The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4727

4727 /7079

In the end, Ves and the other leaders of the Larkinson Clan had come to a consensus on the Davute issue.

The Davute Branch was about to become a more engaged supporter of the Davute Project.

The news came as a huge surprise to a lot of clansmen!

A torrent of discussions ensued as many clansmen became more interested in joining the side branch that previously held a marginal status in the clan.

The prospect of earning greater status, respect and prosperity in the Davute Branch if its armed forces performed well in the upcoming war produced a lot of transfer applications.

Tens of thousands of clansmen who were previously assigned to the main fleet had chosen to take up permanent residency in Davute!

Many of them had also volunteered to take up positions on the brand-new Davutan fleet carriers and combat carriers that the colonial state had promised to provide to Ark Larkinson's future command!

The sheer scale of personnel transfers messed up a lot of roster and generated a lot of extra work for managers.

Fortunately, the Larkinson Clan was already numerous and professional enough to handle these disruptions without producing any significant delays.

The overwhelming majority of personnel were easily replaceable. No matter how many starship engineers, mech officers, mech pilots, mech technicians and low-ranking mech designers transferred to the Davute Branch or registered to join Ark Larkinson's future command, each of them could easily be replaced once they had left the fleet.

The clan's recruiters had become a lot busier once again as they lowered their standards and acted more proactively in order to increase the intake of new Larkinsons.

The rapid growth of the clan along with its recent successes made recruiting a breeze. As long as the recruiters weren't too picky, they could easily make up for the shortfalls in a matter of weeks rather than months.

As all of these movements took place, Minister Shederin Purnesse and his negotiation teams held multiple talks with their Davutan counterparts.

Any major agreements with regards to the military service of Ark Larkinson and his fellow Larkinsons mainly pertained to the Davute Branch. This was a term that Ves and several other important Larkinsons insisted upon.

This would allow Ves to maintain the polite fiction that he and his fleet were not officially enemies of Karlach.

Though Ves couldn't care less about his relations with a single colonial state, he wanted to make sure to set a precedent and preserve his clan's ability to trade with many different trading partners in the future.

For now, there was no need for him to step forward and talk to that smug bastard President Yenames Clive again for the time being. The two sides needed to hash out an extensive agreement that spelled out all of the necessary terms in great detail.

If the Larkinson Clan was about to go in bed with a colonial state that already showed a penchant for scheming against others, it was best to err on the side of caution!

Given the amount of progress the negotiators from both sides were making, the final contract should hopefully be finalized just before the much-anticipated founding ceremony commenced.

If they were lucky enough, mechs and soldiers of the Larkinson Clan may even play a small but active role in this historic ceremony!

This produced a sense of urgency among many Larkinsons, including the expert pilots that the clan treated as strategic assets.

Inside a hangar bay built into the expansive underground complex below the Cat Nest, they had all decided to gather in order to exchange their opinions.

"So what do you think about Ark's invitation, Jannzi?" Venerable Joshua asked as he sat down on a chair in front of his Everchanger.

"Not interested." Jannzi stoically said as she crossed her arms. "I can understand what Ark is yearning for, but to be frank he is going to lead us into a bloodbath that is just as worse as Ves' expeditions. Whether we go out and fight against human mechs or alien warships, the results will always be the same. A lot of good Larkinsons will get killed in order to fuel the ambitions of others. In this case, it won't be Ves' goals we are advancing, but that of my good uncle."

Venerable Rosa Orfan slapped her palm against her leg. "Show some more respect, Jannzi! A long time ago, everyone including me looked up to Colonel Ark Larkinson. He was one the bright spots of the Mech Corps. Those times may be over now, but I have no doubt at all that he will become a hero once again in this new war. Who knows, he may even become the first native Larkinson ace pilot. Soon, we will all be looking up to him again like old times!"

Most of the adopted Larkinsons did not know much about Ark Larkinson until recently. Few of them originated from the Bright Republic so they did not hold any prior awareness of one of the most famed expert pilots and mech officers produced by the original Larkinson Family.

It was therefore jarring to hear that Venerable Jannzi Larkinson expressed disdain towards her blood relative!

"I swear there is something about this clan that is making so many people crazy for battle. I had a good talk with Melinda recently. Ark always disapproved of senseless fighting prior to arriving here and linking up with the Davute Branch. Yet now that he and the members of the old family have been in contact with our clansmen for over a month, the Larkinson who was supposed to be the most responsible among us has decided to pull off another Ves but on his own terms!"

"Who the hell asked for your opinion? You can't even fight anymore until Ves completes your new expert mech." Venerable Vincent Ricklin gave Jannzi a sour look. "Ark is a real man! He's the real deal and it will be great to fight under his command! Not that there's anything wrong with staying in the fleet, but I haven't been able to punch anything good with my C-Man lately. Those aliens aren't fun to fight against when you pilot a melee mech like I do. I think I have much better hope of finding good old-fashioned enemy expert mechs if I jump into this war."