Chapter 2697: Reprieve (1/2)

”Why do you look so upset, Ves?”

”We're about to hire mercenaries.”

There was no way that Ves could remain calm when he learned of this plan. While he understood the necessity of temporarily bolstering their protection, he still had a very bad impression of mercenaries in general.

This was actually a bit unfair towards the mercenary community. There were plenty of reliable mercenary corps in human space. Many of them possessed clean and stellar records.

Yet there was a reason why few people liked to hire mercenaries in general.

The cheaper and weaker ones were unreliable. They were more than willing to stand their ground when faced with a weaker opponent, but were prone to running and saving their own hides as long as they encountered a stronger foe!

The stronger ones charged a different price for their services. Their reputation was much more important to them so they always abided by their contracts.

As long as a battle fell within the scope of the terms set in the contract, the mercenaries could be trusted to fight on behalf of a client.

However, it was impossible for professional mercenaries to leave themselves open to exploitation.

What if the client was attacked by an enemy that was ten times stronger than anticipated?

It would be unfair for the contracted mercenaries to fight to the death just because the client misjudged the strength of its enemy!

To prevent these incidents from ruining otherwise reliable mercenary organizations, they always specified a maximum limit on the strength of the enemies they were supposed to fight.

This was actually the biggest variable which determined how much it cost to employ any professional mercenary corps.

If Ves happened to be short of money, he could lower this strength limit. While this was enough to protect his forces from ordinary rabble, the mercs had the right to step aside without a fight if a serious enemy emerged.

In this situation, he only had himself to blame for skimping on the contract.

The only way to hire mercenaries that were willing to fight against strong opponents was to pay a lot of money.

”I don't see the problem in this arrangement.” Gloriana frowned. ”The Wodin Dynasty has prior experience with hiring mercenaries. They're quite well-behaved as long as they get their money. How much revenue is the LMC pulling in these days? It's definitely over a trillion hex credits. I don't see why you should feel conflicted about paying somewhere between 5 to 15 billion hex credits to enjoy the protection of a powerful mercenary corps.”

She was right, but Ves still felt pained at the thought of forking over so much money.

”These mercenaries will be making a killing by doing nothing but sitting around most of the time. Their business model is more about deterrence than actual fighting. As long as they show up and brandish their mechs, they'll scare away any opportunistic robbers. While that is doubtlessly useful, we are literally paying them the equivalent of several combat carriers a month!”

Gloriana picked up Clixie and began to scratch her furry cat's chin. ”You're looking at it the wrong way. The cost of hiring powerful mercenaries is expensive, but losing our entire fleet and getting everyone killed is an even greater cost! In this situation, it's best to choose the lesser of two evils. If we get defeated by an enemy because you were too reluctant to pay a bigger share of our vast earnings, you'll feel as much regret as you did earlier when you realized what a mistake it was to procure cheaper mechs for your mech forces.”

His face grew ugly. She had a point. The Larkinson Clan could have retained more mech pilots if they piloted premium mechs rather than budget mechs. It didn't matter too much if the more powerful machines were also more difficult to pilot. Their improved defenses alone would be enough to save a lot of precious lives.

”Hmm.. maybe you're right.” Ves reluctantly conceded. ”We'll have to set back a couple of plans if we spend this much, but this is a trivial cost compared to losing everything.”

No wonder mercenaries could still stay in business even when they charged such exorbitant prices. There was always a need for protection in this dangerous galaxy. Some needed more protection than others, and the expeditionary fleet just happened to fall into this category.

As Ves sat down at a couch next to his wife, he leaned into her in order to plant a modest kiss on her cheek. He also took in her fresh floral scent.

”Hihihi!” Gloriana turned her attention away from Clixie and kissed his cheek in return. ”I'm so glad we survived in the end. I don't even mind it if we lost as long as we managed to make it out intact. We can always rebuild what we lost, you know. We're the most promising pair of Journeymen in this star cluster. That makes us desirable no matter where we travel.”

That may be true, but how easy was it to get over the loss of so much family?

The Larkinson Clan had become more than just a vehicle for his ambitions as far as Ves was concerned.

Perhaps he might not care for the deaths of thousands of regular Larkinsons, but he would still feel pained if Melkor, Ketis, Raella and Joshua died in battle.

He shook his head and changed the topic.

”How are the Glory Seekers? They lost a lot of mech pilots without even reaching the Red Ocean. That must be a considerable setback.”

Gloriana tapped his cheek with her finger. ”They're not as depressed as you think they are. None of them are really angry, Ves. They fought against the Friday Coalition and managed to eliminate a considerably powerful force of deep strike fleet carriers, elite mech units and expert mechs. The casualties they suffered are quite reasonable in relation to our opposition. Not only did they manage to fight against a true enemy of the Hegemony, they also did so under the blessing of the Superior Mother. To witness her making a move in battle is the most glorious moment of their lives!”