The Mech Touch

Ves couldn't feel more relieved as he and his growing band of refugees left Veoline's immediate sphere of influence.

Along the journey, the swarm had ballooned to over 200 biomechs and over a hundred different organic vehicles. Each of them came from various desperate groups that sought any scrap of order on a planet that had completely descended into chaos.

No matter if they wished to join the Larkinson Clan or not, no one split up once they became a part of the growing refugee train.

One of the most primitive ideas of humanity and many other sentient races was the recognition that there was strength in numbers.

While much of the chaos that had erupted in Veoline emerged as a result of smaller and weaker organizations rising up to take advantage of the lack of order, they were ultimately small fry!

Every decent armed organization possessed at least a handful of biomechs. While the authorities restricted the number of mechs that any single individual or organization could own, as long as the numbers remained limited, the local Planetary Guard never bothered to look too closely.

That was because the government was also aware that there was safety in numbers.

It was incredibly frightening if a single person or company suddenly brought a hundred mechs to the surface of Prosperous Hill VI!

Yet if there were twenty people bringing just five mechs each, then that was a much more manageable situation.

Naturally, those twenty individuals had to be separate and unaligned from each other. This was why the planet was tightly-monitored by the authorities. At any sign of collusion, the Planetary Guard would proactively step in to confiscate the war machines and break up the hidden collective!

For centuries, this had been the modus operandi of the rulers of Prosperous Hill. With entire government departments in charge of tracking every mech and biomech and the parties that owned them, there shouldn't have been a way for anyone to organize them together!

In the case of most small organizations, this was indeed the case. In the process of managing the small groups that had joined his temporary coalition, Ves already started to feel encumbered by managing all of the special needs and interests of these squabbling refugees.

Even if they were engulfed in a life-threatening crisis, people hadn't entirely got rid of their own desires and priorities!

The only reason why these issues hadn't led to serious problems yet was because the degree of danger was still enormous.

Back when they were still close to downtown Veoline, everyone could see and hear the enormous scale of fighting that took place over there. The burning and collapsing tree structures along with the hundreds and thousands of mechs clashing against each other served as a very clear warning that there were bigger threats at play!

Perhaps their mechs might not be that much stronger than the ones in the hands of private outfits, but there was one crucial factor why they posed a much more serious danger.

Their numbers were too great!

Ves scoffed. "Everyone has to abide by the rules except for the ones who set them in the first place."

In order to perform their enforcement and protection duties, the Planetary Guard, the local military garrisons and many other government entities did not have to abide by the strict restrictions. They could bring as many biomechs to the surface as they could justify.

Normally, this shouldn't have been an issue since the war machines were all on the same side.

At least that was the theory.

Yet as the destructive scale of fighting that had led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands citizens showed, the government forces weren't on the same side!

Centuries of rot, bribery and subversion had taken root in these institutions. Ves didn't know how the radicals and other opposition factions had managed to command such firm loyalty of so many troops, but they succeeded to an extent that was inconceivable to the conservatives!

With the help of Master Brixton's explosive revelations, the public's respect and regard for the ruling faction had dropped to the lowest point in the LRA's history. Even if much of the masses didn't pick a side, there were still plenty of impressionable people who decided to throw their support behind the revolution.

All of these would-be revolutionaries were currently the main reason why the planet turned into a warzone!

Their numbers had grown to such an extent that Ves would never be able to survive if they directed their might at him. He and his refugee train simply didn't have the strength and cohesion to resist an attack from an organized faction!

"I need to keep my head down."

Ves knew he had to remain as low-key as possible while the anarchy and open warfare continued. One advantage he currently held was that he was not a primary objective of any of the main factions.

His only use was to participate in the design duel. Now that it had ended, his usefulness came to an end. There was no incentive to protect him or kill him. Rather than waste resources on an irrelevant foreigner, it was better for these factions to deploy mechs and troops against their main opponents!

He recognized that he didn't have to fear too much from them as a result. The conservatives and radicals had more important battles to fight.

The real threat came from the fringe groups, especially the ones that were stronger than ordinary outfits.

On the final stretch back to Gentle Lotus Base, Ves shared his concerns with Venerable Jannzi.

Although his relationship with the female expert pilot hadn't been good as of late, they were still family. There was no point in acting on their animosity towards each other when their lives and the lives of other Larkinsons on the planet were at risk.

"The threat hanging over our heads won't evaporate when we return to Gentle Lotus Base." He explained over a private communication channel. "We know that a bunch of extremists called the ultralifers want to kill me in order to avenge my perceived slight towards the LRA. While I don't know how strong they are, the quality of their biomechs, the training level of their mech pilots along with the apparent quantity of mechs at their disposal all point out that they definitely have the strength to crush us. We hardly have any mechs at our base!"

"Is that why you've gathered all of these armed refugees?" Jannzi asked.

"Well, originally, I just wanted to pool my strength with others in order to make it out of the city. Now that I've done that, it's wasteful to wave them all goodbye. I've already persuaded some of these groups to join the Larkinson Clan, but we won't gain enough mechs and biomechs to defend ourselves against a serious threat. If we can absorb all 200 mechs in our refugee train, then we won't be pushovers anymore!"

"...Do you truly think you can keep this rabble under control?" The expert pilot expressed her skepticism. "Sure, you might be able to persuade them to stick to our base in order to take comfort in numbers, but once a strong opponent shows up, I doubt that any of these Lifers are willing to lay their lives on the line to defend a group of foreigners."

Ves sighed behind his helmet. "That's why I'm trying to figure out a way to absorb them all into our clan. Once they become a Larkinson, they'll gain an immediate sense of belonging to our clan! You know what I'm talking about. Their odds of sticking around and fighting in unison will become a lot greater!"

At this point in time, Ves didn't care about the hidden dangers of rashly inducting groups of different Lifers into the Larkinson Clan.

Previously, the recruiters of the clan applied a strict set of criteria to everyone that applied to become a Larkinson. The people who wanted to become a part of the rising clan not only had to bring useful skills, but also possess a compatible personality.

The recruiters rejected everyone who was too violent, too abusive, too disrespectful to the rules, too uncaring of family and so on. This was because none of them wanted to introduce any timebombs into the ranks of the Larkinsons.

Yet at this time, Ves couldn't care about these long-term considerations. Compared to a vague and hypothetical threat that would only become relevant years from now, he was much more concerned with preserving his life for the next couple of days!

What he could see, Jannzi could see as well.

"Don't force these people to join our clan." She warned him. "No matter how desperate you are at bolstering our numbers, it's not right to coerce anyone into becoming a part of us. Those who are unwilling to abandon their old lives and leave their current homes don't deserve to get tricked. If you pull something like this off, I will stop you myself, do you understand?"

"Hey, who do you think I am? I would never do that to anyone! I have principles, you know!"

Inwardly, Ves cursed. It appeared he needed to make some adjustments to some of his plans. If he wasn't able to employ hard selling tactics, then he needed to switch to soft selling, which was much slower and less effective.

He didn't feel too upset, though. No matter if he employed harsh or gentle means to persuade the refugees into joining his clan, he was confident he would be able to sway the majority of them in due time!

"Once we reach our base, I need you to stay in your mech and continue to show off your presence. Your identity as expert pilot is one of the few stabilizing factors we have. The respect that ordinary people have towards demigods is universal. Whether they pilot biomechs or classical mechs, none of them can disregard your identity!"

Venerable Jannzi let out a sigh. "I will do my part. I can't keep all of these people quiet, though. You need to find others to manage these different groups."

"I'll try and see what I can do."

Their discussion ended just as they finally reached Gentle Lotus Base. The sight of the familiar prefab structures and walls not only relieved, but many others as well!

Now that they were on their own, many groups that had attached themselves to the temporary coalition didn't have anywhere else to go. While they may or may not have the resources to go into the woods and set up a disaster shelter or something, no one immediately requested to leave.

No one knew whether they would be accosted by a strong squad of mechs with less-than-friendly intentions in mind.

At the very least, the refugees did not dare to leave when the revolution had just begun. Who knew if the scale of fighting would expand in the next few days!

Everyone wanted to adopt a wait-and-see approach. If the fighting in the cities quickly died down, then many groups might not feel the need to stick together anymore.

Ves did not want to see that outcome. Any group of mechs that left was another missed opportunity to increase the strength of his indigeonous force!

One way or another, he wanted to take everyone over!

The refugee train abruptly stopped just before the main entrance of the base as a couple of mechs began to show up. A small and mostly symbolic number of Larkinson, Glory Seeker, Crosser and Infinity Guard mechs barred the way forward.

Ves realized that the people back in the base might not be informed.

"Wait!" He quickly transmitted to the base. "Don't shoot! These people are my helpers right now."

"Patriarch Ves? Is that you?" Commander Casella Ingvar asked.

"Yes. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, my initial Infinity Guard escorts fell victim to the ensuing chaos. I had to resort to desperate measures in order to fight my way back here. I'll explain everything once I'm inside."

"Please proceed, then. We have all been waiting for your return."