The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1663

Chapter 1663 Relocation

A few days went by as the situation in space became more tense.

The citizens of the Bright Republic did not hear the announcement they expected. Everyone expected to hear that the defense fleet defeated the invading sandman fleet a few days after they sortied.

Instead, no news came at all. The government and all of the media outlets kept mum, leaving every local in the dark.

No news wasn't necessarily good news. Many Brighters began to grow worried that something might have gotten wrong.

If the government hadn't stated that the defense force was fully intact, the locals would have panicked and thought the end was near!

As it was, the locals became a little split. Their daily lives continued without any interruption, prompting most people to push the matter in the back of their minds.

Naturally, many others still remained concerned, so much so that they preemptively tried to evacuate to Bentheim. Because the government commandeered too many ships, it was too difficult to secure traditional transit.

The most they could do was to pay for passage aboard one of the many transport vessels shipping materials from Bentheim to Cloudy Curtain and back. Though the ride was uncomfortable, it was better than nothing!

None of this impacted Ves too much. He only made a brief company-wide announcement to cool the nerves of his employees. Whether they believed him or not was not his concern.

Just as Ves expected, because nothing apparently happened, the acuteness of the emergency eventually faded.

However, he still monitored the situation in space through various channels. While Commander Magdalena was not allowed to contact him directly, he had access to some reports.

The central government was alarmed. The abnormal behavior of the sandman admirals that intruded Cloudy Curtain had become such a fearsome occurrence that the Mech Corps directly dispatched an entire mech regiment to suppress the fleet!

Over two-thousand spaceborn mechs and accompanying ships of the 4th Light Hounds of the 3rd Bentheim Division reached the Cloudy Curtain System in secret!

The mech companies of the Light Hounds immediately fanned out to scour the asteroid belt for the sandman elements that had shaken off detection by hiding in the middle of the asteroid belt!

If the deviant sandmen admirals put their full effort into hiding their presence, then the Light Hounds might be stuck here for a couple weeks.

Fortunately, the higher ups acted decisively and dispatched the Light Hounds with haste, so the sandmen couldn't have split up very far. Though it was easy for the aliens to camouflage their presence in the asteroid belt, they couldn't move too fast without breaking their cover.

If the roving patrols neared the hiding positions of the sandmen, then the latter wouldn't be able to move at all without tripping some alarms!

In order to hasten the search, every mech that participated in the search effort received an emergency software update that optimized the scanners to detect the presence of sandmen.

Though the Mech Corps previously paid little attention to Cloudy Curtain, now that it became a focal point in the war, the resources they brought to bear was very considerable!

"Is it true that the sandmen are targeting you in order to sabotage the glows of your mechs?" Gavin asked in a worried tone.

"Relax. I won't go down so easily. Even if the sandmen find some way to threaten this planet, we can instantly board the Barracuda to escape their clutches."

This was the privilege of owning a starship!

"I don't believe that this is a coincidence! The sandmen are definitely after your life!"

Ves grew exasperated at Gavin's worries.

Because of his gatekeeper role, Gavin had access to some of the intelligence that Ves received. Reading all of the material made the assistant very scared of his own life.

Death by sandmen had become the biggest fright of every citizen exposed to the Sand War!

"Just flee to Bentheim on a transport ship if you can't keep your composure."

His assistant looked sheepish. "Sorry, boss. I lost control. It's just that there is such a big threat looming over our heads. What if a second sandman fleet joins the first?"

"We'll evacuate once Cloudy Curtain can't be defended anymore. No sooner. Besides, do you really think that Bentheim is any safer? There are at least three or four sandman fleets invading the port system every day!"

The sandmen managed to expand the breach from Sydney Superior and threaten much of the interior of the Bright Republic. The Mech Corps and the Starfighter Corps were spreading their forces to their limit in order to prop up all of the vulnerable star systems.

Bentheim's attraction to the sandmen served as a mixed blessing under these circumstances.

On one hand, Bentheim attracted an unreasonable amount of sandman fleets. The quantity of invaders had reached such a severe point that a considerable amount of traffic that flowed through Bentheim had dropped!

No one wanted to bump into the sandmen as soon as they transitioned into the port system!

Of course, this led to a severe disruption in the supply chains that Bentheim subsided upon to keep its vast economy running. Trade dropped by a third and industrial production dropped by a lesser degree.

The entire state mobilized into action. The military did its best to suppress the invading sandmen and to maintain secure shipping routes. The other branches of the government provided more support to essential companies and did their best to keep trade flowing as much as possible.

Unfortunately, all of these actions and disruptions increased the monthly inflation rate even more. Ves literally saw the LMC's cash pile diminishing in value with each passing day!

Gavin understood the deteriorating economic circumstances better than Ves. "It's really bad right now. As of yesterday, it is no longer profitable for us to maintain production at the Mech Nursery. The shipping rates have skyrocketed, making even short runs between Bentheim and Cloudy Curtain prohibitively expensive."