The Mech Touch

As the expeditionary fleet crossed over into the Antilla Star Cluster, the environment had changed remarkably.

The Sticky Pernois Star Sector neighbored the Tarnished Crown Star Sector, which meant it saw a lot of traffic.

Not only were a lot of other pioneering fleets making their way to the gate system in the center of the Antilla Star Cluster, there were lots of other people trying to earn extra profit from the convergence of so many powerful people and organizations.

Some of the strongest, wealthiest and most well-connected people who originally resided in the neighboring star clusters all headed over to Tarnished Crown in order to realize their ambitions!

A lot of them had deep pockets and were willing to spend a lot to strengthen their respective fleets. This resulted in a huge influx of potential employees as well as a huge amount of essential trade goods.

In short, business was booming. Even a place that was a bit further away from the gate system had already started to reorient its businesses towards serving prospective pioneering organizations such as the Golden Skull Alliance.

It became easier than ever to purchase a large amount of mechs, colonization machines, mining equipment, construction bots, modular space stations and other gear needed to found a new colony in the Red Ocean.

No matter whether a pioneer was strong or weak, pretty much all of them wanted to take advantage of the early stage of the invasion of the Red Ocean to claim some of the abundant planets that were ripe for the taking!

Even though the new frontier was just a dwarf galaxy, the amount of star systems and suitable planets was still overwhelmingly great! Competition and pressure for most of these potential colonization targets was fairly light, both due to the abundance of choice and the limited number of pioneers.

As such, even a weak, third-class pioneering fleet might be able to succeed in founding their own little colony somewhere! Of course, such a group needed to be careful to stay in the right zone and avoid claiming an attractive planet.

However, to many pioneers at this level, it was already worth it if they were able to found a quiet and modest colony akin to the old Cloudy Curtain.

More powerful pioneers who came with greater strength did not limit their ambitions to ruling an entire planet. They all wanted to realize their dreams of founding a new state, and would inevitably persuade its weaker neighbors to offer their support in exchange for protection.

Despite the risks, the attraction of ruling an entire planet and becoming a part of the ruling class of a new state was almost fatal!

Ves remained unmoved, however. He had a phobia about tying himself to any fixed location and no amount of persuasion from the clan would change his mind.

During a visit to the Blinding Banshee, even Calabast attempted to sway his opinion!

"This is the last chance for us to purchase and stock up on essential colonization gear. Once we reach Tarnished Crown, the price and availability of these hot goods will be much worse. Are you certain you don't want to pick up these goods?"

"Squeak."

Arnold seemed to concur with Calabast as he ate from a bowl of especially-prepared meat.

Ves looked flatly at the woman.

"You know exactly what I'm like and what I feel about this topic. Do you really think that I have changed my mind?"

She shrugged. "It was worth a try. I thought that seeing all of these other pioneers preparing to colonize their own planets would spur you into claiming your own territory. Don't you think it's a nice way for your children to settle down in the future? What if Aurelia wants to rule her own little state? Daddy Ves surely isn't cruel enough to crush her wish."

"Stop joking around." Ves crossed his arms. "What my children want is not a matter of discussion at the moment. I'm quite aware of the benefits we are missing, but that also means we're skipping most of the risks. As a mech designer, my need to rule over a territory is much less than other people. Most leaders can do little else but start a colony in order to reach a higher station in life, but I can reach the top just by progressing my career. Settling a planet only brings more burdens to a mech designer life myself."

Fortunately, there were still other people in the clan that were more open-minded than Ves. Little Aurelia was a blank sheet and might develop different ideas than her father.

As the de-facto crown princess of the clan, a lot of Larkinsons would try their best to influence her opinions in the coming decades!

After rejection Calabast's suggestion, Ves turned to the topic he truly wanted to talk about. He was not one for roundabout chatting so he bluntly brought up the matter.

"I heard a rumor that you've been dating Chief Minister Novilon Purnesse."

Calabast raised an eyebrow. She looked a lot more intrigued than before.

"My personal life shouldn't be of interest to you. What would Gloriana think?"

Ves let out a tired breath. "Just tell me what you're up to. Novilon is not an average fellow in the clan. What's your game?"

"Can't I just tell you that I find him charming, elegant and smart enough to enjoy his company?" Calabast smirked. "I genuinely enjoy his company. There aren't many men of his caliber in the clan. No offense, Ves, but every other fish can't reach my level. I have absolutely no attraction to people I look down upon. Novilon is one of the few lovers that won't bend to me. His father Shederin Purnesse is even better, but he's too old and already taken."

"All of that sounds great, but I doubt that's the whole story. What are you trying to accomplish?"

"Let's just say that I find the members of the former Purnesse Family interesting."

"Interesting in what way?"

"Our clan has gathered a large number of misfits and groups. With the help of our unique advantages, we have managed to integrate many different people from religious zealots like the Penitent Sisters to intellectual secularists such as the Purnessers. Due to how our clan is structured, every Larkinson is technically equal, but is this truly the case in practice?"

Ves was not blind to the limitations of the current structure. "Nothing is perfect. Ideally, I would like every clansman to be treated equally and have the same opportunity as others, but as a parent I can understand that certain people want to favor their own family and support circle. This isn't something that I can stop since I am essentially taking advantage of this phenomenon."

Ves was willing to break any rule and ignore any tradition as long as they hindered his children in any way!

Calabast nodded as if she already expected such an answer from him. "The Larkinson Clan is changing, Ves. It's always been changing. It's growing bigger, more complicated and more powerful. All of those different groups I've mentioned might still be able to live in harmony in the same clan, but you can't suppress their competing interests. There is only a limited amount of resources available and every interest group wants to claim a bigger slice of the pie."

"I know all of that, but what does this have to do with you hooking up with one of my chief ministers?"

"Anyone with a little bit of political acumen can see that different factions will emerge among our people. These factions will fight for power and try to influence our clan in specific directions. As patriarch, you can choose to stay above the infighting, but that doesn't mean you should turn a blind eye to it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm doing you a favor by keeping the Purnessers under observation. I can guarantee you that one of the strongest factions that will arise in the clan will center around these clan members. Out of every Larkinson, the Purnessers are the most proficient in operating under these circumstances."

She made a lot of sense. Ves never really thought about the rise of factions in the clan because it was still too young and small for it to matter. His own prestige in the clan was also strong so he didn't have to pay too much attention to the opinions of any groups.

"You make a good point, Calabast, but you haven't answered my question. What does this have to do with your new relationship?"

Calabast looked a bit annoyed. "I've already said this much. Can't you think of the answer?"

"Are you… supporting the Purnesser agenda?"

"No." She shook her head. "Not really. The Purnessers generally want to gain more influence and decision-making power in the clan. One of the policies they are pushing for is to make the top positions more fluid. As long as posts like your own can be decided by voting, the Purnessers are confident that their experience in operating political machines will give them the upper hand."

Ves mirthfully laughed. "Ha! Do they really think they can persuade every Larkinson to follow the orders of gutless bureaucrats? There is a large number of military servicemen in our clan who don't respect this sort of people."

"That's correct. The military will form its own faction in due course, and they will serve as a powerful counterbalance to the Purnessers. That doesn't mean the latter will remain powerless. This is their arena. They are more competent than others in tying different interests together in order to build support for their own causes. Leaving them will allow them to become increasingly more dominant."

"So your solution is to enter the orbit of the Purnessers?" Ves skeptically asked.

"Essentially, yes. It's not as simple as it sounds. A short explanation is that a relationship between myself and Novilon will restrain the Purnessers. It is easy enough for them to figure out that I belong to your camp and that I will not accept any policies that weaken your authority. That means that Novilon, who is one of the highest leaders among the Purnessers, will not be able to advance his original causes as unrestrained as before."

"Will this actually happen? Why do I have the feeling I'm missing a part of the picture? What if the opposite happens and you get influenced by their stances?"

"Heh, I can't be swayed by them. You can make sure of that." Calabast confidently said. "There is more to the story, but it's not that useful to explain it all to you. If you want to maintain control over your clan and prevent anyone from trying to pry more power out of your hands, then you should let me continue what I am doing. By constraining the Purnessers and tying them to myself, I can tame this beast and make sure that your fundamental interests will never be threatened. That sounds like a good deal, right?"

"Caveat emptor.." Ves responded.