The Mech Touch

The Stellar Chaser, Serendipity, Frozen Leaf, Scarlet Rose and Terrinac silently cut through the higher dimensions with utmost stability.

As second-class ships, their FTL drives were rated to withstand much greater gravitic instability.

Even the Scarlet Rose's unaddressed battle damage and recent lack of maintenance did not hinder the operation of her FTL drive too much. The prize crew dispatched by the Wodins expertly performed spot repairs and temporarily addressed many of the faults that had started to appear.

During these days, Ves spent a lot of time communicating with his allies, partners and subordinates.

Now that he was with the Hexers, he no longer held any scruples towards accessing the galactic net!

He had been out of touch for a long time. Too much had changed, forcing him to devote all of his time to getting up to speed and arranging some urgent decisions.

In the meantime Bright Republic approached the two sides of the Larkinson Family, which fell outside most people's expectations.

The Larkinsons became even more shocked when the Bright Republic essentially imposed Ves' demands. The state did not even bother to appear impartial this time!

The government's actions chilled many people, especially the Venerable Ghanso and the traditionalists within the family.

They did not expect the state they served for all these centuries to favor their side. However, the conservative faction at least assumed the government would stay out of their internal dispute or at least advocate for a middle ground.

For the Bright Republic to disregard centuries of loyal service by countless Larkinsons in order to favor an upstart was a big blow to their beliefs!

Benjamin Larkinson and Colonel Ark Larkinson all stood helpless as the executive and legislative branches of the government both colluded to push forward Ves Larkinson's will.

The bright senate even passed a law overnight to enforce the terms originally proposed by Ves! From this, every Larkinson gained a very shocking understanding how much power the only mech designer in the family really wielded!

To be able to convince the state to move on his behalf was a terrible ability!

Though the conservative faction regretted some of its actions enormously, most ordinary Larkinsons among the neutrals did not really think they paid a price.

What did it matter if Ves and his followers got to keep the Larkinson name? Soon enough, the division between the old family and the new family would become very clear.

The old family's insistence on monopolizing the family name was nothing more than a matter of honor. They wanted to preserve their heritage and be able to call themselves the most authentic line of Larkinsons descended from the Larkinson Ancestor.

Losing this monopoly did not really impact the material interests of the old family.

As for losing 24 percent of their stake in the Living Mech Corporation, why should the old family complain? They originally railed against Ves and his emphasis on increasing their prosperity. Why should the true Larkinsons be greedy for money they never depended upon?

The Larkinson Family survived and thrived without relying on excessive for over four centuries! The old family would just return to the old status quo after losing most of its shares in the LMC.

In fact, they were still better off than before because Ves at least left them with 1 percent of outstanding shares!

Compared to the 24 percent bestowed to the new family, this was an extremely paltry prize.

Only a handful of shrewd or business-minded Larkinsons comprehended the true value of these remaining shares. Their value was already formidable, but they would continue to grow in value as long as Ves did not meet with calamity!

This last kindness from Ves was enough to placate Benjamin and Ark Larkinson. Under their lead, the neutral faction did not show any objection to the Bright Republic's intervention.

The lack of support from the rest of the family robbed the conservative faction of any chance to resist the changes.

As the state's intervention forcefully ended the turmoil within the Larkinson Family, Ves already took the next steps and busied himself by organizing his kingdom.

The LMC, the Ves Larkinson Foundation for Wounded Veterans, the Larkinson Exobiology Institute, The Avatars of Myth and the Living Sentinels all exhibited some disarray after their hasty relocation from Cloudy Curtain. Each of them lacked direction because Ves neglected to flesh out the next steps in his contingency plan!

Though Ves tired of the tedious discussions and arduous decision-making, he slowly reintegrated into his old place in the center of his expansive network!

Even the Battle Criers finally returned from their months-long excursion to parts unknown! Ves' eyes lit up when he heard from Commander Cinnabar!

He issued a lot of errands to his band of former Kinner mercenaries. Now that they returned, Ves looked forward to harvesting their gains!

"Good job, Commander Cinnabar. Did you lose any men along the way?"

"We went through a few scrapes and lost a couple of men." The bearded Kinner grimly responded. "We avoided battle whenever possible, but the Sand War has destabilized the surrounding regions. Many pirates, criminals and other trouble makers have taken advantage of the lack of patrols to threaten trade convoys and refugee fleets. Some of them were even crazy enough to attack my mercenaries!"

"Oh. Those are good Kinner men we lost. Let's talk about how to replenish your ranks later when I arrive at Kesseling VIII, okay?"

This was a fairly delicate issue as the Battle Criers predominantly consisted of loyal Kinner bondsmen. While Ves was not averse to adding a few non-Kinners to their ranks like Dietrich Krotz, he wanted to maintain absolute trust in his second-most important mech troop.

To maintain his confidence, Ves seriously contemplated buying additional bondsmen from the Kinner Tribe.

With his reputation and prestige, there was no need for him to venture back to the Kinner Tribe to pick up his new human products. He could just leave the matter to Gavin and have him contact one of the Tribe's agents to arrange a shipment or something.

Aside from reconnecting with the Battle Criers, Ves received another surprise when he finally talked with a representative of the Ylvaine Protectorate.

What Leland told him turned out to be true. The Protectorate's attitude towards him was filled with gratitude and worship!

In return for all he had done for the Ylvainans as their blessed Bright Martyr, the Ylvainan government gifted him with 10 percent of the shares in the LMC! The paperwork was already done and the shares all came under his name!

Ves was inordinately pleased that the Ylvainans bestowed these shares to him without any strings attached. They truly treated him with sincerity this time!

Now that he essentially controlled 59 percent of the LMC, Ves finally felt he was truly in control of his own destiny.

The arrangements imposed by the Bright Republic's Ministry of Economy Development had finally been undone!

Now that Ves almost completely cut himself off from his home state, this artificial solution to restrict the power he wielded in his company had become completely meaningless!

As the Bright Martyr who contributed immensely to the Ylvainan people, the three leading dynasties did not dare to push for a similar arrangement!

Ves felt pretty good about this outcome. After all of the recent stock transfers, the new ownership structure of his company had been set.

The Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate owned 7 percent and 9 percent respectively.

This turned them into minority shareholders with virtually no say in the running of the company. Ves did not have to pay attention to their opinions at all!

The second-largest shareholder after Ves was the new family. With a whopping 24 percent stake in the LMC, they became a shareholder who Ves could not easily dismiss!

"Luckily, the new family is completely in my grasp! Those shares are as good as mine!" Ves exulted.

Yes! Ves essentially controlled the branch of the Larkinsons that left the Bright Republic, which meant that he could do anything with the shares, including transferring them back in his own possession!

He did not wish to do so, though. Those shares served as a foundation for the new family's commitment to the LMC and himself. If Ves selfishly took away those shares, what assets did the new family have left? They would have to directly depend on his charity to survive!

"I can't hog all of the benefits for myself." He judged. "Not if I want to continue to borrow from the strength of my relatives."

Though Ves felt tempted to buy back at least half or more of the shares in the possession of the new family, he restrained himself.

While a 24 percent stake sounded way too extravagant in relation to its current and future value, Ves knew he couldn't do everything alone.

He needed to follow the ways of other power players and cultivate his own power base.

Of all of the choices available to him, relying on his own family was the best choice. Many other influences made the same decision because sharing the same blood offered an extra way to tie people together!

The Larkinson Family, the Tovar Family, the Kronon Dynasty, the Gauge Dynasty, the Wodin Dynasty and so on were all examples of powerful groups who managed to maintain high cohesion. This allowed them to withstand the test of time and thrive for centuries where many other groups had fallen!

Of course, that was not to say that relying on family was without flaws. Nepotism and decadence often infected the families that forgot the drive that propelled them to success.

If Ves wanted to keep the new family useful, he needed to govern it with a firm hand! He could not afford the Larkinsons under his lead to grow fat and lazy!

He needed to employ both the carrot and stick to motivate the Larkinsons. Those shares formed a very attractive carrot. As long as he dangled it in front of their faces, they would do anything to earn their reward!

He contemplated various changes to the new family in order to hone their drive and compel them into dedicating their lives to him. All of this was very complicated and would likely provoke an intense reaction from his relatives.

"I should discuss this carefully with the elders of the new family."

In order to restructure the new family, Ves needed the involvement of other respectable Larkinsons such as Clinton Larkinson and Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson.

If he just imposed his new structure onto the Larkinsons without bothering to listen to anyone else, then Ves would quickly lose support!

Just because he appointed himself as the leader of the new family didn't mean he could rule it with impunity!

Ves understood that he still needed to keep his approval levels high and avoid crossing the bottom line of his relatives.

He scowled for a moment. "The larger the organization, the harder it is to retain control. I can't run everything by myself."

This made it all the more important to reimagine the new family and guide them towards a new identity.

The new family was no longer the Larkinson Family of before! It had already diverged from its original direction. Now Ves had to finish the realignment and point the forward for his splinter group!

He smiled. He already formed some promising ideas during his time aboard the Scarlet Rose. All of the time he spent in thought culminated in a blueprint for his interpretation of the Larkinson Family.

In other words, Ves had formed a grand design of the new family!

"Within five to ten years, the new family will chart its own course! Aside from some shared values, its trajectory will no longer intersect with the old family!"

Brothers and sisters must eventually leave the shelter of their own parents and find their own path in life!

If Ves had his way, the new family would turn into an entity that could fully keep up with his development, including his transition towards adopting second-class mechs!