Chapter 3992 Terraforming Jobs
"If the Aduc Family still maintains secret ties with the Terrans, then why don't you deem them a potential threat to our clan?" Ves asked Calabast.
He was puzzled by her previous remark. Shouldn't this be of greater concern?
The leader of the Black Cats did not express any noticeable signs of concerns, though. She kept staring around his office while continuing to lean against his desk.
"Maintaining ties with the first-rate superstates is not necessarily a cause for concern, Ves. Aren't you thinking about cooperating with a Rubarthan institution yourself? Even though the Terran Alliance and Rubarthan Pact are rivals to the Red Ocean Union, the boundaries aren't so strict. So long as total war doesn't break out, it doesn't matter if anyone makes friends across the aisle."
"That may be so, but what if the relationship between the Aduc Family and a Terran group exceeds that of a normal business relationship? The Aducs used to be a part of the Terran Confederation. This makes it probable that they still maintained their ancestral ties with at least some of their allies at the time."
Calabast shook her head. "I don't think it is that severe. All relationships are at least partially based on interests. Centuries ago, the Aduc Family may have been worth befriending by powerful Terran groups. Nowadays, it has devolved into a second-class organization, and not a particularly big or powerful one. Whatever ties have survived up to this day should not be too significant. If not, the Aducs would have been able to rise back up to a first-class organization with the help of its Terran buddies."
"Hmm, you have a good point, though it may be that the Aducs do not want to rise again because they will invite repression from their former enemies."
"There is another reason why I believe the Aducs are not strongly aligned with the Terrans. They are associates of the MTA, more specifically the Transhumanist Faction. From what I have gathered, most mechers do not look kindly to the first-rate superstates. It is impossible for the Aduc Family to maintain close ties with both the mechers and the Terrans. It has to pick a single side, and all evidence suggests that it has chosen the shelter of the MTA over whatever friendships it could still call upon from the Terran Confederation."
The logic was sound. The Big Two and the first-rate superstates had always been rivals.
On top of that, the animosity between the Transhumanists and the Terrans was probably even worse. Ves had seen first-hand how Master Dervidian did not hesitate to experiment with the lives of hundreds of first-raters, among which were many elite and high-ranking Terran citizens!
Therefore, there was no way that the Aduc Family could become an ally or an agent of the Terrans!
"If this is the case, then I don't need to worry too much about this, correct?"
"It depends." Calabast said. "The Aduc Family's decision to side with the Transhumanists means that it cannot maintain any strong and overt relationships with the Terrans. At best, the Aducs can still call upon favors every now and then. If you are able to befriend the family one day, then you can borrow this channel in order to get in touch with the Terrans."
This might be useful one day. The Terrans were incredibly arrogant, but they weren't powerful for nothing. Their heritage was unsurpassed even if they were in decline. They still possessed a lot of unique advantages that Ves might want to get his hands on in the future.
It was practically impossible to approach the Terrans without an existing connection. The elitist first-raters disdained anyone that was lesser to them. They even saw the mechers and fleeters as upstarts who just got lucky enough to get the upper hand in this age.
Ves grew more interested in the Aduc Family's connection to the Greater Terran United Confederation. He felt it was important to understand the nature of this bond.
"Let's prepare for a visit to the Aduc fleet. I want to move quickly."
Ves proceeded to prepare and plan for the meeting. He notified Gavin to schedule a meeting. He then held multiple meetings with Calabast and Minister Shederin to determine his diplomatic approach and learn what he needed to pay attention to when he stepped aboard the Aduc Family's flagship.
Fortunately, he did not have to visit the Aducs alone. Ves planned to bring along a small entourage to advise him and handle various responsibilities on his behalf.
A day later, a shuttle escorted by a troupe of mechs departed from the Larkinson fleet and approached another fleet orbiting Davute VII.
The Aduc Family's fleet was not that impressive to Ves, but it stood out by its inclusion of many notable terraforming vessels.
These ships formed the foundation of Gaia Worldcrafting Services.
There were starships that were specialized in adding mass to planets by hauling asteroids to them. There were also other starships that specialized in the removal of large landmasses through various methods.
The fastest and most dramatic way of reducing the size and mass of planets required a huge amount of force, so some of the terraforming ships actually possessed a huge amount of sieging power!
Terraforming companies had to receive special permission from the Big Two to own and operate these dangerous vessels. They also had to impose a lot of safety controls in order to prevent any accidents.
Ves would be lying if he said that he wasn't impressed.
The shuttle he was riding on slowly approached the hangar bay of the largest ship in the Aduc fleet.
The Green Dream was a 4.3 kilometer-long capital ship that possessed an extensive amount of terraforming functions.
The Aducs relied on her a lot whenever they wanted to make localized or regional changes to a planet's ecology!
All of the power of the terraforming ship came at the cost of her survival capabilities.
Even though the Green Dream was a heartland-level capital ship, she was not developed with frontier conditions in mind. Her long and broad hull structure made her so slow and sluggish that she would definitely be a liability in any battle!
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