The Mech Touch

Ves had heard rumors that the original founders and investors of Davute argued intensely about the selection of the founding ruler of the colonial state.

The influence that such a figure could exert on a massive and growing state in its infancy was massive!

This was the reason why many different pioneering organizations and the old galaxy powers who backed them couldn't make up their minds for a long time.

It took a lot of discussions, jockeying, making promises and old-fashioned horsetrading to finally rally a majority around a single consensus candidate.

Ultimately, a prominent member of the Clive Consortium won the ultimate honor.

Among the major components of the power bloc behind Davute, the Clive Consortium most definitely had a right to decide how the future colonial state should be run.

Ves and many other people may have never heard about the Clive Consortium before, but it was a big commercial organization that developed many branches in both the galactic heartland and the galactic center.

It was one of the driving forces behind the colonization of the port system and was among its biggest investors. The consortium was also a huge proponent of trade, open immigration, heavy industry, consensus-based decision making and intensive external trade.

Considering that the current economy of Davute closely aligned with the stated policies and ideology of the Clive Consortium, it was clear that it definitely possessed the greatest voice in the colony!

Of course, the consortium also had to pay a huge price to secure so much real power.

It sunk so much money, resources, personnel and favors into this colonization project that it was determined for one of its own to take the reins and personally ensure it would succeed while preserving its own interests!

The Clive Consortium ultimately pushed forward Yenames Clive as the first leading executive of the Davute Project.

From what Ves could derive from reading the man's history and profile, Yenames was an heir to a large commercial organization who had passed every test that mattered.

From the start of his life, he had been put onto an extensive raising, training and educational program that was meant to turn him into the most optimal chief executive of the powerful and expanding Clive Consortium.

Yenames Clive had to prepare for at least a hundred years or more before he ever had a realistic chance of being appointed as one of the consortium's powerful executives.

As such, he worked hard and utilized the limits of his augmentations to excel in every school, succeed in every side activity, become the leader of several social circles and produce lots of growth in every business venture under his charge.

Though Yenames experienced his fair share of failures and setbacks, they were fairly minor and forgivable compared to his remarkably consistent pattern of producing solid results and exceeding everyone's expectations.

If nothing else went wrong, Yenames Clive was dead-set on becoming the next CEO of the Clive Consortium. All of the other possible members of his generation simply couldn't compete against this excellently engineered monster!

Then, the Red Ocean opened up for colonization.

Many old galaxy powers suddenly gained an opportunity of a lifetime. For the first time in many centuries, a large swathe of space that was completely devoid of entrenched human interests had become available!

The Clive Consortium weighed the pros and cons at a rapid pace and quickly decided to bet much of its accumulated war chest and reserves into this venture.

However, unlike many other organizations that simply settled for occupying a single nice planet or star system, the Clive Consortium wanted to go much bigger.

It not only wanted to colonize a hot and highly desired port system, but also use that as the basis of a fully-fledged state in the new frontier!

This was a massive endeavor and one that the consortium could never found and build on its own.

This was why Clive did what it had always been good at, which was finding like-minded business partners and roping them into this incredibly promising initiative!

Although much of the foundation and the leadership of the Clive Consortium in the old galaxy remained the same, the ambitious organization needed to send a leader to the new frontier that commanded enough respect and demonstrated a sufficient degree of competence to take charge of the Davute Project on the ground!

The Clive Consortium chose well.

As a businessman by nature, Yenames Clive had truly been a great fit to lead a colony in a commercially attractive port system. His ability to balance the interests of many different stakeholders and bring aboard new business partners gave Davute the support it needed to grow rapidly.

The 120-year old executive's deep understanding of the practical realities of the dwarf galaxy and the local region also helped him set the right policies and institute the right regulations to keep Davute's economy on an upwards trend.

If there was any major weakness that critics could fault the man, it was that he possessed no proven military acumen. Although Yenames Clive could delegate military affairs to extensive team of hand-picked military officials, his overemphasis on commercialism had led to a number of weird circumstances in the military sphere.

For example, Unlike Karlach which was more heavily invested into forming a strong and more homogenous core for its mech military, Davute's military establishment was still fractured into many smaller and more chaotic pieces.

Although Davute was able to field significantly more mechs on its side in theory, in practice the lack of coordination and unity among all of the disparate mech forces might severely affect their collective performance in the upcoming war.

In any case, the briefings that he received and the research that he conducted on his own gave Ves a thorough understanding of the person known as Yenames Clive.

Naturally, the future ruler of Davute also did his homework on the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan.

This led to an odd situation where both men knew each other 'well', but never actually met each other to confirm all of the facts and speculation that they had acquired.

There was always a difference between primary sources and both secondary as well as tertiary sources.

Neither Ves nor Yenames assumed that everything they learned totally matched up to the person they met in reality.

This was what separated the bad diplomats from the good ones.

The former either rigidly adhered to past intelligence and could not adapt to deviations, or they ignored their homework entirely and made judgments on the fly.

The latter on the other hand intelligently allowed themselves to get informed by prior intelligence but deftly made adaptations and adjustments based on the actual situation in real time.

Right now, Ves was pretty sure that Yenames Clive had him beat on this area, but that was okay.

It was clear from the circumstances of this visit and the recent behavior of the colonial administration that Davute was trying to court the Larkinson Clan.

The future colonial state centered around this port system desperately needed all of the help it could get to build up its advantage over Karlach, its rising archenemy and super competitor.

In contrast, the Larkinson Clan did not really need Davute for anything.

Although it would be rather costly and painful for the clan to uproot its entire Davute Branch and relocate to an entirely different star system in a different region, the Larkinsons could still do it if it wished!

That put the clan at a considerable advantage over the colonial state in any negotiations.

This was why the so-called prospective president found it worthwhile to lower his head and visit Ves in the Cat Nest.

Though Ves initially became a bit jarred by the weird announcement, the Davutans kept their ceremony short and quickly allowed the two to come forward to shake hands.

They were already studying each other intensely as they smiled at each other and reached out to hold each other's grips.

As Ves used all of his senses to study the other man, he noted that Yenames Clive was certainly the real deal.

The older man exuded an abundance of gravitas, but not to the point of becoming suffocating. He adopted just the right amount of approachability to put Ves at ease and encourage a friendly chat.

From a spiritual perspective, the man did not possess any spiritual potential, which was fairly normal and to be expected.

That did not mean he was weak. Ves' many senses had improved so much as of late that he could pick up the other man's heavy mental activity. Yenames Clive's mind and highly sophisticated implant was constantly going through a ton of different thoughts. He was like a supercomputer in that sense!

"Patriarch Larkinson. It is good to finally meet you in person." The man's smooth and highly trained voice spoke in a firm but slightly gentle tone. "Before we talk any further, let me thank you for choosing to settle your clan in our colony. You and your Larkinsons have contributed greatly to the economic growth and the rapidly rising prosperity of our expanding community. We hope that your clan will continue to benefit as we grow into a mature and established state within the Krakatoa Middle Zone."

Ves smiled back. "Davute has indeed provided our clan with a lot of support. It is a shame that I might not be sticking around much longer. While our local branch will continue to manage our existing holdings in this region, our expeditionary fleet only goes where excitement can be found."

"We are well aware of your personal proclivities as well as the emphasis your alliance places on expeditions. I believe that a number of the proposals we have prepared for your clan will be of great interest to you regardless of what you have planned for your fleet."

"Interesting. Before we continue, can I request a tour through your grand and imposing gallery? I have heard much of this facility, but never had the pleasure of paying a visit to it. I can already feel I should have stepped into these halls sooner."

Ves did not expect to receive such an off-beat request, but he was more than ready to play an impromptu tour guide.

"Why certainly. Our Ascension Gallery does not contain a lot of exhibits relative to its size, but then again there is no need to add any superfluous elements. The pieces that we did place in this gallery already attract enough admiration."

They both approached the giant metal statue that depicted the Golden Cat. The light shining down from above along with the substantial glow radiating from the totem caused many guests to feel as if they were truly standing in front of a special existence.

Yenames Clive was no exception to this rule.

"I have seen and felt my fair share of living mechs over the years, but this is different. Is this large cat an accurate representation of the source of the glows that characterize so many of your mech designs?"

The man had really done his homework, apparently. Ves bet that he had received a huge amount of insights from a team of Master Mech Designers who extensively studied every LMC mech they could obtain.

Ves decided to be ambivalent and shrugged his shoulders.

"Who knows. I prefer not to go into too much detail. After all, a mech designer has to protect his trade secrets."

Yenames Clive continued to look up and admire the giant cat sculpture. "Is it a secret when you have placed an ostentatious representation of a glow source in the middle of a public gallery?"

"There is no need for me to hide everything." Ves responded in a steady voice. "I show off the Golden Cat because I want to prove to everyone that my living mechs and its components aren't derived from eldritch monstrosities or anything. The glow that defines my clan is personified by a perfectly cute and cuddly cat, as you can see. We Larkinsons consider Goldie to be a reflection of our character and culture."

"I can see that." Yenames Clive spoke as he continued to be fascinated by the totem and its distinctive glow. "You and your Larkinsons are curious, affectionate and playful. Your people can also be predatory, possessive and sensitive towards danger. I find that to be an unusual but refreshing combination of traits. Your clan is utterly unique and enriches our colony more than any other organization at your scale."

Ves blinked. He never actually equated his clan's traits to that of an actual cat, but now that he thought about it, the comparison was incredibly apt.

"Mrow."

"My pardon?"

"Oh, um, it's nothing!"