The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2475

Chapter 2475: Cross Clan

"So far, quite a few powers have made offers to us, but only one of them is truly worth your consideration at the moment." Calabast explained.

She waved her hand. A projection appeared that displayed a broad map of the Yeina Star Cluster.

Ves was very familiar with this map, though he never really paid too much attention to what lay beyond Komodo, Vicious Mountain and Majestic Tael.

A single point shone somewhere in Vicious Mountain.

"First up is the Cross Clan. As you know, the massive Garlen Empire is not very cohesive. Warlords in the form of ace pilots carve out their own territories and occasionally fight against each other in order to earn glory. You can consider the tribes of Garlen to be the actual states of this star sector."

"I know that. I think it's stupid. People who spend all of their lives trying to improve their fighting skills are in no way qualified statesmen. Even if these warlords usually delegate the decision-making to competent officials, they're still prone to irrational decision-making."

Ace pilots could be just as bad as expert pilots when it came to sticking to their guns. The thought of letting extreme personalities such as Venerable Ghanso be in charge of a territory sounded awful!

It was too bad that Vicious Mountainers worshipped martial strength. While scholars and intellectuals still had their place in this star sector, their status and regard were considerably more muted.

Calabast poked at the projection, causing it to zoom in on a group of stars that appeared to be governed by the Becker Tribe.

"The Cross Clan used to hold a prominent position in the Becker Tribe. In fact, the warlord who led this tribe was actually a Cross clansman."

That sounded quite impressive! Ves had never come in touch with an ace pilot before. To think that the Cross Clan managed to nurture one while the old Larkinson Family never succeeded.

"It sounds like the situation of the Cross Clan isn't as optimistic as before."

She nodded. "Lord Hemmington Cross led the Becker Tribe to prosperity by picking fights against neighboring tribes. For a long time, the Becker Tribe continually grew as Lord Cross proved himself to be an excellent duelist. Hardly any other ace pilot wished to faced him in battle."

"Do you know what kind of mech he piloted?"

"A versatile lancer mech. It carries multiple weapons, but most of the time it's capable of winning challenges after performing a single charge."

Ves looked quite impressed. "I can't imagine anyone wanting to stare down a lancer mech empowered by an ace pilot."

"The good times didn't last for the Cross Clan. Lord Cross achieved so many wins that he grew arrogant. After initiating one aggressive expansion too many, two neighboring tribes decided to band together and attack the Becker Tribe in unison. The conflict not only resulted in heavy losses for the Beckers, but also caused Lord Cross to lose his life when he had to fend off against two enemy ace pilots at once."

This sounded quite alarming to Ves!

"The Garlen Empire actually allows their ace pilots to die like this? Such a death is too cheap for mech pilots of their stature!"

Calabast didn't hide her contempt for this practice either. "I don't disagree with you, but the ace pilots of the Garlen Empire aren't content with peace. Since Vicious Mountain doesn't have any state that can contend against the Empire, the warlords mostly turn against each other. While fatalities are actually rare, they can't be avoided."

How barbaric! Ace pilots were extremely difficult to come by, and the loss of each and every single one of them presented a massive loss to the state in question.

"Since Lord Hemmington Cross abruptly died, the Becker Tribe and the Cross Clan must have lost a lot of strength, right?"

Correct." Calabast nodded. "The fall of Lord Cross immediately allowed the enemy tribes to conquer large swathes of the Becker Tribe's territory. Eventually, the Becker Tribe is only a shadow of its former self. The clans and other groups that make up the tribe have suffered enormous losses."

"Let me guess, the Cross Clan attracted a lot of animosity from them, right?"

"Hehe. You are getting better at politics. You're right. Though the Cross Clan under the leadership of Lord Hemmington enriched the entire Becker Tribe, the clans only remember all of the losses they suffered after their warlord sparked a disaster. After suffering heavy losses, the Cross Clan eventually decided to abandon all of its territory and most of its people and depart."

A hasty evacuation under these circumstances doubtlessly caused the Cross Clan to suffer stupendous losses. What was left of the rag-tag refugee fleet probably amounted to less than 1 percent of the clan's original strength!

Even so, the remnant of a second-class ruling power was still considerable! As long as the Cross Clan successfully brought out some of their most valuable possessions, this homeless and exiled clan probably held onto some very fancy toys!

"What is the current state of the Cross Clan?"

"Their strength is better than ours. The Cross fleet is considerably powerful. The exiles are also able to field tens of thousands of mechs piloted by veterans."

"How are they able to fund such a massive fleet when they have lost all of their territories? Do they have a mech designer that is keeping them afloat?"

:"No." She shook his head. "The Crossers used to employ some talented mech designers. They even enjoyed the services of a Master Mech Designer. All of this ended at the death of Lord Hemmington. The high-ranking mech designers affiliated with the clan were some of the first to jump ship."

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