The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1689

Chapter 1689 Silent Inspection

The return of the first group and the imminent departure of the second group of Avatars and Sentinels led to a lot of activity.

Mechs moved in and out of workshops while the returning soldiers received the care and attention they needed.

The Cloud Estate temporarily hosted the stressed and war-stricken veterans who had to get used to normality after months of non-stop fighting.

Ves frequently moved around to meet with various people.

He discussed the disposition of the returning soldiers with Commander Melkor.

He talked to Commander Magdalena about stockpiling more supplies.

He granted a larger budget to the Foundation in order to give Director Clinton the facilities and manpower needed to treat the wounded.

Of course, he also met with each individual Avatar in person. He did this not only to show his appreciation, but also observe how they changed.

In general, he was very satisfied with the quality of Avatar soldiers. Forged in battle, each of them had shed their frivolity and groundless bravado. The only ones who were able to survive the meat grinder of the front lines were those whose willpower were akin to compress alloy.

Each veteran Avatar reminded Ves of the old Swordmaidens. Just like him, the Swordmaidens subjected their prospective sisters to a brutal survival test.

The graduating Swordmaidens were dropped onto an untamed planet. There, they had to survive the alien wilderness, track down a deadly exobeast and slay it in single combat with nothing but a sword!

Suffice to say, not a lot of Swordmaidens emerged out of this harsh ritual.

Yet those who did always turned out to be elites that Commander Lydia could rely upon to form the core of her organization.

When Ves met with every blooded Avatars, he could hardly keep his joy contained! None of them were exactly pleased with the hardships and near-deaths they faced during their deployments. Their feelings towards the man responsible for subjecting them to turtore weren't exactly positive.

Regardless, Ves did not worry about any betrayal or defection. He understood that all of his Avatars had toiled too much to quit at this point. With the help of sunk cost fallacy, Ves employed his Devil Tongue to the fullest in order to remind them of the rewards they had in store.

"Each of you will enjoy an exalted status within my organization. As my elite Avatars, you are entitled to pilot some of the best standard mechs I design. Not only that, I will invest considerable resources in order to retrain you into second-class mech pilots. A bright future awaits. Languishing in a poor third-rate state is not in the cards for you as long as you renew your commitment."

Even if his message wasn't always well-received, Ves did not worry about anyone going rogue. The Avatars were surrounded by his subordinates. They didn't have anyone by their side who could persuade them to quit or worse.

Perhaps the only individual that Ves couldn't solve was William Urbesh.

As soon as the man stepped into his office, William marched forward with an unnaturally stiff gait before facing Ves in complete silence.

Ves awkwardly gestured to the chair, motioning for his latest visitor to sit.

"Hello."

"..."

"Okay. You go by Silent William these days, right?"

"..."

"How was your first real combat deployment? Have you received enough stimulation? My purpose for attaching you to the Avatars is to facilitate your advancement to expert candidate. After all, real combat is the best way to bring out a mech pilot's potential. How much progress have you made?"

Silent William continued to stare at Ves with steely eyes as his mouth remained shut. No matter how many times Ves prompted him, the Urbesh clansman did not utter any word!

Ves realized that it was pointless to get William to say anything. He doubted whether the disconcertingly silent mech pilot was truly mute.

Yet no matter how much of the original William was left, Ves still had a mission to fulfill.

"You know you won't be able to get rid of me until you advance to expert candidate, right?" He spoke. "I'll throw you to the sandmen again and again until you finally make a breakthrough!"

Ves did not have any good options aside from pushing William to the brink. Even if the chance of death was ever-present, he was more than willing to make this gamble!

It helped that Silent William's performance was exemplary for a normal mech pilot. William always possessed an excellent piloting foundation due to the intensive training he went through. The Rim Guardians also threw him in some of their excellent training programs in an attempt to break his psychological aversion to combat.

William never had the opportunity to show off his abundant accumulation due to his previous mental blocks. Only after Ves got rid of them did the foreign mech pilot finally demonstrate why the Urbesh Clan used to be a respected power from the Garlen Empire!

Ves scratched his head. Talking to William was like talking to a wall. The lack of meaningful responses threw him off-kilter.

"You know what, screw this." He muttered and turned around. "Nitaa, go knock William out."

"Yes, sir."

His bodyguard didn't question his strange order and immediately moved into action. She drew a electrifier pistol from one of her holsters and immediately blasted William with a stun ray.

BZZT!

No matter what abomination William had turned into, his flesh was still human. He lost consciousness in an instant.

Ves calmly activated some security measures that locked and isolated his office. Jammers came online, causing Lucky to be disturbed from his nap.

He picked up his pet and tossed him in the air. His cat hastily stabilized his trajectory.

"Meow!"

"Stop lazying around and help me inspect William."

"Meow meow."

After making his displeasure known, Lucky eventually did what he was told and floated down on William's chest. He sniffed all over the mech pilot slumped onto his seat.

"Meow."

"You sure?"

"Meow meow meow!"

"Okay."

William carried no weapons, bugs or anything dangerous. His body only contained a couple of implants that were harmless in this situation.

Once Lucky finished his inspection, Nitaa stepped forward and inspected William's body.