The Mech Touch - Chapter 7346
Chapter 7346: Earning Shares
Much of the discussion dragged on for over an hour.
This did not surprise Ves all that much. Multiple powerful parties wanted to get a hold of the Ixith Goliath.
They preferably wanted to claim it wholesale, but that was clearly an impossible goal, so they settled on increasing their share of the spoils as much as possible.
In this zero-sum game, as long as one group managed to increase the size of their pie, they would inevitably take away bits from other groups.
Ves and the other gathered individuals all knew that the final distribution would be settled by the high-and-mighty tier 1 galactic citizens.
However, it would take at least a few weeks or so to securely transport the spoils back to the Yernstall Central Star Node.
This meant that there was a weeks-long window of opportunity where the local Rubarthans and other people who happened to be stationed in the neighborhood could gain access to the most coveted research specimen in the Red Ocean!
For many of them, this was the only chance they could observe and experiment with the Ixith Goliath in person!
Their qualifications were not good enough to enter the secret research institutions that would definitely be assigned to conduct proper studies on the research specimen.
This was why they had to fight hard to secure their rights and increase their share.
Ves was in the same boat as everyone. While he knew that his qualifications were a lot better than others, he was still a lightweight compared to the 14 Star Designers of the Red Ocean.
Even if he received an invitation to join one of those high-end research groups, he had no intention of accepting.
His place was in the mech workshop or in the field.
He could not forget that he was a mech designer first and an Ascended Giant second.
Trying to decipher and reproduce the phenomenon may be suitable for Star Designers who expanded their core capabilities to a wider range of products, but Ves had progressed two major cultivation ranks before he could do the same!
That said, Ves did not intend to waste this opportunity either. He already committed the Bluejay Fleet to serve as one of the core forces in the escort fleet.
“The recent battle has exposed severe shortcomings within my new giant army.” Ves explained to the gathered representatives. “My Ascended Giants are set up to fight against the native aliens, so it shouldn’t be a surprise they fared badly against the Goliath Hive. Nonetheless, their disappointing performance has dealt a heavy blow onto their confidence and morale. It is just right to retreat to their headquarters in the outskirts of Yernstall so that we can reorganize our ranks and rethink our combat doctrines. Since we are going back, we may as well offer our protection along the way.”
This saved the other parties a lot of trouble. They were not ignorant of the insanely high value of the captured Goliath and knew that opportunities and malcontents might not be able to resist the urge to intercept the shipment along the way.
Even if infighting had subsided throughout human-occupied space, people’s hearts could never be completely tamed.
Who knew whether a jealous rival or a cosmopolitan cell might pop up and deprive everyone else of the key to unlock stolen resonance for everyone!
The presence of over two-dozen Ascended Giants in full superdimensional gear and one of the few full superdimensional ace mechs in existence should provide a powerful deterrent!
Even if the giants did not acquit themselves well in the last battle, that did not mean that they were weak.
Sure, their performance against swarming aliens and the confounding Ixith Goliath might not be good, but they would definitely be able to pose a much greater threat against the native aliens or more conventional human forces!
Then there was Saint Rosa Orfan.
Since she had been able to defeat the first Level 8 Goliath in such a dominant fashion, her Riot Mark III would definitely be able to pose a significant threat against senior ace mechs.
Even if Saint Orfan could not defeat a fellow ace pilot with greater resonance strength, it shouldn’t be a problem for her machine to tie down the enemy machine!
The presence of the Bluejay Fleet and its many high-level combat units massively increased the safety factor of the escort fleet.
Just hearing that a rising star like Ves and a powerful superdimensional ace mech guaranteed the protection of the research specimen should deter a lot of troublemakers right from the beginning!
It also meant that the other powers did not have to divert valuable combat assets to join the hastily organized escort force.
All of this meant that Ves and his clan gained more leverage in the negotiations.
While he tried to be somewhat fair, Ves was not an impartial moderator. He made sure to fight for his own benefits along the way.
His contributions and that of his subordinates could not be denied, so Ves was easily able to secure promises that he and his fellow Larkinsons could study the Ixith Goliath extensively while it was still in transit.
Of course, Ves also behaved carefully when he tried to establish a reasonable distribution of benefits for the other parties.
“Richard, since your Brownstone Principality can bring in high-level researchers the fastest, then you will occupy the greatest share of slots. Besides, far more Rubarthans fought and died in the last battle. They all sacrificed their lives in order to secure a future for their resurgent empire and its citizens. We cannot disregard their contributions, especially when the Rubarthans need the advancements from this new research direction the most.”
No one could refute these arguments.
In the current war climate, people had no choice but to honor the sacrifices of all of the fallen.
This was the basis behind the willingness for every soldier to become a linefighter and participate in the brutal battles to defend red humanity.
While the rate of forced conscription was definitely on the rise, the vast majority of linefighters still consisted of volunteers.
This was of great importance as it was tied to national pride and other related factors.
The Rubarthan scion smiled in gratitude. “I am glad that you agree with my argument. Our men will rest easily knowing that their sacrifices have not been in vain.”
It did not take Ves much thought to figure out that the Rubarthan Pact was in a diplomatically disadvantaged position at the moment.
Their state was getting hammered by the mutated voribugs.
Given that the new insectile threat had already begun to conquer native alien territory, the threat posed by the latter had diminished as of late.
Even the nunsers, orvens, puelmers and so on knew that trying to chew on a hard but relatively small bone like red humanity was pointless when the space cockroaches had begun to tear up their poorly defended hinterland regions!
The exceptionally fast growth and expansion rate of the mutated voribugs started to convince the native aliens that obsessing over defeating humans might not be a good idea anymore.
Even so, the gradual withdrawal of this threat did not provide much consolation to the Rubarthan Pact when the new enemy was so much worse!
Due to its territories becoming the frontline of the Voribug War, the Rubarthan Pact had no choice but to beg and plead for military support from the other major players.
Its poorly-timed declaration of independence only made things worse because it removed prior obligation for the RA and RF to defend this region of space.
Of course, the mechers and the fleeters would not actually withdraw completely and ignore this front.
They all knew that once the Rubarthan Pact fell, the mutated voribugs would just continue to roll over the Red Ocean Union and the rest of human-occupied space!
Everyone needed the Rubarthans to grit their teeth and hold on as long as possible.
So long as the damage was confined to Rubarthan space, everyone else could rest easy knowing that their populations and industries would not get ravaged by the devouring insects.
Nobody could deny that the Rubarthans needed the gains from this research project the most.
For these reasons and more, people were more willing to be a little more generous to the Rubarthan Pact during this sensitive time.
In any case, once the captured Goliath arrived in Yernstall, the Rubarthans would likely lose a lot of access from that point onwards.
It couldn’t be helped. Their bargaining power was too poor. They relied too much on the assistance of other parties. This put them in a somewhat passive position.
Still, compared to the Rubarthans, they could still reassure themselves that they did not end up in the worst position.
That honor belonged to the Terrans!
While the Rubarthans could at least secure a seat at the table due to their earnest sacrifices, the Terrans had contributed almost nothing to the Voribug War.
Even if Saint Orfan managed to demolish the Ixith Goliath with the help of her Terran-made tier 3 Destroyer spear, that was not a reason for the Terrans to take credit.
The Larkinson Clan acquired the powerful Destroyer weapon by building up a mutually beneficial relationship with the Terran Alliance.
Once the Terrans passed on ownership of the tier 3 Destroyer weapon to the Larkinsons, they had renounced most if not all of their claims to the object.
What the Larkinsons did with the Destroyer spear was their business.
Besides, the Terrans did not even send a single volunteer to participate in the Voribug War.
While the Terrans and the Rubarthans had tentatively united around their shared opposition to the Red Two, they were anything but pleased with working together.
Their old animosity still caused their relations to remain relatively cool and distant. They cooperated out of necessity, not out of a shared sense of brotherhood.
The Rubarthans not only refused to stand up for the Terrans, but actively sought to exclude them as much as possible!
No one else spared any generosity towards the Terrans either.
They simply agreed with the argument that since the Terrans contributed nothing to the Voribug War or the Battle of Philaster Crestia, they naturally could not claim any share of the research in the early phase.
Perhaps they might be able to secure a handful of precious personnel slots during the real negotiations over in Yernstall, but that affected subsequent research activities.
“Our empire deserves the second-greatest share.” Dr. Gabriella Chamois sternly argued. “We are the largest organized group that has committed core military forces to the Voribug War. I can present numerous clauses in the secret agreements that the Rubarthan Pact has signed with the Cybernetic Empire that entitles us to priority access to voribug research specimens.”
“These contractual clauses may be valid, but this matter has grown way beyond the scope of bilateral agreements.” Ves gently responded to the female researcher. “It is true that the Cybernetic Empire has made many promises, but it has yet to fulfill most of them. The war planets and bulk of military forces are still in transit. Only a small detachment of your 24th Gamma Scorcher Warfleet participated in the recent battle.”
Gabriella’s expression turned ugly. “I think you are underestimating the value of our commitments. We have provided valuable technical support since the first day of our formal cooperation with our Rubarthan brethren. The announcement of our large-scale mobilization to the Rubarthan front has also raised the morale of every soldier and citizen. One of the principal reasons why our esteemed empress agreed to send our formidable warfleets and war planets to this front is because she has gained an understanding with the Rubarthans about the distribution of spoils and other concessions. Our future willingness to sacrifice the lives of our own soldiers is dependent on whether these terms are honored.”
This was definitely true, so the Cybers could not be neglected in this regard.
No matter how much the Polymath exploited the weak bargaining position of the Rubarthans, the fact of the matter was that she ultimately agreed to deploy her forces to the bloodiest and most difficult front. The Cybernetic Empire deserved an equitable reward for this reason.
“Fine.”