The Mech Touch novel Chapter 2695

Chapter 2695: Spoils Spoils Spoils

The distribution of spoils was always a contentious issue.

After every battle, the side that controlled the battlefield received the opportunity to pick up a lot of valuable loot.

What was interesting was that the party that asserted control of a wreckage-filled battlefield was not always the winner.

For example, in the case of deep raids, the attackers could only stay in a hostile star system for a limited amount of time before they needed to leave. If they lingered too long in order to pick up all of the valuable scrap, enemy reinforcements might drop in and corner the greedy raiders!

Third parties might also be the final beneficiaries of a battle. If two pirate outfits smashed each other apart, the authorities might arrive at the end and defeat the exhausted victors with ease!

All in all, the issue of controlling the battlefield and dividing the spoils was of great importance to any combatant. Entire wars were won or lost due to arguments and mishaps surrounding the recognition of claims on salvage and other matters with profound financial implications.

This was especially the case when multiple organisations had to decide how to distribute the salvage!

Much of the wealth lying on the ground or drifting off in space came in the form of broken wrecks and debris. It took a lot of effort to convert them into valuable assets, either in the form of restored machines or recycled materials.

Most outfits generally didn't possess the industrial capabilities to process complex salvage, so they were accustomed to selling it to a dedicated salvage processing company at a discount. This became a lot more relevant as the amount of salvage far surpassed what any organization could reasonably process.

Suffice to say, this was exactly the case after the Battle of Reckoning. Not even the Larkinson Clan could process thousands of mech wrecks. The Spirit of Bentheim excelled at transforming refined materials into mechs and other industrial equipment. She did not possess extensive or efficient recycling and reprocessing capabilities.

Even so, no one wished to discard any of the salvage. No matter how difficult it was to extract value out of any broken piece, it could still be sold for a lucrative amount of money. Nothing on the battlefield was truly worthless.

The negotiations between the partners of the Golden Skull Alliance had already commenced as soon as the outcome of the battle was decided. The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers sent out various salvage shuttles and other vehicles to survey the debris fields and pick up the most valuable salvage before it could drift off any further.

The most valuable and controversial salvage of all was definitely the broken expert mechs!

Of course, every wreck that belonged to one of the members of the alliance automatically returned to them. The Glory Seekers retrieved the remains of the Star Dancer and the Cross Clan quickly gathered the pieces of the Bolvos Rage, the Conavis Mer and the Leskin without contention.

That left the expert mechs that belonged to the enemy. There were 11 expert mech wrecks in total. How to determine who deserved to obtain one was a difficult matter!

The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers mostly fought alongside each other. Even if one side managed to occupy a given enemy expert pilot, the reason why they were left undisturbed was because other friendlies blocked other opponents from intervening.

To be honest, Ves didn't want to bother with all of the horse-trading. He threw the problem to Major Verle who in turn tapped other Larkinsons to do all of the talking.

After more than an entire day, the negotiations concluded. Just like any compromise, the final agreement satisfied no one. The way these talks worked was to make sure that none of the participants felt overly left out. The final outcome at least had to approach their psychological expectations.

"One of the reasons why the talks stretched out for so long is because it's difficult to determine a 'fair' distribution." Major Verle personally met with Ves at his office. "Those that made more accomplishments should obtain more spoils. No one disagrees with that principle. It's just that everyone has different ideas on how to score a contribution. Another point of contention is the compensation of losses."

"What's that about?" Ves questioned as he stroked Bygul's back.

[Mew~]

Calabast took Lucky on a trip to the Auralis, so Ves had little choice but to cuddle with a substitute.

Though Bygul was obviously less lively than his first cat, the AI-driven projection had become a lot more realistic in acting like a real pet.

The ASTERA's deep learning function constantly studied the cats on the Spirit of Bentheim and precisely tracked Ves' reactions to any given behavior.

The results became better and better. While Bygul initially came across as stiff and artificial, now he had become a lot less distinguishable from actual cats!

"All of us have suffered losses, but some have lost more than others." Major Verle pointed out. "Each of us have lost thousands of mechs and at least half as many mech pilots. To us, these losses aren't too heavy, because we can easily recruit other mech pilots given our open recruitment policies."

"What are our current losses?" Ves asked.

"The numbers are still in flux. We have a lot of injured who might not make it at the end of the day. However, the overall picture has become somewhat clear. Get ready, because the current tally isn't pretty."

"Just give it to me, major. I'm not a newbie when it comes to hearing these reports."

"Very well, sir." Major Verle took a deep breath. "Out of the 4300 mech pilots of the Larkinson Clan, around 1800 of them are no longer with us. This time, the Avatars of Myth, the Battle Criers and the Flagrant Vandals have lost a disproportionate amount of soldiers."

The three mech forces were responsible for fighting against the elite mech units of the Friday Coalition. Compared to the Praetor and Planat mechs, the Fridaymen mechs were not only stronger, but also fought a lot harder.

The detachments of famed elite mech regiments such as the Holvein Grenadiers and the Silent Swords were so overwhelmingly powerful that the flimsy commercial mechs fielded by the Larkinson Clan collapsed quickly without support!

Ves briefly closed his eyes. His decision to cheap out on mechs had led to the loss of almost half of the Larkinson Clan's main combatants. This was a grievous loss and would surely generate a lot of hard feelings among the other Larkinsons.

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