The Mech Touch

"What is the likelihood that this is all an elaborate ploy that is designed to entrap the Hexer raiders and eliminate them in one fell swoop?" Chief Minister Novilon Purnesse asked with great concern.

Though not everyone appreciated the Larkinson Clan's close relationship with the Hexers, the reality was that enjoying the backing of a strong colonial state could be incredibly useful in numerous situations!

The Hex Federation was not only an exceptionally friendly and profitable market to the LMC, but could also serve as an escape route for the Larkinson Clan.

If the Larkinsons ever made too many enemies and got driven out of Davute, they could flee pursuit by traveling to distant places.

However, if this was not a viable option, then Ves believed that he and his clan would always be able to take refuge within the Hex Federation.

It would be a lot harder for pursuers to persist in their chase if they had to make enemies with an entire colonial state!

This was why Ves held a decent amount of concern to the future rise and development of the Hex Federation. The stronger its colonies, the more advantages the Hexers conveyed to the Larkinsons.

The last thing that anyone wanted to see was the Hexers becoming a lot more vulnerable due to suffering a massive military defeat!

"My words might be premature, but I have a high degree of confidence that we truly obtained a thorough glimpse of the defensive plans of the three key colonies." Calabast said in a confident tone. "All of you should know about the Friday Coalition's increasing amount of internal contradictions. The Gauge Dynasty has shown increasingly less restraint as its relative power over the others have grown. The Carnegies, the Vermeers, the Vanguards and the Puffers all have a strong and united interest in weakening the hand of the Gaugers. It would be best if the Gauge Dynasty is kicked out entirely from the Red Ocean. This way, the balance of power will no longer be as skewed as before."

Several people nodded, but General Verle still maintained a skeptical expression.

"I can see how the weaker colonial partners may have a vested interest in putting down the Gauge Dynasty, but the Hexers are no friends of theirs. The Carnegies and the Vermeers wish to put down the Hexers just as much as the Gaugers. It wouldn't surprise me if they have prepared an ambush that is intended to strike the Hexer attack force just as the first battle has already ended. It would allow the marginalized partners of the Coalition to hit two birds with a single stone."

Such a scheme sounded exactly what Ves would want to pull off! It was so efficient and got so much done that the weaker partners of the Friday Coalition should also be tempted!

"It is fairly easy to determine whether the weaker Fridaymen are preparing an ambush of their own." Marshal Ariadne Wodin spoke up. "We are roughly aware of the existence and locations of most of their fleets and mech forces. Each of the ones that are being tracked at this time are exclusively assigned to defensive missions. The Fridaymen have no leeway to launch offensive operations. They simply don't have the numbers to start any wild adventures."

"The Fridaymen may be hiding a secret fleet or two for just these occasions."

The Marshal shook her head. "That may be possible, but not enough to pose a threat. The Hexer intelligence agencies have been quite thorough in tracking down the mechs and carriers that are at the disposal of their enemies. It will be easy to verify whether there are any secret fleets that are preparing to respond to any major Hexer incursions by keeping a close eye on adjacent star systems."

"I think that the parties behind Mr. Wesseling will also provide additional guarantees if the Hex Federation has shown a willingness to act on the leaked intelligence." Calabast provided her own opinion. "In fact, the Hexers don't necessarily have to make a move. This incident is already a strong sign that the Friday Coalition has already begun to rot from within. The state will almost certainly be worse off if the Gauge Dynasty keeps fighting against its own partners."

That was true, but maybe not. If the Gauge Dynasty and the Konsu Clan become the de facto rulers of the Friday Colonies, then the colonial state might end up stronger in the end!

As various people tried to figure out whether this was a trap, one of the people attending the meeting did not look at ease.

Branch Director Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson had listened quietly throughout these discussions but became increasingly more disturbed by what he heard.

He eventually raised his hand, which interrupted the current discussion.

"Yes, Raymond?"

"I have a question for you, patriarch. Why are we holding this discussion in the first place? Shouldn't we hand over the leaked information to the Hex Federation and be done with it? I see no reason why we must talk so much when we have no obligation to do anything further. Tell us honestly, Ves. Have you decided to take part in a potential attack against one of the Gauger colonies?"

Raymond asked an incredibly important question, and one that should have been asked a lot earlier.

Everyone turned to Ves. Most of them looked curious but others already knew his intentions.

Ves slowly stood up from his seat in order to make his stance clear.

"I have to admit that I have been considering the possibility that our forces will take active part in such a major raid. We have grown stronger than ever and we can inflict serious damage to the Sundered Phalanx elements that have been transferred to the Red Ocean."

"What?! Why, Ves?! Why take the risk?! Why revisit old hatreds?! Can't we just bury the hatchet and move on with our lives? What can we possibly gain out of participating in such a massive attack? If this is solely about acting upon your hatred and your grievances against the Fridaymen, then I cannot in good conscience support such an endeavor."

Ves remained calm even as Raymond vehemently expressed his desire to avoid any unnecessary conflict.

"It is true that I don't like the Fridaymen. It is also true that I would love to grab any opportunity to undermine their interests. However, it's not just about me. I believe that participating in this operation will benefit all of us. Have you seen how much our mech legions have grown as of late? Our Larkinson Army has grown much stronger than before. Ordinary military forces can no longer compete against us anymore. The Fridayman troops are unable to acquire mechs that are as expensive as ours. They are also incapable of matching our training results, especially once we started making use of the MSTS."

"I think it is dangerous for us to put too much stock in the advantages of the Larkinson Army. You might be right, sir, but don't forget that we are merely a private organization while the Gauge Dynasty has the resources of a massive state at its disposal. The Gaugers have numbers on their side."

"Our Hexers also have numbers on our side." Marshal Ariadne interjected. "If the Hex Federation, it will make certain to deploy more strength than what the Gaugers have at their disposal at our chosen attack target. If our Golden Skull Alliance is willing to pitch in, then we can increase our numerical disparity and crush the hostile forces with overwhelming might!"

"Previously, launching a major assault on any of the three exposed core colonies was not viable." Marshal Ariadne stated. "The main reason for that is because the Hex Federation simply cannot anticipate how many defenses they will face. This is no longer the case after this massive exposure. We know almost exactly what the Gaugers have deployed in these star systems. We not only know their numbers and positioning, but also obtained critical blueprints as well as information that exposes the weaknesses of their combat assets."

The Gauger colonies were completely exposed if the leaks were accurate, while the potential attackers were largely in the dark.

The result of this was a massive intelligence gap that could heavily tilt any battle in the favor of the Hexers!

Calabast nodded in agreement. "The marshal is correct. Good intelligence can mean the difference between victory and defeat. The exaggerated amount of information we have obtained not only allows our operatives to assassinate critical personnel and sabotage key defensive installations before we commence our major operation, but also employ targeted attacks throughout the battle that can easily take out core defensive assets with half difficulty as before."

The overall message was clear. The Gauger colonies had become easy targets. So easy in fact that they were practically begging to get attacked!

Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson was not satisfied with what he had heard so far, though.

"I can understand why you wish to pounce on the vulnerability of those three major colonies, but I have yet to hear a justification why our clan in particular should go on the attack. Can you explain your full motivations why you would even consider this in the first place?"

Ves sighed. He supposed he should be more forthcoming.

"Do you want to know the truth, Director Raymond? Because we can."

"...That's it, sir?"

"It's more than that, but this is the best way I can sum up my answer. Look, we're strong now. We are stronger than ever before. We have spent five long years building up our Larkinson Army and Larkinson Navy to prepare for the upcoming Trailblazer Expedition. That also happens to put us in a great position to launch a major assault on one of these colonies. Besides, the Hexers have already promised us that we can earn a major share of the plunder that is proportional to our contributions. The more forces we commit, the greater the amount of goods, strategic materials, valuable salvage and most importantly captured starships we can obtain!"

"An assault against a well-defended human colony is different from plundering a poor alien planet!"

"That is true, but my point still stands. To be honest, I really want to bloody our troops, many of whom have joined us only recently and have never fought in a serious battle against a competent military force. This is one of the few opportunities to target an enemy that we can predict and calculate based on all of the intelligence that we have obtained. I would rather test our mech legions against a known enemy than against one of the many unknown alien forces that we may stumble upon in the future."

Raymond couldn't believe what he was hearing. He always knew that Ves possessed aggressive tendencies, but this was something else!

He glanced towards the Glory Seekers. It was not difficult to predict that they would fully support any attack on the Fridaymen.

Perhaps he might find relief by turning to the Cross Clan instead.

"Patriarch Reginald Cross, where do you stand? Do you support an initiative to attack a major colony?"

"I do." The powerful leader spoke for the first time since the meeting started. "The Fridaymen have the blood of many Crossers on their hands. They deserve retribution, but we were too weak to do anything about in the past. That is no longer the case. With my strength, our assault will assuredly succeed."

Not everyone expected the Cross Patriarch to have already made the decision to take part in a potential assault!

Master Benedict Cortez did nothing to soften his patriarch's declaration. "I concur with all of the reasons that everyone has mentioned here. The gains outweigh the costs. Our cumulative advantages are so great that the risks that should have caused us to reconsider are no longer a great concern. Too many of our Crosser mech pilots are still relatively green. It is best to let them fight against the enemies that we know well before we pit them into battle against enemies we know less about. The Gauge Dynasty… is a suitable target."

If even someone as smart and clever as Master Benedict was willing to support his impulsive friend, then the Cross Clan was truly united behind this plan!

Patriarch Reginald grinned as he stared at a particular star system.

"According to what we know, the Gauge Dynasty has stationed an ace pilot on Pima Prime. I am eager to test my mettle against a fellow Saint. His ace mech looks good, but mine is undoubtedly stronger. There is no way I will lose a duel against this worthy opponent! He shall be the first of many champions that I shall fell with my Mars!"

The battle-hungry ace pilot clearly made his motivations known. It sounded as if his sole motivation in going along with all of this was to secure a duel against a powerful and dangerous Gauger ace pilot!

This was an exceedingly dangerous proposition! A single failure could cause the Cross Clan to fall into ruin again!

However, despite all of the ways that such a confrontation could go wrong, neither Patriarch Reginald nor Master Benedict showed any indications of retreat!

The latter even started to rub his palms in anticipation!

"Whatever you do, don't crush your opponent entirely. Save the skull if you can." The Master grinned.

"Don't forget about me!" Ves reminded the two Crossers. "I want to claim the ace pilot's spirit if he perishes!"

The Larkinsons and the Crossers hadn't even discussed a plan for attack but were already in the process of dividing the potential spoils!