The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2863

Chapter 2863 - First Trial

Nearly every person who belonged to the airfleet gathered on an open field. Mechs and biomechs vigilantly patrolled the perimeter and plenty of guards on foot were present in order to maintain order.

The faces of many of the gathered Larkinsons and other people were grim. News of the successful sabotage attempt had already spread and plenty of them looked upset!

"I always knew the people of the Biomech Purity Movement possessed rotten brains."

"Nigel Redmont shouldn’t be the only purist in our clan. We need to root out anyone who acts suspiciously."

"Does the Larkinson Clan maintain the death penalty?"

The low conversation slowly died down as a procession of individuals walked up to the podium erected in the front of the field.

Real banners depicting the colors and symbol of the Golden Cat surrounded the podium. The matter taking place today was undeniably related to the clan.

Ves, holding his Larkinson Mandate, strode forward under armor while surrounded by his Honor Guard.

"Meow."

Lucky proudly padded after Ves with his tail raised high.

Venerable Tusa and Venerable Jannzi arrived next. They stood a short distance away from Ves while wearing a formal but martial looking ensemble that consisted of a ceremonial robe dr.a.p.ed over a solid suit of light combat armor.

While their force of wills usually generated a considerable degree of friction against each other, this time they were remarkably docile. The impassive faces of the expert pilots indicated that they were keeping their emotions under tight control.

Afterwards, the ’star’ of the show finally came into view. A squad of stern-looking guards escorted a simple uniformed Larkinson forward. The crowd immediately recognized Dr. Redmont’s face from the images that people had shared to each other.

"The traitor is here!"

"Kill him! Teach him a lesson for destroying our biomechs!"

"I volunteer as executioner!"

Commander Casella Ingvar, who presided over the situation, stepped forward and amplified her voice.

"SILENCE! We will have an order here today! We are Larkinsons. Act like it! Unlike the unrestrained thugs and misguided fools that are rampaging outside. We are gathered here to witness justice, not anarchy. Trust in our institutions. Despite the short time that has passed since you have entered our clan, you must always take care to act in an honorable manner. Our names are worthless if we ignore the rules at our convenience!"

Her words had a lot of effect. The Larkinson Clan was a martial organization that heavily emphasized honor. Even though many people had slightly different ideas of what honorable conduct actually looked like, the most prominent leaders and warriors served as excellent role models.

Right now, aside from leaders such as Ves and Commander Casella, the heroes that many of the new recruits looked up to were Venerable Tusa and Venerable Jannzi!

Though both of them diverged over many matters, their trueblood heritage ensured that they acted as honorably as the Larkinson expert pilots of the past!

Ves was very glad he brought the two of them to the surface. Venerable Joshua was strong and nice, but his lack of military experience meant he was much looser and less formal than his peers.

Perhaps she would have thrived under this situation, but her personality would never be able to inspire much discipline from the troops!

What Ves needed the most were ways to accelerate the integration of all of the former Lifers in the clan. The existence of nutjobs like Dr. Redmont woke him up to the fact that there might be hundreds of other dubious figures out there who were only marginally less crazy!

Perhaps they might not pull off a damaging stunt right away, but given time they could easily abuse their access to important systems!

Several people including Ves feared that Dr. Redmont’s act was not an isolated incident. With all of the unstable personalities that his clan had hastily absorbed, it was not ludicrous to think that there might be dozens of timebombs hiding within the ranks!

Rooting them all out was too exhaustive. The best method to address this problem was boosting the integration process, and what better way to do so than to host a large event?

Pretty much every Larkinson, both old and new, had gathered in this field. Even the clansmen who had to patrol the perimeter with their mechs were still tuning in to the proceedings.

"Doctor Nigel Redmont-Larkinson." Ves turned and spoke to the unrepentant traitor. "You stand accused of high treason against the clan you have sworn an oath to serve. How do you plead?"

"My answer remains the same, Mr. Larkinson. I did our clan a favor by sparing the tainted biomechs from your use. As long as the Larkinson Clan has not fully embraced biotechnology, it does not deserve to field biomechs! These holy machines must stay pure, and the best way to do so is to keep them in the hands of true Lifers who are truly worthy to handle these blessings!"

"You rotten purists!"

"We used to be Lifers, you idiot! We know exactly how to take care of biomechs!

Ves shook his head. "As your fellow clansmen already show, you are wrong, Dr. Redmont. Just because you believe you have saved our clan doesn’t mean it is actually true. In fact, it is the opposite! Any Larkinson blood that is spilled as a result of your sabotage will forever be laid at your feet. You are not a savior except in your own imagination. In reality, you are a traitor, and your name will forever be associated as one in our records!"

This time, Dr. Redmont’s confident demeanor began to crack a bit. It seemed that everyone’s inability to acknowledge his righteousness was starting to bother him. He did not except to receive so little support!

"Mr. Larkinson... let me explain more clearly. The purity of biomechs in our possession are—"

"SHUT UP!" Ves abruptly barked.

He waved his arm in a theatrical manner. This activated a preset command that automatically muffled Dr. Redmont’s voice. The traitor had been muted!

"Perhaps you are under the impression that you still have the opportunity to argue your case. This is false. This is not a conventional trial. This is a court-martial that takes place in an active war zone where we are subjected to martial law. You have already presented your arguments to us behind closed doors. Now, our tribunal is here in order to present its verdict and issue its sentence.

Dr. Redmont widened his eyes. He did not expect that the Larkinson Clan would expedite the trial so quickly. He at least wanted to gain more time to present his case to the audience so that he could inspire them to follow his example!

Ves knew this quite well. There was no way that Dr. Redmont would be declared innocent with all of the overwhelming evidence against him. What was truly worrisome was whether the traitor was able to use his speaking moment as an opportunity to spread even greater discord!

To prevent this disastrous outcome, the trial left little opportunity for the delusional saboteur to address the public.

Besides, Ves couldn’t be bothered to conduct a lengthy trial. He wanted to achieve a short but powerful impact before ordering his clansmen to return to their duties.

A lot of work still needed to be done and Ves wasn’t finished with his raiding spree yet. Even if he lost twenty biomechs, he still retained enough combat power to aim at another ambitious target!