The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3322

Chapter 3322: Grand Regent Habidas Aaden

A crisis raged in the Vulcan Empire. After the Ferril Provincial Army tried and failed to defeat a visiting human fleet that had obtained official sanction from the MTA, many dwarves were appalled at the consequences!

The unprovoked attack would have led to an upheaval in Vulcanite space regardless of victory or loss, but the way it turned out failed to build up momentum for the Dwarven God Cult!

This left the two major religious factions of the Vulcan people in an awkward position. The Dwarven God Cult had slowly achieved consistent gains over the last decade and was about to overtake the traditional Vulcan Faith sooner or later.

A victory against a notable human fleet should have proved to every Vulcanite that dwarvenkind was superior to the tall folk and that it was their destiny to overtake the galaxy!

"Today, we take over the Fermi Star Cluster. Tomorrow, we'll sweep across the entire galactic rim!"

Those expectations were way overblown in hindsight. It turned out that dwarven technology wasn't superior to human technology and that dwarven skill could not single handedly accomplish victory. A lot of radical and influential Dwarven God cultists had egg on their face.

What was worse for the Vulcanites was that they had already released the arrow from their bow. They could not take back their egregious attack that affected the lives of not just the radicals, but also the traditionalists who never asked to restart their struggle against the tall folk in the first place!

"Do you know what you have just done? The humans will crush us all for what we have done!"

"You fools! War isn't a game! For every glorious battle, there are ten awful tragedies. The dwarven bodies that will stack up as a result of your mistakes will form a monument of your folly!"

Tensions between different groups of Vulcanites intensified. Radicals against traditionalists. The younger generation against the older generation. Militarists against pacifists. Second-raters against third-raters. Every division became more polarized and consensus was nowhere to be seen.

The adherents of the traditional Vulcan Faith who still clung to the stuffy belief of a human Vulcan had gained enough wind in their sails to form a proper resistance against the radical Dwarven God cultists!

In the weeks that passed since the battle, this had led to numerous reversals. Far from providing greater momentum to the Dwarven God Cult, the disastrous engagement stopped their progress entirely, forcing them to clash more openly against the old fogeys who they long accused of holding back dwarvenkind.

What was even worse was that the Vulcan Empire stood to lose their hidden guarantee of independence from the MTA.

The proof that the Vulcan Empire ignored the MTA's own rules was indisputable. This was not a minor slip-up such as implementing unsafe neural interfaces into mechs but a direct attack against third parties that had been offered safe passage!

It did not matter if the attack was launched by a rogue faction or a fringe group within the Vulcan Empire. The consequences of this action affected the entire dwarven state, which was exactly what the attackers set out to accomplish!

Grand Regent Habidas Aaden, the leader of the Vulcan Empire, was beset with the gravest crisis of his life.

A part of him already acknowledged that the Dwarven God Cult would become the new truth to the citizens of the Vulcan Empire. Even if he didn't like the shift, there was little he could do to prevent this popular strain from attracting more believers.

Yet the self-destructive attack its adherents had launched against a human fleet showed that the Dwarven God cultists weren't qualified to rule the Vulcan Empire!

"What do they know of responsibility? They will burn our dwarven state if they keep provoking the tall folks!"

Many other Vulcanites of the old guard formed the same conclusion as well. Before, they just thought that the extreme statements of the Dwarven God Cult was mere hyperbole. As long as their jingoistic behavior was confined to boasting, there was little harm in letting them talk.

Yet now that they had actually taken action, a lot of traditionalists and those on the fence became abhorred at the direction the Dwarven God cultists wanted to take the Vulcan Empire.

It was fine if the crazies in their state wanted to board a starship and commit suicide by flying straight into a star.

The problem was that the starship accommodated other passengers as well! Many Vulcanites who remembered the rebellion or grew up hearing stories about it from their parents and teachers did not want to get implicated by the actions of their fellow dwarves!

The Grand Regent had to confront two major challenges.

The first was to help the Vulcan Faith push back against the Dwarven God Cult and inject some much-needed sanity in their great state!

The second was to convince the Mech Trade Association not to revoke its guarantee of protection.

Grand Regent Aaden personally presided over the official meetings with the representatives of the MTA. Though the powerful human organization had yet to make a final decision, the unofficial tribunal that happened behind closed doors was not going well for the dwarves.

The Association did not let the Vulcanites rely on the excuse that the unprovoked attack had been launched by a single rogue group that did not represent the greater will of the Vulcan Empire.

"These are not terrorists, Mr. Aaden." An imperious and officious-looking woman declared as she sat on the other side of the long table. "The Ferril Provincial Army is an official military institution of your state. Your lack of control of your attack dogs does not absolve your state from responsibility. The severity of your crime is even greater once I bring up the fact that Patriarch Ves Larkinson is a 10th tier galactic citizen and a contributor of restricted technology. From our own investigations, these factors did not deter your men from attacking his fleet. On the contrary, your soldiers sounded eager to defeat an affiliate of our Association. What do you have to say for yourself, grand regent?"

The stern-faced human woman shook her head and tapped her finger against the table. The surface caved in as the fingernail dug straight through the hard wood material as if it was butter! _{freewebnσvel.cѳm}

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