The Mech Touch

When the Larkinson Clan, the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan reached the Red Ocean, they had to make a lot of difficult choices.

The decision to join one of the major regional alliances was one of the most crucial ones.

Rejecting one of the three major alliances meant cutting themselves off to a lot of powerful contacts. The Larkinsons really couldn't afford to make this decision even though Ves was attracted by the lack of entanglements.

Even though Ves really wanted to keep his clan completely free of outside commitment, that was wholly unrealistic.

"The Red Ocean is a region that is in flux." Shederin explained. "The advantage of that is that no one has claimed all of the turf in the dwarf galaxy. The downside is that the star systems outside of the direct supervision of the Big Two are absent of order. Anything can happen over there and those without friends become very tempting targets to those with malicious intentions."

This was where the value of the regional alliances came in. Becoming a part of one of these large gatherings not only reduced the chance that members of the same alliance would break out in hostilities, but also imposed a modest degree of deterrence against outsiders.

"The Red Ocean Union provides the least amount of protection, though." Ves pointed out.

"That is true, but this is just the starting point, patriarch. Don't assume that signing up for the Red Ocean Union and passively enjoying the benefits is all you can do. The Red Ocean Union may lack the structure of the other regional alliances, but that means that we have the freedom to develop our own faction or powerbase within this gathering."

That was new to Ves. "What do you have in mind, exactly?"

The former ambassador turned to the projection and moved the symbol that represented the Golden Skull Alliance into the bubble of the Red Ocean Union.

He subsequently began to draw some loose lines within this bubble so that it was split up into smaller groupings.

"The Red Ocean Union's internal cohesion will probably never be high, but those who gain more prominence and those who try to befriend others within the regional alliance will gain more out of it than others. The establishment of sub-alliances or factions is inevitable for that reason. The Red Ocean Union will become too big and diverse to maintain a united front. It is a given that it will split into different factions led by prominent pioneers."

Although this all sounded logical, Ves did not exactly like the implication behind this explanation.

"Are you suggesting that we should establish and lead one of these factions?"

"It doesn't have to be a major faction." Shederin clarified. "You can use the Golden Skull Alliance as a starting point and expand it to encompass twenty different groups. You can also pursue a more ambitious agenda and opt to gather over a thousand pioneers."

Ves almost had a heart attack when he heard the latter.

A thousand pioneers!

That was too ridiculous! Leading a thousand prominent and powerful pioneers was no different than herding a thousand cats.

Since Ves already had trouble trying to control a single cat, how could he possibly restrain so many of them? He would probably tear his hair out if he tried to manage so many different groups!

"The latter scenario is not as difficult as it sounds." The Purnesser said. "As long as you set up a suitable hierarchy, the burden of controlling so many pioneers will become manageable."

"I understand what you are saying, but it's quite dangerous to rely on powerful groups to maintain control. What if they betray us? As long as the benefits are great enough, it's possible for them to launch a coup. I don't want to invest so much hard work into forming a large faction only to allow someone else to benefit from our hard work."

The old man paused. Ves was known as a risk taker within the clan, but he was overly cautious when it came to trusting outsiders. This limited a lot of options that Shederin had in mind as trust played an important role in establishing ties.

To be honest, Shederin had never worked with such a difficult case before in his life. The Loxians were much more willing to extend their trust to others. The Purnesse Family eagerly developed an expansive network under the umbrella of the Hegenarion Party.

Unfortunately… the death of the Loxic President and some other disasters caused the downfall of the party. All of the connections forged by the Purnesse Family became worthless as the situation changed too rapidly for him to form an effective response.

His eyes lowered. Perhaps it was best that he was working for a more distrustful leader this time. He could not afford to make the Larkinson Clan repeat the mistakes of the Purnesse Family.

"If this is your will, we will limit our outreach and seek to form a smaller and tighter network of friendships and alliances."

This approach entailed partnering up with like-minded pioneers in order to build up a collective that could make it easier for them to achieve goals that could not be accomplished alone.

"What is important is that our growing alliance must incorporate groups that each offer a useful benefit." The old man said "For example, we should ally with a technological group that engages in comprehensive research and development. Such groups tend to have shortcomings in their military and cultural aspects. We should also seek to partner up with a trading company or commercial conglomerate. As much as the LMC is able to fund all of the expenditures of the Larkinson Clan, its current business model is anything but ideal."

They already had this discussion before. The Red Ocean's mech market and distribution network was still in its infancy. Ves did not relish the headaches he would have to deal with in order to increase the sales channels of his mechs.

"Are you telling me that we should give up on trying to build our own sales and distribution network?" Ves frowned.

"You shouldn't be too worried about that, patriarch. Your mechs are intrinsically valuable. You'll be able to sell your mechs in many markets sooner or later. Therefore, it does not make a significant difference if you pick one trading company or another to sell our products. If this company is truly short-sighted enough to break these relations, it will not be difficult to establish a new trading relationship with another distributor."

It was actually very normal for mech companies to operate in this manner. Low-ranking mech designers and smaller mech companies especially needed help with selling their mechs and delivering them to their customers.

Even Ves used to cooperate with Marcella Bollinger once.

Of course, high-ranking mech designers usually didn't need to rely so much on mech brokers or distributors anymore. Their mech models had become popular enough that customers proactively sought them out. It made a lot more sense to cut out the middlemen and start selling mechs directly to the company's target audience.

While Ves preferred to adopt this model, the biggest problem was that the Larkinson Clan wasn't based in any state or fixed position. Without establishing his clan in any single location, it was a lot more challenging to establish a distribution network.

It wasn't impossible, though.

Still, investing in sales and distribution channels not only tied the Larkinson Clan down to an extent, but also served as a big distraction.

It was a lot more convenient if he just dumped this responsibility to a partner that excelled in trade.

"I'll take your suggestions under consideration." Ves replied with a noncommittal answer. "We don't have to make any immediate choices so we can afford to take our time. What matters most is finding suitable partners that we can trust. For example, I know I can count on the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan to back me up because they proved their commitment in the past and we are bound by mutual interests. Any other partner must be able to provide us with similar guarantees."

"I shall do my best to look out for partners that are willing to cooperate with the Larkinson Clan in the long term, but it shall take some time. Right now, we are too far away from the Red Ocean. The galactic net is not enough for us to understand the true situation in the new frontier. Once we pass through the beyonder gate, much will become clear when I am able to speak to others in person."

Ves nodded in understanding. "I hope you succeed. I do agree that we cannot completely rely on ourselves and a small handful of friends to survive in the Red Ocean. A certain degree of cooperation is essential."

"Since our goals are rather modest, we do not need to become the most prominent or powerful group in the Red Ocean. Our faction doesn't need to be too big as a result."

The point of starting a faction within the Red Ocean Union was to secure their own safety and positions. Ves did not want to stick his neck out too much. He wanted to gain enough allies to deter enemies but not enough to turn into a leader who vied for hegemony in the Red Ocean.

Even though the dwarf galaxy was a lot smaller than the Milky Way, it was still huge in absolute terms! There was no way for the Larkinson Clan to have any serious chance of occupying a significant slice of the pie when Rubarthan princes and Terran clansmen were already competing to do the same.

The only outcome of trying to get in between these two giants was to get squashed in the middle!

"All of this sounds nice and all, but most of these plans won't come into action until we reach the Red Ocean." Ves remarked. "What about the period before we arrive? We can still do something while we are traveling through a couple of star clusters."

"That is a different matter." Shederin said. "To be honest, I have already identified numerous potential partners that are at least of the same caliber as the Cross Clan that might be suitable to add to our growing alliance. However… I think we should refrain from partnering with these groups."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "I thought an ambassador like you would be happy to make a lot of friends."

Shederin Purnesse smiled. "You are not wrong, but some friends are more valuable than others. The local groups who are begging to join a pioneering alliance are usually leftovers that have failed to gain passage early. Their potential is lower and the benefits they can provide to us are not as attractive. If possible, you and your existing allies should seek to accumulate the required amount of merits by yourselves. This will give you much more leeway in banding together with other pioneers once you use your beyonder ticket."

There was a vast difference between pioneers who were able to earn enough MTA merits to reach the Red Ocean and ordinary organizations that were still stuck in the old galaxy.

On the one hand, these weaker groups were much easier to control.

On the other hand, they weren't as useful.

"Patriarch Ves, don't forget where we come from. We originate from one of the furthest star clusters from the center of human civilization. Our wealth base, resource endowment, technological base and development level pale in comparison to the more central star clusters. The pioneers who come from the latter are much more powerful and a lot more worthy to befriend."

"Won't it become difficult to form relations with those powerful organizations?" Ves frowned.

"Ah, our Purnesse Family is not unfamiliar with forging ties with these kinds of organizations. It is one of the core strengths of the Grand Loxic Republic. Just leave it to us. There is always a way to forge a common understanding between different groups with different backgrounds. This is especially the case when you have something unique to offer to them. Your unique abilities as a mech designer will play a central role in expanding our network once we reach the Red Ocean!"