Chapter 4212 Farewell Davute
Tristan's depression and war weariness did not prevent him from continuing to act as a conduit between Ves and his backers.
When the man was not complaining about the death and destruction that his actions may have put into motion, he dutifully relayed the words of the weaker coalition partners to Ves and the Hexers.
Even though it might have been more convenient for the Carnegies and Vermeers to negotiate directly with the Hexers, it was impossible for this to happen.
The two sides were still enemies!
Not only that, it was incredibly taboo for the Fridaymen to openly plot for the downfall of one of its coalition partners!
By continuing to communicate through Tristan, the damage of exposure would be kept at a minimum. At most, a single Fridayman mech designer along with a few unimportant diplomats would take the fall for the scandal.
Tristan had become more cognizant about this truth as of late, which caused him to become even more disillusioned about the entire situation.
Since Tristan frequently passed on information and received instructions from his current employers, he possessed a more thorough understanding of all of the preparations being made.
The Hexers were moving into action. The Golden Skull Alliance was about to dispatch its formidable main fleet. The weaker coalition partners had made many assurances that their own mech forces were staying put throughout this sensitive period.
The latter was especially important to Ves and many other careful people. They still could not fully shake the possibility that this was all a giant trap that was ultimately aimed at the Hexer raiders who had been causing a lot of misery to the Fridayman colonies.
In order for the Carnegie Group and the Vermeer Group to demonstrate their sincerity, the Hexers requested information that confirmed that no friendly forces would be ready to reinforce the targeted star systems.
This was not a difficult request to meet because the territories of the Fridayman colonies were relatively sparse and underdeveloped. There was quite a bit of distance between each major colony, which meant it would be too late to reinforce the Gaugers if no one moved beforehand.
Of course, the Hexers weren't satisfied with this guarantee alone. They also wanted complete information on the movement of ships through the territory of the Friday Colonies for the past few years as well as permission to actively monitor the borders in case foreign fleets were lingering in the vicinity.
These were all heavy demands that essentially forced the Friday Colonies to expose a lot of information to the Hex Federation.
Unfortunately for the people behind Tristan, the Hexers were well aware that they held the initiative in the negotiations.
If the Hexers refused to attack the holdings of the Gauge Dynasty, then the internal situation of the Friday Coalition will continue to deteriorate!
Both Ves and Tristan became quite surprised at how extensively the Carnegies and the Vermeers accommodated the unreasonable demands of the Hexers.
The Fridaymen who had schemed against the Gauge Dynasty thoroughly proved their willingness to uphold their end of the deal and stay away from any major battles that might ensue.
Minister Shederin Purnesse easily figured out why the weaker coalition partners were not eager to compromise the deal or pull off any shenanigans.
"They're afraid, Ves. The Carnegie Group, the Vermeer Group, the Vanguard Group and the Puffer Clan have all built their own costly settlements in the neighborhood. Who knows whether the massive Hexer assault army decides to take a detour and attack one of those colonies instead? They are all weaker and more vulnerable than the core colonies of the Gauge Dynasty! If I was in their place, I would do everything to fortify my own defenses. There are no mechs to spare for ambushes and delayed reinforcement actions."
"Ah. That makes sense."
"I suggest that you should emphasize the inherent instability and impulsiveness of Hexer decision-making in your next meeting with Tristan. It is already enough if you are subtle about it. We just need to raise enough of a probability that their worst fears might come true to put enough fright in their hearts."
"Hehe. That sounds fun. I'll be sure to do so. Since our fleet will be taking part in this assault as well, it is in our best interest to cow the Fridaymen into staying put."
As all of this was taking place, the Golden Skull Alliance slowly completed all of its preparations.
The Cat Nest and the Cross Production Complex became a lot less lively as hundreds of thousands of Larkinsons and Crossers had fully relocated to the allied fleet in orbit!
Despite the large outflow of personnel and mechs, the Cat Nest was still able to maintain normal activity.
The clan had put a lot of effort into filling up the Davute Branch. A lot of mech pilots who had either chosen to retire from the main fleet or possessed lesser qualifications had chosen to serve in the local garrison and defense force.
The branch's defense force was already capable of deploying 10,000 mechs in battle, and that figure would soon rise to 15,000 mechs by the end of the year.
Those numbers sounded quite impressive, but the truth was that most of those mechs were mid-range machines that were simpler and cheaper to design, build and maintain. free𝑤ebnovel.com
That was enough. The amount of mechs patrolling the Cat Nest and manning the defensive stations had not dropped at all, which showed that the Davute Branch was more than capable of defending the valuable site.
Ves met with Branch Director Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson one last time.
"I'm not sure whether our fleet will return to Davute after we have completed our assault on Pima Prime." Ves said. "If the damage that we have suffered is limited, then we will probably head straight in the direction of the deep frontier. This means that it will probably take numerous years before we can reunite in person."
The rejuvenated Raymond nodded in understanding. "The Davute Branch will not give you cause for concern. You have provided more than enough for us to take care of ourselves. We will do our best to serve as the custodians to all of your investments and business holdings on Davute VII."
"That is good to hear. Take care, and make sure to remind everyone that they are members of the Larkinson Clan and not just the Davute Branch."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Mech Touch