[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 179: Field Repair

Since the hunting platoon left to scour the jungle for the alpha beasts, Ves sought to find more clues. Through regular contact, he learned that several mercenary teams received missions other than hunting the hexapods to harvest their valuable heat organs.

"This bunch of fellows came back with an uprooted tree! It's a small one, though. Like, no taller than you and me. It looks really old and gnarly and it definitely had been gnawed at by the beasts. Besides that, I don't have a clue why the mercs brought it back."

"This team encountered a hexapod and instead of slaughtering it on the spot, they pinned it down and shot lasers at it! I swear, they received orders to pump it full of energy before killing it. The beast thrashed so much the team almost lost some of their mechs. It's going to take an extensive overhaul to bring those mechs back to normal."

Though he heard plenty of gossip, Ves didn't gain anything truly useful. The main factor that limited his exposure to information was that the core of the expedition gathered within the inner area of the base.

All of the mercenaries and most of the outsiders lacked the permission to enter this highly secure area. Instead, House Kaine had relegated them to the periphery of the base. Even Ves received the same treatment, though most of the maintenance department including Chief Ramirez also had to stay outside.

Ramirez shrugged at him when he remarked about it. "The only people who get to know the important stuff are those who need to know. Techies like us are only here to keep the mechs running. It doesn't matter what's going on. Even if the cavern is collapsing, we'll still continue to maintain everyone's mechs."

"You don't think they're hiding something from us?"

"Of course they're hiding the truth from us! Do you think they showed us the full recordings of what went on in the previous expedition? That's just the tip of the iceberg! I'm sure the hexapod heat organs are worth a lot of money, but even the dumbest mech technicians know Lord Kaine is after something else. There's no reason to take a high-profile approach otherwise."

Neither Ramirez or D'Amato answered any of his questions. They deliberately stifled him even if they knew something more.

Perhaps Ramirez had a point, but Ves couldn't leave things be. He constantly had a bad feeling about this entire venture. If he received some kind of advance warning, he'd be able to maximize his chances of getting through a crisis unscathed.

He also kept Master Olson's words in mind. So far, the expedition hadn't suffered any major setbacks. Besides the strange and unusual pirate attack, everything went according to plan.

Ves stared at the solidly guarded entrance to the inner sanctum of the base. Ves considered employing his stealth field to sneak into the inner sanctum, but he reconsidered after thinking about its limited duration. Neither he nor Lucky could accomplish anything in only five minutes.

With no other choice, he opted to wait. In any case, his workload kept growing as the mercenaries returned with dead hexapods and damaged mechs.

The highly competent mech technicians serving under House Kaine were able to fix most of the issues they encountered even without the help of a mech designer. He mainly found himself trying to fix extensively damaged components that took a lot of time and effort to replace. His much greater knowledge on the workings and composition of each part allowed him to bring almost anything back to life.

He managed to accomplish most of the challenges he faced due to his long-dormant Jury Rigging II sub-skill. The skill provided him with a mentality that prompted him to think outside the box. His solutions might not always be proper, but they always held up in the short term.