The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4514

Ves wanted to play no part in the schemes hatched by the Gemini Family.

Though the powerful pioneering group had meticulously abided by all of the terms of their shared agreement, the Geminis had left out too many truths and details about the assault on the Palace of Shame.

It became clearer and clearer to him that the Gemini Family harbored no goodwill at all towards the other pioneering groups that it had fooled into participating in this assault.

The Golden Skull Alliance almost suffered a loss due to the Gemini Family's reticence towards sharing any intelligence related to the formidable orven battleship and the recently awoken unclean whale.

While the collective might of the Larkinsons and the other human participants eventually prevailed, the margin was far too close to Ves' liking.

He did not like being pushed into a corner.

Part of the reason why he wanted to push back against the Geminis was because he believed that the unclean whale could still pose a massive threat as long as the massive beast still retained a single breath of life.

However, he readily admitted that he was also driven by the need to smack the Geminis in the face and teach them that messing with him and his clan was a bad idea!

This was why he did not feel guilty about trying to undermine their little alliance.

As Ves continued to speak to Saint Jellmer Osenring, he put the ace pilot in a difficult position.

"I should never even be listening to what you have to say according to company protocol." The ace pilot of the Thunderer Mark II stated. "I am not a neophyte in this arena. I am cognizant that you wish for me to defect to your side in the hopes of dragging the rest of the Santana Xenoarchaeology Division Fleet to your camp. Such actions are highly dishonorable. The only reason why I have not shut down this channel is because you have contributed greatly towards our victory, but do not take that as a sign that my tolerance is infinite."

The powerful ace pilot made a good point, but if there was one thing Ves had learned about negotiations, it was that it was best for him to avoid falling into someone else's rhythm.

Ves did not bother to address Saint Osenring's points directly, because that would only pull him deeper into a losing argument.

He instead focused on the subjects that he had greater control over.

"I am not asking you to compromise your principles." Ves told the ace pilot. "I am merely asking you to support the more prudent course of action. If you do so, I am willing to give you a reward for your intercession between myself and your nominal superiors."

"What does this reward entail?"

Ves gestured in the man's direction. "Do you think the rush job that I have applied to your Thunderer Mark II is the greatest extent of what I can do? Take a look at the battle footage of the Amaranto. My expert rifleman mech was able to overwhelm the defenses of energy warships with exceptionally piercing strikes. Did you know that the Amaranto's new energy cannon can only penetrate through a couple of medium-sized asteroids under normal usage conditions, but that it has managed to penetrate sixteen asteroids when it is firing at full power!"

"You are boasting."

"I am not. I have not spoken a single falsehood since we have started to talk to each other." Ves wasn't foolish enough to slip a lie past the sharp intuition of an ace pilot. "Humanity is still new to phasewater and all of its applications. The method I employed relies on the deep and profound expertise of a long-lived alien intelligence that has played around with phasewater long before our race has developed a coherent civilization. Given this massive disparity in age and expertise, it shouldn't be so outlandish to hear that my design solution could have allowed your Thunderer Mark II to bypass the segmented multi-layer energy shields of the V'gahnt-Zezne or the spatial barrier of the unclean whale with ease."

Perhaps Ves was boasting a bit, but he truly believed that this scenario was plausible.

The only reason why the Instrument of Doom failed to penetrate the aforementioned defensive measures was because Venerable Stark and the Amaranto simply weren't strong enough. The underlying tech and approach were still sound. They just had to be applied to the ace mech level in order to produce clear results against greater opponents.

"Look, I don't have the time to explain my work any further to you." Ves said. "Let me tell you what I want. If you take our side and agree that the unclean whale must be killed, I will promise you that I will take the time to properly work on your ace mech so that the Phase King can bless your damage output with exceptional penetrating properties. You don't have to activate it all of the time. You should only employ it when necessary. That already provides your ace heavy artillery mech with a massive edge compared to other ace mechs. While I can't promise you that your shots will penetrate 8 or 16 times more effectively than before, it should definitely be stronger than the preview that your Thunderer Mark II enjoys at the moment."

"And what if I refuse?" Saint Osenring plainly asked.

Ves pressed his lips. "Then I will take back what I have given to your ace mech."

"Can you do that when we deny you access to my machine?"

"Heh, don't underestimate me. I won't elaborate any further, but know that the Phase King will no longer provide its services to your ace mech. You will have to go back to firing your ace mech's heavy gauss cannons the normal way."

It was one thing for Saint Osenring to never know that his ace mech could wield so much effective firepower.

It was another thing for Saint Osenring to have a taste of strength from the 'demo' that Ves provided!

Right now, the ace pilot became conflicted.

It was rare for a man as certain as him to be torn between two different issues, but Ves had presented the ace pilot with a difficult dilemma.

Saint Osenring had been trained and educated for all his life to obey the orders of his superiors.

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