Obviously, the Larkinson Clan's major coup was the Auralis. No matter whether the Larkinsons attempted to bring her into service or sell her off, the ship was packed with value!
What was especially important here was that the Larkinsons gained sole custody of the deep strike fleet carrier. They did not have to share the ship with anyone else, which saved everyone a lot of trouble.
The problem was that the Auralis accounted for a huge proportion of spoils that the Larkinson Clan had to skimp out on other spoils.
The Larkinson negotiators filled up the rest of the quota of spoils by securing a relatively small amount of ch salvage and just two expert chs.
Certainly, Ves was very interested in getting his hands on the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc. Despite their fall, the chs were actually in decent shape. Aside from so missing limbs and so broken components, they could still be restored as long as Ves put in enough effort.
The Charlemagne was a special ch. It served as the focal point of Master Huron's asymtrical neural network, so it should definitely be packed with all kinds of advanced systems.
The fact that the Larkinsons obtained a lot of Scarra chs was doubtlessly helpful in any attempt to study or reverse engineer the asymtrical neural network.
"It's a sha I didn't manage to gain any of the valuable research data in Aisling's implant." Ves sighed.
When Ves handed her corpse over to the Black Cats, their hackers quickly discovered that the implant was completely fried. All of its data storage facilities were firmly destroyed beyond any ans of recovery.
There was no realistic way for the Larkinson Clan to field neural networked chs on its own even if it secured the Charlemagne and as many Scarra chs as possible.
It would have been much more useful to retain the services of the Aisling Curver and gain access to all of the proprietary research data in her head.
It was too bad that Ves had made a different choice. While he did not regret killing soone he loathed, he also had to accept the implications.
The Jeanne D'Arc wasn't as complicated. Its design was quite simple for an expert ch because its strength lay in its fundantals. It hit hard, it flew fast and it could take an enormous beating.
The latter was the key feature of this swordsman expert ch. The Jeanne D'Arc needed no shield because its fra was clad with tough, regenerating armor.
When Ves discovered that Venerable Foster's forr expert ch was augnted by Rorach's Bone, he imdiately put it on his wish list.
He wanted it! Rorach's Bone had a special place in his heart and it was also very useful to boot. The only uncertainty he held was whether it was possible to extract the Rorach's Bone from the Jeanne D'Arc without losing too much of its capabilities. Losses always occurred in any recycling process, particularly when it ca to recovering volatile or energetic exotics.
Ves also had plenty of other uses for an expert ch like the Jeanne D'Arc.
By studying it, he would be able to gather a lot of clues and insights about the operation of an expert ch. The Jeanne D'Arc was the best choice to do so because it possessed the least complicated internal architecture out of the 11 broken enemy expert chs.
On the flipside, the Jeanne D'Arc also had very little to offer in terms of proprietary tech and applications.
This was the extent of the spoils that the Larkinson Clan received. While Ves felt quite regretful that he didn't get to obtain more broken expert chs, he was content with obtaining a complete capital ship.
As for his allies, the Glory Seekers enriched themselves with plenty of other salvage. The Hexers secured 30 percent of enemy ch wreck salvage, 35 percent of enemy starship salvage and 4 expert chs.
The expert chs they obtained were half of the Fridayman expert chs. While these were less advanced machines compared to the mid and high-tier expert chs of the traitor clans, the Hexers were quite familiar with how the Fridayn built their expert chs. This ant that the Glory Seekers should be able to make much better use of this salvage than others.
As for the Cross Clan, they arguably obtained the highest share of spoils.
Their powerful chs and veteran ch pilots contributed a lot of battle strength to the alliance's lineup.
Their powerful expert chs also stopped the equally-powerful Praetor and Planat expert chs in their tracks.
The Erin Tear, the Imperial Verdict and the Trost were so powerful that they could easily slaughter thousands of chs or entire starships if left alone!
What was even more crucial was that Venerable Banner Cross sacrificed his life in an attempt to help with containing the Fridayman expert chs!
This was a very painful sacrifice for an organization that looked up to high-ranking ch pilots to an insane degree!
The Larkinsons and the Glory Seekers weren't heartless enough to discount Venerable Banner's role. If the Leskin did not keep the Charlemagne and the Jeanne D'Arc busy, the Fridayn would have been able to leverage their advantage in expert chs even better, leading to a much faster collapse of the Golden Skull Alliance's battle lines.
From an objective point of view, the Cross Clan definitely earned the most rits in battle.
Of course, it was also due to their presence in the expeditionary fleet that the Fridayn managed to invite the traitor clans to take part in the ambush in the first place.
The alliance mbers didn't quibble over this detail. It was not as if the Crossers were obligated to help the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers fight the Fridayn.
The mont they signed the alliance treaty, they ford a mutual defense pact that encouraged them to form a united front against external enemies.
In consideration of the Cross Clan's huge contributions, it gained the lion's share of spoils. The Crossers obtained 50 percent of ch wreck salvage, 65 percent of the enemy starship salvage and 5 expert ch wrecks.
In addition to obtaining the very valuable Erin Tear, the Imperial Verdict and the Trost, they also managed to rope in the Ulver Quinn and the Prava Lonestar.
Part of the reason why the Larkinsons and Glory Seekers agreed to hand over so much loot was to keep the Crossers happy enough.
If they perceived that they were being shortchanged, there was a very realistic possibility that they might leave the alliance!
Not even Professor Benedict Cortez or Patriarch Reginald Cross could stop all of the rank-and-file from demanding a separation. After all, they just lost a huge amount of battle comrades. Hardly any of the Crossers were in a mood to go on a risky adventure in the Red Ocean at this ti!
"We need the protection of the Cross Clan even more at this delicate ti." Major Verle explained to Ves. "Through this battle, we have learned that the Crossers are honorable, upright warriors who can be relied upon to cover our backs. It's quite difficult to secure valuable allies like these. Much of the spoils we have surrendered is actually their 'pay' for protecting us in the next couple of years."
"That's.. reasonable." Ves murmured.
He was fine with this. He wasn't particularly greedy for the other salvage. Their main value lied in how much money they could yield when sold to salvaging companies.
Was the Larkinson Clan short of money?
No!
Therefore, Ves personally felt it was beneath his clan to drop to its knees and grab as much trash on the ground as possible.
The Cross Clan was in the opposite situation. While the addition of their latest guest designer certainly alleviated their inco concerns, Professor Cortez did not co with a large-scale ch company.
Their desire to restore the strength they used to hold back when they led the Becker Tribe ant they needed to make huge investnts. They had to acquire a lot of starships, a lot of chs and possibly hire and nurture a lot of talents.
All of that cost money! A huge amount of money!
It shouldn't be any surprise that the Crossers were very greedy for the salvage. In any case, Ves was fine with letting them hunt down all of the broken pieces strewn around in space.
There was no way that any of them could sweep the entire battlefield of valuable debris in a short amount of ti.
Ves wasn't sure whether any of their starships had enough cargo capacity to store it all. Eventually, the expeditionary fleet had to resu its journey.
The debris field definitely attracted a lot of vultures. While individual outfits didn't pose a threat to the expeditionary forces, it would be a different matter if other Garlener clans and tribes dropped by.
Aside from that, staying in this border system also exposed the weakened fleet to attacks from other powerful state actors.
It was best to reach a star system that offered a much greater degree of protection.
Major Verle laid out their awful situation in very clear terms.
"We are effectively down to 15 to 20 percent of our original battle strength, sir. We not only lost a lot of standard chs, but effectively lost all but one of our expert chs. The Amphis alone cannot possibly shield us against a hostile force that deploys multiple expert chs."
"We still have our pri chs."
"Those chs are subject to many limitations, and you know it. The fact of the matter is that we are simply not in shape to fight another battle. That's not a critical concern if we are near the Hexadric Hegemony or other friendly territory, but that is not the case right now. The only chance we have is to enter a neutral, trade-oriented star system where the local rulers guarantee the safety of visitors."
"We need to reach the Life Research Association as soon as possible." Ves concluded.
"Correct, sir. There's more. In my talks with Colonel Ariadne Wodin and Patriarch Reginald Cross, we ca to the conclusion that our ratios of chs-to-starships is so low that we cannot adequately ensure our safety for the next couple of months."
Sothing was afoot here.
"What are you getting at, major?"
"We.. are thinking about contracting rcenaries."
Ves imdiately froze.
"rcenaries?"
"Yes. rcenaries." Verle confird. "They're not as bad as you think."
"That hasn't been my experience with soldiers-for-hire. They're cowards and can't be relied upon to fight against serious opposition."
"rcenary corps co in all shapes and sizes, Ves. You can't paint them all with a single brush. While it is true that the lowest grade of rcenaries are unreliable, it's a different story as long as we pay serious money. Also, don't forget that second-class rcenary corps are much more trustworthy and professional than any third-class rcenary corps. They're also vastly stronger as well. The largest rcenary organizations can supply enough protection to guard us against any enemies for a reasonable amount of ti."
These were reasonable argunts. Ves acknowledged that much of his views on rcenaries were colored by his mixed experiences with the Oodis Mudriders years ago. Then again, he should have known better to employ a rcenary corps with a black mark on their record.
Ves had another reason to be reluctant about hiring rcenaries.
"This is going to cost us a lot, right?"
Major Verle nodded. "Every partner will have to give up a portion of the share of the earnings gained from processing our spoils. In order to protect us against most possible threats, we need to do business with powerful rcenary organizations that are at least the size of a ch regint. They're very expensive to hire on short notice and without establishing an existing relationship. In the absence of favorable conditions, we can only secure a contract by paying a hefty premium. A short-term monthly contract will already cost us several billion hex credits, and that doesn't address their battle pay."
"What?!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers