Chapter 1670. Signature Look (1/2)
While the Archangel Battle Group intruded into the heart of the sandman empire, Ves busied himself by supervising the optimization of the Adonis Colossus and making his Deliverer design more complete.
He missed Gloriana during these times. While he exhorted her to return to work, she refused to show up before she managed to readjust herself to her new state.
She did not allow herself to show any weakness in front of Ves and the design team!
Ves could only throw up his hands at this response. He didn't care if his girlfriend looked a little bit less impeccable than usual.
”Women.” He muttered. ”At least the sandmen are direct.”
He coped with her absence as best as possible and devoted most of his time on working on the most tedious and time-consuming details. If Gloriana came back, she wouldn't need to make any drastic corrections.
While Ves completed his tweaks to the Executor rifle, Miles Tovar came up to him with a couple of things to say.
��Has Senator Tovar finally given me an answer?”
”The situation is rather complicated.” Miles answered. ”There are certain factions within the Republic that are paying a lot of attention to you. The Ramza Family, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ansel alumni network are just some of the influences that are staring at you in a less-than-generous light.”
Ves did not look impressed. ”Isn't this what Flashlight and you Tovars are supposed to keep in check?”
”You're not wrong if that is the extent of the influences paying attention to you. The problem is that the Mech Corps and many other influences have also started to take notice of your existence! Ever since you shook up the Sand War with your Soldier product line, you've become more than just a young Journeyman.”
”What does that mean?”
”We aren't sure. There are a lot of maneuvers going on behind the scenes. The possibility that the government might compel you to move to Bentheim, Rittersberg or New Foundation for your own protection can't be ruled out at this point.”
”What?!” Ves became indignant. ”What about Gloriana? Aren't they afraid of messing with my girlfriend?!”
”While it's true that the government isn't willing to confront Miss Gloriana, they don't have to. As long as they can grab you and move you to a safer location, Gloriana can only make some feeble protests. She doesn't have any actual power in the Bright Republic, you know. She's only a guest.”
It sounded as if his stubborn decision to remain in Cloudy Curtain was not as settled as he thought. At the very least, he couldn't rely on his existing connections to resist the opposition.
Perhaps in the eyes of Senator Tovar, it might be for the best if Ves moved to Bentheim.
Both Bentheim and Ves became indispensable in the Bright Republic's resistance against the sandmen.
If one of them fell, the other became inconsequential. The Bright Republic wouldn't be able to last if it lost its main economic and industrial center. It wouldn't be able to fare well either if the Desolate Soldiers and its variants lost their glows!
While Ves cared a lot about the Bright Republic, he cared more about his own life and freedom. He did not wish to go down with the ship in the event the sandmen managed to overrun the Bentheim System.
”What can be done to resolve this issue?”
Miles shrugged. ”I'm just a mech designer. Don't think I'm as politically astute as Senator Tovar. I'm just conveying his messages to you on his behalf. For now, my family is still dealing with this situation. I'll inform you if there are any new developments.”
Ves twitched when he heard that.
”Okay.” He sighed and calmed himself. There was no use turning his ire on his subordinate. ”Let's turn back to work. Tell me what you think of the Deliverer.”
It was a lot better to talk about mechs with mech designers. Miles instantly became engrossed by the Deliverer's extreme mech concept.
”To be honest, I was initially skeptical about whether you can pull off such an unbalanced mech design. While it remains to be seen whether the main feature of this mech can even work, I'm already impressed at how well you've managed to make its strength more pronounced.”
The technical mastery demonstrated by Ves and Gloriana was far beyond the capabilities of an Apprentice. Even if Miles was older, his lack of depth made it difficult for him to keep up with all of the ingenious solutions implemented into the design.
To be honest, exposing an Apprentice to so many advanced applications without allowing him time to understand the underlying theory was not a good thing.
Nonetheless, this was a test in itself. As long as the Tovar mech designers developed the mental fortitude to resist contamination, there might still be hope in the future.
”What about the shortcomings? Do you have anything to say about the lack of mobility and defense?��� Ves pressed.
”I.. am admittedly not a fan of these design choices. I fail to see how the Ylvainans will put their trust in a mech that excels in sniping distant targets but are very vulnerable to counter-sniping. At the very least, any decent laser rifleman mech will easily be able to take out the Deliverer by virtue of its weapon type!
Laser weapons always possessed a very substantial range advantage in vacuum environments. Without air and the curvature of a planet limiting the range of laser fire, it was not unrealistic to snipe something across an unimaginable distance!
If not for the imperfect targeting methods and the minute dispersion that exacerbated at longer ranges, laser weapons would have reigned supreme in spaceborn battles!
”It's fine.” Ves replied. ”I added an evasive precaution to my Deliverer design. The prediction ability that is supposed to guide the aim of my mech can also nudge the mech pilot into dodging a potentially fatal shot!”
”Uhh…”
”I know you're skeptical. I don't intend to convince you that this solution is viable. Let's just wait until we finish the first iteration and build our first prototype.”
”Don't you need an Ylvainan marksman mech pilot to bring out the potential of the Deliverer?”
”I've already called ahead and requested a suitable pilot from the Kronons.” Ves grinned.