The Mech Touch

By bringing up themes such as tolerance and inclusiveness first, the former businessman clearly prioritized the need for his people to become excellent hosts to the foreigners that come to engage in trade and commerce.

"Our economy shall be our greatest strength." President Yenames Clive continued to hammer on this broad issue. "Our colonies cannot thrive without investment. Our salaries cannot be issued without revenue. Our mech pilots cannot fight effectively without quality mechs. Everything costs money, which means that earning more of it will make Davute stronger than any other colonial state!"

It was hard to argue these basic truths when everyone who emigrated from the stale but well-developed Milky Way experienced the many downsides of lacking funds.

This was especially awkward when the circumstances of the Red Ocean demanded more from people and organizations!

President Yenames Clive apparently thought that people's experiences over the last years had given them a profoundly greater appreciation of the importance of money.

Though Ves agreed with the man's words, his message presented an interesting contrast to the silent parade that was taking place on the ground.

It was a bold choice to hold this speech while letting the parade continue in a more diminished form.

Though the mechs that had marched through the streets of Kotor City were no longer accompanied by bombastic music and projected footage, the columns of war machines still evoked a martial atmosphere that contrasted against the peaceful message conveyed by President Yenames Clive.

The dichotomy carried the implicit message that for all of the leader's welcoming words, Davute was not a soft target. It had the mechs to back up its ambitions. A welcoming hand could easily turn into a clenched fist at any moment.

The variety of mechs on parade silently showcased the diversity and prosperity of the regional mech industry. The abundance of homegrown mechs along with their rich set of features could not have emerged without a strong economic base.

By silently showing that Davute was able to house and support so many strong and distinctive mech companies, it was cleverly marketing its strong military industry.

Anyone who wanted to buy the best mechs in the greatest quantities should turn to Davute!

At the same time, those who thought that Davute was nothing but a big and vulnerable marketplace would get confronted by its many defending mechs!

More and more people took pride in the strength and prosperity that Davute had already accumulated in such a short amount of time. The uplifting words of President Yenames Clive clearly caused a lot of people to feel a sense of ownership towards the colonial state that they had adopted in their hearts.

When Ves shifted his gaze to the people seated in Block L, he noticed that Yenames Clive managed to capture an awful lot of people.

It was not that big of a surprise to see the people working for local companies and institutions to strongly identify with the president's narrative.

However, what Ves did not like as much was how even his own Larkinsons became swayed by the belonging and identity espoused by the ambitious leader!

Though there were plenty of clansmen such as Ketis and Commander Valerie Chancy that showed no apparent interest in becoming a Davutan, there were other people who showed a faint yearning to become a contributing citizen of the new colonial state!

"You can take an individual out of a state, but you can't take the state away from that same person." Ves muttered.

Certain individuals who had built up successful and memorable lives in a state such as Chief Minister Magdalena Larkinson and the Purnessers showed a clear preference of working within the framework of a traditional state.

They were all old and possessed a lot more confidence in their ability to navigate the confines of Davute. They wouldn't have to confront the many limitations of trying to run a sovereign clan that possessed no real territory of its own that they could treat as their homeland.

To many of these nostalgic individuals, the Davute Branch may not be as important as they liked, but it was a good first start.

The seating block did not contain a lot of younger clansmen, but Ves bet that the Larkinsons from the later generations were much less interested in what Davute had to offer.

The mech pilots from the same generation as him were still hungry for more and possessed the courage to confront greater dangers in the hopes of obtaining a greater payoff.

President Yenames Clive continued to speak about the importance of building a strong economy for another minute. Not everyone was able to understand his full reasoning and arguments, but that did not prevent them from knowing that wealth was the key to transforming Davute into a dominant state in the Krakatoa Middle Zone!

The man finally pivoted to the military affairs of the state.

There was no way he could speak about Davute without bringing up its fated archrival.

"As much as we aspire to become the first crossroads that everyone considers when their journey passes through Krakotoa, there are adversaries that seek to deprive us from plying our honest trade."

Many faces became angry or disgruntled as they thought about the rival colonial state that had already started to frustrate Davute in many different ways.

"Karlach." Yenames spat the name as if he was referring to a demon. "Karlach yearns to become Davute. Its leaders are less forgiving and more tyrannical. Its port system has not been able to match the quantity of traffic that our own capital has attracted. It does not respect the rights of its satellite star systems as much as us. Make no mistake. Karlach is a disease that has taken root in our zone. What is worse is that this affliction is spreading and encroaching on our territory. Will you permit this plague to take root in the colony that you have built with your own hands?!"

"NO!" Millions of people in Kotor City simultaneously thundered a reply!

It didn't matter whether they were sitting on a floating construction or standing on the streets. Each of them had developed enough of a sense of belonging to Davute that they became protective of 'their' state!

Ves had to hand it to Yenames Clive. It was clever of him to emphasize everyone's contributions and build up Davute's prosperity before introducing a clear enemy.

The narrative that the president built up was that the evil Karlachs envied the Davutans and sought to take away everything by force!

There was no way the colonists that had settled in Davute would be willing to let an aggressor take advantage of them. They invested too much in their own colonial state to be willing to let others deprive them of the fruits of their labor.

The mechs that marched down below took on a greater emphasis as a result. Everyone gained a reminder that these machines were not just products meant for export, but also war materiel that could be used to defend the sovereignty of their new colonial state!

With mechs from companies such as Rorsh & Rorsh and Renewal Tech & Design parading through the Government District while Yenames Clive held his speech, Davute showed that it was more than ready to step up and defend its precious holdings!

"You may be wondering why we must paint the subjects of Karlach as our enemies." Yenames Clive spoke as the man adopted a sympathetic expression. " They are humans who appear no different from ourselves. Is it not better for us to unite and form a united front in a galaxy that is still filled with hostile aliens that hate us both?"

Ves wordlessly rolled his eyes. As if there were any Davutans that possessed the courage to take up the fight against powerful alien warships that could blow up a starship with a single salvo of their main cannon batteries.

The president did not take notice of a single mech designer's reaction. His dignified face grew more severe.

The projections behind him began to show raw battle footage taken from the mechs that fought against the machines in the employ of Karlach.

"Before we can confront a greater mission and work towards freeing this dwarf galaxy from the clutches of the savage and undeserving aliens, we must first guarantee our own safety. Even now, our unfriendly neighbors are gearing up for a destructive invasion that will not cease until it has reached the heart of our colonial state! The Karlachs seek to break our resolve, drive us from our new homes and appropriate all of the work we have done to make our colonies great! Will you let this aggression stand?!"

"NOOOO!"

The man spoke as if Karlach had already initiated a military offensive into Davute!

Ves knew that this was not the case. At most, the mercenary outfits hired by either side had begun to dance around each other at the contentious border region.

The quantity that got trashed was quite considerable, but actual deaths among mech pilots and support personnel were fairly low.

The mercenaries weren't stupid. They knew that their employers wanted to create an image of active hostilities for their own ends. The mercenaries contracted to fight at the border were merely a means to an end.

As such, the mercenary outfits that performed their missions would put up a dramatic show that was sure to look incredibly violent in all of the footage, but actually consisted of a lot of smoke and mirrors.

From employing an abundance of explosives that hit useless ground to cutting off the limbs of enemy mechs but failing to follow up, both sides tried to fulfill their contracts but avoid making it any bloodier than necessary.

Davute and Karlach weren't stupid either. They knew that the mercenaries that accepted their contracts only worked half-heartedly, but as long as they created the illusion of a destructive and escalating conflict, everyone got what they wanted!

"Just because we embrace peace does not mean we are unable to go to war." Yenames Clive continued. "The repeated provocations of Karlachs has made it clear that our neighbors do not intend to stop until they have engulfed our entire state and everything that we have worked towards. It is not enough for us to become traders and producers. If we want our Davute to remain ours, then we must become willing to take up arms and defend our state against the murderous forces of Karlach!"

As President Yenames Clive continued to demonize Karlach in order to reduce everyone's reluctance to start a bloody conflict against a rival colonial state, Ves had not forgotten about his original priorities.

Ves understood that the time had almost come to trigger whatever measures the conspirators had prepared.

The speech drove up all of the dark and negative emotions of the citizens of Davute. Each of them started to gain a lower and lower opinion of Karlach.

However, words were still words. There was a limit to how many Davutans would become susceptible to such a limited form of indoctrination.

Therefore, the best way to persuade them that Karlach was a real and actual threat was to make it tangible!

While everyone continued to listen to the speech, Ves had raised his alertness to the highest level.

He held a handmade totem of Ylvaine in his hands and quietly communed with the design spirit in order to identify the timing and nature of a possible attack.

Though the proximity of several ace mechs was still causing plenty of interference to Ylvaine, the Great Prophet was still able to tease out a few clues as long as he did not cast his gaze further than a couple of minutes.

Ves almost froze when Ylvaine silently communicated a concerning message.

In three minutes, the probability that hundreds of people would have their futures cut off had spiked!