To be honest, Ves had no idea how he should go about designing a ch that restrained expert chs.
He only dared to co up with a ch that restrained expert chs. Countering them was out of the question. It was too unrealistic to design a ch that could actually threaten these powerful killing machines. Just hindering them was already worthwhile enough for the Hex Army.
In fact, a ch that was powerful enough to act against an expert ch would definitely have a much greater effect against weaker machines! This ant that even if this design project failed in fulfilling its primary goal, it could still et its secondary goal.
Ves held the attitude of trying it out. Succeed or fail, he would at least learn so valuable lessons. Since he intended to add so expert chs to the clan as well, he needed to know how they coped with various situations. They were powerful, but not invincible!
"We have introduced four out of six design projects so far." He addressed the crowd of assistants. "Juliet and I will supervise two projects each, so that leaves two more. Gloriana, would you like to introduce them to our design teams?"
She glowered at him. Just because she maintained her composure throughout the session didn't an she was happy with how Ves handled the situation!
Unfortunately, this trend could not be stopped. Ves had gone through with his intentions, signalling that he was not abiding by her stance.
It was unseemly for her to express her dissatisfaction to Ves. She had an image to uphold and she could not air her dirty laundry in public. How could she possibly face the ch designers who looked up to her after showing her ugly side?
Besides, even if she argued with Ves, she knew in her heart that he would not budge on the matter. He was too materialistic for his own good. The mont he realized the Larkinson Clan possessed a third Journeyman was the mont he was determined to expand the Design Departnt!
Given this unpalatable situation, Gloriana had to make a difficult decision. Every viable choice was a bad one. She could choose between the least-bad solution or the most catastrophic solution.
She still possessed enough logic and good sense to choose the lesser of two evils.
She stood up and took a few steps forward. She composed her face and pressed down her anger and resentnt as much as possible.
"I will be in charge of leading two Hexer ch design projects. The first one is centered around the concept of a light communications ch. Through taking advantage of so of the unique properties of my husband's glows, we believe it is possible to design a ch that can transmit and receive data without becoming affected by conventional ECM and jamming."
Several ch designers looked up when they heard this. These individuals were aware of how much such a ch could affect the course of major battles.
One of the most troubleso aspects about planetary campaigns was the sheer amount of jamming and interference set up by both sides!
While it was possible to maintain short to dium-ranged communications depending on the proximity to the enemy, it was difficult to keep in touch with units at the frontlines!
This ant that requests for reinforcents, warning ssages of enemy reinforcents, footage recorded by scouts and other forms of crucial data weren't able to reach their intended destination!
Out of all of the assistants, Moltar Ringer and Mayer Torto possessed the greatest interest in this design project!
Mayer Torto was one of the youngest and most junior ch designers among the assistants, but he had made great strides towards expanding his expertise in communications, command and control systems.
If he was able to participate in a design project that made use of a communication system based around entirely different principles, he might be able to make a considerable harvest!
In contrast to Mayer, Moltar was interested in the opposite. His specialty lay in signal disruption. In his opinion, no foolproof communication system existed. As long as one ch transmitted a signal to another ch, there should be a way to disrupt this exchange!
He wanted to take part in the design of this Hexer communication ch as well. He wanted to understand what made it tick and how to break it. While that sounded rather counter-productive, it was actually very valuable to LMC to learn what could interfere with the transmissions of this unusual Hexer ch.
What they didn't know was that Ves did not think highly of their chances. If the unique communication system of the Hexer ch was based around spirituality, then how could a pair of spiritually-dull Apprentices be able to perceive what was happening?
"This is not the most exciting ch design." Gloriana warned everyone. "As an auxiliary ch, it is not necessary to add additional functions to this ch. It rely needs enough mobility and survivability to last on the battlefield."
While auxiliary chs sounded rather boring, they were still vital to many larger ch units. Trying to command and coordinate several different ch companies over wider areas was quite challenging. Any decent opponent would try its best to set up a lot of interference.
The consequences of neglecting this vital step were very dire!
Perhaps a group of chs might get surrounded by enemies from all sides.
Perhaps so scout chs on the ground were accurately able to transmit coordinates to chs in orbit which were able to launch precise orbit-to-surface attacks.
Whatever the case, stopping the enemy from communicating with other elents was very much worth it, even if it hindered friendly communication attempts!
As Ves played a very vital role in the design of this ch, he had to say sothing as well.
"The core communication principles behind this Hexer auxiliary ch will largely be based around my design philosophy. This is an experint to see whether it is possible to establish a communication system that is not counterable by ordinary technological ans. If this design succeeds, we may start a follow-up design project to design a Larkinson-exclusive scout ch that takes advantage of the sa system."
This was a good attempt to pioneer a new application of his design philosophy. If the concept delivered on its promises, Ves would be able to refine it until it turned into a second-generation implentation. Through all of this maturing, the scout ch exclusive to the Larkinson Clan should be able to perform even better in this regard!
Once he had his say, Gloriana turned to the second ch design project she intended to lead.
Ves had briefly spoken to Gloriana about this before. He gave most of the decision-making power concerning this last project to her. It was his way of soothing her anger. He hoped that by being able to dictate the overall form of the sixth design project, she would no longer be preoccupied with driving Juliet out of the Design Departnt.
"The sixth ch design project that we will be working on is another Hexer ch design." Gloriana announced. "Unfortunately, I don't have much ti to specify what exactly it should be. For now, I have so ideas which I will share in private with the design teams assigned to this project. The Komodo War is continuing to tilt in the favor of the Friday Coalition. While we aren't the only ones who seek to turn this situation around, I believe we can play a vital role in helping the Hex Army regain the initiative."
Everyone carefully composed their expressions as they listened to Gloriana.
To Ves, their actual feelings were poorly hidden. Hardly any of his assistant ch designers harbored any sympathy for the Hexers. In fact, so of them were probably looking forward to seeing the Hegemony collapse!
It was not easy to figure out why this was so. Many of the new hires ca from states aligned with the Hegemony. This included people like Catherine Evenson who still had a lot of relatives in the Sentinel Kingdom.
If the Hexadric Hegemony vanquished the Friday Coalition, the Hexer culture would probably spread throughout the rest of the star sector!
In contrast, if the Fridayn defeated the Hexers, the Sentinel Kingdom would probably continue to be business as usual.
This was because the Coalition didn't possess an abnormal culture!
Sure, every Coalition partner developed so quirks. The Carnegie Group was filled with rchants, the Gauge Dynasty was too full of itself, the Konsu Clan obsessed too much over hierarchy and so on. Yet compared to the galactic standard, they were pretty much within the range of normality.
Ves suddenly realized that this might beco a serious problem. Even though people such as Catherine Evenson pledged to sever all of their forr ties, it was hard to get rid of their sympathy and sense of belonging to their forr states or the people they grew up with. Why should people like her contribute to a ch design that might very well plunge her forr family and friends into a society where people like Gloriana were considered normal?
This was a massive conflict of interest!
The worst part about it was that Ves had no easy way to solve this problem. He understood people's reluctance to contribute to a potential Hexer victory. Yet for the sake of his mother and his wife, Ves had to ensure that his clan assisted the Hexers as much as possible.
He paced around the lab. "Before we go any further, let just say sothing else. Each of you are Larkinsons. Each of you have pledged an oath to put the interests of the clan above the interests of any third-parties. While I don't expect you to disregard your own interests, it is best if you rember your current allegiance."
He pointed at Catherine and so other assistants. "Each of you co from the Sentinel Kingdom, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Will you assist in the design of our Hexer chs knowing that your efforts will help the Hegemony defeat the Coalition?"
The mood in the design lab changed yet again. Both Gloriana and Juliet beca more attentive as they figured out what Ves might be doing.
"We.. will perform our jobs as long as it furthers the interests of the clan." Catherina glibly answered.
As a forr aristocrat, she understood she needed to express a firm stance. The sooner, the better!
The other Sentinel assistants followed suit. Once Felicia Slenn affird her duty as well, Ves began to grin.
"I am glad you know what you are supposed to do, but knowing is not enough. You must stick to your words and act according to our expectations. If you ever feel troubled by what you are doing, you are welco to visit in private. This is the only ti that I will show sympathy to any moral dilemmas or conflicts of interests you might harbor."
His grin grew cruel. "However, if you keep your feelings to yourself, then you must bear the consequences of doing so. If any of us ever find out that you are hindering our design projects, we will treat you according to the rules and regulations of the LMC and the Larkinson Clan. If you haven't read them already, then I suggest you skim over them. If you ever run afoul of them, don't say I didn't warn you. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
No one dared to stick their necks out. They weren't stupid. Even though Ves knew that plenty of forr citizens of the Komodo Star Sector still harbored very mixed feelings about assisting a Hexer ch design project, he did not need their approval. He rely requested their compliance.
This was how reality worked. Employees rarely got to choose how they worked. Situations might arise where they would be working on behalf of those they feared or detested.
So what?
All of his assistants worked for him now! Ves had the final say here, and his interests trumped over theirs!
If these ch designers wanted to choose their own design projects, then they should have started or continued to run their own ch company rather than joining his clan. Once they beca a Larkinson, they lost the right to speak on these matters!
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