The Mech Touch

This was not entirely fair. There were plenty of proper, well-run clans and families that put a much tighter rein on their younger generation of members, particularly when they were groomed for future leadership positions.

However, there were always more descendants than a clan could support to the highest standards.

Resources were limited and they needed to be spent in the most rational and optimal fashion as possible to ensure the stability and continuation of a clan.

Many different factors determined how well and how strictly the clan raised a child. The status of the parents, the designer baby formula, the early cognitive performance parameters and networking ability all played a role in the most important decisions of an offspring\'s future life.

From that perspective, it became clear to Ves that Axelar Streon had not been a particularly important descendant. His initial position in the Streon Clan was rather marginal, which meant that neither his parents nor the clan administration as a whole demanded much of him. It would be nice if he became accomplished in his life, but it was fine if he amounted to nothing.

Now that Ves was able to talk to Pearian and study his spirituality up close, he understood that Pearian was not as decadent, clueless and devoid of intelligence as Axelar back in the day.

Pearian likely held a slightly more important status among the Yorul-Taviks. Otherwise, the clan wouldn\'t have issued such a high-profile request for his return.

The thirty-ish year old man was not a core descendant, however. He wouldn\'t have been allowed to become a pioneer and start a foolhardy plan to gallivate across the new frontier if that was the case.

His actual status sat somewhere in between. He was important enough to provide him with better and more attentive education, but he lacked the qualification to become a part of the core hierarchy of his clan.

It made more sense now why Pearian was so eager to make such a radical change in his life.

His position in his clan wasn\'t bad per se, but it must be suffocating for him to know that unless he delivered such an excellent performance that he could beat almost all of his peers, he would never be able to gain the appreciation of the bigwigs.

At least a pioneer was able to build a little empire of his own that was only tragically connected to the Yorul-Tavik Clan.

Whatever intentions Lord Pearian originally possessed, all of those hopes and dreams had come crashing down after losing pretty much his entire pioneering fleet and all of the resources invested into its formation.

The amount of MTA credits, MTA merits, first-class resources, first-class manpower, first-class starships, first-class mechs and other incredibly expensive items that had gone down the drain was unimaginable!

Perhaps the Yorul-Tavik Clan was large and wealthy enough to absorb this loss, but that didn\'t mean that its leaders and elders would be happy at getting zero returns on their investment!

If he was in their position, he would have decided to leave Pearian for dead and never bother to issue a reward for his return!

However, that did not happen. The clan exhibited unusually merciful and forgiving behavior towards a numbskull that had already proven his ability to screw up in a catastrophic manner. Who would ever want to put him in an important position in his clan again?

Ves was likely missing an important piece of the puzzle. Though he had read the intelligence that the Black Cats gathered on Lord Pearian Yorul-Tavik multiple times, none of it mentioned anything remarkable.

He was neither the illegitimate lovechild of the clan patriarch nor possessed golden genes that granted him the ability to infer future events based on sporadic data.

This made it difficult for Ves to figure out how much of a voice that Pearian possessed in the clan. Would he become significant enough to encourage his Yorul-Taviks to invest into a relationship with the Larkinson Clan?

This was an important question and one that would sadly remained unanswered.

Though Ves could have asked for clarification from Lord Pearian, it was not wise to do as it would make their relationship too transactional.

No matter what, Ves did not want to establish a one-off transaction with the Yorul-Taviks that would end as soon as the latter paid off their perceived debts.

What Ves truly wanted was to establish a long-term and enduring friendship with a reliable and grateful group of first-raters!

He was sure that Pearian was aware of what Ves wanted. This shouldn\'t be the first time that the first-class scion became the target of an influencing campaign.

However, the Larkinsons had risked much and went above and beyond to save the poor fellow, so it was much more acceptable to build bridges this time.

Ves had also done his best to paint his clan in the best possible light without going overboard. Once Lord Pearian returned to his clan, he should at least develop a much better evaluation of second-raters and the Larkinsons in particular.

"When… will you bring me to my clan?" Pearian wearily asked. "Can you give me access to a comm so that I can call my clan and tell them that I am alive and well?"

An uncomfortable expression appeared on Ves\' face. "I am afraid I will have to ask you to be patient. Your identity is rather… sensitive at the moment. If your current state and location becomes exposed, all kinds of pioneering fleets will head straight towards our coordinates and seek to grab you, either to claim the rewards offered by your clan or to hand you over to your enemies and earn a different bounty. You don\'t want that to happen, don\'t you, Lord Pearian?"

The ex-pioneer grimaced. He had experienced so much darkness as of late that he had a much better understanding of how low that people could go in the frontier.

"I agree. What is your plan? I can wait until the time is right, but I do not want to remain in isolation for long. The more time passes by, the more my importance will fade to the clan."

"Well, you are in luck, because you don\'t need to wait too long. A ship or fleet from the MTA is scheduled to arrive in this star system within two days. Once the mechers enter the scene, no human or alien dares to mess around with us. I think that it would be safe for us to announce your rescue from the aliens and grant you the opportunity to reconnect with your clan. I am sure that you Yorul-Taviks have an existing relationship with the Association. I don\'t think it would be troublesome to call a favor and have you transferred to an MTA vessel that can bring you back to civilized space."

Pearian frowned for a moment. "That is… possible, but it will cost us. The Mech Trade Association will not be eager to provide me a service. I am a failure and have produced an enormous net loss ever since I went into operation. The clan will have to surrender more MTA merits I suppose."

This was the best solution as far as Ves could think of. He did not want to take the risk of transporting such a wanted figure across the border region himself. It was too difficult to hide the news of Pearian\'s rescue, and the number of pioneers in the surroundings who had a few screws loose in their heads was too great!

Ves patted the other man\'s shoulder once again. "Well, that is all for now. I have been told that you need a good rest in order to recover from everything that you have gone through as of late. My men or I would be welcome to give you a tour throughout our fleet once you have recovered to an extent. Our clan and alliance will always be open to you. I suggest you take a lot of what we have at least once before you leave. Our ships and tech may be shabby, but we possess specialties that even first-raters cannot match."

With that, he left Pearian\'s side so that the former captive could stew on what he had learned.

Now that he got that out of the way, Ves proceeded to another section of the Antonio Cross.

The second human survivor that the DIVA commandos managed to extract from the alien battleship was a much more interesting fellow.

"So this is a member of the legendary Cosmopolitan Movement." Ves uttered as he looked through the transparent safety screens of a secure compartment.

Due to the special circumstances of the man known as Jugal Meren, he had been moved out of his former cell and put into a recently-emptied cargo compartment.

The reason for that was because they needed room to fit the Everchanger!

Right now, the mech was put in a dormant state, but his currently active glow had switched to that of Lufa.

This was the surprisingly creative and unorthodox solution that the Larkinsons and the mechers came up with after a brainstorming session!

​ The Golden Skull Alliance did not possess the tech or expertise to adequately hold a prisoner of this caliber.

Though Mr. Meren appeared to be lost when he was first discovered, once he sobered and got over his mental shock, he might decide to commit suicide and there was nothing the Larkinsons could do to stop this action.

Knocking him out would just cause him to miss specifically timed requirements that prevent his body from self-destructing itself.

Letting him stay awake and conscious would only allow him to trigger his own suicide whenever he wished!

This was where the Everchanger could play a useful role.

The tranquility glow he radiated from his frame put the alleged human traitor under a state of forced calm.

The living mech and the Larkinsons carefully controlled the distance and the strength of the glow to hit a good sweet spot.

They wanted to blank out Mr. Meren just enough to sap his initiative but not enough to the point where he became completely numb.

Theoretically, the middle state he was in right now should cause him to reflexively hit the timed checks to prevent his body from blowing up, but not much more.

A team of doctors and specialists were constantly monitoring the cosmopolitan\'s physiological state to ensure that it worked out. If Jugal Meren showed any elevated brain activity, the floating bed he was strapped upon would quickly move closer to the Everchanger.

"Is he in a condition to talk?" Ves curiously asked the security captain in charge of this delicate but important operation.

"I am afraid not, sir." The Crosser replied. "You can look, but the mechers will howl if we want to do anything else with him. They want him to remain as pristine and unspoiled as possible so that they can work their own interrogation methods against him. From what I have been able to gather from my talks with their liaison, it is rare for the Mech Trade Association to capture a cosmopolitan alive, especially one that ranks higher than cannon fodder. The only reliable way the mechers could ever catch them was by putting them in stasis."

"Makes sense. Well, can I get a little closer so I can take a better look?"

"Sure, but be sure to step no further than the line projected on the deck."

Ves slowly approached the bed where the cosmopolitan rested. The Everchanger\'s glow already started to brush against his mind and spirit, but he easily resisted Lufa\'s influence.

Once he came as close as he could, Ves laid his eyes and other senses on the cosmopolitan.

The contact was… disappointing.

From what he learned, the cosmopolitans were the humans who interacted the most with aliens.

Ves hoped that the captive might possess an unusual body, mind or spirit that showed clear instances of alien hybridization that provided him with clear advantages.

Unfortunately, none of those transformations affected the man\'s spirit, because it was dull just like that of Lord Pearian.

The man did not possess any special presence of inner strength worth noticing. He was just a relatively mundane human who went astray.