The Mech Touch

the ground on your new manufacturing complex. ”

”There ’s still another solution. ”

”You want to contract another mech manufacturer. ” Marcella stated.

”Exactly.
Benjamin Larkinson approves of the idea.
The rest of the board is behind the plan.
As long as you agree, we ’ll have unanimous approval to extend a special licensing contract to Vaun Industrial. ”

”I recall that Ves once visited their impressive factory complex and didn ’t come out impressed.
He won ’t like it if anyone else than EME gets to produce the bronze label Blackbeaks. ”

Jake helplessly spread his palms.
”Well, he ’s not here to object, is he? Instead, he ran off to the Glowing Planet to mine some expensive rocks.
At the very least, our decision here will teach him not to pursue his whims and go harrying off into danger. ”

It all seemed dirty to Marcella.
She knew Ves always prioritized his reputation and hated losing control over the distribution of his products.
Yet she wasn ’t unaccustomed to getting her hands dirty.
As Jake had said, Ves only had himself to blame for being unable to stop a necessary decision to maximize the profits of his company.

”Consider me onboard to your plan.
I own five percent of the LMC ’s shares, after all.
The more the company earns, the better off I ’ll be.
I can guess the Larkinson Estate is also eying the benefits. ”

This conspiracy couldn ’t have gotten off without the express approval of Ves ’ grandfather.
Much of the higher management of the LMC consisted of retainers nurtured by the Larkinsons.
Even if they worked for Ves, they still owed their loyalty to the organization that nurtured them from young.

Even if the LMC didn ’t issue any dividends as of yet, the Larkinson Estate still benefited enormously in other ways if the company earned record profits.

With the war about to come into full swing, the Estate always had a need for more money.
That was the time when the Mech Corps spent money like water, and often had to go into debt.
It wasn ’t unheard of for well-to-do families like the Larkinsons to contribute to the war effort in exchange for better treatment for their relatives serving in the front.

”Even if Ves objects, he shouldn ’t forget his roots. ” Jake decisively said as he began to eat his dessert.
”Besides, Vaun Industrial is an excellent partner to work with.
Their production facilities are top-notch and they haven ’t made any excessive demands.
They ’re willing to pay a bit more fees now that the success of the Blackbeak is set in stone. ”

Both of them discussed the matter as if they had the best intentions at heart.

As for Ves, he remained ignorant of the proactive decisions made behind his back.
Instead, he blissfully spent his days aboard the Gregarious Wrath.
Chief Petrisc granted him a fair amount of liberties, as if he didn ’t have a care in the galaxy if Ves attempted to sabotage the giant tunneler.

It didn ’t make a difference anyway.
With the amount of monitoring going on, Ves would never be able to hide any suspicious activities unless he activated his Privacy Shield.

Not that he wanted to.
The Gregarious Wrath ’s journey to the center of the Glowing Planet had to go well for Ves to complete his mission.
He did all he could to lend his expertise to the many problems facing the enormous tunneling machine.

It turned out that the energy fields constantly destabilized the Wrath.
Countless systems relied on each other to ensure the smooth function of the tunneler.
If one system got knocked out, that didn ’t mean the Wrath would stop.
However, the systems depending on the functions of that knocked out systems might malfunction, which eventually led to a chain reaction of errors that eventually forced the tunneler to a stop.

Thus, Chief Petrisc prioritized plugging each and every gap as soon as they formed.
Ves joined one of the troubleshooting teams and began to go back and forth along the Wrath ’s lengthy hull to fix various issues.

Most problems sounded a little inane.

For example, one time a cooling fluid storage tank suddenly burst because the fluid abruptly expanded.
The entire mess fouled up the compartment and locked up the other storage tanks.

It didn ’t take too much effort to clean up the mess, but the engineers puzzled over what had caused the expansion and how they could prevent the cooling fluid from going haywire again.

Another problem was that certain alloys degraded as if they ’d been rusting in corrosive waters for decades.
This didn ’t matter too much if it came to a table or wall panel, but if the component happened to be part of a primary power channel, then the entire forward half of the Wrath might shut off.

It was the job of the troubleshooting teams to solve these problems before they grew into something big.
While Ves felt like a fish out of water concerning the workings of a massive ship-sized tunneler, his excellent foundation in various fields of science allowed him to suggest workable solutions to the problems at hand.

”Look, why are we holding this portion up with an alloy support structure? It ’s overkill in my eyes.
We all know that certain exotic alloys are reacting badly in the presence of all of these energy fields.
I think we shouldn ’t shy away from replacing these alloy structures with plastic composites. ”

”If this was a mech, I wouldn ’t be satisfied with this slapdash fix.
Everyone can tell this replacement part will break down the next day.
Rather than return each day to perform the same repairs, why not overhaul this entire section.
Let me sketch out my suggestion for a durable structure. ”

Several days went by as the Gregarious Wrath continued to overcome new challenges every day.
With thousands of crew members on board, the tunneler had an abundant amount of talent to draw on to ensure her continued operation.
Even if she encountered another obstacle, someone would eventually come up with a solution to get the tunneler back on course.

After more than two weeks of tunneling, the Wrath finally stumbled upon the edge of the outer core of the Glowing Planet.