The Mech Touch

The realization that some of the best mech designers of the local star cl.u.s.ter might become his adversaries put Ves in a turbulent mood.

It was already bad enough that the Masters of the Friday Coalition focused their considerable abilities on countering his design philosophy.

Now that he learned that notable Masters and Seniors from several other star sectors started gunning for his mechs as well, how could Ves still maintain his composure?!

According to Calabast, there were several reasons why foreign Masters wanted to develop a solution against his mechs.

Their impact on the battlefield was considerable. Whereas the products of most other mech designers only strengthened a mech on an individual basis, Ves realized mechs that acted as powerful force multipliers!

In the Hex Army, that meant that not just the Blessed Squire became stronger, but dozens of other mechs around it performed better!

What was worse was that the Fridayman mech pilots that faced the Blessed Squire performed a little worse as well!

This meant that just a modest investment in a couple of Blessed Squires was enough to completely transform the battle performance of several mech companies!

Even compared to other utility-oriented mechs that existed to support other friendly mechs, this level of improvement was too efficient!

What if Ves rode on the coattails of his amazing accomplishments in the Komodo War and introduced his fearsome second-class mechs in other star sectors?

The old and formidable mech designers who advanced all the way to Master possessed formidable intellects and grand visions towards the future.

Once Ves and his remarkable design philosophy fully came to their attention, how could they possibly sit still and remain complacent?!

Even if Ves never intended to expand his reach to their star sectors, those Masters would not assume that their states were safe. If their enemies suddenly deployed a lot of mechs with glows at once, then it was too late to begin with designing counters!

This partially tied into the second reason why foreign Masters wanted to make a move.

Of the two states vying for dominance in the Komodo Star Sector, one of them was fairly 'normal' and the other one consisted of crazy female supremacists.

Who would they rather want as a neighbor? Certainly not the latter!

Calabast put it very succinctly. "From the perspective of Vicious Mountain and Majestic Teal, an outright Hexer victory is the worst-case scenario. Even though the victorious Hexadric Hegemony will need to spend a lot of time to recover from the war and digest all of its new territories, once this period of weakness has passed, the state will become incredibly formidable. With aggressive and ambitious leaders in charge, there is a significant chance the Hegemony will start to intrude into other star sectors!"

Ves could easily imagine this outcome. Defeating the Friday Coalition would vindicate all of the Hexer matriarchs who pushed for war. The Hexers as a whole would likely develop an overinflated sense of confidence in themselves and eagerly push to continue their expansion!

"Compared to the threat of the Hexadric Hegemony, foreign states vastly prefer to see the Friday Coalition win." She continued. "The state is a friendly and open trading partner that doesn't discriminate against anyone. What is even better is that the Coalition is what its name says it is, a conglomeration of different powers with their own separate identities."

"I see what you are getting at." Ves made another realization. "The Friday Coalition only came together in order to resist the overwhelming might of the Hexadric Hegemony. Once their greatest enemy is eliminated, there is no acute threat to bind them together anymore. Only the faint threat from Vicious Mountain and Majestic Teal might insure that the Coalition will exist, but the alliances between partners will certainly become frayed!"

Having interacted with several Fridaymen in the past, Ves knew that they considered themselves citizens of the Gauge Dynasty or Carnegie Group first. The label of Fridayman came second.

Internal tensions between the coalition partners would certainly exacerbate after winning the Komodo War. The division of territories that used to belong to the Hegemony would likely cause every partner to develop a lot of acrimony against each other!

Calabast laid out a pessimistic scenario. "The Friday Coalition's inherent division and disunity is something that foreign states very much like to see! The coalition partners would have no energy to cast their ambitions to other star sectors, as they are fully invested in competing against each other. Perhaps the Coalition might even break up as every partner turns into an independent state! At that point, the newly-declared states such as the Konsu Clan or the Vanguard Group may still have the strength to call themselves a second-rate state, but their ability to project power would sink to the bottom."

This was similar to the chaotic situation of second-rate states in Majestic Teal. There were many second-rate states there, but none of them equaled the mighty Garlen Empire of Vicious Mountain.

Instead of doing something sensible such as uniting together, the top powers of Majestic Teal mostly played games against each other!

"The collapse of the Coalition will make it easier for an ambitious foreign state such as the Garlen Empire to invade the Komodo Star Sector." Ves observed.

"Right. While the Garlen Empire is embroiled in its own problems and doesn't have that much energy to invade other star sectors, it will be different if the Komodo Star Sector becomes too weak. Every warlord and faction in Vicious Mountain will definitely agree to set aside their rivalries in favor of pouncing on a weak but juicy prey!"

"What makes you think the Friday Coalition will follow this trajectory?" Ves asked in doubt. "Surely the leaders of the coalition partners should know that they still need to present a united front against external enemies. The Hegemony is the closest but not their only danger."

Calabast smirked and twirled her hair with her fingers. "You'd be surprised at how short-sighted and selfish people can be. The leaders entrusted with responsibility do not always exercise their duties on behalf of their constituents. Many times, they can't resist the temptation to abuse their power for personal gain, even if it comes at the expense of the people who trust them to act responsibly."

"I'm already familiar with the agency problem. However, I find it hard to imagine that the leaders of the Coalition are stupid enough to risk weakening their strongest guarantee of safety in order to compete for minor benefits for their own powerbase. Greed can lead straight to ruination if you allow others to take everything away."

"You're right, Ves. Normally, the leaders of the Friday Coalition should have the prudence to know their limits. From the lens of the agency problem, these higher ups do not want to collapse the system that enrich them. They will make sure to find a state of balance where they can fill their pockets as much as possible without pushing them over the edge of a cliff."

Calabast briefly chuckled. "However, what if an outsider sneaks up from behind and gives them a push?"

Ves realized the danger of this scenario!

"Divide and conquer, kid. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book." She remarked. "The Friday Coalition is made up of six different partners, of which the Gauge Dynasty and the Konsu Clan is quite powerful. If the Friday Coalition ever wins the war, Gauge and Konsu will definitely retain the most strength. The Vermeer Group and Carnegie Group used to exist as middleweight partners, but after suffering so many Hexer offensives, their strength will drop considerably. As for the Vanguard Group and the Puffer Clan, the two coalition partners have already been in decline for a very long time."

Ves imagined the situation in the event the Friday Coalition won the Komodo War. Gauge and Konsu would definitely retain a lot of military and economic power.

In contrast, Vermeer and Carnegie would likely join the ranks of Vanguard and Puffer as weakened coalition partners.

Even if the four weaklings of the Coalitions banded together, they might still not be able to overcome the collective might of Gauge and Konsu!

What if the two giants decided to swallow the four weaklings? Depending on how much damage Vermeer and Carnegie suffered, this scenario might very well unfold immediately after defeating the Hexers!

If the leaders of the two giants truly wanted to enact this plan, then it was not in their interests to allow the Friday Coalition to crush the Hexadric Hegemony.

Instead, in the first half of the Komodo War, Gauge and Konsu would secretly cheer if the Hexers managed to rampage through Vermeer and Carnegie space!

The more territories the Hexers ravaged, the easier it was for Gauge and Konsu to cannibalize their former allies!

Ves grew shocked and numbed at the audacity of such an ambition plan. Such a scheme was too outrageous! Best of all, the Gauge Dynasty and the Konsu Clan didn't necessarily have to make any deliberate plots. They could fight the Hexers normally without drawing any suspicion and still fail to repel their enemies from the territories of the weaker partners!

Of course, there was a risk that the Hexers would gain an even greater amount of momentum and become too strong for the rest of the Friday Coalition to defeat. Gauge and Konsu needed to make some very careful choices over the course of the Komodo War.

As for the smaller partners, there was no doubt that they were cognizant of the possibility of being devoured by their former allies. There was no way that Vermeer, Carnegie, Vanguard and Puffer would allow the two behemoths in the Coalition to profit off their misfortune!

How could these four weak partners possibly make up for the shortfall in strength?

By inviting allies!

As long as they managed to partner up with powerful outsiders, the four weak coalition partners would be able to resist getting annexed after the Komodo War!

The only problem was that borrowing the strength of foreign states came at a hefty cost. If the weaker coalition partners weren't careful enough, they might be devoured by their new 'friends'!

Calabast flicked her finger against his forehead.

"Don't think too much. You're just a mech designer, not a politician."

"I'm the clan patriarch!" Ves defended himself.

"You're just a mech designer who just happens to assume some responsibility. That does not turn you into the second coming of Senator Tovar." Calabast corrected. "The people in charge of the Friday Coalition aren't blind to all of these considerations. It's just that there are no good options sometimes. Even if it's dangerous for the Fridaymen to ally themselves with foreigners, the threat of Hexer conquest is a more acute threat! We'll see how the war unfolds in the coming months and years. As for you, just concentrate on designing your mechs."

This was politics and statesmanship on a grander scale. The current Larkinson Clan was simply too inconsequential to become one of the main players.

Only Ves was able to exert a bit of influence over these events due to the considerable effectiveness of his mechs.