The Mech Touch novel Chapter 5173

"That was... something."

"I can understand the sentiment." Jovy said.

When the opening speeches came to an end, both Ves and Jovy decided to puil back and retire to a nearby restaurant.

Neither of them were particularly hungry, so they just ordered a pot of afternoon tea along with a few snacks.

As their order silently materialized on the delicate crystal table, Ves sank back into the unnaturally soft embrace of his recliner and tried to sort out his rampaging thoughts.

He was not the only person to do so. The restaurant was gradually filling up with groups of Survivalists and associates. They sat around their own tables and started to order a range of drinks ranging from alien fruit juice to heavy spirits.

"I just received a message from Master Goldstein." Jovy spoke after a minute. "He wants us to stop by his office and discuss your agenda."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"There are a few other topics that he wishes to discuss with you, but you will find out soon enough once you meet with him in person."

Ves threw a speculative look at Jovy. He recalled much of what the earlier three speakers had said. Each of their proposals shocked him to the core. The last one was particularly concerning due to how it might cause him to unwittingly get on the wrong side of one of the most powerful mech designers of red humanity!

This entire conference turned into an enormous mine field in his eyes. Ves felt as if a single wrong step might cause him to step onto an explosive and get blown to shreds. He did not know how he could put his mind on presenting his innovations and listening to the bright ideas of other mech designers.

The only piece of good news was that he did not have a say in the decision-making process. The cadre who formed much of the upper hierarchy of the faction received this precious honor.

Given how much power and influence a completely united Survivalist Faction could exert, the collective opinions of a few hundred people may very well decide the future course of all of red humanity!

"How is it going so far?" Ves curiously asked. "You've got connections. I'm sure you have been able to gauge where the wind is blowing."

The RA Senior's expression turned sour. "You overestimate my intelligence gathering capabilities. I do have an extensive network of friends and acquaintances. I can introduce you to a handful of them while we are aboard this ship. Not many of them have a good overview of what is taking place. The few that do are under strict orders not to leak out what they know. I can only make a few inferences based on what little information that I have managed to collect."

"So what are your findings?"

"It is still too early to make any solid judgments, Ves. Opinions can change and many of the voters will not easily reveal their leanings unless they are already in an existing camp. For now, I can only say that the Xenotechnician's Diplomacy Plan and the Fist of Defiance's Deep Strike Plan have each managed to gather a small pool of strong supporters. The former is mostly preferred by the older generations. The Survivalists who are as old as the Xenotechnician prefer to take the plan that is projected to have the highest chance of producing a positive outcome. As far as they are concerned, we need to completely remove the threat of extinction before we have the luxury of taking further action."

That was a sound approach, if also a cowardly one. It made complete sense for the old geezers who survived for several centuries and ideally wished to live longer in order to experience the glory of the Age of Dawn.

To them, red humanity might have to make a lot of concessions in order to cozy up to a few potentially friendly alien races, but as long as that helped to take off the heat, there would always be enough room to make a comeback!

"What about the Deep Strike Plan?"

Jovy smirked. "A lot of mech pilots, mech officers and other Survivalists with a penchant for war prefer to go on the offensive. Many of them have principles and values that make them highly unwilling to make any sort of concessions to the aliens. Even if the odds of winning are not great, they would rather put their all in the fight just so they can produce a miracle that might enable them to reverse the course of the war. However, they are not completely unreasonable. Each of them will obey instructions from above. The greater good of red humanity's survival cannot be imperiled by the reckless actions from a handful of stubborn fools."

Even the Fist of Defiance was willing to abide by the Survivalist Faction's consensus rules. If he could accept this arrangement, then so could his son and all of the other powerful fighters!

"Where does that leave the last plan, Jovy?"

"From what I am hearing, the Unity Plan has attracted the most supporters so far. The Survivalists who find the Diplomacy Plan and the Deep Strike Plan to be equally appalling have started to lean towards the Polymath's proposal for safe harbor, though I am not certain if they strongly believe in her either. It is bold of her to claim that she can single-handedly take control of our society. I am inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt seeing that she is so clever and knowledgeable, but the backlash we will incur from so many corners of our civilization will not be light."

The Terrans, the Rubarthans and many other groups would probably be pissed if the Polymath took away their autonomy, their pride, their heritage and their culture!

While a lot of people would undoubtedly acknowledge that the Polymath might have a good point about the need for people to cooperate more efficiently with each other, that would not take away the fact that the Survivalist Faction would probably become the most hated group in human space!

In the past, the Mech Trade Association had always tried its best to present itself in a benevolent and fairly unobtrusive light. This was a deliberate strategy meant to prevent people from regarding the powerful organization as a tyrannical authority.

What the Polymath was trying to push would completely upend this strategy!

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