other pioneering groups beforehand, but only one of them accepted the offer.

"These Buzzy Bees are doing a really great job, Larkinson!" General Hermain Foraine of the Adelaide Mercenary Company told Ves over the comm. "I could have really used these mechs in some of my past encounters. I'm jealous of your Light Hunter mechs, though. Their ECM systems don't appear to be as good, but their scouting abilities are much better."

"I am glad to hear that our products are serving a useful purpose in your hands, but I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, general." Ves replied. "Our Light Hunter model is not for sale. We have developed many mechs that are precisely tailored to the needs of our clan. If you wish to obtain a comparable mech model that is adapted to your mercenary company, then you can commission a mech design or two from us. Just take into account that it will cost you, though."

The leader of the Adelaide Third Fleet looked discouraged. "I am afraid I won't be able to take you on your offer. I've been arguing my case to the higher ups, but they insisted on sticking to our regular schedule. We have invested so much money on replacing our older mechs with our current ones that we don't have much left to spare. Maybe that will change after we successfully raided the Palace of Shame, but for now our mercenary company needs to be frugal."

It started to make more sense why the Adelaide Third Fleet was roaming the dangerous border region between the Krakatoa Middle Zone and the Zelmar Upper Zone.

The Adelaides were essentially scrounging for money!

Not every pioneering organization was as rich as the Larkinson Clan!

Compared to running a mech company where a few bestselling mech models could easily churn out massive profits, it was a lot harder for mercenary organizations to earn windfall profits.

Most mercenary missions paid very well, but their durations were inconsistent. A single accident during a single mission might trigger massive losses which would instantly wipe away all of the profits earned from the last five or so missions.

Ves could guess without searching the galactic net that the Adelaide Mercenary Company must have suffered a major loss during one of its missions.

Whatever happened to the company had worsened its financial position by a considerable degree.

This was already bad news for a pioneering organization that entered the Red Ocean fairly recently.

Ves knew first-hand how much money it cost to prepare for a migration to the new frontier and to quickly update everything to Red Ocean standards.

As it was, General Foraine had already done his best by squeezing out a small amount of MTA credits so that his Third Fleet could acquire a limited amount of useful LMC mechs.

"If the other pioneers ask you about your experiences with our products, I hope you can put in a good word for them." Ves politely requested. "While I don't need their patronage, I truly think that my mechs can help them limit their casualties and defeat their opponents faster."

"I will be sure to do so as long as you promise to give us a discount or preferential treatment."

Ves paused for a moment. "We don't do discounts as we believe our mechs are always worth the price. It's not a big problem to give your mercenary company extra privileges, though. We should talk further once we have concluded this operation."

"I will hold you to that, Patriarch Larkinson."

They shifted the discussion from their mechs to the current situation in the Boryan System.

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