The Mech Touch novel Chapter 5598

Chapter 5598 Ves the Big Mouth

Even though Ves knew that Micky Tarukan deliberately sought to manipulate him by exposing the true origins of the Larkinson Ancestor, it worked.

Ves inexplicably developed a stronger connection with the Rubarthans.

There was little rational basis for this connection. The New Rubarth Empire had produced a huge amount of exiles over the ages.

Few if any of them ever managed to return to where they came from, so it was generally understood that they could no longer call themselves Rubarthans from the moment they crossed the border.

To Ves, whatever drama and controversy his distant ancestor got caught up in was completely irrelevant to the Larkinsons who lived in the present day.

However, just knowing that his ancestor used to be a rather prominent and powerful mech pilot in the New Rubarth Empire caused him to be filled with a bit of pride.

The Larkinsons came from good stock.

Ves couldn't wonder what would have happened if the Larkinson Ancestor did not become implicated in the power struggle that caused the death of his patron.

Would the Larkinson Family be able to thrive in the New Rubarth Empire?

Would the Larkinsons find a way to excel in a much more competitive environment and rise up the ranks?

Would the family produce an oddball mech designer like Ves one day?

No one could say for sure. History took a very different turn at the time that completely closed off all of these possibilities.

Though Ves was ready to move on from this topic, he still wanted to obtain one more answer.

"What is the name of the military family that my father served?"

The chief executive smiled. He already anticipated that Ves would ask this question.

"Your father used to be a proud retainer of the old and long-established Moses-Sinclair Family. It has a long tradition of serving in our navy, but after the Big Two came to power and deprived our Empire of the right to field starships, the military family hastily embraced mechs. With that comes a need to find mech pilots who possess the right qualifications and training to pilot all of the newfangled machines. Fielding automated battle bots in Rubarthan space is an exceptionally poor idea as we have many technologies that can subvert them in seconds."

"So that is why the Larkinson Ancestor couldn't escape the fate of getting drafted?"

"Correct, professor. The scarcity of potentates with high genetic aptitudes has caused the Moses-Sinclairs to cast a wide net and conscript large quantities of young talents of civilian origins. Many different Rubarthan parties have done the same. Mech pilots used to be especially scarce in a time where many disarmed groups urgently needed to rebuild their armed forces in order to defend their interests during a time of transition. In my opinion, the Moses-Sinclair Family treated your father much better than many other employers at the time. I believe that it would have only been a matter of time before he married into their ranks due to his talent and contributions."

"You mean they are greedy to integrate his genes in the family bloodline." Ves made a clever guess.

"Our understanding of genetic aptitude was much more superficial during the early years of the Age of Mechs. The people who became introduced to mechs assumed that the ability to pilot mechs was much more dependent on good genetics than hard work. The reality has proved that the opposite is the case, but it has taken several generations before that has become clear."

Ves knew his history well enough to know that this was the case. He felt a bit more mixed about the Rubarthans when he thought that his distant ancestor had come close to integrating himself in a long-established Rubarthan military lineage.

Thinking about all of these what-ifs was fun and all, but that did not mean that Ves had suddenly reinvigorated his Rubarthan heritage.

He could play the same game with the Terrans. If he looked far enough back in history, the Larkinsons used to be citizens of the great Terran Empire. Every human could ultimately trace their heritage back to Old Earth.

No matter whether he traced his heritage back a few hundred years or a few thousand years, he no longer saw any meaningful distinction between the two. The Rubarthans should be just as foreign to him as the Terrans.

"Let's get back to business." Ves spoke as he just received a quiet transmission from Gavin. "My advisors have just mulled over the exclusivity deal that you have proposed. We are intrigued by the offer to take care of all of the Larkinson Clan's business in the Rubarthan Pact under the condition of exclusivity, but this is too heavy of a commitment for us to embrace right away. Deals like these are usually struck among parties that have already cooperated with each other for years."

Tarukan did not look too surprised at this response. "That is normally the case, but we are living under exceptional circumstances. The Age of Dawn has just begun and the introduction of the Hyper Generation has phased out many old mech models. Change has become a necessity and only those who can keep up with the rapid pace of progress can stand in the end. Isthmus Manufacturing has survived many generational shifts and understands best that the stars of yesterday may not shine as brightly the next day. We are constantly paying attention to the rise of the next stars, and you are particularly promising for multiple reasons. It is entirely plausible for us to skip all of the unnecessary steps and cooperate earnestly as soon as possible. Both of us enjoy a high reputation in the business community, so there is little reason to mistrust each other."

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