The Mech Touch

Time flew by quickly after that. With the results he gained from creating his previous two battle networks, Ves encountered no complications when he formed a third battle network for the Battle Criers.

He did not bother with testing it, afraid that any hidden pirate scouts in the vicinity might observe what he had accomplished. Though the odds of that were frankly low, Ves could not afford to rule out this possibility.

"Keep what I've done for your boys under wraps." Ves said to Commander Cinnabar aboard the Ion Tracker. "If your battle formation works out the way I think it does, then you may be able to make a huge difference in the upcoming battle. What I require from you and your Battle Criers is to be ready when I call upon you. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." The red-bearded leader replied and bumped his fist against his chest. "We are Kinners. We strive to obey you to the fullest extent!"

Ves smiled. "Good man. Out of everyone in the Larkinson Clan, I trust Kinners such as you and Nitaa the most. I hope that your people will never forsake me. As long as you do so, I will always watch out for your Kinners."

Commander Cinnabar was flattered by the appreciation shown by Ves, but he was also skeptical. "We are all part of the same clan now."

"Yes, but the contract that I have signed with you Kinners should still remain valid. You can be both Larkinsons and Kinners without resulting in major contradictions. Am I wrong?"

"I can think of a number of scenarios where our multiple loyalties can come into conflict."

"That is why I want to make sure that you know which one you should value."

"This…" Commander Cinnabar was well aware of the implications of those words. "This may be fine for our current generation of Kinners, but we don't want all of our children to be locked in this bond."

Ah, that was right. Ves recalled that the Kinners cared a lot about providing a better future for their children. It didn't matter if they signed away their own lives. As long as their offspring gained the opportunities that they never achieved, everything was acceptable!

He quickly made up a new policy. "While this isn't a big consideration in the short term, let us make an agreement on how to treat your descendants. Right now, what will happen when your children become adults?"

"They are free Larkinsons and Kinners."

"Will they join the Battle Criers and continue your tradition?"

Commander Cinnabar looked troubled. "Maybe. As a Larkinson, I would want them to join the Avatars or some other division within the Clan. As a Kinner, I don't want our way of life to become extinct among the Larkinsons. Who knows what might happen to the Kinner Tribe one day. If our tribe is annihilated, we may very well be the only group of Kinners left to carry on our traditions."

Personally, Ves thought that continuing a legacy that centered around the deplorable practice of legal slavery was abominable. Still, as long as he was the one who held the whip, he didn't want to lose this valuable asset!

"Each culture is unique, and some of them are worth preserving. I admire your people's dedication to fealty and service. You are some of the most sincere people in the Komodo Star Sector."

"Thank you, sir."

"While it is true that you are Larkinsons, it is a shame for you and your descendants to forget about your origins. How about this? Just raise your children normally. When they become adults and are ready to decide how they want to live their lives, just give them a choice. If they want to become a mech designer and work for the LMC, then they can do so if they qualify for the job. If they want to become a mech pilot for the Avatars, then that is also okay as long as they pass the requirements. However, if they want to follow the footsteps of their parents, then they should be given a chance to do so. Won't that be great?"

The Battle Crier Commander's eyes lit up. This actually sounded like a great idea to him! The children of his people would have plenty of choice on how to live their lives in the future if this was the case.

"This is a good arrangement! Most of our fellow Kinners will agree!"

"Good. We can discuss the details later and put it into another contract. What matters is that we don't have to rely on importing Kinners from your tribe or letting in more outsiders to expand your ranks."

If he ever got out of the Nyxian Gap, Ves planned to leave the Komodo Star Sector as soon as possible. He was really sick of his home star sector and wanted to leave his local troubles behind.

However, that would mean losing valuable access to some of the unique products of this region such as spiritually-active materials from the Nyxian Gap and human products in the form of diehard loyal Kinners.

While Ves had no clue how to synthesize his own B-stones and P-stones, he did know how to produce more loyal bondsmen. Just letting them breed and indoctrinate their own offspring with their unique culture should be sufficient to keep his Battle Criers going for multiple generations.

This was very important to Ves! Their strong sense of loyalty had already made him valuable, but the new capabilities he intended to impart to them would make them even more vital to his many plans.

Best of all, Ves didn't have to do anything to encourage the Battle Criers to perpetuate their Kinner practices! The Kinner Tribe indoctrinated each of them to embrace their habit of selling themselves, and as good parents she should definitely pass on their values to the next generation!

Ves didn't mind if ten percent or even ninety percent of Kinner descendants chose to leave the Battle Criers. As long as at least some people remained behind, he would retain possession of a strong and distinctive unit of ultra-loyal clansmen who Ves could potentially entrust with all of his secrets!

After all, Nitaa had been with him for multiple years, silently guarding his back like a tall guard dog, and she had never once leaked anything to anyone. Ves knew because he personally bugged her combat armor. He knew everything she did, and if she ever aimed her weapon against his back with the safeties off, her rifle would automatically lock out and turn into a brick.

Frankly, Ves thought this precaution was excessive considering Nitaa's exemplary loyal service. Even without this precaution, Ves was still assured she wouldn't betray her trust. The same went for the Battle Criers who were crewing the Scarlet Rose.

As much as Ves wanted to trust the other Larkinsons such as the Avatars of Myth, he felt as if they were slowly growing out of his direct control.

Part of that was good because their growth would definitely benefit the clan as a whole.

Part of it was bad because this growth came at the expense of personal loyalty.

Well, he was fine with that. Though Melkor was the person who deserved the most credit for growing the Avatars of Myth into a formidable troop of elites, Ves felt like a proud parent for enabling their rise.

It was similar to how he viewed his mechs. He was proud of designing and producing them, but there was no way he wanted to retain them all. Once he sold them to his customers, what happened to them was none of his business anymore.

Ves and Commander Cinnabar discussed some other matters.

For example, while the leader of the Battle Criers was highly in favor of sustaining his mech force by allowing their children to take up the mantle of their parents, it would take a lot of years for their numbers to swell.

"The Sentinels, Avatars, Vandals and so on have suffered substantial losses in this campaign. However, their root is still intact, so they can easily grow new leaves by recruiting talented outsiders or clansmen. It's not that easy for us if we solely rely on internal replenishment."

"Are you asking me if you should recruit outsiders to bolster your ranks?" Ves guessed.

"Yes. We have accepted a number of outsiders such as Mr. Dietrich Kotz and a number of other foreign-born mech pilots. All of them have integrated nicely with our people. They are indistinguishable from our Kinner-born Battle Criers in most aspects. It's just…"

"Their loyalty isn't as ironclad, right?"

"Yes. That is my fear, sir." Cinnabar sighed. "We Kinners raise our children in a unique way. That is why you can always be confident in our people. As for others, there is always the chance that they may have different ideas."

This was a fairly serious problem, but not that much considering the unique advantages of the clan.

"The problem is not that big in our case." Ves smiled and patted the commander's shoulder. "Every Larkinson is connected to each other. As long as someone is up to no good, you will surely notice it. No one can hide their thoughts from the clan."

Commander Cinnabar and his men never experienced this effect in person, but they heard about it from other clansmen. It was actually quite effective in rooting out traitors!

Still, the Kinner did not think too highly of this method. Forced loyalty was one of the lowest forms of loyalty.

"While I admit your method is good at rooting out traitors, it's not so simple when there are competing interests at work. What if a situation similar to what tore the original Larkinson Family apart emerges? You have at least two factions going at each other because they both believed that their ideas will benefit the Larkinsons the most!"

Ves briefly frowned. In a sense, Commander Cinnabar was right. No matter how awful Venerable Ghanso behaved, Ves could not dismiss the fact that his fallen cousin always pursued what he thought was best for the Larkinson Family!

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, commander. For now, there is plenty of room for everyone."

While Ves was very interested in talking about the future of his clan, he really had to get back to work. He still had to upgrade the Quint and prepare Tusa's custom mech, among other tasks.

Ves eventually departed from the Ion Tracker and returned to the Scarlet Rose. The crew already brought a new Bright Warrior mech into the mech workshop.

Along with the mech, its future user was already waiting for Ves. Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson stopped staring at the impressive, gold-coated mech and turned around.

"Patriarch Ves. It's about time you've arrived."

"I'm sorry for being late." Ves apologized. "My other experiments took priority. I've taken care of them, so there won't be any more delays."

"Good. I'm really looking forward to the light mech you are about to prepare, though a part of me lacks confidence. Converting a medium mech to a light mech is not an easy task. I have never heard of anyone completing this transformation in just a week!"

Ves grinned. "I'm different. Besides, I'm not working on this project alone. Gloriana has already been pouring over this problem back in civilized space. She has constantly updated me with new design schematics and such. Together, we have prepared quite an extensive modification plan. Just sit back and let us work. In seven days or less, you will finally have a mech that can better keep up with your performance."

"It better be, because I have been waiting for years."

The product that Ves intended to make for Tusa would definitely dazzle the expert candidate. After years of neglecting the light mech pilot, Ves would finally produce something that would appease the impatient man. Hopefully Ves would no longer have to deal with Tusa's nagging after finishing this project!