The Mech Touch

On this day, red humanity changed forever!

The Survivalists worked quickly. They contacted the upper circle of leaders from major powers such as the Red Fleed, the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact.

A lot of secret discussions ensued. Nobody knew how contentious they became or how much horse trading took place during these ultra-secret talks, but amazingly the leaders managed to come to a consensus in record time!

The actual truth was that all of the major human groups had been informed about the proposed plans ahead of time. The Survivalists had given the other high-tiered galactic citizens enough consideration time to understand the implications and accept the merits of every proposal.

Each plan put forth by the Survivalist Faction came with its fair share of controversies.

The most dramatic consequences of embracing the Deep Strike Plan were two-fold.

First, it called for an extensive restructuring of the current order!

Second, it demanded a large amount of elite troops to conduct extremely lucrative but also incredibly dangerous deep strike operations!

The danger and uncertainty posed by the latter was enough to induce all kinds of horrible nightmares. Just the thought of traveling thousands of light-years away from any friendly territory could scare even the most hardened and experienced soldiers!

There were many reasons why the upper leaders wanted to object to the plans. They stood to lose far too much power over time if they did not play the reckless game orchestrated by the Fist of Defiance. They could suffer immense losses if a deep strike operation happened to end in disaster.

The leaders generally did not like it when they lost control, and the Deep Strike Plan robbed them of a lot of rights and privileges that they had long taken for granted!

What truly made a difference was that the Star Designers and the god pilots of most powers all threw their support behind the Fist of Defiance's ambitious plan.

Nobody knew why they all fell in line so quickly. What mattered was that since the greatest human heroes and the leaders of the crucial mech community all came together regardless of existing rivalries and hostility, everyone else had little choice but to fall in lockstep!

This was why the Red Two along with the first-rate colonial superstates took all of society by storm by publishing their initial announcements the day after the conclusion of the conference!

The phrasing and framing of the texts were all different, but the underlying messages were all the same!

For the first time since the Great Severing occurred, the major powers of red humanity truly came together as one this time.

A lot of questions and confusion emerged after the masses just learned what the bigshots had in store with all of them. They all wondered how the enormous shifts in policy affected their daily lives.

"Does this mean that we will get conscripted into service? I am not cut out to be a soldier!"

"The New Elites? What does that mean? Are they supposed to replace the nobility that are ruling over us today?"

"Why are the announcements so vague about what is so great about becoming a warfighter. Becoming a so-called linefighter sounds like a much cushier job to me. We'll be able to fight alongside lots of other friendly troops and we can actually fall back to a heavily fortified stronghold if we are being pushed back."

"My time has come! My mother has been in charge of our dynasty for so many years that she should have retired decades ago. If 1 return from a deep strike operation as a warlord, I can obtain the right to challenge her rule and take my rightful place as the new head!"

The contents of the announcements were already shocking enough to the general population despite containing so little details.

The major powers had all agreed to publish information on a phased schedule. This not only gave the people enough room to process all of the shocking changes over a larger timespan, but also bought more time for the leaders to flesh out the initial plans.

Still, the upper circles of most major states and organizations had access to much better channels than the general population.

Tens of thousands of associates attended the conference and witnessed the dramatic turn of events on the seventh day.

Not all of them could keep their mouths shut. It was pretty much an exercise in futility to try to prevent them from sharing the juicy details to their friends and business partners, so the Survivalists did not even bother to enforce any secrecy.

The only directive they imposed on everyone was to keep the news from spreading beyond a certain boundary.

This was nothing new to the upper echelon. They were accustomed to receiving insider information and keeping the news to themselves for the most part.

They possessed enough control over the galactic net and major media publications to prevent any premature disclosures of critical information.

This was why the highly controversial actions of the Polymath and the admirable actions of Professor Ves Larkinson managed to stay off the news.

Their names emphatically did not escape the lips of the insiders who shared the names among their own channels.

Deep within the Skyline Palace hovering above the Government District of Kotor City, President Yenames Clive deeply felt concerned as he tried to process all of the revelations he heard from an important contact.

The Colonial Federation of Davute was not an important player in the galactic scene, but it was still an important regional power.

It was not difficult for the leaders of Davute to get their hands on the full account that took place during the historical conference.

"This changes everything." Madame Reina Kernsk spoke up first. Though she maintained her impeccable composure, deep inside her thoughts were already roiling. "The war against the native aliens takes precedence over our rivalry against the Karlachs."

"It is not wise to take our sights away from Karlach." Saint Yorvick Clive warned as his ace mech was guarding the colonial president within a hidden chamber inside the palace. "If the Polymath had her way, Davute and Karlach would no longer exist as autonomous states. That did not happen."

The colonial president briefly smiled. "1 think I can speak on behalf of all of us that we are grateful that her plan did not get passed in the end. However, that does not change the fact that internal competition still exists. It is only the means of competition that has changed if 1 interpret the details of the new plan correctly. We can still conquer the territories of Karlach, and Karlach can do the same to us. What is important is that warlords can essentially walk over non-warlords without suffering too many consequences. The rights they gain are frankly ridiculous."

The people here were all smart enough to know that this was not a bug, but rather a feature. The intention was to sweep aside all of the old and passive leaders so that more proactive and proven warlords could take their place!

Given that this was essentially an open conspiracy that targeted every established leader including Yenames Clive himself, the passing of the Deep Strike Plan presented a direct threat to his rule!

All of his own plans and strategies had to be thrown out of the window. They had to comprehend the rules and implications as quickly as possible and prepare for a way to defend their own territories from the predation of ambitious new warlords.

"According to the rules, warlords can be divided into several ranks." Saint Yorvick Clive noted. "Any warlord that has gone on multiple deployments can successively raise their ranks, thereby receiving greater privileges and rewards. The rank directly affects the amount of planets, star systems and territories that a warlord can hold."

The implication here was that in order to maintain control over the current territories of Davute, one of their own had to undertake at least several risky deep strike operations and come back alive every time in order to secure their current gains!

The president's face grew increasingly more ugly. "There are too few details on how dangerous these operations can be, but if they are anything close to the battles at the frontlines, then the losses will likely be substantial even if our forces prevail in the end. Every operation will take an enormous toll, but we have little choice but to play by these rules. If we do not contribute to the war effort, then Karlach as well as our other neighbors will move in our stead."

The Davutans were hardly the only people who had to worry about getting taken over by hostile warlords.

The Fist of Defiance showed little regard for the existing power structures. The thought that any stranger could swoop in and claim all of the investment and effort that the Clive Consortium put into building up Davute by force was galling!

"If... if I want to retain my presidency, I will have to take the lead myself." President Yenames Clive spoke in a determined voice. "I must travel with one of the fleets and subject myself to the same risks as the other troops if 1 am to secure my legacy and my birthright as the leader of our state!"

"Sir! That is too reckless of a decision!" Reina Kernsk objected! "You do not have a military background! Your leadership is entirely dispensable on the battlefield. Let Saint Yorvick or our hand-picked generals take over this responsibility instead. Even if they get to become our new warlords, they are far from qualified from governing so many territories. You can still rule over Davute so long as all of our warlords agree to give you a mandate to rule in their name."

This was the most rational course of action. Let the professionals do what they did best.

There was nothing wrong with letting trusted people such as Saint Yorvick bear most of the risks.

Yet... when the current president thought about how his cowardice would see him demoted to a mere administrator, he felt a deep sense of unwillingness.

Ever since the Red Ocean got cut off from the Milky Way, President Yenames Clive thought he had gotten loose from his former masters.

The enormous Clive Consortium and the other founding organizations of Davute no longer loomed over his shoulders like before. They had all been left behind in a galaxy that had become a lot more distant!

The Age of Dawn should have been an age where Yenames Clive not only turned Davute into his personal fief, but also established a dynasty of his own where he and his descendants dominated the Krakatoa Middle Zone in the centuries to come!

The passing of the Deep Strike Plan threatened to ruin all of his ambitions!

If he wanted to salvage as much of his original plans as possible, he needed to accept the new reality and adapt to the new rules as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, he wasn't as young and set in his ways as many of his older counterparts.

He not only accepted the need to actually take part in these crazy operations just so that he could secure the title of warlord, but also form a new coalition of fellow warlords to collectively defend their current state!

One name stood out in their minds.

"Our ties with the Larkinsons have become much more crucial than before." President Yenames Clive remarked. "If any of the absurd stories about Patriarch Ves Larkinson turn out to be true, then his influence has already grown to enormous proportions. We have already assumed that he was destined for greatness, but I do not believe that any of us expected that he would have gained prominence so quickly. We are not even qualified to talk to a newly promoted tier 3 galactic citizen as equals anymore."

How could they possibly negotiate and form new agreements with a clan leader that had already left Davute in the dust?

The most they could do was to engage the local branch of the increasingly more famous Larkinson Clan, but this was unlikely to produce drastic results.

Saint Yorvick Clive already had another idea in mind. "I have already become acquainted with General Ark Larkinson. I will meet with him more often in order to open up the possibility of deeper cooperation."

The colonial president nodded in agreement. "I will leave this responsibility to you. Do not be afraid to make major concessions up to and including territorial rights. It is becoming increasingly more certain that the Larkinsons have become the forerunners of this new age."