The Mech Touch novel Chapter 3416

Chapter 3416: Join the Club

Master Bouderon's revelations revealed a much messier side to the MTA than what outsiders thought about the powerful organization.

All of this was crucial information that already caused Ves to solve certain doubts and clarify ambiguous issues. He gained more insight into issues that previously remained unsolvable due to lack of context.

For example, the Supreme Sage's confidential research on life-prolonging treatment serum and the MTA's preferential treatment of the Vulcan Empire both made a lot more sense if Ves associated them with certain MTA factions.

One of the most important conclusions that Ves managed to draw from this lesson was that the MTA did not completely act as a single, unified entity.

Although most high-level decisions had to obtain a broad consensus from the galactic mech council in order to be passed, there were lots of areas where such massive attention wasn't warranted.

Individual factions could exert a lot more direct control over a select amount of regions. As long as no one else stepped onto their turf, the factions in charge could implement their own ideas with relatively little interference from above. This also explained the sometimes inconsistent behavior and policies of the MTA in different states and star sectors.

Ves had to be more aware of this in the future. He not only had to tread carefully in regions where hostile factions held sway, but also had to be careful not to upset other people's arrangements.

This was especially relevant to the Red Ocean, which had recently turned into a hotspot for the mechers. A lot of different major and minor factions must be extending their hands to the small but resource-rich dwarf galaxy.

If Ves hadn't received this lecture from Master Bouderon, he would have probably become entangled in one of the many great schemes hatched by these ambitious factions!

Once the bald MTA Master was done with setting the mentalities of young Journeymen straight, he finally introduced the remaining three major factions.

"Now that you have become more cognizant about the power dynamics within our Association, the existence of the following two factions will make more sense to you. While our highest leadership comes from all corners of the galaxy, there are two notable states that have been more successful than others in elevating their most excellent supporters."

"You're talking about the first-rate superstates, right?" Gloriana spoke.

"You are correct." Bouderon's expression turned a bit weary. "Outside of our organization, the Greater Terran United Confederation and the New Rubarth Empire are consistently successful at producing Star Designers. Their illustrious heritage, their deep foundation and their attractive visions has always earned them a significant amount of support from the human population, and it is no different among our people. There have always been two separate coalitions between galactic mech councilors and Star Designers that believe humanity must be ruled by the Terrans or the Rubarthans."

Ves raised his eyebrow when he heard that. "I thought the MTA was always hostile to the idea of letting the first-rate states regain their former glory."

"You can be thankful that there has always been a strong consensus to the idea that they should never get a second chance. The Terran Faction and the Rubarthan Faction have never succeeded in completing their primary purpose, but that does not mean they are nonfactors within our organization. They function as the nails of their respective loyalties and try to steer the decision-making in a direction that is more favorable to the first-rate superstates."

"I see. I take it that most mechers don't agree with that?"

"The Mech Trade Association stands for all of humanity, and the reality is that a significant proportion are either directly or indirectly tied to the Terran Confederation and the Rubarth Empire. Excluding them from the MTA is impossible as it would go against our mandate and our purpose. We can only make the least-bad decision and allow the two first-rate superstates to represent their interests within our own halls of power, which they have used to surprisingly good effect."

Master Bouderon sounded quite dejected at that. He clearly did not want the first-rate superstates to get their way, which was consistent with the MTA's overall stance.

"If the Terran Faction and Rubarthan Faction are so hated, why are they effective?"

"Because the other factions must always borrow enough support to advance their own agendas. The two state-bound factions mostly gain significance when other factions are still short of a majority. For example, in order for the Expansionist Faction to open up the Red Ocean for colonization, it had to agree to allow the Terrans and Rubarthans to enter the dwarf galaxy as well."

"I see. So they basically act like mercenaries. Their support can always be bought for a price. That's quite clever on their part." _{ƒгeewёbnovel.com}

Jovy chuckled at this analogy. "Mercenaries earn great profits but never enough respect."

Though Jovy sounded contemptuous, Ves wasn't sure he agreed with this stance. Profit was solid and concrete while respect was more invisible and easily lost.

It was a lot easier to cheat someone with the latter than the former! At least Ves would have a much easier time preventing others from ripping away his hard-earned rewards!

"What of the final major faction?" Gloriana asked. "Is this the one that holds your loyalties?"

Both Jovy and Master Bouderon nodded.

"I have saved our faction for last because it is not as extreme and single-issue as the prior factions. I believe you should have already gained an awareness that each of them seek to advance a specific cause above all else. The problem with that is that they tend to gather a large amount of like-minded people that begin to build their own echo chambers. Within their particular communities, they constantly reinforce their own biases and close themselves off to any reasonable doubt and critique from other perspectives. This is also the reason why a considerable number of Star Designers and other people have turned away from factional politics entirely."

Ves was no stranger to this. States like the Hexadric Hegemony, the Life Research Association, the Heavensword Association and the Vulcan Empire were strong examples where a single dominant culture became so full of themselves that nobody hit the brakes!

It was interesting that Master Bouderon brought up this particular point, though.

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