The Mech Touch - Chapter 7214

"" The Divine Harpoon said. ""

Eliza Mo Ragadan nodded in agreement. "You may have a point. The Ascended Giants need clarity. We should focus on introducing the core principles first and monitor the reactions of your subordinates over a span of several weeks or months. We can introduce targeted changes and additions in response to any problems or shortcomings that might occur."

The Dark Apostle thought for a moment.

The three guiding principles that he came up with already served as a strong basis.

The fourth guiding principle introduced a strong ambition and locked the Ascended Giants into a permanent alliance with red humanity.

That provided enough clarity and direction for the Ascended Giants. They had been spending way too many days without clear leadership and direction at the top. That had to change now that the Dark Apostle sought to convert them into a strong and reliable fighting force.

"" The new polemarchos said. ""

He was eager to tackle the subject of military deployments because it was the most concrete way for him to exercise his newfound power.

Being in charge of the Phase Lord Department meant that he had the final word on missions and deployments.

"You have expressed a desire to frame the relationship between the Ascended Giants and red humanity in a more transactional light." The chief of staff said. "There are several approaches that you can choose from. One example would be to erect a mission board. You can permit the strategos or available squad leaders to browse the missions and accept the ones that have won them over. The missions will be based on commissions submitted by groups that have been vetted by the Red Collective."

That sounded rather interesting. It sounded similar to the Missions offered by the Mission Hall of the Mech Designer System.

"The greatest advantage of this approach is that it works on market dynamics." Formation Master Andrea Vos sounded interested. "The demand for strong protection will always exceed supply as enemy phase lords continue to exert great pressure on the frontlines. The states and organizations under threat will be forced to offer substantial rewards in order to borrow the strength of the Ascended Giants. You are able to offer a unique service. It is very difficult to freely hire warriors at this caliber, especially in greater numbers."

The Grapple King frowned. ""

A more centralized and top-down approach had its own advantages. It would keep the giants in line and prevent them from becoming too independent.

"" The Dark Apostle voiced his own thoughts. ""

"" The Grapple King fell into thought. ""

"We can mitigate this development by mandating that the giants return to our headquarters after the conclusion of every mission." Eliza suggested. "You can also implement other measures such as mandating that every phasewater organ implantation or substantial wargear acquisitions take place here or in another major stronghold under our control. We need to establish a strong mental association between the Phase Lord Department and essential support. If they dare to cut ties with us, they will lose all of the generous and effective support that is completely tailored to their race."

Any traitors and deserters would definitely turn into fugitives. The Dark Apostle had no intention of letting them go free.

Before they turned into giants, each recruit signed important contracts and locked them into military service for a very long time.

This was the price they needed to pay in order to undergo the extremely expensive transformations into human phase lords!

This was one of the reasons why Ves and the Dark Apostle insisted on establishing fair remuneration into the second guiding principle of the Phase Lord Department.

They wanted to strengthen the importance of contracts in giant culture.

Ves especially hated it when people reneged on their agreements or openly violated their contracts.

As far as he was concerned, this was a form of treachery that often ruined his plans and presented unexpected difficulties in his life.

While the Dark Apostle initially possessed the same attitude towards written and verbal agreements as any Ascended Giant, he was still derived from Ves. He understood the logic of strengthening the meaning of contracts within the Phase Lord Department.

The proposed mission board could make this happen. The more the giants accepted commissions and dealt with the complexities of contracts, they would eventually become used to working with them. Their attitudes towards agreements would eventually resemble the attitudes of the humans that paid them for their services.

Everyone eventually came to a consensus on this subject. They would establish a mission board and appoint the right people to staff it. They would coordinate with the RC to help them solicit commissions among interested parties and filter out the unsuitable ones.

Of course, the mission board would initially become available to the Ascended Giants on a trial basis.

The Dark Apostle and the others still wanted to see whether it would work out as well as they hoped.

If it somehow turned into a disaster, then they could quickly withdraw the mission board and go back to letting the officers in charge assign the missions.

"" The Dark Apostle said. ""

The Divine Harpoon nodded. ""

Nobody really had a problem with that. The HQ needed to be defended, and it was important for the giants to contribute to the defense of Yernstall given its importance to the Red Three.

"

In other words, he wanted to run the Phase Lord Department as if it was a for-profit mercenary organization.

The Red Collective was willing to pay for all of the Phase Lord Department’s bills, but that was not sustainable in Ves and the Dark Apostle’s opinion.

In order to improve the relationship between giants and humans, both needed to benefit from each other.

The Ascended Giants clearly had little to no interest in logistics, R&D, intelligence gathering and all of that other boring stuff. By outsourcing these duties to red humans, the giants would hopefully see their helpers as partners as opposed to their mortal slaves.

Red humanity on the other hand needed to appreciate the value of the protection offered by the Ascended Giants.

While ace mechs were undoubtedly stronger and more desirable, ace pilots were in constant short supply.

It should be much easier for the Ascended Giants to sortie in larger numbers. They could make a massive difference in large strategically important battles due to all of the force multipliers they relied upon.

The Dark Apostle wanted to have this power at his disposal as well.

"" The Dark Apostle said. ""

"You wish to turn 30 Ascended Giants or half an elite phalanx into your private army." Secret Keeper Zariel-775 spoke as if he knew exactly what the Dark Apostle had in mind.

"" The new polemarchos smirked. ""

Taking away 30 Ascended Giants for his own purposes might not be proper, but it was well within his right to do so as the effective controller of the Phase Lord Department.

Besides, it was not as if Ves and the Dark Apostle intended to squander the combat power of 30 Ascended Giants. They would definitely confront a lot of enemies on the frontlines in the near future!

"Will you extend the second guiding principle to this demand and offer fair remuneration for their services?" Eliza Mo Ragadan asked. "Do keep in mind that retaining the services of just a single Ascended Giant is already expensive. When you multiply this figure by 30, you will reach a horrifying sum."

Ves may be rich, but he was no longer in a position where he could squander his wealth at will.

""