The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4206

Tristan felt quite a bit of pressure as he finally exchanged words with the renowned patriarch of the Larkinson Clan.

The Ves who he met in the past presented himself in a completely different manner today.

It started with his appearance. While the Ves in the past not only looked and behaved in a casual manner, the Ves in the ceremonial meeting room stood as if he owned the very air that Tristan breathed!

The ornate caped uniform along with the confidence built from achieving incredible successes in multiple domains had transformed Ves into a leader that exuded the demeanor of an actual head of state.

The tone and words adopted by Ves further cemented his dominant position. This was a man that did not forgive past grievances and always maintained his hostility towards the Friday Coalition.

Even Lucky gave him a sense of pressure. The mechanical cat looked as if he was lounging casually in the same room, but the Fridaymen had collected enough intelligence about the cat to know that it was quite formidable in battle!

Tristan needed to respond carefully in order to maintain the hope of holding a fruitful conversation with the resentful patriarch.

"What is done is done." He said carefully. "We cannot undo the mistakes of the past. The only way we can proceed is to look towards the future and make sure that neither of us will continue to make more people suffer regardless of the side that they are on. Let's bury the hatchet. We barely have anything to do with each other anyway. We should agree to keep our weapons cool if we ever bump into each other again. We would also like you to use your influence among the Hexer colonists to ease up on their animosity. If they no longer make use of your mechs to attack our settlements, we can all live in harmony so that we can focus on the other threats of the Red Ocean. Don't you want to provide a safer and more carefree life for your children?"

Ves erupted in laughter. "Hahahaha! What a joke. Is this the sincerity of the Friday Coalition? Do you think it is so easy to forgive all of the Larkinsons that you have killed during the Battle of Reckoning?! If I was in a weaker position, I might be open to your offer, but since this is not the case, I am not inclined to lighten my stance at all. The Friday Coalition is still on my list of targets, and my children will most definitely inherit my hatred. Their mother will make sure of it I think."

The obstinacy shown by Ves made it clear to Tristan that he could not continue to rely on aspirational words to make any meaningful progress. He needed to show a more concrete willingness to achieve reconciliation.

The Fridayman raised his palm. "Please hear me out, patriarch. Our state is willing to make significant reparations to earn your forgiveness."

"What sort of reparations are you talking about?"

"For one, we are ready to transfer back a significant amount of shares in your Living Mech Corporation."

Tristan had started with the biggest and most profound concession that he was allowed to present!

He knew that he needed to start this off on a firmer footing in order to maintain the interest of his counterpart.

Though Ves already expected the Fridayman to put the shares under discussion, he did not expect that Tristan would be that straightforward.

"How much?"

"12 percent." Tristan responded.

That was a lot! With the continued rise of the Living Mech Corporation, the value of owning 12 percent of a booming mech company that was based in the Red Ocean had skyrocketed to an amazing height!

Any sane investor would never be willing to give up so many shares without obtaining a massive prize in return.

It appeared that the Friday Coalition regarded Ves as such an enormous threat to their interests that the state would rather give up a whopping 12 percent of the outstanding shares of the LMC!

"If I recall correctly, that does not encompass all of the shares held by the Friday Coalition. You still owe me 4 percent."

"I have already quoted our bottom line to you." Tristan replied. "Your former Master has generously agreed to put up most of the shares that are in her name, leaving her with 2 percent which we view as a guarantee for our new and more productive relationship with you. Master Toqueman Huron has not agreed to put his own 2 percent stake in the LMC at our disposal. He has already conveyed his desire to continue to hold onto his shares."

That was a weird message if Ves didn't know better. He had already been briefed about the internal divisions within the Friday Coalition.

Master Carmin Olson belonged to the Vermeer Group, which was much more eager to reconcile with Ves.

Master Toqueman Huron belonged to the Gauge Dynasty, which actually had a vested interest in the current status quo.

Ves slowly frowned. "I don't care about guarantees and continued relationships. The shares don't really belong to those Masters and your state to begin with. You guys stole the ownership stakes from the Bright Republic. Either you surrender your stolen goods or else I will put an end to this discussion."

"Don't be in such a hurry to close the door to further talks. My state is also willing to revoke the ban on selling your products in our markets. As long as we sign a new agreement, the Friday Coalition will not only lift this ban, but actively encourage our customers, particularly those who reside in our colonies, to purchase your mechs. There are many groups that have been waiting to purchase the Pacifiers, the Hymenopteras and the other popular models that have won over many fans over the years."

This concession did not impress Ves in the slightest.

"I don't care." He flatly said. "It makes no difference for me whether I can sell my products to your Fridaymen or not. Most of my products are exclusive to the Red Ocean so being able to service the needs of an entire star sector in the old galaxy is not that relevant. As for opening up my mechs for sale to your colonies, that sounds even less attractive to me considering I have serviced many larger customers."

"The Friday Coalition is willing to give your mech company privileged access to our mech markets in the Red Ocean. This might not sound like much at the moment, but you will be able to sell a lot more mechs in our colonial state once it has reached a much more impressive scale in the future. On top of that, we are even willing to talk with you about commissioning specialized mechs from you in order to enrich our military forces."

Now that was a peculiar concession!

"I have armed and empowered the Hex Army for years." Ves said as he raised his eyebrow. "Why would you entrust me with doing the same for your troops?"

"Why not? Although our relationship is not the best, we have seen how much you have managed to strengthen the Hexers and prolong their participation in the Komodo War. We genuinely respect and appreciate your living mechs. We shouldn't have banned them in our space at all. As long as we can start over with a clean slate, we have no objection to allowing you to do the same for our armed forces."

Ves crossed his arms. "All of that sounds interesting and all, but what does that have to do with me? I have no interest in fixing the problems that plague your state." _{freewēbnoveℓ.com}

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