The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7051

Ves did not expect for the Arboreal Project to become a means for the Terran Alliance to increase its bargaining power in front of the Cybernetic Empire.

It made a certain amount of sense, though.

The stronger the Terran Alliance became, the less dependent it became on the Cybernetic Empire's help. _{freeweɓnovel.cøm}

The Polymath invented a lot of great solutions, some of which had been proven to be effective against the native aliens.

It was natural for her to bargain hard for her tech and services, especially considering that her hard work would eventually get leaked and proliferate outside of her control once her innovations got into the hands of others.

This clearly did not sit well with the Terrans who did not want to be reduced to the Cybernetic Empire's vassal state.

The good news was that the Terrans were not as desperate as the Rubarthans. The Voribugs would have to go through the Rubarthan Pact and the Red Ocean Union first before they ever managed to threaten Terran borders.

This gave the Terrans a lot of breathing room, though the fact that they only enjoyed the protection of a single god pilot spurred the native aliens into invading their space.

Compared to the Red Ocean Union frontline which was currently being swept by at least two gods pilots and two dreadnoughts at any time, the Terran Alliance's frontline was a lot more tranquil!

The Terrans were therefore on a time limit. They needed to try their best to convert the bunkers of their carriers, install shield links in all of their first-class multipurpose mechs and develop more effective weapons that they were previously denied from using such as gamma laser armaments.

Even that might not be enough to stop the onslaught of native aliens who desired to wipe out red humanity from their home galaxy at any cost!

It took time for the native aliens to shift their strategies and deployments. The Terrans hoped to use this buffer time to prepare as much as possible.

Hence why the Terrans suddenly latched onto potential miracle works such as the Arboreal Project.

Ves therefore had a fruitful talk with Master Laila Rebecca Devos. The Terrans suddenly became willing to provide a lot more material support that actually mattered.

These freebies came in the form of assigning renowned research institutions to solve the various technical problems, increasing the amount of processing power devoted to this project and any related side projects by at least an order of magnitude, permitting the use of classified and proprietary Terran tech and more!

In light of all of these massive and expensive benefits, Ves did not really pay too much attention to the potential contribution made by the Grand Mender.

Ves believed the only reason the Terrans sought out the aid of this Terran Star Designer was to prevent the complex variant of the Arboreal Project from unnecessarily delaying the completion of this project!

He was glad that the Terrans did not attempt to increase the involvement of the Grand Mender any further, because that would not have ended well for Ves and the Terrans.

He may have sought to collaborate with the Terrans to bring his vision of a Woodsap mech to life, but that did not mean he wanted to surrender much of its ownership to another mech designer, even if it was a Star Designer!

Before Ves concluded his call with Master Laila Rebecca Devos, Ves brought up one more matter.

"Are you guys hoping that my Arboreal Project can effectively fight against the mutated voribugs?"

The physical projection of the Terran Master responded with a mysterious smile.

"Such an idea has come across our minds. The performance of the Rubarthan forces in the initial invasion and the subsequent demonstration by the 27th Assimilators Warfleet of the Cybernetic Empire Armed Forces has been illuminating to us. These incidents have taught us that the voribugs are not enemies that we can simply defeat on the battlefield. Entering into hostilities against this race means entering into a perpetual battle that will not end until one side has completely exterminated the other."

Ves began to smirk. "My own assessment is not much different from yours. Since this is the case, I can see why you Terrans have developed a greater interest in the one variant of an advanced Carmine mech that is more accessible than others and also happens to possess the greatest endurance and longevity. The Arboreal Project has successfully inherited the most valuable traits of the late Emperor Tree. Combined with the new control system that you are cooking up, you should be able to quickly raise a mech corps or two that can potentially stop the voribugs in their tracks… that is, if they ever manage to introduce your borders."

"The mutated voribugs will come sooner or later." Master Laila Devos said with certainty. "They are unlike any of the other enemies that we have fought before. It only takes one enterprising native alien or cosmopolitan to smuggle a single voribug into our borders and deposit it into an empty star system. Before we know it, the entire location has spawned numerous voribug hives that subsequently begin to invade a dozen other adjacent star systems, and from there the insect plague will continue to multiply on an exponential scale. We cannot afford to be caught off-guard and suffer incalculable damage. We have an opportunity to do better than the Rubarthans."

Ves nodded in agreement. He approved of the cautious Terran stance. Their preparations may end up being redundant, but it was better to prepare for a rainy day.

"You guys are really banking on Gaia to help you win your battles."

"We have to, Ves. We are reluctant to admit it, but we do not have that many advantages over the Terran Alliance. Having Gaia at our disposal is one of the factors that distinguish us from the others. If we entangle some of our mech lines with this great existence, then we can not only protect our work against unauthorized theft, but also borrow the power of what can ostensibly be called a god."

This spoke of an unusual degree of willingness for the Terrans to adopt new and unusual tech.

The Terrans had always been rather cautious when it came to adopting new tech and solutions.

They rarely preferred to embrace dubious innovations that had yet to prove their value on the battlefield, but the crises that emerged as of late had forced their hand.

Ves actually noted that the Terrans may have greater plans in mind with regards to Gaia.

The design spirit gone rogue had been rather quiet as of late. Ves rarely heard any news about her and she hadn't gone out of her way to pull off any stunts.

First, TE Wood's ability to reproduce more TE Wood was impossible without additional stores of phasewater and Solus Gas on hand.

Fortunately, a Woodsap mech was fully capable of producing lesser wood variants that were present in its database.

The problem was trying to form wood variants using scavenged materials that were not present in the database.

The Terrans needed to set up an intelligent and adaptable routine that essentially turned every Woodsap mech into a highly specialized biotech expert and materials scientist.

It was not strictly necessary to go through all of this trouble, but neglecting this issue would severely impair the Arboreal Project's ability to win a battle of attrition against the voribugs.

The Cybernetic Empire evidently chose to rely on smart metal to defeat the voribugs at their own game.

The Terrans chose to lean on their biotechnology attainments to do the same.

It was a risky bet, but one that Ves approved. No good would come in attempting to match or defeat the Smart Metal Tower.

As Ves and the Terrans made massive progress in completing the Arboreal Project, Ves finally received a response from the Cybernetic Empire.

Hugo Fournier called Ves in person to provide an update on the negotiations between the Larkinson Clan and the Cybernetic Empire.

"Good day, Professor Larkinson. You and your Larkinsons are driving a hard bargain. After much consideration, we have agreed on a limited technology transfer. You have made a strong request to gain access to three of our smart metal models: the NanoGatherers, the NanoSmiths and the NanoWarriors, is this correct?"

Ves nodded with a grin. "That is right. So what can I expect?"

"Well, it is out of the question for us to give you the designs and technical documentation of our latest iterations of the three smart metal products. They contain advancements that have great implications to other smart metal products. We are willing to give you access to files related to stripped down versions of outdated designs. Depending on your choice, they may be 2 to 4 decades old. Do not underestimate these versions. Her Imperial Majesty is responsible for creating their base versions, and contain numerous improvements that present a multi-generational gap compared to what the Red Two and the others can produce."

That sounded reasonable. Ves already expected the Cybers to hold back their latest advancements.

"So what choice do I have to make?"

"You can choose whether to add our NanoWarrior design to our technology package, but doing so will strip features from the other two smart metal designs. Please consider carefully whether you deem it necessary to obtain a version of our NanoWarriors."