The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1948

Chapter 1948 In Decline

Lucky lazily dozed off on Ves' lap. The cat had already inspected the entire interior and was disappointed when he found nothing of interest. Calabast was too careful to leave any traces behind.

As Ves stroked his cat's metallic back, he faced Calabast with a guarded expression.

His girlfriend had already made it clear that Calabast had been very busy in the last month.

"What's up with the Black Cats?"

She smiled as she sat on the other side of her desk. "Let's address that later. To understand my Black Cats, we should first address the situation facing the Larkinson Clan."

"I'm about to meet with Raymond and the other Larkinson leaders later."

"Then it's even more important to talk about your clan with me, because they are going to spring a very unpleasant surprise on you. A lot of Larkinsons are having second thoughts about your leadership, Ves. The Battle of Kesseling VIII may have granted them a victory, but they never asked for this fight to begin with. It's inevitable that you'll be suffering the repercussions of your past decisions and actions."

"I never asked to be targeted by the Friday Coalition!" Ves protested. "Why are they even attacking me to begin with? I'm just one of the countless mech designers in this star sector!"

"That's a lie and you know it." Calabast verbally stomped. "You were never an average mech designer, and your latest exploits only increased your threat level. What you did to the sandmen could easily be done to the Fridaymen as well. When any analyst from the Coalition studies your work and the impact you've made to the Sand War, it's not that difficult to extrapolate your past exploits to the Komodo War."

"You're telling me that I'm a threat to the Friday Coalition. I don't even care about the Komodo War!"

"They don't know that, Ves! To them, your girlfriend is a Hexer and you are becoming increasingly more valued by the Wodin Dynasty. To them, it seems that there is a very realistic possibility that you will lend your strength to their war effort. Even if your work is not as strong as the Fridaymen fear, they can't rule out the possibility that you can achieve more."

"They're afraid."

"That's right. They're not only afraid, but they're also strong. That is a deadly combination. It means that the Friday Coalition isn't willing to wait and see what you'll do. They want to nip this potential problem in the bud, so they aren't showing any scruples in trying to neutralize you as a threat! Whether it's killing you, kidnapping you or blackmailing you, one way or another the Friday Coalition doesn't want you to do anything that will strengthen the Hegemony!"

Anger welled within Ves. His repressed animosity towards the Coalition flared up yet again!

"Is that why they kidnapped the members of the Larkinson Family in the Bright Republic?"

She nodded. "It's a dirty move, and one that has led to a lot of indignation in the Bright Republic, but the Fridaymen doesn't care. The Bright Republic is their client state in their perspective and leveraging the Larkinson Family to influence you is fair game."

"Those bastards!"

"Look. It's too late to mend fences with the Friday Coalition. The moment it designated you as a threat to their interests, they won't sit still and let you act with impunity, especially when you are within reach."

His decision to remain in the Ylvaine Protectorate proved to be a mistake. Ves didn't expect the Friday Coalition to be so shameless and force the religious state to defect to the other side!

A storm raged across his face. "The Fridaymen have made a very big mistake. Touching me is one thing. Touching my relatives is another thing! I didn't want to pick a fight with them, but now that they've killed my clansmen and kidnapped some of my distant relatives, I'm not going to let their actions go unanswered!"

Calabast observed Ves carefully before smirking in satisfaction. This was exactly the response she wanted to see!

"I can help you with taking revenge, Ves. Before we discuss that, let's get back to the clan. There's no simple way to put it. A number of Larkinson clansmen have already decided to leave the clan. They want to join the growing group of exiles from the old family who have managed to escape the Bright Republic's persecution."

Ves paused for a moment. He couldn't say this news came as a surprise to him. He still reacted with surprise, though.

"How many?"

"We've been doing our best to stem the bleeding, but.. The number of trueblood clansmen who want to leave will probably amount to two-hundred Larkinsons."

"That's around a fourth of our clan." Ves flatly said.

"After accounting for the casualties, the proportion is slightly bigger. What is more painful is that many of those Larkinsons consist of valuable mech pilots, administrators, mech instructors and other highly-skilled personnel. They serve as valuable pillars in your various organizations. Their absence will be deeply felt."

Ves gritted his teeth. "Many of them have signed the Larkinson Mandate. They made an oath. Now they want to leave just when we suffer our first setback?"

"It's the remnants of the Larkinson Family that is partially luring them away. The old family that is fleeing the Bright Republic has reached out to the clan and offered them a place in their company. The exiles are being led by Venerable Ark Larkinson. You should know how much pull he has over the rest of your relatives."

Ah. That explained much. Given a choice between following a young and trouble-prone mech designer like Ves and a pillar of the family like Ark, a lot of Larkinsons probably yearned for the more stable choice.

"I don't want them anyway." Ves shook his head. "If their loyalty is so hard to gain, then they're not a good fit for our clan. What about the clansmen who remain? How committed are they?" _{freēwēbnovel.com}

What worried him the most after this setback was that his clan would continue to diminish in numbers. The Battle of Kesseling VIII was not going to be the last scuffle where his clansmen sacrificed their lives. Continuous battles and other dangerous incidents would keep chipping away at his clan, especially if they happened frequently!

He needed to reverse this trend, because if he kept going at this pace, his clan might collapse before a single generation had passed!

Calabast seemed to read him like a book. "I know what you are concerned about. I've been thinking about this issue as well. With the life you lead and the ambitions you hold, conflict can never be ruled out. It takes an immense effort to earn passage to the Red Ocean, and it takes even more effort to thrive in that ruthless environment."

"Am I being unfair to my clan?"

"I don't think so." She replied. "Many clans and families have taken the risks. The founders of the Bright Republic, the various partners of the Friday Coalition and the Hexadric Hegemony all used to be similar to the Larkinson Clan. They weren't satisfied with the status quo and decided to brave many dangers in order to chase after fortune. What's important for you to realize is that you have more supporters than just your relatives. That's something I wanted to address today."

"What do you mean?" Ves looked at Calabast with suspicion.

He had a feeling that she had something very important to say.

"Your Larkinson Clan is about to diminish in numbers. It seems to me that your clan could use some fresh blood. Now, you just happen to have a lot of followers who are just as loyal if not more than your own clansmen. They don't have to share a blood or family relation with you in order to fight and die on your behalf. I've been talking about this with the Living Prophet. He agrees with me that the way you run your current groups is too disjointed. After a fruitful discussion, we came up with a proposal that will not only solve some of your problems, but also lead to a much clearer direction!"

Ves wasn't stupid. Talking about the decline of the clan and mentioning the loyalty of his non-family subordinates were both related!

"Don't tell me you want to induct my workers into my clan!?"

The grin on Calabast's face was an answer in itself!

"How many?" He hesitantly asked.

"Everyone."

This was a radical proposal! Just under ten-thousand mech pilots, ship crew, support personnel, managers and various other employees made up his current fleet!

While Ves had to admit that all of those people made a lot of contributions, if he turned them into Larkinsons, the clan would become a completely different group! The Larkinson Clan he envisioned would be no more once his trueblood relatives became a minority!