The Mech Touch

Given all of the changes that happened while Ves attended the Survivalist conference, the members of the Golden Skull Alliance quickly agreed that it was not suitable for them to linger in the Corellix System any longer.

The fleet had begun to journey back to the Bortele System, leaving behind a lot of valuable and partially processed alien warships and assorted debris.

Fortunately, a mercenary fleet was already on the way to guard all of the remaining spoils. A modest but still fairly sizable squadron of vessels opted to remain behind in order to keep an eye on everything.

Ves meanwhile spent the night while surrounded by the love of his wife and children once again.

As soon as morning arrived, he felt both refreshed and fulfilled in a way that no amount of gains in the conference could equal.

With Aurelia cuddled in his arms and his older pajama-clad kids resting within reach, Ves deeply became reminded why he adored his family so much and why he fought so hard to give them a better life.

While Ves most certainly understood the importance of working on behalf of society as a whole, this goal was too abstract and distant to evoke a lot of emotions in himself.

It was only when he thought about how his works benefited those he loved and those he cared about that his heart truly became stirred.

"Mew..."

Though Aurelia blissfully kept her eyes closed, Mana curiously popped out. The growing white kitten made a cute little yawn before she floated over to Ves1 face and playfully patted him with her intangible paw.

"Mrow---"

Blinky jumped out of Ves1 head and pounced on Mana before he adoringly began to lick her fur. The activity and noises they made slowly roused the others from their peaceful rest as well.

"Papaaaaaa... you still didn't tell me how you met the Destroyer of Worlds." Andraste pouted as she poked her father's back.

Ves coughed. "It's complicated, little pumpkin."

He chatted and cuddled with his children for an indulging amount of time. Though he had a busy schedule ahead of him, he really missed this. Spending so much time with the Survivalist had caused him to think more rationally instead of emotionally, and that was anathema to a passionate mech designer like himself.

Though he did not consider the Survivalists to be a bad crowd, their mission and responsibilities constantly drove them to make difficult tradeoffs that only cold-hearted leaders could make.

There was no way that anyone who possessed an inkling of true empathy would think that the Unity Plan could ever work!

As Ves basked in the giggles of his two daughters, he already began to adjust the tentative plans he drafted in his mind.

He set aside the cold and calculated decisions that he initially wanted to push through and replaced them with more compassionate alternatives.

While there was no way he could satisfy everyone's wishes with the resources he had at hand, his recent rise in status had given him a lot of power and leverage.

As the inventor of amazing and powerful applications such as companion spirits, the transcendence glow and so on, Ves had become a hot commodity nowadays!

He could think of many ways to exploit his new advantages for further gain. He just had to make sure he abided by the rules and restrictions imposed by the Survivalist Faction.

The clan played a key role in his new plans.

He couldn't believe that he considered it to be a burden shortly after getting promoted to a tier 3 galactic citizen.

As Ves thought about how he could fulfill various goals while doing right by his clansmen, he began to construct an ambitious new blueprint that should be able to kill multiple birds with a single stone!

The only issue was that this blueprint was on the radical side. Ves needed to persuade his subordinates that changes were necessary in order to adapt to their new circumstances.

He had no idea how well they would react to his proposal. They hadn't been a fan of his earlier idea to dive straight into alien space and beat up a bunch of alien raiding fleets that never expected to get ambushed in turn!

Hopefully he could make a better case this time.

Gloriana snapped her fingers in front of his wife. "Many people are waiting to talk with you. It is time to wake up and face reality, Ves."

He let out a sigh before planting one final kiss onto Aurelia's adorable head. "You're right. Let's get on to business."

"Mrow mrow." Blinky agreed.

"Meewwww"

"Maaawww..."

Mana and Yaika both begged for this moment to last, but the children needed to get out of bed so that they could attend their intensive morning classes.

Just over an hour later, Ves had dressed himself in his familiar patriarch uniform and entered his main office after a long period of absence.

His personal assistant stood poised by his desk and already prepared a stack of virtual reports for Ves to go through.

"Welcome back, boss." Gavin Neumann greeted in a manner that hardly sounded different than before. "As you already know, a lot has changed during your absence. The last few days have been especially wild as your reputation and renown has shot through the roof. The most immediate issues that you need to take care of are diplomatic in nature. There are a lot of organizations who want a piece of you, and they think they can accomplish their goal by going through our clan or one of our daughter organizations."

"I take it that most of them are bottom feeders who we want nothing to do with." Ves guessed as he moved behind his desk and sat down on his luxurious chair.

The comfort level of his familiar office chair just wasn't the same as those smart cushioned chairs from the Khamatar Reign, but this was his true home.

Now that he thought about it, the previous battle netted him a handsome amount of puelmer corpses as well as live prisoners. He just needed to squeeze a bit of time in his schedule to process their hides into prime leather.

"...Minister Shederin Purnesse will stop by later in order to discuss our strategy and our specific responses to all of these parties." Gavin continued to speak. "For now, we need your input or approval on these issues that have piled up in your absence."

"Alright, Benny. Let's get this over with. Sometimes I wish that Aurelia has already grown up so that she can handle these affairs in my stead."

"It will take at least a decade or two before that is possible."

Ves began to process all of the paperwork as fast as possible. He had little patience for this duty, but understood that it was best that he stayed on top of all of the major decisions and developments in his clan.

He had been caught off-guard several times in the past due to his negligence and lack of attention. He vowed that he would not get taken by surprise like that again.

At least he wasn't wasting as much time as he did in the past. His cyborg leg along with Veronica were still working diligently on his current design projects as usual. They had made a considerable amount of progress while he was off schmoozing with the Survivalists.

Once he went through the most important dossiers, Gavin retreated in order to make way for Minister Shederin Purnesse.

As the aged but distinguished diplomat calmly strode inside and took his seat, the old man looked positively radiant despite all of the headaches that Ves caused as of late.

"Let me begin by stating that we are all proud of what you have managed to accomplish this time. Few if any people of your age could have impressed the mechers and to such an extent. While we do not have access to a full recounting of what transpired during the eventful conference that is still being speculated upon by many people, it is clear that you have played both a central and positive role. That has brought both positive and negative attention to you and our clan."

Ves let out a sigh as he leaned back on his inferior office chair.

"I can imagine. Let's start closer at home. How is the Golden Skull Alliance doing?"

"The responses from our allies are largely positive." Shederin responded with a relaxed smile. "In no way do they think this is a bad development. While it is rather inconvenient that your circumstances has caused the Trailblazer Expedition to get derailed, the advantages of having friendly relations with a rising star in our society far outweigh any other annoyances. It helps a lot that we have recently won the Battle of Ophidia and the Battle of Corellix. The salvage, MTA merits and the combat experience gained from defeating the Wheednar Raiding Fleet and the Yurzen Raiding Fleet requires a lot of time to digest."

That was good news. It should take at least a couple of months before the expeditionary fleet was ready to return to the deep frontier again.

"How are the Glory Seekers?"

Shederin's expression shifted. "The council of matriarchs wishes to speak with you about the relationship between our clan and the Hex Federation. The Glory Seekers will doubtlessly come up during the conversation."

"Do you have any idea what they want to talk about?"

"I have my guesses, sir. I think there is a high likelihood that the matriarchs will attempt to give you the Glory Seekers."

"Pardon?"

"The Hexers want to deepen their relationship with you and your clan no matter the cost. If it takes giving up control of the Glory Seekers, then that is a tradeoff that they are willing to make."

Ves thought about absorbing the Glory Seekers as a new mech legion of the Larkinson Army. He did not like it at all. He already absorbed a bunch of Hexers in the form of the Penitent Sisteres, and that was more than enough for his liking.

The Penitent Sisters and the Glory Sisters also didn't get along. Just because they were both Hexers in origin did not mean that they held the same beliefs or agreed on the same issues!

"That's a nonstarter." Ves said.

"I think the matriarchs are smart enough to know that as well." Shederin steepled his fingers. "This is why they will likely attempt to sweeten the pot with additional concessions that will be difficult for you to resist. These concessions should be sufficiently attractive to persuade you to accept their proposal despite your many misgivings."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "What are they willing to give up this time?"

"I can think of two major possibilities. The first is that they will attempt to give you the Glory Seekers with an ace pilot added in for free. Currently, Saintess Ulrika Vraken has already traveled and fought alongside us for several months. She is doing fairly well all-considered. Not only is she able to get along with the Glory Seekers, she has also gained the respect of our clansmen. While it is doubtful that we can obtain her full loyalty, she should understand the score well enough that she will serve us willingly as long as it benefits the Hex Federation."

A whole ace pilot!

The lack of an ace pilot had long been one of the deficiencies of the Larkinson Clan.

While his accomplishments more than made up for the disadvantages of lacking a powerful mech champion, Ves could never feel fully reassured that his clan would do fine unless it gained a powerful protector that only answered to the Larkinsons.

Ves had to admit that this massive concession sounded incredibly attractive to him, but not as much as before.

With the coming rollout of powerful pilot cultivation solutions such as the transcendence glow and the A7-KE1 General Purpose Pilot Cultivation Elixir, the time and effort needed to produce another ace pilot would drop considerably!

This meant that Ves had no need to accept Saintess Ulrika Vraken in his ranks.

"Interesting, but no. This is not a tempting offer. What else?"

"My second guess is that the matriarchs will attempt to bind us to their state by giving us actual territory within their state. The Wodin Dynasty may agree to become a vassal to our clan, which effectively means we can treat the New Scimitar System as our fief."

"What? Really?!"