The Mech Touch

After using the bright presidentʼs authority to pry the truth out of Venerable Ghansoʼs lips, Ark and Benjamin Larkinson passed what they learned to a select few people.

Some of the Larkinsons and many high officials slowly learned the truth of what had happened!

To say they were all angry was an understatement! They were furious! The Cavendish and Ramzas Families boldly plotted against a war hero!

If their plans had worked, not only would they gain the appreciation of the Friday Coalition, but also be able to take credit for securing the help of a powerful second-class mercenary corps!

As for sacrificing Ves, neither of these two founding families cared about him! As long as he was sent away, then the Tovar Family would lose a popular ally who would only grow more powerful in the future!

Once the relevant people learned the truth, the Cavendishes and the Ramzas had no choice but to bow down their heads! If not for the Sand War pushing the Bright Republic to the brink, perhaps the other factions would have torn them down already!

Right now, the state needed every help it could get! The founding families who hatched this scheme knew this as well, and quickly offered many current and future concessions to placate their opposition!

Now, all of these benefits were moot. With the exposure of their sordid dealings, the conspirators lost a huge amount of respect! Once the war was over and the Bright Republic still remained standing, the balance of power would definitely shift!

The Bright Republic quickly calmed down. Everyone in the know kept the explosive news to themselves. No one wanted to damage the soul of the Bright Republic any further!

With both Benjamin and Ark taking charge, the outrage within their family dimmed.

They soon published a statement that informed the public that Ves Larkinson was safe but in hiding.

While this didnʼt satisfy everyone, now that the Larkinsons appeared pleased, the crisis appeared to be resolved.

Only a handful of Larkinson elders knew the truth. They kept every other Larkinson in the dark because the chance that one of them would leak the truth was too great!

While all of this was taking place, the LMC and the other organizations founded by Ves were left to fend without their leader.

Ves was the LMC, and the LMC was Ves. His absence completely tore out the heart of his company! Without his design capabilities, the remaining mech designers could never come close to designing a mech that was even close to his illustrious products!

Fortunately, the people that Ves entrusted with running his organizations quickly managed to quell the unrest and stabilize the situation.

Both Calsie Doornbos and Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson worked together to prevent the chaos from damaging the LMC.

Commander Melkor took charge of both the Avatars and Myth and the Living Sentinels. Though Ghanso inflicted great losses on their mechs, he coordinated with the LMC to bring new life to the fallen mechs!

A huge operation commenced. The Mech Nursery resumed production as the workers tried their best to fix the more intact wrecks.

As for the more damaged components, the LMC dispatched them to a local recycling company to break them down and retrieve their base materials.

Through these efforts, the Avatars and Sentinels would definitely be able to restore about eighty percent of what they lost over a couple of months!

Surprisingly little opposition emerged. While there were plenty of opinions flying around, the current leaders were firmly in charge due to the contingency plans that Ves prepared beforehand!

As a paranoid individual, Ves had long considered what might happen in the event something might happen to him. He never took his safety and freedom for granted!

Therefore, upon his abrupt departure, every leader who Ves had delegated his responsibilities to received a set of instructions and a list of priorities they should fulfill.

In addition, they also received clear mandates to do what was necessary to follow his instructions!

Calsie officially became Vesʼ agent once again. She gained the right to exercise the power bestowed by his 49 percent ownership in the company!

Combined with Benjamin Larkinson, who took charge of the 25 percent stake in the company, they held absolute power to decide its future!

However, some of the contingency plans prepared by Ves were very controversial!

Neither Calsie nor Benjamin dared to enact them straight away!

For this reason, a gathering between every important stakeholder of the LMC commenced a week after Ves was taken away.

The conference room filled up as some people attended the pivotal meeting in person while others showed up in the form of projections.

All of the shareholders were present. Aside from Calsie and Benjamin, Marcella Bollinger with her 5 percent stake and Leland Toll on behalf of Flashlightʼs 21 percent ownership attended the gathering as well.

Commander Melkor Larkinson stood up for the Avatars of Myth. Commander Magdalena Larkinson gained permission from the Mech Corps to set aside some time to take part as well on behalf of the Living Sentinels.

Calsie tried to reach out to Commander Cinnabar of the Battle Criers, but none of them were accessible at this point of time. Who knew what kind of mission Ves had given them! The rest could only hope that the Battle Criers would not object to any decisions they made today.

While Director Clinton Larkinson only represented the Ves Larkinson Foundation for Wounded Veterans, his valor during the confrontation against Ghanso earned him a lot of respect!

Miles Tovar attended on behalf of both the design team and the Tovar Family.

Ketis appeared as well as a student and confidante of Ves, though she looked as if she would rather be elsewhere!

In truth, the only reason she agreed to attend the meeting was because Calabast reached out to her! It was not proper for Calabast to attend this meeting herself, so she passed some instructions to Ketis to make sure the meeting did not produce any unwelcome outcomes!

Dr. Lupo Guernica showed up as well, though like Ketis, he looked anything but comfortable. The Larkinson Exobiology Institute was by far the smallest organization under Ves, and many people attending this meeting hadnʼt even heard of its existence!

Colonel Ark Larkinson showed up via projection as well! His appearance surprised many people as most expected him to be occupied with the war. He represented a portion of the Larkinson Family, particularly the old guard who valued tradition.

There was no way that anyone present would allow Venerable Ghanso Larkinson to attend this meeting! He was currently the biggest black sheep of the family!

Of all of the people who showed up, none of them could ignore the presence of the only person who was qualified to be described as Ves Larkinsonʼs equal!

While Gloriana Wodin owned no shares in the LMC, she absolutely deserved to have a say. Ves officially designated her as a lead designer of his mech company! When Ves was absent, she was the sole lead designer in charge!

As a contributing mech designer to the Desolate Soldier and every other recent mech released by the LMC, she deserved much of the credit for their design!

Of course, no one could possibly forget that she was Ves Larkinsonʼs girlfriend and partner! It would be bad if she agreed with any of the decisions made during the meeting. As a prominent Hexer, she could exert a lot of influence if she wanted!

Everyone looked solemn as the conference room filled up.

No matter if they were present by remote or in the flesh, everyone felt the weight of this gathering!

”Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for answering our call and attending this meeting.” Calsie spoke. Though she felt slightly nervous, her years of experience as the caretaker of the LMC had long turned her into a capable speaker. ”Everyone here is doubtlessly aware of the current state of the LMC and its affiliated organizations. We have done our best to prevent this crisis from impacting us any further. Weʼve succeeded in that. Now, we must look to the future and decide where to go from here.”

”Ves left behind some contingency plans in case anything happened to him.” Raymond continued. ”However, these plans do not fully fit the current circumstances. While he planned for the eventuality that the Bright Republic would turn on him for some reason, he never expected it to happen quite this way!”

Benjamin swept his gaze at everyone present. ”At present, we have taken care of the LMC, the Avatars, the Sentinels and all of the assets owned by my grandson. Our overarching goal is to preserve everything that Ves has built! Not only him, but also our Larkinson Family depends on how much we can retain!”

”Whatʼs the matter?” Gloriana frowned. Though she was one of the most important people in the gathering, Ves hadnʼt included her in any of the contingency planning. ”What has Ves decided?”

”Let me cut to the chase.” Benjamin said. ”In the event that the government has broken our trust, Ves has ordered us to relocate the LMC and everything else to a different state!”

Though some of the higher ups already knew about this instruction, it still came as a shock to most people!

Not everyone imagined that Ves would have prepared such an instruction! It said something about him that he foresaw a possible need to leave the Bright Republic!

Many peopleʼs faces grew pensive. The decision to abandon their foundation in the Bright Republic and move to another state was incredibly disruptive!

The Larkinsons like Clinton and Ark took it especially hard! They committed their lives to the Bright Republic! How could they possibly imagine leaving their home state?

Benjamin understood their consternation. ”Mind you, these instructions only concern the LMC and his other organizations. He hadnʼt said anything about our family. The future of the Larkinson Family is not on the agenda.”

”Isnʼt it?” Clinton retorted. ”You are in control of a quarter of the LMC, Benjamin. That means our family will certainly be affected by the decision to relocate the LMC!”

”You know what I mean. Letʼs get back to the topic. Since Ves decided to relocate his organizations, we need to make a decision where they should settle next!”

”I can pull some strings to bring you to the Hegemony if you like.” Gloriana chirped. ”While the LMC is rather shabby by our standards, Ves will doubtlessly be pleased to establish a foundation in a second-rate state!”

”No!”

”NOO!”

”Absolutely not!”

”I donʼt agree!”

”NEVER!”

Despite her clout, almost no one agreed with Gloriana! The gathering immediately shot down the suggestion to relocate to the Hexadric Hegemony!

”Ves has already made a decision in this regard.” Benjamin regained control over the discussion. ”He offered us a list of suggestions. According to his criteria, only one destination stands out. No other alternative is as fitting as his first choice!”

Commander Melkor chuckled. ”Let me guess. He wants to move his stuff to the Ylvaine Protectorate, is that right?”

This did not come as a big surprise. No other state was as favorable to Ves and the LMC than the Protectorate! In fact, the Ylvainans thought much more highly of Ves than the citizens of the Bright Republic!

Yet even if they knew that this decision was the clear favorite, very few felt comfortable with this choice!

Otherwise, Benjamin and Calsie wouldnʼt have convened this gathering!

A heated discussion soon ensued. Some of the people such as Clinton and Larkinson were deeply reluctant to see the LMC go. While they were indignant at what happened to Ves, they blamed the conspirators instead of the state as a whole.

Why should the Bright Republic be blamed for the actions of a couple of factions?

Others fully agreed with the decision to decouple the LMC from the Bright Republic! Ketis spoke up strongly in favor of this plan, as did Gloriana!

She detested the Bright Republic for tearing Ves away from her side! She regretted that she hadnʼt been able to protect her boyfriend during the previous incident!