The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7109

Chapter 7109: Cadet Athena Jameson

Of course, not all of the guests who arrived at the Microplanet consisted of adults.

The guests brought plenty of children as well, most ideally kids within the same age range as Aurelia.

Everyone had a certain degree of expectations towards the oldest child of the Father of Carmine Mechs.

Even if she did not show any inclination of following the footsteps of her parents, the advantages of her upbringing alone ensured that she would never end up as a forgettable figure in high society.

No matter whether she stood to ’inherit’ the Larkinson Clan or took over leadership of another prominent organization, it was never too early to befriend her and build up good relations with her. Who knew whether this small investment would pay off big time in the future?

One of the more notable children that arrived was a girl who wore the uniform of a cadet of one of the Red Fleet’s many officer academies.

The young dark-haired fleeter officer maintained a straight posture that spoke of military training starting from a young age. She gazed at Aurelia with an undisguised mixture of interest, challenge and respect.

It was as if she regarded Aurelia as an equal peer.

Ves meanwhile greeted the adult who accompanied the young RF cadet.

"Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jameson. It is good to see you again. How is the RF doing these days?"

"Likewise." The officer of the Fifth Enforcement Fleet responded with a curt nod. "The Red Fleet is undergoing a period of turbulence, as you may have surmised. We do not like to air our dirty laundry to the public, but so I shall not speak any more of it. You can trust us to solve our internal disputes without affecting our obligations to human society."

Yeah right. The Red Fleet was such a mess at the moment due to losing its absolute hegemony over all of human civilization. The loss of the Dominion of Man alone was equivalent to a stab in the kidneys!

"Our current problems do not affect our determination to strengthen our fleets and take the fight to our alien adversaries." Astrid Jameson continued. "We would like to enter into a more substantive discussion with you and the new matriarch of your clan. The time for contemplation and delays is over. Now is the time for action."

The fleeters were afraid that if they procrastinated any longer, other rivals such as the Cybernetic Empire might completely overtake them like they had done to the Five Scrolls Compact during the previous age.

History had a way of repeating, and the fleeters absolutely did not want to turn into losers who lost almost all of their power and had no choice but to hide in the dark and inaccessible places of the galaxy.

"I have been approached by multiple parties today." Ves informed Astrid. "I expect to close many deals today, so take that into account. If I am not able to free up enough time in my schedule, one of our other Larkinsons may meet you in my stead."

"That is not acceptable. The proposal that I am tasked with presenting to you is related to the future of our dreadnoughts. We also intend to reveal our latest measures against the mutated voribug threat. Mechs are actually not suited to fight against the overwhelming swarms of this alien race. The enemy has fully embraced a doctrine that focuses almost solely on overcoming obstacles by throwing excess quantities of cannon fodder to the enemy. Mechs are unable to cope with so many opponents, and even high-ranking mechs eventually suffer from exhaustion if they are active long enough."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "And you believe warships can do better?"

"Yes." The lieutenant-commander stated with confidence. "Warships are faster when traversing longer distances. They have much greater endurance in combat than small and capacity-limited mechs. With the right configurations and appropriate training, warships can fight day and night at low intensity. Personnel can rotate in shifts to make sure that the vessel is always adequately crewed at all times, unlike a mech that becomes dormant unless the mech force is able to bring along spare mech pilots. A warfleet can repel a swarm trying to devour a planet on a permanent basis, especially if there is an adequate supply depot present in the star system."

Her arguments made sense.

She was not wrong to claim that it was much easier for warships to remain active on the battlefield for much longer periods of time.

Wear and tear also had much to do with it. Mechs were generally more fragile and more prone to suffering breakdowns and such if they were being rotated in and out of the battlefield too often without undergoing a deep maintenance cycle.

Warships were much bigger and more robust in every way. They had a lot more capacity to spare on redundancies and more effective and long-lasting components. They were inherently designed with a huge amount of redundancy and compartmentalization in mind. No matter whether they incurred damage or not, any purpose-built warship was a metal beast!

"Interesting." Ves said. "I look forward to learning what you fleeters have in store for the mutated voribugs. Anyway, who is the kid?"

Astrid smiled and placed her palms onto the younger girl’s shoulders. "This is Athena Jameson, an RF cadet and one of my nieces within the Jameson Spaceborn Clan. She may be young, but she has already shown an exceptional aptitude towards the manipulation of E energy radiation. Our spaceborn clan is already in the process of expediting the issuance of a companion spirit fruit so that she can double her effectiveness in this aspect, but we have a considerable interest in contracting your bespoke service."

"I don’t really offer that service all that much anymore." Ves said. "It is a bit of a hassle to create a custom companion spirit for a younger and less mature individual. You can attain much of the same results if you just make use of a standard companion spirit fruit. You may not be able to program the result in advance, but the organic growth and adaptation process will ensure that the fit between Athena and her companion spirit will remain high at all times."

"We are aware of the pros and cons of either approach, but we would still like to make use of your services, Larkinson. Please do not reject our request before we have revealed our compensation if you choose to accept our commission."

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