The Mech Touch

So far, the various Larkinson leaders brought up excellent proposals that swayed a lot of people.

None of the people who introduced initiatives had done so with no clue of how much support they expected to gain. With enough preparation time, they obtained feedback from many corners of the clan and used that to refine the details further.

Even so, there were numerous ambitious proposals that painted a bright future but demanded a lot of investment.

As someone who was reluctant to spend too much time, money and resources on wasteful initiatives, Ves had to weigh the risks and decide whether the skeptics and naysayers were right.

This was why he had to say no to numerous proposals. He did not reject them because they were bad, but because the risks were too great while the rewards were highly uncertain.

"I don't agree with this point." Ves told Chief Minister Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson. "Setting up all of these outposts on different planets will scatter our focus and cause us to become even more entangled in the region. It is already enough to pick one or two star systems for us to establish a manufacturing complex in order to produce our mechs. Any more than that and we will open ourselves up to enemy attacks that we cannot easily defend against."

He would have made a different decision if the Larkinson Clan was operating back in the old galaxy. Most star sectors were rather stable and wars did not break out that often.

Even if they did, they were fairly predictable, so every company could make preparations in advance.

This was different. The Red Ocean was a giant shark tank where a bunch of new predators had just been dumped into a pool filled with native threats. Aliens, pirates, hostile pioneers and astral beasts posed constant threats to anyone who wanted to do business in this chaotic frontier.

Ves ideally wanted to keep his entire clan in a single fleet, but as their circumstances kept changing, he accepted the need to compromise to an extent.

This was why he raised the next proposal himself.

"Your proposal goes too far, Raymond, but you did raise a matter that is related to one of the changes I have in mind." Ves stated. "As you all know, our clan will build at least one large compound on a planet in order to alleviate some of our shortcomings. From producing large quantities of commercial mechs to storing large quantities of retired mechs and stockpiled materials, we need lots of space that only a planetary environment can provide. While I haven't decided where we should place our main compound, I do know that there are many of you who wish to depart our fleet and settle down on the surface."

A few of gathered Larkinsons showed yearning expressions. Ves observed that most of the people who reacted this way belonged to the older generations of the clan.

Geezers who grew up alongside his grandfather such as Chief Minister Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson and Assembly Speaker Ovrin Larkinson both held important responsibilities in the clan.

Despite wielding more power and influence in their lives than ever before, their remaining lifespans weren't all that great.

They mainly performed their duties because of their love for the Larkinson lineage and their sense of duty.

Ves truly needed stable and reassuring leaders in the past. These trueblood Larkinsons used to be mainstays of the old family, and they had played a critical role in transplanting the best of their former culture into a brand-new clan.

By now, they had already done their jobs. The Larkinson Clan's hierarchy and leadership had matured to the point where there was no need for any truebloods to maintain its current culture.

There were far more qualified leaders who could do a better job in their positions. Elite second-raters such as the Purnessers possessed the education, experience and ambition to take the Larkinson Clan to greater heights!

In that sense, it might be a good idea for the Larkinson Clan to open up a 'retirement home' at a placid estate on Davute VII or elsewhere.

Even if a monstrous alien fleet invaded the port system, overwhelmed the local defense forces and bombed the planet to hell, Ves and the Larkinson Clan wouldn't actually lose that much.

The old geezers were too old to contribute to the Larkinson Clan. Their deaths, whether natural or otherwise, did not represent a meaningful loss in manpower or expertise.

Ves had absolutely no qualms about letting the older Larkinsons spend their remaining years on a planet just like how his older family members used to gather around and swap stories all day at the old Larkinson Compound.

Just thinking about it already brought back memories to him. He consciously had to push them aside in order to remain on track.

"Any comments?"

"Who will be eligible to be stationed at these planetbound compounds?" Raymond asked.

Ves smiled back. "It depends. At a minimum, we need managers, mech technicians and other personnel to run the mech factories. We can draw them from our existing manpower pool or we can just hire them from the job market. Other than that, we also need different executives and specialists in other areas depending on the other facilities we build at a compound. For example, we might choose to build a regional branch office for the LMC. This will require us to place a lot of business professionals and service personnel to the new office or headquarters."

Many Larkinsons nodded. All of this made sense.

"We need to provide security as well." General Verle added. "No matter the location, we should never surrender our security needs to third parties. We will have to station hundreds of mechs at a compound that includes a manufacturing complex in order to deter anyone from raiding or destroying such a valuable facility."

Calabast also chimed in on behalf of the Black Cats. "We will have to set up an intelligence post on the planet in question. There have been times where our clan has been attacked by enemies that we never anticipated. We cannot repeat those mistakes, so we must proactively study the local and regional landscape for any threats that we can foresee."

"I think these answers should be clear to you, Raymond. We will station whatever people are needed to fulfill the jobs that need to be done."

"What about… other people, sir?"

"In what way?"

"Those who are tired or unable to work anymore." The chief minister said before his tone softened up. "You know how old I am, Ves. Even if I can prolong my life… I already experienced enough excitement in my life. The clan belongs to the younger generation such as yourself."

His emotional tone caused a lot of Larkinsons to empathize with Raymond. His former duties as the COO of the LMC and then the chief minister of the Larkinson Clan had kept him busy in a time where he should have assumed lighter duties.

"Grandfather…" Venerable Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson looked conflicted.

"We already talked about this, Tusa. There is little value in keeping me around for another century. I do not want to squander valuable resources that can be better spent on you. Many other Larkinsons of my generation feel the same way. We don't need to stand in your way anymore. Allowing us to step back and see our children and grandchildren prosper by themselves will give us the greatest joy in the twilight of our years."

Raymond spoke for all elderly Larkinsons at this time. The man chose not to invest any resources into prolonging his life due to his sense of duty to the clan.

As a former third-rater, Raymond could not provide as much value and expertise to the current clan. It had already grown far beyond his scope. Even if he could supplement his knowledge and gain more experience, there were other executives who could do a better job.

Working alongside amazing new clansmen such as the Purnessers made the gap in qualifications even clearer.

There may be a good argument for prolonging the life of a competent and valuable diplomat like Shederin Purnesse. Ves would not mind spending a portion of his MTA merits so that he could continue to receive the advice of a wily old fox with a wider vision than most people.

He could not justify doing the same for people like Raymond.

While a part of Ves wanted to preserve the authentic relics from the old family, his rational side told him that it would just be a waste of valuable MTA merits.

The losses outweighed the gains. Even Raymond knew that, or else he wouldn't have been so vocal about refusing life-prolonging treatment.

What a noble spirit. What a self-sacrificing attitude. They still possessed enough of the old family in their aging bones to make the best and most rational decision to get out of the way when their use had come to an end.

It saved Ves the trouble of convincing these oldsters to stop monopolizing the resources that could have been used to accelerate the Larkinson Clan's growth.

"I suppose we can agree to set up a retirement home for veterans and aged clansmen who do not mind separating from the fleet." Ves announced. "It would be like the old Larkinson Compound back on Rittersberg. You can spend your years in peace while looking after the other Larkinsons stationed on the planet."

Many trueblood Larkinsons smiled. They possessed the clearest idea of how good it was to recreate the original Larkinson Compound.

"What about those who are not of retirement age but want to step back from the excitement of the fleet?" Chief Minister Novilon asked. "There are clansmen among us who have developed a strong yearning to relocate to a planet. They never dared to bring their requests to your attention, but that does not mean that they have lost this desire. Not everyone can cope with all of the risks and dangers of frontier life."

Ves sighed. "I am aware of that. This is why I have been developing another idea that can give these clansmen a way out. After a lot of thought, I have decided to implement a branch system for our clan."

Many Larkinsons directed knowing looks at Ves, but there were also other people such as Venerable Joshua who looked completely confused.

"We have encountered many clans and dynasties over the years. One of the elements they have in common is that they are usually divided in a main branch and several side branches. There are good reasons why they do so. My intended plan for this is a little different. To me, bloodline and parentage shouldn't determine the future of a Larkinson descendant. We should mainly look towards competence. In addition, I don't want to impose too much division within our clan. For this reason, only those that agree to be permanently stationed in one of our landbound outposts will belong to that particular branch."

This was a massive change to how the Larkinson Clan organized its members!

The introduction of branches was a way for Ves to separate the less important clansmen from his core personnel.

Those that stuck to his fleet and only left to complete a mission or something were still full-fledged Larkinsons in his opinion.

The others who were no longer willing to fight or work as hard were not important anymore, so Ves might as well demote them to the status of side branch members.

The Larkinsons at the table were all clever people for the most part. Enough of them had picked up the unspoken implications.

"What are the differences between main branch and side branch members?"

"We can discuss that right now." Ves responded with a smile. "A branch system may be familiar to other organizations such as the Wodin Dynasty, but we must start from scratch. This also gives us the opportunity to shape it according to our needs. I have already formed a few ideas, but your input will surely be useful. Let's start!"

This was another clever political trick that Ves had learned from others. He knew that setting up a branch system was a controversial proposal. Instead of bearing all of the responsibility by himself, why not spread it out? If the entire leadership provided their input on this idea, then they would bear the majority of the blame!