The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4673

The choices presented by Lord Pearian put Ves into a difficult condition.

Stealth systems were not common. At least, the good ones were not easily available on the open market.

Stealth mechs and other stealth assets possessed a lot of strategic value. Anyone who was able to evade the detection of an enemy state could run roughshod over the latter's territories!

For example, if the Hex Federation developed an innovative new stealth system that was beyond the ability for the Friday Coalition's detection systems to penetrate, then DIVA and the other Hexer intelligence agencies would make the Fridaymen miserable!

It was not difficult to imagine that the Friday Colonies would be thrown into chaos as stealth mechs and infiltrators eagerly made use of their stealth advantage.

The goal of all of these units was to commit as many acts of theft, sabotage and assassination as they could get away with before the Fridaymen finally cracked their tech!

As such, the best stealth systems were those that no one learned about in the first place. States and individual covert operations units usually kept them extremely close to their chest because any distribution of the tech increased the risk that enemies and rivals would crack the means of detecting them in the field.

This was why there was a substantial difference between commissioned stealth systems and commercial stealth systems.

Most highly competent units employed sensors and scanners that received regular updates that taught them how to employ specific tricks to increase the detection chance of known stealth systems.

That made commercial and more widely available stealth systems largely ineffective against well-organized opponents.

Of course, high-end stealth systems such as those designed for expert mechs were still a lot more reliable and effective due to their higher-quality parts and materials, but they always fell short to the stealth systems employed by more professional and institutional parties.

As Ves was aware of these differences, he thoroughly understood how great the implications would be if he chose for one or the other.

The choice of a stealth system directly impacted the effectiveness, utility and applicability of the Ghost Project!

Ves needed to think about his goals and aspirations for the Ghost Project. Was it important enough for him to cash in one of his bigger favors with the Yorul-Tavik Clan, or should he keep his request modest and make do with a lesser stealth system for the time being?

The Ghost Project was more than a simple expert mech. Though Ves valued its ability to attack unsuspecting enemy mechs and ships on the battlefield, he valued its ability to engage in covert operations against targets that weren't openly hostile!

The Larkinson Clan might have the Black Cats, but Calabast's pet organization mostly excellent at subtle infiltration and intelligence gathering work. Her agents were not as good as DIVA when it came to more serious acts of interference. She also lacked a good stealth mech that could reliably sabotage or destroy targets that were too difficult to infiltrate for normal operatives.

If Ves had a highly effective expert stealth mech under his command, then he could sabotage and put pressure on persistent enemies without provoking them in the open!

For example, if his clan and another pioneering organization competed for the same mech design commission, then openly attacking his rival would be out of the question, but messing with his enemy in secret would be much safer!

There might also be situations where the expeditionary fleet encountered a large alien warfleet in the frontier.

Ordinarily, the Golden Skull Alliance would never dare to confront a fleet that consisted of at least five or so battleships.

Even if the alliance could field multiple ace mechs, the casualties suffered by the expeditionary fleet would be horrendous.

However, if Ves was able to dispatch an expert mech that was stealthy enough to fool the sensors of the modern battleships, then the Ghost Project would be able to sabotage some if not all of the alien battleships in advance!

In the most optimistic scenario, the shenanigans pulled off by the Ghost Project would soften up the alien battleships to the point where they became a lot more vulnerable to an attack launched by the Golden Skull Alliance!

This was how much an expert stealth mech equipped with a highly effective stealth system could accomplish.

As such, equipping an expert stealth mech with better tech was a lot different from equipping a normal expert mech with better tech.

As much as Ves adored his previous high-end machines such as the Amaranto and the Everchanger, neither of the two could hide their existence from others!

Both expert mechs were extremely bright and easy to detect. They produced a lot of emissions whenever they did anything meaningful and their expert pilots couldn't hide their true resonance from resonance meters even if they tried!

Perhaps the versatile Everchanger might be able to minimize its presence and emissions by running cold while switching its active design spirit to Kalo, but it was absurd to believe it could sneak close to an enemy fleet carrier without tripping a thousand different alarms!

As Ves thought how much the Ghost Project could expand his range of options in many different situations, he felt a lot more tempted to request a good active stealth system.

"Can you tell me anything specific about the high-end stealth system that you are offering?" Ves asked.

Lord Pearian's projection frowned. "Not exactly. Even I know that transmitting any solid data on any stealth system on a normal communication channel is unwise. What I can tell you is that it will be a stealth system developed by one of the long-term trading partners of our clan."

"Oh?"

"Optaar Integrated Solutions is one of the many development companies hailing from the New Rubarth Empire that is active in the export market." Pearian explained. "While there are no sane Terrans who have any demand for a Rubarthan stealth system, there are enough customers from other first-rate states that may have an interest in the products sold by this company."

Ves had never heard of Optaar Integrated Solutions before, but he discreetly used his cranial implant to search for information on the galactic net.

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