The Mech Touch

The Trailblazer Expedition!

Shortly after Ves attached this bold and exciting-sounding label to his plan, he generated immediate excitement among those who learned about the new development.

"Trailblazer Expedition? This sounds like the turbo version of the Purgatory Campaign!"

"I hope the Trailblazer Expedition won't be as destructive as our first expedition and escapades. I'm tired of limping back to civilized space with only half of our fellow mech pilots alive."

"Damn… I would love to go with you guys, but my wife just gave birth to a son. I can't bear to bring my kids to a warzone. I think… I will prepare the paperwork to transfer to the Davute Branch of our clan."

Ves did not hide his new plan from the others. He deliberately spread out the news in order to measure the overall sentiment of his clansmen and gauge their willingness to leave the comforts of Davute behind in order to endure a lot of hardships in the deeper parts of the new frontier.

Fortunately, his clansmen had not lost that much fire and ambition. His values and ideals still remained strong among the soldiers and support personnel of his clan.

Still, the amount of voices that betrayed the timidity of their speakers had also grown more numerous. Many of these Larkinsons had gotten married and started having children.

While Ves could sympathize with their parental instincts, he did not really like it that he would have to leave them behind in Davute while they could still do a lot of good in the main fleet.

"Oh well, it's their choice whether they want to trade their ambitions for stability."

Ves did not intend to stop or discourage these transfers in any way. He wanted his core fleet to be filled with supportive and like-minded Larkinsons who could tolerate the same risks as him. His clan could just make up for the shortfall in specialized personnel by picking up more bodies from the job market.

Besides, the Davute Branch of the Larkinson Clan had actually grown quite extensively as of late. The Cat Nest, the First Star Mech Academy as well as other auxiliary holdings all demanded Larkinsons to operate and protect these sites.

As word continued to spread, Ves held brief discussions with both the Glory Seekers and the Cross Clan on his new initiative.

Marshal Ariadne Wodin did not exactly react with much enthusiasm when Ves called her over the comm.

"Is it truly necessary to keep acting as recklessly as you did in the past?" She asked in an uncomprehending tone. "We are in a completely different situation than before. Our power base is secure, our financial position is healthy and our support among the locals is growing by the day. We do not have to struggle as much to ensure our survival as before."

"Exactly."

"Pardon, Ves?"

"You are right that we aren't struggling as much anymore." Ves explained his view. "While you and many others see this as a benefit, I see it as a disadvantage. The moment we stop struggling is the moment we become ordinary. Average. Complacent."

"I think you are exaggerating this too much." Ariadne frowned. "As I have stated before, we are in a different situation from the past. We no longer have to take desperate actions in order to survive and cover our expenses. Instead of making decisions that are high risk and high reward, we can continue to develop on our current course and focus on achieving success on the market and in the political arena. The immediate rewards may not be so high, but the risks are much lower, especially now that our collective status has risen to a large degree. Calm and peaceful development is not cowardice, Ves. Many people and organizations have taken the slow and steady route and achieved much more success than relying on one fluke after another."

Though her logic was sound, Ves still rejected her stance. He shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't disagree with you, but what works best for others doesn't necessarily work best for me. Let me give you a bit of additional perspective. You have a military background, correct?"

"I used to serve in the Hex Army as a mech officer." The Hexer marshal confirmed. "I resigned my commission well before the outbreak of the Komodo War, though, or otherwise I would have chosen to take up my duties again."

"I understand. As a military officer, you are probably more attuned to risk and danger than normal. After all, your life and your lives are on the line whenever you make a decision that exposes you all to greater danger."

"That is only one part of the question, Ves. As soldiers, we also have a duty to follow orders and protect our people. Sometimes, you must brave great danger in order to prevent great tragedy from befalling on our own citizens."

Ves nodded in understanding. "That is an admirable sentiment. I would like to call upon your sense of duty and responsibility and support my Trailblazer Expedition."

"I fail to understand your logic. There is no obligation for us to head straight towards the frontlines and compete for spoils. The salvage that we can gather in those ruined but untouched star systems may only be worth as much as a thousand MTA credits. As far as I am aware, the revenue your LMC earns on a monthly basis vastly exceeds that sum of money."

"You are not drawing an accurate picture of the benefits that we can obtain." Ves shook his head. "Selling lots of mechs is good for our balance sheet but doesn't net us any MTA merits at all. We need to do much more in order to earn approval points from the Association."

"You can do that here in Davute." Marshal Ariadne reminded him. "The MTA rewards good research and brilliant new inventions, both of which you happen to excel at. You can keep earning a steady amount of merits without bringing you and your family any closer to dangerous alien fleets."

How could Ves possibly explain to her that this was not enough for him anymore? He needed to earn 1 billion MTA merits as fast as possible!

"Merits are only part of the equivation, marshal. You have seen much of my brilliant works, but what you might not fully understand is what it takes to invent all of them. Many of my innovations are the products of the inspiration that I gain from getting exposed to new and different stimuli. If I remain stuck here in Davute, my exposure to new and different phenomena will remain limited."

"You don't necessarily have to travel to the wilder reaches of the new frontier, Ves. A leader and a mech designer such as yourself are always expected to remain in the rear. Do you understand how atypical it is for you to stay by the side of soldiers who are rushing towards the front?"

"I understand that, as much as I understand that I am different from those other mech designers. I would have never made it this far if I acted like any other average professional. Look, marshal, I am determined to advance to Master and maybe Star Designer in the future. I won't be able to do that if I don't try my best to move forward. I am proceeding with this expedition with or without your support. I would rather have you and your fellow soldiers at our side. You and your fellow Glory Seekers might not have much use for inspiration, but I will make sure you will gain your fair share of loot and plunder."

Ves directly pointed at the weakness of the Glory Seekers. For all of the support that they could expect to receive from the Hexer colonies, it was highly uncomfortable for them to be so dependent on external help.

Unlike the Larkinson Clan and the Cross Clan, the Glory Seekers had not set up any enterprises that could cover their expenses and grow their organization.

Soldiers had their pride as well, and that counted double for prickly female Hexers. For them to be able to earn their own keep and prove their ability to provide for themselves was a powerful incentive in itself!

Marshal Ariadne sighed. "You can count on our support and our participation. We are not comfortable with letting you, your wife and your children travel to the more dangerous parts of the new frontier without our protection. You all play a significant role to us and our fellow Hexers. We cannot allow you to come to harm."

"Then do your best to prepare for our next expedition. There is still a couple of years left before we are done with the current rearming phase. I hope to see your fleet and mech forces replenished and ready to begin a large and extensive campaign."

The two discussed what the Glory Seekers should focus on in order to be as helpful as possible once the Trailblazer Expedition commenced.

p "I don't need you to invest too much in logistics, research or any of that crap." Ves told her. "Our clan can cover those aspects for the most part. What we truly need are additional mechs and carriers. Combat power is the root of our strength. My clan currently fields the most mechs and we have a rich roster of expert mechs. The Cross Clan has an ace pilot who will soon gain access to an ace mech. What can you bring, marshal?"

"We can bring state-level support from our contacts with the Hexers in the Red Ocean. Neither your Larkinson Clan nor the Cross Clan have the backing of state institutions."

Ves dismissively waved his hand. "We don't need any help from afar. It's not as if technical support from a team of Masters can magically make a powerful enemy battleship explode. What we need are soldiers in the field. You have the least amount of carriers, mechs and expert mechs. Your Glory Seekers have always fallen behind when it comes to contributing in battle and the disparity is only growing over time. If you don't do anything about it, your voice will grow smaller and smaller, and the share of the loot that you are entitled to will shrink as well."

As a dependent force, the Glory Seekers were unable to expand in the same manner as the Larkinson Clan and the Cross Clan. While that was advantageous in some cases, right now their slow growth was dragging down the rest of the alliance.

His words served as a signal as well as a warning message. If the Glory Seekers did not kick their expansion into gear, Ves would make sure to marginalize them in the future.

Marshal Ariadne definitely got the message. "I shall speak to my relatives of the Wodin Dynasty as soon as possible. Although it will put more strain on the development of the Hexer colonies, it is best if they can increase their contributions to my fleet. We have already transferred a couple of kilograms of phasewater to them as dividends in a sense. The prospect of earning additional treasures by supporting us should increase their willingness to contribute."

Ves didn't know that the Glory Seekers had actually passed on a significant amount of the phasewater they obtained from the Purgatory Campaign.

That made the relationship between the Glory Seekers and the Hexer colonies more transactional and also hierarchical.

"Don't be so enthusiastic about sending your loot back to the colonies." He advised. "You should retain more of it and invest more in your own expansion. Don't hoard all of the phasewater you have left. You should try and convert them into valuable goods and phasewater products as soon as possible. There are still a few years left before we depart from Davute, so there should be plenty of time for you to figure out how you want to spend your remaining wealth."

"We will take your advice under consideration."