The Mech Touch

The current topic provoked a lot of discussion among the Larkinsons in the conference room.

Everyone had an opinion on the important decision of where the Larkinson Clan should establish its first significant branch.

Ves heard a lot of familiar arguments as the proponents of different choices tried to sway the idea that the Larkinson Clan should place its first planetary compound in either the center or the periphery of Krakatoa!

While there was nothing preventing the Larkinson Clan from building its branches in both locations and more, the clansmen still had to choose carefully.

The current state of the clan only allowed for the construction of one major branch. This entailed building a complete manufacturing complex that was capable of producing thousands of mechs a day when operating at full capacity.

This was an essential step to developing the Living Mech Corporation on this side of the greater beyonder gate!

Due to the value and importance of such a massive industrial site, the Larkinson Clan had to make a major commitment and invest a lot of manpower and resources into the compound.

Abandoning a major outpost was not as costly as abandoning an entire colony, but it was still an outcome that the Larkinson Clan should prevent!

This meant that it was extremely important for the Larkinsons to get along with its neighbors and integrate in the local region.

Therefore, the choice of where to build their first outpost was of great significance and largely influenced the friends and rivals the clan would make in the future.

"Our clan is primarily engaged in the business of selling mechs." Minister Shederin Purnesse stated. "Building up relationships with different actors and stakeholders is an essential component to running a competitive business. We should not distance ourselves from the powers that control the markets that we depend upon to earn most of our revenue. Turning Davute into our focal point is the most effective decision we can make to expand our market reach. This port system not only possesses a large customer base, but is also a nexus of many shipping channels that help our mechs get sold in far-flung locations."

"We don't necessarily need to build a massive factory on an overcrowded and expensive planet." Commander Casella Ingvar retorted. "It is enough for us to build a branch office over there that can handle the sales, distribution and support functions of our mech company. Just like the LMC in the past, we can settle on a smaller planet where we can exert more control and deal with fewer rivalries."

"The fees and taxes in a rural star system are much lower as well."

"We won't actually save that much money because it is much more cumbersome to ship in raw materials while shipping out finished mechs. Just protecting the shipping convoys carrying trade goods worth thousands of MTA credits is a large and costly burden! If we center our production in Davute, we can skip all of these unnecessary steps and complete every shipment within hours instead of days or weeks."

Commander Melkor of the Avatars of Myth shook his head. "The price for all of that convenience will be higher than you think. I've visited enough unstable states to see where Krakatoa is going. All of these major colonies have already begun their struggle for regional hegemony. Once they have built up their settlements and infrastructure a bit more, it won't take long before they will start rubbing against each other. It will start with border skirmishes and it will end with total conflicts on the scale of the Komodo War back in our former home! It is much easier for us to pull out of this messy and dangerous power struggle if we are only sitting in the periphery of the zone."

As the Larkinsons continued to voice different arguments, Ves grew increasingly more conflicted. While he had made a preliminary decision, that did not mean he discounted the arguments in favor of the opposite choice.

Both sides raised valid points!

As Ves continued to weigh their options, an elbow struck his side.

He turned to face his angry-looking wife.

"Why aren't you settling for Davute yet?" Gloriana hissed. "It's clearly our best choice! Not only will it be easier for us to produce mechs and befriend other mech designers, we can stay in touch and enjoy all of the advantages of living on a developed planet! Think about what we talked about yesterday. Do you want our clansmen to get cut off from humanity, or do you want to make sure that we stay in touch with society?"

The dichotomy presented by Gloriana reminded Ves of the split between the Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance.

Both of them adopted different approaches towards human society.

The MTA chose to establish more channels to it and maintained a more visible presence in the lives of ordinary humans. It was no surprise that the space peasants showed a lot more support to the mechers, but they also depended more heavily on them as well for many problems.

The CFA isolated itself from much of humanity and created their own parallel society. This allowed them to remain unaffected by much of the petty squabbles and other forms of dirty business that went on in human space. However, the downside to that was that fleeters received less support from indigenous humans, which meant that they had to solve all of their problems by themselves!

It was difficult to say whether the MTA or CFA had adopted the better strategy. Both of them were led by extremely smart, wise and competent leaders, so they definitely had their own considerations for what was best for their respective superorganizations.

The Larkinson Clan was nowhere comparable to the MTA or CFA, but if Ves had to make a choice, he would rather move closer to the former than the latter.

Still… if he did so, then that meant that he would be moving further away from his original ideal of keeping his clan out of the dirty power struggles that constantly took place in human space.

He sighed as he swept his gaze around the conference room.

There was no clear majority for either of the options. Support was split down the middle.

Ves noticed that many of the civilians were in favor of settling in Davute while the more militant Larkinsons chose to settle in a rural star system.

It didn't take long for him to understand the division.

Davute was much more conducive to business. It was a commercial and industrial hub where all of the biggest and most ambitious companies chose to settle.

While the competition on this planet was great, as long as the Larkinson Clan overcame all of the challenges, it could become a major power in the region!

People like Minister Shederin Purnesse and Director Ranya Wodin would definitely thrive in such a bustling location!

In contrast, people such as General Verle and Commander Melkor were much more wary towards the authorities and rivals that could pose a great threat towards the Larkinson Clan.

By keeping to the periphery of a zone, the Larkinson Clan could avoid a lot of unfriendly attention and take on the role as bystanders to these regional conflicts.

As long as the Larkinsons kept a low profile, few if any of the powers based in Davute would bother to cast their gaze in the direction of the clan.

However, that would also mean that the Larkinson Clan would miss out on a lot of connections and access to more exclusive goods and services.

"I think the issue we are arguing about is a question of ambition." Ketis suddenly stood up, attracting everyone's attention towards the Swordmaster. "I think we can all agree that Davute is a more complex and dangerous environment, but it also provides a lot more opportunities for us. Moving far away from this port system will be safer for us, but it will be a lot more difficult for us to build our advantages over time. To me, the matter is simple. Do we want to hide in the corner like a coward or are we brave enough to occupy the center of attention?"

Ves almost snorted. Ketis made a pretty clear and impartial argument at first. Her last sentence revealed her bias, though. She was clearly in a fighting mood and viewed Davute as a massive arena!

Her clever argument caused a lot of Larkinsons to think back on the values and the motto of the Larkinson Clan.

Gloriana pounced on the opportunity!

"We entered the Red Ocean because we want to fight for a better life for ourselves." She declared. "Ever since our fleet arrived at the new frontier, we did just that. We exposed our strength in order to defeat rival pioneering organizations in the mech arenas of Chance Bay. We explored the Garimel System and boldly chose to invade an alien-occupied phase whale enclave in order to plunder their riches! Does that sound as if we are timid? We are not! We are Larkinsons! Our ambition has no limits! Davute is the perfect springboard to greatness in my eyes. We would be fools to choose an alternative!"

What a devious woman. Gloriana could be quite astute when she needed to be. She not only tied her stance to the values of the Larkinson Clan, but also framed the issue as a test of pride and courage!

It was clear which choice was correct for those that prided themselves on their strength and bravery.

"Let's go for Davute!" Venerable Vincent Ricklin shouted. "There's a lot more we can do in this star system!"

Dulo Voiken also threw in his support. "It is easier to exchange with our peers in the mech industry if we live next door to them."

"We can take our family and children on regular excursions to Kotor City."

"There are a lot more sparring partners that we can practice against. Sparring against the same Larkinsons over and over gets boring after a time."

The trend of the discussion quickly shifted in favor of Davute. Many of the doubters finally became swayed by the arguments in favor of putting the focus of the Larkinson Clan in the port system and its complicated environment.

Those that wanted the Larkinson Clan to settle in a more quiet star system were unable to present any convincing counterarguments.

Any arguments that were based on safety, neutrality or control sounded like cowardly excuses!

In the end, over two-thirds of the leaders in the conference room favored the decision to build a major outpost in Davute. It offered a lot of conveniences and also allowed the clan to stay in touch with many regional powers.

Though Ves could choose to disregard popular opinion and settle for a different choice, he did not wish to do so for this matter.

He was already leaning towards Davute in the first place and did not have any strong feelings for the alternative choice.

Besides, the Larkinson Clan was bound to become significantly stronger in the future. Ves did not believe that he and his fellow Larkinsons weren't competent enough to succeed in Davute!

Ves stood up in order to put an end to this debate.

"Alright, everyone. Our choice is clear. As Larkinsons, our ambitions are not limited to Krakatoa. This is only a small corner of the Red Ocean. Our greater goal is to turn our clan into a first-class organization and gain entry into the highest level of human civilization! Our journey will be long and difficult. As my wife has already stated, Davute can be a springboard that we can use to reach our destination faster! Since that is the case, let us turn this port system into our second home and do our best to turn our clan into a household name in this region!"

"Our clan shall rise!"

"Davute will be ours!"

"For the Larkinson Clan!"

"For the Golden Cat!"