The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

Lucky calmly dozed off as he rested on a nearby couch placed to the side of Ves' private office.

The richly-grown Prosperity Tree continued to sway its small, vibrant branches as if they were dancing in the wind.

The two Purnessers seated in front of Ves remained quiet as they had laid out their solution to a problem that Ves was reluctant to acknowledge.

"Our clan is different from other states and organizations." Ves retorted. "First, it is not a conventional state. It depends heavily on myself. It is impossible for the clan to sustain itself without me because my business ventures pay all of the bills. This probably won't change because the money that I earn will continue to play a pivotal role in expanding the clan. Second, the loyalty and cohesion of our clan is abnormally high. Even if there are differences among our people, they won't diverge to the point where the different sides will escalate their fights."

Shederin shook his head. "I wouldn't bank on that if I were you. Loyalty can take on many different forms. Some people's ideas of what is best for the Larkinson Clan may differ substantially from yours. I hear that Venerable Jannzi Larkinson is particularly opposed to your leadership."

"Ugh, don't remind me of that. She's a persistent thorn at my side."

"Well, if you continue to remain complacent, this thorn might grow into a stake that is driven straight through your heart." Shederin replied. "Be honest. Are you afraid that dissidents such as Venerable Jannzi might succeed someday? She is far from alone in the clan. While the opposition to your rule enjoys too little support at the moment, they might rise as soon as you start to make mistakes. Once the contradictions between you and the rest of the clan widens, the opposition will grow into a serious threat against your dominance. If the clan has also diversified its income sources at that time, the rationale to keep you in charge will no longer hold as much force."

Ves had to admit that the diplomat hit a sore point for him. He was always aware that his support among the Larkinsons was not as universal as he wished. Larkinson Network or not, it was hard for a mother to blame Ves for the death of her son. A lot of mech pilots and other servicemen had fallen in battle while fighting on behalf of Ves. If the clan suffered another damaging battle, his leadership might fall into further question.

At this time, Shederin voiced another argument.

"One of the advantages of implementing my reforms is that any reduction in responsibility is paired with a reduction in blame. If a minister commits a blunder, he or she shall assume primary responsibility. You will be shielded from most of the blame due to your distance from the principal agent who committed the fault."

"This is the kingly way to remain in power." Novilon Purnesse added, backing up his father. "Anyone who engages in politics will get dragged through the mud eventually. It is rare for any leader to remain completely blameless. However, as long as you take on a position that rises above the mundane matters of governance, it is much easier for you to remain stable and detached. This is the best way for you to remain in power for decades or centuries at a time."

The two made a couple of interesting points. If Ves moved on to a more ceremonial leadership role, it was a lot harder for others to criticize him. After all, the ones who made all of the mistakes were the people making the actual decisions.

"I recognize the logic in your arguments, but all of this has yet to allay my primary concern. How will I be able to ensure that my goals remain a priority?"

"By splitting the balance of power even further."

"You need to explain that further, Mr. Shederin."

The old man smiled and raised two fingers. "So far, I have only mentioned two major stakeholders of the clan, namely you and the general population of the Larkinson Clan. However, there are other stakeholders whose opinions carry great weight in the clan. Can you guess their identities?"

Ves fell into thought again. "Our expert pilots belong in a separate group. They are willful, not afraid to voice their opinions and very stubborn about the issues they care about."

"Correct. Even though you have largely contained their influence by pushing them towards the judiciary, even judges can practice politics. The Larkinson Clan is highly militaristic and as a result the clansmen hold expert pilots in high regard. While the degree of hero worship has not reached the level of the Cross Clan, it is not that much worse."

"In conventional states, the political power of expert pilots are largely constrained by keeping them isolated from the population." Novilon added. "That is not possible in the Larkinson Clan because we live in a fleet and because our military is too intricately tied to the rest of our clan. This and many other reasons mean our expert pilots can become powerful influences. You are fortunate that they have yet to take full advantage of that, but you cannot expect this to remain true in the long term."

"So expert pilots need to be accounted for as well in the power structure of our clan." Ves concluded.

"That is correct. In fact, not just the expert pilots, but also the ordinary mech pilots and any other soldier serving in the military must be taken into account." Shederin said. "If you lose too much support from either stakeholders, your position as patriarch will become a lot more shaky."

Ves already agreed with this, though he hadn't considered it through this framework.

So far, Shederin Purnesse outlined four major stakeholders. Ves, the civilian population, the military servicemen and the expert pilots all held sway over the Larkinson Clan. Though power was mainly concentrated to the front at the moment, over time the others would grow more powerful as their numbers and weight increased.

"Are there any other stakeholders I should take note of?" Ves asked.

"There are different ways to divide our clan, but for the purposes of this discussion, the four that I have mentioned are the main stakeholders that you must consider. In order to ensure the Larkinson Clan remains solid, we must balance the powers between them in a more equitable fashion. None of them can be allowed to possess too much power, but it is not beneficial if any one of them lacks too much say."

Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven cheek. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to buy this story, but there was a persuasive logic behind this framework.

He was aware of what was going on so far. The Purnessers believed it was best that he relinquish some of his power and invest much more authority in other organs in order to improve the long-term stability and governance of the clan. If he wanted to avoid the pitfalls that many other states had fallen into, it was vital for him to implement measures that prevented major issues in the future.

The introduction of two more major stakeholders made the picture a lot more complicated.

"I understand the need to keep the civilian population of our clan happy, but how do we handle the expert pilots and the other soldiers of our clan?"

Shederin manipulated the projection so that it focused on the military branch of the Larkinson Clan.

"Our military also requires reforms. In its current state, it is still adequate, but the size and strength of many of the mech forces have grown far beyond their humble origins. Do you truly think that the Swordmaidens with more than ten-thousand mech pilots directly or indirectly under their wing are politically inconsequential?"

Ves shook his head. Even though he didn't really pay attention to the politics within the clan, even he noticed how the Larkinsons enacted a lot of accommodations to the Swordmaidens and the former citizens of the Heavensword Association. The Lifers also received special treatment in order to keep them and their highly-educated biotech experts happy.

"I don't think it's appropriate for them to exercise direct power over the Larkinson Clan." Ves remarked. "In most states, the military is a separate institution that is subject to civilian oversight. The military serves the people, not the other way around. The same goes for the expert pilots. Otherwise, you get distorted states such as the Garlen Empire."

"You can argue that our clan is already leaning in this direction due to its heritage. The only reason why the expert pilots and the military hasn't taken a greater role is because you are even more dominant. You single-handedly prevent the military wing of our clan from taking over the clan entirely."

Ves smirked. That was a deliberate effort on his part. The entire reason why he wanted to split off from the original Larkinson Family and start his own clan was because he did not want to become constrained by a bunch of old fogeys and stubborn expert pilots.

Still, Shederin's warnings woke him up to the fact that the military could easily assert more power in the future.

"What do you propose, then?"

"We should introduce additional checks and balances between the different mech forces." Shederin suggested. "The most obvious way to do this is to direct them to compete against each other. By stoking the rivalry between the mech forces, they will aim most of their effort on climbing over each other's heads. They will direct less attention to gaining more influence over the rest of the clan or trying to usurp power from the other stakeholders."

Ves looked intrigued. According to the projected diagram, Shederin proposed to reform the military structure so that the mech forces became a lot more self-contained. The man even outlined measures designed to foster greater competition, such as implementing performance rankings where the top ones were entitled to a greater share of military funding.

General Verle would still remain as the highest military officer of the armed forces, but he nominally answered to the newly-established position of defense minister, not that this should matter all that much.

The point was that Commander Melkor, Commander Casella Ingvar and so on gained a lot more say. However, they had to compete against their commanders in order to channel more benefits to their units, and that would generate a lot of rivalry.

"You're even suggesting that we change their names."

Shederin smiled. "Mech force is a bland and generic term to refer to large and powerful units such as the Avatars of Myth. For a militaristic clan like ours, I believe it is much more impactful if we start to refer to them as legions. This is a loaded and weight term that will make a much more significant impression to outsiders."

The Larkinson Clan no longer fielded mech forces.

It fielded legions.

The titles of the mech commanders also shifted to legion commanders.

"Well, as long as they can muster enough power, our legions will certainly make a strong impression in the Red Ocean if nothing else." Ves predicted.

The military reforms encompassed more than just a simple name change. Shederin Purnesse proposed a large-scale expansion of the Military Bureau so that it was able to provide a lot more support and supervision of the newly-empowered mech legions. This entailed a massive expansion of staff.

All of this sounded fine to Ves. General Verle himself had already alluded to the need to expand the military administration.

What he was worried about was the person that General Verle must answer to. According to the current scheme, Verle had to report to the person in charge of the Ministry of Defense. This was a civilian position that was meant to convey the will of the civilian population.

Though Ves understood this was a normal arrangement, he did not feel at ease with letting a random politician make hugely influential decisions on one of the essential institutions of the Larkinson Clan.

He raised his finger and forcibly changed the projection.

"The military must remain independent." He self-righteously said as he wiped the link between General Verle and the defense minister. "For now, our armed forces have been nothing but loyal and devoted to our common cause, and I expect that to remain that way."

Shederin frowned as he saw Ves overriding one of his proposed solutions. "Who will keep the military in check, then?"

Ves drew a line that directly tied General Verle to the patriarch.

"I will take care of this myself." He grinned. "This arrangement has worked well for us so far, and I see no reason to change this. While I am aware that this cannot remain permanent, we can change the rules at any point in the future."

For example, if someone ever replaced him as patriarch, then there was no need for his successor to possess so much power over the military!