The returning expeditionary fleet quickly felt the consequences of all of the increased traffic.
Traffic control beca swamped and many space lanes had beco completely occupied.
The number of inspection ships on duty had multiplied by 10 as all of the incoming visitors needed to be checked in case they were terrorists or saboteurs who intended to ruin the founding ceremony.
The orbit of Davute VII had actually beco a lot less busy as the colonial administration had already pushed most fleets and ships away.
The only ships and chs that were allowed to linger within a certain distance from the planet were those that already pledged to serve the colonial state as part of its future ch military.
For now, most of those ch forces still belonged to many different private organizations. Their diverse colors and markings remained unchanged which made for a chaotic and disorganized impression.
Even so, as Ves read the opinions on the galactic net and observed how eager so many people wanted to travel to Davute VII, he recognized that optimism was high.
pαпdα-ňᴏνê|·сóМ "People really believe in this future state."
This was a good sign. The people who invested in Davute from the beginning made plenty of preparations. They formulated a detailed plan and made many moves to address problems before they had a chance to break out. The fact that the settlents in the port system grew into highly developed cities and tropolises in a matter of years showed how well they built up its foundation.
The smooth developnt of Davute gave a lot of people a lot of confidence in its future potential. Its leaders and statesn demonstrated an abundance of planning, foresight, preparation, wisdom and generosity. Even Ves felt tempted to join the party if he hadn't experienced betrayal at the hands of their hypocritical kind in the past.
He felt as if he was one of the few people in the entire star system who remained sober enough to recognize that the primary goal of the upcoming colonial state was to exploit its future citizens.
Just like how the descendants of the Larkinson Family had fought and bled for a Bright Republic that never properly rewarded them for their centuries-long service, a lot of fools and romantic idiots were already falling into line just so that they could get used in the exact sa way!
The only people he could have a proper conversation about this topic was Calabast and a handful of Purnessers.
Ves felt pretty upset at Minister Shederin Purnesse for accepting an invitation against instructions, so he took his frustrations to his strategic partner.
"I don't bla Shederin for making this decision." Calabast's projection stated. "You need to grow up and look outside of your perspective. You may aspire to turn our clan into a fully independent, nomadic and spaceborn fleet, but that doesn't work out in practice. We need branches like the one we have in Davute to give our people a chance to live on a proper planet and to provide the LMC with the ability to produce its own chs en masse. Since we cannot avoid entanglent with states, we have to accept that this is a necessity and properly manage our relationships with them. Grow up, Ves."
That was not what Ves wanted to hear. He crossed his arms in a petulant manner.
"I feel tempted to turn our expeditionary fleet around and head over to an entirely different port system. Maybe it is ti we leave Krakatoa behind and explore a newer and fresher middle zone."
"That is not a wise decision, and your allies are unlikely to agree with you. I know the Cross Clan will insist on reorganizing its fleet here. Just like us, the Crossers have founded a sizable branch on Davute VII and built up a lot of trustworthy and reliable business relationships in this industrial hub. It will be several tis harder and more expensive for the both of us to reorganize our forces and recover our strength. Don't disrupt everyone's plans due to purely personal and subjective feelings."
She was right. Ves could not afford to let too much of his selfishness ss up his clan and alliance.
He needed to be a responsible leader and stick to making rational decisions. The larger his organization had beco, the more important it was for him to project stability.
Once he cald down a bit, he accepted her words.
"I guess you are right, Calabast. That doesn't an I like it. No matter what, nothing can make develop a sense of belonging to Davute. I will continue to work to minimize our entanglents and commitnts to the upcoming colonial state. I think we should also move our fleet away from this zone sooner or later in order to remind everyone that the endless void of space is our true ho."
The spymaster smirked and threw a coy glance at him. "That may be easier said than done. My intelligence network has already received rumblings about a massive deal that the colonial administration is preparing to offer to our clan."
"Huh? What is this about a deal? I take it that it encompasses more than stuff like taxes and permits."
"You are correct in that." She replied. "It has to do with what you do best, which is designing crazily effective chs that are strong enough to affect the balance of war."
He looked confused. "What? There are tons of Master ch Designers in Davute. Why would the ruling powers ask for my help? I'm just a Journeyman M—"
Slap!
Calabast's physical projection actually dashed forward and slapped Ves in the face!
"Shut up. Don't finish that stupid phrase of yours." She growled. "Be serious for once. The people who built Davute aren't stupid. At least so of them have studied your record and history in great detail. They will easily be able to find out how extensively you propped up the Hexadric Hegemony during the Komodo War by providing a few highly impactful ch models such as the Valkyrie Redeer. The Davutans will want you to recreate that miracle with their own ch forces so that they can gain a greater advantage against Karlach."
Now that Ves thought about it, that made a lot of sense. If he was in the position of the rulers of Davute, he would probably make the sa decision!
Nonetheless, that didn't an that he was eager to directly interfere in another war!
It was one thing to sell a lot of comrcial chs to the various paramilitary forces that would be fighting for Davute.
It was another thing to complete a formal commission from a colonial state!
"It's not that simple." Ves replied. "The Hexadric Hegemony lost the Komodo War. Rember? My living Hexer chs failed to make a difference."
The spymaster shook her head. "Only those who make a cursory analysis of the Komodo War would co to that conclusion. Anyone who performs a proper examination will know that the Hexers have dood themselves from the mont they fired the first shot. Your contributions have done much to prolong their fighting ability and bought enough ti for the Hexer dynasties to evacuate the core of their people and more liquid assets. Even to this day, the Valkyrie Redeer and the Maiden of Adversity still do much to prop up the Hex Federation."
"That is because my Hexer chs have a strong effect on the morale of the Hexer people. My unique capability to tie the Superior Mother and Helena, both of whom the Hexers literally revere as deities, to my works has energized all of their won and boys. Faith and fanaticism are so of the most powerful motivators in existence. There is no universal solution. What works well for the Hexers won't be nearly as effective for a more secularist and pluralistic state."
"Glows can have a major positive influence in wars without the involvent of religion, Ves. The Sand War is a great example of that. Your Desolate Soldiers injected a lot of duty among shaky and hesitant ch pilots who were ordered to hold the line against the advancing sandman fleets."
Ves didn't entirely accept this argunt. "You may be right, but I recall that the Ylvainans got much more use out of the living chs I designed for them. Again, their religion played a major role in giving an opening to boost their effective performance. Look, during the Komodo War, the Friday Coalition never developed much of a desire for my products because they don't worship any of my design spirits. The sa applies to Davute as it is almost entirely secularist as far as I am aware of. My products may be strong in specific situations, but it is still a stretch to claim they are powerful enough to swing the entire war in Davute's favor. The chs designed by all of the local Masters are no joke."
"You underestimate your influence. You also underestimate the attraction of your chs. The Davutans have most certainly studied all of the battle footage that is available in public. In particular, the Battle of Pima Pri where we helped the Hex Army defeat the Sundered Phalanx will serve as a highly informative case that demonstrated the great strength and effectiveness of our combat chs."
Ves crossed his arms. "That's nice, but most of the chs we fielded during that battle are exclusive ch models. The Valkyrie chs and the new Maiden of Adversity chs can only be piloted by Hexers. At the sa ti, our Bright Warriors, Transcendent Punishers, Transcendent Chargers, Second Swords and Redaxes are solely designed to be utilized by our ch legions. Only a few of the ch models such as the Ferocious Piranha have versions that are sold in public."
"Why must those aforentioned ch models remain exclusive?" Calabast shot back. "You can earn a substantial amount of easy money, resources and favors if you design variants of those standard ch models that are adapted for use by the ch forces of Davute."
"No way! You of all people should know about the importance of maintaining the secrecy and mystery of our staple chs. Once the Davutans begin to use chs such as my powerful Nullifiers in large numbers, their strengths and weaknesses will be analyzed until they hardly have any secrets left! That ans that once we fight against an opponent that has done his howork, he will imdiately know to keep his expert chs far away and combat the Nullifiers with large numbers of standard chs!"
Calabast still disagreed with his stance.
"That may be true for certain key Larkinson-exclusive chs, but you also have oddballs like the Lucid Rage that aren't really that important to us. They are nice to have, but it won't hurt us if you package it up and make it available to Davute."
She may be right in that, but Ves still disagreed with her stance, if only on principle.
"Repackaging my existing works in order to earn cheap profits from them is lazy behavior. If Davute wants my work, then I will do a proper job and start a brand new design project from scratch that is precisely attuned to their circumstances, from their material availability to the shortcomings they need to address the most."
The spymaster smirked at him. "That sounds like a good plan, Ves. Why don't you offer the Davutans this service? I am sure they will welco your assistance with open arms!"
"Goodbye, Calabast."
Ves activated the command that ended the comm call.
He rubbed his face and strengthened his resolve to not get dragged into another stupid war, especially one he had no personal stake in. The escalating conflict between Davute and Karlach was nothing more than a mundane contest for hegemony in a region.
Such wars were a di in a dozen in the Red Ocean. None of them had any aning to them. Just because one such war happened to unfold in close physical proximity to himself didn't automatically an that he should give a damn about who won or lost.
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