The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4669

"That's it?" Ves asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Did the Adelaides commit any other unforgivable sins during their early history? Did they betray their clients or give up their missions without good cause?"

"The Adelaides might not always be clean, but they often get the job done, at least that is what we have heard. They have rarely failed their missions and never without proper cause."

Ves smiled in relief. "That sounds good. That means that they still made an effort to cling onto their integrity during those difficult times."

The Black Cats managed to uncover a lot of incident reports about the affairs where the Adelaide Mercenary committed wrongs. A part of them had even been buried in a forgotten classified archive!

While all of this sounded like interesting reading material, Ves didn't have the time or inclination to dig that deep into the Adelaide Mercenary Company's ancient history.

Ves tapped a finger against his head in thought. "From what I have witnessed of the Adelaides of today, none of them carry the impression of cynical war dogs whose trigger fingers have become a little too itchy. A major transition took place along the way, am I correct?"

Calabast nodded. "The Adelaide Mercenary Company was one of the few mercenary organizations that was capable of fielding expert mechs. They had also done a good job at training new ones and equipping them with expert mechs developed by its business partners. Although the Adelaides had little choice at the beginning, once they gained a solid footing and secured their finances, they needed to address other priorities. Their reputation in the mech community had declined and numerous expert pilots have expressed objections to the state of the mercenary company at the time."

"So the Adelaide Mercenary Company cleaned up its act as soon as it could afford to do so, am I right?"

"That is correct, Ves. This transition took decades, but the Adelaides had shown great patience and did not give up even if progress happened too slowly for most people to notice. By the time Marissa Lewandowski successfully advanced to ace pilot, the mercenaries have successfully completed their reforms and cleaned up their reputation. Most people don't pay special attention to mercenary companies and do not care so much about the misdeeds they committed a few generations ago. This combined with taking on much more lucrative and high-profile war contracts has allowed them to build a positive reputation."

In the end, the history of the Adelaides was not that special. The former military mech regiment turned mercenary company managed to climb their way up from their lowest point through a combination of persistence and adaptability.

Although the growth rate of the company was not that great, the fact that it managed to maintain a positive trend across multiple generations spoke of sound leadership and a commitment to long-term interests.

"So aside from committing a few war crimes in the heat of battle, the Adelaides don't have any other dirty laundry under the surface?" Ves questioned the spymaster.

"We have yet to find traces of any other objectionable or problematic stories related to their organization or activities, but we are still in the early stages of our investigations. Do not assume that the intelligence that I have presented to you is the complete picture. We are still in the process of digging into their internal hierarchy. We need to move much slower and more cautiously here, as getting caught may have serious implications for the ongoing negotiations."

"Got it, Calabast. Keep up the good work." Ves spoke before turning back to Minister Shederin. "Tell me about the leadership structure of the Adelaide Mercenary Company. So far, I only had personal contact with Mech General Herman Foraine. How much power does he wield and who else has a say in how the company is run?"

The minister smiled in an intriguing manner. "That is an interesting topic, sir. Most military mech units and commercial organizations tend to be led by a single leader who holds most of the authority. They may have to answer to shareholders or a civilian administration, but by and large they have a mandate that allows them to implement many decisions without needing to ask permission from above."

"And the Adelaide Mercenary Company is different?"

"Yes." Shederin nodded. "Back when the Adelaides only operated a single shabby fleet of deserters, it was easy for a single general to keep the entire unit in line. Once they started to expand and form multiple fleets, multiple mech generals emerged from the ranks. As these fleets often accepted different war contracts that caused them to be stationed far away from each other, these mech generals mostly focused on leading their own units and rarely intersected with the other fleets."

That indeed sounded interesting to Ves. "Since these mercenary fleets spend so much time away from each other, there is always a risk that they break away from the mother organization. Has that happened with the Adelaides?"

"Surprisingly, no. They have been remarkably good at instilling enough loyalty and belonging in their cadre to keep every fleet within the company. It also helps that their headquarters and back office handles much of the overhead and work that is common among all of the fleets."

"So who is actually in charge of the Adelaide Mercenary Company?" Ves asked.

"The Adelaide Mercenary Company should formally be classified as a cooperative, sir. It has no outside shareholders. Every fleet owns an equal share of the company. Whenever the company needs to make high-level decisions or set an overall strategic direction, all of the mech generals convene together in order to discuss and vote on different proposals. In theory, no mech general holds a greater voice than the rest, but in practice seniority and glory plays a major role in whose voice is greater."

That was natural. True equality did not exist. A company that was led by a council of true equals should have crashed and burned a long time ago due to lacking a single cohesive strategy.

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