The Mech Touch

An ornate bot floated down from above. Faint spotlights shone on the bot and two identical scrolls in its grasp.

The lengthy paper documents were exaggeratingly large and encrusted with golden flourishes and other decorative elements.

The scrolls served as the symbolic representation of the treaty that the Larkinsons and Crossers had settled upon. The actual treaty existed in an electronic format, but it was nice to hold a traditional event in order to formalize the historical occasion.

The alliance was of paramount importance to both clans.

On the surface, the pioneering alliance was about sharing the responsibilities and benefits of becoming galactic pioneers.

According to the admissions scheme set up by the Big Two, alliances were subject to additional rules. Any individuals or groups that chose to split the cost of a single fleet beyonder ticket needed to pick their allies carefully.

The reasons for this was that a group of pioneers were collectively seen as one cooperative unit. The pioneers not only had to account for themselves, but also each other.

To be more specific, if a pioneer betrayed the human race and colluded with the indigenous alien races of the Red Ocean, every partner who helped the violator pass through the beyonder gate could not escape punishment!

This meant that the Larkinson Clan had to pick its partners very carefully! Ves could not afford to ally with someone who was liable to piss off the Big Two!

Fortunately, the rules weren't overly harsh. Even if the Cross Clan went crazy one day, the Big Two wouldn't annihilate the Larkinson Clan. Ves would merely shoulder a lot of debt and become subject to some troublesome rules.

In any case, neither the Larkinsons nor the Crossers believed their allies pursued a crazy agenda. Both of them simply wanted to grasp some opportunities and grow their respective clans into something greater.

Once the bot floated placed the documents onto the surface of the floating altar, it flew back and entered standby mode.

Both Ves and Reginald approached and inspected the terms of the treaty.

The terms were fairly simple and did not cover a lot of ground. The alliance that the two sides had been keen to forge was not as close as a marriage. It was more about sharing benefits.

Ves looked at the first and most important treaty clauses.

"Together, our two clans shall form a formal pioneering alliance." He announced. Invisible speakers and sound projectors carried his voice to every attending Larkinson and Crosser. "After the signing of this treaty, we shall officially register our pioneering alliance to the Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance. The leadership of this cooperative venture alliance shall nominally rest with the Larkinson Clan."

This wasn't as impressive as it sounded. Neither clan wanted to become subordinate to the other. Even if more clans joined, the Larkinsons wouldn't be able to call the shots.

There were some other details in these clauses that might be relevant in certain situations. In certain collective decisions, votes needed to be held. If a partner did not want to abide by the result, they could choose to withdraw from the pioneering alliance but not without a considerable penalty.

These were all terms agreed upon by the negotiators. Ves was not a diplomat so he did not claim to understand the intricacies of these arcane rules.

As someone who was no stranger to breaking rules, he hardly cared about the complicated clauses that were filled with lawyer-like jargon. He knew that when a crisis hit, no possible rule could stop people from looking out for themselves.

Patriarch Reginald announced the second set of clauses in the treaty. "Both of our clans shall form a defensive alliance. We promise to come to each other's aid if either of us are threatened by an unprovoked attack. This defensive pact does not apply if any of us has provoked the enemy or launched hostilities first. If the enemy is overwhelmingly powerful, no partner is obligated to fight as well. In the event that a request for military aid is not honored, the partner in question will immediately cease to be a part of the pioneering alliance, and must pay all of the penalties associated with this breach."

Naturally, the exact rules and mechanics were very thorough and covered nearly every scenario imaginable. The lawyers of both clans spent weeks on hammering out the terms.

The overall point behind these terms was to encourage the allies to stick together against threats that targeted their entire pioneering alliance. They were much less strict towards private grudges and individual rivalries.

"Our alliance stands alone when we arrive in the Red Ocean." Ves spoke up. "With ambitious pioneers gathering from every region of human space, we will be surrounded by strangers. It is more important than ever to turn to friends that are closest to us. As citizens of neighboring star sectors, we share a much closer bond than any of the pioneers in the Red Ocean. Trust is essential to keep our alliance alive, and I sincerely hope we can cover each other's backs."

The next clauses pertained to a different set of agreements.

Patriarch Reginald briefly summed them up. "Our clans may choose to cooperate on commercial or industrial ventures on a case-by-case basis. Since both of us have talented and capable mech designers, it is a given that we shall collaborate frequently on certain mech design projects. Each of these collaborations must set out a specific remuneration structure or profit-sharing arrangement in order to reward every contribution. In addition, we encourage the mech designers of both our clans to combine forces when designing specific, high-end mechs."

This was the most interesting part of the treaty to both sides. Reginald clearly valued that last part the most. If the opportunity to design the mech that would propel him to ace pilot ever came up, Ves had promised to lend his design philosophy to the pivotal project.

Of course, he wouldn't do so for free. The Cross Clan already promised to part with a significant amount of rare exotics and strategic materials.

What Ves especially paid attention to was obtaining a small quantity of monoexurite and a whole Worclaw Crystal. While Ves lacked the knowledge and tools to make use of both high-grade exotics, he could slowly change that as he and his clan accumulated more means.

Aside from that, neither the Larkinson mech designers nor the Crosser mech designers were obliged to lend their services. They had to come to a voluntary agreement before they started any collaboration.

The most important portion of the treaty came up next.

Ves took a deep breath. "Once we establish our pioneering alliance and collectively obtain a fleet beyonder ticket, we have agreed to allocate our quota of ships that we are allowed to bring to the Red Ocean according to a fair and predetermined formula. If our pioneering alliance expands to the point where we have enough merits to redeem a ticket, the Larkinson Clan will be able take up 8 starship slots while the Cross Clan is entitled to 5 starship slots."

The Larkinson Clan almost possessed 40 million MTA merits, but not quite. Yet because the Larkinsons possessed so much leverage, it was easy for them to ask for a little extra.

In contrast, the Cross Clan possessed much more weight. Poor Patriarch Reginald only had about 25 million MTA merits at his disposal, so the Crossers could only make do with a quota of 5 vessels.

It wasn't fair, and the Larkinsons might not be able to justify claiming so many slots once other partners came onboard. Ves knew that if he wanted to keep his current quota, he might have to earn a couple of million more MTA merits in the next couple of years.

The remainder of the treaty was not as interesting or impactful.

For example, one miscellaneous agreement called for putting a portion of their industrial capacity at each other's disposal.

For example, if Professor Benedict designed a new Crosser mech and wanted to borrow the Larkinson Clan's factory ship to produce a lot of copies, then Ves could choose to accept the request. As long as the request wasn't excessive, the Larkinson Clan would produce and supply the mechs to the Cross Clan at a considerable discount.

Of course, the same also applied in reverse. If Ves ever wanted to acquire hundreds of Transcendent Punishers in a short amount of time, he could ask the Cross Clan to help with the production.

After quickly going over these minor points, neither side offered any objections. Though there were many areas in which Ves or Reginald didn't like, this was the nature of compromise. It was impossible for either of them to have their way. They had to move away from their initial demands and come to a middle ground in order to ensure that both sides benefited from the agreement.

If there was any massive discontent from one side or the other, the alliance wouldn't be able to last.

Despite the unpalatable compromises, the patriarchs didn't show their dissatisfaction. The truth was that the negotiations produced an agreement that provided more gains than losses to them. As long as this held true, there weren't any sufficient reasons to reject the alliance.

"Let us sign this treaty."

Both patriarchs floated forward. The bot that hovered on standby gradually lowered itself and extended two ornate pens to the leaders.

They grasped the pens and began to sign their names and signatures with aesthetically-pleasing flourishes.

Of course, neither of them employed their actual handwriting. The autopens merely executed their pre-programmed motions by themselves.

Otherwise, both Ves and Reginald would immediately ruin the solemn treaty signing by displaying crooked and ugly handwriting!

Each autopen signed two times. This way, the two copies of the treaties held the signatures of both leaders.

Ves turned around and raised his fist!

"From this day onwards, the Larkinson Clan and the Cross Clan are united!"

His counterpart, Patriarch Reginald, also raised his fist.

"From this day onwards, the Golden Skull Alliance shall rise to greatness in the Red Ocean!"

The Golden Skull Alliance!

This imposing name was the official designation of their alliance!

Both Larkinsons and Crossers raised their fists in response and cried out the new name in a martial fashion!

"Golden Skull! Golden Skull! Golden Skull!"

No one noticed that Ves' proud smile was shaking a little.

To be honest, Ves vehemently disagreed with the name. If he had a choice, he would have called it something else like the LC Alliance or something neutral.

However, the Crosser negotiators insisted on the name. More specifically, they demanded the inclusion of the word 'skull'!

The Larkinsons eventually agreed to this strange demand because they obtained some very attractive concessions in exchange.

It didn't take much guessing to know that Professor Benedict had a hand in this event.

Was he crazy?! Why would the former Skull Architect reference his hidden past in such an open fashion?

If he hadn't received some reassurances from the man himself, Ves would have rather given up on the concessions his clan had received in exchange.

He briefly turned his head to look at the guest designer of the Cross Clan.

Professor Benedict noticed his gaze and responded with a satisfied smile.

Of course he was happy that the two clans managed to find common ground. The Senior Mech Designer actually paid very little in order to be a part of the new alliance. He was the true winner of this development!

"Clever bastard." Ves whispered.

Though he equated the former Skull Architect as a leech, he was still a useful one. As long as Professor Benedict provided enough benefits, Ves had no reason to mess up this arrangement.

The Golden Skull Alliance shouldn't stir up too much trouble in the Red Ocean.

To some people, a sordid name like that did not bode well for the future. It was too bad that Ves was not prone to superstition.