The Mech Touch

Ves stared at his empty desk terminal in astonishment.

He knew that what he was doing would not escape the Mech Corps or Spotlight. Eventually, they would find out about his attempt to address the Larkinson Family.

Even though it wasn't very obvious how he could extricate himself from this current situation, it was bound to be bad for the people targeting him! Overriding the broadcast through the backdoors in the planetary communication network was trivially easy to his enemies!

Unfortunately for them, Ves already anticipated this problem.

A vicious grin appeared on his face as he made a small internal call. At the very least, the internal network of the LMC was fully intact! Few spies or saboteurs were in place that could mess with this network because Ves had already cleaned most of them out during the mass firing spree a few months ago!

"Mr. Larkinson." Crindon greeted.

"Please assist me in maintaining my upcoming transmission. The forces targeting me have shut me out of the network, but we both know that's not enough."

"I will do my best to monitor our network for any attacks."

After he finished notifying Crindon, he turned to Lucky.

"Meow?"

"You know what to do. Let me use your CFA protocols to override the overrides of the Mech Corps. Heh, do they really think they control their own networks? No backdoor under their control can trump that of the Big Two!"

Ever since Lucky gobbled up his CFA officer comm, he somehow inherited some of its functions.

What was even better was that Lucky possessed the most up-to-date protocols, which was fully usable on any modern communication equipment, especially the quantum entanglement nodes regulated by the Comm Consortium!

He had already taken advantage of the CFA's backdoors before, and knew how pivotal it could be. Ves always refrained from using it again. He treated it as a trump card that should only be employed when he had no other choice, just like the Amastendira!

Ves was afraid that the CFA would get wind of his use of this backdoor. He was very certain that its uses had been logged in some CFA database.

However, the CFA performed countless actions every day. As long as Ves wasn't too blatant about his misuse of their protocols, he could probably avoid triggering some alarms.

After issuing some instructions to Lucky, his desk terminal lit up again. The interrupted broadcast suddenly resumed as if it only experienced a momentary glitch!

This time, his broadcast directed off-planet routed through the Barracuda's quantum entanglement node. Since his ship was fully under his control, there was no way his opponents could block his broadcast!

Different from last time, the projection of Ghanso Larkinson in his cockpit appeared at the side. Obviously, Ghanso hijacked the broadcast in an attempt to undo the damage that Ves had done!

"Are you surprised, Venerable Ghanso?" Ves spoke lightly. He had already wiped the unsightly grin off his face in order to leave a better impression on his audience. "If I was an ordinary person, you would have gotten away with your attempt to silence me. Don't you think it's rude to cut me off so you can hoodwink our family with your misguided beliefs?"

Anger and resentment simmered in Ghanso. Since he was an expert pilot, he always exposed his emotions. It was too easy for Ves to manipulate his opposing cousin's emotions.

In contrast, Ves maintained a calm facade that exuded dignity, superiority and confidence. His connection with Solemn Guardian constantly made him come across as righteous!

If Ghanso was aware of how bad he looked, he didn't show it. Expert pilots possessed too much confidence in themselves to engage in deception or duplicity unless their force of will was crooked from the start!

As a tradition-bound Larkinson, it was impossible for Ghanso to center his will around deception. His will exuded strength and aggression that was somewhat similar to that of Venerable Foster's will!

This only gave Ves more confidence in this confrontation. He knew how expert pilots like Venerable Foster worked. Dealing with the known was far better than dealing with the unknown!

"You are blowing this situation way out of proportion, Ves." Ghanso hissed. "I am acting under legal and valid orders to escort you to a safer location. In no way is there a conspiracy at foot that seeks to silence or imprison you! The higher ups merely want to keep you safe so that you can keep contributing to the war effort in complete safety!"

Ves shook his head. "What an awful lie. You are tarnishing the dignity of expert pilots by parroting the excuses of a political enemy of ours. First, those orders you are acting upon represent the will of a single general instead of high command! Just because General Cavendish managed to confuse the headquarters of the Mech Corps doesn't mean his orders are right! As long as the other generals have their say, I am confident that your orders will be rescinded!"

"If that is the case, you have nothing to fear! You have no right to resist authority! You should just allow us to do our jobs and wait for a resolution." Ghanso huffed. "Instead of doing that, you would rather resist the state! Not only do you refuse to surrender to authority, you are also trying to drag in innocent Larkinsons who have nothing to do with your misgivings towards the Republic!"

Ves wanted to laugh. "Did you not hear what I said earlier? I admit that I have misgivings towards at least some of the factions that are in power. I also admit that I want to involve every Larkinson. Is that wrong? I am merely doing what you have never done, which is stand up against the Republic's exploitation of our family! I think we deserve better than being treated as slaves! All that is wrong right now is that you have decided to stand in the way to perpetuate our thankless service!"

"Thankless? Absurd! We are a family of soldiers! Helping the Bright Republic exist and prosper by fighting its enemies should be enough of a reward! You say that we have never been properly remunerated for our services, but that is completely wrong! The personal glory that our mech pilots have earned is enough to give them opportunities after they have done their duty! Do you think your own grandfather Benjamin could have become an influential advisor at the Ministry of Defense if he was a nobody?! We Larkinsons are better off than 99 percent of Brighters!"

More and more Larkinsons heard about what was going on and started to tune in to the family broadcast. Over a thousand Larkinsons listened closely to what the two most prominent Larkinsons of the younger generation had to say about their future!

"We have fought and sacrificed far more than to lead slightly more comfortable lives than average Brighters." Ves retorted. "How many expert pilots did we provide to the Bright Republic? At least two in every generation! We have supplied so many expert pilots and so much more normal mech pilots that we have done more than enough duty to cross out any obligations we have towards our state!"

"You are talking about breaking off our Larkinson Family when our Republic is in the middle of a war! I can think of nothing more disgraceful than to cease supporting those in need when they need it the most! We are serving the Bright Republic in order to protect its citizens, not its higher ups! You have forgotten what it means to serve. Our duty is not to the powers of the state, but the people who depend on its institutions!"

"As I have already stated, I do not mean to pull our support for the Bright Republic during this war. I have already done more than enough to prop them up and I will surely be able to do it again in the coming weeks as long as I stay free and in control of my work! What you are trying to do is nothing less than sabotaging the introduction of my latest mech design, one that is definitely more decisive and impactful than my Desolate Soldiers!"

"Are you talking about that marksman mech your company has tested in orbit? That machine is too ordinary to be able to swing the war!" Ghanso sneered.

Ves found it interesting that Ghanso was aware of his Deliverer. Obviously, the information he received wasn't very complete. Either that or he simply didn't believe in the more outlandish claims surrounding the Deliverer.

"Venerable Ghanso. I have already done the impossible once by releasing the Desolate Soldier. I am definitely capable of doing it again! My upcoming mech design will single-handedly save the Bright Republic! You can bet on that!"

"Whatever the case, you can 'save the Republic' when you are safe in Rittersberg!"

"Again with the kidnapping! Why are you so eager to take me away? Don't think I am ignorant of what will happen once I fall into your hands. Your combat carriers will quickly shut off all communications in the name of operational security and travel straight to Rittersberg without any interruption! By the time you've arrived, it's too late for you to receive the revised instructions that countermand General Cavendish orders!"

"Do you think we are bandits, Ves? I am a soldier! Even if I think you are a cancer to the Larkinson Family, I am committed to following the rules and regulations of the Mech Corps! I can hardly believe you served in the Mech Corps as well if you think our men and women are allowed to pursue our personal interests over the military's interests! It doesn't surprise me that you are willing to upend centuries of tradition and seize absolute power over our family! Only a selfish, greedy and immoral individual will do something like that! You are not a true Larkinson!"

"If being a 'true Larkinson' means becoming a selfless drone who automatically enlists in the Mech Corps because that is what tradition is compelling them, then I would rather be different! Your vision of the family is absolutely thankless and will never benefit the family in any way! In order to change our direction, it is better to allow someone with the courage to buck the old ways to be in charge!"

"What you plan to do is no less than usurping power in order to corrupt our family! Our heritage built over four centuries of sacrifice will be tainted in your hands! All of the honor and reputation that we have painstakingly built through continued service will become a thing of the past! All future Larkinsons will lose what their predecessors have fought so hard to secure for their offspring!"

"Is it wrong to be a little selfish? If you had your way, our Larkinsons would continue to be selfless to the point of paying everything we have. I don't think this is the right way for our family anymore."

"What you are trying to do is nothing less than to destroy our family and replace it with a different one that is unworthy of the Larkinson name!"

Ves dramatically released a sigh. "We can argue this over and over, Ghanso, but you're only stalling for time so that your combat carrier can get close enough to kidnap me in order to suppress your own family! I won't let you have your way! Instead, I propose we allow our family members to decide who is right!"

"We are not in a steering committee meeting right now! You have no right to call a vote!"

"Unlike you, I value our family members over our harmful traditions! Let them have a voice! To any Larkinson who is listening in on us, please issue your votes in the upcoming prompt. Do you believe the Larkinson Family should continue to bow its head in service to the Mech Corps in perpetuity, or do you believe we can rise to greatness with the help of the prosperity that I am providing to you all? Vote for what is best for the family, not for a state that we don't owe anything anymore!"

Ghanso looked livid! "VES! Don't you dare do this! Your actions are too divisive! You'll tear our Larkinson Family apart!"

After Ves inputted some commands on his terminal, every Larkinson tuning into the broadcast was presented with a choice!

Would they agree to stick to tradition?

Were they willing to allow Ves to take charge and lead their family in a new direction?

This choice directly put the Larkinson Family at a crossroads!